Notícias do mercado de ações de hoje Análise do amplificador Tempo real após as horas Notícias do pré-mercado Resumo das citações do flash Gráficos interativos Configuração padrão Observe que, uma vez que você fizer sua seleção, ela se aplicará a todas as futuras visitas ao NASDAQ. Se, a qualquer momento, você estiver interessado em reverter as nossas configurações padrão, selecione Configuração padrão acima. Se você tiver dúvidas ou encontrar quaisquer problemas na alteração das configurações padrão, envie um email para isfeedbacknasdaq. Confirme a sua seleção: Você selecionou para alterar sua configuração padrão para a Pesquisa de orçamento. Esta será a sua página de destino padrão, a menos que você altere sua configuração novamente ou exclua seus cookies. Tem certeza de que deseja alterar suas configurações. Temos um favor a ser solicitado. Desative seu bloqueador de anúncios (ou atualize suas configurações para garantir que o javascript e os cookies estejam habilitados), para que possamos continuar fornecendo as notícias do mercado de primeira linha E dados que você espera de nós. Current Affairs Quiz - novos assuntos nacionais atuais 2016 Current Affairs dezembro de 2016 26 de novembro de 2016 - este dia foi observado como o Dia Nacional do Leite (NMD) para marcar o aniversário do nascimento Dr. Verghese Kurien, pai do Revolução Branca na Índia. Para marcar este evento, todas as cooperativas leiteiras em todo o país conduziram uma mega ativação em todos os mercados em todo o país. Além disso, a Federação Cooperativa de Marketing de Leite de Gujarat (GCMMF), que comercializa a marca Amul de leite e produtos lácteos, imprimiu 150 milhões de bolsas de leite com o logotipo do Dia Nacional do Leite, com a foto do Dr. Kuriens com o logotipo do Dia Nacional do Leite. Programa Annapurna Rasoi - o programa que foi iniciado pelo governo Rajasthan para fornecer uma refeição de qualidade a preço barato e acessível para pessoas pertencentes à seção mais fraca e trabalhadores. O principal beneficiário do regime será puxar rickshaw, trabalhadores, motoristas, estudantes, mulheres trabalhadoras, idosos e outras categorias mais fracas. Fatos chave Os alimentos ao abrigo deste programa serão fornecidos a taxas subsidiadas, café da manhã em Rs 5 por placa e almoço em Rs 8 por placa. Na primeira fase, o regime será iniciado em 12 distritos. Eles são Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Kota, Bikaner, Bharatpur, Pratapgarh, Dungarpur, Banswara, Baran e Jhalawar. Os alimentos serão distribuídos por 80 furgões móveis em locais decididos pelas agências locais de auto-ajuda nos distritos. Os 21 distritos restantes do estado serão abordados na segunda fase. Samvidhan Diwas - observou em 26 de novembro para difundir a consciência da Constituição Indiana. Neste dia em 1949, a constituição da Índia foi adotada e entrou em vigor em 26 de janeiro de 1950 marcando o início de uma nova era na história da Índia livre. O Ministério da Justiça Social e Empoderamento da União (MSJE) é o ministério nodal para a celebração do Dia da Constituição. Este ano é a segunda edição do Dia da Constituição. Nesta ocasião, o primeiro-ministro Narendra lançou dois livros sobre Constituição de Constituição e Nova Versão da Constituição da Índia. Portal de e-pashuhaat - lançado pela Ministra do Bem-Estar da Agricultura da União, Radha Mohan Singh, para o gado. Para conectar agricultores e criadores de bovinos. O portal fornecerá todos os detalhes em uma única plataforma, incluindo disponibilidade de germoplasma bovino. O portal e-pashu haat não só permitirá que os agricultores compram bovinos, mas o sêmen e o embrião congelados também podem ser comprados através dele. Pode ser alcançado no epashuhaat. gov. in Fertilizer - o item para o qual o governo da União decidiu introduzir os pagamentos de subsídio do sistema de transferência direta de benefício (DBT). De acordo com o sistema proposto, 100 subsídios em várias classes de fertilizantes serão divulgados aos fabricantes e importadores com base nas vendas reais feitas pelo revendedor aos beneficiários. Inicialmente, o procedimento de subsídio modificado no âmbito do sistema DBT será introduzido em base piloto em 16 distritos selecionados. Na segunda fase, o novo sistema de pagamento será lançado em todos os estados somente após a sua devida estabilização na primeira fase. O DBT proposto abordará as questões relacionadas ao desvio e ao tráfico de ureia. Rs 630323cr - a quantidade de NPA de todos os PSB como um todo como em 30 de setembro de 2016 cresceu a partir de Rs550346 Cr em 30 de junho de 2016. Mostra aumento de Rs. 79,977 crora NPAs em quarto a trimestre durante este período. Este é um aumento alarmante do nível. Um grande número de NPAs afeta a liquidez de rentabilidade dos bancos. Isso afeta negativamente o valor do banco em termos de crédito de mercado e aumenta o desajuste de ativos e responsabilidades. TeamIndus - a empresa de inicialização aeroespacial privada está planejando enviar uma nave espacial para a lua a bordo de um foguete da Organização Indiana de Pesquisa Espacial (ISRO) em 28 de dezembro de 2017. Será a primeira missão da Lua privada de Indias a ser lançada. Será lançado a bordo do veículo de lançamento de satélite Polar Satellite (PSLV) do ISRO. O objetivo da missão TeamIndus moon é aterrar a nave espacial na lua. Também viajará pelo menos 500 metros e transmitirá imagens de alta definição, vídeo e dados de volta à Terra. Com exceção do veículo de lançamento, toda a tecnologia que impulsionará o lander e rover será desenvolvida internamente pelo TeamIndus. Para o propósito de lançamento, o TeamIndus assinou um acordo Antrix, o braço comercial do ISRO. O campo de batalha do ISROs lançará a nave espacial TeamInduss em uma janela de três dias centrada em 28 de dezembro de 2017. O Festival Hornbill - começou na aldeia Naga Heritage de Kisama de Nagaland. O festival coincide com o Dia do Estado de Nagaland, que é observado no dia 1 de dezembro. Também é chamado de Festival de Festivais. É organizado pelos departamentos estaduais de turismo e arte culinária. Também é apoiado pelo Governo da União. Foi estabelecido em 1 de dezembro de 1963 e foi inaugurado pelo então presidente Dr. S Radhakrishnan. Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan (VISAKA) - foi lançado pelo Ministério da União para o Desenvolvimento de Recursos Humanos (HRD) para conscientizar as pessoas sobre o sistema econômico sem dinheiro. Foi lançado pelo ministro Union HRD, Prakash Javadekar, em Nova Deli. É uma campanha de instituições educacionais superiores para economia digital. O VISAKA visa conscientizar as pessoas sobre a economia digital e os modos de transação sem dinheiro. Foi lançado em linha com os Primeiros Ministros apelam para a juventude em Mann Ki Baat para criar conscientização para tornar a Índia economia digital e sem dinheiro. POCSO e-BOX - representa a caixa eletrônica de proteção de crianças de infrações sexuais (POCSO), que foi lançada em agosto de 2016 para registro fácil e confidencial de queixas relativas a ofensas sexuais contra crianças. Esta informação deu recentemente pelo Ministro de Estado no Ministério da Mulher e Desenvolvimento Infantil, Krishna Raj, no Rajya Sabha. 102º - o ranking da Índia entre 136 nações no índice de habilitação de mercado (ETI) de 2016, conforme o Relatório Global de Permissão Global 2016, publicado recentemente pelo Fórum Econômico Mundial (WEF) e a Aliança Global para a Facilitação do Comércio. A lista é liderada por Cingapura, seguida pelos Países Baixos, Hong Kong SAR, Luxemburgo e Suécia. O índice avalia em que medida as economias colocam os fatores que facilitam a livre circulação de mercadorias sobre as fronteiras e para seus destinos. Ele leva em consideração vários fatores, incluindo acesso ao mercado interno e estrangeiro, administração de fronteiras, transporte e infra-estrutura digital e ambiente operacional. O Conselho indiano de pesquisa médica (ICMR) - o órgão do ápice na Índia para a formulação, coordenação e promoção da pesquisa biomédica. É na notícia porque o ICMR assinou recentemente um MoU com o Conselho indiano de Pesquisa Agrícola (ICAR) para cooperação na área de zoonoses, resistência antimicrobiana, nutrição e resíduos de pesticidas. Este memorando de entendimento fortalecerá os laços entre as duas organizações e dinamizará o ambiente de cooperação mútua e colaboração. A sede do ICMR está localizada em Nova Deli. Rs. 20 Rs. 50 - as denominações para as quais a nova moeda será emitida de acordo com as diretrizes do banco de reservas da Índia, que serão emitidas com números em tamanho ascendente nos painéis de números e sem impressão de intaglio. As notas antigas de Rs 20 e Rs 50 permanecerão legalmente obrigatórias. Essas notas novas vêm contra o pano de fundo do governo no mês passado, destruição de notas monetárias Rs 5001000 para reprimir o dinheiro negro. Declaração de Amritsar - a declaração que pedia o desmantelamento de santuários terroristas e os refúgios seguros na região, bem como a interrupção de todo o apoio financeiro, tático e logístico para redes terroristas, foi emitida após a Conferência do Coração da Ásia, realizada recentemente em Amritsar. As discussões de dois dias contaram com a participação de 40 países, incluindo grandes poderes e blocos regionais e globais. Realizada no pano de fundo do número de ataques terroristas transfronteiriços na Índia e em outros lugares, o HoA expressou uma séria preocupação com a gravidade da situação de segurança no Afeganistão e em muitas partes da região, levando a cabo esforços unidos para conter grupos terroristas. Além de solicitar uma cooperação concertada para combater os grupos terroristas, a declaração buscou a finalização precoce do projeto de Convenção Global sobre Terrorismo Internacional. Também favoreceu uma reunião inicial de peritos para discutir um projeto de Quadro Regional contra o Terrorismo, recentemente preparado pelo Afeganistão, para sua finalização precoce. As delegações do Afeganistão, Índia, Irã, República do Quirguistão, Paquistão, Turquia e Turcomenistão e da União Européia foram lideradas pelos respectivos Ministros. A Conferência também viu a presença e participação dos países convidados Áustria, Bulgária, Letônia e Uzbequistão. 4 de dezembro - este dia foi recentemente celebrado como Dia da Marinha. O Dia da Marinha é observado em 4 de dezembro de cada ano para celebrar a magnificência, as conquistas e o papel da força naval para o país. Durante a guerra Índia-Paquistão de 1971, a Marinha da Índia lançou a Operação Trident neste dia e desempenhou um papel significativo no bombardeio do porto de Karachi. NitiAayog - está fornecendo apoio financeiro para incentivar a administração do distrito a chegar ao público em geral e pequenos comerciantes em aldeias e talukas e encorajá-los a mudar para pagamentos sem dinheiro. Também pediu aos magistrados distritais que assegurem que as transações financeiras no distrito E as organizações subordinadas são sem dinheiro e em plataformas eletrônicas. De acordo com o plano, um incentivo de Rs 10 será entregue à administração do distrito para cada indivíduo que mudou para o modo de pagamento digital e realizou pelo menos duas transações digitais para atividades do dia-a-dia, como vender e comprar bens ou serviços . O Aayog já deu até Rs 5 lakh a cada distrito para iniciar o processo, diretamente do nível panchayat. Um incentivo de Rs 100 será fornecido a operadores de centros de serviços comuns para cada comerciante transacionando digitalmente e Rs 5 para cada cidadão se deslocando para pagamentos digitais. O grupo de opinião do governo quer que a administração do distrito assegure que as transferências de dinheiro, seja para beneficiários de esquemas de assistência social ou pagamentos a trabalhadores contratados por empreiteiros, sejam através do modo digital. Para acelerar a transição de transações em dinheiro para plataforma digital no nível de base, o Aayog solicitou aos DMs que coletissem todos os tipos de taxas, taxas e penalidades de usuários através de modos de pagamento digital. Os primeiros 50 panchayats para ir sem dinheiro receberão o prêmio de pagamento digital de honra de Niti Aayog. Além disso, os 10 melhores distritos de melhor desempenho receberão o prêmio de campeão de pagamento digital pelo think tank do governo. 300 bilhões - o montante do marco de investimento estrangeiro direto alcançado pela Índia firmando recentemente suas credenciais como um destino de investimento seguro no mundo. A Índia atravessou este marco entre abril de 2000 e setembro de 2016. Trinta e três por cento do IDE vieram através da rota de Maurício, aparentemente porque os investidores queriam tirar proveito do tratado de evasão de dupla tributação das Índias com o país da ilha. A Índia recebeu 101,76 bilhões de Maurício entre abril de 2000 e setembro de 2016. As entradas cumulativas de IED no período totalizaram 310,26 bilhões. Os outros grandes investidores foram de Singapura, EUA, Reino Unido e Holanda. NIOS - significa que o Instituto Nacional de Escolas Abertas foi recentemente declarado a melhor instituição de ensino a distância do mundo pela Commonwealth of Learning (COL). Vistos, ciberespaço e investimentos - os setores nos quais a Índia assinou recentemente quatro acordos com as negociações do nível de delegação do Qatar lideradas pelo primeiro-ministro Narendra Modi e seu homólogo do Qatar Sheikh Abdullah bin Naseer bin Khalifa Al Thani. Rs.100 - a denominação de notas cuja nova versão será colocada em circulação no mercado pelo Banco de Reserva com características de identificação alargada. As notas com o ano de impressão de 2016 serão semelhantes em design com as notas Rs 100 existentes na série Mahatma Gandhi -2005 tendo tamanho ascendente de números nos painéis de números, linhas de sangramento e marca de identificação ampliada, no anverso. O RBI disse que já colocou na circulação Rs 100 notas de moeda com o tamanho crescente dos números nos painéis de números, mas sem linhas de sangramento E marca de identificação alargada. Essas notas permanecerão em circulação concomitantemente com as notas de banco emitidas agora. INS Betwa - o navio de guerra da marinha que se aproximou durante o desmontagem em Mumbai recentemente. A fragata de míssil guiada de 3850 toneladas de Brahmaputra-classe que estava passando por uma montagem de manutenção média no estaleiro desde abril de 2016, escorregou de seus blocos de doca. Rs.2000 - o montante até o qual o Reserve Bank of India recentemente relaxou a autenticação de dois fatores para aceitação dos pagamentos com cartão. Esse processo de autenticação implica a geração de senha de uma única vez (OTP) no telefone dos usuários para concluir uma transação de cartão. Atualmente, os clientes precisam aguardar mensagens de texto contendo o OTP antes de concluir a transação. Mas agora os usuários poderão completar um pagamento apenas digitando uma senha autenticada pela rede do cartão se eles se registrarem no comerciante. A taxa de reimportação inalterada a 6,25%, a relação de reserva de caixa (CRR) inalterada em 4 e a redução da previsão de VAB para 7,1 foram as principais recomendações de política do Reserve Bank of India, anunciadas pelo The Reserve Bank of India (RBI em sua quinta política bimestral Revisão recente: o RBI manteve sua taxa de política básica inalterada em 6,25%. Na sua primeira revisão de política em 4 de outubro, o Comitê de Política Monetária (MPC) da RBI cortou a taxa de política em 25 pontos base. CRR: RBI manteve o dinheiro Taxa de reserva inalterada em 4 por cento, mas disse que os requisitos de reserva de caixa incremental que ele impôs em novembro serão removidos com efeito a partir de 10 de dezembro. Sob a regra CRR incremental, a RBI pediu aos credores domésticos que conservassem todos os depósitos que receberam entre setembro 16 e 11 de novembro sob o requisito de reserva de caixa. Perspectiva da inflaçãoGDP: o RBI espera que a inflação dos preços ao consumidor (IPC) caia 10-15 pontos base no trimestre em curso devido aos recentes Movimento de umatização. O banco central cortou a previsão de valor agregado bruto (GVA) prevista para o FY17 para 7,1 por cento, de 7,6% antes. O governador Urjit Patel disse que o MPC sentiu que era importante atingir uma inflação de 5 por cento do IPC em março de 2017. Esquema de estabilização do mercado: a RBI disse que a liquidez liberada pela descontinuação do CRR incremental seria absorvida por uma mistura de emissões de MSS e ajuste de liquidez Facilidade (LAF). Neil e Havelock são as ilhas das ilhas de Andaman e Nicobar que foram realizadas recentemente pelo ciclone. Cerca de 1.500 turistas ficaram encalhados em dois destinos turísticos famosos nas ilhas Andaman e Nicobar, nomeadamente Neil e Havelock. Os navios da Marinha foram implantados para a evacuação devido à alta intensidade do ciclone. 1900 é o número de partidos políticos na Índia, que é o maior do mundo. Fora disso, são mais de 400 deles que nunca contestaram nenhuma eleição. Foi nas notícias recentemente, já que a Comissão Eleitoral já decidiu que agora aniquilará anualmente os nomes dessas partes da lista. Uma vez fora da lista, essas partes não serão elegíveis para isenção de impostos sobre contribuições e doações. A Índia recebeu recentemente o principal status de parceiro de defesa pelos Estados Unidos. O ministro da Defesa da Índia, Manohar Parrikar, e o ex-secretário de Defesa dos Estados Unidos, Ashton Carter, finalizaram recentemente o principal status de parceiros de defesa para a Índia, que acelerará a cooperação e o compartilhamento da tecnologia de defesa americana de ponta. Ambos os lados também se comprometeram a expandir a cooperação bilatera de defesa, pois Carter conheceu Parrikar em Nova Deli para a sepultura da quebra de recordes. Desconto de 0,75 por cento na compra de gasolina e diesel, 10 por cento e 8 por cento de desconto em caso de PSU de seguros gerais e de vida para comprar nova política ou pagar premium on-line, 0,5 por cento de desconto em bilhetes de trem suburbanos mensais e sazonais comprados através de digital Modo são algumas das medidas de incentivo anunciadas em uma tentativa de promover menos economia de caixa. Anunciando 11 decisões para promover transações digitais, o ministro das Finanças, Arun Jaitley, disse que a reserva on-line de bilhetes da Estação Ferroviária receberá o seguro de acidentes Rs 10 lakh. Aqueles que usam o modo digital para pagar por catering ferroviário, acomodação, sala de aposentadoria terão direito a desconto de 5 por cento. Jaitley disse que as transações públicas com os departamentos governamentais e PSUs através do modo digital serão livres de taxas de transação e taxas de MDR. O ministro disse ainda que 10% de desconto estarão disponíveis no uso do modo digital para pagar pela RFID ou etiquetas rápidas para rodovias . O setor de setor de serviços é o tema do levantamento da 74ª rodada do National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), que no âmbito do Ministério da Estatística e Implementação de Programas, o Governo da Índia realiza pesquisas de amostragem a nível nacional em vários assuntos socioeconômicos para coletar dados para planejamento e formulação de políticas . Durante a pesquisa atual (julho de 2016 a junho de 2017), as informações sobre as características econômicas e operacionais da empresa do Setor de Serviços serão coletadas de acordo com as disposições da Coleção de Estatísticas de 2008 e das Regras de 2011. Indus, Jhelum e Chenab são os rios ocidentais do Indus Sistema de rio que a Índia pretende desenvolver sob seu ambicioso plano de utilizar sua parcela de água do sistema do rio Indus. A Índia procura acelerar os seus três projetos de energia hidrelétrica nos rios ocidentais - o PakalDul de 1.000 MW no rio Marusudar, tributário de Chenab em Kishtwar Sawalkot, de 1856 MW em Chenab, no distrito de Ramban e Banco de 800 MW no rio Marusudar, tributário de Chenab em Kishtwar. Os três rios orientais do sistema do rio Indus são Ravi, Beas e Sutlej e seus afluentes. NitiAayog planejou um esquema de incentivo, incluindo prêmios Rs.1 crore, para aqueles que usam o sistema de pagamentos digitais, ao mesmo tempo em que o governo intensifica as medidas para impulsionar a transação eletrônica. Pediu à National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) que conceitue e apresente o esquema para incentivar os pagamentos digitais. Sob o esquema, todos os consumidores e comerciantes que usam pagamentos digitais serão elegíveis. Todos os modos de pagamentos digitais, como USSD, AEPS, UPI e RuPay Cards serão elegíveis. Vardah - é o nome do ciclone que recentemente efetuou muitas partes de Tamil Nadu com fortes chuvas e ventos perturbando a vida normal nessas regiões. É o mais intenso ter atingido a capital do Tamil Nadu em duas décadas, que abalou as casas, quebrou o poder, as linhas de comunicação e jogou em trilhos desordenados, trânsito e trânsito aéreo ao atravessar a costa, batendo Chennai, Tiruvallur e Kanchipuram com fortes chuvas e Tortura. Nenhum voo desembarcou ou tirou do aeroporto de Chennai como NOTAM (aviso aos aviadores) foi emitido após fortes ventos ciclônicos e visibilidade fraca atingiu Chennai e outras partes do estado, jogando a vida fora da marcha. NOTAM, é um aviso arquivado com uma autoridade de aviação para alertar os pilotos de aeronave de perigos potenciais ao longo de uma rota de vôo ou em um local que possa afetar a segurança do vôo. 100 milhões para 100 milhões - o nome da campanha que se esforça para mudar o futuro de milhões de crianças em todo o mundo. Este foi lançado recentemente pelo presidente Pranab Mukherjee em Rashtrapati Bhawan recentemente. Conceitualizado pelo prêmio Nobel Kailash Satyarthi, a campanha foi marcada pelo presidente na presença do líder espiritual tibetano Dalai Lama, os prêmios do Nobel Tawakkol Karman e Leymah Gbowee, o ex-primeiro-ministro australiano Julia Gillard e a Primeira-dama do Panamá, Lorena Castillo. The Indian Egg Eater - as espécies raras de ovos que comem cobras encontradas no subcontinente indiano. A cobra pertence ao genio monotípico Elachistodon. Esta é a única cobra na Ásia que tem uma especialização em tomar o conteúdo de ovos como alimento e é o único verdadeiro ovo-comedor do continente. A espécie, que está prevista no Anexo I do Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, foi detectada pela primeira vez em Rajasthan, em Ranthambore, recentemente, que foi relatada no Russian Journal of Herpetology. O Tribunal Verde Nacional - recentemente proibiu a venda e o uso de fios revestidos de vidro em todo o país, incluindo manjha chinês. O tópico é responsável por inúmeras mortes acidentais durante o festival de pipa de Sankranti. Imposto único para substituir várias taxas, imposto único sobre bens e serviços, Processos automatizados para reduzir a interface humana, Redução do custo de conformidade para os contribuintes - estes, juntamente com a menor logística e os custos de inventário são os principais benefícios do imposto sobre GST (Imposto sobre bens e serviços) . Espera-se também que aumente a atividade econômica e o investimento, preencha a iniciativa e as exportações da Make in India, de mais emprego e de neutralização eficiente dos impostos para tornar nossas exportações competitivas. Ratan Watal - o ex-secretário de finanças liderou o comitê do governo sobre pagamentos eletrônicos, que apresentou seu relatório final recentemente. No entanto, este relatório teve dificuldades com o Banco da Reserva da Índia não querer ceder seu controle sobre os pagamentos de pagamentos a um regulador independente - como recomendou o comitê. H R Khan, ex-vice-governador do banco central, deixou sua dissidência clara em uma nota como membro do comitê. As diferenças significam que será difícil para o Ministério das Finanças pressionar as mudanças mais significativas nos sistemas de pagamento para tornar o dinheiro digital mais acessível para os índios. Os principais problemas são os seguintes: quando um provedor de serviços de pagamento como Paytm ou SBI Buddy oferece um consumidor para carregar sua carteira eletrônica com dinheiro e autorizar o pagamento, eles devem rotear a liquidação final através de um banco, antes de creditar o vendedor. Apenas alguns dos prestadores de serviços de pagamento têm acesso direto a bancos, incluindo aqueles que são administrados por bancos. A maioria tem acesso indireto como sub-membros de um banco em particular. Os bancos, é claro, ganham taxas dos sub-membros, que é carregado como custo no consumidor final. O Comitê Watal, menos Khan, quer que isso termine para permitir que os pagamentos sejam interoperáveis entre bancos e não bancos, bem como dentro de não bancos. Não só isso, o comitê sugeriu um prazo de dois meses para o governo fazer isso acontecer. Segundo eles, o sistema atual torna as empresas de pagamento dependentes do setor bancário sem qualquer benefício. NITI Aayog - representa o Instituto Nacional para a Transformar a Índia Aayog é a agência que recentemente anunciou diariamente, semanalmente e mega-prêmios em transações digitais para incentivar pagamentos sem dinheiro para consumidores e comerciantes para encorajar a transição para pagamentos digitais. Os prêmios serão oferecidos através de dois esquemas - o Lucky Grahak Yohajana para consumidores e o Digi-dhan Vyapari Yojana para comerciantes e a National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) implementará os esquemas. Sob o Lucky Grahak Yojana, 15.000 vencedores receberão Rs 1000 a cada dia a partir de 25 de dezembro e terminando em 14 de abril do próximo ano. Além disso, haverá prêmios semanais para 7000 pessoas, e o prêmio máximo vale Rs 1 lakh. O esquema vai de 25 de dezembro de 2016 a 14 de abril de 2017. Em 14 de abril, será anunciado um mega prêmio de Rs 1 Crore. Sob o Digi Dhan Vyapari Yojna, 7000 comerciantes vencedores receberão prêmios no valor de Rs 50,000 a cada semana, também dentro do mesmo período. Além disso, mega-awards serão anunciados em 14 de abril para consumidores e comerciantes. Ambos os esquemas abrangerão pequenas transações entre Rs.50 e Rs.3000 para incentivar cada seção da sociedade a passar para pagamentos digitais. IAF - significa que a Força Aérea da Índia é o serviço em que o muçulmano não pode crescer uma barba depois de se juntar a ela, pois a disciplina, a uniformidade e a coesão nas forças armadas não poderiam ser sacrificadas pelas crenças religiosas, que entraram em confronto com as regras da força de defesa. O Supremo Tribunal decidiu recentemente. Um banco do juiz principal TS Thakur e os juízes DY Chandrachud e L Nageswara Rao disseram que as forças de defesa foram obrigadas a manter um caráter secular quando pessoas de diferentes religiões e religiões se uniram para servir a nação e os regulamentos e as políticas de aparência pessoal não pretendiam discriminar Contra crenças religiosas. Assuntos atuais novembro de 2016 Samvat 2073 - o ano hindu que começou recentemente. Agni-I - o míssil balístico capaz de produzir armas construídas na região foi exitosamente testado a partir de um intervalo de testes da costa de Odisha, como parte de um teste de usuário pelo Exército da Índia. Foi testado por um iniciador móvel da plataforma de lançamento-4 da Gama de Teste Integrada (ITR) na Ilha Abdul Kalam (Ilha Wheeler). O último julgamento de Agni-I foi conduzido com sucesso em março de 2016 a partir da mesma base. Sobre o míssil Agni-I Agni-I é um míssil balístico de superfície a superfície de alcance intermediário. É o primeiro míssil da série Agni lançado em 1983. Rs 2.5 lakh - o montante permitido recentemente pelo governo da União para as famílias que comemoram os casamentos para se retirarem da conta bancária. Project Insight - o nome do projeto que é planejado pelo Departamento de Imposto de Renda para começar a partir de maio de 2017 para monitorar transações de alto valor, com o objetivo de reduzir a circulação de dinheiro preto. Este projeto foi iniciado para a mineração de dados, a coleta, a coleta e o processamento de tais informações para uma gestão efetiva dos riscos com o objetivo de ampliar e aprofundar a base tributária. O Project Insight é uma plataforma integrada que utilizará uma vasta quantidade de informações facilmente disponíveis nas redes sociais para realizar ataques on-line, em vez de maneira tradicional de realizar buscas aleatórias, conhecidas como ataques fiscais. O número de conta permanente (PAN) será o identificador exclusivo usado pelo departamento de imposto de renda para vincular e analisar várias transações relacionadas aos contribuintes. NSS - representa a Política Nacional de Inicialização de Estudantes, que é um programa lançado para promover a criação de empreendimentos orientados para a tecnologia. Foi lançado durante a segunda Conferência de Visitantes realizada em Rashtrapati Bhavan, Nova Deli. O NSSP foi formulado pelo Conselho da Índia para Educação Técnica (AICTE). Tem como objetivo criar 1 lakh com base em empresas de criação de estudantes e um milhão de oportunidades de emprego nos próximos 10 anos. Ele também pretende impulsionar a juventude indiana a contribuir para o progresso socioeconômico das nações através da promoção da criação de empreendimentos orientados para a tecnologia. O NSSP procura desenvolver um ecossistema empresarial ideal, emprestando habilidades suaves cruciais, como a tomada de decisões nos estudantes. Também busca promover fortes parcerias interinstitucionais entre instituições técnicas. Ministério dos Têxteis - eles lançaram um esquema de cartões de identidade de Pehchan para artesãos em Ahmedabad. Os cartões melhorados de Pehchan foram distribuídos aos artesãos de cinco grupos de Gujarat, nomeadamente Jamnagar, Naroda, Surendranagar, Amreli e Kalol. O esquema de cartões Pehchan foi lançado como parte da iniciativa Pehchan do Ministério da União Têxtil para registrar e fornecer cartões de Identidade (ID) para artesãos artesanais e vinculá-los a uma base de dados nacional. É um novo cartão de identificação atualizado para artesãos que estará vinculado com seus números Aadhar e contas bancárias para que eles possam receber benefícios diretos de transferência de dinheiro. 138º - o ranking da Índia em 2016 ICT Development Index com índice IDI de 2,69. Em 2015, situava-se na 135ª posição com o IDI de 2,50. A União Internacional de Telecomunicações da ONU (UIT) divulgou a edição de 2016 do Relatório de Medição da Sociedade da Informação. O relatório foi lançado em 22 de novembro de 2016 durante o Simpósio Mundial de Indicadores de Telecomunicações (WTIS). WTIS foi realizada no Botswana, África do Sul, de 21 de novembro a 23 de novembro de 2016. O índice da UIT elaborado após pesquisa de 175 economias do mundo foi liderado pela República da Coréia com IDI de 8,84. O Africano subsaariano Niger com um IDI de 1.07 classificado mais baixo. A Índia foi colocada no 138º posto Airtel - eles lançaram o Airtel Payments Bank Limited em 23 de novembro de 2016 lançaram o primeiro banco de pagamentos ao vivo da Índia no Rajasthan. O banco fornecerá um interesse de 7,25 por ano nos depósitos. O Banco lançou um piloto de seus serviços bancários no Rajasthan, que visa testar sistemas e processos antes de um lançamento pan-indiano em grande escala. Jaguar DARIN III - o avião de dois assentos em 24 de novembro de 2016 recebeu a Liquidação de Operação Inicial (COI). O COI é um marco significativo para o setor de aviação militar das Índias. A aeronave agora está equipada com sistema de aviónica de classe mundial. A gradação foi parte do plano de modernização da IAF para atualizar os aviões de combate Jaguar de quatro décadas. 82 - o número de satélites estrangeiros ISRO está planejando lançar em um tiro único ousado em 15 de janeiro de 2017. Fora deste 60 pertencem aos EUA, 20 são da Europa e 2 são criados no Reino Unido. O registro para o lançamento do maior número de satélites de uma só vez é atualmente ocupado pela Rússia, que lançou 37 satélites em 19 de junho de 2011. Se a missão em janeiro for bem sucedida, a Índia mais uma vez quebrará um recorde de espaço global - pela segunda vez em cerca de Dois anos e meio. Em 24 de setembro de 2014, em um sucesso recorde, a Índia entrou na órbita marciana na primeira tentativa, conquistando aclamação internacional. SAHYOG - o programa de doação de subsistência de Khadi India, onde se pode doar Rs.13500 para um Charkha. Trata-se de uma iniciativa de apoio à subsistência das raízes, onde as doações ajudarão mais de um milhão de artesãos que vivem na Índia rural, predominantemente mulheres a ter posse de Charkha, que pode sustentar uma família para a vida. 28 de outubro de 2016 - o Dhanwantari Jayanti, que recentemente foi comemorado como o primeiro dia nacional de Ayurveda. NAD - ele representa o National Academic Depository é a loja de certificados acadêmicos on-line que será iniciado pelo governo em breve. A proposta para isso foi aprovada recentemente pelo gabinete. Será implementado para os institutos o envio de certificados emitidos aos estudantes no final do ano lectivo. AQI - representa o índice de qualidade do ar que nos diz o quão limpo ou poluído é o ar. AQI tem seis categorias: Bom (0-50), Satisfatório (50-100), Moderado (100-200), Pobre (200-300), Muito Pobre (300-400), Grave (400-500). O AQI considera oito poluentes (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3 e Pb). Com base nas concentrações ambientais medidas desses poluentes, um subíndice é calculado para cada um desses e o pior subíndice reflete o AQI global. PM significa Particulate Matter. PM2.5 compreende partículas finas de diâmetro 2,5 micrómetros ou menos. Essas partículas são invisíveis a olho nu e só podem ser vistas usando um microscópio eletrônico. PM10 comprises coarse dust particles of diameter ranging between 2.5 to 10 micrometres. 87th - it is the rank of India globally in terms of gender equality on the annual Global Gender Index 2016 compiled by Geneva based World Economic Forum. India was ranked 108th in the 2015 index. Iceland has emerged at the top of the list followed by Finland. NCR - it is the US based ATM manufacturer recently bagged a Rs.334 crore order from SBI to install over 7,000 cash vending machines, making this the single largest order in the country. NCR is the largest player in the domestic ATM market with over 1 lakh cash vending machines running. SEBI - it stands for Securities and Exchange Board of India, the securities market regulator recently tightened rules for credit rating agencies (CRAs) as per the new circular issued recently. The new guidelines standardizes the rating criteria, method of public disclosures, the internal functioning of rating committees and disallows the suspension of ratings. Vigilance Awareness Week, 2016 - this is being celebrated from 31st October 2016 to 5th November 2016. The theme of this year celebrations are Public participation in promoting Integrity and Eradicating Corruption. 67 - it is the percent by which the global wildlife population could fall by an average between 1970 and 2020 as a result of human activities, according to World Wildlife Funds Living Planet Report 2016.The report indicated that the global populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles have already declined by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012.The report also highlights the magnitude of human impact on the planet and highlights the changes needed in the way society is fed and fuelled. According to the report, the top threats to species were directly linked to human activities including habitat loss, degradation and over exploitation of wildlife. 1st July, 2017 - it is the time after which the governments plan to make Indian languages support for mobile phones mandatory will become effective. The government was trying to notify the regulations by the end of this year but the initiative was delayed by issues raised by handset makers. Handset makers have pointed to difficulties in making the changes required and have sought more time. IIT-Kharagpur - the institute which recently developed tool to prevent train collision. Train journeys could soon be safer as scientists successfully tested a new tool for electronic railway interlocking system which prevents trains from colliding into each other. The tool suite is developed by the Computer Science and Engineering Department of the institute in collaboration with Research, Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) and Service Improvement Group (SIG) of the Indian Railways. The Indian Institute of Technology researchers said this project has the potential to be further extended to study and develop optimum traffic operation plans, alternative plans for emergencies. The Indian Railways, through RDSO, has awarded 12 research projects to IIT Kharagpurs Centre for Railway Research in the area of analysis and design of rolling stock, infrastructure, operations and maintenance. The Paris Agreement - this agreement on climate change came into force from 4th November, 2016. The Agreements entry into force comes a month after countries representing 55 of the worlds emissions committed to joining the deal -- the level required to put the agreement into action -- and less than a year after negotiators from nearly 200 countries agreed to the specifics of the text at the 2015 UN climate summit. India ratified the landmark Paris climate deal in October. Next weeks meeting in Marrakech will provide the first opportunity since that summit in Paris for all parties to the agreement to iron out implementation details. The Paris Agreement provides a valuable framework for countries to address climate change in an international context, but negotiators kicked many of the implementation details down the road, to be determined at later climate meetings, known as COPs. The rapid entry into force put pressure on negotiators to hash out those details sooner rather than later. 83.9 - the percent of the Budget Estimates in the first half of 2016-17 is the fiscal deficit of the centre. This is the highest in the first six months of a financial year since 1998-99, on account of elevated capital spending and higher salaries outgo. On revenue side, lower realisations from disinvestment and other streams hurt the exchequer. The gap between the Centres expenditure and revenue was significantly higher than 68.1 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous financial year. In fact, it was the highest for April-September period since 1998-99, the oldest year for which the data is available on the Controller General of Accounts website. The closest it came to was in 2014-15 when the deficit was 82.6 per cent of BE in the first half. The construction sector - the sector which is now Indias second-largest employer after agriculture, the trend coinciding with Indias high-growth phase and decline in poverty levels. Construction has played a major part, both in rural areas (through the 10-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which provides jobs building ponds, roads and other infrastructure) and urban areas (through real estate and infrastructure).Construction is a 126 billion (Rs 8.39 lakh crore) industry - larger than pharmaceuticals and gems and jewellery sectors, for example - attributed to the infrastructure sector, industrial activities, residential and commercial development. 7.9 - it is the rate of growth of GDP of India by SP India ratings which recently predicted a stable economy growth of India. International rating agency Standard Poors has affirmed its BBB-A-3 credit ratings for India. A BBB rating means the country has adequate capacity to meet its financial commitments. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity to meet its financial commitments. 31st October - it is the date every year on which National Unity day (also known as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) is celebrated by the people all through India. It is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who really unified the country. Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day was introduced by the Government of India in 2014 with the aim of celebrating this event every year on 31st October. The Micro Solar Dome (MSD) - it is a day and night lighting single device unique in its features, that has a transparent semi-spherical upper dome made of acrylic material which captures the sunlight and the light passes through a sun-tube having a thin layer of highly reflective coating on the inner wall of the passage. Surya Jyoti Project - it is a clear and green energy initiative of the Department of Science and Technology which will also supplement the Green Energy initiatives of Govt of India. Robot Lakshmi - Indias first banking robot Lakshmi made her debut in Chennai. Launched by the Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank, the artificial intelligence powered robot will be the first on-site bank helper. It can answer intelligently on more than 125 subjects. School Chalo - the name of operation which has been launched by the Indian Army in South Kashmir, under which it provides free coaching to students and makes them participate in extra-curricular activities. Mission Raftar - the name of the project introduced by Indian Railways to increase the train speed to up to 160 km per hour on the total 9000-km main trunk routes across the country. Strengthening of the track, upgrading of signalling system and fencing off vulnerable sections along the route are to be undertaken to ensure 160 km per hour speed. Currently, Mail and Express trains including Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains can speed up to 130 km. After the successful launch of Gatimaan Express, Railways has undertaken a mammoth exercise of reducing journey time on the Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes by increasing speed of trains to up to 160 km per hour at an estimated cost of about Rs 10,000 crore. Red Fort - the famous monument of Delhi which is the major theme of the new Rs.500 note. The new design in the Rs 500 denomination incorporates a different colour, size, theme, design and location of security features. The note, measuring 63 mm by 150 mm will be in a new colour (stone grey). Mars - the planet whose Indias low cost mission The Mangalayan will find place on the new Rs 2,000 note, which is a first under the denomination and it will be called the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series. The base colour of the note will be magenta and the size of the note will be 66 mm by 166 mm. Both the new designs, Rs 500 and Rs 2,000, will be very friendly towards the visually-impaired by having features which make it accessible for all sections. 1946 - the first time when the Rs. 1,000 and higher denomination notes were first demonetised. It was first demonetized in January 1946 and again in 1978. The highest denomination note ever printed by the Reserve Bank of India was the Rs. 10,000 note in 1938 and again in 1954. But these notes were demonetised in January 1946 and again in January 1978, according to RBI data. 133rd - the rank of India out of 183 countries in the 2016 Global Youth Development Index (YDI) compiled by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The Global Youth Development Index report measures countries prospects for young people in employment, education, health, civic and political spheres. The top 10 countries in 2016 are Germany (1), Denmark (2), Australia (3), Switzerland (4), UK (5), Netherlands (6), Austria (7), Luxembourg (8), Portugal (9) and Japan (10). Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana - a flagship scheme of MSDE launched recently with a fund support of Rs 499.94 Crores and will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over 7 Lakh students in 5 years through 3050 Institutes. It will also include easy access to information and mentor network, credit, incubator and accelerator and advocacy to create a pathway for the youth. Digital India - the theme adopted for the 36th edition of India International Trade Fair (IITF), started at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. 150 companies from 27 countries are taking part in the fair. The 2016 IITF has been organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), under aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This years partner country is South Korea and focus country is Belarus. Besides, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand are partner states and Haryana is focus state. This years theme highlights countrys persistent efforts to alleviate poverty through meaningful convergence of digital technologies and e-governance. Hand in Hand - the joint military training exercise held between India and China every year. Recently sixth edition of same started in Pune. The aim of the bilateral military exercise is to share the expertise in drills and practices while tackling insurgency and terrorism between Indian Army and Peoples Liberation Army of China. Thus, it seeks to promote healthy military to military relations between the two armies and developing joint strategies for conducting operations in a counter terrorism environment. CACP - it stands for Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices gives recommendation to Government for change in minimum support prices for certain important agricultural commodities like wheat, pulses etc. The Commission for Agricultural Costs Prices (CACP since 1985, earlier named as Agricultural Prices Commission) came into existence in January 1965. Currently, the Commission comprises a Chairman, Member Secretary, one Member (Official) and two Members (Non-Official). The non-official members are representatives of the farming community and usually have an active association with the farming community. The prices are decided by CCEA on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). Rs 100 - the amount which has been increased in the minimum support price of wheat. The procurement cost of wheat will be 1,625 rupees per quintal against 1,525 rupees per quintal last year. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has hiked the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat and pulses to boost the output of these Rabi crops and check prices. 14 November 2016 - the date on which super moon was observed. This is for the first time moon came closest to Earth since 1948. Last time, the moon came closer to earth on 26 January 1948. Next time the super moon will be observed on 25 November 2034. During this time moon will be even closer than this year. Super moon or perigee full moon is a phenomenon that occurs when a full moon coincides with the moon being the closest to the Earth on its orbit. During this time, the natural satellite appears roughly 30 larger in area and 30 brighter than the smallest full moons. In terms of diameter, the width of the moon is about 14 wider than the smallest full moons. SAIL - it stands for The Steel Authority of India limited which has won the prestigious 2016 Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance. It was bestowed with this award on account of its exemplary performance in the field of corporate governance i. e. for balancing the interests of all the stakeholders of the company management, customers, shareholders, suppliers, financiers, government and community. They are presented annually under various categories. The awards comprise to sets Global Awards and National Awards. SAIL is one of the largest state-owned steel in India and one of the top steel makers in world. Rustom-II (TAPAS 201) - Indias indigenously developed long-endurance combat-capable drone has successfully completed its maiden-flight. The test flight took place from Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka, which is a newly developed flight test range for the testing of UAVs and manned aircraft. RUSTOM-II is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV. The UAV weighs two tonnes. It has an endurance of 24 hours. It has been designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the Bangalore-based lab of DRDO. HAL and BEL are the production partners. CRPF - it stands for The Central Reserve Police Force which for the first time has deployed a team of women commandos in anti-Naxal operations in Jharkhand. The 135 women commandos belonging to the 232 battalions Delta Company have started carrying out anti-Naxal operations. CRPF is the largest central armed police force or paramilitary force in India. It functions under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Its primary role is to assist StatesUnion Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and contain insurgency. It was established in 1939, under Crown Representatives Police but after independence it was made statutory after enactment of the CRPF Act, 1949. At present, CRPF is the worlds largest paramilitary force with 228 battalions and over three lakh personnel. Ministry of Minority Affairs - the department of government which for the first time had inaugurated Hunar Haat (Skill Haat) at India International Trade Fair (2016) at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. It is aimed at promoting and supporting artisans from Minority communities and providing them domestic as well as international market for display and sell their products. The Hunar Haat exhibition has been organised by the National Minorities Development Finance Corporation (NMDFC) under USTTAD scheme In it about 184 master artisans from across the country are showcasing their traditional art and skills at about 100 stalls at the international platform. USTTAD stands for upgrading the Skills Training in Traditional ArtsCrafts for Development. It was launched by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs. NSSP - this stands for National Student Startup Policy is a programme launched to promote technology-driven student start-ups. It was launched during the second Visitors Conference held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The NSSP has been formulated by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). It aims to create 1 lakh technology based student start-ups and a million employment opportunities within the next 10 years. It also aims to propel Indian youth to contribute to the nations socio-economic progress through promotion of technology-driven student start-ups. NSSP seeks to develop an ideal entrepreneurial ecosystem by lending crucial soft skills like decision-making in the students. It also seeks to promote strong inter-institutional partnerships among technical institutions. Rs 2.5 lakh is the amount which was allowed by the Union Government recently for families celebrating weddings to withdraw from bank account. Current Affairs October 2016 Rs.2500 - the cap on fares for 1-hour flights by the government in its recently introduced UDAN scheme. From January 2017 the government will roll out its ambitious plan to introduce budget regional flying by connecting small towns by flights whose fares will be capped at Rs.2,500 for a one-hour flight. Termed Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik or UDAN, this regional connectivity scheme (RCS) will be funded by levying a fee on aircraft landing at bigger airports. DGCA - it stands for Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been allowed to penalise pilots and airlines found violating aviation safety norms by imposing fines and going beyond just suspension or cancellation of permissions, in a move that will give more power to aviation regulator. Presently, the DGCA only debars, suspends and sometimes cancels permission to fly for airlines, individual pilots or engineers who err on the wrong side but is not allowed to impose any monetary penalty. Sophia - the name of dog which along with horse Thunderbolt-- the four-legged soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police created history by becoming the first animals which were decorated with special service medals during the celebrations of the 55th Raising day of ITBP recently. While seven-year-old Thunderbolt is part of the Animal Transport unit of the force, lifeline of the force at high-altitude forward posts, three-year-old Sophia undertakes special sniffing operations to detect IEDs with her handler in Left Wing extremism hit areas of Chhattisgarh. The 80,000-personnel strong ITBP was raised in 1962 in the aftermath of the Chinese aggression and the force, apart from rendering border guarding duties, is tasked to carry out various activities in the internal security domain in the country. Air India - they recently earned the record of operating the longest non-stop flight in the world with its October 16, 2016 Delhi-San Francisco flight over the Pacific covering the 15,204 km journey in 14.5 hours, two hours less than the 13,900km Atlantic route. Despite the route being longer, the flight took almost two hours less due to the winds blowing in the same direction and thus making it go faster. TPC - it stands for Total Polar Compounds is the measure which can be used to continually monitor the changes in oil quality during frying. This was in the news recently after Indias top food regulatory body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) initiated a process that sets a maximum limit beyond which the edible oils become unsafe and must not be reused. Carbon Monoxide - it is one of the 100 toxic gases released by lithium-ion battery commonly used in smartphones and tablets as per the new study by researchers from the institute of NBC Defence in the US and the Tsinghua University in China. It was also found that a fully charged battery will release more toxic gases than a battery with 50 charge. Vaibhavi - the name christened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the new born daughter of a couple, Bharat Singh and Vibha Singh from Mirzapur. PM granted the wish of the Mirzapur couple after the infants mother wrote to him. GEAC - it stands for Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee is the central biotech regulator of India. It was in the news recently after the sub-committee submitted its report to the GEAC saying that GM mustard was safe for consumption and cultivation. 130 - it is the rank of India among 190 countries that had been surveyed for the annual rankings in the Ease of Doing Business list 2017 released by World Bank recently. The top 10 positions went to - New Zealand which was followed by Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Norway, United Kingdom, United States, Sweden and Macedonia. Rs.1.50 lakh per month - it is the monthly salary of President of India while it is Rs.1.25 lakhs for Vice-President of India. It was in the news recently after the Union Ministry prepared a proposal raising the emoluments of the two top functionaries. The move comes after the implementation of the 7th Pay recommendations which has created an anomalous situation in which the salary of President is Rs.1.00 lakhs less than the country top bureaucrat, the Cabinet Secretary. INS Viraat - it is the aircraft carrier which recently made its last voyage, sailing under tow from Kochi to Mumbai. It is the oldest aircraft carrier and the 28,000-tonne warship was inducted into the Indian Navy in May 1987. It was commissioned in the UKs Royal Navy in 1959. The British operated it for 27 years. The aircraft carrier will fly the Indian flag and the naval ensign till it is decommissioned. ePOS - it stands for electronic Point of Sales is the new system for monitoring transactions at fair price shops which has curtailed the scope of manipulation of purchase records and diversion of PDS grains to the open market. In India there are 5, 27,947 Fair Price Shops (FPS) in the country out of ePOS has been introduced in 1,54,628 shops. Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan are the states where all fair price shops are ePOS enabled. Great Indian Bustard - this bird along with vulture are two of the prominent birds among the 7 birds which are nearing extinction in India as per the biennial WWF study-the Living Planet report which takes stock of the global environment. 1989 - the year in which the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was formed. The FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001 the purpose expanded to act on terrorism financing. It was in the news recently after the BRICS Goa declaration reaffirmed commitment to the Financial Action Task Force international standards on combating money laundering and the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation. It also called for swift, effective and universal implementation of FATF on combating terrorist financing, including effective implementation of its operational plan. Rosneft - it is the Russias state-controlled oil giant who recently took over major stake in Indias second biggest private oil firm Essar Oil in an all-cash deal valued at about 13 billion (Rs 88,000 crore). Rosneft bought a 49 per cent stake in Essar Oils refinery port and petrol pumps, while Netherlands-based Trafigura Group Pte, one of the worlds biggest commodity trading companies, and Russian investment fund United Capital Partners split another 49 per cent equity equally. The remaining 2 per cent is held by minority shareholders after delisting of Essar Oil. The deal has an enterprise value of close to 13 billion, which includes Essar Oils debt of 4.5 billion (Rs 30,000 crore) and about 2 billion (Rs13,342 crore) debt with the port company and power plant. Also, the near 3 billion dues to Iran for past oil purchases will continue to be on Essar Oil books. Essar Oil, part of a steel-to-ports conglomerate controlled by the billionaire Ruia brothers, operates a 405,000-barrels-a-day refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat. The refining complex also has a captive power plant as well as a port and terminal facilities. The deal would help the Essar Group, one of Indias largest and most indebted conglomerates, trim its about Rs 88,000 crore (over 13 billion) debt and ward off creditor pressure. The deal was announced as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting of the leaders of the BRICS countries in Goa. The deal is the single largest foreign investment in the Indian refining sector and will strengthen the ties between the worlds largest oil producer and the worlds fastest growing fuel consumer. The acquisition is the biggest foreign acquisition ever in India and Russias largest outbound deal. Post Offices - it will be the new outlets for the sale of subsidised pulses by the government. In the absence of government outlets in states, the Centre will utilise huge network of post offices across the country to sell subsidised pulses, mainly tur, urad and chana, to ensure availability in the ongoing festival season. An inter-ministerial committee, headed by Consumer Affairs Secretary Hem Pande, took the decision at its meeting in New Delhi recently. There are 1.54 lakh post offices in the country, of which 1.39 lakh are in rural areas. The government has been releasing tur and urad from its buffer stocks for last many months to state governments as well as government agencies like Nafed and Mother Dairy for retail distribution at a subsidised rate in order to protect consumers from high prices. The government has targeted to create a buffer stock of 20 lakh tonnes this year and pulses are being procured directly from farmers in the domestic market and through imports. PRJA - which stands for Peoples Resurgence Justice Alliance is the name of new party launched by rights activist Irom Sharmila recently in Imphal. Recently she broke her 16-year-old hunger strike demanding repeal of the AFSPA and announced that she would take her battle to the next level by floating her party as she wants to become the chief minister of Manipur to press for the demands. INS Arihant - this is the countrys first armed nuclear submarine capable of delivering atomic weapons from land, sea and air which was commissioned into service recently after extensive sea-trials. The 6,000-ton, 110-metre-long INS Arihant (the Sanskrit name meaning Slayer of Enemies) is powered by a 83 MW pressurised light water nuclear reactor. The vessel has been built under the Advanced Technology Vessel Project at the Ship Building Centre Visakhapatnam. With this induction, India has also completed its nuclear triad, which has a no first-strike policy regarding the use of its nuclear weapons. Only five countries in the world -- US, UK, France, Russia and China have so far developed nuclear-armed submarines. Cairn India Ltd - the company whose plea to export its share of crude oil from Barmer oil field in Rajasthan was rejected by the Delhi high court recently. This was rejected on the ground that domestic crude cannot be exported till India attained self-sufficiency. It was said that in the instant case, as no notice of India attaining self-sufficiency was given to Cairn, it can only claim compensation from the government for not picking up its share of crude from the oil field. Under the production sharing contract (PSC) between Cairn and the Centre, the company gets 70 per cent of the crude produced from Barmer, with the rest going to the government. Four - the slab GST tax structure of 6, 12, 18 and 26 per cent with lower rates for essential items and the highest for luxury goods that will also be levied with an additional cess was mooted recently at the GST Council meet recently. With a view to keep inflation under check, the proposal sponsored by the Centre proposed to continue exempting food items from tax as well as keep 50 per cent of the common use goods in either exempt category or lower band. Also, 70 per cent of the items is proposed to be governed by 18 per cent of lower GST rate. But ultra-luxury items like high-end cars and demerit goods like tobacco, cigarettes, aerated drinks, luxury car and polluting items would attract an additional cess on top of the 26 per cent GST rate. The panel that also includes representatives of all states, agreed on keeping base year for calculating the revenue of a state at 2015-16 and considering a secular growth rate of 14 per cent for calculating the likely revenue of each state in the first five years of implementation of GST. Brahmos - these missiles are the one whose new generation series is going to be developed jointly by New Delhi and Moscow. The new generation of Brahmos missiles with 600 km-plus range will have the ability to hit protected targets with pinpoint accuracy. This range enables these missiles to strike anywhere within Pakistan. That Russia can work with India to produce these missiles has been possible due to New Delhi joining the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in June 2016. Brahmos current range is 300 km, which makes it difficult to hit targets deep inside Pakistan. India has ballistic missiles with longer range than the next generation Brahmos. But Brahmos ability to take down specific targets, even well-protected ones, makes it a potential game changer in any conflict with Pakistan. Ballistic missiles are powered for the initial half of their flight path and they use gravity to complete their trajectory. But cruise missiles are powered throughout. NBCC - the company in which the government recently initiated steps for its 15 per cent stake sale. The government holds 90 per cent in the company, which has a market capitalisation of Rs 15,180 crore. The Union Cabinet had in July this year cleared disinvestment in the project management consultancy and Real Estate Development Company. The stake sale is part of the governments Rs 56,600 crore disinvestment programme for the current fiscal. So far this fiscal, the government has raised Rs 6,414 crore through OFS and buyback of equity. NBCC is the third disinvestment through offer for sale (OFS) route by the government in the current fiscal. It had sold 7 per cent stake in Hindustan Copper to raise Rs 400 crore in September and 11.36 per cent in NHPC in April to garner Rs 2,716 crore. INS Tihayu - the high tech water jet fast attack craft which was commissioned by the Indian Navy recently. Vice-Admiral H C S Bisht, Flag Officer Commanding-In-Chief of the ENC, commissioned the ship, built by Garden Reach Shipbuilder and Engineers, at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. INS Tihayu, specifically built for meeting needs of extended coastal and offshore surveillance and patrol, has a length of 49.9 metres and maximum breadth of 7.5 meters. Named after an island in Nicobar, the vessel has an endurance of 2,000 nautical miles at 12 to 14 knots of economical speed. April 2017 - the period from which no manufacturer will be allowed to produce vehicles that dont meet BS-IV emission norms as per the road transport ministrys notification. However it doesnt mention that already manufactured vehicles cannot be sold. The Supreme Court-appointed pollution control watchdog Environment Protection Control Authority (EPCA) recently threw a surprise suggesting that vehicle manufacturers should stop selling vehicles that are BS-III compliant from April 2017. UDAN - which stands for Udey Desh Ka AamNagrik is the ambitious program of government set to give wings to its ambitious regional air connectivity scheme. The government had on July1,2016 unveiled the draft scheme which fixed all-inclusive fares at Rs.2500 for one-hour flight in its attempt to make flying affordable for common man. The Ministry of Urban Development - this department recently signed a MoU with Ministry with Ministry of Railways under which railway stations and adjoining areas will be redeveloped on smart city lines for enhancing passenger amenities, providing easy access to stations and enabling optimal utilization of land at railway stations. CIPAM which stands for Cell for IPR Promotion and management has been created as a professional body under the aegis of DIPP to take forward the implementation of National IPR Policy that was approved by the government in May 2016. Current Affairs September 2016 India - it is the fourth country to demonstrate the flight testing of Scramjet Engine after the United States, Russia and European Space Agency. India recently successfully test fired its futuristic Scramjet (Supersonic Combustion Ramjet) Rocket Engine using oxygen from the atmosphere that could cut the cost of the launches several fold and help in Indian Space Research Organisations bid to design advanced air breathing engines. The first experimental mission of Scramjet Engine was successfully conducted from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh recently. Scramjet engine designed by the ISRO uses Hydrogen as fuel and the Oxygen from the atmospheric air as the oxidiser. Usually, rocket engines carry both fuel and oxidiser on board for combustion, but these newly developed engines with air-breathing propulsion system will use oxygen from the atmosphere thereby reducing the lift-off mass of the vehicle. It will also help in bring down launch costs substantially. August 29 - this day is celebrated as National Sports Day in India. This day marks the birthday of Dhyan Chand, the hockey player who won gold medals for India in the years 1928, 1932 and 1936. This day is celebrated by organizing friendly matches between different Indian hockey teams at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, which was constructed in the respect and honor of Dhyan Chand. E-rickshaws and e-carts - they will no longer require permits to ply on roads but states can impose restrictions on them under appropriate traffic laws regarding their movement in certain areas as per the decision taken by the government recently. According to the notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the provisions of the sub-section (1) of section 66 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, will not apply to e-carts and e-rickshaws (as defined in section 2A of the Act,) that are used for carrying goods or passengers with personal luggage. The notification has removed the legal hurdles in the way of running of electric rickshaws as last mile connectivity. As per the notification, e-rickshaws have been allowed to carry four passengers and 40 kg luggage while e-carts would transport goods up to 310 kg. Tata Motors - the company whose controversial acquisition of 997.11 acres of land in Singur in 2006 by the then Left Front government in West Bengal to set up the ambitious Nano car manufacturing plant was set aside by the Supreme Court recently. They agreed that the land should be restored in 12 weeks to the owners and cultivators after completing the survey, identification and other formalities within 10 weeks. The apex court said the state government cannot claim back the amount of compensation given to the land-losers as it had enjoyed the right over the acquired land for 10 years. Rs. 10 lakh - the amount of insurance cover being offered by Railways on booking a train ticket online which started from 1st September 2016. A person booking a train ticket through the IRCTC website will be able to opt for travel insurance cover for a premium of 92 paise only. The new facility will be available to all passengers, excluding those travelling by suburban trains while booking online irrespective of the class. The cover will not be applicable for children upto 5 years of age and foreign citizens. It will be for passengers holding tickets such as confirmed, RAC and wait-listed ones. The scheme offers travellersnomineeslegal heirs a compensation of Rs 10 lakh in the event of death or total disability, Rs 750,000 for partial disability, up to Rs 200,000 for hospitalisation expenses and Rs 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains from the place of a train accident or where an untoward incident, including terrorist attack, dacoity, rioting, shootout or arson, occurs. However, no refund of the premium will be given in case of cancellation of the ticket. Avanti Finance - the name of proposed microfinance firm which is going to be started by Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata, former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani and National Institute of Public Finance and Policy chairman Vijay Kelkar. Avanti will apply to the RBI for registration and is expected to start operations before the end of financial year. 72nd - the rank of IITs in Delhi and Mumbai in the recently released Reuters list of Top 75 Asias Most Innovative Universities. The list identifies institutions doing the most advance science, invent new technologies and help drive the global economy. The list is topped by KAIST of South Korea followed by University of Tokyo, Japan. The Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the only other Indian Institute in the list, is ranked 73 7.1 - the percentage of GDP growth of India during the quarter April to June 2016 which was slowest in 15 months. Despite the slowdown, India remains the worlds fastest growing major economy, ahead of 6.7 growth in China. GDP growth slowed mainly due to subdued performance of mining, construction and farm sectors. Sony Pictures - the company which recently announced its deal to buy the Ten Sports from Zee Entertainment for 385 million (Rs2850 crore). This sale will consolidate the sports broadcast market in India between Sony Pictures and Star India, with Nimbus retaining the third spot. Rs.3.93 lakh crore - the amount of Fiscal deficit in the first four months of the current financial year i. e. April - July 2016 which was 73.3 of the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2016-17. Fiscal deficit, which is the gap between expenditure and revenue for the entire current fiscal has been pegged at Rs.5.33 lakh crore or 3.5 of the GDP for 2016-17. 75 - the percentage of money the government agencies and public bodies will have to pay to the contractors against a bank guarantee in case of any dispute of payment as per the new Cabinet decision. This move will unlock thousands of crores and infuse liquidity into the stressed construction sector. 10 years - the period of residence which can be allowed to foreign investors if they invest Rs.10 crore over 18 months or Rs.25 crore over three years, resulting in jobs for at least 20 residents every fiscal as per the new policy approved by the Union cabinet recently. The residency permit can be extended by a decade. Up to now, such investors have been eligible for business visas lasting up to five years. Rs.300 per day - the revised minimum wages in C category area for agricultural workers as announced by government recently which was previously Rs.211 per day. The daily wages for non-agriculture workers was Rs.246 which has now increased to Rs.350 per day. Trinamool Congress - the party which was recently recognized by the Election Commission as a national party. National party status for Trinamool comes after EC recently revised norms for recognition of parties, allowing for review of a partys recognition based on its performance over two consecutive polls. 2050 - the year by which India is now expected to achieve the goal of universal primary education as per recently released UNESCOs new Global Education Monitoring report. As per the report India will be half a century late in achieving its global education commitments and the country needs fundamental changes in the education system if it wants to meet the 2030 sustainable development goals. UNESCOs report says that based on current trends universal primary education in Southern Asia will be achieved in 2051, lower secondary in 2062, and upper secondary in 2087. India is expected to achieve universal primary education in 2050, universal lower secondary education in 2060 and universal upper secondary education in 2085. INSAT-3DR - on-board GSLV-F05, is the advanced weather satellite which was launched by ISRO recently. The launch of the GSLV-F05 marks the tenth flight of Indias Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, designed to inject 2 to 2.5 ton class of satellites in geostationary orbits. The rocket is almost 49 meters high -- as much as a 17-floor building. It weighs 415 tons -- as much as the combined weight of 80 full grown elephants. GSLV-F05 is significant since it is the first operational flight of GSLV carrying Cryogenic Upper Stage. The INSAT-3DR satellite is an improvement of its predecessor -- INSAT-3D. The new satellite possesses an atmospheric sounding system which allows it to map vertical changes of humidity, temperature and ozone content in Earths atmosphere. The INSAT-3DR will provide a variety of meteorological services to the country Flexi fare system - the new concept of pricing of tickets which has been introduced by Railways in 2AC, Chair Car and 3AC for premier trains - Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi from September 9.The base fare for Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains will be on flexi fare system. However, there will be no change in the existing fare for 1AC and Executive Class of travel in premier trains. While 10 per cent of the seats will be sold in the normal fare in the beginning, it will go on increasing by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold with the ceiling limit at maximum 50 per cent depending upon the demand. For 2AC and Chair Car, the maximum hike is 50 per cent while for 3AC, it is 40 per cent. Other supplementary charges like reservation charges, superfast charge, catering charges, and service tax as applicable shall remain unchanged. There are total 42 Rajdhani trains, 46 Shatabdi and 54 Duronto trains. ICICI Bank - the countrys largest private sector lender, is employing robots to perform tasks like generating customer IDs, updating addresses and mobile numbers, resolving ATM-related queries, etc. Claiming to be the first Indian bank to use software robotics, ICICI Bank claimed recently that the use of this technology has helped them in reducing response time by up to 60 per cent. Software robotics is essentially a step up over automation, where bots ensure applications can interact seamlessly. BYJUs - a Bengaluru-based education technology firm is the first venture where Facebook founder Mark Zuckerbergs investment arm for education and healthcare, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, has made its first investment in Asia. The 50 million commitment saw funding from investors such as Sequoia Capital, Sofina and Lightspeed Ventures, and Times Internet. The investment would be used for expansion. The BYJUs app has been downloaded more than 5.5 million times and reached 250,000 annual subscribers across India. It has an average engagement rate of 40 minutes per day and 90 per cent of users renew their subscription. 1.4 million - the number of lives which was lost in India in 2013 due to air pollution as per the World Bank report released recently. As per the report released by the World Bank and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, in 2013 more than 5 million deaths worldwide were attributed to health conditions caused by air pollution. China and India were ranked 4th and 6th respectively in the world in the deaths per million due to air pollution in 2013. Greek Landscape - the iconic grey painting by iconic modernist Akbar Padamsee which was recently sold for Rs.19.2 crore(2.9 million),setting a new auction record for the artist. It also became the fifth priciest work by an Indian artist with VS Gaitonde in the No.1 slot (Rs.29.3 crore). Current Affairs August 2016 6040 - it is the admission formula which was scrapped recently by the Joint Entrance Examination Apex Board(JAB) for admission to the 31 National Institutes of Technology(NIT), Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology(IIEST-Shibpur, IIITs and government institutes. Now the minimum qualification criteria would be 75 marks in higher secondary (HS) exam or rank among the top 20 percentile in their board exams. 15years - it is the period for which NITI Aayog is likely to form a committee of experts to estimate the demand for food supplies and chart out a roadmap to meet the requirement. This was finalised in a meeting of Niti Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Aayog was asked to adjust food production targets based on public consumption trends as it would help prioritize what would be required in future, considering the implications of an evolving middle class in India. Universal banks - these banks in the private banks are the on e for which the Reserve Bank of India released the final guidelines for their on-tap licensing, under which it ring-fenced the banking system from large industrial houses, excluding them from floating banks in the future. But conglomerates have been allowed to hold up to 10 per cent in the lenders. For this purpose, RBI defined large group NBFC as an entity which is a part of a group having total assets of Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) or with the non-financial business of the group not accounting for 40 per cent or more in terms of total assets or gross income. The minimum paid-up equity capital for a bank would be Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion). The bank shall open at least 25 of its branches in un-banked, rural centres. Rs. 10,000 - it is the fine for drunken driving which has been proposed in the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016 which was approved by Government recently. The bill also has provision of up to Rs. 10 lakh compensation in case of road fatality and Rs 2 lakh compensation for hit-and-run cases. The proposals are based on the recommendations of transport ministers from 18 states, and the bill includes penalties in the range of Rs 1000-Rs 4000 for over-speeding. As per the bill, driving without insurance will be punishable with Rs. 2,000 fine andor three-month imprisonment, while driving without helmets will attract Rs. 2,000 fine and 3-month suspension of licence. The provisions also include that guardianowner will be deemed to be guilty in case of road offence by juveniles while registration of the vehicle will be cancelled. April 1, 2017 - it is the target date for rollout of the Goods and Services Tax as per the detailed roadmap for its implementation unveiled by government recently. The government also said it is aiming for an optimal rate of taxation though the final decision will be taken by the GST Council. Once implemented, the GST will subsume various taxes, including excise, services tax, octroi and other levies and the proceeds will be shared between the Centre and states. 7th August - this day is celebrated every year as National Handloom Day. This day is celebrated to mark the 1905 Swadeshi movement. It was on August 7, 1905 that the formal proclamation of the Swadeshi Movement was made in a meeting at the Calcutta Town hall. The movement involved boycotting British products and the revival of domestic products and production processes. 31st October - the name of film starring Soha Ali Khan and Vir Das based on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhis assassination that was recently cleared by the censor board. Directed by National award winning film maker Shivaji Lotan Patil, the movie is based on the aftermath of Indira Gandhis assassination. 6.5 percent - the repo rate presently which was kept unchanged by Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan recently in the 3rd bi-monthly monetary policy review citing upside risks to the Reserve Banks inflation target for March 2017. Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to the system has been retained at 6.5 per cent, while the reverse repo rate which is paid to banks has been maintained at 6 per cent. The Cash Reserve Ratio will be at 4 per cent. On growth, RBI maintained its projection of 7.6 per cent on a gross value addition basis, saying the favourable monsoon which is 3 per cent above the average which raises agricultural growth and rural demand and higher consumption on the back of the 7th Pay Commission implementation will be aiding it. Jaldoot Train - the name of train which was deployed to supply water from Miraj town to Latur in Marathwada. Since its first run in April2016 to then parched Latur, the train delivered 2.79 crore litre water to the drought-affected town till completing its 111th and last trip recently. The train, run jointly by Indian Railways and state government, filled up 50 wagons with water from Miraj junction and carried it 340-km away to Latur city on its last trip. 3cm - the average growth in height of Indian men between 1914 and 2014 which has taken the average height of men in India to 165cm(55) while women grew taller by 5cm to take the average height to 153cm(51). The men from Netherlands with average height of 182.5cm and women from Latvia with average height of 169.8cm are the tallest. These findings are based on study conducted by Imperial College, London. NW1 - the name of countrys first national waterway which was notified in October 1986 and its total length is 1620km. It was in the news recently after the government launched its first trial of cargo transport carrying 200 newly assembled Maruti cars and another 1000tonnes building material from Varanasi to Kolkata. 2017 - it is the year from which there will be no separate Railway Budget in India putting an end to a practice that started in 1924. The finance ministry has agreed to railway ministry proposal to merge the annual exercise with the general budget. 3days - it is the period fixed by the Reserve Bank of India for customers to report the unauthorized electronic transactions to get the benefit of zero liability in third party frauds. This means banks will have to make goods the losses suffered by customers. In case where the victim notifies the fraud between 4 and 7 days after coming to know about it, the customers liability will be capped at Rs.5, 000. In a draft notification issued recently RBI said that if a bank employee is responsible for the fraud the customer must get his money back irrespective of whether it is reported in time or not. 66th - it is the rank of India as per report by the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which calls for more transparent policies if the country aspires to become a global driver of innovation India moved up 15 spots from 81st last year to 66th this year in the overall global rankings. The top rankers are: Switzerland 1, Sweden 2, UK 3, USA 4.The Global Innovation Index 2016, released by the WIPO, Cornell University, and the multi-nation business graduate school INSEAD, said India ranks among the top 50 economies overall in two pillars: market sophistication, 33, and knowledge and technology out-puts, 43. Machhli - the name of the legendary Ranthambore tigress that died recently. She was 19 years old. She is believed to have died of age-related issues. Also referred to as T 16, Machhli was probably the worlds most photographed tigress. She was named Machhli because of the marks on her face that resemble a fish. She had contributed more than 10 million a year to the economy of Ranthambore over the last 10 years. Bharatiya Mahila Bank - it is the wholly-owned bank by the government started in 2013 which is going to be merged with State Bank of India by March 2017. The State Bank of India recently approved the share swap ratios for the merger of five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself. SBI will also issue 44.2 million shares to the government for one billion shares of Bharatiya Mahila Bank. 90 paise - it is the insurance premium which will be charged by Indian Railways (IR) from September 2016 for coverage of Rs.10 lakhs. At first, insurance would be available for those who book tickets online. Later, the scheme could be extended to season ticket travellers, where for a premium of Rs 200-300, they will get annual coverage. IR has selected three insurance companies - Shriram General Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance and Royal Sundaram General Insurance - for insuring its passengers. Each would get insurance policies on a rotation basis from an automated system. The railway scheme is in line with the present governments policy of affordable insurance schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Suraksha Bima Yojana, where for an annual premium of Rs 330 and Rs 12, respectively, consumers get coverage of up to Rs 200,000. 20 - it is the hike which has been made in the pension of the freedom fighters after it was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the nation on the 70th Independence Day from the Red Fort. There are around 37,000 freedom fighters in the country. The existing dearness relief system based on All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial workers, which was hitherto applied to freedom fighter pensioners on annual basis, is being discontinued and replaced by the dearness allowance system applicable to central government employees twice a year. 20ft - it is the cap on height of Dahi Handi as per the recent decision of Supreme Court. The court also directed that no one below 18 years of age can take part in human pyramids formed to celebrate Janmashtami. 10 years - the new time period fixed by the Election Commission to review the national and state party status of political parties instead of the present five. A commission notification said while the criteria of being recognised as a national and state party will remain unchanged, the review of the status will take place every two consecutive Lok Sabha or assembly elections instead of one. Recognition as a national or a state party ensures that the election symbol of that party is not used by any other political entity in polls across India. Other registered but unrecognised political parties have to choose from a pool of free symbols announced by the commission from time to time. Besides, these parties get land or buildings from the government to set up their party offices. They can have up to 40 number of star campaigners during electioneering. Others can have up to 20 such star campaigners. A political party becomes eligible to be recognised as a national party if it has won 2 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states in the latest general election or in a Lok Sabha or assembly election it has polled 6 per cent of the total valid votes in at least four states, in addition to winning four Lok Sabha seats or it has been recognised as a state party in at least four states. Rs.4.31 crore - the price at which the suit donned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his meeting with United States President Barack Obama in New Delhi in 2015 was auctioned which has now entered the Guinness World records as the most expensive suit sold at auction. The suit was purchased by Surat based diamond trader Lalji Patel who owns Dharmananda Diamonds Company. The suit which has stripes with Narendra Damodardas Modi woven into gold letters was reportedly prepared at a cost of Rs.10 lakh. 7th - the position of India according to the report by the New World Health as India figured among the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world with a total individual wealth of 5,600 billion. The US is the wealthiest in the world in terms of total individual wealth held at (48,900 billion) while china stood second and Japan third with a wealth of 17,400 billion and 15,100 billion respectively. Wealth refers to net assets of a person, including assests (property, cash, equities, business interests). UPI - it stands for Unified Payments Interface operated by which National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which went live recently. It is an application that will make money transfer as easy as sending a text message by allowing real-time money transfer. By using this application, a customer can transfer money to another person through a unique virtual address (virtual addresses are aliases to a bank account allowing a customers account to be uniquely mapped), or mobile number, or Aadhaar number. Therefore, customers do not need to know the payees bank account details, etc, and this will make the process simpler. It is currently available for a customer of 21 banks. UPI is a payment solution which empowers a recipient to initiate the payment request from a smartphone. It facilitates virtual payment address as a payment identifier for sending and collecting money and works on single click 2-factor authentication. The soft launch of UPI was announced by the outgoing Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan in April this year and was under pilot run, mainly with employee-customers, for some time. After assessing the success of pilot run, RBI had accorded its final approval for public launch of the product. 25 - it is the new cap on exposure limit of banks to a single borrower group which was recently announced by Reserve Bank of India. At present banks can go up to 55 of their tier-I capital in case of infra loans. In case of individual entities the limit has been raised from 15 to 20. The central bank also proposed to allow corporate bonds as a collateral for short term borrowings under repo - a mechanism where bonds are sold and bought back at predetermined prices. These steps have been announced to prevent banks from building up large exposures to a few big corporate and move them to bond market. Rs. 70 lakhs - it is the expense limit set by Election Commission for each candidate for the Lok Sabha elections and Rs.28 lakhs for assembly polls for bigger states. For some states the limit is Rs.54 lakh and Rs.20lakh for Lok Sabha and assembly polls respectively. Till 1997 the limit was Rs.15 lakhs for LS polls and Rs.6 lakh for Assembly polls for most states. It was in the news recently after the Supreme Court ruled that the market value of the campaign materials fixed by the Election Commission is not sacrosanct. Gratuity - it is the benefit which has been extended to all government employees recruited after January 2004. The Centre and many state governments switched to the new pension scheme (NPS) from January 1, 2004 that required employees to contribute 10 of their monthly salary towards their pension with a matching contribution from the government. Gratuity is calculated as a proportion of the last salary drawn and takes into account the number of years put in by the employee. The upper limit for the gratuity was recently raised from Rs.10lakh to Rs.20lakh in line with the recommendation of the seventh Pay Commission. As per the pension department order issued recently all government employees covered by the NPS shall be eligible for the benefit of retirement gratuity and death gratuity on same terms and conditions as applicable to other employees. Current Affairs July 2016 105 - it is the rank of India on a Worldwide Human Capital Index, which measures countries ability to nurture, develop and deploy talent for economic growth. The list was topped by Finland. India ranks much below Chinas 71st position while Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are also placed higher on the index released recently by Geneva-based World Economic Forum. India was ranked 100th last year out of total 124 countries included in the 2015 index. Tejas - it is the name of the locally produced light combat aircraft that will be now be inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) after 33 years the project was approved. The single-engine planes, a much delayed replacement for ageing MiG-21 fighters are being manufactured by Bengaluru based Hindustan aeronautics Limited (HAL) NPPA - its stands for National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority and was in the news recently after it fixedrevised ceiling prices of 45 scheduled formulation of Schedule-I under Drugs(Price Control) Amendments Order,2016.The authorities has also fixed the retail price of 12 formulations under Drugs Price Control Order,2013. The government fixes the prices of essential drugs based on the simple average of all medicines in a particular therapeutic segment having sales of more than 1. Companies are allowed to increase the prices of such drugs by up to 10 in a year. 7th Pay Commission - the commission, whose recommendations were cleared by Union Cabinet recently. About 1 crore (10 million) central government employees and pensioners are going to get the benefit of hike. The pay panel had in November recommended 14.27 per cent hike in basic pay at junior levels, the lowest in 70 years. The previous 6th Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.After considering the increase proposed in allowances, the hike in remunerations comes to 23.55 per cent. 7.6 - it is the percentage of bad loans of banks (as percentage of total advances) as on 31st March 2016 as against 5.1 as of 30th September, 2015. 8.5 is the estimated percentage of gross bad loans as of 31st March, 2017. The top 100 borrowers of banks accounted for 19.3 of bad loans as on 31st March, 2016, a surge from just 2.9 in September 2015. The clean - up process initiated by RBI has resulted in bad loans stocks of banks rising to a record Rs.5.8 lakh crore as of 31st March, 2016. These datas are based on Foreword to the RBIs Financial Stability Report written by the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan. 30th September, 2016 - it is the last date of the Income Declaration Scheme 2016 that gives tax evaders the opportunity to declare undisclosed income or face strong punitive action. The scheme announced in this year budget opened on 1st June, 2016. Those who had under-reported their income or assets for the previous assessment years have the option to come clean by paying tax, interest and penalty totaling 45 of the undisclosed income. Varunastra - the name of indigenously-built heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo which was formally handed over to the Indian Navy by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar recently. With this, India has joined the list of eight countries having the capability to design and build such a system. Having almost 95 per cent indigenous content, Varunastra, costing about Rs. 10-12 crore per unit, is capable of targeting quiet and stealthy submarines, both in deep and littoral waters in intense counter-measure environment. Varunastra weighs around 1.25 tonnes and can carry about 250 kg of explosives at a speed of around 40 nautical miles an hour. Prashikshak - it is the name of the Teacher Education Portal which was launched recently by Ministry of Human resources Development in association with NCTE. The features of portal are that it will have database about all DIETs, comparative index for DIETs, data analytic report and monitoring of CSSTE related parameters. The mission is to foster District Institute of Education and Training (DIETs) through Teacher Education Portal (TEP). Madras High Court - the name of this court along with Bombay High Court will undergo a change in their names after the Cabinet approved a law ministry proposal to change the name of these two high courts through an Act of Parliament to correspond to the present names of the cities Mumbai and Chennai respectively. The proposal of the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry is to bring a bill-The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016-to rename the two High Courts established in 1860s under Indian High Court Act, 1861. 3 years - it is the period for which the tax holidays are available to Startups in India in a block of initial five years. If a tax holiday is to be availed, the entity is required to be set up between April1, 2016 and March31, 2019 with an approval of an inter-ministerial board set up by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). 25 lakh or more - it is the amount which can be received by Startups via the convertible note route in a single tranche from a person which will not be termed as a deposit. Such a convertible note is to be turned into equity or repaid within 5 years. Owing to this relaxation, the stringent rules relating to informing the registrar of companies (RoC) or creating a deposit repayment reserve in the books of accounts will not apply to start up receiving funds via convertible notes. But this relaxation is available only to those startups meeting the government prescribed norms. Rs.331.75 - it is the monthly per capita spending on services in rural India as against Rs.819.36 in urban areas as per the data from the 72nd round of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) carried out between July 2014 and June 2015. 26th May 2016 - it is the date from which the affixing label of Star rating of electric consumption has been mandatory on Colour TVs and Direct Cool Refrigerators. Mandatory labeled appliances now are frost free refrigerator, tubular fluorescent lamps, distribution transformers, room air conditioners, direct cool refrigerators and colour televisions. Sankat Mochan - the name of operation aimed at evacuating over 500 Indians stuck in the war-torn South Sudan which got underway recently. The operation is being spearheaded Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh with the help of two C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force from South Sudans capital Juba. Rs.3.00 lakhs - the amount over which the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has sought a ban on cash transactions, limiting cash holdings and allowing the government to take over undisclosed cash beyond the threshold and overseas income. Pointing to rules in country such as France and Italy, the panel has proposed that cash transactions beyond Rs.3.00 lakhs be declared illegal and punishable under the law. 10crore - the prescribed turnover of jewelers up to which the income tax department will not conduct search and seizure operations or challenge valuations regarding purity or weight of the metal, though the central government will not withdraw the 1 excise on non-silver jewellery. These are part of the recommendations of a panel headed by former chief economic advisor, Ashok Lahiri whose recommendations were accepted by the finance ministry recently. 1gm - it is the minimum subscription which has been allowed in the 4th Tranche of the Sovereign Gold Bond which was issued by Government of India recently. These bonds have a tenure of 8 years with exit options in 5th, 6th and 7th year also. Rs.22915 crore - the amount of capital which has been provided by the government recently to 13 PSU banks including SBI, PNB and IOB to enhance their lending operations and enable them to raise more money from the market. This is the first tranche of capital infusion for the fiscal and more funds would be provided in future depending upon the performance of PSU banks. The capital infusion exercise for the current fiscal is based on an assessment of need as assessed from the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of credit growth for the last five years, banks own projections of credit growth and an objective assessment of the potential for growth of each PSBs Deen Dayalu - it is the name of first modern unreserved coach which was rolled out recently by Railways. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the first Deen Dayalu coach in New Delhi recently. It will have facilities like potable drinking water, mobile charging points and bio-toilets among others to improve quality of travelling in general class. IISc, Bangalore - it was ranked the top Indian institute in BRICS 2016 rankings. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), global higher education analysts and compilers of the QS World University Rankings release a ranking of the best universities in the BRICS nations every year. 7.4 percent - it is the growth projections for 2016-17 for India which has been trimmed by International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently, a drop of 0.1 per cent from its previous forecast, attributing it to a more sluggish investment recovery while declaring Brexit as a spanner in the global economic recovery. Updating its growth projection from the one it issued in April 2017, the IMF said in 2016 and 2017 India is projected to grow at a rate of 7.4 per cent. This it said is a drop of 0.1 per cent in both the years. According to IMF, Chinas growth rate in 2016 and 2017 would be 6.6 and 6.2 per cent. 14 years - it is the age below which employment of children has been made a cognizable offence for employers and provides for penalty for parents. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill makes employment of children below 14 years as cognizable offence for employers and provides for penalty for parents. The Bill defines children between 14-18 years as adolescents and lays down that they should not be employed in any hazardous occupations and processes. NHAI - stands for National Highways Authority of India which plans to raise up to 750 million (around Rs.5000 crore) through green masala bonds that will be listed on the London Stock Exchange soon. Housing finance major HDFC became the first Indian company to list masala bonds-denominated in Indian rupees-on the London Stock Exchange when it raised Rs.3000 crore last week. Masala bonds-the name is derived from the Hindi word for spice-are instruments through which Indian entities can raise funds in rupees by accessing overseas capital markets while bond investors hold the currency risk. INS Viraat - the Indias majestic aircraft carrier which is being decommissioned after nearly six decades in service. Viraat had first served British Navy for over 30 Years before being bought by India. Viraat was originally commissioned by British Royal Navy as HMS Hermes on November 18, 1959. Startup Village - the countrys first public-private partnership business incubator, has been named Indias best startup incubator. Startup Village is ranked number one in a first-of-its-kind comprehensive ranking by the India edition of Entrepreneur Magazine of the 100 best startup incubators in India (25 across sectors and 75 sector specific). BharatNet - formerly National Optical Fibre Network project, is the ambitious project planned to improve internet penetration in rural areas. The government is in the process of establishing a massive network infrastructure by connecting all 250,000 gram panchayats through optical fibre, providing broadband connectivity by all categories of service providers which will be implemented in three phases. In the first phase, 100,000 gram panchayats will be connected by March 2017, and this connectivity would be further extended to the remaining 150,000 panchayats by December 2018. The third phase involving a future-proof network involving fibre between districts and blocks, is planned to be completed by 2023. AN-32 - it is the name of Indian Air Forces Port Blair bound transport plane went missing after it took off from the Tambaram air base in Chennai on July 22, 2016. After 48 hours of frantic search involving assets drawn from Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard, authorities have lodged a formal complaint with Tamil Nadu police over the missing AN-32 aircraft. Meanwhile, the search and rescue team is seeking satellite imagery to find any clue of the plane that lost contact over the Bay of Bengal. Karwan-e-Aman - meaning, Peace Caravan, is the name of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service which was in the news recently after it resumed its services. The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service resumed recently after remaining suspended for two weeks in view of the unrest in Kashmir Valley. The bus service was started in April 2005 as part of the confidence building measures between New Delhi and Islamabad. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) - the software services major which has been ranked as the top employer in the Indian IT industry by the representative body Nasscom. The Mumbai-based firm was followed by its peers Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro and Capgemini. At the end of June, 2016, TCS had a total headcount of 3.62 lakh while Infosys and Wipro had 1.97 lakh and 1.73 lakh, respectively. Myntra - the Flipkart-owned company which recently acquired Jabong from Global Fashion Group a move that will mark further consolidation in Indias booming e-commerce industry. Gujarat - the state which is having the cleanest railway stations in the country according to a passenger feedback survey on cleanliness carried out by the Railway Ministry, which says lack of sanitation at stations was the biggest area of concern for commuters. Out of the 40 different cleanliness parameters passengers rated stench at stations as their top concern, followed by lack of dustbins and unclean platforms. The survey was conducted at 407 major railway stations and nearly 130,000 passengers took part in it. Among the 10 cleanest stations in the order of ranking are Beas, Gandhidham, Vasco Da Gama, Jamnagar, Kumbakonam, Surat, Nasik Road, Rajkot, Salem and Ankleshwar. Five stations in Gujarat--Gandhidham, Jamnagar, Surat, Rajkot and Ankleshwar-- are among the top 10 Humboldt penguins - the species of penguins that have been brought to India for the first time. They will be put in special enclosure of Byculla zoo in Maharashtra after three months of acclimatization. Humboldt penguins nest in burrows and are medium sized, growing between 55cm and 70cm in length and can weigh up to 5.9kg. They are mostly found along the pacific coast of South America, from Isla Foca in Peru down to Algarrobo in Chile. 1 - it is the additional tax on inter-state sales as proposed in the GST bill which was removed from the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill by the Union Cabinet recently which headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By doing away with the 1 per cent inter-state tax over and above the GST rate, the government has met one of the three key demands over which Opposition Congress has been blocking the Bill in the Upper House. The other demands of including GST rate in the statute and a Supreme Court judge-headed dispute resolution body has not been accepted GST Council - the committee that has been proposed in the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill to adjudicate any dispute between states and the Centre. It will have representation from both the Centre and states. The changes approved by the Cabinet are to the Constitutional Amendment Bill that was approved by the Lok Sabha in May last year. Once the Rajya Sabha approves the legislation, the amended Bill will have to go back to the Lok Sabha again for approval. 5 - the number of initial years of rollout is the period which has been agreed for providing guarantee to compensate states for any revenue loss of the proposed indirect tax regime by the Cabinet in the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill. The Bill, in its present form, provides that the Centre will give 100 per cent compensation to states for first three years, 75 per cent and 50 per cent for the next two years. However, the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha had in its report recommended 100 per cent compensation for probable loss of revenue for five years. As per the amendments, the Centre will now constitutionally guarantee states any loss of revenue from the GST subsuming all indirect taxes, including VAT, in the first five years of introduction. CAF Bill - it stands for Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill which was passed by the Parliament recently. The bill once it gets it ascent from President will also create a institutional mechanism for use of fresh accrual of an estimated Rs. 6,000 crore per anum(over the Rs.42000 crore lying unspent till now) that would be collected for diversion of forest land for non forest use in future. Bill is also meant for setting up a national authority at the Centre and one in respective states to monitor utilization of the funds. Shyam Benegal committee - this committee has recommended scrapping the anti-tobacco warning running on the screen along with the film and instead put a static visual at the beginning of the film. The panel has also recommended that licensed suppliers of performing animals be used for providing animals for films and clarity on definition of such animals. National Current Affairs 2016 Current Affairs June 2016 6.5 - the short-term lending rate which was retained by Reserve bank of India second bimonthly monetary policy for the current fiscal. It is the rate at which the RBI lends to commercial banks. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) which is the share of deposits bank must kept with RBI, was kept at 4 percent Reserve Bank of India. Governor Raghuram Rajan kept the key policy rate unchanged citing higher upside risks to inflation trajectory but said the central bank will remain accommodative provided data are supportive. Six - the number of nuclear power plant reactors to be set up in India for which the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and US firm Westinghouse have agreed to begin engineering and site design work immediately conclude contractual arrangements by June 2017. Once completed, the project would be among the largest of its kind, fulfilling the promise of the US-India civil nuclear agreement and demonstrating a shared commitment to meet Indias growing energy needs while reducing reliance on fossil fuels. INS Vikramaditya - the naval ship which recently saw an incident of gas leak during repairs which led to death of 2 persons. INS Vikramaditya, the Russian made aircraft carrier is Indias largest naval ship equipped with a variety of integral weapons and sensors. It is presently undergoing repairs at Karwar in Karnataka. Rs.100 - the rate per kg for the first 5 kg of excess baggage which has been fixed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) which will be effective from 15th June 2016. In addition to this other changes has also been introduced relating to refunds, compensation, delays and passenger facilities. IIS - stands for The Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore which has retained its position as the countrys best university, according to the latest Asian University rankings by global higher education analysts Quacquarelli Symonds. It has risen one place to 33rd spot, driven largely by its research work. IIT, Mumbai has risen 11 places to 35th position. The top 3 universities in the overall QS University rankings 2016 (Asia) are national University of Singapore(NUS), Singapore University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Nanyang Technological university(NTU), Singapore. Rs 500 crore - the amount that should be the worth of accounts to be eligible for Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets which was announced by The Reserve Bank of India recently. The Reserve Bank of India under this has allowed banks to conduct deep restructuring of large accounts to revive projects that can be saved, effectively throwing a lifeline to promoters who risked losing their companies. Only those promoters who have shown no malfeasance in their actions while running the show can ask for the permission to continue with the management, even if they get reduced to minority shareholders in the process. Aviation sector - the sector to which the 520 policy relates to which was tweaked by the cabinet recently. 520 policy prevented Indian airlines from flying overseas unless they have operated for at least five years and have a fleet of 20 aircraft. Easing the 520 rule would mark an important further step towards liberalising Indias aviation market, the worlds fastest growing. The rule, unique to India, had sought to encourage the growth of the nascent domestic aviation industry, but many officials say that it now inhibits Indian carriers from growing their share of international travel. Rs.29.7 lakh crore - it is the expected value of total assets worth of State Bank of India post - merger with its five associate lenders and Bharatiya Mahila Bank. The Union cabinet recently approved the merger in a definitive push for consolidation in the banking sector. The merger is expected to be completed in 2016-17. While Indias largest lender would reap benefits of scale and a larger balance sheet, it will be a major challenge to integrate staff and rationalise branches. A significant aspect of employee rationalisation will be aligning the pay structures. The associates have a little over 70,000 employees, or 34 per cent of SBIs employee base. 2 - the amount of cess the government will impose on domestic and international air travel after the approval of National Civil Aviation Policy by Union Cabinet recently. This cess has been imposed to fund the subsidy element to boost connectivity to smaller towns and cities. The airfares has been fixed at Rs 2,500 for one-hour long flights with an aim to increase connectivity to smaller towns and cities by offering incentives to airlines. The Centre will refund 80 per cent of the losses incurred by airlines due to the cap in fare on such routes. HTT 40 - the name of Indias indigenous basic trainer aircraft which made its inaugural flight recently. The two-seater aircraft designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is to be used for first stage training from all three military arms. 21st June - this day was recently celebrated as International Yoga Day. International Day of Yoga (or commonly and unofficially referred to as Yoga Day, is celebrated annually on June 21 since its inception in 2015,as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares special significance in many parts of the world 100 - the percent of FDI which has been allowed in the airlines in the recent key reform decisions taken at a high level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narender Modi recently. FDI in existing airports have been allowed under automatic rule. Earlier the FDI allowed in airlines was just 49. Rs 10,000 crore - it is the amount by which the government recently set up Fund of Funds for Startups to support them with an aim to generate employment for 18 lakh persons. The decision was taken in the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Cabinet approved the establishment of Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) at Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for contribution to various Alternative Inves tment Funds (AIF), registered with SEBI which would extend funding support to startups. 6,000 crore - the amount of special package announced by government recently for textiles and apparel sector that aims at creating one crore (10 million) new jobs in 3 years and attract investments of 11 billion while eyeing 30 billion in exports. The measures approved include additional incentives for duty drawback scheme for garments, flexibility in labour laws to increase productivity as well as tax and production incentives for job creation in garment manufacturing. A unique feature of the scheme will be to disburse the subsidy only after the expected jobs are created. PSLV - it stands for The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and it is Indias work horse vehicle and so far it has successfully carried 113 satellites of which 74 were for international customers. It was in the news recently as it successfully launched a rocket carrying 20 satellites and placed the Cartosat-2 Series and 19 others in the designated polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). The 727.5kg Cartosat-2 series will provide regular remote sending services and multispectral cameras and its imagery will be of multiple use. India - this country recently joined Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) as its 35th member. Marking Indias first entry into any multilateral export control regime, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar signed the instrument of accession to MTCR in the presence of Frances Ambassador-designate Alexandre Ziegler, The Netherlands Ambassador Alphonsus Stoelinga and Luxembourgs Charge dAffaires Laure Huberty. The MTCR was created in order to curb the spread of unmanned delivery systems for nuclear weapons, specifically delivery systems that could carry a minimum payload of 500 kg for a minimum of 300 km. National Current Affairs 2016 Current Affairs May 2016 2.1 - the percentage by which the global remittance to India fell in 2015 over 2014. This was the first annual fall since the global financial crisis of 2008. The biggest fall happened in inflows from the Gulf region, which accounts for 52 of the total annual remittances. The yearly remittances fell from 70.4 billion in 2014 to 68.9 billion in 2015. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - the foundation which has been chosen to partner with the Central Government to carry out a survey to rank the villages on different sanitation parameters. The idea is to encourage villages to improve sanitation and become open defecation-free. The survey will involve interaction with village panchayats, visiting households and taking pictures in different locations in villages. CMS - it stands for Centralized Monitoring System which the government is setting up to automate process of lawful interception and monitoring of phones and Internet. The government has decided to set up the CMS in a phased manner to automate the process of lawful interception and monitoring of mobile phones, land lines and the internet in the country. The CMC at Delhi and RMC (Regional Monitoring Centre) at New Delhi and Mumbai have been operationalized. 85 - the percentage of pictorial warnings which is compulsory to be displayed on surface of cigarette packets. It was in the news recently as the Supreme Court directed the tobacco manufacturing companies to comply with the 2014 rules until the validity of the law is decided by the court of India in reply to the petition filed by Tobacco Institute of India which challenged the rule. 2 years - the period of holding of shares of startup companies which will be exempted from Capital Gains Tax as the fresh amendments introduced in the government in the Finance Bill. Currently, there is no capital gains tax on share transactions in listed companies if those stocks are held for 12 months but shares of unlisted entities face capital gains tax of 20 even after three years. The move to exempt capital gains on holding of shares of unlisted cos. for 24 months will benefit the startups and is expected to spur M As. 10 - the maximum percentage of investment allowed for corporate in new bank as per the draft guidelines released by Reserve Bank of India for issuing of bank licences recently. The RBI recently said that after a thorough examination the current Stop and Go licensing policy will now pave way for Continuous authorization policy where it will open a permanent window for bank licences. The new policy allows individual promoters with 10 years-experience in banking and finance to float banks. The new draft allows the promoter to own a minimum of 51 in the holding company while in the past the non-operating holding company had to be wholly owned by the promoter. ICICI Bank - the first financial institution in the country to tie up with the BRICS promoted New Development Bank (NDB) for a partnership in bond issuances, co-financing, treasury management and human resources. As part of the pact the two lenders will look at each other as preferred partners. Six - the number of members who will be there in the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) set up for monetary policy review as per the amendments to the Reserve bank of India Act of 1934 as proposed in the Finance Bill, 2016. The MPC will be chaired by the RBI governor, however, will not enjoy a veto power to overrule the other panel members but will have a casting vote in case of a tie. The government will nominate three eminent persons to the MPC. No government official will be nominated to the MPC. The other three members would be from the RBI with the governor being the ex-officio chairman. Deputy Governor of RBI in charge of the monetary policy will be a member, as also an Executive Director of the central bank. GeM - it stands for Government e-Marketplace which will be online market being created for purchase of commonly used goods and services by ministries and departments of government. GeM will be utilized by government buyers to direct online purchases. Up to Rs.50, 000 of purchases can be made from any of the available suppliers on GeM. SVA - it stands for Security Vetting Authority which is the name of authority which will be set up as per the draft of The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016. Centre will set up SVA whose permission will be needed for acquiring maps, geospatial data through space or aerial platforms such as satellite, aircraft, balloons, unmanned aerial vehicles or terrestrial vehicles or any other means. An apex committee will oversee SVA. Publicationdissemination of Indias map, online or offline has to be vetted by SVA after publisher gets a license. The older maps must seek licenses within a year of bill being passed. Licensees must display insignia of clearance. NEET - it stands for National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test. It will be the only basis of all admissions to MBBSBDS courses in government and private medical colleges or in deemed universities as per the recent decision of Supreme Court. NEET will be conducted by CBSE and will be based on NCERT syllabus for Classes XI and XII. PMKVY - it stands for Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana which is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development Entrepreneurship (MSDE). The objective of this Skill Certification and Reward scheme is to enable and mobilize a large number of Indian youths to take up skill training in accordance to the national Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). Under the scheme, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) has also been started wherein individuals with prior learning experience or skills are assessed and certified. Anti - Hijacking Bill - the Bill which was recently cleared by Lok Sabha which provides for death penalty to the offenders in the case of death of hostages or security personnel and also has life imprisonment for the offence as well as confiscation of movable and immovable property of the accused. The Bill had been cleared by the Rajya Sabha earlier. The bill amends the 1982 act which provided for death penalty for the hijackers only in the event of death of the hostages. Sea Harrier - the iconic aircraft of Indian Navy as recently phased out after 33 years of service. This maritime fighter was inducted in 1983 and was built by British aerospace. Indian Navys Sea Harrier squadron was deployed during Operation Vijay in 1999 and embarked on the Viraat during the Operation Parakram in 2001 when standoff with Pakistan was at all-time high. 7.3 - the rate by which Indias economy is expected to grow in 2016 as per the mid-2016 update of the World Economic Situation and Prospect Report. As per the report Indias economy is slowly gaining momentum and is expected to achieve a 7.5 growth in 2017. China which grew at 6.9 in 2015 is expected to witness slowdown in growth with its GDP projected to grow 6.4 in 2016 and 6.5 in 2017. RAU - stands for Rajendra Agriculture University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar which was recently upgraded to central university after in a rarest of rare case, and both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha passed the legislation meant for upgrading the university as a central university in one day. Even President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to it the same day-making it a rarest of the rare case in parliamentary history. This gave Bihar its first central agriculture university. 40 - the limit of holding the Financial Institutions can hold in banks as per the new circular issued by Reserve Bank of India. Individuals can hold up to 10 while non-financial entities have been allowed 15 stake. Discovery Communications - the company which recently acquired 74 stakes in celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor - promoted Turmeric Vision which owns and operates TV network FoodFood and its digital products, in a deal estimated to be worth 47.10 million(around Rs.50 crore). Discoverys investment in FoodFood is being seen as part of strategy to expand its presence in the country and strengthen its portfolio of female and lifestyle brands such as TLC and ID. Section 499 - the section of the Indian Penal Code which codifies the criminal defamation and punishment of up to two years in jail is prescribed in Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code. It was in the news recently as Supreme Court ruled that defamation will remain a criminal offence in India. The court said that the right to speech was sacrosanct but not absolute, and that ones right to reputation was part of ones fundamental right to life. National IPR policy - it stands for National Intellectual Property Rights policy was unveiled by India recently which looks to safeguard trademark identities and promote creativity and entrepreneurship. It aims at fostering innovation, cutting delays in clearing patent, trademark and copyright applications, protecting traditional knowledge and encouraging entrepreneurship. This will bring Indias IP regime in line with global standards and help improve its ranking in the World Banks Ease of Doing Business index. The new policy will also help substantially cut the time taken on clearing the backlog of IPR applications from the current five to seven years to 18 months by March 2018. FSSAI - it stands for The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has turned its attention to restaurants, eating joints and hotels to enforce hygiene standards. A sub-group consisting of industry bodies like the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and the FSSAI have been formed to amend rules that govern safety standards at eating establishments. The sub-group is expected to meet in the next three weeks to propose amendments to Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, that govern hygiene standards of food service operators. IndusInd bank - the first bank to break away from the tied agency model and partner multiple insurance companies. The private bank entered into a second distribution arrangement with Reliance GENERAL Insurance in addition to its partnership with Chola Mandalam Insurance. From April 2016, insurance regulator IRDA has allowed banks to follow an open architecture where they can sell insurance plans of multiple companies. Prithvi-II - the indigenously developed nuclear capable missile which was successfully test fired by India from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha recently. The trial of the surface to surface missile was carried out successfully from a mobile launcher from the launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test range at Chandipur. Punjab National Bank - the bank which recently posted the highest quarterly loss by an Indian bank in India. The loss reported was Rs.5367 crore for the quarter ended March 2016 while in the same quarter last year bank reported a net profit of Rs.306 crore. The previous highest quarterly loss of Rs.3342 crore was reported by bank of Baroda for December 2015 quarter. State Bank of India - the bank which recently announced its proposal to explore the possibility of acquiring Indias first women bank-the Bhartiya Mahila Bank. It also announced the proposal to explore the merger of five associate banks with itself that could create an Rs.37 lakh crore banking monolith with a country wide presence and low costs. 100 - the percentage of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) allowed by Reserve Bank of India in credit information firms. The RBI recently clarified that investors whose ownership is well diversified (shareholdings not concentrated in the hands of a select few) may pick up to 100 percent in a credit information company. A credit information company aggregates and analyses data of individuals and businesses and puts out a credit score which is an indicator of credit worthiness of that individual or business. Currently, India has four credit information companies-CIBIL, Experian, Equifax and CRIF High Mark. SEBI - stands for the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the capital market regulators tightened rules on issue of Participatory Notes (P-notes) to bring in more transparency and curb misuse of the investment route used by foreign investors not registered in India. SEBI said that Indian KYC (Know Your Customers) or anti-money maundering rules (AML) will be applicable to P-note holders. P-notes allow foreign investors to take exposure to Indian stocks without registering with SEBI. These instruments are issued by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) registered with SEBI. 21st June - this day is celebrated as International Yoga Day or simply Yoga Day. It was declared to be internationally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on December 11, 2014. Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice or discipline that originated in India. June 21 is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares special significance in many parts of the world. RLV-TD - Indias first space shuttle, was successfully launched recently. India successfully launched the first technology demonstrator of indigenously made Reusable Launch Vehicle, capable of launching satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter the atmosphere, from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. This is the first time ISRO has launched a winged flight vehicle, which glided back onto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal, some 500 kilometres from the coast. The RLV, being dubbed as Indias own space shuttle, is the unanimous solution to achieve low cost, reliable and on-demand space access. 21st May 2016 - this day was celebrated as International Buddha Poornima Diwas. The event was organised by Ministry of Culture and coordinated by International Buddhist Confederation to spread the ideals of peace and dharma. Air India One - also referred to as AI-1 or AIC001 is the aircraft the Prime Minister or the President of India uses when flying abroad. The aircraft is operated as a VIP flight by the Indian Air Force. Kesar - the famous saffron-coloured variety of mango, largely grown around the foothills of Girnar Mountain in Junagadh district of Gujarat, which recently got a global recognition as Gir Kesar mango, after being granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Now, the Kesar mango is the second variety of mango in India to get GI registration, after the Dussheri mango variety grown in Uttar Pradesh. Dairy - the sector which is getting a new boost with the launch of National Gokul Mission in which the government is focusing on the development of indigenous breeds. So far, the Centre has approved setting up 14 Gokul Grams (integrated indigenous cattle centres)-that would scientifically help local farmers conserve desi breeds of cows and buffaloes-across states under this mission. These Grams will be self-sustaining centres and will generate resources from milk sales, organic manure, vermicompost and urine distillates. Each centre will maintain milch and unproductive animals in the ratio of 60:40 and will have the capacity to maintain about 1,000 animals. 180 days - the period within which the UGC has directed all universities across the countries to issue degrees to students qualifying for the degree. The communique also carried a sage comment that withholding a students degree could hamper the entry into a world of possibilities and promises. The Commission warned that any institution found violating the norm will face punitive action, including withdrawal of grants or status as a university. 24 million tones - the target of pulse production government wants to touch in 2020-21. The five year road map wants to achieve self - sufficiency in pulses with a six-pronged strategy, to increase production consistently by raising yield (production per hectare) as well as area under pulse crops in all major pulse producing states including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The target is to raise production from 170.6MT estimated in 2015-16 crop year(July-June) to 24 MT in 2020-21 and 27.5 MT in 2024-25. The target is also to increase yield from 750kghectare to 900kghectare in 2020-21 and 1000kghectare in 2024-25. SEBI - stands for The Securities and Exchange Board of India which has barred those named as willful defaulters from raising public funds through stocks and bonds, and also from taking board positions at listed companies. Sebi notified these norms on Wednesday, disallowing defaulters from setting up market intermediaries such as mutual funds and brokerage firms. These defaulters would also not be allowed to take control of any other listed company. The changes apply to all individuals and companies declared willful defaulters by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). AIBMA - stands for The All India Bread Manufacturers Association, which represents over 90 organised bread manufacturers such as Harvest Gold and Britannia announced recently that they will stop using potassium bromate and potassium iodate voluntarily on its own. The Centre for Science and Environment had claimed that the bread samples of top brands in Delhi contained cancer-causing chemicals -- potassium bromate and potassium iodate. SAY - stands for Shala Asmita Yojana, probably the worlds largest student tracker which will be launched in India from February 2017. It will have data base of 25 crore school going children. ASMITA is the acronym for All Scholl Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis. The prime ministers office recently gave the go ahead for SAY, which intends to use Aadhaar numbers to track the educational development of students, be it their attendance, enrolment, dropping out, mid day meals, toilets and other related parameters like teacher transfers and learning assessment of children. The initiative will cover 15 lakh schools and 77 lakh teachers of government and government-aided schools. 24th - it is the rank of India in the QS Higher Education System Strength Rankings (HESSR) 2016 with a score of 60.9 out of 100. The US has scored a centum and tops the heap, UK is in the second place with 98.5, while Germany takes the third spot with 94. The QS HESSR(overall ranking0 is an assessment done through four categories - system strength, flagship, access and economic concept of different countries-in the field of higher education. Capital Goods Sector-it is the sector in which the government recently approved The National Capital Good Policy which aims to create over 21 million jobs by 2025, envisaging increasing the share of domestic production in Indias capital goods demand from 60 to 80 by 2025 and in the process improve domestic capacity utilization to 90. New India Assurance - the largest state owned company, recently issued the countrys first Nuclear Operators Liability Policy to nuclear Power Corporation of India. This policy is underwritten by a consortium of insuranc e companies through the India Nuclear Insurance Pool. The entire Rs.1500 crore India Nuclear Insurance Pool is entirely supported by domestic companies and is managed by General Insurance Corporation(GIC) which has also committed funds to the pool. The policy was the missing component from the set of requirements for getting private investment in nuclear power-the doors for which were open ten years ago when the then Manmohan Singh led government signed the agreement with US. Current Affairs April 2016 Rota virus vaccine - this was launched recently as part of its universal immunization programme by Health ministry to prevent diarrhoeal deaths due to virus which claims lives of nearly one lakh children every year. Rota virus, a leading cause of severe diarrhea and death among children less than five years of age, is responsible for around 10 of total child mortality every year. The vaccine developed by Indian firm Bharat Biotech will be initially introduced in four states-Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha. Its coverage will be expanded to the entire country in a phased manner. Minor, Substantial and Non-substantial - they are the categories of Green Violations which have been proposed by Law Ministry to the proposed draft of the Environment Laws(Amendment) Bill - meant to amend the existing Environment(Protection) Act,1986 and the National Green Tribunal Act,2010. Minor would be an act of omission or commission by a person causing damage to environment due to failure of compliance of the provisions of environment laws. Substantial will be damage to environment by release of environment pollutant or handling of hazardous substance. Non-substantial would be - damage to environment which is neither a minor violation nor a substantial damage. Directed Energy Weapons (DEWS) - they are basically beams of concentrated electronic magnetic energy or subatomic particles to hit targets. DEWS can be high-energysolid-state lasers high power microwaves charged particle beams. These are futuristic weapons. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is already tom-tomming its ongoing development of a 10-Kilowatt DEW against UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) like targets with establishment of critical technology of precision trackingpointing and laser beam combination. Gatimaan Express - the Indias first semi-high-speed train which was flagged off recently by Railway minister Suresh Prabhu. The new train will run between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Agra Cantonment stations and can touch a speed of 160kmhr. The train will have Railway hosts and hostesses, bio-toilets, LED lights, Free Wi-Fi. The train was indigenously built at a cost of Rs.50 crore at the Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory. 25 basis - the points by which the Repo Rate cut by Reserve Bank of India in its latest monetary policy announced on 5th April, 2016. Repo rate-the rate at which banks borrow from the RBI was cut by 25 basis points, from 6.75 to 6.50, signalling its belief that prices of goods were moderating. The monetary policy kept the overall cash reserve ratio - CRR-the amount of funds that the banks have to park with the RBI-unchanged at 4, while the minimum daily maintenance of the CRR was cut to 90 from 95. Nine - the number of stations saw the launch of free Wi Fi after the successful implementation in Mumbai Central, bringing high speed internet access to about 1.5 million passengers and visitors. The Wi-Fi service is now available at Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Ranchi, Raipur, Vijayawada, Kacheguda (Hyderabad), ErnakulamJn (Kochi) and Vishakhapatnam stations. Google and RailTel, the telecom arm of the Indian Railways, had collaborated to make Wi-Fi network available across 100 stations to deliver high speed internet to 10 million Indians a day by the end of the year. The project will eventually be rolled out to cover 400 railway stations across India. 94.7 billion - the projected amount of Current Account Deficit of India in 2021 as projected by International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest edition of the World Economic Outlook (WEO). The report predicted that India would achieve its inflation target of 5 percent in the first half of 2017, though it warned that un-favourable monsoon and the effect of public sector wages increase could pose a risk. Canara Bank - they recently received the first loan from BRICS bank for renewable energy. The New Development bank (NDB) of BRICS countries has handled out 250 million to Indias Canara Bank for renewable energy projects as part of its first set of loans amounting to more than 800 million. The first tranche of 75 million will be given to Canara bank for on lending to projects generating 500 MW additional renewable energy capacity. 96-104 - the percentage of the 50 year average which is the range of monsoon to be considered as normal as per the parameters of Meteorological Department. The 104-110 is considered as above normal. The meteorological department has predicted a bountiful monsoon this year. Like any prediction model, the one Meteorological department uses to make this forecast has an error margin of 5. 2009 - the year before which those who registered for PhD need not have NET for lectureship. At present, a student who has a postgraduate degree or an MPhil and has cleared the NETSET is eligible for lectureship in a college or university. If the student fails to clear the eligibility test but has an MPhil degree, he or she can teach in a college but not a university. From 2009 the UGC made NET and PhD the minimum criteria for the post of assistant professors in colleges and universities but now some relaxation has been issued for PhD registered before 2009. Provident Fund - the withdrawal norms for this were rolled back by government recently. The government announced a complete and unconditional roll back of the new norms that barred employees from withdrawing their provident fund corpus before retirement. 52.1 - the percentage of rural households going for open defecation as per the recently released Swachhta Status report by the National Sample (NSS) Office. The percentage of urban households stands at 7.5. The nationwide rapid survey was conducted during May-June 2015, concurrently with the 72nd round of the NSS. The households having toilet in rural areas is 45.3 and in urban areas is 88.8 as per the report. 41 km per day - it is the length target of highways which the government is planning to set up in 2016-17. The Road Transport and Highways Ministry will award contract for 25,000km national highway projects, two and a half times more than the projects it had sanctioned in the previous year. The National Democratic Alliance(NDA) government has set an ambitious target of constructing 41 km of national highways every day in 2016-17, up from more than 16 km per day of highways built in 2015-16. 1:1,700 - the doctor to citizen ratio in India as of March 2015. The WHO stipulates a minimum ratio of 1:1,000. India will need 4 lakh more doctors by 2022 to achieve WHO standards. As of March 2015, India had 420 medical colleges - 200 run by the government, 220 privately run. Rocket - it is the name of the National Security Guards(NSG) K-9 units expert assault and sniffer dog that has been recommended for the gallantry award following his valiant effort during the Pathankot attack. He was injured during the event but is back to work after one month treatment. This Belgian Malinois, raised in NSG itself, helped security forces in establishing the presence of one of the fidayeen attackers at the IAF base on January 4, 2016 when a massive fire had engulfed some buildings. 24th April 2016 - this day was celebrated as National Panchayat Day in all Gram Panchayats across the country for the first time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed all the Gram Sabhas from JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur on that day. SCST Act - the centre recently notified rules for amendment of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 to tighten provisions to ensure speedier justice to SCs and STs, the Social Justice and Empowerment ministry notified the rules to give effect to the changes. The object of the amended provisions is to speed up the process of dispensation of justice, liberalise and expedite access to relief for victims of atrocities, ensuring special sensitivity in cases of offences against women. Workers Bank - it is the name of the bank for which the Labour Ministry has requested Reserve Bank of India to examine the proposal. The ministry has asked RBI to form a panel headed by a former Deputy Governor to look into a proposal of creating a Workers bank using Employees Provident Fund (EPF). The proposal was mooted by the trade unions about a decade ago and has been discussed by Labour Ministry and Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for several years now. As on 31st march 2015, EPFOs total corpus stood at Rs.6.34 lakh crore. 59th - the score of India in The World Justice Report latest report which calculates rule of law index for 100 countries. The first three score holders are Denmark, Norway and Sweden respectively. It is based on surveys of over one lakh households and more than 2,000 experts in these nations about the general perception in the public about constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, order and security, justice system and other issues related to fairness in society. Panic button - the button which should be present in all phones sold in India from 2017 which will enable users to intimate about emergency situations. The measure, aimed at womens safety, will also see a provision for installation of GPS from January 1, 2018 to track the location of the person in crisis with accuracy. Distribution of LED bulbs - this is being undertaken under the UJALA scheme which stands for Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All. Under this scheme there is a target to distribute upto 77 crore LED bulbs in the next three years which will help in saving Rs.40,000 crore every year. This will also result in reduction of about 10.5 million tonnes CO2 every year. Out of this 10 crore LED bulbs have already been distributed which will presently save Rs.5, 194 crore annually on electricity bills. The scheme is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited. IRNSS-1G - Indias navigation satellite which successfully lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh recently. India completed its landmark mission for a regional navigational system on par with United States-based GPS with the successful launch of IRNSS-1G, the seventh and last in the constellation of satellites that make up the system. The IRNSS comprising the seven satellites will offer services with much better accuracy and targeted position in navigation on par with the Global Positioning System of the United States. ISRO had launched and operationalised other six satellites - IRNSS-1F on March 10, 2016, IRNSS-1E (January 20, 2016), IRNSS-1D (March 28, 2015), IRNSS-1C (October 16, 2014), IRNSS-1B (April 4, 2014) and IRNSS-1A on July 1, 2013.IRNSS-1G which has a 12-year mission life would become operational in about a months time, marking the full-fledged functioning of the IRNSS. Hongi - the name of the traditional Maori greeting of New Zealand. This was in the news recently as New Zealand Governor General Lewis Moeau greeted Indias President Pranab Mukherjee in this traditional style upon his arrival in Auckland recently. The Maori people of New Zealand will greet visitors with a beautiful gesture called hongi (pressing foreheads and noses together, with eyes closed). Maori will perform this move to initiate newcomers, and exchange the breath of life with them. 54 - the percentage of construction of household toilets in urban areas as per the data submitted by the urban development ministry to the Lok Sabha. Out of a target of constructing 25lakh individual household toilets, only 13.2lakhs were actually built from October 2, 2014 to March 2016. Gujarat emerged the best performer accounting for more than one third of the total households toilets constructed. INS Kalvari - the name of Indias first new submarine in 16 years whose trial began recently. The diesel - electric submarine is believed to be commissioned by December end-2016 with the other five Scorpene submarines following at nine-month intervals till 2020. Current Affairs March 2016 112 - the single number which is going to be introduced for all emergency services in India soon, including the police, fire brigade and ambulance. At present, such callers need to dial in different numbers for different emergencies like 100 for police, 101 for fire, 102 for ambulance and 108 for emergency disaster management. The move recommended by the Telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) in April 2015 was approved by the Telecom Commission recently. Bajrangi Bhaijaan - the picture which won the Best Popular Film award at the 63rd National Film Awards which were announced recently. S. S.Rajamoulis magnum opus Baahubali was declared the Best Feature Film. Tata Sons - they recently increased its stake in Air Asia India to become the only company in India to run two airlines. Tata Sons already owns a majority stake in full carrier Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines. Gensets - the one for use of which the centre recently notified stringent environment standards to make cities and towns shift to less noisy gensets running on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)Natural Gas(NG),diesel with LPGNG and petrol with LPGNG. This is the first time such standards have been notified for gensets running on LPGNG or in combination with dieselpetrol. Under the new standards, manufacturers across the country are required to obtain certification for engine products by empanelled agencies which help in regulating the unorganized sector. These standards were recommended by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) after consultations with industries and other stakeholders. 100 FDI - the percentage of FDI which has been allowed by centre in the fresh guidelines issued for foreign domestic investments (FDI) in e-commerce in the market place based model-an arrangement where e-commerce companies provide an online platform to sell their products. 1st April, 2016 - the date from which the inactive EPFO accounts will start earning interest. Out of the total of over 15 crore EPF accounts about 9 crore accounts worth Rs.32, 000 crore were inoperative as on 31st March 2015. Accounts in which contributions have not been received for 36 months at a stretch and that have definite claimants are classified as inoperative. The system of not giving interest on inoperative accounts was stopped in 2011. Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate (MCLR) - it is the system to which the banks will move to from 1st April, 2016. This will be closely based on market rates, allowing quicker transmission of monetary policy. Banks will set their lending rates under the marginal cost of funds (deposits) every month, which will be based on the rate offered on new deposits, which would reflect the market rates. However, fixed rate loans of tenor above three years will continue to be exempted from MCLR system. MCLR will benefit new customers, but existing customers will also have an option to shift to the new regime with some conditions. World Bank - they recently signed a 1.5b loan agreement with India for the Swachh Bharat Mission Support Operation Project. The loan is to support the Government of India in its effort to ensure that all citizens in the rural areas have access to improved sanitation with a focus on changing behavior and eliminating the practice of open defecation by 2019. Additionally, the World Bank will provide 25 million in technical assistance for capacity building by some state governments to implement community led behavioral change programme. 2,000 cc and more - this is the engine capacity above which the diesel vehicles have been banned in the National Capital Region. In December 2015 the court has imposed a three month ban on it. The Supreme Court recently extended the ban on registration of diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2,000 cc and more in the National Capital Region till further orders, keeping the fate of carmakers in uncertainty. Tuberculosis - the disease for which the miracle drug Bedaquiline manufactured by Johnson Johnsons pharma arm Janssen was rolled out recently to battle multi drug resistant tuberculosis MDR-TB and extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB). The drug was rolled out in six public hospitals across the country as part of a coordinated programme between the government and drug company Johnson Johnson. This is the first instance when a multinational has partnered with the government to roll out treatment for a disease showing an alarming spread. Significantly, Bedaquiline (trade name Sirturo) is perhaps the first drug in decades, with potential to dramatically improve MDR-TB treatment outcomes and reduce the number of deaths due to the disease. Chenab - the river is the one over which the tallest railway bridge which is expected to be ready by 2019. This is being built on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula Rail Link. The bridge which will rise 359 metres over the Chenab and is being built in hostile and isolated terrain and will be35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower. Currently the tallest bridge is above the Tam River in France with its tallest pillar rising 340m from the river bed. The Chenab Bridge, which has an arch design will connect the steep banks on the Bakkai (Katra) and Kauri (Srinagar) ends. Scripbox - an Indian online mutual funds investment platform founded barely four years ago, has been ranked No.2 among the 50 most effective financial services brands in terms of using LinkedIn platform to engage, educate and inspire its target audience. All others in the top10 are global brands with Citibank heading the list. Kisan Suvidha - the name of mobile app which was recently launched for the benefit of farmers. The app helps farmers keep track of the weather and the price of agriculture produce in the market. District level - the level from which the National Business register will list establishments. The government has launched a mammoth enumeration exercise to collect data on all the business enterprises for the National Business Register, a move aimed at strengthening assessment of economic activity. This will list establishments at the district level covering seven acts and authorities, including the factories Act, the shops and Commercial Establishments Act, the Societies Registration Act, the Cooperative Societies Act, the Khadi and Village Industries Board and the Directorate of Industries. September 4, 2016 - the date on which Mother Teresa would be canonised. Pope Francis recently approved sainthood for Mother Teresa, the missionary nun who became a global symbol of compassion for her care of the sick and destitute. The pontiff set September 4 as the date for her canonization, elevating her to an official icon of the Catholic faith. Quarterly - the interval after which Reserve Bank of India has mandated banks to credit interest on savings accounts. 1.6 per anum - it is the growth rate in Farm sector in the first four years of the ongoing Five Year Plan(2012-17) as against the targeted 4 annual growth. The low average growth rate is attributed to setback in annual crop production except for 2013-14 due to deficiency in monsoon rainfall, moisture stress and un-favourable weather, temperature conditions impacting production of Kharif and Rabi crops. 1st April, 2016 - the effective date of start of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. The PMFBY will replace National Agricultural Insurance scheme and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme from the Kharif season of 2016. Banks, through their branches in notified areas have to ensure all farmers taking loans under seasonal Agricultural Operational Loans scheme or those holding Kisan credit cards are covered under the scheme. Bharti Airtel - Indias largest telecom operator by subscriber base recently agreed to buy Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. Spectrum for Rs.4,428 crore, the second such deal after the government allowed spectrum trading in October last year. These spectrum for these six circles was bought by Videocon for Rs.2,200 crore in 2012. 8.1 - the new rate on Public Provident Fund (PPF) from April1,2016. This is the sharpest reduction in nearly 15 years. The rates are to be reviewed every three months. The rates of Kisan Vikas Patra have been reduced to 7.8 from 8.7 and that of Sukanya Samridhi Account to 8.6 from 9.2. 50 microns - the minimum thickness prescribed for plastic carry bags. The centre recently banned the use of plastic carry bags of less than 50 microns in thickness as against the existing norms of less than 40 microns. These rules are part of stringent plastic waste management rules to regulate use of the hazardous material and generate the waste generated by it. Shopkeepers and street vendors willing to provide plastic carry bags, will have to get registered with local body on payment of plastic waste management fee of minimum Rs.48,000 per anum. They will have to display at prominent place that the plastic carry bags are given on payments. 23rd March - this day is celebrated as Saheedi Diwas to mark the martyrdom of freedom fighters - Bhagat Singh, Sukdev and Rajguru, the greatest revolutionaries who are still idols for the youth and young generations. PMUY - stands for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana which aims to provide 1.5 crore free LPG connections to BPL families in the fiscal 2016-17.The guidelines for the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana are going to be issued soon. India - this country recently made a sharp drop in development assistance to SAARC nations in the 2016-17 budget. Except Pakistan, all other six members of SAARC (Nepal, Afghanistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Myanmar) receive significant financial assistance from India. The slashing of the assistance to the SAARC countries is in line with the cut in Budget to the Ministry of external Affairs this year that has fallen by Rs.500 crore. 1 crore - the amount of money the Department of Science and Technology(DST) may invest in every fresh start up from next financial year. Currently the maximum permissible limit is 50 lakhs. The DST outlay for seeding has been increased from Rs.40 crore to Rs.180 crore in the coming financial year to help fund the increased investment. 520 rule - this rule stipulates that a domestic airline must have a fleet of 20 aircraft and have flown for five years in the domestic skies before it can undertake international flights. The centre recently indicated the promoters of domestic airlines that it is yet to take a final decision on the contentious 520 rule. Citrus Pay - the countrys second largest internet payment processor which has decided to waive all fees on online payments made to government bodies for the next 18 months - a move which will put pressure on banks to follow suit by cutting charges. This comes a day after the RBI floated a concept proposing banks to have a lower charge structure for transfer to government bodies to promote card usages. IRNSS-1F - it is the Indias sixth dedicated navigation satellite which was launched recently from Sriharikota. The satellite was launched on-board Indias workhorse launch vehicle, the polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The Independent Regional Navigation satellite System (IRNSS) is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India and the region extending up to 1,500 km from the border. UDAY BONDS - it stands for Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana Bonds which will be issued by the electricity distribution companies as non-SLR (statutory liquidity ratio) grade. The Finance Ministry recently backed a reserve bank of India (RBI) proposal to go in for private placement of these bonds with the EPFO, LIC, mutual funds, FIs and banks. 140kmph - itis the maximum limit of speed which the government is planning to allow on expressways from the current speed limit of 100kmph. The government is planning to come out with the norms on such stretches which will be access-controlled with minimum entry and exit points. Andhra Pradesh - the state which is having the highest percentage of rural households in debt with 55.9 followed by Kerala with 49.5 and Karnataka with 46.4. This data on rural indebtedness is based on NSSO statistics of 2013. Aadhaar Bill, 2016- the bill recently passed by The Lok Sabha. Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 provides for unique identity to residents and give legal teeth to the government in ensuring that subsidies reach beneficiaries in full. Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity number created after taking ones finger prints and iris scan. Aadhaar number is the window to get government benefits and subsidies. The law clearly states that only those who have Aadhaar will get government benefits. IGNOU - stands for Indira Gandhi national Open University which recently reactivated its popular educational portal eGyankosh on an as-is-where-is basis. The knowledge repository at eGyankosh was launched in October 2005 to store, index, preserve, distribute and share the digital learning resources developed by the open and distance learning (ODL) institutions in the country. It was shut down in 2013. Allahabad High Court - they recently celebrated 150th year of its establishment. Addressing a galaxy of eminent personalities from politics and judiciary at the sesquicentennial celebrations of the Allahabad High court President Pranab Mukherjee said that there are 1056 posts of judges sanctioned in the country out of which only 591 judges have been appointed so far. He also said that several decisions of the Allahabad High court made a big impact on the country. 111- the number of rivers across the country that was recently declared as National waterways which paved the way for development of these stretch as transport carriers. So far, only five of the river stretches were declared as national waterways. India has its unique advantage. Its 14 states were bestowed with 7,500km of coastline with 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways. EPF - stands for Employees Provident Fund which was in the news recently after the government announced in the Union Budget 2016 that EPF withdrawal taxable for contributions made after April 1, 2016. 2.85 million hectare - the area which the government intends to bring under cultivation after the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana in mission mode. 0.5 - the amount of new Krishi Kalyan Cess which will be levied on all taxable services with effect from June1, 2016 as announced in Union Budget 2016. The proceeds from this will be used to finance and promote initiatives to improve agriculture. This will effectively increase the service tax from 14.5 to 15. 2022 - the year by which the government is planning to double farmers income as announced in Union Budget 2016. Air India - the airlines which had an all women flight crew on AI173- Delhi to San Francisco on the occasion of International Womens Day. Current Affairs February 2016 Humsafar - the new AC 3 trains introduced in Railway Budget 2016 which was announced recently by Rail minister Suresh Prabhu. Tejas - the new premium super-fast train travelling at 130kmph which was announced in Railway Budget 2016 recently by Rail minister Suresh Prabhu. UDAY - stands for Utkrisht Double Decker AC Yatri Express which was announced in Railway Budget 2016 recently by Rail minister Suresh Prabhu. Antyodaya Express - the unreserved superfast trains which was announced in Railway Budget 2016 recently by Rail minister Suresh Prabhu. EDF - stands for Electronics Development Fund which was recently launched by Department of Electronics and Information Technology with a corpus of Rs.10,000 crore. The fund has been set up in collaboration with Canbank Venture Capital Fund to encourage innovation in the electronics sector. NCGP - stands for National Capital Goods Policy, Indias first ever policy for capital goods that aims to triple the sectors production by 2025 was recently announced by government. The clear objective of this policy is to increase production of capital goods from Rs.2, 30,000 crore in 2014-15 to 7, 50,000 crore in 2025. 8.8- the revised interest rates on provident fund for 2015-16 from the existing rate of 8.75 as announced by Employees Provident Fund Organisation. TRAI - stands for The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India which was in the news recently after it upheld uninhibited access to the internet and rejected differential pricing on data which dealt a strong blow to Airtel Zero and Facebook Free Basic platform. Sec 377- this section of the Indian Penal code (IPC) which calls gay sex against the order of nature and makes it punishable was in news recently after the Supreme Court agreed to reexamine it and referred the curative petition to five-judge constitutional bench. Tata Motors - they were in news recently when they decided to rename its soon-to-be launched hatchback ZICA in view of the outbreak of the Zika virus that has caused hardships across many nations. Current Affairs January 2016 20- the number of cities which were selected in the first batch of cities planned to be developed as smart cities. Smart city denotes an urban area that provides world class sustainable infrastructure including uninterrupted clean water and power supply, roads, high speed internet, automated waste disposal, sustainable public transport, affordable housing and digitized public services. These cities are Surat, Ahmedabad from Gujarat Jaipur and Udaipur from Rajasthan Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur from Madhya Pradesh Sholapur and Pune from Maharashtra Chennai and Coimbatore from Tamil Nadu Vishakhapatnam and Kakinada from Andhra Pradesh Ludhiana from Punjab Bhubaneshwar from Odisha New Delhi from Delhi Guwahati from Assam Kochi from Kerala Belgaum and Davangere from Karnataka. 24th January 2016- this day was recently celebrated as National Girl Child Day. e-NPS - it is an online portal (htpps:enps. nsdl) of NPS Trust wherein a subscriber can register and contribute under NPS online. Through eNPS, a subscriber can register, generate a Permanent Retirement Account Number(PRAN) and contribute to hisher account through use of net bankingdebit card or credit card. 15th January 2016- this day was recently celebrated as 68th Army Day. 2- the amount of premium which has been fixed for Kharif crops in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana which was announced by the government recently. The premium for Rabi crops have been fixed at 1.5. The new scheme will be implemented from the forthcoming Kharif season. 10,000 crore - the corpus of the start-up fund which is going to set up by the government to boost Start-ups in India as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently in a series of new entrepreneur friendly measures which include no tax on profits and no inspection for 3 years, self-certification-based compliance for labour and environment laws and 80 reduction in patent fees. Anything but Khamosh - the biography written by BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha which was released recently. The book focuses on Patna Sahib MPs troubled relations with the party post 2014 victory and its current leadership. 1st April, 2020- the date from which government is planning to enforce the more stringent Bharat Stage VI fuel emission norms for vehicles, advancing the deadline by a year as part of ongoing efforts to reduce pollution. BS norms were introduced in 2000 and were modeled around European regulations. Netflix - the popular American on-demand video streaming service which recently launched its services in India. Jallikattu - the famous and controversial bull taming sport of Tamil Nadu which was recently revived by central government. The government also allowed bullock cart races, a popular sport in states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala and Gujarat. Barack 8 missile-the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR SAM) manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited and jointly developed by India and Israel which was successfully test fired on Western Seaboard by INS Kolkata in the Arabian Sea. 1, 00,000MW - the amount of electricity government plans to generate from solar panels by 2022, with a 40,000MW contribution from grid-connected rooftop systems. Raptor MOU - stands for the MOU on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia with the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS). India recently gave its approval for its readiness in signing this MOU which will help India gain knowledge in effectively managing the habitats of these raptors. National Current Affairs 2015 Current Affairs December 2015 Barack 8 missile - the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR SAM) manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited and jointly developed by India and Israel which was successfully test fired on Western Seaboard by INS Kolkata in the Arabian Sea. 1, 00,000MW - the amount of electricity government plans to generate from solar panels by 2022, with a 40,000MW contribution from grid-connected rooftop systems. Raptor MOU - stands for the MOU on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia with the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS). India recently gave its approval for its readiness in signing this MOU which will help India gain knowledge in effectively managing the habitats of these raptors. Beech Super King B-200- the aircraft of BSF which crashed just after take-off in New Delhi killing all 10 personnel on board. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children Bill), 2015- this bill was passed by Parliament recently which allow trial of offenders aged 16-18 as adults for heinous crimes such as rapes and murders. India - this country rose by five rungs to 130 among 188 countries on the UN Human Development Index (HDI) but continues to trail poorer nations such as Iraq, Bangladesh and even Pakistan in womens progress, childrens status and basic healthcare. HDI is a measure for assessing long term progress in 3 dimensions, a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. The top five nations are Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Denmark and Netherlands. January 1, 2016- the date from which individuals will have to disclose their permanent account number (PAN) for cash transactions above Rs.2 lakhs and hotel bills that exceed Rs.50, 000. RBI - the Supreme Court in a landmark order brought Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the purview of the overarching RTI Act and hence made it bound to divulge business details of all banks including the financial regulators audit reports and list of defaulters. 2000cc - the capacity and above of diesel engine luxury cars and SUV whose registration was banned until March 31, 2016 in the national capital region by the Supreme Court. Marginal cost - the cost on which the banks will be required to fix their base rates from April 1, 2016 as per the new directives from the Reserve Bank of India. This is different from the present system where average cost is used to finalise the base rates. Reliance Entertainment - the Anil Ambani led company which recently tied up with acclaimed Hollywood director Steven Spielbergs Dream Works for formation of Amblin Partners-a film, television and digital content creation company. Cochin Shipyard - they became the first Indian company to be licensed by GTT, France to make membrane type technologies for LNG carrier ship in India. 7th December 2015- this day was recently celebrated as Armed Forces Flag Day. TAPI - stands for Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline which will stretch 1,800km and is expected to cost more than 10 billion. The work on this project is expected to start soon. Pakistans Interstate Gas Systems, Turkmenistans Turkmen gas, the Afghan Gas Enterprise and Indias Gail Limited has equal shareholding in the Tapi Pipeline Company Limited (TPCL). India and Pakistan will get more than 1.3 billion cubic feet a day of gas from Tapi, while Afghanistan will get 0.5 billion cubic feet. Sanofi - the French drug maker who has applied for regulatory approval of the worlds first dengue vaccine in India. The vaccine branded as Dengvaxia was recently approved for use in Mexico. Vaishno Devi - the famous shrine located at a height of 5,300 feet on the Trikuta Hills in Jammu which was in the news recently after a chopper carrying pilgrims crashed after a suspected bird hit. e-Lala - the portal recently launched by brick and mortar trading companies to take on the challenge of e-tailers. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the pan-India association of traditional traders launched this e-commerce platform in Nagpur recently. HSBC India - one of the foreign bank which recently announced that it is shutting down its private banking business in the country following a world-wide strategic review, making it the third foreign financial services major to get out of this business after Royal bank of Scotland and Morgan Stanley. Chandrabhaga Beach - the beach in Konark of Odisha which recently hosted the International Sand Art Festival. Vaishno Devi - the famous shrine located at a height of 5,300 feet on the Trikuta Hills in Jammu which was in the news recently after a chopper carrying pilgrims crashed after a suspected bird hit. e-Lala - the portal recently launched by brick and mortar trading companies to take on the challenge of e-tailers. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the pan-India association of traditional traders launched this e-commerce platform in Nagpur recently. HSBC India - one of the foreign bank which recently announced that it is shutting down its private banking business in the country following a world-wide strategic review, making it the third foreign financial services major to get out of this business after Royal bank of Scotland and Morgan Stanley. Chandrabhaga Beach - the beach in Konark of Odisha which recently hosted the International Sand Art Festival. Current Affairs November 2015 Vaishno Devi - the famous shrine located at a height of 5,300 feet on the Trikuta Hills in Jammu which was in the news recently after a chopper carrying pilgrims crashed after a suspected bird hit. e-Lala - the portal recently launched by brick and mortar trading companies to take on the challenge of e-tailers. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the pan-India association of traditional traders launched this e-commerce platform in Nagpur recently. HSBC India - one of the foreign bank which recently announced that it is shutting down its private banking business in the country following a world-wide strategic review, making it the third foreign financial services major to get out of this business after Royal bank of Scotland and Morgan Stanley. Chandrabhaga Beach - the beach in Konark of Odisha which recently hosted the International Sand Art Festival. CGWB - stands for Central Ground Water Board which recently issued new guidelines for ground water extraction. Under the new rules ground water extraction only for those homes not having public water supply, only one extraction permission per househould which will cease to exist once supply is provided, motors up to one horsepower will be allowed. Indias average groundwater level fell from 28.7 meters in 1950 to 61.2 metres in 2009. These guidelines will be applicable for residential houses in 6607 notified areas in one-fourth of the districts of the country. Indian Highway Management Company Limited - the new company which has been set up to implement radio tag-enabled electronic toll collection(ETC) systems across all highways by March 2016 and has decided to make ETC lanes as a mandatory clause in the new highway building contracts. HAM - stands for Hybrid Annuity Model launched by centre to fund road projects to aid revival by creating jobs and pushing income growth. Under this the government will pay 40 of the project cost to developer during construction and developer will pay the balance. The NHAI will collect the toll and refund 60 of the developers cost over a 10-year period. The government has set a target to build 30km of new national highways every day. GE - this company along with Alstom were recently awarded contracts for setting up of Rs.40,000crore worth diesel and electric locomotive factories in Marhaura and Madhepura respectively in Bihar, marking the first major FDI in rail projects. Air service - the sector in which the government recently announced 49 FDI in regional air transport service under automatic route. The government also allowed 49 FDI in Defence under the automatic route against the current prerequisite of government approval. The government also allowed 100 automatic FDI in completed projects for operation and management of townships, mallsshopping complexes and business centres no restrictions on minimum floor area or minimum capitalization. Project Loon - the hovering balloons project which is proposed to be launched by Google to provide internet connectivity to millions, mainly in rural India. Google has asked Indian government for permission to launch this scheme. The 15x12 m sized balloon made of polyethylene plastic are lighter than air and can beam internet connection to a ground area of 40km in diameter. Gold Monetisation Scheme - the new scheme launched my Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under this scheme one can earn on the depositing the idle gold and the country will benefit by importing less gold. All residents can invest and the minimum deposit will be 30grams of raw gold and these deposits will be available for short, medium long term. Short term deposits will be redeemable in gold or in rupees at prevailing prices while medium and long term will only be redeemable in prevailing price. Gold will be collected and assayed before being accepted as deposit. Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme - the new scheme launched my Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under this scheme bonds will be issued by Government of India in denominations in one gram gold and its multiples-minimum investment-2gm and maximum investment-500gm. The tenure of the bond will be 8 years with an exit option from 5th year on interest bearing dates. Bond is interest bearing, available in DEMAT paper form, tradable on stock exchange and can be used as collateral for loans. Indian Gold Coin - the new scheme launched my Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under this scheme 24 carat purity, 999 fineness gold coins minted in India, hallmarked by BIS will be available for sale. These will have anti counterfeit features with tamper proof packaging and will be available in 5gm 10gm coin and 20gm bullion at MMTC centres across India. 0.5- the amount of Swachh Bharat cess which has been imposed on all services liable for service tax from November 15, 2015 taking the service tax to 14.5. Gulam Kaderbhoy Noon - the Mumbai-origin person who migrated to Britain with little funds and went on to found several Indian food companies that made him known as Britains first Curry King died recently. FTII - stands for Film and Television Institute of India located at Pune which was in the news recently after the students called off their 139-day-long strike. However they said they will continue to protest until the government revokes what they termed the political appointments of Gajendra Chauhan and five others. 7.5- the percentage GDP growth of India forecasted by World Bank for India for current fiscal year 2015-16 in its bi annual report-India Development Update. NRIs - stand for Non Resident Indians who were recently allowed to invest in National Payment System (NPS) by Reserve Bank of India. October 31st - this day was celebrated as national unity day in honour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - the Iron Man and the architect of Modern India. Vikalp - the new scheme launched by Indian railways under which the waitlisted passengers can get confirmed accommodation in next alternative train if they opt for the option while bookings their tickets online. Current Affairs October 2015 Gulam Kaderbhoy Noon - the Mumbai-origin person who migrated to Britain with little funds and went on to found several Indian food companies that made him known as Britains first Curry King died recently. FTII - stands for Film and Television Institute of India located at Pune which was in the news recently after the students called off their 139-day-long strike. However they said they will continue to protest until the government revokes what they termed the political appointments of Gajendra Chauhan and five others. 7.5- the percentage GDP growth of India forecasted by World Bank for India for current fiscal year 2015-16 in its bi annual report-India Development Update. NRIs - stand for Non Resident Indians who were recently allowed to invest in National Payment System (NPS) by Reserve Bank of India. October 31st - this day was celebrated as national unity day in honour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - the Iron Man and the architect of Modern India. Vikalp - the new scheme launched by Indian railways under which the waitlisted passengers can get confirmed accommodation in next alternative train if they opt for the option while bookings their tickets online. IDFC - the new bank which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently. Reliance Capital - the Anil Ambani led company which recently announced the acquisition of Indian mutual fund business of Goldman Sachs for Rs.243 crore in an all-cash deal. Ind AS - the new accounting norms which banks and NBFCs have to adopt from April 1, 2018. These are part of the global IFRS accounting standards. The norms ask for anticipation of bad loans based on companys track record and industry performances, among others. It also stipulates providing for bad loans for performing company on the presumption that a marginal percentage of the loan might turn bad. Companies have to migrate to the new norms from April1,2016. June 2017- the month from when the countrys first women fighter will join the Indian Air Force making a watershed development in the air forces 83 year old history. These pilots are presently receiving training at the Air Force Academy near Hyderabad. January1,2016- the date from which the practice of holding interviews for selection to junior government posts in the non-gazette posts are proposed to be removed by the government as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat programme. Article 44- the Article of the Constitution which says that the State shall endeavor to secure for citizens a Uniform Civil code throughout the country. This was in news after the Supreme Court asked the government to decide on Uniform Civil Code soon. January 23, 2016- the date of birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose which has been set as date to start declassification of secret files related to him which will unravel the mystery surrounding the freedom fighters death. This was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after meeting the family members of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Knesset - the Parliament of Israel which was addressed by President Pranab Mukherjee on his recent to Jerusalem, Israel. Rs.1- the amount of penalty mobile operator will have to pay for call drop from January 1, 2016 as directed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). German - the language which will come back as an additional language at Kendriya Vidyalayas a year after it was controversially replaced by Sanskrit at these schools after India and Germany signed an agreement in this regard recently. IMF - stands for International Monetary Fund which downgraded Indias GDP growth to 7.3 from 7.5 for 2015 in its Worlds Economic Outlook update which was released recently. In 2016 India is forecast to grow at 7.5 against Chinas 6.3. ASTROSAT - Indias first space research observatory, which was launched recently from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. It will help in detailed understanding of the universe and also help in a detailed understanding of the universe and also put into orbit six foreign satellites, including the first from the US. So far only the US, Japan, Russia and Europe have launched the space observatory. It will observe universe in the optical, ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, while most other satellites are capable of observing a narrow range of wavelength band. Face book - the famous social media whose office was recently visited by Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent US visit where he interacted with its CEO Mark Zuckerberg. REPO Rate - the key lending rate which was reduced by 0.50 percentage points to 6.75 recently by Reserve Bank of Indias Governor Raghuram Rajan in the monetary policy announced recently. This will lead to cheaper loans for households and companies. Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow from RBI. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is the proportion of deposits banks have to park with RBI remains unchanged at 4 and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) which stands for the proportion of deposits banks are required to park in govt. bonds also remains unchanged at 21.5. INS Kochi - the Indias latest warship, a stealth guided-missile destroyer which was commissioned in Mumbai recently. It is packed with an array of state-of-the-art weapons. It has four AK-630 rapid fire guns, indigenously developed twin-tube torpedo launchers and anti-submarine rocket launchers, Indo-Israeli developed LR-SAM (Long Range surface-to-air missiles) along with supersonic cruise missiles. 35- the percentage cut in intensity of carbon emissions from 2005 levels over the next 15 years formed part of the Indias ambitious climate change plan which was announced by Indias environment minister at Berlin recently. India also plans to generate 40of its power from non-fossils fuels by 2030.The submission-called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)-requires a whopping 2.5trillion and targets were contingent on availability of international funds and affordable technology. Current Affairs September 2015 ASTROSAT - Indias first space research observatory, which was launched recently from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. It will help in detailed understanding of the universe and also help in a detailed understanding of the universe and also put into orbit six foreign satellites, including the first from the US. So far only the US, Japan, Russia and Europe have launched the space observatory. It will observe universe in the optical, ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, while most other satellites are capable of observing a narrow range of wavelength band. Face book - the famous social media whose office was recently visited by Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent US visit where he interacted with its CEO Mark Zuckerberg. REPO Rate - the key lending rate which was reduced by 0.50 percentage points to 6.75 recently by Reserve Bank of Indias Governor Raghuram Rajan in the monetary policy announced recently. This will lead to cheaper loans for households and companies. Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow from RBI. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is the proportion of deposits banks have to park with RBI remains unchanged at 4 and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) which stands for the proportion of deposits banks are required to park in govt. bonds also remains unchanged at 21.5. INS Kochi - the Indias latest warship, a stealth guided-missile destroyer which was commissioned in Mumbai recently. It is packed with an array of state-of-the-art weapons. It has four AK-630 rapid fire guns, indigenously developed twin-tube torpedo launchers and anti-submarine rocket launchers, Indo-Israeli developed LR-SAM (Long Range surface-to-air missiles) along with supersonic cruise missiles. 35- the percentage cut in intensity of carbon emissions from 2005 levels over the next 15 years formed part of the Indias ambitious climate change plan which was announced by Indias environment minister at Berlin recently. India also plans to generate 40of its power from non-fossils fuels by 2030.The submission-called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)-requires a whopping 2.5trillion and targets were contingent on availability of international funds and affordable technology. Current Affairs August 2015 UPTU - stands for Uttar Pradesh technical University which was recently renamed as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University after late President. Komen - the cyclone which created a depression over parts of Bangladesh and killed many people in the eastern states of India. 7.25- the Repo rate which was kept unchanged by Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan in the recent announced monetary policy review. It is the rate at which banks borrow from RBI. 4- the CRR rate which was kept unchanged by Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan in the recent announced monetary policy review. It stands for Cash Reserve Ratio - proportion of the amount of deposits banks park with RBI. BrahMos - the new series of this missile has been renamed BrahMos-II(K)-the K in its stands as tribute to former President APJ Abdul Kalam who fired Indias missile and nuclear programme. The hypersonic missile which will travel at a speed of 8,575 kmph is being developed by the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace. Biswa Bangla - the name of the state-of-the-art outlet of West Bengal which houses products made by thousands of weavers and artisans depicting culture of the state. Indradhanush - the name of the seven point agenda announced recently to improve the PSU banks. They are - Appointments, Bank Board Bureau, Capitalisation, De-Stressing, Empowerment, Performance and Reforms. Taj Mahal - the first historical monument to start an official handle on the micro-blogging site. The launch was done on 15th August 2015. Buddy - the name of the mobile valet of State bank of India which was recently launched by Union Finance Minister, ArunJaitley in Mumbai. SMILE - stands for Sidbi Make in India Loan for Enterprises which was recently launched by Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley in Mumbai. The Rs.10,000 crore SMILE is intended to take forward the governments Make In India campaign and help MSEs to meet the required debt-equity ratio as well as pursuing opportunities for growth of SMEs. Rs 1,00,000 the maximum deposit that a payments bank can accept from an individual as per the new norms announced by Reserve Bank of India for payment banks. The central bank recently gave 11 entities licences to start payments banks. These banks will primarily provide remittance services. Though they can accept deposits from an individual, they cannot offer loans. Ai-Ki-Do - the name of recently announced three enhanced service offerings in design thinking, platforms and knowledge based IT. The idea has been taken from the Japanese martial arts - Aikido. Aurangzeb Road - the road located in Lutyens Delhi which is going to be renamed as the APJ Kalam Road in honour of the former President who passed away last month. National Current Affairs 2015 Current Affairs July 2015 Airtel - the company led by Sunil Mittal which recently became the third largest mobile operator in the world with 303 million subscribers according to the data released by World Cellular information Service. It now stands behind china Mobile and Vodafone that have 626.27 and 403.08 million subscribers. Dholpur Palace - the spectacular 19th century palace of Rajasthan which recently is news due to its ownership disputes. PMKSY - stands for Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. The Rs.50, 000 crore scheme was launched recently to boost the countrys irrigation network over the next five years. 31.2- the percentage of population, nearly one of three people in Indias villages are poor with an income hardly enough to buy even the bare essentials as per the new government study-Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011, released recently. This is the first comprehensive exercise to estimate Indias rural poverty levels. It concluded that the primary breadwinner in three of four households in rural India earns less than Rs.5000 a month. It defined rural households that spent Rs.26 or less a day as poor. As per SECC 2011, 243.9million is the total number of households in India out of which 64.8 million are urban and 179.1 million are rural households. It also found that in rural area 68.35 own a mobile phone and 20.69 own a vehicle-234 wheeler or fishing boat. 200 billion - the cost which India will have to bear per anum due to the climate change if it fails to ensure adequate measures and fail to reduce their carbon emissions as per the study-Climate Change: A Risk Assessment - conducted by climate advisors to the government in United States, United Kingdom and China, the worlds biggest carbon emitters. NMSD - stands for National Mission for Skilled Development which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th July 2015. The programme is part one of the PMs pet projects, national Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015, which aims to equip Indias youth with employability and entrepreneurial skills. The project aims to equip 500 million Indians with skills by 2022 that would enable them to find jobs. Give It Up - the name of the scheme launched to motivate capable people to give up their LPG subsidy. IDFC the infrastructure finance firm which recently received the banking licence from Reserve Bank of India to do banking business in India under Section 22(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Microfinance company Bandhan Financial Services is one of the other two companies which were granted preliminary bank permits last year. These two will become the new banks to be set up in India after more than a decade as Yes Bank was the last bank to b set up in 2004. 6.2- it is Indias real interest rate now highest since 2005. REAL INTEREST RATES are interest rates adjusted for inflation while NOMINAL is the rate quoted in loan and deposit agreements. Indias average real interest rate for the past five years is 4.22 while according to Reserve Bank of India Indias desired real interest rate given the current conditions and priorities should be between 1.5-2. 1033- the toll free number recently launched for reporting accidents and seeking assistance after which the cashless treatment will be given to accident victim for the first 50 hours. The project will be launched in Gurgaon, Jaipur and Vadodra and then to Ranchi, Rungaon and Maurya national highways. UPTU - stands for Uttar Pradesh technical University which was recently renamed as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University after late President. Komen - the cyclone which created a depression over parts of Bangladesh and killed many people in the eastern states of India. Current Affairs June 2015 June 5- this day was celebrated as World Environment Day. Maggi - the noodles which faced ban across India after the samples of the product showed dangerously high levels of lead and the chemical flavour enhancer, Monosodium Glutamate(MSG). Victorias - the famous horse drawn carriages used in Mumbai for joy rides which were recently declared completely illegal and declared to be withdrawn within a year by Bombay High Court. Vermin - this stands for nuisance animal. The environment ministry recently announced based on the recommendations of the state government the ministry would notify a particular animal as vermin and once notified the states would be free to hunt these animals for a limited period of time. There is a provision to declare wild animals listed in various Schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972 as vermin. Ken and Betwa - the two rivers which flow through Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are going to be linked in the first phase of the ambitious river linking project. Housing for All - the NDA governments flagship project under which there is a plan to build two crore houses by 2022. Bandhan Bank - the proposed bank of microfinance major Bandhan which recently received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India to begin a full-fledged banking services and will debut on August 23, 2015. 21st June - the first International Yoga day was celebrated all across the world. June 25, 2015- this day marked the 40th anniversary of the imposing of Emergency in India. Lifelines - the famous movie made on the life of Uttarakhands Makar Singh, his economic hardships and his efforts to uplift his community has won several awards and become a teaching tool in universities across UK, US, Canada and Australia. The movie has been produced by Jane Dyson. It was awarded the Outstanding International Impact Award by Britains Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) this week. Current Affairs May 2015 Prabhadevi - the famous temple of Mumbai which recently completed 300 years. It was built in 1715 by Shyam Nayak - wealthy member of Pathare Prabhu community. PDMA - stands for Public Debt Management Agency whose proposal was rolled back allowing the Reserve Bank of India to retain its status as the sole regulator of government bonds. Weibo - the Chinese social media platform which is a cross between Twitter and Face book was in news recently after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his debut in it. Future Retail - the Kishore Biyani controlled group which recently decided to merge its retail business with Sunil Mittal led Bharti Retail. While Bharti retail runs 212 Easy day stores across India, Future Retail has 203 Big Bazaar stores. GST - stands for Goods and Services Tax which is a single national tax levied across the country on all goods and services. GST will subsume multiple taxes such as VAT, CST, excise that states levy and will create a common market. October 1,2015- the deadline from which the government has decided to make speed governors-a speed limiting device mandatory for all new transport vehicle. The governors will restrict the speed of commercial vehicles which have yellow number plates to less than 80kmph and to 60kmph for vehicles such as dumpers, tankers and school buses. Emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire tenders and police vehicles have been exempted from the rule. 119th Amendment Bill - this was recently passed unanimously by Parliament which will allow in operationalising the 41-year old India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement (LBA). This historic agreement was signed between Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974. Namami Gange - The name of the flagship programme of the government, to integrate the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga in a comprehensive manner. The programme has a budget outlay of Rs.20, 000 crore for the next five years, which is a significant four-fold increase over the expenditure in the past 30 years. USTTAD - It is the name of the initiative to augment and preserve rich heritage of traditional artscrafts and build capacity of traditional artisanscraftsmen. This programme was recently launched to accomplish the governments commitment to minorities. Hyundai Heavy Industries - the South Korean company which recently agreed to join hands with Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Vishakhapatnam for building warships in India. This agreement was signed during recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to South Korea. Chhattisgarh Zinc Rice-1- the first zinc bio fortified rice developed by scientists which is expected to play a crucial role in fighting malnutrition in tribal dominated Chhattisgarh. Gujjar - the community of Rajasthan for which the state government of Rajasthan agreed to introduce a bill ensuring 5reservation outside the legal limit of 50. Current Affairs April 2015 GCTOCB - stands for Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill of 2015 which was recently passed by Gujarat government. This is an amended version of the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill which was earlier rejected by Presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil. Fabindia - the company which came in limelight recently over a CCTV camera controversy, which happened in one of its outlet in Goa. 1031- the anti corruption helpline, which was recently relaunched by Delhis chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. AQI - stands for Air Quality Index which is colour coded index which was launched recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 10 cities of India-Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. This will monitor the quality of air in major urban centres on a real time basis. The index will provide the current status of the level of pollution in a given city, with colour codes indicating air quality, ranging from dark green as good to maroon as severe. 7th April - this was celebrated as World Health Day. The Central Government began a massive immunization campaign to cover by 2020 all children who are either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated against seven preventable diseases. RERA - stands for Real Estate Regulatory Authority whose setting up was recently cleared by the Union cabinet. This will cover both residential and commercial real estate and will make it mandatory for builders developing a project exceeding 1,000 square metres to register with RERA before launching or even advertising a housing scheme. 112- the toll free number whose implementation has been recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as a single point of contact for assistance in major emergency. The new helpline would be an integration of the existing emergency numbers in India such as 100,101,102 and 108 which can be retained as secondary numbers. This is the Indian equivalent to the American 911-all emergency number. CEPI - stands for Comprehensive Environmental Assessment of Industrial Clusters ranking system which has been revamped by the government recently setting aside the annual approval clause. The government has now decided that the approval to operate will be valid for five years in case of most polluting red category units, 10 years for slightly less polluting orange category and the cleaner green category will require one time approval. MUDRA Bank - stands for Micro Units Development Refinance Agency, a separate bank to support small business and microfinance was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently. FAA - the Federal Aviation Administration of US which recently restored Indias aviation safety ranking to the Category I status which means that domestic airlines can increase flights to that country and have new code shares with American carriers. Moody - the credit rating agency which upwardly revised the outlook on Indias economy to positive from stable. A positive outlook implies that Moodys is more bullish about the Indian economy prospects than earlier and India is likely to grow faster than its peers over the medium term. Greenpeace India - the centre barred this organization from receiving foreign funds over allegation of working against Indias economic progress and public interest. Rafale jets - India recently decided to buy 36 of these jets for Indian Air Force from France as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to France. He along with French President Francois Hollande discussed bilateral issues during a boat ride along the Seine River in Paris. Areva - the French nuclear major recently signed an agreement with LT of India to bring down the cost of the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power project which has the capacity of generating 9,900 MW power. GIFT city - stands for Gujarat international Finance Tech City which is located on the bank of river Sabarmati between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. The countrys first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) is coming up here which will open doors for domestic and foreign banks to set up backend offices in the GIFT city. Airbus - the French major aero planes manufacturer which has recently agreed to set up plant in India to manufacture helicopters, satellites and military transport planes. NJAC - it stands for National Judicial Appointments Commission which has been set up for the appointment of judges. Apart from two senior most Supreme Court judges the NJAC will also have the law minister and two eminent jurists as members. The new law replaces the 22 year old collegiums system that kept the government out of the selection process for Supreme Court and high court judges. Net Neutrality - the system in which Internet service providers treat all traffic on their networks equally - the system in which users are able to access all websites at the same speed and cost without any preferential treatment to any website. Sholay - the Bollywood classic starring Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra, which hit the theatres in Pakistan recently for the first time, 40years after its India release. Mary Kom - the film starring Priyanka Chopra based on the life of Olympic medal winning Indian boxer Mary Kom recently won the Bronze Horse Award, the highest honour at the Stockholm International Film Festival Junior in Sweden. Visakhapatnam - the Indian Navys new stealth destroyer of P-15 B class which has been designed indigenously and fitted with advanced features was launched recently at Mazagaon docks. 21st April - this day was recently celebrated as Civil Services Day. 2050- the year by which India has agreed to a US proposal to phase out refrigerating coolants called hydroflourocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol on the condition that rich countries pay the entire cost of the transition. a move that could lead to an increase in cost of refrigeration services. India - it was ranked 117 out of 158 countries in the 2015 World Happiness Report released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global initiative under the United Nations. This rank was given on the basis of GDP per capita, life expectancy, social support and freedom to make life choices. Prabhadevi - the famous temple of Mumbai which recently completed 300 years. It was built in 1715 by Shyam Nayak - wealthy member of Pathare Prabhu community. PDMA - stands for Public Debt Management Agency whose proposal was rolled back allowing the Reserve Bank of India to retain its status as the sole regulator of government bonds. Current Affairs March 2015 Repo rate - the rate at which banks borrow from Reserve Bank of India was cut by 0.25 percentage points on 4th March 2015. Re.1- the note of this denomination was released in the country after over 20 years bearing the signature of finance secretary, Rajiv Mehrishi. LIC - they recently committed Rs.1.5 lakh crore for development of rail projects over the next five years which is the highest ever funding for the Indian Railways. Insurance - the sector in which the cap of foreign investment has been raised from present 26 to 49 after the passage of Insurance Laws(Amendment)Bill 2015 by Parliament. April 14,2015- the Baisakhi or the harvest festival day from which the government is planning to start a new channel Kisan TV which will be a help tillers after nearly 30 years of successful Krishi darshan. Lupin - the major drug company which recently inked a pact to acquire an additional 40 stake in South Africas Pharma Dynamics which will take its holding to 100 making it a wholly owned subsidiary. The Undisclosed foreign Income and Assets( Imposition of Tax) Bill - the new bill that makes concealing foreign assets and income from tax authorities a crime punishable with a 10 year jail term and 300 fine on tax evaded was cleared by Union cabinet recently. 1km - the limit of eco zones around forests in Goa which was recently approved by green ministry beyond which mining can be done. Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill - this bill was passed by Parliament recently. This bill allows for auction of mines with a 50-year lease against current 30 years period, mines will to be re-auctioned after expiry. There is also provision for tough deterrents in the form of Rs.5,00,000 fine for illegal mining per hectare(currently Rs.25,000) and jail term of 5 years. Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill 2015- this bill was passed by Parliament recently. This bill allows auction of mines, following a 2014 Supreme Court order cancelling allocation of over 2014 blocks after it termed process illegal. DMH-11- the genetically modified crop of mustard which is in the final stage of trial and shown to be 28-30 higher yielding than the best mustard varieties. This is being developed by Delhi Universitys Centre for genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants and is funded by the department of biotech and the National Dairy Development Board. 66A - the section of the Information Technology (IT) Act which was recently scrapped the Supreme Court. This law gave police sweeping powers to arrest anyone for posting annoying or offensive comments online. NISH - stands for the National Institute of Speech and Hearing located at Thiruvananthapuram which has been elevated as the countrys first university for disability studies and rehabilitation sciences. GCTOCB - stands for Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill of 2015 which was recently passed by Gujarat government. This is an amended version of the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill which was earlier rejected by Presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil. Fabindia - the company which came in limelight recently over a CCTV camera controversy, which happened in one of its outlet in Goa. 1031- the anti corruption helpline, which was recently relaunched by Delhis chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Current Affairs February 2015 SLR - stands for Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the proportion of deposits that banks have to maintain as liquid. This was cut by 50 basis points to 21.5 which will release Rs.45000 crore into the system. LRS - stands for Liberalised Remittance Scheme which allows individuals to acquire shares, debt instruments and other assets outside India without RBIs prior approval. This has been recently raised to 250,000 a year. Nehru Bose: Parallel lives - the new book written by Rudrangshu Mukherjee. Sholay - the iconic movie of Bollywood which is to be released in Pakistan after 40 years. Adani Enterprise Ltd.- they recently signed a pact with the Rajasthan government to develop Indias largest solar park in the state with 10,000MW capacity over the next 10 years, at an estimated investment of about Rs.40,000 crore. AAP - stands for Aam Aadmi Party which won 67 of the 70 seats of Delhi in the recently concluded Assembly elections. Mann ki Baat - the monthly radio programme of Primeminister Narendra Modi in which this month he advised students to take up examinations with a smile on their face being warriors and not worriers and advised parents not to compare their children to others as it mounts pressure on their wards. Kejriwal Sworn In As Delhis Chief Minister AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was sworn in as Delhis chief minister by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung at the Ramlila Maidan here along with six ministers on Feb 14, 2015. Tens of thousands of Aam Aadmi Party supporters who had gathered at the sprawling ground in the heart of the capital since morning cheered loudly and waved AAP flags as Kejriwal took the oath of office and secrecy. Railways Launches Indias First Customer Complaint Mobile App Indian Railways on Feb 2, 2015, became the first company in the country to provide customer complaint services on a mobile app besides providing the facility online by launching a complaint management system (Coms). The Coms comprises the mobile app, an online portal backed by a centralised grievance redressal monitoring system and a mobile network messaging facility. Largest And Tallest Indian Flag To Be Unfurled The largest and tallest Indian flag will be unfurled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah at Faridabad on Mar 3, 2015, said a member of the events organising committee Monday. The worlds largest Indian flag will unfurled tomorrow by BJP president Amit Shah. The flag will be hoisted at 250 feet making it the tallest Indian flag, a member of the organising committee told IANS. Delhi Police Launch Himmat WhatsApp, Hike For Womens Safety Enthused by the popularity of its Himmat mobile app for womens safety, the Delhi Police launched the facility on WhatsApp and the Hike messenger group on feb 25, 2015. Women in Delhi can now send photos of autorickshaws and taxis they board to the Himmat WhatsApp group number 8800001091. The same number is for hike messenger group users. Modi Flags Off Arunachal-Delhi Train In a historic development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first express train from Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh to New Delhi on Feb 20, 2015. Modi, who arrived in Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar to participate in the states 29th foundation day, flagged off the Naharlagun-New Delhi Express by pressing a button at a function held in Indira Gandhi Park in Itanagar. On Sirisena visit, India, Sri Lanka ink civil nuclear agreement India and close neighbour Sri Lanka Monday sought to begin a new chapter in their ties as the island nations newly-elected President Maithripala Sirisena, on his maiden visit abroad since taking over last month, held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and the two sides inked four agreements, including one on civil nuclear cooperation. Sirisena, who defeated long-time president Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Jan 8 election, signalled the new closeness in bilateral ties, saying Modi is expected to visit his country in March and that they are eagerly awaiting the glorious event, which would be an honour and a blessing to their country. Current Affairs January 2015 Rs.2- the amount of excise duty which has been levied on petrol and diesel recently to raise an annual revenue of Rs.10,000 crore to fund the ambitious plan of government to built an additional 15,000km of National highways over the next three years. Niti Aayog - stands for National Institution for Transforming India Aayog which will now replace the 65 year old Planning Commission and will be headed by Prime Minister. 27.6- the percentage of people or 104 million people out of 377 million living in the urban India has been identified as poor, according to preliminary figures of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC). This is the first time the urban poor have been identified. 9th January - on this day in 1915 Mahatma Gandhi set foot on Indian soil and stepped on to the path of being the Mahatma Repo rate - this rate was recently cut from 8 to 7.75 by Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor. Bio diesel - bthe cabinet recently allowed private manufacturers of this alternative fuel to sell it directly to consumers like Indian Railways. Tejas - the first indigenously built light combat aircraft was handed over to the IAF recently, 32 years after the project was sanctioned. Agni V - the nuclear capable missile having a strike range of 5,000km which was successfully test fired for the third time but from the first time from a canister mounted on a truck rather than a concrete launch pad from Wheeler island of Odisha coast recently. 2226- the number of tigers in India in 2014 as reported in The 2014 Status of Tigers in India which is 30 more than that of 1706 in 2010. Twitter - the micro blogging site which made its first acquisition in India by buying Bangalore based mobile marketing platform Zip Dial for an undisclosed amount. Padma Vibhushan - the countrys seconds highest civilian honour was conferred to 9 people for this year-Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachan, LK Advani, Prakash Singh Badal, Dr. Veerendra Heggade, Mr. Srinivasan, KK Venogopal, Aga Khan and Swami Rambhadracharya. The Padma Bhusan was conferred to 20 people and Padma Shri on 75 people. Mann Ki Baat - the monthly radio talk where US President Barack Obama and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi shared similar back stories of humble beginnings and hard work. Coal India Limited - in the biggest ever disinvestment exercise, the government mopped up Rs.22557 crore from 10 stake sale in this company. Jaishankar appointed as New Foreign Secretary The Government appointed Indias envoy in the US, S. Jaishankar, as the new foreign secretary on January 28, 2015, replacing incumbent Sujatha Singh six months before her term was to end. The sudden appointment has echoes of the sudden replacement of Indias then foreign secretary A. P. Venkateswaran by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in January 1987. The appointments committee of the Cabinet, in a decision taken Wednesday, decided to curtail the tenure of the incumbent Sujatha Singh, with immediate effect. Prime Minister Narendra Modis assurance of consistent policies and welcoming environment leading to US President Barack Obama announcing steps to lead to 4 billion trade with and investment in India. Over the next two years, our Export Import Bank (EXIM) will support 1 billion Made In America goods exports to India. Our Overseas Private Investment Corporation will support lending small and medium businesses across India in more than 1 billion in loans. And our US Trade and Development Agency will invest nearly 2 billion in renewable energy in India, Obama said in his address at the US-India Business Summit here Monday. Modi Launches Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao Campaign From Haryana In a determined effort to counter the adverse sex ratio in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao (save girl child and educate her) campaign from Panipat, in Haryana on Jan 22,2015. The prime minister flagged off 72 campaign vehicles (raths) on the occasion that will make people aware about the need to save the girl child in areas where the sex ratio is adverse. The campaign has been launched from Haryana as the state has the worst sex ratio (number of females per 1,000 males) and child sex ratio in the country. Out of the 100 worst districts in India for sex ratio, Haryana accounts for 12 districts. Ashoka Chakra For Two Fallen Bravehearts On Republic Day Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh were posthumously awarded the nations highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashoka Chakra, at the Republic Day parade. Both of them laid down their lives while fighting heavily-armed terrorists in separate gun-battles in Jammu and Kashmir last year. Their widows received the award from President Pranab Mukherjee. National Current Affairs 2014 Current Affairs December 2014 Indian Film Jal In Running For Two Oscars Girish Maliks National Award winning film Jal has found a place in the Oscar contenders of 2014 in two categories Best Picture and Best Original Score. The film, which has the backdrop of water scarcity and tells the story of Bakka, a person gifted with a special ability to find water in the desert, features in the reminder list of productions eligible for the 87th Academy Awards. Vivek Murthy Makes History As First Indian Americas Doctor Vivek Hallegere Murthy has made history as the youngest US Surgeon General and the first of Indian descent with his Senate confirmation in the teeth of strong opposition of powerful gun lobby. The Democratic controlled Senate voted Monday 51-43 to confirm Murthy, 37 as Americas doctor more than a year after his nomination with the Republicans dead set against him because of his support for gun control and President Barack Obamas signature healthcare law. India successfully test fires its heaviest rocket Indias heaviest test rocket with an experimental crew module blasted off from the spaceport here. Precisely at 9.30 a. m. the 630 tonne Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mark III) standing 43.43 metre tall freed itself from the second launch pad holds and with a reverberating deep throated roar, it rose into the sky. India-China border resolution: Is it ever likely Despite promising noises of an early resolution and many rounds of annual dialogue, why does the India-China border issue continue to fester Why is there no moving forward in actual terms Is it because it suits Beijing to let the status quo continue According to China expert Ranjit Singh Kalha, a former secretary in the external affairs ministry, the stalemate on the boundary issue, which has seen 17 rounds of formal talks so far over the disputed boundary of around 4,000 km, is likely to continue. Indias Mars mission hits a century Chennai, Indias Mars Orbiter completed 100 days of its Martian orbit on the New Years Day 2015 Thursday, space agency officials said. The Mars Orbiter was inserted in Martian orbit Sep 24, 2014 is in good health, said officials of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Current Affairs November 2014 IAF Chief Unveils New Pilot Selection System Indian Air Force chief Arup Raha unveiled the new computerised pilot selection system, replacing the age-old pilot aptitude battery test. The new system is aimed at addressing the alarming rate of flying accidents in the IAF attributed to pilot error, Air Chief Marshal Raha told reporters at the air force selection board here, about 150 km from Bengaluru. India launches e-visa facility for 43 countries India launched electronic visa (e-visa) facility for tourists from 43 countries, including US, Israel, Palestine and Japan to boost tourism sector and offer hassle-free travel to foreign visitors. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, along with union Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma launched the Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVOA) service enabled with electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme here. Indias First Smart City In Gujarat Wins Nasscom Award Indias first smart city, the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), announced it had been conferred with the e-LETS award for the smart citys command and control centre from the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom). The award was given by Nasscom president R. Chandrashekhar at the e-INDIA conference in Kovalam. Modi Ranked 15th On Forbes Power List Putin Tops Indian Prime Narendra Modi joined the worlds most powerful people ranking 15th on the Forbes list with Russian President Vladimir Putin once again beating US President Barack Obama to the top spot. Indias newest rock star doesnt hail from Bollywood. He is the newly elected prime minister who sailed into office in May with a landslide victory, ushering the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into power after decades of control by the Gandhi dynasty, said the US business magazine of Modi. India, Australia Agree On Early Closure Of Civil N-Agreement India and Australia agreed on seeking an early closure on the civil nuclear agreement and also to speed up negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott on Nov 18, 2014 (Tuesday). Modi, addressing the media here after talks with Abbott, said he has asked for easier access for Indian business to the Australian market and quicker investment approvals. Current Affairs October 2014 List of 627 Foreign Account Holders Submitted to Supreme Court The central government submitted to the Supreme Court names of the 627 Indians who are holding accounts in foreign banks revealed to it by the French government on Oct 29, 2014 (Wednesday). Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi handed over two sealed envelopes to the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice H. L. Dattu. Indias Kailash Satyarthi shares Peace Prize with Pakistans Malala Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Pakistani teenager Malala Yousufzai who stood up to the Taliban and survived a near-fatal shooting. The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize for 2014 to Satyarthi and Malala Yousufzai for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education, a statement said. India, Vietnam To Ramp Up Oil Search In South China Sea, Defence Links India and Vietnam ramped up cooperation in exploring for oil and gas in the contested South China Sea, ignoring Chinese objections, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Hanoi is at the forefront of his governments intensified engagement in Asia Pacific after holding talks with his visiting Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung.
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