LIC AAO CAPSULE -2016

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1 Presents Dear BA"ians, We bring to you most eagerly awaited LIC AAO CAPSULE to give a kick start to your preparation. We know most of you feel energised the moment the capsule comes into your access, so here it is. This capsule is a compilation of last 2 months worth of GK and Current Affairs i.e December and January and along with GK the till the 10th of February covered in an exhaustive manner. Since this is an insurance related Exam, we do not ant you to leave any stone unturned, so have covered the Insurance portion aswell A separate Banking related Capsule will be up this week only to add to this Blast of Knowledge. The remaining days of February will be covered in our other weekly Tonic and Hindu review initiatives So brace yourself to update your self and become Exam ready soon!. Good luck! 1

2 INSURANCE SECTOR IN NEWS S. No News 1. LIC offered a New Year gift to the public in the form of a limited-premium, non-linked and with-profit endowment assurance plan Jeevan Labh. The highlight of the plan is that premium is payable for a limited period while risk is covered for the whole policy term. The plan is available from ages 8 to 59 years with a choice of policy term of 16, 21 and 25 years and premium-paying terms of 10,15 and 16 years. The maximum age at maturity is 75 years. Minimum basic sum assured is 2 lakh with maximum basic sum assured having no limit. 2. LICs New Plan Jeevan Pragati This is a non-linked, with-profits Endowment Assurance plan. The main feature of this Jeevan Pragathi plan is the sum assured on death (part of death benefit) automatically increases after every five years during the term of the policy. Key Features & Eligibility Conditions of LIC Jeevan Pragati Plan Minimum Basic Sum Assured (payable on maturity) : Rs. 1,50,000/- Maximum Basic Sum Assured : No Limit (Maturity Sum Assured shall be in multiple of Rs. 10,000/- only) Minimum Policy Term : 12 years Maximum Policy Term : 20 years Minimum Age at entry for Life Assured : 12 years (completed) Maximum Entry Age : 45 years (nearer birthday) Maximum Age at Maturity for Life Assured : 65 years Minimum Accident Benefit Sum Assured is Rs 10,000 Maximum Accident Benefit Sum Assured is an amount equal to the Basic Sum Assured subject to the maximum of Rs 1 cr. Minimum entry age for the rider is 18 years. 3. LICs JEEVAN SHIKHAR Plan LIC s Jeevan Shikhar is a participating, non-linked, saving cum protection single premium plan wherein the risk cover is ten times of Tabular Single Premium.The proposer will have an option to choose the Maturity Sum Assured. The premium payable shall depend on the chosen amount of Maturity Sum Assured and age at entry of the life assured. The plan will be open for sale for a maximum period of 120 days from the date of launch. ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS AND OTHER RESTRICTIONS: Minimum Entry Age : 6 years (completed) Maximum Entry Age : 45 years (nearer birthday) Sum Assured on Death : 10 times of tabular single premium Minimum Maturity Sum Assured : Rs. 100,000/- Maximum Maturity Sum Assured : No Limit (Maturity Sum Assured shall be in multiple of Rs. 20,000/- only.) Policy Term : 15 years Premium payment mode : Single premium only Date of commencement of risk: In case the age at entry of the Life assured is less than 8 years, the risk under this plan will commence from one day before the policy anniversary coinciding with or immediately following the age of 8 years. For those aged 8 years or more at entry, risk will commence immediately from the date of acceptance of risk. 4. Insurance sector is likely to attract FDI of over Rs 12,000 crore in 2016 as more than a dozen foreign companies plan to raise their stake in private sector insurance joint venture this year, industry body Assocham said. The investment push has come as a result of liberalisation of foreign investment ceiling from 26 per cent to 49 per cent last year through the passage of Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill. 5. Private sector India First Life Insurance, a joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank and Legal and General of the UK, entered into pension sector with launch of a 9 percent guaranteed retirement plan. IndiaFirst Guaranteed Retirement Plan is a non-linked, participating, endowment, deferred pension plan. This plan is for customers who are conscious to plan for their retirement and want to remain financially young, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Managing Director and CEO R M Vishakha said. 6. Standalone health insurance company Apollo Munich announced its partnership with Axis Bank for offering bank customers customised insurance policies. 7. Dena Bank said that it has tied up with SBI Life Insurance Company to provide Group Life Insurance coverage to its housing loan borrowers under the 'Dena Grihaswami Suraksha Yojana'. Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), insurance cover will be given to all housing loan borrowers at a very low premium, Dena Bank said. 8. French insurer AXA has raised its holdings in Indian insurance joint ventures with Bharti Enterprises to 49 per cent. 9. AIA group said it will raise stake in the life insurance venture with Tata group to 49 per cent from the existing 26 per cent. AIA will increase shareholding in Tata AIA Life Insurance Company, a joint venture company formed by Tata Sons and AIA, from the current level of 26 per cent to 49 per cent through the purchase of a 23 per cent stake in the company. 10. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said the existing micro insurance products will continue to be on offer till March 31, German reinsurer Munich Re would buy an additional per cent stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance Co from its joint venture partner Apollo Hospitals Group India for Rs 164 crore ($24.18 million). The deal increases Munich Re's holding in Apollo Munich to nearly per cent, with 51.1 per cent held by Apollo Hospitals, and the rest by employees. 2

3 12. Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd. (MIBL) has been appraised and rated at Maturity Level 3 of the People Capability Maturity Model (People-CMM), thus becoming the first insurance broking company globally to achieve this international benchmark. MIBL joins the league of top companies practising People-CMM such as Accenture, Computer Sciences Corporation, Wipro, CMC, Mahindra Mahindra Financial Services Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services, LT Infotech, etc. 13. Government has extended RuPay card usage condition to 90 days for a claim under an in-built accident insurance cover in case of RuPay Classic cardholders with effect from November 25, Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), RuPay Debit Card, with an in-built accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh, is provided to account holders. About crore RuPay cards have been issued so far under PMJDY. INDIAN ECONOMY NEWS S. No News 1. The deposits in accounts opened under the government s flagship financial inclusion programme under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) have crossed the Rs. 30,000 crore mark. According to the recent updates on Jan. 20, crore bank accounts were opened under the PMJDY. These bank accounts had deposits of Rs. 30, crore (about $4.5 billion). 2. The World Bank will be the anchor investor in the new Railway Development Fund, which would be used to fund the modernisation of Indian Railways, according to the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. 3. Pension fund regulatory body PFRDA has started using PAN instead of Aadhaar for validation of new customers who can now be registered online under the National Pension System (NPS) scheme. 4. The World Bank approved a 1.5 billion US dollar loan for the ambitious Clean India Campaign (Swachh Bharat Mission). The loan was granted to support the government in its efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation and end the practice of open defecation by International Monetary Fund (IMF) included China's Yuan into its elite reserve currency basket. Yuan's entry into the basket takes effect from 1 October Chief Economic Advisor Dr Arvind Subramanian led Committee has recommended standard rate for Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 17 to 18 per cent. He also recommended the Revenue-neutral rate of 15 to 15.5 per cent. 7. Singapore replaced Mauritius as top source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India during April-September of financial year. 8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released two commemorative coins of 125 rupees and 10 rupees, as part of the 125th birth anniversary year celebrations of Dr. Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar. 9. Cabinet approved Rs 8,000- crore funds that will stand guarantee for loans to new ventures and also announced Stand up India scheme for credit facilities to SC, ST and women entrepreneurs at lower rates. While the Rs 3,000 crore MUDRA Credit Guarantee Fund (CGF) will act as hedge against default of Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh loan extended to small entrepreneurs, the Rs 5,000 crore Stand Up India CGF will stand guarantee for Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore loans to be provided to least 2.5 lakh SC/ST and women. 10. India Post, which was among the eleven applicants to have received approval from RBI for payment banks in August, will start its service by March According to a report, India s current account deficit may narrow to 0.5 per cent of GDP in 2016 from 0.7 per cent in 2015 owing to lower commodity prices, particularly oil. 12. The Central Board of Direct Taxes clarified that quoting of PAN will be required for transactions of an amount exceeding Rs. 2 lakh regardless of the mode of payment. 13. The country s foreign exchange reserves were at $350.4 billion as on January 1, RBI IN NEWS 1. RBI received complaints about notes of Rs 1,000 denomination without the security thread being in circulation and has asked banks not to issue them in case these are found. These notes were printed by Currency Note Press, Nashik, on the paper (without security thread) supplied by Security Paper Mill (Hoshangabad). 2. RBI has asked the lenders to open more brick and mortar branches in villages with no banking facilities and with a population of more than 5,000. It has asked banks to submit a roadmap on how many branches they will be opening by 31 March The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) created a dedicated helpline ( ) for start-ups in India in order to offer assistance on Forex matters to them for undertaking cross-border transactions within the ambit of the regulatory framework. 4. The Reserve Bank of India extended the deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations by another six months to 30 June India s central bank The Reserve Bank of India has invited applications for Payment System Innovation Awards to encourage innovative solutions in the field of Payment and Settlement System. 6. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the final guidelines on computing interest rates on advances based on the Marginal Cost of Funds Methodology. The guidelines will come into effect from 1 April All rupee loans sanctioned and credit limits renewed with effect from 1 April 2016 will be priced with reference to the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) 3

4 4 which will be the internal benchmark for such purposes. 7. The Supreme Court held that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is liable to disclose information about the banks and financial institutions for their action against the loan defaulters including industrialists under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the certificate of registration of 56 non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), including ABNL, Future Ventures India and Bajaj Finserve. 9. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). In this, the PSL target was increased to 75 percent of total outstanding from the existing 60 percent. The revised target will be effective from 1 January The Reserve Bank has signed an agreement with the UK s Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority for supervisory cooperation and exchange of information. BANKS IN NEWS SBI 1. It launched its wealth management offering and inaugurated a dedicated branch for start-ups. The wealth management service is named as 'Exclusif' is targeted at the fast-growing affluent segment in the country. 'SBI InCube' is the branch for start-ups that would offer advisory services to the budding entrepreneurs under one roof. 2. State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has teamed up with the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to provide customers of the state utility online facility for remittance of electricity charges. 3. The MUDRA' loan for women entrepreneurs or Boutique Finance for Women Entrepreneurs is a special loan scheme under Prime Minister MUDRA Yojana has been launched by Loans are being provided at a concessional rate of interest. Loans up to Rs. 10 lakh will be provided under the scheme without any collateral security. A maximum loan amount of SBI for catering to the financial needs of women Rs. 50 lakh can be availed under the scheme. entrepreneurs. 4. State Bank of India (SBI) to raise up to Rs 15,000 crore from various means, including public offer and overseas issuance of shares, in the next 14 months i.e. by March The fund raised will help the bank to meet global risk norms, Basel III, which will kick in from March SBI is planning to monetise non-core assets and list some of its subsidiaries to meet capital needs as well as global risk norms, Basel III, which will start from March SBI said that it has secured a $500 million loan from Korean EXIM Bank to help fund companies from the East Asian nation setting up units in India. 7. SBI has raised Rs4,000 crore by issuing tier-ii bonds on private placement basis under the Basel-III norms. ICICI Bank 1. The private sector lender, ICICI Bank which has entered into a tie-up with IRCTC, said the novelty of this facility is that customers of any bank can use this service. This is the first time any bank is offering railway tickets for sale from its website, that too for customers of all banks. 2. ICICI Bank will partner FINO PayTech to foray into the payments bank space. The ICICI Group, with about 16 per cent stake in FINO Paytech, a business correspondent, is the largest domestic shareholder. BANKS IN NEWS S.No Name of Bank News/Schemes Other Points 1. Dharwad HQ Set up a separate cell for monitoring progress Chairman: Ashok Reddy Karnataka Vikas under all the government-sponsored Grameen Bank (KVGB) schemes. 2. Iran s leading banks will open branches in India to energise commercial ties between New Delhi and Tehran. 3. Andhra Bank Launched Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) across all its branches in association with the The service makes payments possible within fraction of seconds with all the standards and National Payments Corporation of India integrity maintained for security. (NPCI). 4.. Axis Bank Launched a 'display variant' debit card which does away with the hassles of generating one time password (OTP) over SMS while transacting. The card has an embedded EMV chip, a display screen and a touch-sensitive button which helps generating the OTP on the card itself. 5. Tata Sons Ltd and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) have formed a long-term partnership, under which ICBC will become a strategic banking partner to the Tata group. 6. Quickrupee, a portal to help SMEs get bank loans founded by Jyotsna and HD Sheriff. It has tied up with 16 bankers (mostly

5 private banks and NBFCs) and will sign more banks in the coming time. 7. The Department of Posts (DoP) plans to open 1,000 ATMs and bring all 25,000 departmental post offices under core banking system by March this year. 8. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has collaborated with CSC e-governance Services India to launch Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) at locations where CSC egov has been acting as Business Correspondent of banks. This system facilitates disbursement of government entitlements like NREGA, social security pension, Handicapped Old Age Pension etc of any Central or State Government bodies, using Aadhaar and authentication thereof as supported by UIDAI 9. The government said the Credit Guarantee Fund for loans disbursed under the Pradhan Mantri Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Yojana would be able to guarantee loans of over Rs.one lakh crore as it gave its approval to convert MUDRA into a bank. The government expects the fund to be able to guarantee loans worth more than Rs.one lakh crore over the next three years of micro and small units NEW APPOINTMENTS(INDIA) S. No Newly Appointed Post 1. Mamta Binani President of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). 2. Amitabh Bachchan & Priyanka Chopra Apointed as 'Incredible India' brand ambassadors. 3. Noted environmentalist Ravi Chellam Executive Director of Greenpeace India. Note: He succeeds Samit Aich. 4. Atulesh Jindal Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Jindal will succeed A K Jain. 5. Amit Shah President of BJP Party. 6. Alice Vaidyan Chairman and Managing Director of General Insurance Corporation of India 7. Gurdeep Singh Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of NTPC Ltd 8. Justice Sanjay Mishra Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh. 9. KK Jalan Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) 10. Shobhana K Pattanayak Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare 11. Avinash K Srivastava Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries 12. Vinod Agrawal Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment 13. Shyam S Agarwal Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs 14. JS Deepak Telecom Secretary 15. Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi India s Ambassador to Mexico. 16. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) 17. Datta Padsalgikar Commissioner of Police of Mumbai 18. Ashish Saraf VP - Industry Development, Strategic Partnerships and Offsets in Airbus Group. 19. Binny Bansal Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Flipkart 20. R Shivakumar Chairman of Assocham Karnataka Regional Council 21. Dinesh Sharma 12-member board of directors in Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) 22. Rostow Ravanan CEO and Managing Director,Mindtree 23. Guenter Butschek Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Tata Motors' Group. 24. D.K.Hota CMD of Defence PSU BEML Ltd 25. Shekhar Saran Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Ltd. 26. Abidali Neemuchwala CEO, Wipro 27. Atul Sobti Chairman and Managing Director (CMD),Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) 28. Akshay Kothari Country Manager for India, LinkedIn. Note: Kothari replaces Nishant Rao 29. Sailesh Registrar General and Census Commissioner. 30. Amitabh Kant Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog. 31. Devender Kumar Sikri Chairman of fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) 32. Kunal Shah Chairman, Industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) 33. AB Khare Chairman and Managing Director,Madras Fertilzers 34. Dr Achyuta Samanta General President of the 105th Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) 35. Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda Technology Advisor to the Odisha Government 36. Pavan Kapoor India's ambassador to Israel 37. Bhanumurthy B M Chief Operating Officer (COO) and President, Wipro 38. Dr Urjit R Patel Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), for a second three-year term. 39. Pawan Kumar Agarwal Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). 5

6 40. Gautam H Bambawale High Commissioner of India to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 41. Farhan Akhtar Amway India s Brand Ambassador to promote Nutrilite range of the products 42. Karan Adani CEO of Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ) 43. Dr Gyanendra D Bandgaiyan Director General of the National Centre for Good Governance 44. Jeff Williams Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Apple Inc 45. R.K. Mathur Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) 46. Reva Khetrapal Delhi's new Lokayukta 47. Lalit Modi President of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) 48. Ahmad Javed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia 49. Prakash Kumar Singh Chairman, SAIL 50. Kapil Chopra Chairman of World Travel & Tourism Council 51. Udai Kumar MD & CEO, Metropolitan Stock Exchange (formerly MCX Stock Exchange) 52. Sanjeev Sharma Managing Director,ABB India Ltd 53. Justice Tirath Singh (TS) Thakur 43rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) 54. Indian-American Dr Vijay M Rao Chairperson, Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors 55. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. 56. Kaher Kazem General Motors(India) President and Managing Director of India operations, 57. Sachin Tendulkar Brand Ambassador for the disease awareness campaign 'Changing Diabetes' 58. Pavan Kapoor India ambassador Israel, where he will succeed Jaideep Sarkar. 59. Lieutenant General Suresh Sharma 24 th Director General Border Roads (DGBR) 60. RK Singh Bhadauria Deputy Chief of the Air Staff NEW APPOINTMENTS (WORLD) S. No Newly Appointed Post 1. Pavel Filip Prime Minister, Moldova 2. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa President of Portugal 3. Leslie Berland Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Twitter In 4. Tsai Ing-wen Taiwan President 5. Tamal Chaudhuri General Manager, for HaloSource Inc. s India operations 6. Mary Barra Chairman of General Motors (GM) Board of Directors 7. Filippo Grandi UN High Commissioner for Refugees 8. Sanjay Pradhan Head, The Open Government Partnership (OGP) 9. Pravin Gordhan South Africa s Finance Minister 10. Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Presidency of the Royal Society in London. 11. Paul Kagame Rwanda President 12. James Michel Seychelles President 13. Louise Richardson First woman vice-chancellor in the 900-year history of the University of Oxford. 14. Paul Kaba Thieba Prime Minister of Burkina Faso 15. Giorgi Kvirikashvili Prime Minister of Georgia NATION IN NEWS (INDIA) S. No News 1. PM Narendra Modi along with the President of France François Hollande laid the foundation stone of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) headquarters in National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in Gwalpahari, Gurgaon. 2. India has overtaken Thailand as the world s largest rice exporter in the year 2015 by shipping (exporting) million tonnes of rice. 3. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated implementation of E-enabled Track Management System (TMS) and Mobile Application of TMS on Indian Railway at Rail Bhawan in New Delhi. These initiatives will bring efficiency and effectiveness in management practices. 4. Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has announced that India s grid-connected solar power generation capacity has crossed the 5,000 Mega Watt (MW) mark. ii. Presently, Government has set an ambitious plan to achieve 175 Giga Watt (GW) of power generation capacity from renewable sources by It includes 100 GW from solar and 60 GW from wind. 5. The World Bank has decided to extend an assistance of 20 million US dollar to help reconstruct the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP), which got devastated during cyclone Hudhud in October 2014, in Visakhapatnam. 6. India-Nepal Bus Service resumed after a gap of 27 years. The service was suspended 27 years ago in the wake of the Indo- Nepal Trade and Transit Treaty. The service runs between Kanchanpur in Nepal, which is close to Banbasa border in 6

7 7 Champavat district of Uttarakhand, and Anand Vihar ISBT in Delhi. 7. Sterlite Grid set a new benchmark by commissioning the Transmission Project to Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) ahead of schedule under the Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) incentive regime. RAPP is the first power transmission line to be been commissioned ahead of schedule since the implementation of TBCB scheme. 8. In order to avoid duplication of work and to improve efficiency, the government merged the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with the Ministry of External Affairs. 9. As a major initiative towards fast track implementation of Namami Gange Programme the first company of Ganga Task force Battalion was deployed at Garhmukteshwar. 10. The Union Government allowed the conduct of the traditional bull-taming sports, Jallikattu, in Tamil Nadu. The ban on the sports was lifted few days before the traditional harvest festival will begin in Tamil Nadu. 11. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has launched an online initiative to seek suggestions from LPG consumers across the country, which will help in providing efficient and friendly service. Two online discussion forums : Citizen-Friendly Services and Increasing LPG Coverage in the Country were launched and are available on mygov.in and mylpg.in 12. President Pranab Mukherjee promulgated the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2016 to make amendments to the Enemy Property Act, These amendments will help is dealing with the loopholes of the Enemy Property Act, 1968 and ensure that the enemy properties that have been vested in the Custodian remain so and they do not revert back to the enemy subject or enemy firm. 13. The Union Minister of Human Resource Development Zubin Irani launched the 6th All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) in New Delhi. The survey covers all the Higher Education (HE) institutions of the country including Universities, Colleges and Stand-Alone institutions from to The major findings of the AISHE included increase in overall enrolment from 27.5 million in to 33.3 million in Rajya Sabha passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, The Bill permits juveniles between the ages of years to be tried as adults for heinous offences. Also, any year old, who commits a lesser (serious) offence, may be tried as an adult only if he is apprehended after the age of 21 years. 15. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its approval for implementation of an umbrella scheme for integrated development and management of fisheries. The scheme will be implemented at an outlay of 3000 crore rupees, for a period of five years. 16. Union Government has announced to link LPG subsidy to income of consumers in order to ensure that the subsidy benefits go to the targeted group. Henceforth, the LPG subsidy will not be available to LPG consumers if the consumer or his/her spouse has taxable income of more than ten lakh rupees. 17. Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has introduced e-office, an initiative which will help provide efficient services to the people by digitizing more than 12,000 files. It was formally launched by WCD Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in New Delhi on the lines with the spirit of Good Governance initiative of Union Government. 18. The Cabinet approved the formation of joint venture companies with various state governments to mobilise resources for undertaking rail infrastructure projects. The initial paid-up capital of the Ministry of Railways will be limited to Rs. 50 crore for each state. The joint venture companies would be formed with equity participation from the Ministry of Railways and the state governments concerned. Each joint venture will have an initial paid-up capital of Rs. 100 crore. 19. As per new Forest report India s forest cover increased by 5,081 sq. km between 2013 and The forest cover is 7,01,673 sq. km, which is 21.34% of the geographical area of the country. Natural forests contribute around 95 per cent of the total forest cover of the country. 20. India and United Kingdom launched a joint initiative 2016: UK-INDIA Year of Education and Research in New Delhi. 21. India and France launched the International Solar Alliance in Paris. The alliance was launched jointly by PM Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande during the United Nations climate change conference (COP21). 22. The Union Cabinet approved setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Goa, Jammu, Kerala and Karnataka. 23. India launched the Indian Long Term Ecological Observatories (I-LTEO) programme to scientifically monitor eight different biomes (natural landscapes) across the country. The initiative was launched on the sidelines of the Conference of Parties-21 (COP-21) of UNFCCC in Paris. 24. Gurib-Fakim, the first woman President of Mauritius, who is a distinguished scientist, was on a three-day visit to India. 25. India 2 nd Largest Fruit Producer In World After China. 26. India and Syria held wide-ranging talks, focusing largely on the situation in the war-torn country and the UN-backed peace process aimed at ending the strife that has claimed lives of over 2.5 lakh people in the last five years. Syrian deputy prime minister Walid al-muallem, during the talks with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, appreciated India for its support to the people of Syria and its position in finding a solution to the civil war. INTERNATIONAL NEWS S. No Country/Continent in Related to News 1. Somalia Agreed on Election Model outlined by the Mogadishu Declaration. The declaration calls for the

8 8 electoral process in Somalia to establish a new, bicameral Federal Parliament in 2016, based on inclusivity and representation. 2. Yale School of Indra Nooyi becomes most generous graduate of Yale School of Management as she gifted an Management undisclosed amount to her alma mater, becoming the school s biggest alumni donor. 3. Liberia Becomes Ebola epidemic free according to World Health Organisation (WHO). 4. China China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), in which India and 56 countries have joined as founding members, was formally opened by Chinese President Xi Jinping. 5. France French President Francois Hollande has declared a state of economic emergency and says it s time to redefine France s economic and social model. 6. Sri Lanks Sri Lankan parliament began a process to formulate a new constitution with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presenting a resolution to set up Constitutional Assembly of all members for the purpose. 7. Nepal Elected to the UNICEF executive board, representing the group of Asia-Pacific countries for the term Iraq Miss Iraq beauty pageant held for the first time since Note: Shaymaa Qasim Abdelrahman was crowned Miss Iraq. 9. Nepal Government of Nepal has decided to amend the Constitution to address two key demands of agitating Madhesis regarding proportional representation and constituency delimitation. 10. Philippines The first Asian country to approve the sale of the world's first-ever dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia. 11. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced that the country has planned to adopt the Chinese Yuan as legal tender. 12. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s cabinet approved 5.05 trillion yen ($41.8 billion) in defence spending for the next fiscal year starting in April, with the focus on strengthening protection of a string of southern islands that stretch from Japan s mainland to waters near Taiwan. 13. Bangladesh Bangladesh's state-run Atomic Energy Commission signed a deal with Russia to set up two nuclear power plants, each with 1,200 MW capacity, an investment totalling $12.65 billion. 14. Pakistan The World Bank approved an additional financial assistance to Pakistan of $35 million to support improved management, planning and development of water resources in the Indus River Basin in Pakistan. 15. China China s National People's Congress Standing Committee, country s top law making body gave its approval to amending One Couple, One Child Policy. The amended policy will lift the restrictions on couples from having only one child. 16. Republic of Guinea The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of Ebola virus transmission in the Republic of Guinea. 17. University of South Florida (USF) The University of South Florida (USF) announced a postgraduate fellowship in the name of former president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam to support accomplished and talented Indian students looking to study abroad. 18. Saudi Arabia Launched Islamic Military Coalition, a new military alliance of 34 nations mainly Muslim nations to fight terrorism. 19. Iran International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has ended its 12-year investigation into concerns that Iran might be developing nuclear weapons. IAEA Board of Governors passed a resolution ending its long-running inquiry against Iran but allowing inspectors to continue to police the country s nuclear programme. 20. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian voters voted to elect women in at least 18 municipal council seats. This was a historic local elections in Saudi Arabia in which women were allowed to vote and run for office for the first time. 21. Turkmenistan Construction work on the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) Gas Pipeline project started in Turkmenistan. 22. Myanmar Launched its first UNSECO Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake in Shan state. The Inle Lake was designated as UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Paris in June Luxembourg Became the 10th country to ratify the Articles of Agreement (AoA) that will lay the legal framework for the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). 24. New Zealand Formally become a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) 25. Brazil Economy contracted by 1.7 percent during July-September 2015 compared to April-June period in It was Brazil's third consecutive quarter of contraction starting from January 2015 and thus, making it the country's longest recession since the 1930s. 26. Gambia Gambia s President has declared the country an Islamic republic, saying he decided this because Islam is the religion of the majority of its citizens. 27. China Granted a license for production of first manned two seater electric aircraft RX1E known as

9 RX1E by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. It has been designed by Shenyang Aerospace University and Liaoning General Aviation Academy in northeastern Liaoning province. 28. Australia Federal Parliament has passed Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill, 2015 to strip citizenship of convicted persons on terrorism charges. 29. Pakistan & Sri Lanka Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz sharif was on a three-day state visit to Sri Lanka in January In Colombo he met Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe and discussed bilateral issues. Pakistan sealed a landmark deal to sell JF-17 Thunder fighter jets to Sri Lanka as the two countries signed eight agreements to boost cooperation in areas like trade promotion, and science and technology besides combating money laundering and terror financing. 30. China The top organ of China s Parliament, National People s Congress Standing Committee adopted the country first counter-terrorism law 31. Beijing Issued its first-ever red alert on air pollution ordering schools to close due to hazardous air quality. Red alert is the highest possible state of caution. 32. China China s country code domain.cn has become the worlds most commonly used in the internet with million users, surpassing Germany s.de domain. 33. Spain Ruling conservative People s Party (PP) of Spain led Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy won the 2015 general election of the country. OBITUARIES (NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL) S. No Person Died Profession/Famous In? 1. Aroon Tikekar Senior journalist and scholar 2. Mrinalini Sarabhai Eminent danseuse & wife of the late Dr Vikram Sarabhai, father of India s space programme. 3. Ettore Scola Italian director 4. Nirmala Gajwani Former Deputy Speaker of Gujarat Assembly and Social Activist 5. Pandit Shankar Ghosh Eminent Tabla player 6. Kalpana National award-winning actress 7. Marvin Minsky The pioneer of artificial intelligence 8. Abe Vigoda Actor known for his work in The Godfather 9. General Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao Former Army Chief 10. Rajesh Vivek Upadhyay Bollywood actor 11. Alan Rickman Actor 12. Ventrapragada Rama Rao Veteran BJP leader and former Sikkim Governor 13. Lakshman Rao Mohite alias Geethapriya Renowned film-maker 14. Yasutaro Koide The world s oldest man at the age of Glenn Frey Afounding member and guitarist of the Eagles 16. Sarosh Homi Kapadia Ex-Chief Justice of India 17. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Jammu and Kashmir Ex-Chief Minister 18. Labhshankar Thakar Noted Gujarati writer and poet 19. Ravindra Kalia Noted Hindi writer and journalist 20. David Bowie British singer 21. Maria Teresa de Filippis First woman to compete in a world championship F1 Grand Prix 22. Sadhana Yesteryear Hindi film actress 23. V S Malimath Former Chief Justice of Karnataka and Kerala High Courts Justice 24. Haskell Wexler Oscar-winning cinematographer 25. George Clayton Johnson Popular science-fiction writer 26. Ian Fraser Lemmy Kilmister Founding member and singer in the British band Motorhead 27. Subir Sen Veteran singer 28. General Om Prakash Malhotra. Former Punjab Governor and ex-chief of Army 29. Peter Dickinson British Novelist 30. Chatla Sriramulu Noted writer and theatre artiste 31. Sharad Anantrao Joshi Renowned Agro-Economist and Veteran Leader of farmers 32. Ustad Sabri Khan Renowned sarangi player 33. Eldar Ryazanov Russian film Director 34. MAM Ramaswamy Industrialist, Founder of Chettinad Group, Former parliamentarian 9

10 35. Anil Ganguly Noted filmmaker 36. Haskell Wexler Influential Oscar-winning cinematrographer AWARDS S. No Awards Winner 1. Technical Achievement Award from Oscar for his contribution Rahul Thakkar to cinema 2. World's best hotel at the Travellers' Choice award Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, Rajasthan 3. National Award for e-governance for its Universal The Employees Provident Fund Organisation Account Number programme 4. Padma Vibhushan Awards Actor Rajinikanth, Media baron Ramoji Rao, former J&K Governor Jagmohan and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 5. Yash Chopra Memorial Award Veteran Bollywood actress Rekha 6. Honoured with the highest civilian honour, the Order of Sajeev Koshy Australia. 7. Honoured with the Order of Australia Chennupati Jagadish and Jay Chandra 8. 8th Human Rights Award by Amnesty International Germany. Henri Tiphagne 9. Allan Border Medal for 2016 Australian batsman David Warner William E. Colby Award. Nisid Hajari for his book, Midnight s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India s Partition 11. Prince Mahidol Award 2015 Professor Morton Mower and Sir Michael Marmot 12. K Veeramani Award for Social Justice 2015 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar 13. V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award Veteran wildlife filmmaker Naresh Bedi Harikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award Balkrishna Garg 15. Ballon d'or award for world's best player for fifth time Lionel Messi 16. Neerja Bhanot Award Subhashini Vasanth 17. Lorenzo Natali Media Prize for 2015 in Asia and the Pacific Delhi-based writer Ankita Anand mateur category 18. Prof MV Pylee Award for the Distinguished Academician of India. Dr Jancy James, the first woman Vice Chancellor of Kerala 19. Received a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II Harpal Singh Kumar, Indian-origin cancer research expert easia Award under Trade Facilitation category Drug Authentication and Verification Application (DAVA) project of The Department of Commerce Sangita Kalanidhi Award south Indian classical vocalists Sanjay Subrahmanyam 22. Britain's Costa Book Awards 2015 British writer Kate Atkinson 23. The Banker magazine's Global and Asia-Pacific Central Bank Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan Governor of the Year Prime Minister s Trophy for being the Best Performing Tata Steel Integrated Steel Plant in the country for the performance year Miss Universe 2015 Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach 26. Miss World 2015 Miss Spain Mireia Lalaguna Royo 27. National Medal of Science 2015 of United States (US) Indian American professor Rakesh K Jain Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award Sayeed Kirmani 29. 'Export Quality Excellence' award for the 11th time in a row. Pump manufacturing major CRI Pumps 30. Globe Soccer Awards 2015 conferred The Globe Soccer on 27 December 2015 presented the sixth edition of Globe Soccer Awards 2015 to the winners at a ceremony held in Dubai, UAE. Best Player of the Year - Lionel Messi Best President of the Year - Josep Maria Bartomeu Best Media Attraction in Football - F.C. Barcelona Best Coach of the Year - Marc Wilmots Best Agent of the Year - Jorge Mendes Best Referee of the Year - Ravshan Irmatov Best Academy of the Year Benfica Best Club of the Year - F.C. Barcelona st Jnanpith award Eminent Gujarati litterateur Raghuveer Chaudhary 32. Garwood Award for Outstanding Global Leader in Open President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee Innovation from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business Genesis Prize Laureate for his accomplishments as a Renowned Israeli-US violinist Itzhak Perlman

11 musician, teacher and advocate for people with disabilities. 34. West Bengal Government s Lifetime Achievement Awards Bappi Lahiri and singer Kumar Sanu 35. South East Asian Write Award for Singapore Indian-origin Tamil writer Jamaludeen Mohamed Sali 36. Mailer Prize for lifetime achievement India-born author Salman Rushdie Aegis Graham Bell Award for developing a solution for Wipro the Internet of Things (IoT). 38. Lifetime achievement award at the Dubai International Film Veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah Festival (DIFF) Queen's Young Leaders award in the United Kingdom Two Indians, Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain Person of the Year German Chancellor Angela Merkel 41. Uttar Pradesh Ratna Award Frank Islam, an Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist 42. E-India Award for adopting technology to serve the public The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) better 43. Sangeet Samman at the ITC Sangeet Sammelan Renowned violinist Lakshminarayana Subramaniam 44. Indian National Bar Association's (INBA) General Counsel of the year Retail Award Pulin Kumar, Group Senior Legal and Compliance Director of Adidas India 45. Harikrishna Devsare Baal Sahitya Award 2015 Veteran poet Balkrishna Garg 46. Miss Iraq 2015 Shaima Qassem Abdulrahman 47. National Payments Excellence Awards 2015 Corporation Bank bagged three awards 48. Sangita Kalanidhi Award 2015 Sanjay Subrahmanyam, a renowed South-Indian classical vocalist 49. Favourite Actress in a New TV series award at the People s Choice Awards 2016 in Los Angeles Priyanka Chopra a) Uttar Pradesh won its maiden Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy with a 38-run win over two- time champions Baroda in the final played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. c) The West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul announced his retirement from international cricket almost 22 years after making his debut. d) Former India player and Bengal captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla announced his retirement from cricket. f) Australia withdrew from the Under-19 World Cup Tournament in Bangladesh. It pulled-out citing security reasons. h) Kane Williamson became the first cricketer from New Zealand to top the International Cricket Council s (ICC s) Test rankings. j) Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kusal Perera is facing the prospect of a four-year ban after his B sample tested positive for a banned substance. l) Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was awarded with an honorary life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). n) Pranav Dhanawade, a 15-year old boy from Mumbai became first cricketer ever to score 1000 runs in an innings. With this he became the world s highest individual scorer in all forms of cricket. p) Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) imposed a life time ban on Haryana off-spinner bowler Ajit Chandila considering his involvement in the IPL spot-fixing scandal SPORTS NEWS CRICKET b) India won the first T20 Asia cup cricket for Blind. In the final clash, India defeated Pakistan by 44 runs. d) Indian Test captain Virat Kohli was named Cricketer of the Year, while Mithali Raj was picked for the M.A. Chidambaram Trophy for the best women s cricketer. e) The Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee recommended sweeping reforms for the controversy-ridden BCCI, suggesting a bar on ministers from occupying positions, putting a cap on the age and tenure of the office-bearers and legalising betting. g) The ICC and MoneyGram International announced an eightyear deal which confirms MoneyGram as an event partner for ICC events from i) New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum announced retirement from all forms of international cricket. k) Gujarat clinched the Vijay Hazare Cricket Trophy. It is the first time that Gujarat won the trophy. m) Pune and Rajkot became the interim franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) till The will take place of the suspended teams of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). o) Australia became First Team to Score 1000 Individual Centuries. q) Pakistan Opener Imran Farhat on 27 January 2016 retired from international cricket. 11

12 a) Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis won the 2016 Australian Open title of tennis in the women s doubles category. c) World Number One Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open Men s Singles title. In the final played at Melbourne, the Serbian defeated Andy Murray of Britain in straight sets 6-1, 7-5, 7-6. e) Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis awe-inspiring run continued unabated as they lifted their second trophy of the season with the WTA Apia International title. g) Andy Murray of the UK received the 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in London. i) World number one Novak Djokovic (Servia) claimed his first title of the year with an impressive win over Rafael Nadal (Spain) in the Qatar Open. TENNIS b) Angelique Kerber became the first German to win a Grand Slam when she upset world number one Serena Williams to clinch the Australian Open d) The Russian Tennis Federation announced that former World No.1 tennis player Marat Safin joined the International Tennis Hall of Fame. f) Stanislas Wawrinka won the Chennai Open title. In the summit clash at the Nungambakkam tennis stadium of Chennai, he defeated Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 7-5. h) Serena Williams is Sports Illustrated s Sportsperson of the Year-the first female athlete honoured on her own by the magazine in more than 30 years. j) India a Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis broke a 22-year-old world record by winning their 29 th women s doubles match in a row. k) Tennis s governing bodies on 27 January 2016 constituted the Adam Lewis headed Independent Review Panel (IRP) to safeguard integrity in tennis. GRAND PRIX a) Sahara Force India Academy racer Jehan Daruvala won one of New Zealand's most prestigious events, the Lady Wigram Trophy. It was Daruvala s maiden victory in Formula cars. ATHLETICS a) Shiva Keshavan grabbed a silver medal in the 18th edition of the Asian Luge Championship held in Nagano, Japan. The first place was claimed by defending champion Hidenari Kanayama of Japan. FOOTBALL a) Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was bestowed honorary life membership of Kolkata s soccer outfit Mohammedan Sporting. c) India won of the South Asian Football Federation Cup (SAFF) championships by defeating Afghanistan at Trivandrum International Stadium of Kerala. e) Bengaluru FC (BFC) midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh and striker Bala Devi named the 2015 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player-of-the-Year and woman Footballer-of-the-Year respectively. g) FC Barcelona won the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup by defeating Argentina s River Plate. The final match was held at the International Stadium in Yokohama, Japan. i) International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced winners of 2015 World Champions. Men s World Champion - Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Women s World Champion - Serena Williams (the USA) Men s Doubles World Champions - Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands) & Horia Tecau (Romania) Women s Doubles World Champions - Martina Hingis (Switzerland) & Sania Mirza (India) ITF Junior World Champions - Dalma Galfi (Hungary) & Taylor Fritz (the USA) ITF Wheelchair World Champions - Jiske Griffioen (Netherlands) & Shingo Kunieda (Japan) a) Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela broke the world record on way to winning gold in the women's 10 metre air rifle event at the Swedish Cup Grand Prix. Chandela shot in the event to surpass the feat of Chinese Olympic gold medallist Yi Siling, who held the record with 211. c) Vijay Kumar won the centre fire pistol gold in the 59th National shooting championship at the Dr Karni Singh Range in b) David Beckham was presented with the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Leadership Award at the sixth biennial UNICEF Ball in Los Angeles. d) Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been voted 2015 England Player of the Year for the fourth time. f) Chennaiyin FC was crowned as the champions of the 2nd Indian Super League (ISL) Football tournament. In the final played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa, Chennaiyin defeated the hosts FC Goa, 3-2. h) FIFA s Independent Ethics Committee banned Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini from football for 8 years. j) Polish professional footballer Robert Lewandowski s nineminute, five-goal haul for German Football Club Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg was officially recognised by Guinness World Record. SHOOTING b) Apurvi Chandela from Rajasthan has won a Gold medal in the 59th National Shooting Championship in Delhi. d) Kerala s Elizabeth Susan Koshy won the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions Gold at the 59th National Shooting Championships held 12

13 Tughlakabad in New Delhi. a) India s P.V. Sindhu clinched the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title after defeating Scotland s Kristy Gilmour in straight games in the final in Penang. c) Delhi Acers emerged victorious over Mumbai Rockets by 4-3 in the summit clash to clinch the Premier Badminton League (PBL) title. e) China s Chen Long and all England and World champion Carolina Marin bagged the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Male and Female Player of the Year Awards respectively in Dubai. a) The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced the winners of its Hockey Stars awards for The Netherlands' Robert Van der Horst and Lidewij Welten won the men's and women's FIH Player of the Year awards Goalkeeper of the year (Women) - Joyce Sombroek (The Netherlands) Goalkeeper of the year (Men) - David Harte (Ireland) Rising Star of the Year (Women) - Lily Owsley (Great Britain) Rising Star of the Year (Men) - Chrisopher Rühr (Germany) c) Sweden's Bjorn Isberg appointed as the Tournament Director of Coal India Hockey India League (HIL), the premier league for hockey in India. a) The Philippines' Miguel Tabuena was voted as the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of Month for December Tabuena won the award ahead of Thailand's Phachara Khongwatmai and India's Himmat Rai. 13 BADMINTON at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting range in New Delhi. b) Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth won the Men's Singles title of the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships d) Japanese shuttlers Kento Momota and Nozomi Okuhara won Men's singles and Women s singles title respectively at the BWF World Superseries at the Hamdan Sports Complex, Dubai. HOCKEY b) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) won the 26th Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey tournament.the ONGC defeated Indian Railways 3-0 in the final match held at the Shivaji Stadium in New Delhi. d) Australia defeated Belgium by 2-1 to win Men s Hockey World League Final at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium, Raipur. GOLF b) India s star golfer Anirban Lahiri has won the coveted Order of Merit crown of Asian Tour for year Other SPORTS NEWS S. No Sports News 1. Table Tennis Japan's Izumo Takuto and Hong Kong's Zhu Chengzhu became champions in the boys' and girls' categories in the 11Even Sports 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals 2. Rowing Punjab s Navneet Kaur won two gold medals in the 34th Senior National Rowing Championship at Hussainsagar Lake, Hyderabad. 3. Moto GP Brazilian racing driver Pietro Fittipaldi clinched the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 at Madras Motor Racing Track in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. 4. Snooker Aditya Mehta won the 83rd Senior National Snooker Championship in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. 5. Snooker Ronnie O'Sullivan won his sixth Snooker Masters title after defeating Barry Hawkins 10-1 in the final at the Alexandra Palace in London. 6. Chess World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the Qatar Masters Open chess tournament, billed as the strongest Open in history. 7. Squash India s Abhay Singh won the Under-19 Singapore Squash Open. In the final of the Old Chang Kee Singapore Open, he defeated second seed Alwin Chai of Malaysia. 8. Weightlifting Rakhi Haldar and Kavita Devi bagged gold in their respective weight categories in the Senior National Weightlifting Championships held in Patiala, Punjab. 9. Miscellaneous Cricketer Rohit Sharma along with Graphic India, UK-based ISM Komix and Cornerstone Sport set to launch a new environmental superhero team called 'Hyper Tygers. The digital comic will be 10. South Asian Games 2016 free to read on all devices from February 1. Orgnaising committee of 12th South Asian Games (OC-SAG) unveiled mascot of the games and logo at ITA Cultural Center Machkhowa in Guwahati, Assam. The mascot Tikhor is a one horned rhino and is the brand ambassador of the games carries the message of peace, stability, amity and progress.

14 11. Cycling Indian cyclist Deborah Herold became the first Indian female cyclist to be ranked fourth in the World Elite Women Ranking for the 500m time trial event. The ranking was issued by cycling world body International Cycling Union (UCI). 12. Bodybuilding India s Thakur Anoop Singh won gold medal in the 7th WBPF World Bodybuilding and Physique Championships. 13. Snooker Ronnie O Sullivan eased to win the Dafabet Masters title He defeated Barry Hawkins. 14. International referee from India, Ashok Kumar was selected for officiating in the Rio Olympics This is the first time in the in the Indian wrestling history that a referee from India will be officiating at the Olympic Games. Matthew Mitcham, the Australian Olympic diving gold medalist, announced his retirement from the sport on 28 January SPORTS VENUES RECENTLY ANNOUNCED S.no Sport Event Venue Other Points World Aquatics Japanese city of Fukuoka The Qatari capital Doha will host the Championships 2023 event. DEFENCE NEWS (India & World) S. No Which Defence Force/ Body/ News Initiative? 1. India s Aircraft Tejas Country s own fighter aircraft light combat aircraft (LCA), Tejas, took part in the threeday Bahrain International Airshow. 2. Mi-25 gunship helicopters 3 Mi-25 gunship helicopters supplied by India are to officially join the Afghan Air Force. 3. Indian Reserve Battalions The Union Cabinet has approved proposal of raising of 17 Indian Reserve Battalions (IRBs) (IRBs) in Jammu & Kashmir and 4 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states. 17 IRBs includes 5 battalions in J&K, 4 in Chhattisgarh, 3 each in Jharkhand and Odisha and 2 in Maharashtra. 4. Surface-to-air Akash missile India test fired its indigenously-built surface-to-air Akash missile from Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipuri in Odisha. 5. Defence Research and DRDO successfully test-fired Nag anti-tank missile at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Development Organisation Rajasthan. 6. Sahayog-Kaijin th edition of bilateral exercise by the Indian Coast Guard and its Japanese counterpart titled Sahayog-Kaijin 2016 begun off the coast of Chennai, Tamil Nadu in the Bay of Bengal. 7. ITBP A freshly-trained contingent of 500 women personnel will become the first 'mahila' squad to be deployed in high-altitude posts along the India-China border. The squad was commissioned into the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 8. LRSAM Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM), the missile co-developed by India and Israel, was successfully test-fired on the Western Sea Board. The missile was developed by the DRDL, Hyderabad in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries. 9. Pinaka II Amament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) successfully test-fired Pinaka II multi barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) System. The three-day long user assisted trials were conducted at Pokhran in Rajasthan. 10. Shakti-2016 India and France started their eight-day counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency joint exercise Shakti-2016 in Rajasthan. This is the third edition in the series of bilateral exercises. 11. INS Kadmatt Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt commissioned in the Indian Navy at naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam by Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R K Dhowan. 12. Reservation for women in CAPF Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has approved 33% reservation for women in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) at constable-level positions. There will be 33% reservation for women at constable-level posts in Central Reserve Police Force and Central Industrial Security Force, and 14-15% reservation at the constable level in border guarding forces i.e. Border Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal and Indo Tibetan Border Police th January Parade The French soldiers march down the Rajpath on Republic Day along with Indian troops in the presence of President Francois Hollande. Hollande was the Chief Guest for 26 January 2016 celebrations. 14. Indian Navy Service (INS) Godavari India s first indigenously designed and built warship Indian Navy Service (INS) Godavari decommissioned in Naval Dockyard Mumbai. 14

15 First Naval Base Seychelles government allowed India to build its first Naval Base on the Assumption Island in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) as a joint project between both countries. 16. Astra Indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra, successfully test fired. The test was conducted by the Indian Air Force off the coast of Odisha near the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Balasore. 17. Barak 8 The Navy successfully test-fired the nearly 70 KM range Surface to Air Missile Barak 8 from INS Kolkata, paving the way for installation of the system, developed jointly by India and Israel, on board country s frontline warships. 18. Manufacture 200 Kamov 226T light helicopters 19. Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) 20. Combined Commanders Conference Russian firm Rostech State Corporation has tied up with India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to manufacture 200 Kamov 226T light helicopters. The new fleet of Kamovs will replace the ageing Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the purchase of Russian advance S-400 Triumf Air Defence Missile Systems from Russia at an estimated cost of crore rupees. Combined Commanders Conference, an annual tri-services event chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was held on board INS Vikramaditya about 50 kms off Kochi coast. This is the first time when the conference was held outside New Delhi. 21. Shaheen-IA Pakistan successfully tested the nuclear-capable Shaheen-IA ballistic missile with a range of 900 km. The test of the missile was aimed at re-validating several design and technical parameters of the weapon system. 22. The torpedo defence system, Maareech A fully indigenous decoy system, that can divert underwater torpedo attacks on ships and submarines, has been developed by Visakhapatnam-based Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL). The torpedo defence system, Maareech, was recently inducted into the Indian Navy. 23. Fast Patrol Vessels The public sector Cochin Shipyard Ltd launched the nineteenth of the 20 Fast Patrol Vessels being built for Indian Coast Guard. The vessel was named ICGS Atulya and launched by Hema Subramaniam, wife of Commodore K. Subramaniam, Chairman & Managing Director, CSL. 24. Indra Navy 2015 Indo-Russia bilateral maritime exercise Indra Navy 2015 commenced in Vishakhapatanam. The exercise epitomises the strategic relationship between the two nations. The 8th edition of Indra Navy conducted in the Bay of Bengal till 12 December Indian Navy The fifth ship of Indian Navy's LCU MK IV project, was launched at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) in Kolkata. LCU L-55 is the fifth vessel in the series of eight Landing Craft Utility Ships being designed and built by GRSE for the Indian Navy. 26. Agreement Reliance Defence Limited and Russian AlmazAntey, have decided to work jointly on the entire range of AD Missile and Radar Systems that are required for Indian defence forces. 27. Nuclear-capable Submarine INS-Rahav Israel got delivery of its fifth German-built submarine, an advanced Dolphin-class vessel. The new arrival is named Rahav after a biblical sea monster. STATE IN NEWS (INDIA) S. No News 1. Union Government sanctioned crore rupees for the development of infrastructure projects in Tamilnadu. With this, the total amount sanctioned was raised to crore rupees. 2. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) signed an interim consultancy agreement with Kerala Rapid Transit Ltd (KRTL) for the Rs. 6,728-crore 'light metro' in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. 3. Google India and Indian Railways telecom arm RailTel launched free Rail Wire Public Wi-Fi service for railway passengers at the Mumbai Central Station. With this, Mumbai Central has become the first railway station in India to have free highspeed Wi-Fi Internet facility. 4. Manipal Hospitals Bangalore becomes the first centre in Karnataka for conducting the MRCP practical assessment of examination skills (PACES) mock exam in collaboration with UK-based Royal College of Physicians Federation. 5. President Pranab Mukherjee on 26 January 2016 approved the Union Cabinet s recommendation for the imposition of President s rule on Arunachal Pradesh. 6. Uttar Pradesh became the fourth state to join the Centre s scheme to revive state electricity distribution utilities. 7. Lt Governor of Puducherry AK Singh launched the MITRA mobile application to ensure safety and security of women in the Union Territory. The app was launched in the presence of the Chief Minister N Rangasamy in Puducherry. 8. Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar launched Goa e-suvidha Portal, an online project tracking mechanism to fast track

16 projects. It aims at resolving a variety of issues in setting up infrastructure and other large projects, both in the public and private sectors, with targeted investment between 50 crore and 1,000 crore. 9. The Asian Development Bank extend a $625 million loan to the proposed $840 million Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor. 10. Telangana became the first State in India to introduce compulsory gender education at the graduate level. 11. Vice President Hamid Ansari declared Kerala as the first state in the country to attain 'Total Primary Education', and described the achievement as 'historic.' 12. Sikkim has become India's first fully organic state by converting around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land into sustainable cultivation. 13. The 40th edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair the world s largest non-trade fair is all set to bring to life a slice of history. 14. Telangana become first state to accept e-motor insurance policies. The e-vahan Bima, an electronic motor insurance policy issued in digital form with Quick Response (QR) code, has been formally launched by the Minister for IT, K T Ramarao. 15. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das inaugurated the state's land bank web portal, jharbhoom.nic.in, that will help investors know land-related information. 16. State election commissioner (SEC) Ashok Kumar Chauhan announced that toilets will be mandatory requirement for eligibility to contest panchayat elections. This declaration means that no one can contest the Bihar panchayat elections scheduled in 2016 without having a toilet at their home. 17. Wattan Ko Jano, an initiative being carried out by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in coordination with the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Government. The initiative came in news after more than 240 youth in the age-group of 15 to 24 from J&K met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. 18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest at the National Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers Welfare being held in Gangtok. The conference is being held in Sikkim. 19. Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the 43rd edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair which commenced here with China as the guest of honour country and a theme presentation of the cultural heritage of India. 20. The West Bengal Government cleared the proposal for setting up five new districts in the state. These five new districts will increase the number of districts of West Bengal to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar approved much anticipated Patna Metro Rail project's proposal. The state government will now send the proposal for the union government's clearance. 22. Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Lucknow Metro Rail Project Phase-1 A. To be developed at an expenditure of 6928 crore rupees, the project will cover a length of km with 22 stations. 23. The Basohali town which is located in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir was in news as the Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar dedicated the first cable-stayed bridge of North India to the nation. The 592-metre bridge was constructed over river Ravi on Dunera- Basohli-Bhadharwah road. 24. Bihar government banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from plying in the Capital, Patna. The decision was taken in view of increasing pollution. 25. Government of Andhra Pradesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft India on a range of technology initiatives. 26. State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned a 660 MW unit of Prayagraj Super Thermal Power Project at Bara town in Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh. 27. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the All-India conference of Directors General of Police (AICDGPs) at Dhordo in white Rann of Kutch region near Bhuj, Gujarat. 28. Mumbai s iconic boulevard Marine Drive, also popularly called the Queen s Necklace, completed 100 years, and residents of the city s western waterfront flagged off the centenary celebrations with a postcard showcasing the crescent-shaped bay off the Arabian Sea. 29. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled nationalist leader Shyamji Krishna Varma as the first non-brahmin to have received a degree of Pandit in Varanasi. 30. Out of the total 60 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly, 33 members passed a resolution to remove the Speaker Nabam Rebia. 31. Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) announced the launch of the Phase-2 development, which will be focused on International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) to be set up in GIFT SEZ. 32. National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered ban on registration of new diesel-run vehicles in Delhi to curb the growing menace of air pollution in the capital city. This ruling was given by NGT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar. 33. Losar, the biggest Tibetan Buddhist Festival began in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. The festival marks the beginning of New Year for Buddhists. 34. Two Indian cities, Varanasi and Jaipur, have made it to the Creative City Network of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the first time ever. Varanasi and Jaipur made it to the network in the categories, City of Music and City of Crafts and Folk Art respectively. 16

17 35. Himachal Pradesh became the first state of India to launch Rotavirus vaccination project. The vaccine will help in controlling the child mortality rate (under five years of age) due to diarrhoea. 36. Uttar Pradesh Government has launched International festival on Birds in a bid to promote state as an international birdwatching destination. The first-of-its-kind festival was inaugurated by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at the National Chambal Sanctuary (NCS). 37. The Andhra Pradesh government has conveyed its in-principle decision to the Ministry of Power of joining UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) scheme. 38. The Maharashtra legislature has become the first in the country to launch an online mechanism for its members to send questions and move different motions in the House. 39. Rajasthan Government along with its power distribution companies (DISCOMS) has signed a MoU to join UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) Scheme. State DISCOMS part of this MoU are Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (JVNL), Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (JVVNL) and Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (AVNL). 40. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has cleared a euro 450 million loan to the Lucknow Metro Rail project, the first ever loan by the European lending agency for a Metro rail project in the country. 41. Pollution in Lucknow touched a new high and the UP capital emerged as the most polluted city in the country. 42. The Union petroleum ministry has officially declared in Vyachakurahalli, Karnataka as India s first smokeless village, owing to its conversion from conventional fuel to LPG. 43. Haryana Tourism is getting a power couple boost, what with Dharmendra and Hema Malini being roped in as their new ambassadors. 44. The Union Government has ranked e-governance project of Punjab as number 1 among all states in the country. While Madhya Pradesh ranked second, Uttar Pradesh was adjudged third in the country. 45. Tripura announce Yoga mandatory for students from Class I-VIII from the new academic session beginning January 1. Tripura is the second state after Gujarat to make yoga compulsory in schools. 46. Haryana chief minister Monohar Lal Khattar was on a two-nation visit to Japan and China. At the first leg of his tour he reached Tokyo in Japan. Here he attended an investment seminar organised by Indian Embassy. At the second leg of his tour he arrived Beijing. Some MoUs mostly investment-related were signed during his visit. Mr. Lal s visit is part of a growing decentralization of Sino-Indian ties, where Indian States and Chinese provinces were imparting considerable influence on foreign policy. 47. The Union Minister of State (independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the Hall of Nuclear Power in New Delhi. 48. Union government s prestigious Krishi Karman Award was conferred on Madhya Pradesh for 4 th consecutive year. 49. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs carried out an initiative named Watan ko Jano in coordination with Jammu and Kashmir government. More than 240 youth in the age-group of 15 to 24 from J&K met with Prime Minister Modi in Delhi. 50. India s grid-connected solar power generation capacity has crossed the 5,000 MW mark, with Rajasthan on top with 1, MW capacity followed by Gujarat. 51. The Government of Haryana in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is all set to unfold The Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit 2016 slated to be held at Gurgaon on March 7 and 8, After two years of dithering, Uttar Pradesh is implementing the food security law from the New Year s Day. While 24 districts, mostly in western UP, will roll out the scheme, the remaining 51 districts will join the bandwagon on March Lalu Prasad is set to be re-elected president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal for the ninth consecutive time. 54. Government of Andhra Pradesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft India on a range of technology initiatives. The MoU was signed after a meeting between the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Microsoft s CEO Satya Nadella in Hyderabad. 55. Delhi recorded the highest per capita income among all states in the country at Rs 2,40,849 during financial year , Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. 56. Israel and Andhra Pradesh Government during a joint working group meeting discuss ways to enhance cooperation in agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, urban water management and HLS. 57. The Maharashtra legislature has become the first in the country to launch an online mechanism for its members to send questions and move different motions in the House. OPERATIONS LAUNCHED FOR SAFETY S.No Operation Name Important Point 1. Operation Green Hunt An all-out offensive by India s paramilitary forces and the state's forces against the 2. Operation Smile-II from 1 January Naxalites During this operation, all children residing in shelter homes, platforms, bus stands, roads, religious places, etc. are to be screened by trained police personnel. 17

18 News Related to Stock Exchange 1. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Ltd has launched a new service for algorithm trading test facility for investors on its derivatives and equity platform. The new service has been launched in partnership with Mumbai based Symphony Fintech Solutions Pvt Ltd and is free-of-cost for market participant. 2. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) released the first report of the Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee (AIPAC) for comments from the stakeholders. The 21-member committee was constituted by the SEBI, under the chairmanship of N R Narayan Murthy, to suggest measures for development of the alternative investment funds (AIFs) and startup eco-system in the country. 3. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has launched three separate indices on three corporate houses of India viz. Tata, Aditya Birla and Mahindra Group. The first of its kind three separate indices based on corporate houses have been designed to reflect the performance of companies belonging to the respective corporate group. Each of three indices will comprise all the companies of the respective business group. 4. Myanmar inaugurated a new stock exchange, named Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX), with plans for six companies to start trading in March The Stock Exchange will be open only to Myanmar companies and investors and will eventually allow foreigners to invest in Myanmar shares. RECENTLY FIRST IN INDIA Sr. No. News 1. India s largest tricolour was hoisted atop the tallest pole at Pahari Mandir in Ranchi, by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. It is world s largest and the highest hoisted Indian flag. It measures 66 feet in height and 99 feet in width in the proper ratio 2:3. It was hoisted on pole with height of 293 feet. It weighs 80 kg. 2. India s digital payment startup company TranServ has launched country s first Social Mobile Wallet named Udio. The digital wallet seeks to address the gap between real and virtual modes of payment as it has more social experience. 3. Aparna Kumar, IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, became India's first civil servant to scale Mount Vinson Massif, the highest peak in the Antarctica. 4. Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the River Information System (RIS) - the first of its kind in India - to facilitate safe and accurate navigation on National Waterway-1 (the Ganga River). 5. India s biggest Wildlife Rescue Centre named as Gorewada Zoo and Wildlife Rescue Centre has been commissioned at Gorewada near Nagpur, Maharashtra. The centre was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in presence of State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar. LIST/RANKING ANNOUNCED S. No List Name Important Points Other Points 1. Global index of talent India has slipped 11 places to rank 89 th. The list is topped by Switzerland. competitiveness Human Development Index (HDI) in the South Asia Region. India ranked 130 in the list. Sri Lanka tops in 2015 HDI in South Asia Region & was ranked The World Bank released a The report explored the impact of the In relation to India, the authors of the report titled World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends in Washington DC, the USA. internet, mobile phones, and related technologies on economic development across the world including India. report appreciated the Aadhaar scheme as it saved 1 billion US dollars by bringing down corruption. 4. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) released the World Tourism Barometer, which reviewed trends in tourism at the regional and global level for 2015 and enumerated prospects for Forbes released the Under 30 List featuring 600 men and women who achieved remarkable professional success before attaining 30 years of age. 6. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries As per the publication, international tourist arrivals grew by 4.4 percent in 2015 to reach a total of 1184 million in The list includes John Boyega (Hollywood & Entertainment category), Shawn Mendes (Music), Emerson Spartz (Media) among others. As per the report, oil and gas, combined, are expected to supply around 53 Indian-origin people figured in the list are, Ritesh Agarwal, OYO Rooms CEO Karishma Shah, Alphabet s Google X Divya Nettimi, Viking Global Investors Nisha Chittal, MSNBC Ashish Patel, NowThis Media Saagar Govil, CEO of Cemtrex 18

19 (OPEC) released the 2015 OPEC World Oil Outlook (WOO). 7. The United Nations Human Development Report Forbes annual list of the best countries for business in percent of the global energy demand by India ranked 130 out of 188 countries in terms of Human Development Index India has ranked a low 97 th out of 144 nations, behind Kazakhastan and Ghana The list is topped by Norway. Denmark topped the list of the 144 nations on the Best Countries of Business. 9. Global Corruption Index India is place at 76 th out of 168 countries Denmark ranked number Global Talent Competitiveness India slipped to rank 89th Topped by Switzerland Index (GTCI) CURRENT SUMMITS HELD (INTERNATIONAL) S.no Summits Location Other Detail 1. New Mangalore Port Trust Mysore, Karnataka The purpose of the meet was to interact with (NMPT), in association with Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nanjangud importers and exporters of Karnataka, especially from the Mysore-Nanjangud region, where a large volume of container cargo is generated. Industries Association, organized a trade meet 2. World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos, Switzerland th National Conference on e- Nagpur, Maharashtra Governance 4. Nypunyam International Skill Kerala Summit and Skill Fiesta The 2016 Constro exhibition Pune It will focus on the Smart City concept. 6. The 22nd edition of Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh Confederate of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit - cum-sunrise Andhra Pradesh Investment Summit 7. Conference of Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) on Afghan Peace and Reconciliation 8. The annual Indian Science Congress (ISC) at on Sunday. Islamabad University of Mysore campus in Karnataka The conference was participated representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US. Theme of this edition (103rd) of the ISC is "Science & Technology for Indigenous Development in India" th International Conference The Global Communication of media experts and Association (GCA), Mysuru communication specialists from around the world 10. The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas New Delhi th annual conference of Ranchi, Jharkhand Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan th World Trade Nairobi, Kenya Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference th Session of the India-Iran New Delhi Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) 14. 2nd World Internet Conference Wuzen in China 15. Conference of the Parties 21 (COP 21) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris 16. 9th International Fire & Security Exhibition and Conference (IFSEC) India Expo 2015 was held at New Delhi 17. India-Laos Conference In New Delhi 18. First India International Science Festival (IISF) in IIT-Delhi

20 19. Biz Bridge Meet Held in Kolkata 20. Forum of China-Africa Johannesburg, South Africa Cooperation Summit Shanghai Cooperation Zhengzhou, China Organisation (SCO) 2015 summit 22. Heart of Asia Conference Islamabad, Pakistan th India-Russia Annual in Moscow Summit 24. Arab-India Cooperation Forum Meet th World Trade Nairobi, Kenya Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference 26. 2nd World Internet Conference Wuzen in China 27. BRICS media summit China s Xinhua th East Asia Summit (EAS) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 29. World Robot Olympiad (WRO) Doha, Qatar Chinese president Xi Jinping and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma co-chaired it. India s minister of state for external affairs V.K. Singh represented India in this summit Bahraini capital Manama External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj represented India IMPORTANT DAYS OBSERVED RECENTLY S. No Date Day 1. 6th National Voters Day 25 January th India s Republic Day 26 January President of France Francois Hollande was the Chief Guest at 67th Republic Day parade th birth anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai 28th January International Day of Commemoration in 27 January memory of the victims of the Holocaust 5. Anti-Leprosy Day 30 January 6. National Youth Day 12 January 7. 11th World Hindi Day 10 January 8. National Mathematics Day 22 December 9. 30th National Consumers Right Day 24 December 10. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe 5 November every year as World Tsunami Awareness Day 11. Good Governance Day 25 December 12. International Migrants Day 18 December 13. Vijay Diwas 16 December 14. Human Rights Day 10 December 15. International Day for the Abolition of Slavery 2 December th Navy Day 4 December 17. International Volunteer Day (IVD) 5 December 18. World Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome 1 December (AIDS) Day 19. International Day for the Abolition of Slavery 2 December th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhash 23 January Chandra Bose / National Day of Patriotism / Desh Prem Divas 21. National Girl Child Day 24 January: BOOKS & AUTHORS PART 1 Book Author Book Author Go Set a Watchman Harper Lee The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time Autobiography of Subhash Chandra MARU BHARAT SARU BHARAT (My India Noble India) Jain Acharya Ratnasundersuriswarji Maharaj Nathuram Godse - The Story of an Assassin Anup Ashok Sardesai 20

21 The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence An Insider s Account On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power Madhuri Bose Autobiography of Sharad Pawar Jawaharlal Nehru and The Indian Polity in Perspective Dial D for Don Edited by Prof Alexander. Neeraj Kumar Gujarat Behind The Curtain R.B. Sreekumar A is for Arsenic: The Poisons Kathryn Harkup Swimmer Among the Stars Kanishk Tharoor of Agatha Christie The Girls on the Train Paula Howkins The New Xenophobia Tablish Khair The Peshwa Ram Sivasankaran Purifying the Land of the Pure Farahnaz Ispahani Azad Bachpan Ki Aur Kailash Satyarthi A Strangeness in My Mind: A Orhan Pamuk Novel Anything but Khamosh (Bharathi S. Pradhan/Shatrughan Sinha) Autobiography of actor-mp Shatrughan Sinha Original Spin: Downing Street And The Press In Victorian Britain Paul Brighton Concorde: The Rise and Fall of the Supersonic Airliner: The Life Negroni Jonathan Glancey Through Orphaned Eyes Ajay Singh Leigh and Nargess Banks Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into Sons and Daughters of Dictators Jay Nordlinger The Spirits Richard Godwin My Gita Devdutt Pattanaik Rebellious Spirits: Ruth Ball This Unquiet Land Barkha Dutt The China Pakistan Axis Andrew Small Weeping Britannia: Portrait Thomas Dixon Kissinger : The Niall Ferguson of a Nation of Tears Idealist Second Thoughts Navtej Sarna This Unquiet Land Barkha Dutt Rebooting India Nandan Nilekani Pimps Shashank Gupta Of Bridges Among Us Neeru Iyer Cross Justice James Patterson The Brothers Bihari Sankarshan Thakur Democrats and Dissenters Ramachandra Guha Reckless Sidney Sheldon Professor Porsche s Wars Karl Ludvigsen The Secret Sanctuary Stephan Alter Murder House James Patterson & David Ellis One Point Two Billion Mahesh Rao The Guilty-Going Back Home Can Kill you David Baldacci ISRO/NASA/Other Space Organization in News 1. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) 1-E satellite. The satellite will provide navigation, tracking and mapping services to the Indian sub continent. This is the fifth of the IRNSS constellation. It was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on-board the PSLV-C31. The 'XL' configuration of PSLV was used for this mission. 2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully launched SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California s Vandenberg Air Force Base in the USA The rocket carried the ocean monitoring satellite Jason-3 on board. The satellite will examine the topography of the ocean floor to help study effects of climate change or human-induced changes on the ocean. 3. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced discovery and assignment of elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and American aerospace company SpaceX achieved the historic feat of successfully launching and landing Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 rocket was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida carrying 11 satellites to low-earth orbit and was also successfully landed after 10 minutes to the Earth. 5. China launched the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) Satellite to shed light on mysterious dark matter. It was the country's first space telescope and launched on a Long March 2-D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. 6. China successfully launched Gaofen-4 Earth observation satellite toward a geostationary orbit from the Xichang Satellite The Satellite was launched aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket. 7. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched 6 satellites of Singapore into Space. The satellites were launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C29 from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikotta in Andhra Pradesh. 8. GAIL (India) Limited in collaboration with National Remote Sensing Centre, a unit of Indian Space Research Organization 21

22 (ISRO), has launched a surveillance geo-portal Bhuvan-GAIL Portal that utilises space technology for its pipeline safety application. 9. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V (401 configuration) rocket carrying the OA-4 Cygnus cargo spacecraft with much needed supplies blasted off towards the International Space Station (ISS). The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after three days of delay due to poor weather. 10. A total of five minor planets were named after top Chinese scientists, including the country s first Nobel laureate scientist Tu Youyou. The naming was suggested by the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Minor Planet Centre (MPC). COMMITTEES IN NEWS S.No Committee Headed by 1. Commission for Backward Classes was reconstituted by Andhra Pradesh Government It will be two member commission with Justice KL Manjunath, (Retd.) as its Chairman. 2. Committee to to hasten the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High- Under Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairman of the NITI Aayog Speed Rail Corridor 3. Committee to simplify the provisions of Income-tax Act, Justice R V Easwar (Retd) Committee to examine the wage structure, service conditions of the Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in the Headed by Kamlesh Chandra, Retired Member of Postal Services Board. Department of Posts (DoP) 5. Committee on Censor Board revamp Headed by noted film-maker Shyam Benegal 6. One-member commission of inquiry on Delhi and District Headed by former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium Cricket Association (DDCA) scam 7. Committee on Revisiting and Revitalising Public Private Headed by former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar Partnership (PPP) Model 8. Committee on Medium-term Path on Financial Inclusion Headed by RBI Executive Director Deepak Mohanty. 9. Committee to look into the dispute between Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Krishna Godavari (KG) gas fields 10. Maharashtra government constituted a task force for setting up an International Financial Service Centre (IFSC) in Mumbai 11. Judicial Committee to look into the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for the exservicemen. 12. Commission looking into the allegations against the Robert Vadra land deals Headed by the Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India Justice (retd) Ajit Prakash Shah. Headed by Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha. Headed by Justice L Narasimha Reddy, retired Chief Justice of Patna High Court. Headed by Justice S.N. Dhingra (Retd) 13. Shyam Benegal committee Actor Kamal Hassan and Director Gautam Ghosh was included 14. Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee Under the chairmanship of N R Narayan Murthy (AIPAC) for comments from the stakeholders BUSINESS NEWS (NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL) S.No Companies News related to 1. Cognizant Technology Solutions United States (US) based Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) has acquired 2. Three major Indian IT companies Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro 3. Illumina, the world s largest DNA sequencing company cloud-based computing firm KBACE Technologies. Joined US President Barack Obama's ambitious 'computer science for all' initiative as part of a public-private collaboration, pledging thousands of dollars in grants. Announced the launch of the startup named GRAIL to develop blood-based cancer tests. The company was launched in association with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo s venture fund Bezos Expeditions and Arch Venture Partners. 4. Lenovo To launch new smartphone under Google s Project Tango. 5. Paytm Acquired Shifu for $8 million (about Rs 53.2 crore), a move that will enable the digital payments company to offer more personalised user experience. 6. Nokia Corporation Completed the regulatory formalities for acquiring the French telecom equipment 22

23 23 company Alca-Lucent. The deal, worth 15.6 billion euro, was signed in 2014 and later approved by the European Commission. 7. Reliance Capital Asset Competition Commission of India (CCI) gave its approval to Reliance Capital Asset Management Management's proposed acquisition of Goldman Sachs' mutual fund business in India for 243 crore rupees. 8. Quikr Announced acquisition of the property search website Commonfloor.com for an undisclosed amount in a majority stock-swap transaction. 9. Taxi-hailing app Uber Announced a new start-up mentorship programme in the country in partnership with Invest India called uberexchange. 10. Oil and Natural Gas Company Limited Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its approval for investment of 5000 crore rupees by Oil and Natural Gas Company Limited (ONGC) into the equity share capital of ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) by conversion of existing loan of equivalent amount into equity. 11. Idea Cellular Became the third mobile operator in India to launch 4G services in India. 12. Tech Mahindra Launched first of its kind Tap N Pay contactless digital payment wallet MoboMoney for the Indian masses. 13. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) or Reliance Jio 14. Tech Mahindra and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, part of the Mahindra Group Launched 4G telecom service. It was launched at the Reliance Corporate Park in Navy Mumbai to mark the birth anniversary of Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). Acquired Italian car designer Pininfarina SpA for 165 million US dollars in an allcash deal. Pininfarina is well-known for designing cars for Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls- Royce and Cadillac. 15. Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs Received the approval of Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch fixeddose combination therapy Ledipasvir-Sofosbuvir. The product will be available under the brand name Ledisof in India. 16. YouTube Opens first video production studio in India along with Subhash Ghai-owned film school Whistling Woods International. 17. Godrej Acquired 51 per cent stake in home decor and personal accessories brand India Circus, which will increase its footprint in the lifestyle space. 18. Vedanta Named Samir Cairae as CEO of Metals division. 19. Bharti Airtel Acquired the balance 26 per cent stake in Augere Wireless, which holds 4G spectrum in Madhya Pradesh 20. Amway s first manufacturing Set up the factory at SIPCOT Industrial Park in Nilakottai, Dindigul district, on 50 facility acres. 21. Indian Oil Corporation has maintained its numero uno position followed by Reliance Industries in terms of revenue for the sixth consecutive year in the list of Fortune 500 Indian companies Tata Motors has entered the top-50 league of the world s biggest companies in terms of their R&D investments, topped by German automaker Volskwagen. Tata Motors has moved up from 104th position last year to 49th now. 23. The Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment and acclaimed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks announced formation of Amblin Partners-a new film, television and digital content creation company. Participant Media led by Jeff Skoll and Entertainment One (eone), a leading US-based media company, are also part of the joint venture. The firms have raised $500 million debt for the venture. 24. LIC HFL LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LIC HFL) will acquire 19.3 per cent shares of LIC Nomura Mutual Fund Asset Management Company for Rs27 crores. AGREEMENTS (INDIA/WORLD) S. No Related to Agreement signed between? Other Points 1. Memorandum of understanding Maharashtra Government with Tata Tata Trust will train around one lakh (MoU) for a skill training Trust youths in the state in order to make programme for the youth in the them employable. state. 2. MoU on Cooperation in governance reforms 3. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes Between India and United Kingdom Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR) 4. Memorandum of Understanding Union Ministry of Skill Development The MoU seeks to extend bilateral cooperation in public administration and governance reforms. It will allow use of data from Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites by KISR for initiating a few research and application projects.

24 24 (MoU) to develop and implement National Action Plan for Skill Development in Telecom Sector and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with Department of Telecommunication (DoT) 5. Cyber security agreements Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) signed cybersecurity agreement with Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. 6. MoU to join UDAY Scheme Rajasthan Government along with its power distribution companies (DISCOMS) 7. Protocol to amend the existing India and Armenia Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) to curb instances of tax evasion 8. $80-million loan agreement Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed with the Centre to help continue improving infrastructure in the two North-Eastern cities of Agartala and Aizawl. 9. Two agreements covering new Iran and Airbus aircraft orders and a comprehensive civil aviation cooperation package. 10. Two bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) 11. Partnership to explore the environment of Ladakh under NASA s Spaceward Bound programme 12. MoU envisages investment of around crore rupees to take up various projects at Visakhapatnam 13. MoU to set up a world class naval facility in Andhra Pradesh The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) with United Kingdom India and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant signed with Andhra Pradesh government. Reliance Defence Ltd, a unit of Anil Ambani led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd with Andhra Pradesh Government Union Government with World Bank State DISCOMS part of this MoU are Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (JVNL), Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (JVVNL) and Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (AVNL). The agreement includes purchase of 118 new Airbus aircrafts. This is a significant step towards providing a stable and predictable tax regime. 14. Loan agreement for the Neeranchal National Watershed Project. 15. Four MOUs to collaborate in urban Madhya Pradesh (MP) Government planning, skill development, clean with Singapore energy and food processing. 16. Online marketplace Flipkart has tied up with auto major Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd to exclusively launch newest SUV- KUV To conduct an enterprise survey of manufacturing firms 18. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for promotion of exports 19. $50-million credit agreement for the aimed at helping young people from minority communities complete their education and improve their employment opportunities named Nai Manzil The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog collaborated with the IDFC Bank Ltd. Exim Bank of India and the Government of Andhra Pradesh Union government and the World Bank Objective of the Survey is to assess the business regulatory environment in each State and Union Territories (UTs) and identify policy and regulatory hurdles faced by businesses in the States/UTs.

25 Scheme. 20. MoU for web-based monitoring of Indo-German Watershed Development projects 25 The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC). 21. Mou in field of Civil Aviation AAI with with Singapore Objective of this MoU is to establish mutual cooperation in the field of civil aviation, which will cover, to begin with, the airports of Jaipur and Ahmedabad 22. Memorandum of understanding to set up a Cauvery river gallery in Mysuru 23. Memorandum of understanding for cooperation in geologic survey, exploration and production of hydrocarbons in select onshore areas in Russia Karnataka s Tourism and the National Academy of Sciences of India (NASI) Indian Oil Corporation and Oil India Ltd signed with Russian national oil company Rosneft. 24. Reliance Defence signed a manufacturing and maintenance deal potentially worth $6 billion with Russia's Almaz-Antey, the maker of an air defence system. 25. Reliance Defence Limited and Russian AlmazAntey decided to work jointly on the entire range of AD Missile and Radar Systems that are required for Indian defence forces. 26. The Union Cabinet has given approval to sign Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia. This MoU is also called as the Raptor MoU under the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS). With signing it, India will become the 54th signatory to the MoU. 27. Agreement on Issue of Comfort Women 28. Mou for strengthening energy efficiency cooperation Japan and South Korea Between India and BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa). It aims to resolve a decades-old dispute over Korean women who were used as sex slaves by Japanese soldiers during World War II The MoU provides for Joint scientific and technological research and Conferencing and holding of lectures and seminars 29. Train passengers will now find it easier to make online payments for the food ordered through e-catering with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) entering into a tie-up with Paytm. 30. Union Government has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for establishing three Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) in the country. The agreement to this effect was signed between Department of Higher Education (DoHE) and private agencies including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Motors, ADCC Infocad and Hubtown. These IIITs are being set up at Ranchi (Jharkhand), Nagpur and Pune (Maharashtra). 31. Deals on bullet train, defence, civil nuclear energy India & Japan 32. Memorandum of understanding India and South Korea (MoU) on suspension of collection of taxes during pendency of mutual agreement procedure 33. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Banglore bagged a US military contract for research and development on solar powered micro-grid. It is one of the rare instances that an Indian scientific institute has been awarded a federal contract by the US military. 34. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for skill development in the manufacturing sector 35. Agreement for Singapore airport developer Changi being nominated for taking up the operations and management of the two Indian airports 36. Expression of Interest (EoI) agreement 37. Agreement on visa facilitation for India and Iran. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) Governments of India and Singapore Karnataka delegation signed an with Reitzel Group The MoU focused on capital goods and automotive sector As per the EoI, the company is expected to invest 3 million Euros (about Rs. 20 crore) and create about 50 new jobs to the already 200 existing jobs

26 Diplomatic, Official/Service and Ordinary passport holders 38. MoU for amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) in order to facilitate taxrelated exchange of information 39. MoU for adopting Integrity Pact (IP) 40. Five-year,not-for-profit partnership to enable free online education for the Indian market 41. MoU for marketing the inventions/innovations, patents, formulations, knowhow/processes and also collection of premia and royalties. 42. MoU for Operation of Border Haats Approved 43. Loan Agreement for pollution abatement of River Mula-Mutha in Pune 44. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in co-operation in the field of health India and Japan National Textile Corporation (NTC) Limited with Transparency International India (TII). Tata Trusts and Khan Academy The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) with CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad Between India and Bangladesh on January 6, The Government of India (GOI) signed with Japan International Cooperation Agency India and Maldives With this signing, NTC became the 51st Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) and 49th Central PSU to sign a MoU with TII. Miscellaneous News S. No NEWS 1. The Cabinet approved a new power tariff policy that aims at promoting clean energy, better regulation of discoms, and faster roll-out of investments. 2. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its approval for setting up over 5000 MW of Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects on build, own and operate basis. The work will be implemented by Solar Power Developers (SPDs) with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under Batch-lV of Phase-ll of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). 3. India has submitted its first Biennial Update Report (BUR) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) towards fulfillment of the reporting obligation. Key highlights of BUR BUR has been prepared by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (UNFCC) under its NATCOM project funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF). Contains national inventory of Green House Gases (GHG) for 2010 and has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 4. New case of child born with the virus has been reported in these countries. However, Brazil is experiencing the largest known outbreak of Zika with most cases in the north-east region. 5. The term BEPS is an acronym of and it was in news in the third week of January 2016 as India has decided to implement Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) guidelines. It refers to tax planning strategies that would exploit the gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax locations where there is little or no economic activity, resulting in little or no overall corporate tax being paid. 6. Ministry of Culture released a commemorative coin of 150 rupees and a circulation coin of 10 rupees on Lala Lajpat Rai. The Commemorative Coin of 150 rupees is made of Quaternary alloy with diameter of 44 mm and weight of 35 grams. 7. The colourful Kullu folk dance (Nati), which saw participation of 20,000 dancers during Kullu Dussehra festival has entered the Guinness book of world records. In the Nati, 10,000 men and women attired in traditional Kullu dress performed at Dhalpur Ground during Kullu Dussehra festival. 8. Master blaster and former captain of the Indian cricket team Sachin Tendulkar launched two safety and awareness initiatives by the Mumbai Railway Police. 9. The Somnath Temple is all set to become Gujarat s first temple to deposit its idle gold in the Gold Monetisation Scheme as its trustees including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have given their nod to invest the yellow metal reserves in the scheme. 10. The Union Home Ministry cleared the proposal to grant Adnan Sami the citizenship of India. Mr Sami, who has been 26

27 staying in India since 2011, will now have to fill a citizenship form at the Home Ministry s office in Delhi and pay Rs 13, Arunima Sinha, the amputee mountaineer who set a record by climbing the Mount Everest conquered Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. 12. The world's largest blue star sapphire that weighs carats was discovered in a mine in Sri Lanka. 13. Biocon Limited launched the generic version of hepatitis C drug in the Indian market. The generic version of the drug named Harvoni will be sold under the brand name CIMIVIR-L. 14. The Lok Sabha passed The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, The Bill will allow doubling of wage ceiling for calculating bonus of factory workers. The Bill seeks to amend the Payment of Bonus Act, The Union Government has added 106 drugs including that of HIV/AIDS, Cancer and Hepatitis C to the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). In this regard, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare s core committee has revised the NLEM. The committee was headed by V.M. Katoch, former secretary of Department of Health Research. 16. Well-known sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik s Santa Claus sculpture found a place in Limca Book of World Records. Pattnaik claimed that he had created a 45 feet high sand Santa Claus at Puri beach which was recognised as the largest sand Santa Claus as of today by the Limca Book of World Records. 17. The Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health is to open its new centre in Mumbai, the first in South Asia in a bid to help broaden and coordinate the School s nearly 60 years of collaboration to improve health in India and around the world. The centre is to open at the Piramal Tower Annexe, in a space that has been provided by Swati Piramal and Ajay Piramal, two Harvard alumni. 18. Supreme Court has banned the registration of all diesel SUVs (Sports Utility Vechiles) and luxury cars in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi. The ban will be valid to SUVs, luxury cars with engine capacity of 2000 cc or more till March 31, The SC ruling aims at curbing the alarming pollution level in Delhi. 19. The Lok Sabha passed the landmark Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, The bill seeks to overcome difficulties encountered in the setting up of new nuclear projects and enhancement of nuclear power generation. 20. The Mexican authorities approved the use of the first-ever vaccine against dengue fever, which will be publicly available for the first time. French manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur declared that the Mexican authorities have granted marketing authorization to Dengvaxia, the vaccine against dengue fever. 21. President Pranab Mukherjee gave assent to Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2015 of Maharashtra. Among other things, the bill amends Section 66(1)(c) of the Factories Act, 1948 that restricts women from working at a factory between 7 PM and 6 AM. 22. The Lok Sabha passed the Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 to establish the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as a National Standards Body. The bill seeks to establish harmonious development of standardization and assessment and quality assurance of goods, processes and services. 23. The South Western Railways (SWR) Zone with headquarters in Hubli, Karnataka has introduced biodiesel for trains, operating under its zone. In this regard, SWR s first train Hubballi-Bengaluru Janshatabdi Express powered by five per cent biodiesel blended with High Speed Diesel was flagged off from Hubli. 24. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the first Goa to Mumbai double-decker Shatabdi train through video conference from Panaji, Goa. 25. The Supreme Court directed State and Union Territory (UT) Governments to consider acid-attack victims under the disabled quota. 26. Heritage Circuit Train Launched: A semi-luxury train service that will unveil the country s multifaceted heritage before travel lovers with stoppages at Varanasi, Khajuraho and Agra was on December 20,2015 launched by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC). YATRAS/MELAS IN NEWS S.No. Yatra/Mela Place 1. 30th Surajkund International Crafts Mela Began at Surajkund in Faridabad, Haryana. The event that will continue till 15 February 2016 was inaugurated by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Telangana was selected as the Theme State. SCHEMES BY UNION GOVERNMENT S.no Scheme & Launched by Features Other Points 1. Union Ministry of Social Justice and It aims to carry out skill training Empowerment Thaawarchand programme for 5 lakh Persons with Gehlot launched the National level Disabilities in next 3 years. Job portal 27

28 28 for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) 2. The 1st batch of 20 smart cities from 11 States and Union Territory of Delhi under the Smart Cities Mission was announced. The 20 cities were selected through the Smart City Challenge competition that saw the participation of 1.52 crore citizens from 97 cities and towns. Among the 20 cities and towns, 3 cities are from Madhya Pradesh, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and one each from the remaining five made it to the winning list. The 20 winning cities and towns have proposed a total investment of crore rupees over five years with all the cities proposing Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) as a major vehicle of resource mobilization. 3. The crop insurance scheme "The new Crop Insurance Scheme is in Under PMFBY, the farmers are required Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) line with One Nation - One Scheme theme. to pay a uniform premium of two percent for all Kharif crops and 1.5 percent for all Rabi crops while it is five percent for annual commercial and horticultural crops. 4. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley kickstarted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious Start-Up India mission at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. 5. Union Ministry of Shipping is set to launch the River Information System (RIS) for Inland Waterways in the country 6. Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti launched Ganga Gram Yojana at Village Puth in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh (UP). 7. Centre decided to implement stricter emission norms of Bharat Stage (BS) VI from April 1, 2020, by skipping BS-V altogether. 8. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda announced 4 new Information Technology-based initiatives to provide citizen-centric health services. 9. Online Labs - developed by Amrita CREATE (Centre of Research in Advanced Technologies for Education) in association with CDAC (Centre for It envisages technology business incubators and research parks. The system is expected to improve navigation in Indland Waterways as the government is set to expand the network across the country through the National Waterways Bill, Under the scheme, 1600 villages of UP situated along the banks of river Ganga will be developed. In the first phase of the progamme, 200 villages have been selected initially. In these villages, open drains falling into river Ganga will be diverted and alternative arrangements for sewage treatment will be made. The villages will have toilets in every house hold. The decision was taken at an interministerial meeting chaired by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, which was attended by Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. The initiatives include three applications, namely, Kilkari, Mobile Academy and M-Cessation and a dedicated toll free number which will provide round the clock counselling and treatment support services for TB patients. OLabs or Online virtual Science Labs allows students to repeat the experiments as many times as they wish; it includes simulators, videos, animation, theory and quiz. It is based The Human Resource Development Ministry and the Department of Science and Technology have agreed to partner in an initiative to set up over 75 such startup support hubs in the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and NIPERs or National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research. To operationalise the system, Radars and sensors will be installed along the route and there will be major base stations to monitor the movement. iii. It is proposed to incur the expenditure of 1 crore rupees on every village. These villages will be developed under the Sichewal model. Sichewal is situated in Punjab, where cooperation of the villagers has been solicited for the water management and waste disposal. Kilkari is an audio-based mobile service that delivers weekly audio messages to families about pregnancy, child birth and child care.

29 Development of Advanced Computing). 10. Narendra Modi approved the India- Australia Civil Nuclear Cooperation 11. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved introduction of Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) for technology upgradation of the textiles industry 12. Union Govt approves constitution of 69 bridges on Trilateral Highway in Myanmar 13. Union Govt unveils National Biotechnology Development Strategy Revised Model Text for the Indian Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) 15. Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) launched Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) Scheme 16. Union Government launched the injectable Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) in New Dellhi 17. Stand Up India Scheme to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes and Women entrepreneurs on the premise that lab experiments can be taught over the Net in a cost effective and efficient manner. The deal along with the administrative arrangement for implementing the accord will bolster India s energy security by supporting the expansion of nuclear power in the country. The ATUFS replaces existing Revised Restructured Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (RR-TUFS) to give a boost to textile sector under Make in India campaign. These bridges will be constructed at a cost of Rs crore and shall impart all weather usability to the TKK road section. To establish India as a world-class biomanufacturing hub. The revised Indian model text for BIT will replace the existing Indian Model BIT. a) To boost the quality of higher education in India. b) It aims at improving the quality of higher education in the country through international collaboration. The IPV injection launched by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda. The first phase this vaccine will be introduced in six states, viz Assam, Gujarat, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The Scheme is intended to facilitate at least two projects per bank branch, on an average one for each category of entrepreneur. It is expected to benefit at least 2.5 lakh borrowers. It was unveiled by the Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi. The revised model BIT will be used for re-negotiation of existing BITs and negotiation of future BITs and investment chapters in Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements (CECAs)/ Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) / Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). c) Initially 500 international faculties will be engaged in conducting courses and later in subsequent years 1000 faculties would be engaged under GIAN throughout India. IPV injection will be given to children below one year of age along with the third dose of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) at the routine immunization sessions free of cost. It provides for refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with an initial amount of crore rupees. It will create credit guarantee mechanism through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC). It will provide support for borrowers both at the pre loan stage and during operations. 29 SCHEMES BY STATE GOVERNMENT S.no State/UT Scheme/Initiative Launched Other Points 1. Jammu and Kashmir Nai Manzil scheme launched for the Under the scheme, girls from minority first time in. The scheme was communities will be imparted three month launched for girls in Srinagar in three skill development training in seven identified institutions- Skill Development sectors relevant to the region. These include Centre, University of Kashmir and two training in saffron processing, food Madarsas processing, embroidery, computers IT (both software and hardware),

30 2. Andhra Pradesh Government Giriputrika Kalyana Pathakam Scheme to support the tribal women in their quest for livelihood. ii. 3. Tamil Nadu Launched a round-the-clock call centre for ensuring fast response to grievances named the Amma Call Centre, which will work all through the year. 4. Delhi government Launched the ambitious odd-even scheme 5. Eight States Agreed to implement direct benefit of transfer in kerosene in 26 districts. The scheme will be implemented from April 1, 2016 and till then state governments will be consulted in the run up to the scheme. 30 Tourism/hospitality, electronics and plumbing. Trainees will also be given stipend of 4500 rupees for the course. The scheme seeks to reduce rampant infant mortality and child marriages among tribal people. It is designed to provide a onetime financial assistance of rupees to each tribal woman who gets married. It aimed at ensuring quick response to people s grievances where in they can dial toll-free number 1100 at any point of time in the day. As the clock struck eight, the vehicular restriction policy came into effect with thousands of volunteers carrying roses also taking to the streets to assist traffic police in enforcing the pilot plan that will stay in force till January 15. The scheme will be implemented in three districts of Chhattisgarh, two in Haryana, three in Himachal Pradesh, six in Jharkhand, four in Madhya Pradesh, two in Maharashtra, three in Punjab and three in Rajasthan. 6. Kerala Sampoorna Arogya Keralam project The project aims to bring all major government health services under one umbrella. With this, people will not be required to visit multiple offices or agencies for medical care. ii. Instead, they can go to enlisted public and private hospitals and get the services through a smart health card. 7. Odisha Government Anwesha scheme to provide free education to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students. 8. Delhi Assembly Passed the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill, 2015 for establishment of statutory anticorruption ombudsman. 9. Andhra Pradesh Online Tappal Management System, a software tool for the convenience of people INDIA S GDP PREDICTIONS S.No INDIA S GDP PREDICTIONS BY WHICH ORGANIZATIONS 1. United Nations (UN) World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016 Report (2015) (2016) (2017) 7.2% 7.3% 7.5% 2. IMF 7.3% 7.5 % 7.5 % 3. Asian Development 7.4% 7.8% - Bank Under the scheme, 5000 SC and ST children will annually be enrolled into Standard I in leading private schools in urban areas of the state. The Bill provides powers to Lokpal to act against any government functionary including those of the Centre and in the national capital territory (NCT) of Delhi through its own investigation wing. 4. Standard & Poor s 7.4% 8% - Ratings Services 5. World Bank 7.5% 7.8% 7.9% 6. RBI - 7.4% 7.6% Persons on Visit (India and World) 1) PM Modi was on a two-day Russia visit. Ways to expand economic cooperation between the two countries were also explored in the meeting with both countries aiming to take the current bilateral annual trade of USD 10 billion to USD 30 billion in the next 10 years. India and Russia have decided to expand cooperation in various sectors. Some of the important were following..

31 The Inter-Governmental Agreement on the manufacture of Kamov-226 helicopters in India is the first project for a major defence platform under the Make-in-India mission. They agreed to actively work towards localisation of manufacturing in India under the aegis of Make in India and in tandem with the serial construction of nuclear power plants, said the statement. The cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is a cornerstone of the Russia-India strategic partnership. 2) PM Modi visited Afghanistan, where he met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and discussed issues related to security and bilateral cooperation. He also inaugurated Afghan Parliament House which was entirely built by India. The hand over three Mi 25 attack helicopters to Afghanistan Armed Forces was made. 3) After completing the visit to Afghanistan, PM Modi briefly stopped over in Pakistan. In Lahore, he met the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. With this visit, he became the fourth Prime Minister to visit Pakistan in the post independence period. 4) Sushma Swaraj Visited Pakistan, where she attended the 'Heart of Asia' conference and held bilateral talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his adviser Sartaj Aziz. Japan PM Shinzo Abe arrives in India: Bullet train, civil nuclear deal top agendas The focus of the visit would be on forging greater synergies between two major Asian economies and take forward the special strategic ties. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in India on a three-day visit. A Rs 98,000-crore deal to build a bullet train network was among a number of agreements were signed during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s three-day visit. In the 9th annual Indo-Japan summit, Modi and Abe had reviewed implementation of various decisions taken in course of last one year to enhance economic ties, particularly in the trade and investment sector. Sources said a number of agreements were signed including.. 1. Rs 98,000 crore contract to build India s first bullet train network was inked. 2. Memorandum concerning the Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. 3. Agreement concerning transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation. Vice President Visit to Thailand & Brunei Brief about the countries Thailand Capital: Bangkok Currency: Baht Prime Minister: Prayut-Chan-o-Cha Brunei Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan Currency: Brunei Dollar Sultan: Hassanal Bolkiah Deputy Sultan: Al-Muhtadee billah Vice-President Hamid Ansari embarked on a trip to Brunei and Thailand. His visit to Brunei at the invitation of crown prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah is the first high-level trip from India since the establishment of diplomatic relations with that country in May Cooperation in ASEAN and East Asia Summit and other multilateral fora were also on the agenda and a couple of MoUs on health and defence cooperation would be signed. Ansari had delivered at the University of Brunei Darussalam and addressed the Indian community at a reception. Brunei is an important partner for India in ASEAN and besides contributing to energy security, hosts a 10,000-strong Indian community. Maritime security, trade routes on agenda at India-Thai meet In a major initiative, India discussed with Thailand the possibility of a multi-lateral venture on maritime security and establishment of maritime trade routes, also involving countries like Japan and Myanmar. During discussions between Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Thai Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha here, the two sides also decided to collaborate in jointly developing and manufacturing defence equipment as also investing in infrastructure development programmes. Other issues discussed at the high-level meeting included Strengthening ongoing cooperation in counter-terrorism and security, joint military exercises and pharmaceuticals. The two sides also discussed a proposal to establish a working level group to complete the India-Myanmar- Thailand trilateral highway which is expected to fructify in about two years. Issues related to extradition of gangsters and exchanging information on how to apprehend wanted terrorists if they happen to be in ASEAN countries were also discussed. Abbrevations in News GIAN: Global Initiative on Academic Network ESA: Endangered Species Act AISHE: All India Survey on Higher Education NIRF: National Institution Ranking Framework NAAC: National Assessment and Accreditation Council. CBDT: Central Board of Direct Taxes. APASL: Asia-Pacific Association for Study of the Liver. IDSA: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses DAC: Defence Acquisition Council NRAI: National Rifle Association of India DTTI: Defence Technology and Trade Initiative SCO: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ISC: Indian Science Congress PAN: Permanent Account Number BIN: Business Identification Number CIN: Company Identification Number DESA: Department of Economic and Social Affairs 31

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33 UDAY: Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana CCEA: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs JICA: Japan International Cooperation Agency IRNSS: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System NFHS: National Family Health Survey OCEMS: Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring Systems GIMPS: Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration AIIB: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank CIRT: Central Institute of Road Transport DAVA: Drug Authentication and Verification Application IAMAI: Internet and Mobile Association of India JJB: Juvenile Justice Board LASTEC: Laser Science & Technology Centre LRSM: Long Range Surface to Air Missile NICDA: National Industrial Corridor Development Authority NIMHA: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro- Sciences NISE: National Institute of Solar Energy PHFI: Public Health Foundation of India NECTAR: North East Centre for Technology Application & Research Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani) Lifetime Achievement: Moushumi Chatterjee Best Debut Director: Neeraj Ghaywan (Massan) Best Debutant (Male): Sooraj Pancholi (Hero) Best Debutant (Female): Bhumi Pednekar (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) Critics Award for Best Film : Piku Critics Award for Best Actor (Male): Amitabh Bachchan (Piku) 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards announced The 73rd Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and American television of 2015 and was presented on January 10, The Revenant was only three-time winner at the 73rd annual awards, taking Best Actor for star Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Director for Alejandro G. Iñarrito along with Best Picture. Gallantry Awards Announced President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred the country s highest peacetime gallantry award Ashok Chakra to Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami posthumously. On the eve of 67th Republic Day celebrations President has approved 365 Gallantry awards and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel and others. It includes one Ashoka Chakra, 4 Kirti Chakras and 11 Shaurya Chakras. Ashok Chakra: Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami (Posthumous). He belonged to 9 PARA (Special Force) and laid down his life while fighting LeT militants in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. Kirti Chakra: 1. Subedar Mahendra Singh of 9 PARA (Special Force). 2. Sepoy Jagdish Chand (Posthumous) of 546 DSC Platoon. Shaurya Chakra: 1. Colonel Santosh Mahadik (Posthumous) of 41 Rashtriya Rifle (PARA). 2. Major Praphul Kumar Bhardwaj of 12 PARA (Special Force). 3. Major Sandip Yadav of 55 Rashtriya Rifle (Armed). 4. Major Anurag Kumar of 9 PARA (Special Force). 5. Lieutenant Harjinder Singh of 3 KUMAON. 6. Naik Satish Kumar (Posthumous) of 21 Rashtriya Rifle (Guards). 7. Naik Kheem Singh Mehra of 21 KUMAON. 8. Sepoy Dharma Ram (Posthumous) of 1 Rashtriya Rifle (MAHAR). 61st Filmfare Awards The grand annual 61 st Filmfare Awards event was organised in Mumbai, Maharashtra on January 15, Bajirao Mastani was 8 awards was the film winning highest number of awards. Awards in various categories are Best Actor: Ranvee Singh (Bajirao Mastani) Best Actress: Deepika Padukone (Piku) Best Film: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani) List of Important Winners at the 2016 Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture Drama: The Revenant Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Drama: Leonardo Dicaprio, The Revenant Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama: Brie Larson, Room Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: The Martian Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Musical Or Comedy: Jennifer Lawrence, Joy Best Director Motion Picture: Alejandro Gonzalez, The Revenant Best Television Series Drama: Mr. Robot (Usa Network) Best Original Song Motion Picture: Writing s On The Wall Spectre Best Motion Picture Foreign Language: Son Of Saul (Hungary) Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture: Sylvester Stallone, Creed Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Musical Or Comedy: Matt Damon, The Martian The 9th BCCI Awards were presented to the cricketers for the year The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) presented the ninth BCCI Awards at a ceremony held in Mumbai. 33

34 The Complete list of the BCCI annual award winners are as follows: Col. C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award: Syed Kirmani Polly Umrigar Award (for Cricketer of the Year): Virat Kohli Lala Amarnath Awards: Best all-rounder in the Ranji trophy, : Jalaj Saxena, Madhya Pradesh (583 runs and 17 wickets from 8 games) Best all-rounder in domestic limited-overs competitions, : Deepak Hooda, Baroda M A Chidambaram Trophy awards for : Best under-23 cricketer: Almas Shaukat, Uttar Pradesh Best under-19 cricketer: Anmolpreet Singh, Punjab Best under-16 cricketer: Shubman Gill, Punjab Best senior woman cricketer: Mithali Raj, Railways Best junior woman cricketer: Devika Vaidya, Maharashtra Best umpire in domestic cricket in : O Nandan, Karnataka. ICC AWARDS 2015 Announced Steve Smith became the fourth Australia player and 11th player overall to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year Australia captain also wins ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award while De Villiers named ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year. The full list of ICC Award 2015 winners is: ICC Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy)- Steve Smith (Australia) ICC Test Cricketer of the Year Steve Smith (Australia) ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year AB de Villiers (South Africa) ICC Women s ODI Cricketer of the Year Meg Lanning (Australia) ICC Women s T20I Cricketer of the Year Stafanie Taylor (West Indies) ICC T20I Performance of the Year Faf du Plessis (South Africa) ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year Josh Hazlewood (Australia) ICC Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year Khurram Khan (UAE) ICC Spirit of Cricket Award Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) ICC Umpire of the Year (David Shepherd Trophy) Richard Kettleborough 22nd Annual Star Screen Awards 2016 Here is the complete list of winners of Star Screen Awards 2016: Best Actor: Ranveer Singh for "Bajirao Mastani" and Amitabh Bachchan for "Piku" Best Actress: Deepika Padukone for "Piku" Best Actor (Popular Choice): Shah Rukh Khan Best Actress (Popular Choice): Deepika Padukone for "Piku" and "Tamasha" Best Actor (Jury Choice): Irrfan Khan for "Talvar" Best Actress (Jury Choice): Kalki Keochilin for "Margrita With A Straw" Best Film (Popular Choice): "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" Best Film (Jury Choice): "Talvar" Best Director: Kabir Khan for "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" Best Story: "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" Best Supporting Actor: Deepak Dobriyal for "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" Best Supporting Actress: Priyanka Chopra for "Bajirao Mastani" Best Playback Singer (Male): Papon for "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" ("Dam Laga Ke Haisha") Best Playback Singer (Female): Monali Thakur for "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" ("Dam Laga Ke Haisha") Best Dialogue: "Piku" Lifetime Achievement Award: Rishi Kapoor PADMA AWARDS 2016 One of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. This year the President of India has approved conferment of Padma Awards to 112 persons. The list comprises of 10 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 83 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs (include one posthumous) and 4 Posthumous awardees. Padma Vibhushan Awardees 1. Ms. Yamini Krishnamurthi Art-Classical dance Delhi 2. Shri Rajinikanth Art-Cinema Tamil Nadu 3. Smt Girija Devi Art-Classical Vocal West Bengal 4. Shri Ramoji Rao Literature & Education-Journalism Andhra Pradesh 5. Dr Viswanathan Shanta-Medicine-Oncology-Tamil Nadu 6. Shri Shri Ravi Shankar-Others-Spiritualism Karnataka 7. Shri Jagmohan Public Affairs Delhi 8. Dr Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre Science & Engineering Karnataka 9. Shri Avinash Dixit(Foreigner)-Literature & Education- USA 10. Late Shri Dhiru Bhai Ambani (Posthumous)-Trade & Industry-Maharashtra Some Padma Bhushan Awardees 11. Shri Anupam Kher Art-Cinema Maharashtra 34

35 12. Shri Udit Narayan Jha Art-Playback Singing Maharashtra 13. Shri Ram V Sutar Art-Sculpture Uttar Pradesh 14. Shri Heisnam Kanhailal Art-Theatre Manipur 15. Shri Vinod Rai Civil Service Kerala 16. Prof D Nageshwar Reddy Medicine-Gastroenterology Telangana 17. Dr Venkata Rama Rao Alla Science & Engineering Andhra Pradesh 18. Ms Saina Nehwal Sports-Badminton Telangana 19. Ms Sania Mirza Sports-Tennis Telangana 20. Ms Indu Jain Trade & Industry Delhi 21. Late Swami Dayanand Sarawasati (Posthumous) Others-Spiritualism Uttarakhand 22. Shri Robert Blackwill (Foreigner) Public Affairs USA Some Padma Shri Awardees 23. Shri Ajay Devgn Art-Cinema Maharashtra 24. Ms Priyanka Chopra Art-Cinema Maharashtra 25. Shri SS Rajamouli Art-Film Direction and Production Karnataka 26. Shri Madhur Bhandarkar Art-Film Direction and Production Maharashtra 27. Prof M Venkatesh Kumar Art-Folk Artist Karnataka 28. Ms Gulabi Sapera Art-Folk Dance Rajasthan 29. Smt Mamta Chandrakar- Art-Folk Music Chhattisgarh 30. Shri Dahyabhai Shastri Literature & Education Gujarat 31. Prof Pushpesh Pant Literature & Education- Journalism Delhi 32. Dr Mannam Gopi Chand Medicine-Cardio Thoracic Surgery Telangana 33. Prof Ravi Kant Medicine-Surgery Uttar Pradesh 34. Shri Piyush Pandey Others-Advertising & Communication Maharashtra 35. Dr Mylswamy Annadurai Science & Engineering Karnataka 36. Prof Dipankar Chatterji Science & Engineering Karnataka 37. Prof(Dr) Ganapati Dadasaheb Yadav Science & Engineering Maharashtra 38. Smt (Prof) Veena Tandon Science & Engineering Meghalaya 39. Shri Onkar Nath Srivastava Science and Engineering Uttar Pradesh 40. Ms Sunita Krishnan Social Work Andhra Pradesh 41. Shri Ajoy Kumar Dutta Social Work Assam 42. Shri M Pandit Dasa Social Work Karnataka 43. Shri PP Gopinathan Nair Social Work Kerala 44. Smt Madeleine Herman de Blic Social Work Puducherry 45. Shri Srinivasan Damal Kandalai Social work Tamil Nadu 46. Shri Sudhakar Olwe Social Work Maharashtra 47. Dr TV Narayana Social Work Telangana 48. Shri Arunachalam Murugantham Social Work Tamil Nadu 49. Ms Deepika Kumari Sports-Archery Jharkhand 50. S Shri Sushil Doshi Sports-commentary Madhya Pradesh 51. Shri Mahesh Sharma Trade & Industry Delhi 52. Shri Saurabh Srivastava Trade & Industry Delhi 53. Sh Dilip Sanghvi Trade & Industry Maharashtra 54. Dr Keki Hormusji Gharda Trade & Industry Maharashtra 55. Late Shri Prakash Chand Surana (Posthumous) Art - Classical Music Rajasthan 56. Late Shri Saeed Jaffrey (NRI/PIO/Posthumous) Art- Cinema UK 57. Shri Michael Postel (Foreigner)-Art-Archaeology- France 58. Shri Salman Amin Sal Khan (NRI/PIO) Literature & Education USA 59. Smt Hui Lan Zhang (Foreigner) Others-Yoga China 60. Shri Predrag K Nikic (Foreigner) Others-Yoga Serbia 61. Dr Sundar Aditya Menon (NRI/PIO) Social Work UAE 62. Shri Ajaypal Singh Banga (NRI/PIO) Trade & Industry The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 Passed The Juvenile Justice Act, which allows children aged 16 to 18 years and in conflict with law to be tried as adults in cases of heinous offences, finally comes into force on January 15, The Act, was passed by the Rajya Sabha in the winter session of parliament, received President Pranab Mukherjee s assent on December 31, The Ministry of Women and Child Development has passed orders stating that the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 will be enforceable from January 15, Under the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 Juveniles between 16 and 18 years of age, who are found guilty of committing heinous offences through a preliminary inquiry by the Juvenile Justice Board, will be sent to a children s Court that can pronounce the child guilty. Such Juveniles can be detained in a place of safety until they reach the age of 21. If still not found to have been reformed by 21, they can be sent to jails housing adults. It specifies imprisonment up to seven years and fine up to Rs. 1 lakh for giving a child any intoxicating liquor, narcotic, drug, tobacco and psychotropic substances. Four Mobile Health Services Launched JP Nadda, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched four mobile health (m-health) services to provide citizen-centric health services on January 15, These m-health services are Kilkari, Mobile Academy, M- Cessation and TB Missed Call initiative. Kilkari It is an audio-based mobile service that delivers weekly audio messages to families about pregnancy, child birth and child care. Mobile Academy It is a mobile-based application aimed at providing training services to 9 million ASHAs. M-Cessation 35

36 It will be an IT-enabled tool to help tobacco users to quit tobacco. TB Missed Call Initiative Under TB Missed Call initiative, a dedicated toll free number which will provide round the clock counseling and treatment support services for TB patients. Odd-Even scheme Launched The ambitious odd-even scheme, set to roll out from January 1, will have out of its ambit CNG-certified vehicles, two wheelers, cars being driven by women drivers and those carrying the differently abled, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said. Violators would attract a penalty of Rs 2,000, he said. The car rationing scheme would be applicable from 8 AM to 8 PM on all days except Sunday and on cars with NCR and other states registration number plates, Kejriwal said. Cars being driven by a woman alone or even while being accompanied by children up to the age of 12 would be exempted while cases of medical emergencies would be treated on basis of trust, the CM said. The PM s Start Up Initiative Launched On 16th January Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Start-up India initiative to begin startup ecosystem in the country. The initiative was launched in New Delhi. To promote a culture of entrepreneurship, the government announced a slew of incentives including a Rs10,000-crore corpus for innovationdriven enterprises, a three-year break from paying income tax on profits, a Rs500-crore per year credit guarantee mechanism, and exemption from capital gains tax for startups. Modi unveiled a 19-point action plan for start-up enterprises in India & also stated that there would be no inspection of the enterprises during the first three years of the launch. and one in the Indian Institute of Science campus, with an investment of Rs 100 crore each. A rebate amount of 80 percent of the total value will be provided to the entrepreneurs on filing patent applications. 20 Smart Cities Announced Urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu announced the first list of 20 cities to be developed as Smart Cities, with Bhubaneswar topping the list and Pune and Jaipur coming in second and third respectively. The others on the list include Surat, Kochi and Ahmedabad. These cities will be developed to have basic infrastructure through assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation. These are the 20 cities named in the first list Bhubaneswar Pune Jaipur Surat Kochi Ahmedabad Jabalpur Visakhapatnam Solapur Davanagere Indore New Delhi Coimbatore Kakinada Belgaum Udaipur Guwahati Chennai Ludhiana Bhopal The government plans to build these smart cities by 2022 to help accommodate its swelling urban population, which is set to rise by more than 400 million people to 814 million by The Centre and states will equally split the overall cost of the project estimated at Rs 96,000 crore. The central government will provide on an average Rs. 100 crore per chosen city per year. The project cost of each smart city will vary depending upon the level of ambition, model, capacity to execute and repay. Some Important agendas announced: The start-ups will adopt self-certification to reduce the regulatory liabilities. An all-india hub will be created as a single contact point for start-up foundations in India, which will help the entrepreneurs to exchange knowledge and access financial aid. An online portal, in the shape of a mobile application, will be launched to help start-up founders to easily register. The app is scheduled to be launched on April 1. The government will develop a fund with an initial corpus of Rs 2,500 crore and a total corpus of Rs 10,000 crore over four years, to support upcoming start-up enterprises. The Life Insurance Corporation of India will play a major role in developing this corpus. A National Credit Guarantee Trust Company (NCGTC) is being conceptualised with a budget of Rs 500 crore per year for the next four years to support the flow of funds to startups. Start-ups would not pay Income Tax for three years. This policy would revolutionise the pace with which start-ups would grow in the future. The Atal Innovation Mission will be launched to boost innovation and encourage talented youths. The government plans to set up seven new research parks, including six in the Indian Institute of Technology campuses 36 Liberia and Afghanistan becomes the new WTO members Liberia has finally acceded to the World Trade Organization (WTO) with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf describing the event as another turning point in Liberia's history. The accession makes Liberia the 35th least developed country to be admitted into the WTO and the organization's 163rd Member State. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) formally approved Afghanistan s membership to the WTO at its 10th

37 ministerial conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Afghanistan has become the 164th WTO member and the 36th least developed country (LDC) to join the global trade body after 11 years of negotiations. Important Facts related to WTO Location: Geneva, Switzerland Established: 1 January 1995 Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations ( ) Membership: 164 countries on 22 December 2015 Head: Roberto Azevêdo (Director-General) India s fifth navigation satellite IRNSS-1E successfully put into orbit Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) successfully put the IRNSS-1E in orbit using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-31. The 1,425 kg satellite was the fifth to be launched as part of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) which will consist of a constellation of seven satellites. ISRO scientists plan to put all the seven navigation satellites in to the orbit by March The mission life of IRNSS-1E is 12 years. IRNSS -1E carries two types of payloads navigation payload and ranging payload. The navigation payload of IRNSS-1E will transmit navigation service signals to the users. This payload will be operating in L5-band and S-band. The ranging payload of IRNSS-1E consists of a C-band transponder which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite. IRNSS-1E also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for laser ranging. PSLV C29 launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre with 6 Singapore Satellites Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has added another country to its client list for commercial satellite launches after Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C29) put in orbit six Singapore satellites. The Singaporean satellites would help the city-state gather information on disaster monitoring and urban planning were launched by ISRO s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV-C29) coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and India this year Small Bank & Payment Bank The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granted 10 entities inprinciple licenses to open small finance banks & 11 entities to open payment banks. Payment Banks The objectives of payments banks is financial inclusion by providing small savings accounts and payments or remittance services to migrant labour workforce, low income households, small businesses, other un-organised sector entities and other users. RBI Guidelines for the Payment Banks Existing non-bank Pre-paid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuers, mobile firms and supermarket chains, among others existing NBFCs and micro finance lenders are promoters who are eligible to set up payment banks. Large public sector enterprises and big industrial houses are not allowed to establish Payment banks. A promoter or promoter group can have a joint venture with an existing scheduled commercial bank to set up a payments bank. But they should have a sound track record of five years period of running businesses. Payment Banks will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of 1 lakh rupees per individual customer. It can issue ATM or debit cards but not credit cards. Payment bank cannot undertake lending activities but can distribute the non-risk sharing simple financial products such as mutual fund units and insurance products, etc. These banks also should maintain Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) with the Reserve Bank, it will be required to invest minimum 75 percent of its demand deposit balances in Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) with maturity up to one year and hold maximum 25 per cent in current and time or fixed deposits with other scheduled commercial banks for operational purposes and liquidity management. The minimum capital for payments banks is 100 crore rupees and it should have a leverage ratio of not less than 3 percent that is its outside liabilities should not exceed times its net worth (paid-up capital and reserves). The promoter s minimum initial contribution to the paid-up equity capital for payments bank shall at least be 40 percent for the first five years from the commencement of its business. Small Banks The purpose of the small banks is to provide a whole suite of basic banking products such as deposits and supply of credit, but in a limited area of operation. The objective for these Small Banks is to increase financial inclusion by provision of savings vehicles to under-served and unserved sections of the population, supply of credit to small farmers, micro and small industries, and other unorganised sector entities through high technology-low cost operations. Resident individuals with 10 years of experience in banking and finance, companies and Societies will be eligible as promoters to set up small banks. NFBCs, micro finance institutions (MFIs), and Local Area Banks (LABs) can convert their operations into those of a small bank. Branch expansion: For the initial three years, prior approval will be required. The bank shall primarily undertake basic banking activities of accepting deposits and lending to small farmers, small businesses, micro and small industries, and unorganised sector entities. It cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial services activities. After the initial stabilisation period of five years, and after a review, the RBI may liberalise the scope of activities for Small Banks. The maximum loan size and investment limit exposure to single/group borrowers/issuers would be restricted to 15 per cent of capital funds. Loans and advances of up to Rs 25 lakhs, primarily to micro enterprises, should constitute at least 50 per cent of the loan portfolio. For the first three years, 25 per cent of branches should be in unbanked rural areas. Note: * Reserve Bank gets 41 applications for payments banks, 72 for small banks. 37

38 Who all got Payment Bank License? 1. Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited 2. Airtel M Commerce Services Limited 3. Cholamandalam Distribution Services Limited 4. Department of Posts 5. Fino PayTech Limited 6. National Securities Depository Limited 7. Reliance Industries Limited 8. Shri Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi 9. Shri Vijay Shekhar Sharma 10. Tech Mahindra Limited 11. Vodafone m-pesa Limited Who all got Small Bank License? Here are the names of selected applicants: 1. Au Financiers (India) Limited, Jaipur 2. Capital Local Area Bank Limited, Jalandhar 3. Disha Microfin Private Limited, Ahmedabad 4. Equitas Holdings P Limited, Chennai 5. ESAF Microfinance and Investments Private Limited, Chennai 6. Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited, Bengaluru 7. RGVN (North East) Microfinance Limited, Guwahati 8. Suryoday Micro Finance Private Limited, Navi Mumbai 9. Ujjivan Financial Services Private Limited, Bengaluru 10. Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited, Varanasi. PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING Highlights of PSL It means provide credit to the needy sectors of the society. The sectors are: Agriculture Micro and Small Enterprises Education Housing Export Weaker Sections Social Infrastructure Renewable Energy Targets under PSL Agriculture: 18 percent of ANBC. Out of this 18 percent, a target of 8 percent of ANBC is for Small and Marginal Farmers, to be achieved in a phased manner i.e., 7 per cent by March 2016 and 8 per cent by March Weaker Sections: 10 percent of ANBC. Micro Enterprises: 7.5 percent of ANBC has been prescribed for Micro Enterprises, to be achieved in a phased manner i.e. 7 percent by March 2016 and 7.5 percent by March Overall PSL Target for Domestic Bank/Foreign Bank with more than 20 Branches: 40 percent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit. Overall PSL Target for Foreign Bank with less than 20 Branches: 40 percent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit to be achieved in a phased manner Categorization of MSME according to MSME ACT 2006 Manufacturing Sector (Goods) Enterprises Micro Enterprises Small Enterprises Medium Enterprises Service Sector Enterprises Investment in plant and machinery Does not exceed twenty five lakh rupees More than twenty five lakh rupees but does not exceed five crore rupees More than five crore rupees but does not exceed ten crore rupees Investment in equipment Micro Enterprises Does not exceed ten lakh rupees Small Enterprises More than ten lakh rupees but does not exceed two crore rupees Medium More than two crore rupees but does Enterprises not exceed five crore rupees Other Targets under PSL Farmers with landholding of up to 1 hectare are considered as Marginal Farmers. Farmers with a landholding of more than 1 hectare and upto 2 hectares are considered as Small Farmers. Scheduled Commercial Banks having any shortfall in lending to priority sector shall be allocated amounts for contribution to the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) established with NABARD. For Renewable Energy, bank loans up to a limit of Rs.15 crore to borrowers for purposes like solar based power generators, etc. For individual households, the loan limit will be Rs.10 lakh per borrower. For Housing, banks can provide loans to individuals up to Rs. 28 lakh in metropolitan centres (with population of ten lakh and above) and loans up to Rs. 20 lakh in other centres for purchase/construction of a dwelling unit per family. Export credit will be allowed up to 32 percent of ANBC for Foreign banks with less than 20 branches in India. For Education, banks can provide loans to individuals for educational purposes including vocational courses upto Rs. 10 lakh for studies in India and Rs. 20 lakh for studies abroad. Limits under Social infrastructure Bank loans up to a limit of 5 crore per borrower for building social infrastructure for activities namely schools, health care facilities, drinking water facilities and sanitation facilities in Tier II to Tier VI centres. Monitoring of Priority Sector Lending targets To ensure continuous flow of credit to priority sector, there will be more frequent monitoring of priority sector lending compliance of banks on quarterly basis instead of annual basis as of now. Non-achievement of Priority Sector targets Scheduled Commercial Banks having any shortfall in lending to priority sector shall be allocated amounts for contribution to the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) established with NABARD and other Funds with NABARD/NHB/SIDBI, as decided by the Reserve Bank from time to time. The interest rates on banks contribution to RIDF or any other Funds, tenure of deposits, etc. shall be fixed by Reserve Bank of India from time to time.

39 RBI revises priority sector lending norms for RRBs Seeing the growing significance of RRBs in pursuit of financial inclusion agenda, it has been decided to revise the priority sector guidelines for RRBs. Some of the salient features of the guidelines are as following:- i. Targets: 75 per cent of total outstanding to the sectors eligible for classification as priority sector lending. ii. Categories of the Priority Sector: Medium Enterprises, Social Infrastructure and Renewable Energy will form part of the Priority Sector, in addition to the existing categories, with a cap of 15 per cent of total outstanding. iii. Agriculture: 18% per cent of total outstanding should be advanced to activities mentioned under Agriculture. iv. Small and Marginal Farmers: A target of 8 percent of total outstanding has been prescribed for Small and Marginal Farmers within Agriculture. v. Micro Enterprises: A target of 7.5 per cent of total outstanding has been prescribed for Micro Enterprises. vi. Weaker Sectors: A target of 15 per cent of total outstanding has been prescribed for Weaker Sections. vii. Monitoring: Priority Sector Lending will be monitored on a quarterly as well as annual basis. The revised guidelines will be operational with effect from January 1, Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, RBI keeps key rates unchanged; looking the Union Budget for taking the next action On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, RBI has decided to: keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.75 per cent; keep the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liability (NDTL); continue to provide liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 per cent of bank-wise NDTL at the LAF repo rate and liquidity under 14-day term repos as well as longer term repos of up to 0.75 per cent of NDTL of the banking system through auctions; and the reverse repo rate under the LAF will remain unchanged at 5.75 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 7.75 per cent. Important Key Points based on the review: Expects inflation to be around 5 per cent by March Expects GDP growth of 7.6 per cent for FY17, 7.4 per cent with downward bias for FY16. Have not factored in 7th pay panel recommendation in inflation target. Continue to remain accommodative even if rates remain unchange. Working with banks and government to ensure identification of stressed assets. RBI to create a special ecosystem for startup funding. Prospects for the rabi harvest are improving slowl. First bi-monthly monetary policy for on April 5. Government notified mandatory quoting of PAN for cash transactions over Rs 2 lakh The central government has made it a must to quote the permanent account number (PAN) for all transactions above Rs.2 lakh in a bid to curb black money. The monetary limits for quoting PAN has raised to Rs. 10 lakh from Rs. 5 lakh for sale or purchase of immovable property, to Rs 50,000 from Rs 25,000 in the case of one time hotel or restaurant bills and to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 50,000 for purchase or sale of shares of an unlisted company. The government also made PAN mandatory for the purchase of cash or prepaid cards amounting to Rs.50,000 or more in year. Gold jewellery purchase above Rs.2 lakh too would also need PAN details. The current limit is Rs.5 lakh. All fixed deposits with post offices, cooperative banks, Nidhis, non-banking finance companies will also require PAN. It will also be required under: PAN should be quoted for purchase of bank drafts/ pay orders/ banker's cheques exceeding Rs 50,000 on a single day Cash deposit exceeding Rs.50,000/- in a single day. For purchase of foreign currency or cash payment related to foreign travel exceeding Rs.50,000/- Payment in excess of Rs 50,000 for purchase of mutual fund units For opening a demat account Payment exceeding Rs.50,000 for purchase of RBI bonds Payment exceeding Rs.50,000/- in a year as life insurance premium IMPORTANT OFFICIALS (GOVT OF INDIA & AUTONOMOUS BODIES) Attorney General of India Atomic Energy Commission, Chairman Cabinet Secretary Comptroller and Auditor General of India Chief Justice of India C.B.I. Director Election commission, Chief National Book Trust, Chairman National Commission for Women, Chief National Commission for SC, Chairman National Commission for ST, Mukul Rohtagi Shekhar Basu P.K. Sinha Shashi Kant Sharma T.S. Thakur Anil Kumar Sinha Nasim Zaidi Baldev Sharma Lalitha Kumaramanglam P.L. Punia Dr. Rameshwar Oraon

40 Chairman National commission for Minorities National Human Rights Commission, Chairman Reserve Bank of India, Governor Space Commission, Chairman Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Chairman Solicitor General of India U.P.S.C., Chairman UGC., Chairman Prasar Bharti Board, Chairman National Security Adviser Central Vigilance Commissioner Chief Information Commissioner Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog Chairman, 14 th Finance Commission Secretary General of Lok Sabha Secretary General of Rajya Sabha Naseem Ahmad Justice Cyriac Joseph (Acting) Raghuram G. Rajan A.S. Kiran Kumar U.K. Sinha Ranjit Kumar Deepak Gupta Prof. Ved Prakash Dr. A. Surya Prakash Ajit Kumar Doval K.V. Chowdary R.K. Mathur Arvind Panagariya Y.V. Reddy Anoop Mishra Shumsher K. Sheriff Chief of Army Staff Chief of Air Staff Chief of Naval Staff All about Australian Open 2016 General Dalbir Singh Suhag Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha Admiral Robin K. Dhowan The 2016 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Victoria, Australia between January It was the 104th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair players competed in singles and doubles tournaments. List of winner of 2016 Australian Open as follow:- 1. Men's Singles : N. Djokovic defeated Andy Murray 2. Men's Doubles : J. Murray / B. Soares defeated Daniel Nestor / Radek Stepanek 3. Women's Singles : A. Kerber defeated Serena Williams 4. Women's Doubles : M. Hingis / S. Mirza defeated Andrea Hlaváčková / Lucie Hradecká, 5. Mixed Doubles : Russia Elena Vesnina / Brazil Bruno Soares defeated United States Coco Vandeweghe / Romania Horia Tecău CURRENT AFFAIRS INJECTIONS (1 ST -10 TH FEBRUARY 2016) Banking News The Reserve Bank of India said that it has cancelled the certificate of registration of four non-banking financial companies. No details were given by the apex bank for cancellation of the certificates of these firms. Those NBFCs are 1. Goyal Commercial Pvt Ltd. 2. Debt Management Co. of India Ltd. 3. Nostalgia Finvest Private Limited. 4. Narad Realtors Private Limited. Loans worth about Rs1 lakh crore have been sanctioned to small entrepreneurs under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. Corporation Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Universal Sompo General Insurance Co Ltd for providing accident death coverage to its savings bank account holders under Corp Signature, Corp Super and Corp Saral category. According to this pact the bank provides free personal accident death cover of Rs.10 lakh to its Corp Signature and Rs. 5 lakh to its Corp Super account holders. State Bank of India has tied up with Thomas Cook to offer online customers recurring deposits that help them save toward an `inflation proof' holiday. State Bank of India has launched its "SBI FlexiPay Home Loan" aimed at youngsters with a rising income. The loan allows takers the option of only paying the interest on the loan for the first years. The government will infuse about Rs.5,000 crore capital in the public sector undertaking (PSU) banks in the current fiscal to strengthen their balance sheet. Indian Economy in News Capital market regulator SEBI has set up a task force to review the risk management norms for national-level commodity bourses following the suspension of futures trading for castor seed on NCDEX. Finance Ministry now has an official YouTube Channel, which is expected to disseminate information about the official events. The Channel will feature videos on the major schemes, events, meetings, press conferences and other exclusive videos relating to the Ministry. In continuation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi s startup India mission, BSE Institute Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE Ltd, has launched a new accelerator for start-ups.this accelerator is set up by BSE Institute in collaboration with Ryerson Futures Inc (Toronto), the technical arm of Ryerson University from Ontario, Canada. 40

41 BSE and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have partnered to develop a corporate governance score card. The score card seeks to help companies assay their corporate governance performances against national or international-benchmarked practices. Using the scorecard, companies can identify areas of further improvement and track progress over time. The National Pension System now has 1.15 crore subscribers, each with an average Rs. 95,000 of assets under management. The total assets under management are worth Rs. 1,09,140 crore while assets under management per subscriber is Rs. 95,000 on an average, said the Finance Ministry, adding that the total corpus of the National Pension System (NPS) is Rs. 90, 327 crore. The scheme has 16,11,020 Central government employees as subscribers, amounting to 14.1 per cent of its total member base. They have a total corpus of Rs. 34,754 crore Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda on 1 February 2016 awarded the certificate of Miniratna Category-I status to Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (I) Ltd (HSCC). The honour was awarded to its CMD Gyanesh Pandey at Nirman Bhawan in New Delhi. The World Bank Board on 29 January 2016 approved a 35 million US dollars credit for the Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project.The Project will improve access to selected public services for the people of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and particularly those belonging to deprived groups. Union Ministry of Shipping exported a batch of six metro coaches to Australia from Mumbai. The shipment was made as part of a deal with Australian government to export 450 made-in-india coaches in two and a half year period. The coaches were made in Baroda manufacturing plant. It created a history in the India's manufacturing sector in exports as it is first of its kind. global brand valuation firm, the company said on Wednesday. Billionaire Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment today announced a joint venture with film-maker producer duo Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia s Filworks for production of movies. Alphabet, the company that owns Google, has overtaken rival Apple in Monday s extended trading to become the highest valued company in the world. Alphabet now comes before Apple atop the list of the world s most valuable companies. Three major Indian IT companies Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro have joined US President Barack Obama's ambitious 'computer science for all' initiative as part of a public-private collaboration, pledging thousands of dollars in grants. The CCEA under chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL) of Jaipur to delink from its parent company Instrumentation Limited (IL) and turn into an independent Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under Department of Heavy Industry. Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET), under the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Karnataka Government to set up Advanced Polymer Design and Development Research Laboratory cum High Learning Centre at Bengaluru. Mahindra Asset Management Company (AMC) received Securities and Exchange Board of India s (SEBI s) approval to manage the Mahindra Mutual Fund. Mahindra AMC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (MMFS), a part of the Anand Mahindraled Mahindra group. Business News CAMS, the leading services solutions provider for fund houses, has launched Aadhaar-based ekyc (know your customer) using OTP (one-time password) authentication to make mutual fund (MF) account opening and transactions a paperless and presence less process through my CAMS at Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) has signed a share purchase agreement with Birla Corporation, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd has agreed to sell its cement assets to Birla Corp. Ltd for Rs.4,800 crore. Birla Corporation will acquire the 100 per cent shareholding of RInfra in RCCPL. Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani announced the establishment of Dhirubhai Ambani Centre for Innovation and Research in Aerospace at Whitefield in Bengaluru. Mobile messaging app WhatsApp said it has crossed the one billion user milestone globally with the addition of 100 million users in last five months. India's top multinational IT Company Tata Consultancy Services has been rated as the world's most powerful brand in Information Technology Services by a leading National News The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has decided to set up the National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI) in Sikkim. The Union Ministry of Urban Development approved projects worth more than Rs.12 crore for improving 41

42 tourist infrastructure in heritage locations in Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh and Warangal in Telangana. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a petrochemical project in Lepetkata in Dibrugarh (Assam), which is the first such project of North- East. The project has been named as Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd (BCPL). It has been built at cost of crore rupees and shall be producing raw material for manufacturing plastic. Prime Minister Modi dedicated wax producing unit in Numaligarh Refinery Limited to the nation in Assam. It is India s highest wax producing unit and shall be using indigenous technology. The 30th edition of the Surajkund International Crafts Mela began at Surajkund in Faridabad, Haryana on 1 February The first edition of the Surajkund Crafts Mela was hosted in Every year a theme State and a Partner Nation is chosen. Theme State is chosen with a view to promote and focus the art, craft and cuisine of the theme State whereas Partner Nation is chosen to showcases the best of that nation s art, culture, traditions and heritage. Union government launched the 24x7 Toll Free Tourist Infoline in 12 International Languages including Hindi and English in New Delhi. The languages handled by the contact centers include ten International languages besides English and Hindi, namely, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. This Infoline service will provide information relating to Travel and Tourism in India to the domestic and International tourists or visitors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Paradip Oil Refinery in Odisha. It is Indian Oil Corporation Limited s 11th refinery. The Indian government has sanctioned Rs.580 crore for the vital rail link. As it expected to complete the work on the 15-km-long rail line to connect Agartala with Akhaura in that country by Of the 15 km railway track, 10 km falls in the Bangladesh side and the rest in India. Union Ministry of state for Petroleum and Natural gas (MoPNG) has released the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for north-east India. International News Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe declared a state of disaster in rural parts of the country hit by a drought. World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern over the explosive spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects in the Americas. The European Union (EU) approved 3.3 billion Euros in funding to help Turkey cope with the issue of Syrian migrants. At present, Turkey is home to around 3 million Syrians who fled the country since the beginning of the civil war in World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended all governments to rate movies with smoking scenes to protect children and adolescents from tobacco addiction in Geneva. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) of United Kingdom granted license to the Francis Crick Institute to use new gene editing techniques on human embryos. Under the license, the institute will be allowed to genetically modify human embryos for research purposes in order to better understand infertility and miscarriage issues. The French Senate on unanimously passed a law to ban large food stores from throwing away food that is approaching its expiration date. With this, France has become the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks. Bangladesh Cabinet approved the draft of a proposed Citizenship Law, 2016 that was framed by amalgamating two existing laws and expanding scopes for dual citizenship for expatriate Bangladeshi nationals. The new Law was proposed by amending the existing the Citizenship Act 1951 and consolidating it with the Bangladesh Citizenship Temporary Provisions Order 1972 to help future citizens in the complex immigration world. States in News Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda has launched Project Sunrise on for prevention of AIDS specially among people injecting drugs in the 8 North- Eastern states. The AIDS prevention special project aims to diagnose 90 per cent of such drug addicts with HIV and put them under treatment by The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to spend 15 crore rupees on Swachh Bharat Mission in tribal district of Kinnaur. Kerala s all-women taxicab service She-Taxi received the prestigious Chief Minister's Award for Innovation in Public Policy 2014 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It was selected for the recognition in the developmental interventions category. Maharashtra Government rolled out a de-radicalisation programme for the minority community. The programme was launched to face the challenges of both home-grown extremism and global Islamic State (IS) threat. The Government of Odisha decided to extend the Aahar scheme to 29 districts in the State. Maharashtra Cabinet announced Bharatratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Special Collective Incentive Scheme for the economically backward Dalit entrepreneurs. Union Railway Ministry signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chhattisgarh Government for formation of Joint Venture Companies for development of railway infrastructure in the state. The Odisha government lifted the restrictions on visit of foreign tourists to certain tribal areas in the State. The ban was lifted after three years. Manufacturers in Kerala should come out with more valueadded products if they want to compete in the global market, Minister for Public Works VK Ebrahim Kunju has said. Inaugurating the three-day Kerala Business-to- Business Meet 2016 at the CIAL Trade Fair & Exhibition Centre in Nedumbassery. 42

43 Central government will spend Rs 1 lakh crore for development of road infrastructure in Karnataka. In addition to this, Rs 200 crore will be spent on developing four light houses in the state in PPP mode. National Appointments Brijbhushan Sharan Singh: Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chief Brijbhushan Sharan Singh has been appointed as the president of the South Asian Wrestling Federation (SAWF). Dr. R K Pachauri & Dr. Ajay Mathur: The Governing Council of TERI has appointed Dr. R K Pachauri as the Executive Vice Chairman with immediate effect," a TERI official said. "Dr. Ajay Mathur has joined as Director General of TERI. Gurdeep Singh: has taken charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC. Singh, who was earlier Managing Director of Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd. He replaces Arup Roy Choudhury, who retired from the post on August 31, 2015 Parameshwaran Iyer: The government has appointed World Bank s water and sanitation specialist, Parameshwaran Iyer, as the new Secretary of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department. Aruna Sethi, the Principal Adviser (Cost), took over charge as the head of Indian Cost Accounts Service (ICoAS). With this appointment, she became the first woman to occupy the post. DJ Pandian: Former chief secretary of Gujarat DJ Pandian was appointed vice-president and chief investment officer of the newly-created Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Jai Kumar Garg: The Union Government appointed Jai Kumar Garg as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Corporation Bank for a period of three years. Garg took charge of the public sector bank on 1 February 2016, succeeding S R Bansal, who superannuated from services as CMD on 31 January HL Samariya: a 1985 batch IAS officer from the Telangana cadre, has been given additional charge as Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC), for three months or till the appointment of a regular incumbent or till further orders, a release said. Saroj Kumar Jha: An Indian national Saroj Kumar Jha was in news as he was appointed as the Senior Director for the Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group at the World Bank. Archana Ramasundram: Tamil Nadu Cadre IPS officer Archana Ramasundram was appointed as the Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards India's frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan. S N Prasad: has taken over as Director (Marketing), Coal India Ltd, from February 1. According to a CIL release, Prasad has succeeded B K Saxena, who has retired. Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi: Senior IFS officer Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi was appointed as India s Ambassador to Mexico. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey: was appointed as the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) for a period of three years. Datta Padsalgikar: Senior IPS officer Datta Padsalgikar was appointed as the Commissioner of Police of Mumbai. He succeeds Ahmed Javed, who was appointed as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Justice Ramayyagari Subhash Reddy was appointed as Chief Justice of the Gujarat high Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office. Mukesh Ambani and Sam Pitroda: Reliance Industries chairman and managing director (CMD) Mukesh Ambani and Sam Pitroda were elected to be members of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). It is a nonprofit organisation based in the United States of America. International Appointments Vishal Mehta, A 34-year-old Indian-origin man based in Singapore was today appointed President of the newlyformed International Grown Diamond Association (IGDA). Major General Jai Shanker Menon of the Indian Army, a veteran of peacekeeping operations, has been appointed as the head of a key United Nations force stationed in Golan to maintain the ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian forces. Army Lieutenant General John Nicholson was appointed as the commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan. He succeeded US General John Campbell who has been leading the Afghan operations for nearly 18 months. Awards and Recognition: Manipuri documentary film Phum-Shang bagged the prestigious Golden Conch Award for the best documentary film at the 14th Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Animation and Short Films (MIFF 2016). The film is directed by Haobam Paban Kumar, an alumnus of the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata Sarangi maestro Pandit Ram Narayan has been chosen for the prestigious Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi classical music award for Indian film-maker Kanu Behl directorial Titli bagged the Best First Foreign Film Award conferred by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 2016 (FSCC). Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was selected for the prestigious K Veeramani Award for Social Justice Kumar is chosen for the award for his contribution towards social justice as Chief Minister. Veteran wildlife filmmaker Naresh Bedi was honoured with the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award at the 14th edition of the Mumbai International Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF 2016). Indian writer Geetu Mohandas won Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award 2016 for her script of yet-to-be shot film Insha Allah. The award was presented at 2016 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony held in Park City, Utah. Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan was presented with the lifetime achievement award in New Delhi. He received the 43

44 honour at NDTV Indian of the Year Awards for his contribution to the film industry. The Chettinad cotton saree won the India Handloom tag for its unique designs and identity. The Ministry authorised the Amarar Rajiv Gandhi Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society, which produced the sarees, to use the brand and logo for marketing the product. The Revenant director Alejandro Gonzalez was received his second consecutive Directors Guild of America (DGA) award for best feature film at the 68th annual DGA Awards. The Government of India has announced the Prime Ministers Shram Awards for the year The award will be awarded to 54 workers employed in the Departmental Undertakings and Public Sector. The award has been given in recognition of their distinguished performances, innovative abilities, outstanding contribution in the field of productivity and exhibition of exceptional courage and presence of mind. 1. Shram Ratna the highest Award among the Shram Awards and carries the cash award of Rs.2 Lakhs along with a Sanad. For the year 2014, the prestigious Shram Ratna Award has not been awarded to anyone as screening committee did not consider any nominee eligible for the award. 2. Shram Bhushan: The total numbers of Shram Bhushan Awardees are 9. It carries a cash award of Rs.1 Lakhs and a Sanad. The Nine nominations were found suitable for the Shram Bhushan Award for the year 2014 in respect of Public Sector Undertaking and Private Sector. 3. Shram Vir/Shram Veerangana: The total numbers of Shram Vir/Shram Veerangana Awardees are 19. It carries a cash award of Rs. 60,000/- and a Sanad. 4. And the total numbers of Shram Shree/Shram Devi Awardee are 26. It carries a cash award of Rs. 40,000/- and a Sanad. 44 Summits and Conferences India will host the first-ever global maritime summit in April Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurates the two-day India Investment Summit in New Delhi, which is aimed at attracting long-term foreign investors into the infrastructure sector. Opening the two-day India Investment Summit 2016, the minister highlighted opportunities the country presents to investors and sought investment in sectors like road, highways, oil & gas, urban infrastructure and railways. Renowned dancer-choreographer and speaker Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant will address the high-profile India Conference at Harvard in USA this week. Ananda is a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee and a motivational speaker with a popular talk at TED. She is a career Indian Railway Services Officer. The Mangaluru-based MSNM Besant Institute of Postgraduate Management Studies will conduct a conference on Make in India on February 5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive at Kozhikode early this afternoon to open the 'vision conclave of the Global Ayurveda Fest. Supporting Syria and the Region Conference 2016 was held in London. The objective of the conference was to discuss issues related to the over 5-year old civil war in Syria and measures to mitigate the humanitarian conflict faced by the country and the region as a whole. The conference was co-hosted by Germany, Kuwait, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United Nations and saw the participation of over 60 countries. President Pranab Mukherjee hosted a two-day Conference of Governors at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. It is the fourth Conference to be presided over by President Mukherjee and 47th such Conference to be held in Rashtrapati Bhavan. 23 Governors and 2 Lieutenant Governors will attend the Conference. Exercise & Operations The border troops of India and China have held their first joint tactical exercise codenamed Sino-India Cooperation 2016 in Chushul-Moldo area along with the northern border in Jammu and Kashmir. The term Cobra Gold was in news on 3 February 2016 as India confirmed its participation in the annual amphibious military exercise in The decision in this regard was conveyed to Thailand, the host country, during Vice President Hamid Ansari s visit to the country. The 9th edition of India-Nepal Combined Military Exercise Surya Kiran IX has commenced at Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. The International Fleet Review (IFR) 2016, an international military exercise hosted and conducted by Indian Navy was inaugurated in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Theme of this edition on IFR is United through Oceans and its objective is to enhance mutual trust and confidence with neighbouring navies by inviting their ships to participate in the event. The last IFR conducted by the Indian Navy in 2001 in Mumbai, Maharashtra in which navies of 29 countries from across the globe had participated. Sports News India s ace squash player Joshna Chinappa has won the gold medal in women s individual category at the 12th South Asian Games (SAG). With this she became first Indian squash player to win individual gold medal in 2016 SAG.

45 Indian wrestlers simply grabbed, scooping 14 gold medals out of a total 16 on offer as the wrestling competition in the 12th South Asian Games. New Zealand won the three-match Chappell-Hadlee Trophy of cricket against Australia, 2-1. Brendon Barrie McCullum (New Zealand) retired from One-Day Internationals (ODIs). The National School Athletics championship began on January 29 and concluded yesterday, i.e on February 2. Kerala emerged as the overall winner for the 19th consecutive time. The national School Athletics championship was held at Olympian Rahman Stadium in Kozhikode, Kerala. India Under-19 opener Rishabh Pant had the fastest recorded U-19 international century comfortably in his sights when he was dismissed for 78 off 24 balls, having blown Nepal Under-19 away in a small chase. Brazilian racing driver Pietro Fittipaldi clinched the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 at Madras Motor Racing Track in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. The International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced that the Japanese city of Fukuoka will host the 2021 World Aquatics Championships. On the other hand, the Qatari capital Doha will host the 2023 event. Aditya Mehta won the 83rd Senior National Snooker Championship in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth won the Men's Singles title of the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships In the final played in Lucknow. World Number One Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open Men s Singles title. In the final played at Melbourne, the Serbian defeated Andy Murray of Britain in straight sets 6-1, 7-5, 7-6. Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag was appointed as mentor of the Kings XI Punjab team for season 9 of Indian Premier League (IPL).In his new role, Sehwag will work along with head coach Sanjay Bangar and would be responsible for guiding and motivating the squad. Sapna Devi clinched gold for India in the women Wushu Taulu (Changquan) Competition of the 12th South Asian Games held at the Rising Sun Sports Complex, Assam Rifles, Laitkor in Shillong. Virat Kohli was rewarded for his stupendous performance in India's clean sweep against Australia in the T20 internationals as he replaced Aaron Finch as the top-ranked batsman in the ICC list for the shortest format. The hallowed Lord's will host the final of the Women's Cricket World Cup in Trade and Agreements India and Sri Lanka signed two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) in the health sector and renovation of schools. Under the MoU on health, India will construct a surgical unit at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital in the island nation's Eastern province and supply medical equipment. In the second MoU, India will aid in the renovation of 27 schools in the Northern Province. Haryana and the Province of Ontario in Canada signed an MoU aimed at enhancing commercial and cultural ties. Chinese technology company ZTE has inked a pact with the Andhra Pradesh government to work on smart city projects in the state. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signed two bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) with United Kingdom. With this signing, CBDT has concluded three bilateral APAs the first one being a bilateral APA signed with Japan in December Canadian Provinces of Prince Edward Island (PEI) and Ontario inked Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in Chandigarh. All twelve Pacific Rim countries signed the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in New Zealand. This is one of the biggest trade deals in history. The agreement was signed by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States of America and Vietnam. India and Brunei signed 3 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to deepen bilateral cooperation. The MoUs were signed in Brunei capital Bandar Seri Begawan during the Vice President Hamid Ansari s 3-day visit to the country. The MoUs are in Healthy Cooperation, defecnce cooperation, and cooperation in youth and sports affairs. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) Ltd. signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RUSNANO OJSC of Russia. The MoU was to set-up Russia- India High Technology Private Equity Fund for joint implementation of investments into projects in India. India and Afghanistan inked a pact for visa-free travel by their diplomats. India s the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and United States Technical Development Agency (USTDA) were signed the grant agreement for India Aviation Safety Technical Assistance Phase II in New Delhi. India through the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology signed a Cooperation Agreement to acquire the status of the Associate Member State European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).The agreement will strengthen scientific interaction and collaborative research between India and Europe in this field. Books and Authors The book titled Nathuram Godse - The Story of an Assassin authored by Anup Ashok Sardesai. Science & Technology India and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) entered into a partnership to explore the environment of Ladakh under NASA s Spaceward Bound programme. North Korea s National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) launched the Kwangmyongsong- 4 satellite. The satellite was launched on-board the Kwangmyongsong-4 rocket from the Sohae Space Center in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province. The US space agency NASA announced that the first flight of its new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), 45

46 carrying 13 CubeSats and an uncrewed Orion Spacecraft will be launched in Indian biotechnology company Bharat Biotech claimed that it has achieved a breakthrough in developing a vaccine to fight the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Bharat Biotech developed world s first, two promising candidates ZikaVac vaccines for Zika infection. The company is probably the first in the world to file for global patent for the two vaccines. One of the possible vaccines is recombinant, which means it is created by genetic engineering, while the other was inactivated, and will enter pre-clinical trials in animals in two weeks. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) launched the BGR-34, the country's first anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug for Diabetes. BGR is acronym for blood glucose regulator. The ayurvedic drug BGR-34 was launched at Kozhikode, Kerala by CSIR's Senior Principal Scientist Dr AKS Rawat as part of the Global Ayurveda Festival in the city. Dr Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences inaugurated the construction work of Borehole Geophysics Research Laboratory (BGRL) at Hazarmachi, Karad of Maharashtra. BGRL is being developed at Karad to understand and address the challenges of the seismological problems (natural calamities) of societal relevance in the Koyna Region through drilling investigation. An international team of scientists (biologists) discovered a new species of hydroid polyps emitting green fluorescence in the Red Sea. These polyps were found to be emitting light in the night in association with the gastropod Nassarius margaritifer. These hydroid polyps also called hydrozoas. 46 Committees Supreme Court appointed a committee under former Chief Justice RM Lodha to sell assets of Pearls Agrotech Corporation Ltd (PACL) and refund 49 thousand crore rupees to the investors. The investors invested in the firm s collective investment scheme (CIS) that was deemed illegal by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Batting great Rahul Dravid has been named in ICC s newly appointed Anti-Corruption Oversight Group as part of the recommendation from its Integrity Working Party of the parent body. The government has set up two new committees -- Tax Policy Research Unit and Tax Policy Council in order to bring coherence and streamline the direct and indirect tax policy and administration. Led by the Finance Minister, the Tax Policy Council would suggest broad policy measures for taxation based on inputs from the Tax Policy Research Unit (TPRU). Defence News The Indian Coast Guard has proposed to induct 38 more aircraft and helicopters into its fleet by The CG at present has a fleet strength of 62 airplanes and helicopters. To boost its surveillance and search, and rescue capabilities. In this regard, the maritime security will sign a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to procure 16 Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs) in the next three - four months. The world s oldest aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, is all set to be converted into a luxury hotel to attract tourists once it is decommissioned from service in June this year. The Defence Ministry has given its nod to a proposal from Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) to convert the Centaur-class aircraft carrier into a hotel-cum-museum. Obituaries Muqtida Hasan Nida Fazli has taken his last breath on 8th Feb. He was an Indian Hindi and Urdu poet. Sushil Koirala Nepal's former Prime Minister Sushil Koirala passed away at his resident. Sudhir Tailang Famous political cartoonist Sudhir Tailang, passed away in Gurgaon, Haryana. NASA Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who was the sixth man to walk on the Moon, died in West Palm Beach, Florida. S.S. Tarapore, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and a noted economist, passed away in Mumbai. Balram Jakhar Veteran Congress leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar passed away in New Delhi on Wednesday. He was 92. Jakhar served as Speaker of Lok Sabha from 1980 to 1989 during which he contributed to the establishment of Parliament Museum. Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao Former Army Chief General Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao passed away in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest. He was the 14th Chief of the Army Staff of Indian Army. Terry Wogan British television and radio personality Terry Wogan died of cancer in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. He was 77. Renowned American singer-songwriter Dan Hicks passed away after a two-year long battle with throat and liver cancer in California.. Important Days

47 10 February: The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare today launched the first 'National Deworming Day' -a massive school-based deworming effort in twelve states. National Deworming Day is a groundbreaking initiative focused on reducing the threat of parasitic worm infections, a widespread health issue affecting over 241 million children in India alone. 6 February: International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 4 February: World Cancer Day (WCD) 2016 was observed across the world on 4 February The day was observed with year s theme We can. I can. 2 February: The World Wetlands Day was observed on 2 February 2016 across the globe to mark the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in the city of Ramsar in Iran in The theme of World Wetlands Day this year is Wetlands for our Future Sustainable Livelihoods. 47 Miscellaneous In a maiden initiative, a squad of 162 dogs is being raised by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to aid its personnel in rescuing people trapped under debris in the aftermath of natural calamities like earthquake. The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) has ordered Chennai based Geographical Indications Registry (GIR) to issue Geographical Indication tag for basmati rice. Vice President Hamid Ansari reached Thailand on a threeday visit during which he will hold discussions on a range of issues with the country's top leadership to boost bilateral ties. Vietnam formally lifted the ban on import of Indian Groundnut. With the decision, India will be able to resume export after nine months. The place Sonadia Island was in news. It was in news because, as per newspaper reports, Bangladesh cancelled China s proposal to develop a deep sea port on the island that lies in the Bay of Bengal. The Operation Rahaat came in news in second week of February 2016 after the Royal Navy of United Kingdom (UK) presented its desire to officially study India s humanitarian rescue operation in Yemen. The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) unveiled a set of six commemorative stamps to promote UN Free & Equal, a global United Nations campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality. The new stamps, which celebrate the diversity of the LGBT community, mark the first time the United Nations has issued stamps with this theme. The colourful stamps were designed by artist and UNPA art directorsergio Baradat. The first machine harvestable chickpea variety, NBeG 47 was released in Andhra Pradesh on 4 February It was released by International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT). The ICICI academy and the RSETIs will train close to 45,000 candidates in the 2017 fiscal and take the total number of trained youth to over a lakh. The academy has in the last two years (since inception in 2013) trained 25,200 youths (of which 32 per cent were women) belonging to the economically weaker sections. As per the report compiled and published by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Indicus Analytics Maharashtra has topped in terms of the overall Internet readiness index. Karnataka, Gujarat, Telengana and Tamil Nadu followed in the tally. Insurance Awareness Introduction 1) The insurance industry of India consists of 52 insurance companies of which 24 are in life insurance business and 28 are non-life insurers. 2) Among the life insurers, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is the sole public sector company. Apart from that, among the non-life insurers there are six public sector insurers. 3) In addition to these, there is sole national re-insurer, namely, General Insurance Corporation of India. 4) There are two more specialised insurers belonging to public sector, namely, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India for Credit Insurance and Agriculture Insurance Company Ltd for crop insurance. The following are some of the major investments and developments in the Indian insurance sector. a) Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC) has earmarked a total of around Rs 1 trillion (US$ billion) for investments in bonds, including non-convertible debentures (NCDs), certificates of deposit (CDs), commercial papers (CPs) and collateralized borrowing and lending obligations (CBLOs), with primary focus on infrastructure and real estate. b) Kotak Mahindra Bank became the first bank to get the permission from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a wholly-owned non-life insurance company. INTRODUCTION 1) Insurance is an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, or to pay money equal to the value of something (such as a house or car) if it is damaged, lost, or stolen or a risk-transfer mechanism that ensures full or partial financial compensation for the loss or damage caused by event(s) beyond the control of the insured party. 2) Under an insurance contract, a party (the insurer) indemnifies the other party (the insured) against a specified amount of loss, occurring from specified eventualities within a specified period, provided a fee called premium is paid. 3) Insurance, however, provides protection only against tangible losses. It cannot ensure continuity of business, market share, or customer confidence, and cannot provide knowledge, skills, or resources to resume the operations after a disaster. 4) With the establishment of the Oriental Life Insurance Company in Kolkata, the business of Indian life insurance started in the year Important milestones in the Indian Life insurance busin 1912: The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act came into force for regulating the life insurance business. 1928: The Indian Insurance Companies Act was enacted for enabling the government to collect statistical information on both life and non-life insurance businesses.

48 1938: The earlier legislation consolidated the Insurance Act with the aim of safeguarding the interests of the insuring public. 1956: 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident societies were taken over by the central government and they got nationalized. LIC was formed by an Act of Parliament, viz. LIC Act, It started off with a capital of Rs. 5 crore and that too from the Government of India. Life Insurance Corporation Life Insurance in India was nationalized by incorporating Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in All private life insurance companies at that time were taken over by LIC. In 1993, the Government of India appointed RN Malhotra Committee to lay down a road map for privatization of the life insurance sector. Independent Regulatory Body - IRDAI Insurance sector has been opened up for competition from Indian private insurance company with the enactment of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 (IRDA Act). As per the provisions of IRDA Act, 1999, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was established on 19th April 2000 to protect the interests of holder of insurance policy and to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry. Insurance Repository in India The Insurance Repository in India is a database of insurance policies. It allows policy holders to make revisions to a policy with speed and accuracy. It launched on 16 September It is the world's first of its kind. India's Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority had issued licenses to five entities to act as Insurance Repositories: Central Insurance Repository Limited (CIRL) SHCIL Projects Limited Karvy Insurance repository Limited NSDL Database Management Limited CAMS Repository Services Limited Public Sector Insurance Companies Life Insurance Corporation of India General Insurance Corporation of India National Insurance Co. Ltd. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. New India Assurance Co. Ltd. United India Insurance Co. Ltd. What is Banc-assurance? Banc-assurance means selling of insurance products through banks. The insurance companies and the banks come up in a partnership wherein the bank sells the tied insurance company s insurance products to its clients. Who are Third Party Administrators? a) Third Party Administrators or TPAs are a vital link between health insurance companies, policyholders and health care providers. b) The TPAs maintain databases of policy holders and issue them identity cards with unique identification numbers and handle all the post policy issues including claim settlements. What is Mortality Charge? Mortality Charge is the amount charged every year by the insurer to provide the life cover to the policyholder on the life of the Life Insured. It is also called as Cost of Insurance. Who is an Agent? An Agent is a person who is licensed by state to sell Insurance. The Agents serve as an intermediary between the insurance company and the insured. Captive Agent Agent sell Insurance of a specific Company. Independent Agent Agent who works independently and sells Insurance of many companies. What is Annuity? A long-term contract sold by an insurance company designed to provide payments to the holder at specified intervals, usually after retirement. What is AD&D in Insurance? AD&D in Insurance refers to Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance. It is a policy that pays benefits to the beneficiary if the cause of death is an accident. This is a limited form of life insurance which is generally less expensive. What is Lapse in Insurance? The policy for which all benefits to the policy holder cease and is terminated due to nonpayment of premium amount on the due date or even after the grace period is called a lapsed policy. What is Surrender Value? Surrender Value is the amount the policy holder will get from the insurance company if he decides to exit the policy before maturity. Surrender value is payable only after three full years premiums. What is Maturity claim? Maturity claim is a type of claim, wherein the insured fills a maturity claim form. What is Death claim? Death claim is a type of claim made by the nominee of the insured to the insurance company due to death of the insured, abiding to the policy terms and conditions. Who is an Actuary? A person with expertise in the fields of economics, statistics and mathematics, who helps in risk assessment and estimation of premiums etc for an insurance business, is called an actuary. What is an Actuarial Science? Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in insurance, finance and other industries and professions. 48 What do you mean by Policy not in force? If the policy is lapsed i.e., the insured has not paid the policy amount before the grace period expires, then it is termed as policy not in force. The insured is not covered by the policy when it is termed as policy not in force. What is Gratuity? Gratuity is a part of salary that is received by an employee from his/her employer in gratitude for the services offered by the employee in the company.

49 What is Void & Voidable contract? Void contract cannot be enforced by law. Any agreement which is illegal is considered as void contract. What is Paid up value? The right to change the normal policy into paid up value is given to the insured by the insurance company, if the insured have paid premiums for minimum of three years. The paid policy means, after the period if the insured cannot pay premium then the policy is not cancelled but the sum assured is reduced in proportion to the number of premiums paid by the insured. What is Terminal bonus? Terminal bonus is the loyalty bonus paid by the insurance company to the insured for maintaining the policy till the maturity date. It is the bonus paid during the time of maturity and the value is not guaranteed by disclosed during the time of policy maturity only. REINSURANCE It is an insurance that an insurance company buys for its own protection. The risk of loss is spread so a disproportionately large loss under a single policy doesn t fall on one company. LAPSE RATIO--The ratio of the number of life insurance policies that lapsed within a given period to the number in force at the beginning of that period. IRDA Insurance regulatory and development authority (IRDA) is the regulatory body of Insurance sector In India. Mr. T.S. Vijayan is the chairman of IRDA (Earlier J HarniNarayan). The Authority is a ten member team consisting of (a) a Chairman (b) five whole-time members (c) four part-time members. At present there are 24 general insurance companies including the ECGC and Agriculture Insurance Corporation of India and 23 life insurance companies operating in the country. FDI allowed in Insurance sector is 49%. Insurance Ombudsman The institution of Insurance Ombudsman was created by a Government of India Notification dated 11 th November, 1998 with the purpose of quick disposal of the grievances (problems) of the insured customers and to mitigate their problems involved in redressal of those grievances. This institution is of great importance and relevance for the protection of interests of policy holders and also in building their confidence in the system. The institution has helped to generate and sustain the faith and confidence amongst the consumers and insurers. Eligibility for Ombudsman: Ombudsman is drawn from Insurance Industry, Civil Services and Judicial Services. Terms of office: An insurance Ombudsman is appointed for a term of 3 years or till the ns the age of sixty five years, whichever is earlier. Re-appointment is not permitted. Types of Life Insurance Policies: Life-based contracts tend to fall into two major categories: (a) Protection policies: Designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment. A common form of this design is term insurance. (b) Investment policies: where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms are whole life, universal life and variable life policies. Life insurance may be divided into two basic classes: Temporary and Permanent; (a) Term Policy (Temporary): Term life insurance plans provide insurance to an individual for a fixed tenure. It is the pure and cheapest form of life insurance for an individual. This type of policy is suitable for people who are unable to pay high insurance in order to buy endowment policies. Once the term of insurance has passed, the agreed upon rate of payment and coverage expires and the former holder of the insurance must either go without coverage or renegotiate a new policy covering a different term. Term is generally considered "pure" insurance, where the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else. Term Insurance are of the following types in India: 1. Straight Term Insurance:- The corporation issues term insurance for 2 years.the sum assured will be payable only in the event of the life assureds death occurring within 2 years from the commencement of the policy. 2. Renewable Term Policies:- Annual renewable term is a 1 year policy, but the insurance company guarantees it will issue a policy of an equal or lesser amount regardless of the insurability of the applicant, and with a premium set for the applicant's age at that time. The policy holder can renew it many times. Provided the attained age has not crossed 55 years. 3. Convertible Term Policy:- Under this policy, option to convert it into whole life or endowment policy is available. The premium rates will be increased according to the age attained. Permanent life insurance: - 49

50 Life insurance that remains active until the policy matures, unless the owner fails to pay the premium when due. The policy cannot be cancelled by the insurer for any reason except fraudulent application, and any such cancellation must occur within a period of time (usually 2 years) defined by law. Basic types of permanent insurance: 1. Whole life coverage:- It provides lifetime death benefit coverage for a level premium in most cases. Premiums are much higher than term insurance at younger ages, but as term insurance premiums rise with age at each renewal, the cumulative value of all premiums paid across a lifetime are roughly equal if policies are maintained until average life expectancy. The cash value can be accessed at any time through policy loans and are received income tax free. Policy loans are available until the insured's death. If there are any unpaid loans upon death, the insurer subtracts the loan amount from the death benefit and pays the remainder to the beneficiary named in the policy. 2. Universal life coverage:- UL is a relatively new insurance product, intended to combine permanent insurance coverage with greater flexibility in premium payment, along with the potential for greater growth of cash values. This policy includes a cash value. Premiums increase the cash values, but the cost of insurance reduces cash values. With universal life, both the premiums and death benefit are flexible. Except with regards to guaranteed death benefit universal life, this flexibility comes with the disadvantage of reduced guarantees. 3. Limited-pay:- In this all the premiums are paid over a specified period after which no additional premiums are due to the policy in force. Common limited pay periods include 10- year, 20-year, and are paid out at the age of Endowments:- Endowments are policies in which the cumulative cash value of the policy equals the death benefit at a certain age. The age at which this condition is reached is known as the endowment age. Endowments are considerably more expensive (in terms of annual premiums) than either whole life or universal life because the premium paying period is shortened and the endowment date is earlier. Endowment insurance is paid out whether the insured lives or dies, after a specific period (e.g. 15 years) or a specific age (e.g. 65). Information about Policies: i. Single Premium Policy: The premium is paid only once. ii. Limited Payment Policy: The minimum amount for which a policy will be issued under this policy is Rs iii. Convertible whole life Policy: It provides maximum insurance protection at minimum cost and offers a flexible contract which can be allowed to an endowment policy. The minimum assured for which a policy will be issued under this plan is Rs.5000 and the maximum age at entry shall be 45 years. iv. Health Insurance Scheme: This provides financial support during health problems. v. Joint Life Policy: This is taken on the lives of 2 or more persons simultaneously. Under this policy the sum assured becomes payable on the death of anyone of those who have taken the joint life policy. vi. Double Accident Benefit Policy: This policy provides that if the insured person dies of any accident. His beneficiaries will get double the amount of the sum assured. vii. Annuity Policy: Under this policy, the sum assured is payable not in one lump sum payment but in monthly, quarterly and half-yearly or yearly instalments after the assured attains a certain age. Umbrella Policy : A special form of liability policy designed to protect the insured for certain unknown contingencies over and above coverages and to provide excess insuranc e. Third Party Insurance : When a policy insures a person against the liability he may incur to another for damages, it is "Third Party Insurance." The insured is indemnified with respect to any loss which he might suffer as a result of his legal liability to others arising out of the peril against which insurance is written. Rider : It is an optional feature that can be added to a policy. For instance, you may take a life insurance policy and an add on accident insurance as a rider. Personal Property Floatre (P.P.F.) A Broad Form policy covering all personal property worldwide including at the insured's home, usually on an all risks basis. Annuity : Annuities refer to the regular payments the insurance company will guarantee at some future date i.e. After you cross 55, the insurance company will start giving you a monthly or quarterly return. This is often done to supplement income after retirement. Burglary: Unlawful removal of property from premises involving visible forcible entry. Burglary Insurance: Insurance against loss of property caused by burglars. Forgery : The illegal signing of another's name to a document, such as, a cheque. Falsely making or altering a written instrument. Free look period: Once you get an insurance policy, the rules offer you 15 days within which you can revisit your purchase decision. This gives you the time to go through the policy's fine print, understand how the policy is going to work and be convinced that you need such a policy before deciding to commit funds every year over the insurance plan's tenure. Lapse : An insurance policy which, having reached its expiry date, is not renewed or extended is said to have lapsed, Or When the policy holder is unable to or does not pay the premium any more, within the specified grace period, the policy is said to have lapsed. G.K. For INSURANCE 1. In which of the following years the Government of India nationalized the general insurance business under the General Insurance Business (Nationalized) Act? (1) 1970 (2) 1972 (3) 1976 (4) 1973 (5) The small payment or series of regular payments made by the insured are: (1) Interest (2) Sum assured (3) Premium (4) Either 1 or 2 is correct (5) None of these 50

51 3. One of the role of insurance in the development of economy is: (1) To reduce inflation in the economy (2) To give the financial support to the insurer (3) Both 1 or 2 are correct (4) Either 1 or 2 (5) None of these 4. Suicide clause is applicable if the life insured committed suicide within one year from the: (1) Date of Commencement of Policy (2) Date of Policy revival (3) Both 1 and 2 (4) Either 1 or 2 (5) None of these 5. In the absence of utmost good faith the insurance contract becomes: (1) Null and Void (2) Void ab-initio (3) Wagering Contract (4) Allium Fact per se (5) None of these 6. To avoid a contract after 2 years from the date of acceptance of risk, it is necessary for the insurer to establish that: (1) The prosper was aware of the correct facts (2) The statement by the proposer was inaccurate or false and material (3) Both 1 & 2 (4) Either 1 & 2 (5) None 7. The premium regarding permanent assurance whole life policies can be made payable: (1) For a certain number of year (2) Till survival (3) Both 1 & 2 (4) Either 1 & 2 (5) None of these 8. The Premium can be paid in lump sum of: (1) Term insurance (2) Market linked plan 3) Both 1 & 2 (4) Either 1 & 2 (5) None of these 9. In case of Joint life policy after death of the spouse the future payment of premium is: (1) Continued (2) Waived (3) Forfeited (4) Deposited (5) None of these 10. Special investigation is necessary if death is occur within two years from: (1) the date of commencement (2) the date of revival (3) either of the two (4) the date of maturity (5) None of these Answers: INSURANCE QUIZ 1. The Life Insurance Corporation of India does not have its foreign units in which of the following countries? (1) UK (2) Sri Lanka (3) Fiji (4) Afghanistan 2. Who is the Present chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation of India? (1) Arvind Mayaram (2) Sushbohan Sarker (3) Thomas Mathew (4) S. K. Roy 3. Insurance is meant to: (1) Prevent specified events (2) Prevent damage to assets from specified Events (3) Compensate for losses from specified events (4) Rebuild the assets lost because of specified events 4. The amount of Insurance depends upon: (1) The peril (2) The risk (3) Neither (4) Both 5. The amount payable under a life insurance policy depends on: (1) The income of the insured person at the time of the claim (2) The income of the insured person when he took the insurance (3) The amount of the sum assured (4) None 6. Which of the following event are insurable in a life insurance policy? (1) The child to be born is not a male child (2) The child, when born, has physical deformities (3) Neither (4) Both 7. In a life insurance contract, the beneficiary may be the: (1) The Policy holder (2) The life insured (3) The depends of the life insured (4) All 8. Which one of these principles does not apply in the case of a life insurance contract? (1) The principle of indemnity (2) The principle of good faith (3) The principle of insurable interest (4) The principle of large numbers 9. Reinsurance is the name given to: (1) An individual taking insurance for the second time (2) An insurer placing insurance with another insurer (3) Both the above situations (4) Neither the above situations 10. Life insurance is better than other avenues of savings in respect of: (1) Marketability (2) Liquidity (3) Transferability (4) All of the above Answers: 1 4, 2 4, 3 3, 4 4, 5 3, 6 3, 7-4, 8-1, 9 2, 10 4 Insurance Terms Assignment Assignment means legal transference. A method by which the policy holder can person on his interest to another person. An assignment can be made by an endorsement on the policy document or as a separate deed. Business Insurance A policy which primarily provides coverage of benefits to a business as contrasted to an individual. It is issued to indemnify a business. for the loss of services of a key employee or a partner who becomes disabled. Coinsurance 1) A provision under which an insured who carries less than the stipulated percentage of insurance to value, will receive a loss payment that is limited to the same ratio which the amount of insurance bears to the amount required. Convertible Whole Life Policy A mix of "whole life policy" and "endowment policy", it provides for very low insurance premiums with maximum risk cover while the life assured is just beginning his working 51

52 career, and the possibiliy of converting the policy to an "endowment" policy after five years of commencement. Coverage--The scope of protection provided under a contract of insurance; any of several risks covered by a policy. Days Of Grace Policy holders are expected to pay premium on due dates. a period is days is allowed as grace to make payment of premium; such period is days of grace. Corporation of India. This amount is referred to as GIS. The monthly pension that is payable one month after payment of first premium is calculated on the basis of the age at entry. Gross Insurance Value Element (GIVE) The amount payable on the deferred date under Jeevan Dhara Life of Life Insurance Corporation of India. An annuity of 1% of the GIVE is payable per month after the deferment period. And the entire GIVE is payable on death after deferment period. Deferment Period Period between the date of subscription to an insurance-cum-pension policy and the time at which the first installment of pension is received. Such policies generally prescribe a minimum and maximum limit on the deferment period. Double/Triple Cover Plans These offer to the beneficiaries double/triple the sum assured on death of life assured during the term of the policy. On survival to the date of maturity, the basic sum assured is paid to the assured. These are low-premium plans, most useful for situations such as housing. Endowment Policy The assured has to pay an annual premium which is determined on the basis of the assured's age at entry and the term of the policy. The insured amount is payable either at the end of specified number of years or upon the death of the insured person, whichever is earlier. Excess And Surplus Insurance 1) Insurance to cover losses above a certain amount, with losses below that amount usually covered by a regular policy. (2) Insurance to cover an unusual or one-time risk, e.g., damage to a musician's hands or the multiple perils of a convention, for which coverage is unavailable in the normal market. Guaranteed Insurance Sum (GIS) A lump sum purchase price is given to purchase future pensions under the Jeevan Akshay Plan of Life Insurance 52 Indemnity--Legal principle that specifies an insured should not collect more than the actual cash value of a loss but should be restored to approximately the same financial position as existed before the loss. Insured-The person whose life is covered by a policy of insurance. Joint Life Endowment Assurance Plans The sum assured (plus any accrued bonuses) under this type of policy is payable on the end of the endowment term or on the first death of the two lives assured, whichever is earlier. Typically (though not a necessity) taken out by a couple, a variation is available for couples only. Keyman Insurance Policy A life insurance policy taken by a person on the life of another person who is or was his employee/connected to his business in any manner whatsoever. Lapsed Policy--A policy which has terminated and is no longer in force due to non-payment of the premium due. Moral Hazard Moral hazard is the risk factor that affects the decision of the insurance company to accept the risk. Reinstatement The restoration of a lapsed policy to in-force status. Reinstatement can only occur after the expiration of the grace period. The company may require evidence of insurability (and, if health status has changed, deny reinstatement), and will always require payment of the total amount of past due premium. The process of evaluating and selecting risk is known as underwriting. Vesting Age The age at which the receipt of pension starts in an insurancecum-pension plan. Whole Life Policy Premiums are paid throughout the life time of life assured. This can be with profits or without profits ( A "with profit" policy is eligible for various bonuses declared by LIC every year, while a "without profits" policy does not have this privilege ) Taglines of some Insurance Companies

53 1. SBI Life Insurance Company Limited Tagline - With Us, You re Sure 2. New India Assurance Company Limited Tagline - India s premier general insurance company 3. PNB India Insurance Company Limited Tagline - Have you met life today. 4. Max Life Insurance Company Limited Tagline - Aapke Sachhe Advisor Also Check All Indian Bank Taglines 5. United India Insurance Company Limited Tagline - Rest Assured with Us 6. Max Newyork Life Insurance Company Limited Tagline - Karo Zyada ka Iraada 7. Apollo Munich Health Insurance Tagline - We know Healthcare. 8. Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited Tagline - You click, we cover 9. Future Generali Life Insurance Tagline - Ek Shagun Zindagi Ke Naam 10. Aviva India Life Insurance Tagline - Kal par Control 11. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited Tagline - Zimmedari ka humsafar 12. HDFC Standard life Insurance Company Limited Tagline - Sar utha Ke Jiyo 13. Max Bupa Health Insurance Tagline - Your Health First 14. Exide Life Insurance India Company (Formerly Known as ING Vysya Life Insurance) Tagline - Adding Life to Insurance CEO- Kshitij Jain. 15. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited Tagline - Jiyo Befiqar 16. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited Tagline - Muskurate Raho 17. Oriental Insurance Company Limited Tagline - Prithvi, Agni, Jal, Akash, Sabki Suraksha Hamare Paas 18. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited Tagline - Faidey ka Insurance 53 IMPORTANT DESIGNATIONS IN INDIA Constitutional Heads Designation Person Speaker, Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha M. Thambidurai Comptroller and Auditor Shashikant Sharma General Chairperson, 14 th Finance YV Reddy Commission Heads of Financial Institutes/Organisations Designation Person Raghuram G. Rajan Governor, Reserve Bank of India Jyotsana Suri Chairperson, FICCI SB Mathur Chairperson, Unit Trust of India SK Roy Chairperson, Life Insurance Corporation of India Harsha Kumar Bhanwala Chairperson, NABARD NK Maini CMD, SIDBI Sriram Kalyanaraman Chairperson, National Housing Bank Sunil Kanoria Rajan Bharati Mittal Satyanand Mishra TM Bhasin M. Ramadoss Deepak Kumar R. Sridharan Chairperson, ASSOCHAM Chairperson, International Chamber of Commerce Chairperson, Multi Commodities Exchange Chairperson, Indian Banks Association CMD, Oriental Insurance Company Director Genral, Employee s State Insurance Corporation Chairperson Institute of Company Secretary of India TADF Minister of State for Commerce & Industry (I/C), Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, launched the Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) under National Manufacturing Policy. TADF is a new scheme to facilitate acquisition of Clean, Green & Energy Efficient Technologies, in form of Technology / Customised Products / Specialised Services / Patents / Industrial Design available in the market available in India or globally, by Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The Scheme is conceptualized to catalyse the manufacturing growth in MSME sector to contribute to the national focus of Make in India. The scheme will be implemented through Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA), a joint venture company, support to MSME units is envisaged by the following: I. Direct Support for Technology Acquisition II. In-direct Support for Technology Acquisition through Patent Pool III. Technology / Equipment Manufacturing Subsidies IV. Green Manufacturing Incentive Scheme FIF: Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) The GOI has merged the Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) and Financial Inclusion Technology Fund (FITF) to form a single Financial Inclusion Fund. The new FIF will be administered by the reconstituted Advisory Board constituted by GOI and will be maintained by NABARD. Important Points related to FIF 1) The overall corpus of the new FIF will be Rs crore. 2) Contribution to FIF would be from the interest differential in excess of 0.5% on RIDF and STCRC deposits on account of shortfall in priority sector lending (as notified by RBI from time to time) kept with NABARD by banks. 3) The Fund shall be in operation for another three years or till such period as may be decided by RBI and Government of India in consultation with other stake holders. 4) The objectives of the FIF shall be to support developmental and promotional activities including

54 creating of FI infrastructure across the country, capacity building of stakeholders, creation of awareness to address demand side issues, enhanced investment in Green Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution, research and transfer of technology, increased technological absorption capacity of financial service providers/users with a view to securing greater financial inclusion. Note: The fund shall not be utilized for normal business/banking activities. NIIF a) India will launch National Investment and Infrastructure Fund that would focus only on core sector projects. b) The NIIF will have a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore. c) National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is a fund created by the Government of India for enhancing infrastructure financing in the country. d) The objective of NIIF would be to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects. It could also consider other nationally important projects, for example, in manufacturing, if commercially viable. Note: a) Government's contribution/share in the corpus will be 49% in each entity set up as an alternate Investment Fund (AIF). The whole of 49% would be contributed by Government directly. b) Cash-rich Central Public Sector Enterprises (PSUs) could contribute to the Fund, which would be over and above the Government's 49%. Similarly, domestic pension and provident funds and National Small Savings Fund may also provide funds to the NIIF. c) Government has set up a search committee under Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das for selection of a CEO for the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank (MDB) conceived for the 21st century. The Bank's foundation is built on the lessons of experience of existing MDBs and the private sector. Its modus operandi will be lean, clean and green: lean, with a small efficient management team and highly skilled staff 54 clean, an ethical organization with zero tolerance for corruption green, an institution built on respect for the environment. Mr. Jin Liqun has served as AIIB's President-designate since September 1, He was appointed Secretary- General of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat by the AIIB Special Ministerial Meeting on October 24, 2014 Shareholder in AIIB: BRICS members China, India and Russia are the three largest shareholders, with a voting share of per cent, 7.5 per cent and 5.92 per cent, respectively. GOLD SCHEMES LAUNCHED BY GOI a) Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three ambitious schemes to reduce the physical demand for gold and fish out 20,000 tonnes of the precious metal worth $800 billion lying idle with households. b) Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three gold related schemes- Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS), Gold Sovereign Bond Scheme and the Gold Coin and Bullion Scheme. c) He also unveiled the first ever Indian gold coin & bullion, bearing national emblem Ashok Chakra on one side and Mahatma Gandhi's image engraved on the other side. Initially the coins will be available in denominations of 5 and 10 grams. The 20 grams bullion will also be available through 125 MMTC outlets. d) The Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS), 2015 will offer option to resident Indians to deposit their precious metal and earn an interest of up to 2.5%; while under the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme, investors can earn an interest rate of 2.75% per annum by buying paper bonds. Must know Points on Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2015 SGBs are government securities denominated in grams of gold & will be issued by Reserve Bank on behalf of Government of India. Persons resident in India as defined under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 are eligible to invest in SGB. Eligible investors include individuals, HUFs, trusts, universities, charitable institutions, etc. The Bonds are issued in denominations of one gram of gold and in multiples thereof. Minimum investment in the Bond shall be two grams with a maximum buying limit of 500 grams per person per fiscal year. The Bonds bear interest at the rate of 2.75% (fixed rate) per annum on the amount of initial investment. Bonds are sold through scheduled commercial banks and designated Post Offices either directly or through their agents like NBFCs, NSC agents, etc. Price of bond will be fixed in Indian Rupees on the basis of the previous week s (Monday Friday) simple average price for gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd. (IBJA). The issue price will be distributed by the Reserve Bank of India Though the tenor of the bond is 8 years, early encashment/redemption of the bond is allowed after fifth year from the date of issue on coupon payment dates. TDS is not applicable on the bond. However, it is the responsibility of the bond holder to comply with the tax laws.

55 Gold Monetisation Scheme, 2015 The scheme is aimed at converting an estimated 20,000 tonnes of idle gold worth Rs 540,000 crore in family lockers and temples into the banking system. The GMS will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme, Resident Indians (Individuals, HUF, Trusts including Mutual Funds/Exchange Traded Funds registered under SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations and Companies) can make deposits under the scheme. The minimum deposit at any one time shall be raw gold (bars, coins, jewellery excluding stones and other metals) equivalent to 30 grams of gold of 995 fineness. There is no maximum limit for deposit under the scheme. The gold will be accepted at the Collection and Purity Testing Centres (CPTC) certified by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and notified by the Central Government under the Scheme. The deposit certificates will be issued by banks in equivalence of 995 fineness of gold. The principal and interest of the deposit under the scheme will be denominated in gold. The designated banks will accept gold deposits under the Short Term (1-3 years) Bank Deposit (STBD) as well as Medium (5-7 years) and Long (12-15 years) Term Government Deposit Schemes. While the former will be accepted by banks on their own account, the latter will be on behalf of Government of India. Interest on deposits under the scheme will start accruing from the date of conversion of gold deposited into tradable gold bars after refinement or 30 days after the receipt of gold at the CPTC or the bank s designated branch, as the case may be and whichever is earlier. 55 Facts related to Gold Coin/Bullion Scheme a) It is the first ever national gold coin minted in India. b) It is having National Emblem of Ashok Chakra engraved on one side and Mahatma Gandhi on the other side. c) The Coin weighs 5 and 10 grams. d) The gold coin and bullion will carry advanced anticounterfeit features and tamper proof packaging and hallmarked by Bureau of Indian Standards. e) The gold coin and bullion will be of 24 carat purity and 999 fineness. f) Aim: The government's move comes on the hope that Indians who is said to have an obsession for gold will prefer the national coin over imported ones. g) All coins will be hallmarked as per the BIS standards. h) This coin will be distributed through the outlets of stateowned Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India. Some Abbreviations related to Gold Schemes CPTC- Collection and Purity Testing Centre MLTGD - Medium and Long Term Gold Deposit STBD- Short Term Bank Deposit IBJA- India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd. MMTC- Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India Grand Prixes & Their Winner 2015 Recent GP Held 1) Russian Grand Prix - Lewis Hamilton 2) United States Grand Prix-Lewis Hamilton 3) Mexican Grand Prix-Nico Rosberg 4) Brazilian Grand Prix-Nico Rosberg 5) Abu Dhabi Grand Prix-Nico Rosberg Other GP Held 6) Australian Grand Prix-Lewis Hamilton 7) Malaysian Grand Prix-Sebastian Vettel 8) Chinese Grand Prix-Lewis Hamilton 9) Bahrain Grand Prix-Lewis Hamilton 10) Spanish Grand Prix-Nico Rosberg 11) Monaco Grand Prix-Nico Rosberg 12) Canadian Grand Prix-Lewis Hamilton 13) Austrian Grand Prix-Nico Rosberg 14) British Grand Prix-Lewis Hamilton 15) Hungarian Grand Prix-Sebastian Vettel 16) Belgian Grand Prix-Lewis Hamilton 17) Italian Grand Prix -Lewis Hamilton 18) Singapore Grand Prix -Sebastian Vettel 19) Japanese Grand Prix -Lewis Hamilton Venues for the upcoming Tournaments Hockey World Cup 2018 Venue: 1. Men s Hockey World Cup India 2. Women s Hockey World Cup - England ICC World Cup Cricket Venue: ODI: (One day International): 1. Australia & New Zealand: England India T20 World Cup: 1. Bangladesh Sri Lanka defeat India to win the maiden title. 2. India Australia Test: 1. England 2017 (for first time). 2. India FIFA (Football) World Cup venue: - RQ : Russia : Qatar Commonwealth Games venues: Glasgow (Scotland) Gold Coast (Australia). Olympics Games venues: winter: Sochi (Russia) Russia tops in the medal tally in 2014 winter Olympic games Summer: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) winter: Pyeongchang (South Korea) summer: Tokyo (Japan) Asian Games host cities: : Incheon (South Korea) (Note: 2010 Asain Games held in Guangzhou, China) : Hanoi (Vietnam)

56 BANKING / FINANCIAL REALTED SCHEMES Indradhanush Mission Union Government has launched a seven pronged plan called Indradhanush Mission to revamp functioning of public sector banks (PSBs). It was launched by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi. Facts about Indradhanush Mission The seven shades of Indradhanush mission include appointments, de-stressing PSBs, capitalisation, empowerment, framework of accountability and governance reforms. It seeks to achieve the objective of economic growth revival through improving credit and minimising the political interference in the functioning of PSBs. Bank Board Bureau (BBB): It will be a body of eminent professionals to be selected within 6 months i.e. February It will become functional from Financial year i.e. form 1st April Capitalisation: Infuse 25,000 crore rupees of capital into debt-laden banks in this fiscal in phased manner. Out of this 20,000 crore rupees would be injected in August Rest 5,000 crore rupees will be performance based allocation to be allocated in the last quarter of De-stressing PSBs: To develop vibrant debt market for PSBs in order to reduce lending pressure on banks. Strengthen asset reconstruction of companies. Empowerment: Provide greater flexibility in hiring of manpower in PSBs. Framework of accountability: It will seek to streamline vigilance process for quick action in case major frauds and also include connivance of staff. Governance reforms in PSBs: Next Gyan Sangam (also known as the Banker s Retreat) will be held from 14 to 16 January Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) will be initiated for top management. Eligibility: The savings bank account holders of the participating Bank between 18 years (completed) and 70 years (age nearer birthday) who give their consent to join / enable auto-debit, as per the modality, will be enrolled into the scheme. Premium: Rs. 12/- + service tax (per annum). Risk Coverage: Total coverage (sum-insured) under the scheme is Rs. 2 Lakh. Atal Pension Yojana The APY is focussed on all citizens in the unorganized sector. The scheme is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) through NPS architecture. Under the APY, there is guaranteed minimum monthly pension for the subscribers ranging between Rs and Rs per month. GoI will also co-contribute 50% of the subscriber s contribution or Rs per annum, whichever is lower. Government co-contribution is available for those who are not covered by any Statutory Social Security Schemes and is not income tax payer. GoI will co-contribute to each eligible subscriber, for a period of 5 years who joins the scheme between the period 1st June, 2015 to 31st December, The benefit of five years of government Co-contribution under APY would not exceed 5 years for all subscribers including migrated Swavalamban beneficiaries. All bank account holders may join APY. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Highlights of the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY Scheme 2 for Life Insurance) are: Eligibility: Savings Bank (SB) Account holders between 18 years (completed) and 50 years. Premium: Rs. 330 (per annum). Risk Coverage: Sum Assured of Rs. 2 Lakh on death of the Insured member for any reason is payable to the Nominee. Termination of assurance: Account holder attains age of 55 years Closure of account with the Bank or insufficiency of balance for debiting premium. In case of multiple coverage under the scheme, the cover will be restricted to Rs.2 lakhs and other insurance covers are terminated and premium shall be forfeited. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana Highlights of the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY Scheme 1 for Accidental Death Insurance) are: Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts Rate of interest 9.2% Per Annum( b),calculated on yearly basis,yearly compounded. Minimum INR. 1000/-and Maximum INR. 1,50,000/- in a financial year. Subsequent deposit in multiple of INR 100/- Deposits can be made in lump-sum No limit on number of deposits either in a month or in a Financial year. Account can be opened up to age of 10 years only from the date of birth. If minimum Rs 1000/- is not deposited in a financial year, account will become discontinued and can be revived with 56

57 a penalty of Rs 50/- per year with minimum amount required for deposit for that year. Partial withdrawal, maximum up to 50% of balance standing at the end of the preceding financial year can be taken after Account holder s attaining age of 18 years. Account can be closed after completion of 21 years. United Nations Headquarters Tourism 100 Medical devices 100 White Labelled ATM 100 Telecom 100 Construction, operation and maintenance of specified activities of Railway sector 100 International Organizations UNO (United Nations Org) UNICEF UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade & Development) WHO (World Health Org) ILO (International Labour Org) WMO (World Meteorological Org) World Intellectual Property Org International Standards Org. IMF (International Monetary Fund) World Bank UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Org) OECD (Org. for Economic Cooperation and Dev.) UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Dev. Org) IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) OPEC(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) Amnesty International Commonwealth of Nations IM(International Maritime Organization) ICJ (International Court of Justice) FAO(Food and Agricultural Organization) NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Transparency International SAARC(South Asian Association for Regional Coop.) ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Forum) Organization of Islamic Cooperation 57 FDI Limits in different sectors: Headquarters New York New York Geneva Geneva Geneva Geneva Geneva Geneva Washington DC Washington DC Paris Paris Defence 49 Pension 49 Insurance 49 Print Media 26 Civil Aviation 49 Public Sec. Banks 20 Private Sec. Banks 74 Multi Brand 51 Vienna Vienna Vienna London London London The Hague Rome Brussels Berlin Kathmandu Jakarta Single Brand 100 Singapore Jeddah Credit Rating Agencies in India and World: Indian credit rating industry mainly comprises of CRISIL, ICRA, CARE, ONICRA, FITCH (India Ratings & Research) & SMERA. CRISIL - Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited, Headquarter Mumbai ICRA - Investment information and credit rating agency Headquarter - Gurgaon, India CARE - Credit Analysis and Research Headquarters Mumbai ONICRA - Headquarter - Gurgaon, India SMERA - Headquarters Mumbai Fitch (India Ratings & Research) - Headquarters Mumbai Note: CRISIL is the largest credit rating agency in India, with a market share of greater than 60% Standard & Poor's (S&P) Headquarter New York, US Moody's Headquarter - New York, US Fitch - Headquarter - New York, US ABBREVIATIONS RIDF- Rural Infrastructure Development Fund GPEI- Global Polio Eradication Initiative GMS- Gold Monetisation Scheme SGBS- Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme ATAS- Alternative Train Adjustment Scheme IVRS- Interactive Voice Response System UDAY- Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana IRRC- India Rapid Reaction Cell PMMY- Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana MUDRA- Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency ISLRTC- Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre SPMRM-Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission STATIC GK CAPSULE Some Important CUPS AND TROPHIES Cup/Trophy Game with which associate Aga Khan Cup Hockey Ashes Cricket. B.C.Roy Trophy National Junior Football (India) Beighton Cup Hockey C.K. Naidu Trophy Junior National Cricket. (India) Davis Cup International Tennis Championship DCM Cup Football Derby Horse Racing (United Kingdom) Dhyan Chand Trophy Hockey (India) Duleep Trophy Cricket (India) Durand Cup Football (India). Guru Gobind Singh Gold Hockey (India)

58 Cup Indira Trophy National Table Tennis Championship (Boys) Irani Trophy Cricket.. Merdeka Tournament Football (Played at Kuala Lumpur) Modi Gold Cup Hockey (India) Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cricket (India) Cup Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey (India) Nehru Trophy Hockey (India) Nizam Gold Cup Football (India) Rangaswamy Cup National Hockey Championship (India) Ranji Trophy Cricket National Championships (India) Rovers Cup Football (India) Ryder Cup Golf (United Kingdom) Scindia Gold Cup Hockey (India ) Todd Memorial Trophy National Basketball Championships Thomas Cup Badminton (World Championship) Wellington Trophy Rowing (India) Revolutions in the field of agriculture in India: Black Revolution - Petroleum Production Blue Revolution - Fish Production Brown Revolution - Leather/non conventional (India)/Cocoa production Golden Fiber Revolution - Jute Production Golden Revolution - Fruits/Overall Horticulture development/honey Production Green Revolution - Food grains Grey Revolution - Fertilizer Pink Revolution - Onion production/pharmaceutical (India)/ Prawn production Red Revolution - Meat & Tomato Production Round Revolution - Potato Silver Fiber Revolution - Cotton Silver Revolution - Egg/Poultry Production White Revolution (In India: Operation Flood) - Milk/Dairy production Yellow Revolution - Oil Seeds production Evergreen Revolution - Overall development of Agriculture. WILDLIFE SANTUARIES/NATIONAL PARKS / POWER PLANTS IN INDIA S.no States National Parks(NP) Wild Life Sanctuaries(WLS) 1. J & K Governor: Narendra Vohra Capital: Jammu(Summer) Srinagar(Winter) 2. Himachal Pradesh CM: Virbhadra Singh Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat Capital: Shimla 3. Punjab CM: Parkash Singh Badal Governor: Kaptain Solanki Capital: Chandigarh 4. Haryana CM: Manohar Lal Khattar Governor: Kaptain Solanki Capital: Chandigarh Dachigam National Park Hemis National Park Kishtwar National Park Salim Ali National Park Pin Valley National Park Great Himalayan National Park Inderkilla National Park Khirganga National Park Simbalbara National Park Gulmarg WLS Limber WLS Nandini WLS Bandli WLS Daranghati WLS Dhauladhar WLS Nargu WLS Pong Dam Lake WLS Shilli WLS Talra WLS - Abohar WLS Harike Lake WLS Jhajjar Bacholi WLS Kalesar National Park Sultanpur National Park Bhindawas WLS Kalesar WLS Khaparwas WLS - Power Plants Girinagar Hydel Project Binwa Hydel Project Rangtong Hydel Project Baner & Neugal Project Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant Gorakhpur Atomic Power Station Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Station Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Station 58

59 5. UP CM: Akhilesh Yadav Governor: Ram Naik Capital: Lucknow 6. Bihar CM: Nitish Kumar Governor: Ram Nath Kovind Capital: Patna 7. Chattisgarh CM: Raman Singh Governor: Balram Tandon Capital: Raipur 8. Jharkhand CM: Raghuvar Das Governor: Draupadi Murmu Capital: Ranchi Dudhwa National Park Hastinapur WLS Ranipur WLS Sohagibarwa WLS Sur Sarovar WLS Chandraprabha WLS National Chambal WLS Bankatna WLS Valmiki National Park Gautam Budha WLS Kaimur WLS Pant (Rajgir) WLS Valmiki WLS Indravati National Park Kanger Valley National Park Guru Ghasi Das (Sanjay) Badalkhol WLS Bhairamgarh WLS Bhoramdev WLS Udanti Wild Buffalo WLS Betla National Park Betla National Park Lawalong WLS Palkot WLS Parasnath WLS Narora Atomic Power Station Rihand Thermal Power Station Anpara Thermal Power Station Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Station Barauni Thermal Power Station Sipat Thermal Power Plant Hasdeo Thermal Power Station Bhilai Expansion Power Plant Chandrapura Thermal Power Station Koderma Thermal Power Station Bokaro Thermal Power Station 9. Andhra Pradesh CM: N. Chandrababu Naidu Governor: E.S.L Narasimhan Capital: Hyderabad 10. Assam CM: Tarun Gogoi Governor: Acharya Capital: Dispur 59 P.V. 11. Goa CM: Laxmikant Parsekar Governor: Mridula Sinha Capital: Panaji 12. Gujarat CM: Anandiben Patel Governor: O.P.Kohli Capital: Gandhinagar 13. Karnataka CM: Siddaramaiah Governor: Vajubhai R. Vala Sri Venkateswara National Park Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park Mrugavani National Park Rajiv Gandhi National Park Namdapha National Park Mouling National Park Dibru-Saikhowa National Park Kaziranga National Park Manas National Park Nameri National Park Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park Bhagwan Mahavir (Mollem) National Park Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar Gir Forest National Park Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch Bansda National Park Bandipur National Park Bannerghatta National Park Kudremukh National Park Coringa WLS Kawal WLS Kolleru WLS Nellapattu WLS Pulicat Lake WLS Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarjuna Sagar- Srisailam) WLS Rollapadu WLS Amchang WLS Chakrashila WLS Dihing Patkai WLS East Karbi Anglong WLS North Karbi Anglong WLS Nambor WLS Bondla WLS Madei WLS Bhagwan Mahavir (Mollem) WLS Netravali WLS Jambugodha WLS Jessore WLS Kachchh Desert WLS Mitiyala WLS Porbandar Lake WLS Rampara Vidi WLS Ratanmahal WLS Shoolpaneswar (Dhumkhal) WLS Thol Lake WLS Wild Ass WLS Arabithittu WLS Attiveri WLS Bhadra WLS Bhimgad WLS Simhadri Super Thermal Power Plant Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station Bongaigaon Thermal Power Plant - Mundra Thermal Power Station Ukai Thermal Power Station Akrimota Thermal Power Station Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant Raichur Thermal Power Station Udupi Thermal Power Plant

60 60 Capital: Bangalore Nagarhole National Park Anshi national park 14. Kerala CM: Oommen Chandy Governor: P. Sathashivam Capital: Trivandampuram 15. MP CM: Shivraj Singh Chouhan Governor: Ram Naresh Yadav Capital: Bhopal 16. Maharashtra CM: Devendra Fadnavis Governor: C. Vidyasagar Rao Capital: Mumbai 17. Manipur CM: Okram Ibobi Singh Governor: V. Shanmuganathan Capital: Imphal 18. Meghalaya CM: Mukul Sangma Governor: V. Shanmuganathan Capital: Shillong 19. Mizoram CM: Lal Thanhawla Governor: Nirbhaya Sharma Capital: Aizawl 20. Nagaland CM: T. R. Zeliang Governor: P.B.Acharya Eravikulam National Park Mathikettan Shola National Park Periyar National Park Silent Valley National Park Anamudi Shola National Park Pampadum Shola National Park Kanha National Park Madhav National Park Mandla Plant Fossils National Park Panna National Park Pench National ParkSanjay National Park Satpura National Park Van Vihar national park Chandoli National Park Navegaon National Park Tadoba National Park Pench National Park Keibul Lamjao National Park Balphakram National Park Nokrek National Park Murlen National Park Phawngpui Blue National Park Mountain National Park Brahmagiri WLS Cauvery WLS Nugu WLS Pushpagiri WLS Ranganathittu Bird WLS Sharavathi Valley WLS Someshwara WLS Aralam WLS Chimmony WLS Idukki WLS Malabar WLS Mangalavanam Bird WLS Neyyar WLS Periyar WLS Thattekad Bird WLS Bori WLS Gandhi Sagar WLS Ghatigaon WLS Ken Gharial WLS Narsighgarh WLS National Chambal WLS Orcha WLS Kuno WLS Sardarpur WLS Son Gharial WLS Aner Dam WLS Bhamragarh WLS Bhimashankar WLS Great Indian Bustard WLS Jaikwadi WLS Koyana WLS Nagzira WLS Painganga WLS Radhanagari WLS Sagareshwar WLS Tipeshwar WLS Tungareshwar WLS Yangoupokpi-Lokchao WLS Baghmara Pitcher Plant WLS Nongkhyllem WLS Siju WLS Dampa WLS (TR) Ngengpui WLS Pualreng WLS Tokalo WLS Intanki National Park Fakim WLS Puliebadze WLS Rangapahar WLS Bellary Thermal Power Station Brahmapuram Power Station Kayamkulam Power Station Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station Sant Singaji Thermal Power Plant Satpura Thermal Power Station Amarkantak Thermal Power Station Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project Tarapur Atomic Power Station Tirora Thermal Power Station Amravati Thermal Power Plant Dikhu Hydro Electric Power Plant

61 Capital: Kohima 21. Odisha CM: Naveen Patnaik Governor: S.C. Jamir Capital: Bhubaneshawer 22. Rajasthan CM: Vasundhara Raje Governor: Kalyan Singh Capital: Jaipur 23. Sikkim CM: Pawan Kumar Chamling Governor: Srinivas Patel Capital: Gangtok 24. Tamil Nadu CM: Jayalalithaa Governor: K. Rosaiah Capital: Chennai 25. Tripura CM: Manik Sarkar Governor: Tathagata Roy Capital: Agartala 26. UK CM: Harish Rawat Governor: K.K. Paul Capital: Dehradun 27. WB CM: Mamata Banerjee Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi Capital: Kolkata Bhitarkanika National Park Simlipal National Park Sariska National Park Ranthambore National Park Darrah National Park Desert National Park Keoladeo National Park Khangchendzonga National Park Mudumalai National Park Mukurthi National Park Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) National Park Guindy National Park Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park Bison( Rajbari ) National Park Clouded Leopard National Park Gangotri National Park Jim Corbett National Park Valley of Flowers National Park Buxa National Park Neora Valley National ParkSingalila National Park Sundarbans National Park Badrama WLS Baisipalli WLS Chilika (Nalaban) WLS Hadgarh WLS Khalasuni WLS WLS Satkosia Gorge WLS Bandh Baratha WLS Darrah WLS Jawahar Sagar WLS Kailadevi WLS Mount Abu WLS Ramsagar WLS Sariska WLS Sawai Man Singh WLS Shergarh WLS Sitamata WLS Fambong Lho WLS Kitam WLS (Bird) Maenam WLS Pangolakha WLS Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) WLS Kalakad WLS Karaivetti WLS Karikili WLS Mudumalai WLS Pulicat Lake WLS Vaduvoor WLS Vedanthangal WLS Vettangudi WLS Gumti WLS Rowa WLS Sepahijala WLS Trishna WLS Askot Musk Deer WLS Binsar WLS Govind Pashu Vihar WLS Kedarnath WLS Sonanadi WLS Ballavpur WLS Chintamani Kar Bird Sanctuary Haliday Island WLS Lothian Island WLS Mahananda WLS Talcher Super Thermal Power Station Chhabra Thermal Power Station Suratgarh Power Station Rangit Hydro Electric Power Prject Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Neyveli Thermal Tuticorin Thermal Power Station Palatana Thermal Power Plant Chibro Power Plant Khodri Power Plant Chilla Power Plant Mejia Thermal Power Station Farakka Super Thermal Power Station Kolaghat Thermal Power Station Bakreshwar Thermal Power Station Durgapur Steel Thermal Power Station Dams in India: Tehri Dam: on Bhagirathi River, Uttarakhand Lakhwar Dam on Yamuna river, Uttrakhand Iduuki Arch Dam on Periyar river, Kerala 61 Koyna Dam on Koyana river, Maharshtra Bhakra nangal Dam: on Sutlej River, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Sardar Sarovar Dam: on Narmada River, Gujarat

62 Srisailam dam: on Narmada River, Andhra Pradesh Ranjit Sagar Dam: on Rav river, Punjab Baglihar Dam: on Chenab river, J& K Cheruthoni (Eb) Dam: on Cheruthoni, Kerala Hirakud Dam: on Mahanadi River, Orissa Nagarjuna sagar Dam: on Krishna River, Andhra Pradesh Indira SagarDam: on Narmada River, Madhya Pradesh Ukai Dam: on Tapi river, Gujarat Maithon Dam: on Barakar river, Jharkhand Krishnarajsagar Dam: on kaveri river, Karnataka Mettur Dam: on Kaveri River, Salem district in Tamil Nadu TungaBhadra Dam on Tungabhadra rive, Karnataka Folk dances in India Changu: Odissa and Andhra Pradesh Gair: Rajasthan. Garba, Dandiya Rass: Gujarat Ghoomar: Rajasthan. Karagam: Tamil Nadu. Dumhal: Kashmir. Lavani: Maharashtra Odissi: Orissa Rauf Jammu & Kashmir Nautanki, Thora, Chappeli, Raslila, Kajri - UP Classical dances in India Kathak: Uttar Pradesh. Bihu: Assam Bharat Natyam: Tamil Nadu Kuchipudi: Andhra Pradesh. Kathakali: Kerala. Chhau: Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal Bhangra: Punjab. Khantumm Mizoram Lines b/w Different Countries in the World 1. Durand Line: Pakistan and Afghanistan 2. Mc. Mohan Line: India(Arunachal Pradesh Region) and China 3. Radcliff Line: India and Pakistan 4. Line of Control :It divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. 5. Hidden berg Line: Germany and Poland 6. Maginot Line: France and Germany 7. Older Neisse Line: Germany and Poland 8. Mannerheim Line :Russia and Finland border Siegfried Line : Germany and France th Parallel: North Vietnam and South Vietnam th Parallel : India and Pakistan th Parallel : Australia & South Africa th Parallel: North Korea and South Korea th Parallel: Canada and USA CENSUS 1) The population of the country as per the provisional figures of Census 2011 is million of which million (51.54%) are males and million (48.46%) are females. The major highlights of the Census 2011 (Provisional figures) are as under: *The population of India has increased by more than 181 million during the decade ) %age growth in is 17.64; males and females * is the first decade (with the exception of GREAT DEPRESSION) which has actually added lesser population compared to the previous decade. 3) *Uttar Pradesh (199.5 million) is the most populous State in the country followed by Maharashtra with 112 million. Some of the highlights Slogan - Our census, Our Future India's 1st Census Census is - 15th Census Total Population - 1,21,01,93,422 India's Rank in population - 2nd with 17.5% (1st China with 19%) Most Populous State - Uttar Pradesh Least Populous State - Sikkim Most Literate State - Kerala (93.9%) Least Literate State - Bihar (63.82%) National Sex Ratio - Female : Male (940 : 1000) Highest Sex Ratio (State) - Kerala (1084 : 1000) Lowest Sex Ratio (State) - Haryana Highest Sex Ratio (UT) - Puducherry Least Sex Ratio (UT) - Damn & Dayyu (61 : 1000) Literacy of Male % Literacy of Female % Population Growth Rate % Highest fertility Rate - Meghalaya Most literate union territory - Lakshadweep (92.2%) Least literate Union Territory - Dadra Nagar & Haweli Most Literate District - Serechhip (Mizoram) Least Literate District - Dadra Naga & Haveli Highest Density of Population - Bihar (1102 sq.km) Lowest Density of Population - Arunachal Pradesh (17) Total number of districts Highest Populous District - Thane (Mumbai) 100% Literacy District - Palakkad (Kerala) 100% Banking State - Kerala 100% Banking District - Palakkad (Kerala) Density of Population in India sq. km Increase in population (during ) million List of Latest schemes and apps launched by banks 2015 M visa Electronic Card-less Transactions For Pockets App- Launched By ICICI Bank LIME-Axis Bank Launches, India s First Mobile App Integrating Wallet, Shopping, Payments And Banking Indpay Mobile App -Launched By Indian Bank.

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