Post on 18-May-2020
transcript
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BA/CA Fact Bytes
Contents Business Awareness ............................................................................................................................... 4
Personalities ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Business Appointments - India .................................................................................................. 4
Key Business Positions - India .................................................................................................... 4
International Appointments ...................................................................................................... 5
Key positions held – World Forums ........................................................................................... 6
Business Awards ................................................................................................................................. 8
Global Rankings ................................................................................................................................ 10
Business News .................................................................................................................................. 11
Mergers, Acquisitions, Investments ........................................................................................ 11
New Launches/Initiatives ........................................................................................................ 13
Tie-ups ..................................................................................................................................... 15
Brand Updates ......................................................................................................................... 16
Systems/Apps .......................................................................................................................... 17
General Awareness ............................................................................................................................... 18
Personalities ..................................................................................................................................... 18
Appointments .......................................................................................................................... 18
Non-Business Positions ........................................................................................................... 20
Deaths ...................................................................................................................................... 21
People in News ........................................................................................................................ 22
Book Releases & Authors ................................................................................................................. 24
Sports ................................................................................................................................................ 24
Awards .............................................................................................................................................. 31
Honours ............................................................................................................................................ 40
Government Schemes ...................................................................................................................... 42
Government News ............................................................................................................................ 45
India’s Global Rankings ..................................................................................................................... 52
International News ........................................................................................................................... 55
Important Days ................................................................................................................................. 61
Updates reported from 1 -10 April ....................................................................................................... 65
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Government News ............................................................................................................................ 65
Business News .................................................................................................................................. 65
Personalities ..................................................................................................................................... 66
Awards .............................................................................................................................................. 66
Honours ............................................................................................................................................ 66
International News ........................................................................................................................... 66
Sports ................................................................................................................................................ 67
Updates reported from 11 -18 April ..................................................................................................... 67
Business Appointments – India ........................................................................................................ 67
People in News ................................................................................................................................. 67
Sports ................................................................................................................................................ 67
Book Releases & Authors ................................................................................................................. 67
Awards .............................................................................................................................................. 68
Honours ............................................................................................................................................ 68
Government Schemes ...................................................................................................................... 68
India’s Global Rankings ..................................................................................................................... 68
International News ........................................................................................................................... 68
Updates reported from 18 -24 April ..................................................................................................... 69
Deaths ............................................................................................................................................... 69
People in News ................................................................................................................................. 69
Honours ............................................................................................................................................ 69
Sports ................................................................................................................................................ 69
Business News .................................................................................................................................. 69
Government News ............................................................................................................................ 70
Book Releases & Authors ................................................................................................................. 70
International News ........................................................................................................................... 70
Updates reported from 25 April -10 May ............................................................................................. 71
Appointments – Indian ..................................................................................................................... 71
Deaths ............................................................................................................................................... 71
Awards .............................................................................................................................................. 71
Sports ................................................................................................................................................ 71
Government News ............................................................................................................................ 71
International News ........................................................................................................................... 72
Updates reported from 11- 17 May ..................................................................................................... 72
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Deaths ............................................................................................................................................... 72
Sports ................................................................................................................................................ 72
Government News ............................................................................................................................ 72
Honours ............................................................................................................................................ 73
International News ........................................................................................................................... 73
Updates reported from 18- 31 May ..................................................................................................... 73
Personalities ..................................................................................................................................... 74
Sports ................................................................................................................................................ 73
Government News ............................................................................................................................ 73
Business News .................................................................................................................................. 73
Honours ............................................................................................................................................ 72
International News ........................................................................................................................... 74
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Business Awareness
Personalities Business Appointments - India
Position Personality President, Microsoft India Anant Maheshwari Head, Nokia India Sanjay Malik MD, Facebook India Umang Bedi CEO, Wipro Abidali Neemuchwala Partner & CEO, KPMG India Sameer Chadha MD, Mondelez India Deepak Iyer COO , ITC Limited Sanjiv Puri Chairman, Max Financial Services Naina Lal Kidwai India Country Manager & MD, PayPal
Anupam Pahuja
CEO, AirAsia India Amar Abrol (Replaced Mittu Chandilya) CEO & MD, MCX Mrugank Paranjape MD, SBI Dinesh Kumar Khara Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)
Sushil Chandra (Replaced Rani Singh Nair, who retired on 31 Oct 2016)
Chairman, Press Trust of India Riyadh Mathew Senior VP, Housing.com Dilip Tuli (Former KPMG Director) Chairman, Tata Sons N Chandrasekaran (Replaced Cyrus Mistry) CEO & MD, TCS Rajesh Gopinathan (Replaced N
Chandrasekaran) Chairman, Tata Steel OP Bhatt (Replaced Cyrus Mistry) Chairman, Tata Global Beverages Harish Bhat (Replaced Cyrus Mistry)
Key Business Positions - India
Entity Personality NITI Aayog CEO – Amitabh Kant
Vice Chairman - Arvind Panagariya Chief Economic advisor to the govt Arvind Subramanian Chairman, 7th pay commission Justice A K Mathur Chairman, 14th Finance Commission Y V Reddy Minister of Commerce & Industries Nirmala Seetharaman Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das
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Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha SEBI chief Ajay Tyagi (Replaced Upendra Sinha) CII chief Dr. Naushad Forbes FICCI chief Pankaj Patel (Replaced Harshavardhan
Neotia) NASSCOM chief President – R. Chandrasekhar
Chairman – C P Gurnani ASSOCHAM chief Sunil Kanoria BSE chief Chairman – Sudhakar Rao Banks & Financial Institutions
Entity Personality SBI Arundhati Bhattacharya (Chairman) ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar (MD & CEO) HDFC Bank Aditya Puri (MD) Yes Bank Rana Kapoor (MD & CEO) Standard Chartered India Zarin Daruwala (CEO) Exim Bank Yaduvendra Mathur (CMD) International Appointments
Personality Narration Theresa May Replaced David Cameron as the British Prime Minister,
post Britain’s EU exit Pushpa Kamal Dahal (“Prachand”)
Replaced K P Oli as the Prime Minister of Nepal
Tsai Ing-wen First female president of Taiwan Rodrigo Duterte Won 2016 presidential election of Philippines Paul Romer World Bank's new chief economist Kristalina Georgieva CEO of IBRD & IDA - Lending arms of the World Bank
(Replaces Mulyani Indrawati, current MD & COO) Shashank Manohar First independent Chairman of the ICC. He stepped
down in March 2017 Sunil Bharti Mittal 1. Head of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC),
based in Paris, France 2. First Indian to be elected as the Chairman of global
telecom industry board GSMA. He will oversee the strategic direction of the organisation, which represents nearly 800 global mobile operators & 300+ companies in the broader mobile ecosystem
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Ken Miyauchi President & COO of SoftBank Group (Replaced Nikesh Arora)
Borje Ekholm President & CEO of Ericsson (Replaced Hans Vestberg who was ousted earlier)
Navtej Sarna Indian ambassador to the US Anne Hathaway UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador Ulf Mark Schneider New CEO of Nestle (Worldwide) Toshihiro Suzuki New CEO of Suzuki Motors Donald Trump New President Elect of the US. The Republican
candidate won a fiercely fought electoral competition against the nearest rival Hillary Clinton
Mariano Rajoy Re-elected as Spanish Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni Italian Prime Minister (Replaces Matteo Renzi) Bill English New Zealand Prime Minister (Replaced John Key) Meng Hongwei First Chinese appointed as the Interpol head. He is
currently the deputy public security minister of China France’s Jean-Pierre Lacroix
Appointed as the UN peacekeeping chief (Replaced Herve Ladsous, who served for six years)
Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman
Appointed as the only Indian-American executive in US President's Strategic and Policy Forum
Key positions held – World Forums
Organization (Established in)
HQ Headed by 2016 convention
United Nations (1945)
New York Secretary General – Antonio Guterres
Multiple conventions
UN General Assembly
New York President - Peter Thomson
71st session, New York (Sep 2016)
International Court of Justice (1945)
Netherlands Ronny Abraham ___
World Bank (1945)
Washington D.C
President - Jim Yong Kim
World Bank Group Youth Summit, Washington DC (Nov 2016)
IMF (1945) Washington D.C
MD - Christine Lagarde
Annual Meetings, Washington (Oct 2016)
UNESCO (1945) Paris, France Director-General - Irina Bokova
World Humanitarian Summit, Istanbul (May 2016) – Organized by
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German Ethics Council, WHO & UNESCO
UNCTAD (1964) Geneva, Switzerland
Secretary General - Mukhisa Kituyi
14th Summit, Kenya (July 2016)
World Economic Forum (1971)
Geneva, Switzerland
Executive Chairman - Klaus Schwab
Davos, Switzerland (January 2017)
Commonwealth of Nations (1949)
London, UK Secretary General - Patricia Scotland
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World Intellectual Property Organization (1967)
Geneva, Switzerland
Director-General - Francis Gurry
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New Development Bank (2015)
Shanghai, China
K V Kamath 8th BRICS Heads of State Summit, Goa (October 2016)
BRICS (2009) Shanghai, China
---- Youth summit, Guwahati (July 2016) First ever BRICS Employment Working Group meeting, Hyderabad (July 2016)
BIMSTEC (1997) Dhaka, Bangladesh
Secretary General - Sumith Nakandala (Sri Lanka)
Goa (October 2016)
WHO (1948) Geneva, Switzerland
Director General - Margaret Chan
11th Global Summit of National Ethics/Bioethics Committees, Berlin (March 2016)
ASEAN Summit (1967)
Jakarta, Indonesia
Secretary General - Le Luong Minh
28th & 29th Summits, Laos (Sept 2016) 11th East Asia summit & 14th ASEAN-India summits happened during same window
UNICEF (1946) New York Exec Director - Anthony (Tony) Lake
UNICEF Student Summit, Washington DC (April 2016)
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OPEC (1960) Vienna, Austria
Secretary General - Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo (Nigeria)
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NATO (1949) Brussels Secretary General - Jens Stoltenberg
27th Summit, Poland ( July 2016)
SAARC (1985) Kathmandu Secretary General - Amjad Hussain B. Sial (Pakistan)
19th Summit to be held in Pakistan was indefinitely postponed
NAM (1961) Jakarta Secretary General - Nicolás Maduro
17th NAM summit. Venezuela, Sep 2016
G7/G8 (1976) ---- ---- 42nd Summit, Japan (May 2016)
G20 (1999) Mexico Xi Jinping China (Sept 2016) SCO (2001) Beijing Secretary General
– Rashid Olimov Tashkent, Uzbekistan
International Maritime Organization (1948)
London, UK Secretary General - Ki Tack Lim (South Korea)
India maritime summit - Mumbai
International Labour Organization (1919)
Geneva, Switzerland
Director General – Guy Ryder (UK)
___
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum (1989)
Singapore Executive Director - Alan Bollard
Peru (Nov 2016). Summit theme - “Quality Growth and Human Development”
Business Awards Business Awards Awardees Achievement
Forbes India Leadership Awards
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm)
Outstanding Start-up
Vinita Gupta & Nilesh Gupta (Lupin)
Entrepreneur for the Year
Yusuf K Hamied (Cipla) Lifetime Achievement Award Kenichi Ayukawa (Maruti Suzuki India)
Best CEO - Multinational Company
Sutirtha Bhattacharya (Coal India)
Best CEO - Public Sector
KBS Anand (Asian Paints) Best CEO - Private Sector
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Golden Peacock Awards
Awardees Sector
1. Global Awards for Excellence in corporate governance
Doha Bank, Qatar Financial Sector Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, UAE
Government
Infosys Limited, India IT IRPC Public Company Limited, Thailand
Petroleum
Qualcomm Incorporated, US Telecom Equipment Levi Strauss & Co, US Textile & Apparel
2. Excellence in corporate governance (Indian companies)
Exide Industries Limited Engineering Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited
Financial Sector (NBFC)
The New India Assurance Company Limited
Insurance (General)
Max Life Insurance Company Limited
Insurance (Life)
TCS IT ONGC Oil Lupin Limited Pharma Goodyear India Limited Rubber Steel Authority Of India Limited
Steel
Bharti Airtel Limited Telecom
Other Awards Awardees Details Niryat Shree (Exporters) – 46 awardees
Reliance Industry - Top foreign exchange earner & leading exporter for 50+ years Offered by Federation
of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO)
TCS - Gold Award Niryat Bandhu (Export promotion Councils & Banks) – 6 awardees
SBI – Gold Canara Bank – Silver PNB – Bronze
CNBC’s 15th Asia Business Leader Awards
Achal Agarwal President of Kimberly-Clark Asia Pacific
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Global Rankings Forbes’ Rankings
2016 Personality Role (Rank)
World’s most powerful women
Angela Merkel German Chancellor Hilary Clinton Presidential Candidate, the
US Janet Yellen Chairman, Federal Reserve Melinda Gates Philanthropist Marry Bara CEO, General Motors Christine Lagarde MD, IMF Sheryl Sandberg Facebook COO Susan Wojcicki CEO, YouTube Meg Whitman CEO, HP Ana Patricia Botín Chairman, Banco Santander
Forbes List of world’s 100 most powerful women – Indian names
Arundhati Bhattacharya
PepsiCo Head (14)
Chanda Kochhar SBI MD (25) Indra Nooyi ICICI MD (40) Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Biocon Founder (77) Shobhana Bhartia HT Media head (93)
Forbes “Asia 50 Power Businesswomen” list – Top 2 positions
Nita Ambani Director, Reliance Industries Arundhati Bhattacharya Chairman, SBI
Forbes list of 40 of the most powerful people in the financial world
Uday Kotak (The only Indian in the list)
MD & Vice Chairman, Kotak Mahindra Bank
Forbes 2016 India Richest List
Mukesh Ambani Reliance Industries Dilip Sanghvi Sun Pharma Azim Premji Wipro Hinduja Brothers The Hinduja Group Pallaonji Mistry Shapoorji Pallonji Group
Forbes 2016 list of the World’s highest paid actresses
Deepika Padukone Ranked No. 10 in the list
Forbes 2016 World’s Most Powerful People
Mr. Vladimir Putin Russian President (1) Mr. Donald Trump US President (2) Mr. Narendra Modi Prime Minister(9)
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Companies/Entities Details Fortune 500 list – Indian companies
Indian Oil Corp (161) Reliance Ind. (215) Tata Motors (226) SBI (232)
Bharat Petroleum (358) Hindustan Petroleum (367) Rajesh Exports (423)
Forbes 6th annual ranking of The World’s Most Innovative Companies
Asian Paints is globally ranked 18th. It is the highest ranked Indian firm
Forbes’ best countries for business
Ranks 1-5 Ranks 6-10 Sweden Denmark New Zealand Netherlands Hong Kong Finland Ireland Norway UK Canada
TIME Magazine Rankings
Person Profile
TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year 2016
Donald Trump The US President
TIME Magazine’s 2016 list of world's most influential people -
Indian entries
Name Category Profile Priyanka Chopra Artist Actress Sunder Pichai Titans Google CEO
Binny & Sachin Bansal
Titans Flipkart co-founders
Raghuram Rajan Leader Ex-RBI Governor
Sania Mirza Icons Tennis player Business News Mergers, Acquisitions, Investments
News Narration Microsoft acquired LinkedIn
Microsoft hopes to jump-start software packages by connecting them with LinkedIn's vast network
Henkel bought Sun Products
Sun Products gives Henkel scale to take on P&G in the highly competitive and shrinking US detergents market, helping to offset heavy discounting by retailers
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Snapdeal acquired Insightful Labs
Insightful Labs operates a data analytics provider ‘Targeting Mantra’, to improve personalised shopping experience for customers
Tech Mahindra bought Target Group
Tech M will strengthen presence in the banking and financial services space
Tata Power acquired Welspun Energy’s renewable assets
Agreement to buy company’s 1.1 GW renewable portfolio for Rs 10000 Cr would be the largest solar M&A in the country
Myntra acquired Jabong Myntra, a Flipkart Group company acquired Jabong from Global Fashion Group (GFG) for $70 million
Titan, Tata Group’s watch and jewellery retailing firm
Bought a majority stake in India’s largest jewellery e-tailer Caratlane.com
Tata Communications sold data centre business
Tatas sold a majority stake in this business to Singapore Technologies Telemedia
Verizon bought Yahoo’s internet biz for $4.83 billion cash deal
The deal adds Yahoo’s consumer services, i.e. search, news, finance, sports, video, email and the Tumblr social network to a portfolio that includes AOL & popular sites like The Huffington Post
Pfizer bought Medivation Medivation, a biotech company that makes an important cancer drug was bought for $14 billion
German giant Bayer bought Monsanto
$66Bn deal will create the world's biggest seeds and pesticides company
Marriott International bought Starwood Hotels and Resorts
The deal worth $13 billion has made Marriott the world’s largest hotel company
Reliance Communication & Aircel merged wireless business
The biggest consolidation deal in India's telecom sector will to create a combined entity with assets worth Rs. 65,000 crore
IDFC acquired Grama Vidiyal microfinance
It is the first time an Indian bank has acquired a microfinance institution & the deal (Estimated at Rs 300 crore) will lead to a 20-fold surge in IDFC Bank's customer base to more than a million
Zee Entertainment sold Ten Sports to Sony Pictures for Rs 2,600 crore
Deal raises SPN's sports profile & puts it on equal footing with 21st Century Fox-owned Star India
Nissan sealed $2.3 Billion Mitsubishi Motors stake Acquisition
Nissan came to the rescue after Mitsubishi Motors’ admissions to improperly measuring fuel economy and manipulating test data
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Dish TV & Videocon D2H merged operations to form subscriber base to 27.6 million
Dish TV will own 55% stake & Videocon will have remaining 45% in the combined entity, named ‘Dish TV Videocon Limited’
Reliance Capital sold 49% of FM radio (92.7 Big FM) & 100% television business to Zee Media
Both transactions are valued at Rs 1900 Cr. Reliance’s TV channels (Big Magic, Big Ganga etc) will merge into Zee entertainment
AT&T bought Time Warner for $85.4 Billion
The combined business would pair carrier’s millions of wireless & pay-television subscribers with Time Warner’s deep media line-up, that includes networks such as CNN, TNT, HBO channel & Warner Bros. film and TV studio
ZEE bought UAE's oldest radio station ‘Hum 106.2 FM’
Hum is the UAE’s first Hindi and Urdu film and music radio station
Walmart acquired Jet.com for $3 billion
Acquisition will build on & complement existing foundation to serve customers across Walmart app, site and stores
French auto maker Peugeot bought Ambassador Car brand for $12 million
Hindustan Motors, India’s oldest car maker, owned by C K Birla group had stopped production of the Ambassador in 2014 citing debt & lack of demand for the vehicle. The car was muscled out over the years by the entry of more modern vehicles
Idea Cellular & Vodafone merger will create India’s largest Telco, both in revenues and subscribers
Vodafone will hold 45% in the combined entity. Idea promoters will hold a 26%. Aditya Birla Group will have the right to buy 9.5% stake
New Launches/Initiatives
News Narration DCB Bank started first ADHAAR based ATM
A customer can transact using his biometric details instead of PIN
Axis Bank launched India’s first certified green bond at London Stock Exchange
The bond certified by the Climate Bonds Standards Board, raised USD 500 million. It is the first green bond for Axis Bank within USD 5 billion Medium Term Note (MTN) programme
India’s first Centre of Excellence (CoE) on
It is a joint initiative between Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DEITY),
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Internet of Things in Bangalore
Education & Research Network (ERNET) & NASSCOM. It is supported by strategic IT services partners
Reliance Jio launched 4G Announces free voice calls, no roaming charges & Rs 50 per GB, Rs 149 a month for light data users
Ashok Leyland launched ‘Circuit’, India’s first all electric bus
With a seating capacity for 31 passengers, it can travel for 120 km on a single charge
SBI floated Rs 200 Cr worth IT Innovation Start-up Fund
It will consider assistance of up to Rs. 3 crore to a firm registered in India to promote business innovations
Amazon launched global start-up program ‘Launchpad’ in India
The program will enable Indian start-ups to sell products overseas. Amazon India has tied up with Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP)’s Start Up India and NASSCOM. Launchpad is available in seven regions & features over 400 products from different start ups including 25 Indian start ups
Paytm got RBI approval to launch payments bank
Paytm also announced integration of the UPI as a payments channel to recharge its wallet balance. This means that one could theoretically recharge one’s Paytm Wallet with the BHIM app
WhatsApp launched video calling facility
WhatsApp is lately catching up with a number of rivals, including Facebook’s own Messenger app, for example, as well as Skype, Apple’s FaceTime, Viber, LINE and Google’s recently launched Duo
Airtel launched first payments bank pilot in Rajasthan
It is offering the highest ever savings bank interest rate of 7.25%. Kotak Bank has 20% stake on Airtel Payments Bank
Microsoft launched India’s first Cyber security Engagement Centre at Delhi
Center will foster deeper cyber security collaborations with public & private sector organisations. It will help to build a trusted & secure computing environment, a critical enabler for India’s digital transformation
Google launched two new initiatives ‘My Business Website’ and ‘Digital Unlocked’ for SMBs
Intent is to train & help SMBs to capitalise on the digitisation wave faster • My Business Website – Free websites & web
tools • Digital Unlocked - Digital skills to enable SMBs to
get online and connect to customers
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Tata Motors launched pick-up vehicle ‘Tata Xenon Yodha’, with Akshay Kumar as brand ambassador
With a competitive price starting at Rs.6 lakhs, the model delivers high power & torque, for varied business requirements, for ease of day-to-day operations. It is available in single & double cab options
The first Digi Dhan mela held in Gurugram
This was first such fair since demonetisation for educating masses on how to use mobile phones or AADHAAR for making payments online
HDFC Bank to launch humanoid robot at reception
The bank showcased human-sized robot ‘Ira’, developed in association with Kochi-based Asimov Robotics
‘Samsung Pay’, mobile payment wallet will be launched soon
Samsung has partnered with Amex & is exploring opportunities with Visa & MasterCard
IDFC is the first bank to launch biometric based payment system through ‘Aadhaar Pay’ app
The bank aims to onboard between 50,000-75,000 merchants to Aadhaar pay module in the next 2 years with a total target of touching 1,00,000 merchants over the next 3 years
Tie-ups
News Narration Apple, Cisco Collaborate on Technology Integration
Plans will facilitate integration of Cisco's Spark business collaboration service with iPhones to offer enterprise customers a better calling experience over Internet
Google will provide Wi-Fi access to 400 railway stations
Mumbai Central was the first Wi-Fi enabled station in India under ‘Project Nilgiri’
Nasscom & Facebook collaborate to support 500 product Start-ups in India
Flagship programme ‘Product Design Initiative’ aims to build awareness around product design, training on design tools, design lab, awards, design sprints and mentorship
Mahindra joins EP100 campaign to double energy productivity
The world’s largest manufacturer of tractors has committed to doubling energy productivity by 2030
State Bank ties up with IIT Powai MoU will enable in mentoring start-ups in financial sector. SBI now has a Rs 200 crore fund the same
Ola ties up with Bajaj Allianz for motor insurance
Drivers will have access to value added services & add on covers like Depreciation
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Shield & Engine Protector from Bajaj Allianz Ola, Yatra join hands for cab booking interface integration
Through this integration, users will be able to book a ride directly through Yatra.com’s app without having Ola application installed on their devices
BSNL & Microsoft India sign MoU to offer telecom & IT solutions
The MoU will help meet demand for IT & cloud services, as well as audio and video needs of BSNL's enterprise customers including government organizations
Oracle India, SBI join hands for digital skills initiative
‘D-Change’ programme will support education & learning, women’s empowerment and rural skills development in the country through an initiative called “Digital Kushalta ki Aur.”
Google India, Ministry of Consumer Affairs tie up for ‘Digitally Safe Consumer’ campaign
The campaign will reach out with training materials to over 1,200 consumer organisations & consumer affairs department of every state/UT
Japanese funding agency JICA signs pact for Mumbai-Ahmadabad bullet train project
Estimated to cost about Rs 97,636 crore, 81% funding for project will come as a loan from Japan as per tripartite agreement with Railway Ministry & National High Speed Rail Corporation
Reliance Defence signs warship repair pact with US Navy
The deal for undertaking service, maintenance & repair of Seventh Fleet of US Navy at the Pipavav Shipyard in Gujarat may generate Rs 15,000 crore over 3-5 yrs
Brand Updates
News Narration Mysore Sandal Soap celebrates centenary in 2016
Owned by KSDL, it was established by Sir M Visvesvaraya in 1916
Bharti Airtel M-Commerce services got first ‘payment bank license’
Payment banks will offer differentiated services to small savings accounts, remittance services, low income households, small businesses & other unorganised sector entities
Interbrand released World's Best Global Brands Report 2016
Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Toyota, IBM, Samsung, Amazon, Mercedes-Benz, GE
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Hyundai Motor recalled 7,657 units of Eon for inspection
Eon customers of respective period will be notified in a phased manner for inspection of the clutch cable fouling with battery cable and replace the battery cable if found damaged at no cost to customer
Competition appellate tribunal (Compat) penalised Ford, Nissan, Toyota for unfair trade practices in spare parts
Automakers have been penalised 2% of turnover in the spare parts market. Compat has given directions to create a level playing field in after sales service
Systems/Apps
Name Launching Entity
Narration
Allo app Google A smart messaging app MySpeed app TRAI Measures real time mobile internet
speed that customers get BBPS, Bharat Bill Payment System
NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India)
Mandated by RBI, BBPS will cover repetitive payments for everyday utility services like electricity, water, gas, telephone & DTH
SmartUp app HDFC Bank Dedicated banking solution for start-ups
Vidyut Pravah app Ministry of Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy
The app provides highlights of the power availability in the country on real time basis
TARANG Mobile App, e-Trans & DEEP e-bidding web portals
The initiatives are in line with Digital India initiative & primarily seek to enhance transparency in power sector
‘Sachet’ portal RBI It will be helpful for the regulators in quick follow up of the unlawful money collection activities
“e-pashuhaat” portal Ministry of Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
Launched under the scheme National Mission on Bovine Productivity, the portal will be used to connect breeders and farmers regarding availability of bovine germplasm
Grievance Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA)
Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA)
It intends to address the problem of misleading advertisements
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‘Launchpad’ programme for Indian start-ups to sell products in global markets
Amazon For a fee of Rs 5,000 a month, start-ups can access Amazon’s seller support services such as account management, marketing and warehouse management etc
Adhaar based mobile payment application BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money)
National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)
The app is rebranded version of UPI (Unified Payment Interface) & USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) for simpler digital payments
Mobile app ‘Easypay’ to facilitate cashless payments
ICICI Bank The app offers improved payment convenience using mobile phone through UPI, any credit/debit card & Internet banking and ‘Pockets’, digital wallet of ICICI Bank
General Awareness
Personalities Appointments (a) Union Cabinet portfolio Personality
HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar (Replaced Smriti Irani) Sports Minister Vijay Goel (Replaced Sarbananda Sonowal) Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Information & Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu
(b) Chief Ministers
Personality
Jammu & Kashmir
Mehbooba Mufti (First woman CM of the state) post Mr Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s demise
Gujarat Vijay Rupani (BJP) replaced Anandiben Patel Arunachal Pradesh
Pema Khandu (Replaced Nabam Tuki after Supreme court re-instated Congress government in the state) CM Pema Khandu & 32 other legislators of People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) switched to BJP (Jan 2017) CM Pema Khandu along with two-thirds of party MLAs crossed over to regional People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA)
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Assam Sarbananda Sonowal (BJP) - Post assembly elections Tamil Nadu Edappadi K Palaniswami (Replaced O Paneerselvam, who had
taken over as CM post Jayalalithaa’s demise) West Bengal Mamata Banerjee (TMC), re-elected as CM - Post assembly
elections Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M) - Post assembly elections Nagaland Shurhozelie Liezietsu (Post resignation of T.R. Zeliang) Manipur Biren Singh (BJP) post Assembly elections 2017 Goa Manohar Parrikar (BJP) post assembly elections 2017. He
resigned from Union cabinet as the Defence Minister Punjab Capt. Amarinder Singh (Cong) post assembly elections 2017 Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath (BJP) post assembly elections in 2017 Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat (BJP) post assembly elections in 2017
(c) Governor/ Lieutenant Gov Personality Governor – Pondicherry Kiran Bedi Chief Minister – Pondicherry V Narayanasamy Andaman Nicobar islands Jagdish Mukhi Manipur Najma Heptulla Arunachal Pradesh V Shanmuganathan (Replaced Jyoti Prasad
Rajkhowa, who was removed from position post his refusal to step down). Later, Nagaland governor PB Acharya took additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh post resignation of V Shanmuganathan
Delhi Anil Baijal
(d) Government Bodies Personality RBI Governor Urjit Patel (Replaced Raghuram Rajan) RBI Deputy Governor NS Vishwanathan (Replaced Urjit Patel) RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya, known for his research in
theoretical & empirical analysis of systemic risks of the financial sector
RBI Deputy Governor Bibhu Prasad Kanungo Principal Adviser for social sector in NITI Aayog
Ratan Watal
Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa (Replaced Ratan Watal) Chairman (Part time), UIDAI J Satyanarayana (Succeeds Nandan Nilekani)
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CEO, UIDAI Ajay Bhushan Pandey (New position) Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)
Justice Permod Kohli
CMD, Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL)
Sanjay Gupta, the youngest CMD of KRCL
Chairman, LIC of India V K Sharma (MD & Acting Chairman earlier)
(e) Others Personality Director, FTII Bhupendra Kainthola Chairman, Press Trust of India Riyadh Mathew
(f) Sports Personality Coach of Indian cricket team Anil Kumble Coach of Indian U-19 cricket team
Rahul Dravid
BCCI President – Vinod Rai (Replaced Anurag Thakur) CEO – Rahul Johri (New position)
IPL governing council 2016 Chairman – Rajeev Shukla Non-Business Positions
Government/Defence Personality National Human Rights Commission of India
Justice H.L. Dattu
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi Chief Information Commissioner
Radha Krishna Mathur
National Security advisor to the Prime Minister
Ajit Doval
Chief, RAW Anil Dhasmana (Following incumbent Rajinder Khanna’s retirement)
Chief, Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain (Following incumbent Dineshwar Sharma’s retirement)
Director, CBI Alok Kumar Verma Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Bipin Rawat (Replaced Dalbir Singh) Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba (Replaced Admiral Robin
Dhowan) Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa (Replaced Mr Arul
Saha)
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Science Related Bodies (Establishment year)
Name
TIFR (1945) Sandip Trivedi BARC (1954) Director - K N Vyas Atomic Energy Commission of India
Chairman – Sekhar Basu
ISRO (1969) A S Kirankumar DRDO (1958) Director General - S Christopher National Green Tribunal (2010) Justice Swatanter Kumar Deaths
Name Narration Muhammad Ali (International Boxer)
Earlier name – Cassius Clay
Hanif Mohammad (Pakistani Cricketer)
First cricketer referred to as “Little Master”
Arnold Palmer (American Golfer) Called ‘The King of Modern Golf’ Neil O'Brien – Known as “Father of Indian quizzing”
Former Lok Sabha MP & three-time nominated Anglo-Indian MLA in the West Bengal assembly
Mahasweta Devi (Indian writer) Bengali fiction writer and social activist Notable literary works - Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudali, Murti and Aranyer Adhikar
Mohammed Shahid (Hockey Player)
Member of 1980 Olympic Gold Medal winning Indian team, famous for dribbling skills. Winner of Arjuna Award & Padma Shri
Nida Fazli (Urdu/Hindi poet/lyricist)
Padma Shri awardee (2013) for contribution to literature
Satyanand Munjal (Hero Group) One of the co-founders of Hero Group Xerxes Desai (Titan) Founder & first MD, Titan Industries Shimon Peres (Ex-Israeli President) He had won Nobel Prize for forging a peace
deal between Israelis and Palestinians Sellapan Ramanathan (Ex-Singaporean President)
He was the longest serving President from 1999-2011
M. Balamurali Krishna, Carnatic vocalist
Padma Vibhushan awardee
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Fidel Castro (Cuba’s longest serving former president & the leader of Communist revolution)
Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost 50 years
J. Jayalalithaa, hugely popular actress-turned-politician
Was the youngest female chief minister of Tamil Nadu & influenced regional politics for several decades
Srinivasa Iyer ‘Cho’ Ramaswamy, the editor, political satirist & actor
Nominated Rajya Sabha member (1999-2005), Founder & Editor of ‘Thuglak’, the Tamil language weekly news magazine
Om Puri, veteran bollywood and stage actor
An alumnus of FTII & National School of Drama, he acted in multiple art & commercial films like Bhavni Bhavai (1980), Sadgati (1981), Ardh Satya (1982), Mirch Masala (1986) and Dharavi (1992)
Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan, renowned sitar player
Recipient of national awards Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan & Sangeet Natak Akademi Award was the last survivor of the 'Sitar Trinity' of India (Others being Pt. Ravi Shankar & Pt. Vilayat Khan)
People in News
Name Narration Irom Sharmila (Manipur), Political Activist
Ended 16 years of hunger strike against Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 passed by Indian Government, which gives excess powers to the armed forces, which they supposedly misuse against the innocent
Arjun Kumar Thapa, soldier of Gorkha Regiment of Indian Army
Became the first Indian to reach both Mount Everest peak and South pole
Mario Sharapova, Russian tennis player
Was suspended for playing Tennis for two years by International Tennis Federation, since she tested positive for meldonium, a performance enhancer drug banned by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
Perumal Murugan, a Tamil author
The Madras high court dismissed all criminal cases filed against the author by caste groups in protest against his controversial 2010 novel ‘Mathorubhagan’
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Navjot Sidhu, a politician Resigned from Rajya Sabha as a BJP MP, joined National Congress party
Lionel Messi, the footballer Announced retirement after Argentina’s defeat in Cola America finals, but reversed his decision
First batch of female pilots in IAF
Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth & Mohana Singh were inducted in Indian Air Force fighter squadron
Neeraj Chopra, a Javelin thrower
Broke the world record in IAAF World under-20 athletics championship in Poland, got India’s first ever gold in any World athletics championship
Saina Nehwal, the badminton player
Appointed as a member of IOC Athletes’ Commission. The Athletes’ Commission is chaired by Angela Ruggiero and it comprises nine vice presidents and 10 other members
Pawan Chamling, Sikkim CM Won sustainable development award for making Sikkim the first organic farming state in the country
Heena Sidhu, former world number one sport shooter
She pulled out of Asian Air Gun shooting championship in Iran, due to compulsory hijab rule for women athletes. She felt forcing athletes to wear a hijab is against the spirit of a sport
S P Tyagi arrested in Augusta Westland chopper deal case
It is the first time a Former Indian Air Force chief has been arrested by CBI
Supreme Court removes Anurag Thakur as BCCI President
SC also issued a show cause notice to Thakur, under charges of perjury and contempt of court, for allegedly lying under oath in his attempt to block implementation of measures proposed by the court-appointed Lodha committee
Sasikala Natarajan sent on four-year jail term, in connection with disproportionate assets case
She was elected as AIADMK General Secretary, post J Jayalalithaa’s demise
Sudip Bandopadhyay, TMC leader arrested in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case
CBI took Sudip in custody with allegations of involvement in dubious funds scam & non-cooperation with investigators. According to CBI, he was arrested on the charge of “criminal conspiracy”
Harmanpreet Kaur is the first India Women's cricketer to be signed by an overseas
Australian franchise ‘Sydney Thunder’ signed her up for 2nd edition of Australian T20 league
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T20 franchise Yusuf Pathan set to become first Indian to play in overseas franchise T20
Pathan signed deal with Kowloon Cantons for the 2nd edition of the Hong Kong Twenty20 League after getting NOC from BCCI & Baroda Cricket Association
Ex-CBI director Ranjit Sinha to be probed regarding Coal scam
Supreme Court ordered CBI to probe the allegation of misuse of power by former CBI director Ranjit Sinha in coal block allocation scam
CBI books former chief AP Singh along with Moin Qureshi in a case registered to probe alleged corruption
Moin Akhtar Qureshi, who is also under probe by the IT department and the Enforcement Directorate, is accused of operating as a middleman for several public servants including AP Singh
Book Releases & Authors Author Book
Chetan Bhagat One Indian Girl (Fiction) Margaret Alva Courage & Commitment (Autobiography) Sania Mirza “Ace Against Odds’ is released (Autobiography) Chris Gayle “Six Machine: I Don't Like Cricket ... I Love It”
released (Autobiography) Ashwin Sanghi The Sialkot Saga Vinay Sitapati Half - Lion: How P.V Narasimha Rao
Transformed India Surendra Kumar Modi’s Midas Touch in Foreign Policy Shashi Tharoor An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India Ruskin Bond Death Under the Deodars Arundhati Roy (Ex-Booker prize winner)
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (Release due in June 2017)
Valmik Thapar Living with tigers Sunita Narain State of India’s Environment 2017 Jerry Pinto A Book of Light: When a Loved One Has a
Different Mind
Sports Rio Summer Olympics 2016 Superlatives First time participants as independent countries - Kosovo & South Sudan First time inclusion of a sport – Golf & Rugby Sevens First South American city to host the Summer Olympics
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First Indian female IOC member – Nita Ambani Official sponsor of the Indian contingent - Amul Also characterised by: Sustainable medals using recycled material Safety concerns surrounding the Zika virus (Spread by Aedes mosquito) Refugee Olympic Teams (From Syria, Kenya etc) & Independent Olympic Athletes Kuwait) IOC President – Thomas Bach Theme - World Peace And Environment Mascot – Vinicius - Represents Brazilian wildlife, combining aspects of cats, monkeys, and birds Medal standings The USA - 121 medals (46 G, 37 S, 38 B) Great Britain – 67 Medals (27 G, 23 S, 17 B) China – 70 Medals (26 G, 18 S, 26 B)
Key performances Country Achievement Michael Phelps (Swimming), highest number of individual Olympics medals
United States
25+ Olympics medals till date
Usain Bolt (Sprint), the 3*3 record holder
Jamaica Three sprinting gold medals in three consecutive Olympics (100m, 200m, 4*100m relay). Also a World record holder in 100m & 200m
Elaine Thompson (Sprint), the fastest woman in the world
Jamaica Completed 100m race in 10.71 sec
Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez (Tennis)
Spain They beat Romania’s Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau
P V Sindhu (Badminton) India The lone Indian silver medallist Sakshi Malik (Wrestling) India The lone Indian bronze medallist Dipa Karmakar (Gymnastics) India First Indian female gymnast to
participate in Olympics & finished at 4th position in Women's Vault Gymnastics
Lalita Babar, the first Indian woman athlete in 32 years to
India Finished 10th in 3,000m steeplechase
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make it to a track final at the Olympics India has won total 28 medals at Olympics till date • Field Hockey – 11 • Wrestling – 5 • Shooting – 4 • Athletics, Badminton, Boxing – 2 each • Tennis, Weightlifting – 1 each Para Olympics 2016 Mascot – Tom (Represents Brazilian wild life)
Indian Medallists Achievement Mariyappan Thangavelu Gold medal, Men's high jump Devendra Jhajhariya Gold medal, Javelin (First gold in Athens, 2004) Deepa Malik Silver medal, Shot-put (First Indian woman
medallist) Varun Singh Bhati Bronze medal, men’s high jump 12th South East Federation (SAF) Games Venue Guwahati & Shilong, India Dates 5-16 Feb 2016 Mascot Tikhor the baby Rhino Medal standings India 188 G, 90 S, 30 B, Total Medals – 308
Sri Lanka 25G, 63 S, 98 B, Total Medals – 186 Pakistan – 12 G, 37 S, 57 B, Total Medals - 106
Individual Sports
Football/Futsal Location Highlights UEFA European Championship 2016
France Portugal beats France (1-0) in the finals in Extra time
Copa America Centenario 2016 (Started in 1916)
The US (A celebration of the centenary)
• Held for the first time outside Latin America
• Chile beats Argentina in the finals & defends the title (4-2 in a penalty shootout)
• Chile Became the fourth nation to win consecutive titles
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2016 Premier Futsal season
Goa & Chennai
Mumbai 5s beat Kochi 5s in finals Best player - Chaguinha (Kochi)
71st Santosh Trophy Football Championship
Kerala West Bengal beat Goa 1-0 in finals to clinch 32nd championship title
Boxing Location Winners WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight championship
New Delhi Vijender Singh beat Australian Kerry Hope
Tennis Location Winners Australian Open 2017
Melbourne Men’s Singles - Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal in a 5-set match (Won 18th Grand Slam title) Women’s Singles - Serena Williams beat Venus Williams to win her record 23rd Grand Slam, one short of Margaret Court's long-standing record of 24
130th Wimbledon 2016
London Men’s Singles - Andy Murray (Beats Milos Raonic) Women’s Singles - Serena Williams beats (Beats Angelique Kerber)
115th French Open 2016
Paris Men’s Singles - Novak Djokovic (Beats Andy Murray) Women’s Singles - Garbine Muguruza (Beats Serena Williams) Mixed Doubles - Leander Paes-Martina Hingis (Beats Sania Mirza-Ivan Dodig)
136th US Open 2016 New York Men’s Singles - Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) Women’s Singles - Angelique Kerber (Germany)
ATP World Tour 2016 London Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic to win his first ATP tour & ends 2016 as the World Number one in ranking
Davis Cup 2016 (105th edition)
International Tennis Federation
Described as ‘World cup of tennis’, the tournament between national teams in men's tennis was won by Argentina for the
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(ITF) member countries
first time, after 4 runner-up finishes, defeating Croatia in the final
Golf Location Winners Ladies European Tour
Gurgaon Aditi Ashok became the first Indian woman to win on European Tour title
Kids Golf World Championship
Malaysia Arjun Bhati defeated South Africa's Methu Denish during the three-level final match, scoring 2 extra shots
Squash Location Winners PSA Australian Open Melbourne Dipika Pallikal Karthik beat Mayar Hany
(Egypt) 26th National Squash championship
Mumbai Men’s singles - Saurav Ghosal Women’s singles - Dipika Pallikal Karthik
Under-19 Asian junior individual squash championship
Kuala Lumpur
Velavan Senthilkumar beat Mohammad Al Sarraj of Jordan
Shooting Location Winners International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup
New Delhi Pooja Ghatkar - Bronze medal in 10m air rifle event Ankur Mittal - Silver medal in men’s double trap event Jitu Rai, Heena Sidhu - Gold medal in mixed team 10m rifle event Jitu Rai - Gold, Amanpreet - Silver in 50m-pistol
Badminton Location Winners Australian Open Super Series 2016
Sydney Saina Nehwal beats China’s Sun Yu in finals
Canada Open 2016
Calgary, Canada
Men’s singles - B Sai Praneeth Men’s doubles -Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy
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China Open Super Series Premier 2016
Fuzhou, China
P V Sindhu beats China’s Sun Yu in finals
Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold 2017
Penang Saina Nehwal beats Thai Pornpawee Chochuwong, the top-seeded London Olympics bronze-medallist
Chess Location Winners Commonwealth Chess championship 2016
Sri Lanka Abhijeet Gupta
World Chess Championship 2016
New York Magnus Carlsen completed the title hat-trick by beating challenger Sergey Karjakin in a tie breaker
National Women Premier Chess Championship 2016
New Delhi International Master Padmini Rout from Odisha reported winning hat-trick since 2014
Kabaddi Pro Kabaddi League 2016 (Season 4)
Multiple locations
Patna Pirates beat Jaipur Pink panthers 37-29
Asian Kabaddi championship 2016
Pakistan Pakistan beats India
3rd Kabaddi world cup 2016
Gujarat India beats Iran to win third Kabaddi world cup title India’s first ever convertible stadium 'The Arena' was set up by TransStadia for this event
Hockey Location Winners Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy 2016
London Australia beat India after a penalty shoot-out
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016
Malaysia Australia beat India in the finals
Asian Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2016
Malaysia India defeated Pakistan 3–2 in the final to win the trophy for the second time
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Asian Women’s Hockey Champions Trophy 2016
Singapore India beat China 2-1 in the finals
India wins Junior Hockey World Cup 2016
Lucknow India won Junior WC after 15 years with 2-1 win over Belgium at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium
Cricket Location Winner ICC T20 World cup India The West Indies beat England by four wickets ICC T20 Women’s World cup
India The West Indies beat Australia by eight wickets to post their first world cup win
IPL (Season 9) 2016 India Sunrisers, Hyderabad won against Royal Challengers, Bangalore
England Vs Pakistan England England posted 444 runs, the highest ever international ODI score by any team
Australia T20 record Sri Lanka Australia posted 263/3 against Sri Lanka Ranji Trophy 2016-17 India Gujarat beat Mumbai to grab maiden title
Formula One Winner German, Brazilian, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton Singapore, Italian, Chinese, Russian, Australian, Belgian, Bahrain Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg
Upcoming events Location
29th South East Asian Games 2017 Kuala Lumpur 10th World Games 2017 Poland 18th Asian Games 2018 Indonesia 21st FIFA World cup 2018 Russia 46th Copa America 2019 Brazil 12th Cricket World Cup 2019 England & Wales 37th National Games 2019 Andhra Pradesh Summer Olympics 2020 Tokyo 37th Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2018 Netherlands 13th South Asian Federation Games 2018 Kathmandu
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Awards Movies/Music
International Personality Achievement 59 th Grammy Awards 2017
Adele, the British star Won five awards, including Record, Album & Song of the year
Sandeep Das, Indian table player
"Sing Me Home", an album having contribution from Sandeep won the Best World Music Album
89th Academy awards 2017
‘La La Land’ Received 14 nominations & 6 awards, including – Best Director – Damien Chazelle Best Actress – Emma Stone
‘Moonlight’ Received 6 nominations & won 3 awards, including “Best Movie” award
Casey Affleck Best Actor
69th Cannes’ Film Festival, 2016
British film I, Daniel Blake directed by Ken Loach,
Won Palme d'Or (The highest prize at the Cannes Film Festival)
Honorary Oscars at Governor’s awards, 2016
Jackie Chan One of four industry veterans who received honorary Oscars for their career achievements
47th International Film Festival of India 2016 (Goa)
S P Balasubramanyam Centenary award for his contributions to India cinema for over 50 years
Iranian film “Daughter” , directed by Reza Mirkarimi
Golden Peacock Award
Films in news Narration Achievement The Jungle Book, American fantasy adventure film
American adventure film directed and co-produced by Jon Favreau
Third highest grossing film of 2016 ($965 million) & the highest grossing in India
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Based on Rudyard Kipling's eponymous collective works
Sultan (Hindi) Director - Ali Abbas Zafar Producer - Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films)
Second highest grossing Indian film of 2016
Dangal (Hindi) Director – Nitesh Tiwari Producers - Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Siddharth Roy Kapur
The highest grossing film of 2016
Visaranai (Tamil) It is based on M. Chandrakumar’s novel ‘Lock Up’
Indian entry into Oscars 2017 (89th Academy Awards) in the Foreign Language Film category
Beauty Pageants Winner Achievement Miss Universe 2017, Philippines
Iris Mittenaere (Miss France)
Crowned Miss Universe 2017
Miss World 2016, Washington
Stephanie Del Valle (Puerto Rico)
Crowned Miss World 2016
Miss India World 2016, Mumbai
Priyadarshini Chatterjee Crowned Miss India World 2016
Mister World 2016, England
Rohit Khandelwal First Indian to win this title
Movie Awards Awardees Achievement 17th IIFA awards 2016, Madrid
Ranveer Singh Best Actor (Bajirao Mastani) Deepika Padukone Best Actress (Piku) Bajrangi Bhaijaan Best Film
BRICS Film Festival 2016, Delhi
Thithi (Kannada film) Best Film. Thithi has been screened in over 12 prestigious international and national film festivals
10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2016, Brisbane
Manoj Vajpayee Best Performance by an Actor
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48th Dada Saheb Phalke Award for 2016
To be announced Outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema
Lata Mangeshkar award 2016
Uttam Singh Lifetime Achievement in Music
62nd Filmfare Awards 2017, Mumbai
Popular category Best Actor (Male) Amir Khan (Dangal) Best Actor (Female) Alia Bhatt (Udta Punjab) Best Film Dangal (Director – Nitesh
Tiwari) Critics Awards
Best Film Neerja Best Actor (Male) Shahid Kapoor (Udta Punjab)
Manoj Vajpayee (Aligarh) Best Actor (Female) Sonam Kapoor (Neerja) Lifetime Achievement Shatrunghna Sinha
64th National Film Awards, 2017
Best Film ‘Kaasav’ Marathi film(Director-Sumitra Bhave)
Best Actor Akshay Kumar(Rustom)
Kalidas Samman 2016 Prof Raj Bisaria Achievement in theatre Kalidas Samman 2017 Bansi Kaul
Sports Awards (Inception Yr)
Winner (s) Game
Arjuna Awards (1961) Rajat Chauhan Archery Lalita Babar Athletics
Sourav Kothari Billiards and Snooker Shiva Thapa Boxing Ajinkya Rahane Cricket Subrata Paul Football Rani Hockey Raghunath V.R Hockey Gurpreet Singh Shooting Apurvi Chandela Shooting Soumyajit Ghosh Table Tennis
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Vinesh Wrestling Amit Kumar Wrestling Sandeep Singh Mann Para-Athletics Virender Singh Wrestling (Deaf)
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (1991)
P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar, Jitu Rai
Significant performance in Rio Olympics 2016
Dronacharya Award (1985)
Bishweshwar Nandi (A), Raj Kumar Sharma (C), Nagapuri Ramesh (A), Sagar Mal Dhayal (B), Pradeep Kumar (S), Mahabir Singh (W)
Significant mentoring effort in Athletics, Boxing, Cricket, Swimming and Wrestling
Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award
Satti Geetha (Athletics), Sylvanus Dung Dung (Hockey), Rajendra Pralhad Shelke (Rowing)
Best player in Europe by UEFA for 2015/16
Cristiano Ronaldo
UEFA Champions League winner with Real Madrid and a European champion with Portugal
Player of the Year - World Soccer Awards 2016
Cristiano Ronaldo
A winner in 2008, 2013 and 2014, he has matched the achievement of Lionel Messi by claiming the award for a record fourth time
Ballon d’Or award 2016
Cristiano Ronaldo Ronaldo is now one short of his Barcelona rival Lionel Messi’s record tally of five
Olympic order award N. Ramachandran, the President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA)
Outstanding services to the Olympic movement
IAAF World Athlete of the Year award 2016, Monte Carlo (
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt (Sprinter)
3 Gold medals in Rio Olympics, taking his Olympic lifetime tally to 9 gold medals
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Monaco) Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana (Long distance runner)
10000m Olympic title with world record timing
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2016
Andy Murray (Won it for record third time)
Won Olympic gold, second Wimbledon title & became tennis' world number one in a remarkable 2016
Michael Phelps 28 Olympic medals in swimming till date
Ellie Robinson (BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year)
She claimed gold at the Rio Paralympics
ICC Cricketer of the Year’ & Test Cricketer of the Year (2015-16)
R Ashwin, Indian cricketer
Crossed 250 wickets in the least matches (45) till date
C K Naidu lifetime achievement award 2016
Padmakar Shivalkar (Left hand spinner from Mumbai)
Took 589 wickets in 124 first-class games (Including 42 five-wicket hauls & 13 ten-wicket match hauls)
Rajinder Goyal (Left hand spinner from Haryana)
750 first class wickets (Including 637 in Ranji Trophy, more than anyone else in the tournament)
BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award for Women 2016
Shanta Rangaswamy She led India in 12 Test matches and in 16 ODIs
BCCI Polly Umrigar Award 2016
Virat Kohli Third time winner (Earlier 2011-12 & 2014-15)
Times of India Sports Awards 2017
P V Sindhu Sportsperson of the Year Dipa Karmakar Inspiration of the year Junior Men’s Hockey Team
Team of the year
General Awards Awardees Achievement 43rd Tyler Prize for environmental achievement 2016
Sir Partha Dasgupta Recognition for developing economic theory & tools to measure the relationships between human and
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environmental wellbeing, poverty, population, economic growth and the state of natural resources
World Food prize 2016 (Dubbed Nobel Prize for food and agriculture)
1. Maria Andrade (Cape Verde)
2. Robert Mwanga (Uganda)
3. Jan Low (The US) 4. Howarth Bouis (The
US)
Development and implementation of bio fortification, specifically work in breeding critical vitamins & micronutrients into staple crops
Ramon Magsaysay awards 2016 Given to Asians achieving excellence in their respective fields
Bezwada Wilson, an Indian activist (For ‘Asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity)
One of the founders and National Convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), an Indian human rights organization that has been campaigning for the eradication of manual scavenging
T M Krishna (Carnatic music vocalist)
For “Social inclusiveness in culture”
Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award 2016
Shubha Mudgal Contribution to Indian classical music & harmony brought through Art
UNESCO World Heritage sites
Old Nalanda University of Bihar Chandigarh's Capitol Complex Sikkim's Khangchendzonga National Park
Three monuments from India have been added to the World Heritage sites (July 2016). Total 35 sites as a result
Inaugural International Prize in Statistics
Sir David Cox Survival Analysis Model Applied in Medicine, Science, and Engineering
International Children’s Peace Prize 2016
Kehkashan Basu (Dubai)
Offered by international children’s rights organisation ‘KidsRights’, for her work to protect the environment
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IMO’s Exceptional Bravery Award at Sea
Radhika Menon (First woman to receive this award)
She saved the lives of seven fishermen from sinking fishing boat in the Bay of Bengal
Civilian Gallantry Awards 2017
Awardees Achievement
Ashok Chakra Havildar Hangpan Dada (Posthumous)
Dada, a soldier of Assam regiment was killed May 26, 2016 after he first fought three terrorists in close combat in Naugam sector
Kirti Chakra Major Rohit Suri Led the team that undertook surgical strike across the LoC
Lance Havildar Prem Bahadur Resmi Magar (Posthumous)
Magar, a 'Ghatak' commando of the unit, was part of the team that thwarted an infiltration bid and shot dead four terrorists
Shaurya Chakra 10 awardees Individual achievements
Literature (Inception year)
Awardees Piece of work
Scholastic Asian Book Award 2016
Aditi Krishnakumar 32,000-word manuscript “Codex: The Lost Treasure of the Indus”
Commonwealth short story prize 2016
Prof. Parashar Kulkarni
First Indian author to win this prize for ‘Cow & Company’
The Man Booker International 2016
Han Kang (S. Korea) The Vegetarian, a novel translated in English by Deborah Smith
The Man Booker Prize 2016
Paul Beatty, the first American author to win this prize
‘The Sellout’, a searing satire on race relations in contemporary America
FT business book award 2016
Sebastian Mallaby ‘The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan’ – A biography
52nd Jnanpith Award 2016 (1962)
Veteran Bengali poet Shankha Ghosh, considered as a leading
Made a debut titled "Dinguli Raatguli", followed it up with works like "Adim lata-gulmomay", "Babarer
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authority on Rabindranath Tagore
prarthana", "Nihito Patalchhaya", "Murkha baro, samajik nay", "Kabir abhipray", "Mukh dheke jay bigyapane" & "Ocampor Rabindranath"
Vyas Samman 2016, conferred in 2017
Surinder Verma (Hindi scholar & writer)
Novel ‘Kaanta Shami Ka Vriksha : Padma Pankhuri Ki Dhar Se ’
Saraswati Samman, 2016
Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail
For his novel Hawthan. Mr. Sail is a bilingual writer with four Marathi dramas & seven Konkani novels to his credit
Fellows of Nature (FON) South Asia Short Story Award in Nature writing
Meghna Pant For her short story “People of the Sun”. Presented at 2nd Kumaon Literary Festival (October 2016)
Mathrubhumi Literary Award 2016
C Radhakrishnan Contribution to the field of literature
Sahitya Akademi Awards 2016
24 writers won the literary honour
Award winning literature includes eight books of poetry, seven books of short stories, five novels, two on criticism, one of essays and one play
Pulitzer Awards 2016 Journalism Awardees
Public Service Associated Press Breaking News Reporting Los Angeles Times staff National Reporting The Washington Post staff
Letters, Drama, Music Awardees Fiction “The Sympathizer” by Viet Thanh
Nguyen Drama “Hamilton” by Lin-Manuel Miranda History “Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier
of a New America” by T.J. Stiles
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Journalism Awardee Achievement UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2016, Helsinki
Khadija Ismayilova (Azerbaijan)
An outstanding contribution to the promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world
International Press Freedom Award 2016 (Since 1991, from Committee to Protect Journalists, an NGO
Malini Subramaniam
Honoured for her reporting from naxal infested Bastar area & for commitment to free press
Civilian Awards 2017 Awardees Field Padma Shri 75 awardees Multiple fields Padma Bhushan Vishwa Mohan Bhatt Art - Music
Devi Prasad Dwivedi Literature & Education Tehemton Udwadia Medicine Ratna Sundar Maharaj Others-Spiritualism Swami Niranjana Nanda Saraswati
Others-Yoga
H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (Foreigner)
Literature & Education
Cho Ramaswamy (Posthumous)
Literature & Education –Journalism
Padma Vibhushan Sharad Pawar Public Affairs Murli Manohar Joshi Public Affairs P.A. Sangma (posthumous) Public Affairs Sunder Lal Patwah (posthumous)
Public Affairs
K.J.Yesudas Art - Music Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Others - Spiritualism Udipi Ramachandra Rao Science & Engineering
Bharat Ratna ---- Nobel Prizes 2016
Subject Winners Physics 1. Michael Kosterlitz, 2. David J. Thouless, 3. Duncan M.
Haldane – Study of exotic matter Chemistry 1. Jean-Pierre Sauvage, 2. Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, 3. Bernard
L. Feringa - Design & synthesis of molecular machines
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Physiology/Medicine Yoshinori Ohsumi (Japan) –Research on cellular process called autophagy
Literature Bob Dylan (American), the first musician to win Nobel prize in literature
Peace Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos - Resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end
Economics 1. Bengt Holmström - Professor of Economics & Management at MIT-Sloan School of Management, 2. Oliver Hart (Harvard Univ) - Work on contract theory
Alternative Nobel Prize 2016
Subject Winners The White Helmets The Syrian Civil Defence group provides first aid and
emergency assistance to the victims of Syrian civil war Svetlana Gannushkina
Russian human rights defender. Founder & Head of the Civic Assistance Committee, that provides free legal support, aid and education to migrants & refugees
Mozn Hassan Egyptian feminist & human rights defender, heads the organization ‘Nazra for Feminist Studies’
Cumhuriyet Turkey’s oldest independent newspaper, for their fearless investigative journalism and commitment to freedom of expression in the face of adverse conditions
Abel Prize 2016
Winner Narration Yves Meyer, the French mathematician
Awarded annually by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters & termed as ‘the mathematician’s Nobel Prize’, Mr. Meyer has been awarded the same for his pivotal role in the development of the mathematical theory of wavelets (small waves or ripples)
Honours Personality Honour
Salman Khan, A R Rahman, Sachin Tendulkar, Abhinav Bindra
Goodwill brand ambassador at Rio Olympics
Abhinav Bindra Flag bearer at Rio Olympics opening ceremony Diya Mirza Swachh Bharat Mission’s youth-based Swachh
Saathi (student internship) programme
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Kamal Haasan Selected by France for its prestigious Chevalier de L’Ordre Arts et Lettres
Kiran Majumdar-Shaw The CMD of Biocon has been appointed Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour, the highest civilian award of the French Government for outstanding contribution in diverse fields
Mr. Narendra Modi Amir Amanullah Khan Award, Afghanistan’s highest civilian honour
UR Rao, ISRO Ex-Chairman Hall of Fame Award by International Astronautical Federation for his outstanding contribution to the progress of astronautics
Aishwaryaa R Dhanush UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador for India P V Sindhu Brand ambassador of CRPF Virat Kohli Brand ambassador Punjab National Bank Saina Nehwal – Appointed as a member of IOC Athletes’ Commission
The Athletes’ Commission is chaired by Angela Ruggiero and it comprises nine vice presidents and 10 other members
Kunwar Bai ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ mascot (105 yr old lady sold her goats to build a toilet)
Rahul Dravid Brand ambassador for 2017 T20 Blind Cricket World Cup
Bindeshwar Pathak, the Founder of Sulabh International
Brand Ambassador of Swachh Rail Mission
Umesh Sachdev, an Indian entrepreneur
Named by Time magazine in its 2016 list of “10 millennials who are changing the world”
Donald Trump – TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year 2016
The President-elect of the US beat 10 other finalists, including his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton
Priyanka Chopra UNICEF’s Global Goodwill Ambassador Foreign Policy Magazine appearances Sushma Swaraj, the External Affairs minister
Appeared in ‘2016 Global Thinkers’ list for her twitter diplomacy
Anupama and Vineet Nayar (Co-founders of Sampark Foundation)
Listed in ‘the Moguls’ segment for ‘unplugging technology so that kids can learn’
Rizwan Ahmed & Himanshu Suri (Rapper duo)
For producing ‘sharp rhymes denouncing the prejudice that ‘brown’ men
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and women endure in the West’ Nitesh Kadyan, Nikhil Kaushik, and Anirudh Sharma (Graviky Labs)
Graviky Labs is an Indian firm that uses polluted air to create art supplies
Gursaran Prasad Talwar, an immunologist
For ‘vaccinating against stigma’. The inoculation developed by Gursaran could decrease leprosy rates by 65% over three years
Government Schemes
Name About it Stand Up India (Launched in April 2016 in Noida) Led By Department of Financial Services
• Promoting entrepreneurship among women, SC, ST by enabling them secure easier loans
• Expected to benefit at least 2.5 lakh borrowers within 36 months from launch
AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) Led By Ministry of Urban Development
Providing basic services, including water supply, sewerage, urban transport & building of amenities in cities to improve quality of life In Budget 2016-17 - • Rs 4090 Cr was allocated for AMRUT • Rs 3,205 Cr was allocated for the development
of 100 smart cities across the country by 2020 • 20 cities selected in 1st round, 13 in 2nd round
HRIDAY (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana) Led by Ministry of Urban Development
• With a duration of 27 months (completed in March 2017) and an outlay of Rs 500 Crores, the scheme was implemented in 12 cities
• Intent is to preserve & revitalise soul of heritage cities to reflect their unique character by encouraging aesthetically appealing, accessible, informative & secured environment
PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) Led by Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
• Housing for all by 2022 in three phases. Target groups women, SC, ST, Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)
• Interest subsidy of 6.5% on housing loans availed up to a tenure of 15 years will be provided to EWS/LIG categories
• Central assistance at the rate of Rs.1.5 lakh per house for EWS category will be provided under the Affordable Housing in Partnership
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PMUY (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana) Led by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
• Launched in UP, May 2016 • Replacing the unclean cooking fuels mostly
used in the rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG (Tagline – ‘Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan’)
• Targets 5 Crore LPG connections to be distributed to BPL households over 3 yrs
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (Crop insurance) Led by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW)
• Replaces existing National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified NAIS (MNIAS)
• Farmers will have to pay a uniform premium of 2% for kharif crops, 1.5%for rabi crops, 5% for annual commercial and horticultural crops
• The remaining share of the premium will continue to be borne equally by the Centre & respective state governments
PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana) Led by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
• National mission to improve farm productivity and ensure better utilization of the resources in the country
• Rs 500 billion (US$7.4 billion) in a time span of five years have been allocated to this scheme
Sagarmala Project Led by Ministry of Shipping
• Transforming existing Ports into modern world class ports
• Integrating port development, the Industrial clusters & hinterland and efficient evacuation systems through road, rail, inland and coastal waterways
Namami Gange - National Mission for Clean Ganga Led by Ministry of water resources
231 projects have been launched under Namami Gange programme. The idea is to maintain minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga with the aim of ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable development
Skill India Led by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
• Aim to train 40 crore Indians in different skills by 2022
• It includes various initiatives like National Skill Development Mission, National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and the Skill Loan scheme
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PMKVY (Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana) Led by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
• Encourage aptitude towards employable skills & increase working efficiency of probable & existing daily wage earners, with monetary awards & providing them quality training
• Average award amount per person has been kept as Rs. 8,000 (US$120)
• In the initial year, a target to distribute Rs 15 billion (US$220 million) has been laid down
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushalya Yojna Led by Ministry of Rural Development
• Aims to target youth, under age group of 15–35 years. A corpus of Rs 1,500 crore is aimed at enhancing employability of rural youth
• Under this programme, disbursements would be made through a digital voucher directly into the beneficiary’s bank account as part of the government’s skill development initiative
PMGKY (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana)
• Unaccounted income attracts almost 50% effective tax
• Person will be compelled to pay 25% of declared amount into PMGKY & the deposit will be blocked for four years
PMYY (Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana) for entrepreneurs Led by Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE)
• Scheme will span over 5 years (2016-17 to 2020-21) with a project cost of 500 crores
• It will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over 7 lakh students in 5 years through 3,050 institutes (Include higher learning schools, ITIs, schools and entrepreneurship development centres)
UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna) Led by Ministry of Power
• Financial turnaround and revival package for electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs)
• It aims to improve operational efficiencies, reduce cost of power & interest cost for discoms & enforce financial discipline on them through alignment with state finances
SFURTI (Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries) Led by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
• Government plans to set up 800 SFURTI clusters with an investment of Rs 850 crore by March 2017 to boost khadi & village industries
• The Scheme envisages need-based assistance for replacement of production equipment, setting up of common facility centres (CFC), product development, quality improvement,
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improved marketing, training and capacity building
PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) Led by Ministry of Tourism
• Religious destinations that have potential to be show-cased as world-class tourism products are identified & infrastructure is developed. In the initial phase, 12 cities have been identified
• Overall development of temple town, new job creation, world-class infrastructure facilities, promotion of local arts, cuisine and handicrafts form part of the approved project
Swadesh Darshan Led by Ministry of Tourism
Theme based tourism circuits (e.g. Religion, culture, ethnicity, niche etc) are identified for infrastructure development across the country
Mission Raftaar Led by Ministry of Railways
Diesel trains replaced with high-speed electric trains. Shatabdi & Rajdhani will ride over two engines (“Push-pull’ technique)
“Surge pricing” in Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duranto
Differential pricing on the lines of airlines in key trains
Railways - 92 paise premium on 10 Lac optional insurance through IRCTC booking
Pilot with ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Royal Sundaram General Insurance & Shriram General Insurance
Tri-Netra – Terrain imaging device for diesel drivers to reduce train accidents
The system will be installed on locomotives for enhancing the vision of Locomotive Pilots in inclement weather
Government News Entity Action
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) under Department of Posts
Union cabinet has approved it with 100% Government of India equity. Rollout will be complete by Sept 2017
Five associate state banks & Mahila Bank merge into SBI
The merger will create a global-sized bank with assets worth over Rs 37 lakh crore
Fund of Funds for Start-ups (FFS) set up at SIDBI
The corpus is in line with ‘Startup India Action Plan’ would be built up over 14th & 15th Finance Commission cycles, subject to scheme progress
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& funds availability Government approves 7th Pay commission recommendations
Minimum pay for government employees recommended to be Rs.18000 rupees/Month The maximum pay recommended to be Rs. 225000/Month for Apex Scale & Rs. 250000/Month for Cabinet Secretary
100% FDI into aviation, defence & ecommerce sectors
Foreign airlines can only invest up to 49% in Indian carriers
e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) pilot launched
The Prime Minister launched the e-trading platform pilot & said that the initiative will usher in transparency & benefit the farmers
Government partially abolished 5/20 rule under Civil Aviation Policy
Domestic carriers will no longer have to operate for five years before they can fly abroad, must still deploy 20 aircrafts or 20% of total capacity in India, whichever is higher
IGI Airport is the first carbon neutral Airport in Asia Pacific
It was recognized during Airport Carbon Accreditation certificate presentation ceremony in Montreal, Canada. Also, Terminal 3 achieved the first ever “Platinum” rating from Indian Green Building Council (IGBC)
e-Tourist Visa extended to 161 countries (As on Dec 2016)
Total 9.2 Lac foreign tourists used the facility during Jan-Nov 2016, which is 170% increase over same period in 2015
India’s first “island district” announced by Assam Govt
Majuli, a 400 square kilometres island in the Brahmaputra River is recognized by Guinness Book as the largest river island in the world
India’s first Green Rail Corridor launched in Tamil Nadu
Manamadurai – Rameswaram stretch of Southern Railway (150 coaches with bio toilets)
Setu Bharatam The programme aims to make all National Highways free of railway level crossings by 2019. 208 Railway Over Bridges (ROB)/Railway Under Bridges (RUB) will be built at the level crossings at a cost of Rs. 20,800 crore as part of the programme
Kudankulam nuclear Power Plant – Tamil Nadu
Russian President Vladimir Putin and CM J Jayalalithaa jointly dedicated the first unit of Power Plant to the nation (August)
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World’s largest solar power plant commissioned at Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu
With an installed capacity of 648MW, the plant was set up on an area of 5,000 acres by Adani Group at a total cost of Rs 4,550 crore. Its connected to the grid through a sub-station
Rajasthan - Sewage and waste water policy
First state in the country to approve such policy
Lakshadweep – “24*7 Power for All”
First Union Territory to sign such a document
Best States - Comprehensive Development of Tourism
Madhya Pradesh followed by Gujarat and Karnataka (National Tourism Awards 2016)
2016 BRICS convention on tourism – Madhya Pradesh
The convention began at UNESCO World heritage site Khajuraho to promote intra-regional tourism
Best Indian Destination for Wildlife
Madhya Pradesh Tourism received award from “Lonely Planet” Group
“Mission Bhagiratha” – Telangana – Safe Drinking water
Mr Narendra modi launched it in Medak district of Telangana
Odisha launches 100 “Adarsh Vidyalayas” in 14 backward districts
Students of these model schools would get free education and all facilities like mid-day meal, uniform and textbooks free of cost like other state government-run schools
Odisha – First state to offer Social welfare benefits to transgender community
The move seeks to give the community same benefits as those living below poverty line to improve socio-economic status
ADB gives $631 million boost to 800 km long Chennai-Vizag industrial corridor
Focus on increasing women’s participation in the industrial workforce, skill training for 25,000 male & female workers, entrepreneurs, and students along with an investor promotion plan is expected to boost businesses along the corridor
Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is operational
Launched by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI will be initially available only on Android mobile operating system. It will be going live with 21 banks in the first phase
CBDT launches e-Nivaran to handle tax payer grievances
The facility for online redressal of grievances related to refunds, ITRs and PAN among others to reduce instances of public harassment when it comes to complaints related to the I-T Department
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RBI announces The Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A)
S4A will cover projects that have started commercial operations & have an outstanding loan of over Rs 500 crore An Overseeing Committee, set up by the Indian Banks Association (IBA) will independently review processes involved in preparation of the resolution plan
5th International Buddhist conclave at Varanasi & Sarnath
With a view to showcase and project the Buddhist heritage and pilgrim sites, the ministry of tourism organises International Buddhist Conclave
Indosan 2016 (India Sanitation Conference, Delhi) – An annual event under Swachh Bharat mission Ministry of drinking water and sanitation
This will bring together all stakeholders working in sanitation government, NGOs, academicians, researchers, partner agencies, corporate on one platform for a shared vision to make India Open Defecation Free (ODF) India by 2019 by construction of individual, cluster & community toilets
Sindhudurg & Mandi – The cleanest districts in the country
As per Gramin Swachh Survekshan 2016
Telangana inks MoU with ISRO to promote education
This is to improve services of educational channel 'Mana TV'. 6,000 schools in the state will launch digital classes from October 2016
Haryana wins best horticulture state award
It was awarded by the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) for concerted efforts made by the state to increase the income of the farmers in horticulture
Punjab government launches India’s first amphibious bus
Bus named “Harike Cruise” was imported from Swedish automobile company Scania
India’s first LNG-powered bus launched in Kerala
The project has been a joint effort of Petronet LNG Limited (PLL), IOC & Tata Motors. Post pilot, the bus will be launched for commercial application
Government launches ‘DigiShala’ TV channel to promote digital payments
Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) launched it as part of the ‘Digidhan’ campaign to spread awareness about digital transactions
Maharashtra becomes first state to launch cyber police
State government is converting 42 state-of-the-art cybercrime labs into cyber police stations
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stations in all districts simultaneously. These cyber police stations will also be set up at police commissionerate and Range IG offices
Google India, Ministry of Consumer Affairs tie up for ‘Digitally Safe Consumer’ campaign
The campaign will reach out with training materials to over 1,200 consumer organisations & consumer affairs department of every state/UT
UDAN (‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik’) – Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) for Aviation
Viability Gap Funding for route operators to charge Rs 2500 for one hour flights (For 50% seats on new routes to smaller cities) Govt commitment to spend Rs. 4,000 crore to reopen 50 disused airports within four years Maharashtra became the first state to sign up. In the first round, 128 routes connecting 70 big and small airports across the country were selected and all flights will become active within 4-6 months of 2017
Four tier GST structure (5% to 28%) announced by Govt
More than 50% of the items in the Consumer Price Index basket would be exempted under GST & the remainder placed in lowest bracket e.g. Most white goods – 28%, soaps/oil – 18%, processed food – 12%, edible oils/spices – 5%
Govt demonetized Rs 500 & 1000 denomination notes
In order to curb black money, Indian government replaced older notes of Rs 500 & 1000 with new ones. Also introduced Rs 2000 note, featuring Mangalyaan & Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Committee constituted to recalibrate all bank ATMs
Headed by S.S.Mundra, one of the RBI Deputy Governors, the committee will ensure that all bank ATMs dispense new denomination notes
Government slaps safeguard duty on certain steel imports
To protect domestic manufacturers from cheap in-bound shipments, India had previously slapped anti-dumping duty on certain cold-rolled flat steel products from four nations, including China & South Korea
NDTV India ordered to go off air for a day. Govt later put this on hold
NDTV took the government to Supreme Court. The ban was widely condemned by journalists & editors with all press councils drawing
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parallels to the Emergency of 1970s when basic constitutional rights including the freedom of the press were blatantly violated
CRPF deploys women commandos for anti-Naxal operations, for the first time
135 women commandos have been posted in Jharkhand. CRPF is the world’s largest paramilitary force with 228 battalions and over three lakh personnel
Himachal Pradesh becomes 2nd Open Defecation Free (ODF) state after Sikkim
After Sikkim in 2012, HP is 2nd state and Kerala followed as 3rd state
Akodara (Gujarat) - India’s first digital village
Adopted by ICICI foundation, all transactions in the village are carried out through digital modes like net-banking, SMS or debit cards
5th International Tourism Mart – Manipur
The objective is to highlight the tourism potential of the North East region. It brings together the tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs from the eight North Eastern States and West Bengal
Uttar Pradesh CM inaugurates India’s longest0020expressway (Agra-Lucknow)
The six-lane Greenfield expressway has a total length of 302-km. It has a design speed of up to 120 kmph
Chandrababu Naidu to head the CM panel to boost digital systems
13-member committee of chief ministers will recommend on how to boost digital payment systems to promote transparency, financial inclusion & prepare a roadmap in this regard
AP tops list of Indian states in World Bank’s report on ‘India’s State Level Energy Efficiency Implementation Readiness’
AP is followed by Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra. The index based evaluation is enabled to benchmark readiness of Indian states for energy efficiency implementation & to reveal critical deficits/barriers for the same
India’s first cherry blossom festival was held in Meghalaya
The event will showcase the beauty of the flowers and the State’s cultural traditions
Vardah cyclone destructs certain districts of Tamil Nadu
The cyclonic storm hit Chennai at 140 kmph & claimed a few lives
Centre constituted Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)
IBBI activity would be to regulate functioning of insolvency professionals, insolvency professional agencies & information utilities under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016
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PM inaugurated first international exchange at GIFT city, Gandhinagar (2017)
India INX (BSE subsidiary) is one of the world’s most advanced technology platforms with a turn-around-time of 4 micro seconds which will operate for 22 hours a day, allowing international investors and NRIs to trade from anywhere across the globe
Maharashtra becomes first state to adopt Fly Ash Utilisation Policy
Fly ash will be used to make bricks, blocks, tiles, wall panels, cement & other construction materials. It will save soil excavation, protect environment by generating wealth from waste
IMF has revised India’s growth rate for FY 2016–17 to 6.6%
Previous estimate of 7.6% was lowered due to the temporary negative consumption shock of demonetisation
Ministry of Power unveiled world’s largest street light programme in South Delhi
Under LED based Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP), 2 lakh street lights will be replaced with LED lights & result in cumulative annual energy savings of 2.65 crore kWh with daily reduction of 22,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases
Government makes Aadhaar mandatory for MGNREGA work
Workers in rural areas enrolled under MGNREGA need to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar card or undergo enrolment process till March 31, 2017
Gurgaon could be the first city to get ‘caterpillar train’
Haryana will set up pilot corridor for the caterpillar train, a new concept for urban mass-transit solution. An Indian Railway officer won a global award at the MIT in the US in early 2016 for this idea
First-ever Centre of Excellence for differently-abled sportsmen will be set up in Gandhinagar
The centre is proposed for an estimated budget of over Rs. 50 crores. It will have the world class facilities to train Para athletes for various International Competitions
Foreign Investment Promotion Board is abolished
This was done during 2017 budget to ease the FDI inflow
Gujarat is first cashless state on PDS
The beneficiaries who are eligible for subsidised food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) now need to carry only Aadhaar cards for getting their food grains in Gujarat
INS Viraat decommissioned, after 57 years of active
The oldest serving Centaur-class aircraft carrier was with the British Navy (27 years) &
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service Indian Navy (30 years) India’s longest cable bridge in Bharuch, Gujarat inaugurated by the PM
The 1.4-kilometre 'extradosed' cable-stayed bridge is expected to ease traffic woes on the Ahmadabad-Mumbai National Highway, considered to be one of the busiest in India
Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) coordinated Operation Thunder Bird & Operation Save Kurma
The 3-week exercise in January 2017 was part of fight to end poaching of Indian wildlife animals as per scheduled list & turtles
Government signs Financing Agreement with World Bank for ‘Tejaswini’ Project
It is World Bank’s first project in India solely focused on the welfare of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged between 14 and 24 to complete their secondary level education and provide relevant skills for job market
India’s longest road tunnel will be open in J&K soon
The 9.2 km-long twin-tube tunnel is part of a 286-km-long four-lane project on the highway. It is located at an elevation of 1200 meters, will be the first in India to be equipped with world class “integrated tunnel control system” through which ventilation, fire control, signals, communication and electrical systems will be automatically actuated
The first ever ‘Made in India’ train introduced on Mumbai local line
Cost efficient electric control circuitry named ‘Medha’ has been developed in India
Government launches ‘Mission Fingerling’ to achieve blue revolution
With a planned Rs 52000 lakh expenditure, the mission aims to achieve the target to enhance fisheries production by 1.5 times by 2020-21 under the Blue Revolution
‘Sankalp’ (Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion) programme in Union budget to boost youth employment
Rs 4,000-crore programme is aimed at providing market relevant training to 3.5 crore youth across the country
India’s Global Rankings
Rating/Index Released by India’s Ranking The Yearbook (World’s 10 largest manufacturing countries)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
6 in 2015 (9 in 2014)
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Global Innovation Index 2016
WIPO, Cornell University and INSEAD
66 (81 in 2015) Rank 1 – Switzerland
Ease of Doing Business ranking 2017
World Bank 130 (131 in 2016) Rank 1- New Zealand
Global Gender Gap Index 2016
World Economic Forum 87 (108 in 2015) Rank 1 – Iceland
World Economic Freedom Index 2017
Centre for Civil Society, a public policy think tank along with Canada’s Fraser Institute
143 out of 186 countries Rank 1 - Hong Kong
Travel And Tourism Competitiveness Index
World Economic Forum 52 in 2015 (65 in 2013) (Is a biennial report)
Global Competitiveness Index 2016-17
World Economic Forum 39 (55 in 2015-16) Rank 1 - Switzerland
Human Capital Index 2016
World Economic Forum 105/130 (100/124 in 2015)
Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2017
INSEAD Business School, Adecco Group & Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore
92 (89 in 2016) Rank 1 – Switzerland
Corruption Perception Index 2016
Transparency International
79/176 countries (76 in 2016) Rank 1 – Denmark
Human Development Index 2016
United Nations Development Programme
131 (130 in 2015) Rank 1 – Norway
World Investment Report 2016
United Nations CTAD India ranks 10th in FDI inflows
World Disaster Risk Index 2016
United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
77 (78 in 2015)
World Press Freedom Index 2016
Reporters Without Borders (NGO)
133 (136 in 2015) Rank 1 – Finland
Global Peace Index 2016 Institute for Economics and Piece (IEP)
141 (143 in 2015) Rank 1 – Iceland
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Global Hunger Index 2016
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
97/118 countries (80/104 in 2015) Rank 1 – Argentina
Climate Change Performance Index 2017
Germanwatch, an independent German NGO and Climate Action Network, Europe
20 (58 countries accounting for 90% of global CO2 emission)
ICT Development Index (IDI)2016
United Nations International Telecommunication Union
138 (135 in 2015) Rank 1- South Korea
Global Youth Development Index 2016
Commonwealth Secretariat
133 (Newly introduced index) Rank 1- Germany
Global Terrorism Index (GTI 2016) – Countries Most Hit by Terror
Institute for Economics & Peace, a Sydney-based think-tank
7 (India experienced 7% of all terrorist attacks around the world)
World Power Language Index 2016 (PLI)
World Economic Forum Hindi ranked 10th (Top 5 - English, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Arabic)
2017 Inclusive Growth & Development Index
World Economic Forum 60 out of 79 developing nations
Global e-Waste production ranking
Assocham-KPMG joint study
India is fifth largest e-waste producer (100 crore+ mobile phones in circulation, 25 per cent end up in e-waste per annum)
Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2017
World Economic Forum & Accenture strategy
87 /127 countries (90 in 2016) Rank 1 – Switzerland
World Happiness Report 2017
UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network
122/155 Rank 1 - Norway
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International News News Narration
13th edition of India-EU Summit 2016
Held in Brussels. The leaders endorsed "EU-India Agenda for Action-2020” setting out a concrete road-map for the EU-India Strategic Partnership for the next five years
Paris agreement on climate change opened for signature
Was opened for signature by UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in New York from 22nd April 2016 till 21st April 2017
India ratified Paris climate deal (2 October 2016)
India is the world’s fourth-largest carbon emitter accounting for 4.1% of total global emission, is 62nd nation to ratify the agreement
China & the US jointly ratify Paris global climate agreement
At a bilateral summit in Hangzhou. Together, they are responsible for 40% of the world's carbon emissions
World’s first electric road in Sweden
This feature permits the trucks to operate as electric vehicles when on the electrified road and as regular hybrid vehicles at other times
Brexit The Exit of the UK from the European Union
India contributed to UN Trust Fund India is the first country to contribute to a trust fund set up for victims of sexual exploitation and abuse
Scientists unveiled HoloFlex, world’s first holographic flexible smart phone
The device is capable of rendering 3D images with motion parallax & stereoscopy to multiple simultaneous users without head tracking or glasses
China - The world’s largest bullet train network
China's high-speed railway has completed over 20000 kms of track network in the country, post opening of opening of railway linking between Zhengzhou in China’s central Henan Province with Xuzhou in eastern Jiangsu Province
China - The world’s longest and highest glass bridge to visitors
Spanning two cliffs in the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon area, it will stretch 430 meters (1,410 feet) long and 6 meters (20
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feet) wide. It stands 300 metre above a canyon in the Tianmenshan National Forest Park
China open the world’s tallest bridge (Distance from ground)
The Beipanjiang Bridge soars 565 metres (1,854 feet) above a river & connects the two mountainous provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou
China launched first Quantum communication satellite
The nation's Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) spacecraft is designed to establish 'hack-proof' quantum communications
China rolled out 5G telecom equipment trials across 100 cities
5G networks can theoretically transmit data 20 times faster than current 4G speed, with less than one tenth of the latency
China builds the world’s largest radio telescope
Its nicknamed ‘Tianyan’ or Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST)
World’s longest railway tunnel opened in Switzerland
57km long Gotthard Base Tunnel (GTB) was opened in June 2016
World’s first mangrove museum in Sri Lanka
Mangrove forests can sequester up to five times more carbon than any other kind of forest & provide essential nursery habitat for many fish species that Sri Lankan fishermen depend on
Sri Lanka becomes 2nd malaria free SEA country
WHO certified Sri Lanka, Maldives being the first one
Earthquake in Ecuador A 7.8 magnitude earthquake stroked off the Pacific coast, in Manta, Ecuador
Hiroshima nuclear declaration G-7 foreign ministers signed a declaration towards making a world without nuclear weapons
Chabahar port development India & Iran will develop strategic Chabahar port with up to $500 million investment
11th ASEM summit issues Ulaanbaatar Declaration (Mongolia)
The declaration focuses on fight against terrorism and greater connectivity among the Asia and Europe
India joins MTCR India joined Missile Technology Control Regime, though it failed to join National
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Security Group Afghan India Friendship Dam - Salma Dam
Hydroelectric and irrigation dam project located in Afghanistan, was opened in June 2016 at Herat by Mr Narendra Modi & Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
Hague Tribunal verdict over South China Sea
China’s claim to economic rights across large swathes of the South China Sea was rejected
Failed coup in Turkey President Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency following a botched coup attempt
North Korea conducted nuclear tests
This was second test for the year 2016
Russia and Pakistan – Joint military exercise
Named Druzhba-2016 (Friendship-2016) was held in Pakistan
Ten costliest cities in the world in the descending order (Worldwide Cost of Living Report 2016, Economic Intelligence Unit)
1. Singapore (Most expensive) 2. Zurich 3. Hong Kong 4. Geneva 5. Paris 6. London 7. New York 8. Copenhagen 9. Seoul 10. Los Angeles
Vienna ranks as the world’s best city (Mercer’s Quality of Living index rankings 2017)
In terms of city infrastructure rankings, Singapore has topped the global list Hyderabad (Telangana) has emerged as the best Indian city in terms of quality of living
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff ousted from office
Brazil’s Senate voted to remove the President from office, finding her guilty of indulging into budget manipulations
World’s first ‘three-parent’ baby born in Mexico
The baby is born to a Jordanian couple, using a controversial technique
Maldives leaves commonwealth The country claimed it was "unfairly and unjustly" treated by the global body that was due to consider sanctions, including
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suspension against the nation after its "lack of progress" on a raft of democratic reforms
Interbrand releases World's Best Global Brands Report 2016
Top 10 brands - Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Toyota, IBM, Samsung, Amazon, Mercedes-Benz, GE
20 nations sign UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreement for International Solar Alliance at COP 22, Morocco
The agreement was signed during 12th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12). It agreement will become operational after at least 15 countries have ratified it
France – First country to ban plastic cups & plates
A new French law will require all disposable tableware to be made from 50% biologically-sourced materials that can be composted at home by January 2020. That number will rise to 60% by January 2025
Coradia iLint - World’s first zero emission hydrogen train operated in Germany
The train only emits excess steam into the atmosphere, and provides an alternative to the country’s 4,000 diesel cars currently in circulation in Germany
Antarctica’s Ross Sea declared as world’s largest Marine Protected Area
It was declared after landmark international agreement among 24 countries and the EU in Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting in Hobart, Australia
6th Heart of Asia -— Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) Conference, Amritsar 2016
Attended by 14 partner countries & 30+ supporting countries and international organisations. Principal goal of the HoA-IP, launched in November 2011 in Turkey, is to galvanise regional cooperation for peace, security and development in Afghanistan
Magnitude 7.7 earthquake hits Chilean coast
No deaths were reported & damage was minor
South Korean President, Park Geun-hye impeached by the Parliament
He was ousted on the account of corruption and cronyism scandal
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Rio de Janeiro gets UNESCO world heritage status
UNESCO highlighted "extraordinary fusion" of man-made and natural beauty in certifying Rio, nicknamed “the Marvellous City”
Israel suspends co-operation with UNESCO over Jerusalem vote
This is in response to UNESCO resolution erasing Jewish connection to Jerusalem’s holy sites, which will supposedly boost terrorism & deny history
Scientists discover mesentery, a new human organ in digestive system. Takes count of human organs to 79
Mesentery connects intestine to the abdomen. The organ was previously thought to consist of fragmented and disparate structures
The US pulls out of TPP, a mega trade deal of 12 Pacific Rim countries
Trans-Pacific Partnership was one of the major international trade initiatives of Ex-President Barack Obama aimed to set trade rules for the 21st century & bind US allies against growing Chinese economic clout
China becomes the world’s largest producer of solar energy
It overtook Germany after nearly doubling installed photovoltaic capacity in 2016
World’s longest freight train between China & London
To boost export revenues & strengthen connectivity with Europe, the train will traverse over 12,000 kilometres across 18 days, after passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France to arrive in London
IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association) 2017 Leaders’ summit at Jakarta
The theme of was ‘Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean’. 21 member states issued a strategic vision document known as the Jakarta Concord
Military Exercises
Exercise Narration MALABAR Trilateral Naval Exercise
India, Japan and US navies conduct 2016 MALABAR Exercise near South China Sea
India-Thailand military exercise – Maitree
The two week long exercise included combined training, familiarization with weapons & equipment, analyzing groupings, drills and
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tactics while operating in counter terrorism environment
RIMPAC: World’s largest international maritime exercise kicks off
It began in Pacific Ocean at Hawaii, US & will see participation of navies from 26 countries. This year it is the 25th edition of biennial exercise in the series that began in 1971
India-Russia military exercise – Indra
The exercises serve to facilitate cooperation and foster the exchange of relevant experience between the Indian and Russian armed forces
India-Sri Lanka military exercise - Mitra Shakti
Focus is to enhance inter-operability while carrying out Counter Terrorism (CT) & Counter Insurgency (CI) operations under the UN Mandate
India-Bangladesh military exercise – Sampriti
Focus is on Counter-Terrorism Operations in mountainous and jungle terrain under the UN Mandate
India-China military exercise – ‘Hand-in Hand’
Focus on “transnational terrorism” and counter-terrorism operations in “semi-urban scenarios
India-Nepal military exercise – Surya Kiran 2017
Two-week long battalion level joint exercise between armies of both countries focussed on skills required for natural disaster management, counter-insurgency and jungle warfare
India-UK maritime exercise – Konkan
Conducted in two phases at Mumbai & Goa, the exercise will familiarise navies of both countries with each other’s planning processes and further enhance synergy and inter-operability
India-Maldives military exercise – Ekuverin
The exercise aims to conduct military training between armies of both countries with emphasis on amphibious & counter insurgency, counter terrorism operations
India-Oman military exercise - Al-Nagah II 2017
Held in Himachal Pradesh, the program aimed to acquaint both forces with each other’s operating procedures in the backdrop of counter insurgency, counter terrorism environment
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Important Days Global Days
Description Date About it World Cancer Day 4 February 2017 Theme – “We can. I can,” to
explore how everyone – together and individually – can do their part to reduce global burden of cancer
International Mother Language Day
21 February 2017 Theme - “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education”
World Wildlife Day 3 March 2017 Theme - "Listen to the young voices ". A sub-theme -"The future of elephants is in our hands”
International Women’s Day
8 March 2017 Theme - “Be Bold for Change”
PI Day
14 March 3,1,4 are significant digits of PI, i.e. 3.14), so 14/03, i.e. 14 March
World Consumer Rights Day
15 March The day is observed to pay solidarity with the international consumer movement and give more attention to promote basic rights of consumers 2017 Theme - ‘Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust’
International Day of Happiness
20 March The International Day of Happiness (“Happiness Day”) was founded by UN adviser Jayme Illien on June 28, 2012 2017 Theme – ‘10 steps to happiness’
World Water Day 22 March The day focuses attention on the importance of fresh water & advocates for the sustainable management of fresh water resources 2017 Theme – ‘Wastewater’
World Meteorological Day
23 March It marks establishment of World Meteorological Organization 2017 Theme - “Understanding Clouds”
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World Tuberculosis Day
24 March WHO has placed special focus on uniting efforts to “Leave no one behind” including actions to address stigma, discrimination, marginalization and overcome barriers to access care 2017 Theme - “Unite to End TB”
World Health Day 7 April 2017 Theme –”Depression: Let’s Talk’ World Earth Day 22 April 2017 Theme - “Environmental and
Climate Literacy” English Language Day/World Book Day
23 April Birth anniversary of William Shakespeare 2017 Theme - "Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education”
World Malaria Day 25 April 2017 Theme - "A push for prevention" World Intellectual Property Day
26 April 2017 Theme – “Innovation - Improving Lives”
World Press Freedom Day
3 May 2017 Theme – "Critical Minds for Critical Times: Media’s role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies"
World Information Society Day
17 May Marks foundation of International Telecommunication Union on 17 May 1865
No Tobacco Day 31 May 2017 Theme – "Tobacco – a threat to development"
World Environment Day
5 June 2017 Theme – “Connecting People to Nature – in the city & on the land, from the poles to the equator”
World Oceans Day 8 June 2016 Theme – "Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet"
World Day Against Child Labour
12 June 2016 Theme – “End child labour in supply chains - It's everyone's business."
International Yoga Day/World Hydrography Day
21 June 21 June - The longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere 2016 Theme: “Connect the Youth”
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World Population Day
11 July World's population reached almost five billion people on 11 July 1987 2016 Theme – “Investing in teenage girls”
World Youth Skills Day
15 July 2016 Theme - “Skills Development to Improve Youth Employment”
International Youth Day
12 August 2016 Theme - “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production”
World Humanitarian Day
19 August 2016 Theme - “One Humanity”
International Literacy Day
8 September 2016 Theme (50th Anniversary year) - “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”
International Day of Peace
21 September 2016 Theme - "The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace"
World Tourism Day 27 September 2016 Theme - "Tourism for All - promoting universal accessibility"
World Teachers Day 5 October 2016 Theme - “Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status”
World Sight Day 13 October 2016 Theme – “Stronger Together” World Student Day 15 October ----- World Statistics Day 20 October 2016 Theme – “Better Data, Better
Lives” United Nations Day 24 October UN Formation Day Universal Children’s Day
21 November 2016 Theme – “Stop Violence Against Children”
World AIDS Day 1 December 2016 Theme - "Hands up for HIV prevention"
World Computer Literacy Day
2 December -----
Human Rights Day 10 December ----- Indian Days
Day Date About it Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)
9 January 14th PBD was celebrated in Bangalore (7-9 Jan 2017). Portugal PM Antonio Costa will be chief guest
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(Theme : “Redefining Engagement with the Indian Diaspora”)
Republic Day 26 January Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi was the chief guest at Republic Day 2017 celebrations
National Science Day 28 February Marks discovery of Raman Effect. 2017 theme - "Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons”
National Maritime Day (India)
5 April On this day in 1919, navigation history was created when SS Loyalty, the first ship of The Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd., journeyed to the UK
National Civil Services Day
21 April All officers of Central and State Governments are honoured for excellence in public administration by the Prime Minister. The 'Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration' is presented
National Statistics Day
29 June Birth anniversary of Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, an Indian scientist and applied statistician 2016 Theme – “Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare”
National Doctors Day (India)
1 July Birth anniversary of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, the legendary physician
National Handloom Day 7 August Smriti Irani, Union Textile Minister presented National Handloom Awards in Varanasi on 2nd National Handloom Day (2016)
National Sports Day 29 August Birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand, the Olympic Gold medallist hockey player by organizing friendly hockey matches in New Delhi
National Hindi Divas 14 September On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India had adopted Hindi
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written in Devanagari script as the official language of the Republic of India
Engineer’s Day (India) 15 September Birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Visvesvaraya. He is known as India's greatest engineer of all times
National Education Day 11 November Birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India
National Constitution Day, National Milk Day
26 November Birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien, Father of the White Revolution
National Mathematics Day
22 December Birth anniversary of the Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan
Updates reported from 1 -10 April
Government News News Narration
IISc ranked India’s top university in 2017 NIRF Survey by HRD ministry
Second edition of NIRF survey was released as part of the India Rankings 2017 for the Educational Institutions
Barmer-Munawab and Pipad Road-Bilara rail routes in Rajasthan as Green Corridors
The Green Corridors ensure zero toilet discharge on rail tracks as part of commitment to clean environment under the ‘Swachh Rail-Swachh Bharat’ initiative. Earlier corridors were Manamadurai– Rameswaram , Okha-Kanalus & Porbandar-Wasjaliya
Business News
News Narration SBI is among Top 50 global banks
Post merger of Mahila bank & five associate banks, SBI’s customer base will reach 37 crores with around 24,000 branches & 59,000 ATMs across the country
RBI Board clears proposal to introduce Rs 200 notes
The process of printing the new Rs 200 notes is likely to begin after June 2017 once the government officially approves the new denomination
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Personalities News Narration
Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar passes away
She belonged to Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, was a Padma Vibhushan awardee & enthralled music lovers for almost six decades
India’s youngest woman pilot of MIG-29
At 21, Ayesha Aziz will become the youngest Indian woman pilot to fly Russian MIG-29
Awards News Narration
2017 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize – Dawit Isaak
Dawit, an imprisoned Eritrean-Swedish journalist is bestowed with this prestigious award in recognition of his courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression
44th Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement – Jose Sarukhan
Mexican ecologist Professor José Sarukhán, who built a government department to exclusively track the country's rainforests and protect their biodiversity
64th National Film Awards 2017
Category Awardee Best Actor Akshay Kumar (Rustum) Best Actress Surabhi Lakshmi
(Minnaminungu) Best Director Rajesh Mapuskar
(Ventilator-Marathi film) Best feature film (Swarna Kamal)
Kaasav (Marathi)
Best Hindi Film Neerja Best Film on Social Issues
Pink
Best children’s film
Dhanak (Hindi) by Nagesh Kukunoor
Honours News Narration
The Leading Cricketer in the World 2017 title by Wisden
Men’s award - Virat Kohli (India) Women’s award - Ellyse Perry (Australia)
International News News Narration
German Scientists switch on ‘Synlight’ is the giant honeycomb-like set-up of
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the 'world's largest artificial sun'
149 spotlights. The device intends to throw light on new ways of making climate-friendly fuels
Sports Sport Narration
India Open Super Series 2017 (Badminton)
P V Sindhu beat Carolina Marin (Spain) in women’s singles final in New Delhi, to reach career best World No.2 ranking
Updates reported from 11 -18 April
Business Appointments – India Government & Industry Forums Personality NASSCOM Chairman – Raman Roy (Replaced C P
Gurnani)
People in News News Narration
Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh provokes China
Arunachal Pradesh state has been historically claimed by China as "southern Tibet”. China views Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace laureate as a dangerous separatist
Sports News Narration
Lewis Hamilton won Chinese F1 Grand Prix 2017 (Shanghai)
Lewis Hamilton took his sixth consecutive pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and teammate Valtteri Bottas
Shuttler B Sai Praneeth clinches maiden Super Series title at Singapore Open 2017
He beat compatriot K Srikanth. Sai had won the Canada Open Grand Prix in 2016 & reached the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold final in 2017
Book Releases & Authors Author Book
Rishi Kapoor (Actor)
Autobiography titled ‘Khullam Khulla’ released in 2017
Praful Patel (Politician)
His biography titled ‘Udaan’ was launched by President Pranav Mukherjee in April 2017
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Awards Pulitzer Awards 2017
Journalism Awardees Public Service New York Daily News and ProPublica Breaking News Reporting
East Bay Times staff
Investigative Reporting Eric Eyre of the Charleston Gazette-Mail Letters, Drama, Music Awardees
Fiction The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Drama Sweat by Lynn Nottage History Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison
Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson
Honours Personality Honour
Malala Yousafzai Declared as the youngest ever ‘UN Messenger of Peace’
Government Schemes Name Narration
Government to launch SAMPADA scheme (Led by Ministry of Food Processing)
Scheme for Agro-Marine Produce Processing & Development of Agro-Processing Clusters (SAMPADA) will integrate current & new schemes aimed at reducing food wastage and doubling farmers’ income by 2022. It will help to create infrastructure for linkage of entire supply chain
India’s Global Rankings Rating/Index Released by India’s Latest Ranking
Travel & Tourism competitiveness Index 2017
World Economic Forum
40/136 in 2017 (52 in 2015) (Is a biennial report) Rank 1 - Spain
International News
Name Narration Lenin Moreno (Ecuador) Won the president election
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Updates reported from 18 -24 April
Deaths Names Details
Emma Morano, the world’s oldest person passes away (Italy)
Emma was born in 1899 & held the Guinness World Record titles for the oldest living person & the oldest living woman. She was recognized as the last living person born in the 1800s whose age had been independently verified
Internet Pioneer Robert Taylor Passes Away
Rob was instrumental in creating the internet & the modern personal computer. Taylor’s engineering team was also responsible for development of Ethernet and a word processing program, Microsoft Word
People in News News Narration
Chris Gayle became the first batsman to cross 10000 runs in T-20 form of cricket
The West Indian reached the milestone during IPL 2017 match against Gujarat Lions
Honours Personality Honour
Rodrigo Duterte tops TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people poll for 2017
The Philippine president received 5% of “yes” votes in the online poll that started in the last week of March
Sports News Narration
Tamil Nadu clinched Deodhar Trophy 2016-17
Dinesh Karthik’s century helped Tamil Nadu beat India B team in Visakhapatnam
Business News News Narration
ICICI announced ‘Mera iMobile’ app to promote rural digitisation
The app will allow rural users to access banking services & information on agri services. The app can also be used by non-ICICI Bank customers
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Government News News Narration
TIES - New scheme for developing export linked infrastructure (Led by – Ministry of Commerce and Industry)
Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) seeks to bridge the infrastructure gap and provide forward and backward linkages to units engaged in trade activities
IT Department launches Operation Clean Money-II to investigate black money generation
CBDT has detected flow of black money into banks amounting to over Rs 9,334 crore between November 9, 2016 & February 28, 2017
Government launches ‘BHIM-Aadhar pay’ app to enable payments at outlets without using smart phones
One can make payments at outlets using finger print scanner, by authenticating the biometric details of a user with Aadhaar database
India’s largest Floating Solar PV Plant is installed in Kerala
It is seen as a major step in achieving the goal of affordable 24X7 power. The new plant is likely to generate 100 kWP power
Book Releases & Authors Author Book
Namita Roy Ghose & Sanjay Chopra
The Wrong Turn : Love & Betrayal in the Time of Netaji
International News News Narration
World Bank Report projects 7.2% growth in India’s GDP for 2017-18
It has also predicted that the ‘fiscal, inflation & external conditions’ in the country will remain stable & India’s economic growth will rise gradually to 7.7% in 2019-20
US drops super bomb GBU-43 over an ISIS complex in Afghanistan
Nicknamed as the ‘Mother of All Bombs, it was one of the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in the battlefield. Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) weighs 9,797 kgs
UN Women launched ‘Women in Politics 2017 map’
India ranked 148th position in representation of women in executive government
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Updates reported from 25 April -10 May
Appointments – Indian Government & Industry Forums Personality
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
Director-General - Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar (Replaced K. Durga Prasad)
Deaths Names Details
Vinod Khanna, a veteran actor & politician
Veteran actor and politician Vinod Khanna expired at the age of 70
Awards Indian Movies & Others Awardees Achievement
Dada Saheb Phalke Award, 2016
Kasinathuni Viswanath Outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema
Sports Sport Narration
Asian Squash Championship, 2017
Joshna Chinappa scripted history by becoming the first Indian to clinch the Asian Squash title with a win over compatriot Dipika Pallikal Karthik in the women’s final in Chennai
Government News News Narration
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik)
1st flight by Alliance Air flew between Delhi to Shimla under UDAN initiative
Maharashtra becomes First State to Use Automated Weather Stations (AWS) for Farmers
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has inaugurated the state’s first automatic weather station at Dongargaon in Nagpur
India to launch South-Asia satellite GSAT-9 on May 5 via launch vehicle GSLV-F09
Except Pakistan, all SAARC counties became part of the initiative to avail benefits like better communication, weather forecasting, tele-medicine and response to disaster management
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International News News Narration
Dubai has become the first city in the world to have its own Microsoft-designed font
The font will have typeface both in Latin and Arabic script
Emmanuel Macron becomes the youngest French President
A pro-European former investment banker & an independent candidate defeated Marine Le Pen, his far-right opponent by a large margin
Moon Jae-in is the new South Korean president
The Democratic Party’s candidate won with 41% votes. He replaces the ousted President Park Geun-hye, who was ejected from office in March after a corruption scandal for which she’s awaiting trial
India elected as the president of UN Habitat for the 3rd time
UN-Habitat is an organ of the United Nations to promote sustainable human settlements across the globe
Updates reported from 11- 17 May
Deaths Names Details
Sports psychology expert Bhishmaraj Bam passed away
Former Director General of Police of Maharashtra had provided guidance to sportspersons in several fields
Sports News Narration
Bajrang Punia gives India first gold medal at Asian Wrestling Championship 2017
He defeated Lee Seung-chul of Korea 6-2 to win the gold medal in the men’s 65 kg freestyle category
Government News News Narration
Among a list of 75 busiest railway stations, Vizag & Beas are the cleanest railway stations in A1 & A categories
The third survey was carried out by the Quality Council of India as part of ‘Swachh Railway Campaign’. Bihar's Darbhanga happens to be the dirtiest one
India, Singapore kick off major naval exercise in South China
This edition of SIMBEX, the 24th such bilateral combat exercise, is aimed at further
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Sea, named ‘Simbex’ increasing interoperability between the two navies as well as developing common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations
Honours Personality Honour
Mukesh Ambani, the only Indian to be part of Forbes's 2017 Global Game Changers list
Reliance Industries chairman named among the world's 25 influential business leaders based on corporate growth, innovation and international presence
International News News Narration
India boycotts China’s OBOR summit in Beijing
This is to protest the construction of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through PoK, bypassing repeated Indian protests. This can impact geo-politics of the region and this explains India's sensitivity with the project
Updates reported from 18- 31 May
Sports News Narration
Mumbai Indians won IPL 2017 They beat Rising Pune Supergiant to post their third victory in 10th IPL season
Government News News Narration
India’s longest bridge connecting Assam & Arunachal Pradesh inaugurated by the PM
9.2km long ‘Bhupen Hazarika’ bridge connecting Dhola & Sadiya is built over Lohit River, a major tributary of the Brahmaputra
Business News
News Narration India's forex reserves go up $4 billion to touch new high of $379.3 billion
India’s foreign exchange reserves gained $4 billion to reach $379.3 billion for the week ended May 19
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Personalities Business Appointments - India
Position Personality IAMAI , Chairman Rajan Anandan( Google India Head) People in News
Name Narration Anshu Jamsenpa A 38-year-old Indian climber who made the
fastest double ascent of Mount Everest and became the first woman to reach the highest point on earth twice in five days
International News News Narration
First ever Arab-Islamic-American summit held at Riyadh (21-22 May)
The summit participants condemned perpetrators that commit terrorist acts in the name of religion & discussed ways to root out terrorism
Dr Tedros Adhanom will take over as 8th Director-General of WHO
The Ethiopian politician, academic, and public health authority will take office from 1 July 2017
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (alias ‘Prachanda’) resigns
As part of a power-sharing deal, he paved way for his coalition partner, Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba, to replace him
Hassan Rouhani Hassan Rouhani has been re-elected as the President of Iran , in the Presidential elections held on 19th May 2017.