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1 WiFiStudy.com Donald Trump Bans 7 nations from Entering US on Security Issues The new US President has imposed a controversial 90-day ban on travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The decision aims at protecting United States from the entry of foreign terrorists to keep the nation safe. SAARC Programme Committee meeting underway South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Programme Committee’s 53rd meeting is underway in the capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu. The meeting is being led by Nepal Foreign Ministry’s Regional Organisation Division Chief Mani Prasad Bhattarai. Nepal is hosting the meeting in capacity as the SAARC Chair. ISB, IIMA And IIMB Among The Top 50 In FT Global MBA Ranking 2017 Indian School of Business (ISB), Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) and Indian Institute of Management Bangalore(IIMB) have been ranked among the top 50 in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2017. Management schools in the top 50 include INSEAD (France and Singapore), Stanford Graduate School of Business, Wharton Business School, Harvard Business School, University Cambridge Judge Business School and London Business School. ISB is the highest ranked B school from India which has been ranked in the 27th position which jumped two slots than last year's while IIMB is placed in the 29th position jumping five slots than last year's. Kuwaiti visa ban on 5 Muslim-majority countries Kuwait has suspended the issuance of visas for nationals of Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. The Kuwaiti government has told would-be migrants from the five banned nations to not apply for visas, as it is worried about the possible migration of radical Islamic terrorists. The order came at a time after refugees from all over the world will be denied US entry for 120 days by US Prsident Trump while all immigration from so-called "countries with terrorism concerns" will be suspended for 90 days. The countries included in the US ban are Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The world's most valuable brands revealed Google has snatched Apple’s title as the world’s most valuable brand, ending the iPhone maker’s five-year reign. The monetary value of Google’s brand rose by 24 per cent last year to $109.5bn, propelling it to the top spot for the first time since 2011. Apple’s value fell from $145.9bn in the previous year to $107.1bn. The study of 500 brands deemed Amazon the third most valuable. Qatar Airways launches world's longest flight Qatar Airways launched the world's longest scheduled commercial service with its inaugural flight from Doha to Auckland. Flight QR920 left the Qatari capital at 05:02 (local time) and is set to land in New Zealand at 07:30 (local time). The Boeing 777 flight will take 16 hours and 20 minutes, pass over 10 time zones, five countries and travel 14,535 kilometres before reaching Auckland. 4 February: The World Cancer Day The World Cancer Day is observed every year on 4 February. World Cancer Day unites the world’s population in the fight against cancer. It aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about the disease, pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action. The theme of 2017 World Cancer Day is ‘We Can, I Can’. China Becomes World’s Largest Solar Energy Producer China has become the world’s largest producer of solar energy, according to a new report from the country’s energy administration. China's National Energy Administration announced over that their photovoltaic (PV) capacity reached an impressive 77.42 gigawatts. Germany, the former global solar-power leader, produced 40.78 gigawatts in November 2016.

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Page 1: The world's most valuable brands revealedThe world's most valuable brands revealed Google has snatched Apple’s title as the world’s most valuable brand, ending the iPhone maker’s

1 WiFiStudy.com

Donald Trump Bans 7 nations from Entering US on

Security Issues

The new US President

has imposed a

controversial 90-day

ban on travellers from

Iran, Iraq, Libya,

Somalia, Sudan, Syria

and Yemen.

The decision aims at protecting United States from the

entry of foreign terrorists to keep the nation safe.

SAARC Programme Committee meeting underway

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

Programme Committee’s 53rd meeting is underway in the

capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu.

The meeting is being led by Nepal Foreign Ministry’s

Regional Organisation Division Chief Mani Prasad

Bhattarai.

Nepal is hosting the meeting in capacity as the SAARC

Chair.

ISB, IIMA And IIMB Among The Top 50 In FT Global

MBA Ranking 2017

Indian School of Business (ISB), Indian Institute of

Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) and Indian Institute of

Management Bangalore(IIMB) have been ranked among the

top 50 in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2017.

Management schools in the top 50 include INSEAD

(France and Singapore), Stanford Graduate School of

Business, Wharton Business School, Harvard Business

School, University Cambridge Judge Business School and

London Business School.

ISB is the highest ranked B school from India which has

been ranked in the 27th position which jumped two slots

than last year's while IIMB is placed in the 29th position

jumping five slots than last year's.

Kuwaiti visa ban on 5 Muslim-majority countries

Kuwait has suspended the issuance of visas for nationals of

Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

The Kuwaiti government has told would-be migrants from

the five banned nations to not apply for visas, as it is

worried about the possible migration of radical Islamic

terrorists.

The order came at a time after refugees from all over the

world will be denied US entry for 120 days by US Prsident

Trump while all immigration from so-called "countries

with terrorism concerns" will be suspended for 90 days.

The countries included in the US ban are Iraq, Syria, Iran,

Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

The world's most valuable brands revealed

Google has snatched Apple’s title as the world’s most valuable

brand, ending the iPhone maker’s five-year reign.

The monetary value of Google’s brand rose by 24 per cent

last year to $109.5bn, propelling it to the top spot for the

first time since 2011.

Apple’s value fell from $145.9bn in the previous year to

$107.1bn.

The study of 500 brands deemed Amazon the third most

valuable.

Qatar Airways launches world's longest flight

Qatar Airways launched the world's longest scheduled

commercial service with its inaugural flight from Doha to

Auckland.

Flight QR920 left the Qatari capital at 05:02 (local time)

and is set to land in New Zealand at 07:30 (local time).

The Boeing 777 flight will take 16 hours and 20 minutes,

pass over 10 time zones, five countries and travel 14,535

kilometres before reaching Auckland.

4 February: The World Cancer Day

The World Cancer Day is observed every year on 4 February.

World Cancer Day unites the world’s population in the fight

against cancer.

It aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by

raising awareness and education about the disease,

pressing governments and individuals across the world to

take action.

The theme of 2017 World Cancer Day is ‘We Can, I Can’.

China Becomes World’s Largest Solar Energy Producer

China has become

the world’s largest

producer of solar

energy, according

to a new report

from the country’s

energy

administration.

China's National Energy Administration announced

over that their photovoltaic (PV) capacity reached an

impressive 77.42 gigawatts.

Germany, the former global solar-power leader, produced

40.78 gigawatts in November 2016.

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BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meet concludes

The 17th Session of

BIMSTEC Senior

Officials' Meeting (SOM)

has concluded in

Kathmandu, with an

understanding to host the

summit meeting by the end

of 2017.

The SOM meeting

represented by senior foreign ministry officials from

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka

and Thailand gave concurrence to Nepal's proposal to host

the fourth BIMSTEC Summit in October/November in

Kathmandu.

As the current chair of BIMSTEC, Nepal is hosting the

fourth BIMSTEC Summit.

Pakistan bans Basant festival

Pakistan's Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif imposed a

“complete ban” on Basant, a festival celebrated to mark the

start of the spring season.

Sharif has made it clear that the Punjab government won't

allow such festivals which endanger people's lives.

Israeli firm to contribute in clean Yamuna

The Delhi government has decided to employ Israeli

technology to clean the Yamuna river for a cleaner

environment and water, the Israeli Embassy said.

Ayala Water and Ecology Ltd. will focus on a stretch of

eight km of sewage which drains into Yamuna River as an

initial step towards cleaner water and environment.

Ayala is also partnering with other Indian cities, including

Hyderabad and Chennai, offering Israeli technology to

help address water and ecological challenges.

Israel, in addition to being one of the major exporter of

weapons to India, is also contributing in the areas of

agriculture and horticulture, among others.

Israeli drip irrigation technologies are now widely used in

India.

Shawna Pandya to be 3rd Indian-origin woman to go to

space

An Indian-origin neurosurgeon currently based in Canada has

been shortlisted by NASA for its 2018 space mission under the

Citizen Science Astronaut (CSA) programme.

If everything goes according to plan, Dr Shawna Pandya

(32) may join the league of Kalpana Chawla and Sunita

Williams.

Dr Pandya, who was born in Canada, is a general physician

with the Alberta University Hospital.

China releases theme for year's BRICS Summit

China has released the theme and the cooperation priorities of

the 2017 BRICS Summit which is scheduled to begin in

September in Xiamen which is located in east China's Fujian

Province.

The summit will be held under the theme "BRICS:

Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future," China’s state-

run Xinhua news agency reported.

It will also feature five key priorities such as deepening

cooperation, strengthening global governance, carrying

out people-to-people exchanges, making institutional

improvements and building broader partnerships.

The BRICS comprises of Brazil, Russia, India, China and

South Africa.

The inaugural summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia,

in 2009. South Africa did not take part in it as the nation

was admitted to the group in 2010.

So far a total of eight summits have taken place.

The last year's summit was hosted by India at Goa.

China:

Capital: Beijing

Currency: Yuan (Renminbi)

President: Xi Jinping

Prime Minister: Lee Keqiang

Naval drill Aman-17 with 37 nations begins in Karachi

The multinational Aman-

17 naval exercise kicked

off in Karachi with 37

countries taking part in the

event.

Aman-17 is the fifth

such exercise which

Pakistan has been holding every alternate year since 2007.

Commander of the Pakistani naval fleet Vice Admiral

Arifullah Hussaini inaugurated the exercise, which

includes Australia, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Sri Lanka,

Britain, the US, Japan and Russia at the Karachi dockyard.

The Vice Admiral said the exercise would help work

against human trafficking, narcotics smuggling, and

terrorism in the region.

Pakistan

Capital: Islamabad

Currency: Rupee

President: Mamnoon Hussain

Prime Minister: Nawaj Sharif

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World Radio Day: 13 February

World Radio Day is an observance day held annually on 13

February.

World Radio Day is about celebrating radio, why we love

it and why we need it today more than ever.

The theme for the 2017 edition of World Radio Day is

“Radio is You!”

Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi is considered as the

inventor of the Radio.

Delhi airport 12th busiest in the world

Delhi International Airport was the 12th busiest airport

worldwide for the month of November 2016, according to a

latest report published by International Civil Aviation

Organisation (ICAO).

This is the first time an Indian airport has entered the big

league of top 15 airports in the world, which comprises of

major airports like Atlanta, Dubai, Los Angeles and

Changi airports.

In November, Delhi airport also recorded the highest

growth rate of 19.1 per cent in the world.

Longest elevated cycle path in the world opens in China

The longest elevated bike path in the world has been opened in

a city in south-east China.

The five-mile long, 16-feet wide bicycle-only pathway –

“the winding viaduct” – has been built in the city of

Xiamen.

China

Capital: Beijing

Currency: Yuan (Renminbi)

President: Xi Jinping

Prime Minister: Lee Keqiang

UNESCOs Nature Fest held in Himachal Pradesh

The 2017 UNESCO Natural Heritage Festival was held at

Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Sairopa, Himachal

Pradesh from February 11th to 12th.

The fest was held in collaboration with the Wildlife

Institute of India (WII).

The festival feature a media workshop on environmental

journalism, discussions on natural and cultural heritage of

the Himalayan region and a heritage walk.

Notably, Great Himalayan National Park was given

UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2014.

UNESCO

Headquarters: Paris

Director General: Irina Bokova (Bulgaria)

Founded: 16 November 1945

Memners: 195

US, Thailand to Launch 2017 Cobra Gold Military

Exercises

The United States and

Thailand have kicked off

the 2017 iteration of the

annual Cobra Gold military

exercises, Asia’s largest

multinational drill.

In over 30 years, Cobra

Gold, which began as a bilateral drill between the United

States and Thailand, has now grown into one of the

world’s largest multinational exercises, involving some 30

countries.

Cobra Gold 2017, the 36th iteration of the military

exercise, took place from February 14 to 24.

The opening ceremony was held in Sattahip Royal Thai

Marine Corps Base in Chonburi Province, while the

closing ceremony will be held in Phu Lamyai Training

area in Nakhon Ratchasima Province.

Thailand

Capital: Bangkok

Currency: Baht

Prime Minister: Prayut Chan-o-cha

India ranks 143rd in economic freedom index

India ranked a dismal 143rd in an annual index of economic

freedom by a top American think tank, behind its several South

Asian neighbours including Pakistan, as progress on market-

oriented reforms has been “uneven”.

The Heritage Foundation in its Index of Economic

Freedom report said despite India sustaining an average

annual growth of about 7 per cent over the past five years,

growth is not deeply rooted in policies that preserve

economic freedom.

Also, India’s overall score of 52.6 points is 3.6 points less

than that of last year, when India was ranked 123rd.

Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand topped the index

respectively.

Among South Asian countries, only Afghanistan (163) and

Maldives (157) were ranked below India. Nepal (125), Sri

Lanka (112), Pakistan (141), Bhutan (107), and

Bangladesh (128) surpassed India in economic freedom.

World Day of Social Justice observed

The World Day of Social Justice was observed globally on 20

February 2017

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The theme for 2017 is "preventing conflict and sustaining

peace through decent work”.

The day is observed with an aim to recognise the need to

promote efforts to tackle several issues like exclusion,

unemployment and poverty.

India world's largest importer of major arms in the last four

years

India was the world’s largest

importer of major arms between

2012–16, accounting for 13 per

cent of the global total sales,

according to a new data released

by Stockholm International

Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

India increased its arms imports by 43 per cent, between

2007–11 and 2012–16. In the last four years India’s

imports were far greater than those of its regional rivals

China and Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia was the world’s second largest arms importer

in 2012-16.

The United States of America is the leading arms exporter

in the world with almost half of its arms exports going to

to the Middle East.

Russia comes close second that increased its exports by 23

percent, selling its arms to four countries of India,

Vietnam, China and Algeria.

Netanyahu is first Israeli prime minister to visit Australia

Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Sydney on the first visit to

Australia by a serving Israeli prime minister.

Netanyahu will start his four-day visit with talks with his

Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull at his official

Sydney address.

Netanyahu and Turnbull will sign agreements on

technology and air services.

Australia

Capital: Canberra

Currency: Dollar

Prime Minister: Malcolm Turnbull

Israel

Capital: Jerusalem

Currency: Shekel

President: Reuven Rivlin

Mexico City ranked world's most congested city

Mexico City has the worst daily traffic condition in the world

for the second consecutive year, according to a new research.

TomTom, a Dutch company manufacturing traffic and

mapping products, said in the research that the Mexican

capital once again took the top spot with drivers expecting

to spend an average of 66 percent extra time stuck in traffic

everyday, Xinhua news agency reported.

By analysing the traffic congestion situation in 390 cities

in 48 countries, the research has listed other cities,

including Bangkok, Jakarta and Bucharest as the most

congested cities in the world.

Mexico

Capital: Mexico City

Currency: Peso

President: Enrique Pena Nieto

India, Israel to develop missile for Army

Ahead of the first

visit of an Indian

Prime Minister to

Israel later this year,

India has approved a

deal to develop

jointly a medium

range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) system for the Army

in a Rs17,000-crore deal.

The deal will be executed by the Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aircraft

Industries (IAI).

The systems will be manufactured in India and would have

an 80% indigenous content.

China steams past U.S., France to be Germany's biggest

trading partner

China for the first time became Germany's most important

trading partner in 2016, overtaking the United States, which

fell back to third place behind France.

German imports from and exports to China rose to 170

billion euros ($180 billion) last year, Federal Statistics

Office figures showed.

France

Capital: Paris

Currency: Euro, Franc

Prime Minister: Bernard Cazeneuve

President: François Hollande

Germany

Capital: Berlin

Currency: Euro

Chancellor: Angela Merkel

President: Joachim Gauck

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Pakistan army launches nationwide military operations

'Radd-ul-Fasaad'

Pakistan army has

launched

nationwide military

operation 'Radd-ul-

Fasaad' to eliminate

terrorists and

consolidate gains of

its counter-terrorism

operations, days after a wave of suicide attacks that killed more

than 88 at a Sufi shrine in Sindh.

'Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad' — an Arabic word which

translates roughly to 'elimination of discord' - has been

launched across the country, the army's media wing Inter-

Services Public Relations said in a statement.

According to the statement, the operation aims include the

elimination of the residual and latent threat of terrorism,

consolidating gains of operations made so far and ensuring

the security of Pakistan's borders.

"The Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Civil Armed

Forces as well as other security and law enforcement

agencies will continue to actively participate and support

the efforts of the Pakistan Army to eliminate the menace

of terrorism from the country," the statement said.

Pakistan

Capital: Islamabad

Currency: Rupee

Prime Minister: Nawaj Sharif

President: Mamnoon Hussain

Venezuela, Libya again lose UN vote rights over dues debts

Venezuela and Libya have been suspended from voting in the

UN General Assembly for the second time in two years

because of millions of dollars in unpaid dues to the world body.

The Assembly decided this week that six countries i.e.

Sudan, Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, Cape Verde, Libya

and Vanuatu would lose their votes in the 2016-2017

session because they're over two years in arrears.

Venezuela

Capital: Caracas

Currency: Bolivar

President: Nicolas Maduro

Libya

Capital: Tripoli

Currency: Dinar

Prime Minister: Fayez al-Sarraj

India, Bangladesh ink MoU for development of Sylhet

India has agreed to provide financial assistance to Bangladesh

for the sustainable development of Sylhet, a north-eastern

Bangladeshi city.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed,

three development projects would be taken up in Sylhet.

The MoU was signed by Additional Secretary of the

Economic Relations Division Shah Md. Aminul Haque,

Sylhet City Corporation CEO Enamul Habib and Indian

High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla in Sylhet.

Bangladesh

Capital: Dhaka

Currency: Taka

Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina

Mobile app to monitor tiger reserves launched

Monitoring of tiger reserves in the country will become much

easier, quicker and transparent with the official launch of M-

STrIPES (Monitoring System For Tigers-Intensive Protection

and Ecological Status) software-enabled mobile app at Corbett

Tiger Reserve.

Foresters of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand,

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are participating in three-

day training workshop to learn about data collection and

software entry under the guidance of scientists of Wildlife

Institute of India at Corbett.

After the successful trial at Panna Tiger Reserve, the app

has now been launched in these five states in one go.

Vasundhara pips Kejriwal as most ‘liked’ CM

Rajasthan Chief Minister

Vasundhara Raje has

become the “most liked

Chief Minister” on social

media platforms, leaving

behind Delhi Chief Minister

Arvind Kejriwal and U.P.

Chief Minister Akhilesh

Yadav.

Her official Facebook

page has notched up

more than 71 lakh ‘likes’ so far.

Mr. Kejriwal's Facebook page has 70.87 lakh ‘likes’, while

Mr. Yadav has 54.85 lakh ‘likes’.

Ms. Raje's team closely monitors the opinions coming on

social channels and takes follow-up action to ensure help

for those who ask for it.

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Government to build 2 crude oil storages in Odisha,

Rajasthan

In a bid to insulate the country from volatility in global oil

market, the government will build two more underground

crude oil storages at Chandikhol in Odisha and Bikaner in

Rajasthan.

India has already built underground storages in rock

caverns at Visakhapatnam (1.33 million tonnes),

Mangalore (1.5 MT) and Padur (2.5 MT).

“For strengthening our energy sector, Government has

decided to set up Strategic Crude Oil Reserves.

Madhya Pradesh: Rs 1500 crore defence unit to be set up

in Morena district

The Defence Ministry would be setting up its unit of national

importance in Madhya Pradesh at Morena district’s Kailaras

and Sabalgarh tehsil areas, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj

and Rural Development, Narendra Singh Tomar said.

The Defence Ministry would spend Rs 1500 crore on the

proposed unit, the Minister said in a statement welcoming

MP government’s decision to allot land for the same.

National Testing Agency To Be Set Up

Asserting that quality

of education

will energise the

youth, Finance

Minister Arun Jaitley

unleashed measures to

revamp the country's

education system, including setting up of a National Testing

Agency to conduct all entrance examinations for higher

education institutions.

Unveiling the budgetary proposals for 2017-18 in

Parliament, Jaitley said the government proposes to

establish a National Testing Agency as an autonomous and

self-sustained premier testing organisation to conduct all

entrance examinations for higher education institutions.

This would free CBSE, AICTE and other premier

institutions from these administrative responsibilities so

that they can focus more on academics.

Surajkund International Crafts Mela Kicked off in

Faridabad

The 31st edition of the annual Surajkund international crafts

fair begun with artists from over 20 countries participating in

the cultural extravaganza.

The mela is being hosted jointly by the Haryana Tourism

Corporation and Surajkund Mela Authority, in

collaboration with the Union Ministries of Tourism,

Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.

For the 31st edition of the much anticipated fair, Jharkhand

has been chosen to be the Theme State.

19th Bharat Rang Mahotsav begins

Offering a potpourri of plays from India as well as other

countries, the 19th edition of National School of Drama's

Bharat Rang Mahotsav began In New Delhi.

The annual theatre extravaganza, slated to run through

February 1-21, will see 14 foreign productions and

participation of 12 countries.

Renowned Bhartnatyam and Odissi dancer Sonal

Mansingh, who was present at the event as the chief guest

said she is excited for having been invited to perform in

the festival.

Rail Museum celebrates 40th anniversary

The National Rail Museum just entered into its 40th year.

It houses the largest collection of life-size rail exhibits.

It was recently renovated and reopened for public.

The museum also has interactive screens, miniature

working models to inform the visitors of its main

attractions.

UIDAI clamps down on 50 fraud sites offering Aadhaar

services

In a massive crackdown on unauthorised agencies offering

Aadhaar-related services illegally and charging excessive

money from the public, UIDAI has got shut down 12 such

websites and 12 mobile apps available on the Google Playstore.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has

further directed authorities for closure of another 26 such

fraudulent and illegal websites and mobile applications.

Bihar introduces third gender category in school exams

For the first time since the

Supreme Court recognised

transgender people as a

third gender in 2014, as

many as 18 students in

Bihar have been allowed to

appear for the Board

exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board

(BSEB) under the third-gender category.

The exams for Class 12 begin on February 14 and for Class

10 from March 1.

According to board officials, 10 third-gender students will

be taking the Class 12 exams and eight would be writing

the Class 10 exams.

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Penalty of 100% amount for receiving cash over Rs 3 lakh

In a bid to check generation of black money, a steep penalty

awaits those accepting cash in excess of Rs 3 lakh, beginning

April 1, to settle any transaction.

A ban on cash transaction of more than Rs 3 lakh has been

proposed in the Budget for 2017-18.

Revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia said the penalty for

doing cash transaction will be steep and the receiver will

have to pay an amount equivalent to the cash received.

"Supposing you do a transaction of Rs 4 lakh in cash, then

the penalty would be Rs 4 lakh. If you do a transaction of

Rs 50 lakh, penalty would be Rs 50 lakh," he said, adding

that the penalty will be levied on the receiver.

Telangana government launches India’s first social

innovation centre

Telangana government launched the Kakatiya Hub for Social

Innovation in Nizamabad, which is expected to be up and

running by September.

Funded by the Telangana government, Kakatiya Hub,

which will function like a rural incubator to encourage

entrepreneurship at grassroots level, is claimed to be

India’s first social innovation centre.

The incubator will be run through Kakatiya Sandbox.

IndiGo Security Training Centre Licence Suspended

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has suspended

the licence of IndiGo's aviation security training facility for

alleged lapses in the examination system conducted by the

airline.

The orders issued by BCAS, the apex aviation security

agency, last week bar the Gurgaon-based airline from

conducting security training programme for its employees

any further, sources said.

The training academy is run by IndiGo's parent company,

InterGlobe Aviation.

India's solar power capacity crosses 9 GW

Country's solar power generation capacity was 9,012 MW as

on December 31, 2016.

Tamil Nadu led the chart followed by Rajasthan and

Gujarat, Power Minister Piyush Goyal informed the Rajya

Sabha.

The minister said solar power development varies from

state to state depending on solar irradiance, availability of

conducive state policy for the sector, availability of land,

cost of financing and business environment such as

willingness of DISCOMS to purchase the solar power,

power evacuation infrastructure, etc.

IIT Bombay helps Rajasthan tribal communities set up

solar manufacturing plant

A solar module manufacturing plant fully owned and operated

by local tribal communities is being set up in Dungarpur,

Rajasthan with the help of IIT Bombay.

The Institute has helped implement this first-of- its-kind

solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturing plant,

which will be completely owned and operated by tribal

women in Dungarpur, Rajasthan.

Assam launches Rs 30,000 cr village development scheme

In a move to bring

about paradigm shift

towards holistic

development of

villages in Assam,

Chief Minsiter

Sarbananda Sonowal

launched Chief

Minister Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY).

Chief Minister Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana, a mega

mission with a financial outlay of Rs. 30,000 crore will be

implemented in all the villages in Assam in the next five

years culminating in 2021-22.

Arunachal Becomes First NE State to Implement e-Cabinet

Solution

Arunachal Pradesh became the first state in the northeast to

implement e-Cabinet solution for the state cabinet members.

Using this system, the cabinet members can access the

cabinet notes before the meeting.

The entire business of the Cabinet can be conducted using

the e-Cabinet solution.

The e-Cabinet solution will give remote access to the

Ministers to view Cabinet notes and the same will be

circulated well in advance for proper analysis and

feedback.

First Smart Police Station inaugurated in Andhra Pradesh

Chandrababu Naidu

inaugurated the first model

police station at

Nagarampalem in the

capital region Amaravati.

Later in the day, he

also inaugurated the second model police station in old

Guntur town.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, for the

first time in the country, Andhra Pradesh has brought forth

the smart policing system.

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Global conference on Nuclear Terrorism begins in New

Delhi

The Implementation and Assessment Group Meeting of the

Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism begins in New

Delhi.

Nearly 150 delegates from various partner countries and

international organisations will take take part in the three-

day event.

Cabinet approves 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital

Saksharta Abhiyan’

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra

Modi has approved 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta

Abhiyan' (PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore rural households

digitally literate.

The outlay for this project is Rs.2,351.38 crore to usher in

digital literacy in rural India by March,2019.

This is in line with the announcement made by Finance

Minister in the Union Budget 2016-17.

PMGDISHA is expected to be one of the largest digital

literacy programmes in the world.

Under the scheme, 25 lakh candidates will be trained in the

FY 2016-17; 275 lakh in the FY 2017-18; and 300 lakh in

the FY 2018-19.

To ensure equitable geographical reach, each of the

250,000 Gram Panchayats would be expected to register

an average of 200-300 candidates.

17th International Counter Terrorism Seminar held

The Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Col.

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore inaugurated the 17th

International Seminar on Counter Terrorism.

It was organised by National Security Guard, in Manesar,

Haryana.

Speaking on the occasion, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh

Rathore said that terrorism is a global threat and the

footprint of terrorism does not restrict to any border.

Portal and Mobile Application launched for Mining

Operations

With an objective to enhance transparency and accountability

as a part of the Ease of Doing Business in the Mining sector,

Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New &

Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal will launch

TAMRA (Transparency, Auction Monitoring and Resource

Augmentation) portal and Mobile Application here on 10th

February, 2017.

Ministers of Mining and senior officers from 12 mineral

rich States would also be connected through

videoconferencing.

TAMRA will be an interactive platform for all the

stakeholders to compress the timelines for statutory and

other clearances as it would help minimize the gestation

period for commencing production.

Gujarat Becomes First State To Establish Cashless System

Ram Vilas Paswan,

Union Minister for

Consumer Affairs, Food

and Public Distribution

congratulated the State

Government of Gujarat

on becoming the first

State in the country for establishing Cashless System for

distribution of foodgrains.

Paswan lauded the efforts of the State Government for

installing Aadhaar Enabled Payment System in 17250

FPSs, much before the targeted date of 31st March, 2017.

The beneficiaries under NFSA will need to carry only

Aadhaar cards for getting their foodgrains in Gujarat.

This will help in establishing the identity of beneficiaries,

help in stopping the leakages of grains at shop level and

above all eradicate corruption in the Public Distribution

System.

Dalhousie Road becomes Dara Shikoh Road

The New Delhi

Municipal Council

passed a proposal to

change the name of

Dalhousie Road to

Dara Shikoh Road,

after the eldest son of

Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

New Delhi MP and NDMC member Meenakshi Lekhi said

that the Council decided to honour Dara Shikoh Road for

“bringing Hindus and Muslims together”.

Centre makes Aadhaar card mandatory for availing

foodgrain under PDS

The central government said an Aadhaar (unique citizen

identification) number would be mandatory for taking

foodgrain through the Public Distribution System (PDS) under

the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and also for cash

transfers in lieu of the food subsidy under it.

According to the Aadhaar Act, producing the document

for identification is compulsory for any transfers made

from the Consolidated Fund of India, stated the food

ministry.

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Those who don’t have an Aadhaar numbers will continue

to get their monthly ration quota if they provide proof of

having applied for it. Such persons have to necessarily

apply for Aadhaar enrolment by June 30.

HRD ministry forms sub-panel of CABE to boost girls'

education

The Union HRD Ministry has constituted a sub-committee of

Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) under

Chairmanship of Telangana's Deputy Chief Minister to look

into issues of girl's education.

The terms of reference of the sub-committee would be to

examine the reasons for low participation of girls in

education, including the socio-economic factors with

resultant gender bias, and suggest ways to reduce gender

disparity so as to achieve better gender parity index, an

official release said.

The sub-committee, to be chaired by Telangana's Deputy

Chief Minister and Education Minister Kadiyam Srihari,

would also assess the current status of girls' enrolment

across the country at primary, upper primary, secondary

education and senior secondary levels.

National Productivity Week Celebrations from Feb 12-18,

2017

12th-18th February is celebrated as the ‘National Productivity

Week’ every year.

The theme chosen for this year’s observance is “From

Waste to Profits-through Reduce, Recycle and Reuse”.

National Productivity Council, an autonomous body under

Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of

Commerce & Industry, Government of India was

established on 12th February, 1958, with the objective of

stimulating and promoting productivity and quality

consciousness across all sectors in the country.

World’s Oldest Working Steam Engine ‘Fairy Queen’

Ready to Haul Heritage Train Once Again

The ‘Fairy Queen’, the oldest surviving functional steam

engine in the world is once again ready in this season to haul a

heritage train from National Capital Delhi to Rewari, Haryana

after a gap of 5 years.

This train, which is a great attraction among steam engine

lovers across the globe, will run between Delhi Cantt.

Station and Rewari from 11th February 2017 for a single

day trip.

The locomotive was constructed by Kitson, Thompson and

Hewitson at Leeds, in England, in 1855, and reached

Kolkata, then known as Calcutta, in the same year.

On arrival, it was given fleet number "22" by its owner,

the East Indian Railway Company, not receiving a name

until 1895.

Initially, the 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) gauge locomotive was

used to haul light mail trains in West Bengal, operating

between Howrah and Raniganj, and during the Indian

Rebellion of 1857 hauled troop trains.

It was later consigned to line construction duty in Bihar,

where it served until 1909.

Govt to open 56 Post Office Passport Seva Kendra

Enthused by success of two pilot projects on utilising the head

post offices as Passport Seva Kendra, the government has now

decided to scale up this programme by opening 56 such

facilities across the country.

The ministry of external affairs and the department of

posts had earlier decided to join hands to deliver passport-

related services to the citizens.

The pilot project between the MEA and Department of

Posts had started in Mysuru and Dahod (Gujarat), on

January 25.

‘India Pharma 2017’ & ‘India Medical Device 2017’

International Conference inaugurated

Union Minister for

Chemicals & Fertilizers

and Parliamentary

Affairs, Shri

Ananthkumar

inaugurated the 2nd

edition of India Pharma &

India Medical Device International Conference in Bengaluru.

The three day event, with the Vision - ‘For Responsible

Healthcare’, is being organized by the Department of

Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers and

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry

(FICCI) from 11th-13th February, 2017.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Kumar called the

International Conference as a ‘Pharma and Medical

Devices Kumbh’.

India Successfully Test Fires Exo-Atmospheric Interceptor

Missile

India successfully conducted a test wherein an incoming

ballistic missile target was intercepted by an exo-atmospheric

interceptor missile off the Bay of Bengal.

With this commendable scientific achievement, India has

crossed an important milestone in building its overall

capability towards enhanced security against incoming

ballistic missile threats. It has entered an exclusive club of

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four nations with developing capabilities to secure its skies

and cities against hostile threats.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Defence Minister

Shri Manohar Parrikar lauded the efforts of the DRDO and

all the scientists involved for their dedicated efforts in this

significant achievement.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi inaugurates “Hunar Haat”

Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent

Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

inaugurated the second edition of “Hunar Haat”.

It is being organized by the Minority Affairs Ministry to

encourage, promote and provide national and international

market to master artisans/craftsmen belonging to the

Minority communities from across the country.

With the theme “Craft Aur Cuisine Ka Sangam”, the

second “Hunar Haat” is being organized from 11th to 26th

February, 2017 at State Emporia Complex, Baba Kharak

Singh Marg, Connaught Place.

In a first for Indian warships, solar power lights up INS

Sarvekshak

For the first time in the country, solar panels have been

installed on an Indian warship. The survey class vessel INS

Sarvekshak, attached with the Southern Naval command, has

been fitted with 18 sheets of solar panels atop its hangar.

“It took about six months to put the entire system in place

and we are now using solar energy for lights and a couple

of air conditioners,” said Captain Rajesh Bargoti,

commanding officer of the ship.

The 300-Watt panels generate about 5.4 KW power.

National Women’s Parliament held in Andhra Pradesh

The three-day National Women’s Parliament, organised by

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly with the theme of

‘Empowering Women — Strengthening Democracy’, held in

the state capital region Amaravati.

Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama, Union Ministers M

Venkaiah Naidu and P Ashok Gajapati Raju, AP Chief

Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and many other dignitaries

attended the inaugural event at Pavitra Sangamam here.

The vision of NWP was to enable and encourage social,

political and economic empowerment of women in all

strata of the society.

International Spice Conference from Feb 12-14

The three-day International Spice Conference begin in

Thiruvananthapuram on Feb 12.

More than 700 delegates representing various states,

Industry leaders from 40 countries, International Spice

Associations representatives, Policy makers and End-

Users are among those participating.

The second edition of the conference would also address

food safety concerns, demand supply disparity and ways

to foster sustainable growth.

The central theme of the conference would be ‘21st

Century Spice Industry - Disrupt or be Disrupted’ .

First International Spice Conference (ISC) was held in

Goa.

New FSSAI panel to finalise food fortification rules

India’s food safety

authority has created an

expert panel to finalise

food fortification rules

that would facilitate

inclusion of crucial

micro-nutrients to

essential food items like rice, wheat, oil and milk.

The panel with doctors and medical researchers would

finalise the rules on the basis of inputs that the Food Safety

and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) received since

October 2016.

The FSSAI also issued guidelines on fortification for five

food items — salt, milk, wheat flour, rice and edible oil.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

Aim: FSSAI is responsible for protecting and promoting public

health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.

Headquarters: New Delhi

Founded: August 2011

Chairman: Ashish Bahuguna

Radha Mohan Singh inaugurates Indian Seed Congress –

2017 in Kolkata

The Union Minister of

Agriculture and Farmers

Welfare,Radha Mohan

Singh has inaugurated

Indian Seed Congress –

2017, in Kolkata.

The theme of Seed Congress is “Seed of Joy” which is very

much in line with vision of this government to bring

happiness and prosperity in the lives of farmers by

doubling their farm income by 2022.

GNFC township becomes 100% cashless

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers (GNFC) township, the

state owned company's township at Bharuch, which has a

population of around 5,000 and floating population of around

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10,000 every day, has become 100% cashless and probably the

first such township in India.

It has facilities like a big shopping centre, restaurants,

eateries, schools and colleges, hospital, stadium, guest

house, etc.

The GNFC is the first integrated industrial township in the

country to go 100% digital in all financial transactions.

India’s first floating elementary school inaugurated on

Manipur’s Loktak Lake

Loktak lake, the largest freshwater lake in the country, has now

become home to first of its kind loktak floating elementary

school.

Situated about 50 km from Imphal, the school has been

inaugurated at Langolsabi Leikai of Champu Khangpok

village in Manipur.

The Loktak Lake is referred as the “lifeline of Manipur”

as it is highly productive and many lives depend on the

lake for endurance.

The lake is also an Important Bird Area as it’s a potential

breeding site for waterfowl and is a staging site for

migratory birds.

Manipur

Capital: Imphal

Chief Minister: Okram Ibobi Singh

Governor: Najma Heptulla

Founded: 21 January 1972

International coin fair held in Thiruvananthapuram

More than 2,500 coins from around 500 regions, including

those from the time of empires and princely states, were on

display at an international coin fair which was organised in

Thiruvananthapuram from February 13 to 15.

The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC)

organised the event.

Minister for Tourism, Cooperation Kadakampally

Surendran inaugurated the exhibition.

The three-day event featured the collections of Justin

Gilbert Lopez, who holds a Guinness world record for the

largest coin collection.

ISRO sends record 104 satellites in one go

Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO has created a

world record in the space arena by sending 104 satellites in a

single rocket.

The space agency's trusted workhorse Polar Satellite

Launch Vehicle PSLV-C37, on its 39th mission, took off

from Sriharikota space centre with the 104 satellites

belonging to international customers.

What is significant about the launch is the number of

satellites carried by a rocket. Compared to successful

launch by the Russian Space Agency launching 37

satellites in one go, India become the first country to script

history launching 104 satellites in a single rocket.

It was ISRO's second successful attempt after launching

23 satellites in one go in June 2015.

PSLV first launched the 714 kg CARTOSAT-2 Series

satellite for earth observation, followed by 103 co-

passenger satellites, together weighing about 664 kg at lift-

off into polar Sun Synchronous Orbit, about 520 km from

Earth.

Of 104 satellites, 96 belong to USA, three from India and

five from International customers of ISRO -- Israel,

Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Arab

Emirates, respectively.

ISRO

Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded: 15 August 1969

Chairman: AS Kiran Kumar

Mamata Banerjee declares Kalimpong as separate district

A new district of

Kalimpong was carved out

of Darjeeling, which has

seen separate statehood

demands since 1980s, with

West Bengal Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee making

the formal announcement.

Announcing a slew of development projects for the newly

created district at a colourful ceremony, Banerjee said “a

Rs 220 crore road link project will be taken up to connect

Kalimpong with Sikkim via the old Silk Route.

She said a Rs 50 crore water supply project by the public

health engineering department will be taken up soon to

address Kalimpong’s water scarcity problem.

West Bengal

Capital: Kolkata

Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi

Founded: 26 January 1950

11th International Aero India 2017 begins

Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar inaugurated the 11th

biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence

Exhibition at Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru.

This edition of Aero India, for the first time, combines the

defence and civil aviation segments into a holistic event

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with the co involvement of the defence and civil aviation

ministries in the event.

During his inaugural address Shri Parrikar said that this

edition of Aero India would witness the emerging

dynamism of defence manufacturing in India, especially

the rising role of Indian defence industry.

This edition of Aero India sees the participation of 549

companies with 53 Aircraft gracing the event.

IAF inducts indigenous early warning system

The IAF has formally inducted the first indigenously built

Airborne Early Warning and Control System Netra developed

by the Defence Research and Development Organisation at the

Aero India exhibition.

It was handed over by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar

to Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, is in the Initial

Operational Configuration.

It is expected to achieve Final Operational Configuration

(FOC) by June.

International Conference on NexGen Technologies

inaugurated

Inaugurating the International Conference on "NexGen

Technologies for Mining and Fuel Industries" [NxGnMiFu-

2017] in New Delhi, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that this

conference must look at the working conditions of the poorest

of the poor/ the have-nots/ downtrodden and see how much

scientific research can change and improve their lives.

Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth

Science Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that clean energy

initiatives being taken by Government should be

perceptible and bring measurable change in the lives of the

common man.

J&K govt launches e-Prison project

The Jammu and

Kashmir government

has launched the e-

Prison project to

enumerate jail inmates

in the State, where

numbers of detainees

keep swelling during unrest.

The information about jail inmates is currently being

maintained manually.

To avoid delays in processing the information and manage

all the jails efficiently, the automation of prison

department has been started.”

The government has already digitised records of 500

inmates.

The project will digitise 25 district jails, two Central jails

and one sub-jail in the State.

KVIC to make khadi Gaon in each state

Aiming to scale up employment at rural locations and push up

the khadi and village industries products from the villages, the

khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has initiated a

project named khadi Gaon.

Under the scheme, Five Khadi Gaon will be established in

each state.

It will help them to be self dependent and would stop their

retrea towards the cities.

Mahesh Sharma launches pre-loaded Sim Card for

Tourists arriving in India on E-visa

Dr. Mahesh Sharma,

Minister of State

(Independent

Charge) for Tourism

and Culture,

launched the

initiative of the

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for providing pre-

loaded Sim Card to foreign tourists arriving in India on e-Visa.

Addressing on the occasion, he said that this unique

initiative will facilitate the foreign tourists in

communicating with their acquaintances immediately

after their arrival in India.

Earlier, the Ministry of Tourism had also launched a 24 x

7 Tourist Helpline 1800111363 in Twelve foreign

languages so that the foreign tourists can get the required

information in their own language.

This initiative has been launched in association with

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., (BSNL), wherein BSNL

would distribute pre-loaded SIM Cards to foreign tourists

arriving in India on e-Visa.

This facility will be initially available in the Indira Gandhi

International Airport (T3 Terminal), New Delhi and later

cover remaining 15 international airports, where e-Visa

facility is currently available.

Indian panorama festival 2017 begins in port blair

Govt of India, is organizing Indian Panorama Film Festival

(Public Screening of films) in Port Blair from February 15 to

19, 2017.

About 15 films of different languages and different genre

will be screened at two different venues viz. PBMC

Auditorium and ITF Ground during the festival.

The Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Anindo

Majumdar inaugurated the Film Festival.

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Two-day Global Investor Summit 'Momentum Jharkhand'

begins in Ranchi

A two-day mega event of Global Investor Summit, branded as

"Momentum Jharkhand" was started at Khelgaon of Ranchi.

More than one thousands delegates, including many

leading industrialists, both Indian and from other

countries, will take part in this.

The Jharkhand Government is hoping for an investment of

around three lakhs seventy five thousands crores rupees

from 219 companies.

Jharkhand

Capital: Ranchi

Chief Minister: Raghubar Das

Governor: Draupadi Murmu

Formation: 15 November 2000

MP govt to set up Tourism Board

Madhya Pradesh government has decided to constitute MP

Tourism Board for expansion of facilities at tourist spots and

draw investment in the sector.

The main functions of the board will be to perform all

responsibilities mentioned under Tourism Policy-2016,

like to draw private investment in tourism sector,

investors' facilitation and avail grant and facilities for

investors as per the policy, the official said.

The board will also develop a work plan for all tourism-

related archaeological sites, wildlife places, caves with

natural beauty, amusement and other parks, water

reservoirs and also take measures for their supervision.

Madhya Pradesh

Capital: Bhopal

Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Governor: Om Prakash Kohli

Formation: 1 November 1956

Tarini to be Inducted into Indian Navy on 18 February

2017

The Indian Navy’s second ocean going sailboat Tarini will be

inducted at a ceremony scheduled to be held at the INS

Mandovi Boat Pool on 18 February 2017.

Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of Naval Staff will also be

present on the occasion.

INSV Tarini is a sloop built by M/s Aquarius Shipyard Pvt

Ltd at Divar, Goa.

The sail boat Tarini is being inducted into the Navy and is

slated to be the platform for First Indian All Women

Circumnavigation of the Globe expedition of the Indian

Navy.

BEL launches communication radio

PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has unveiled a new

communication radio for the Indian armed forces, called

STARS-V Mk III, at the Aero India 2017 show.

MV Gowtama, CMD of BEL, said: “The radio is

completely designed, developed and made in BEL.”

It is a multi brand, high data rate, software intensive IP

radio with mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) functions

supporting up to 64 notes.

Bharat Electronics Ltd

Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded: 1954

Chairman: MV Gowtama

Govt cuts tenure of Sebi's Chairman-designate Ajay Tyagi

by two years

The government said that the tenure of the next chairman of the

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Ajay Tyagi,

will “initially” be for three years.

A government official said the latest order was issued to

clear up ambiguity on the length of the tenure.

The new order said the term will be for an initial three-year

period, leaving open the possibility that it could be

extended later.

The rules allow for a term of five years or up to the age of

65 for the Sebi chairman.

Some Sebi members appointed recently have been given

five-year terms.

SEBI

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 12 April 1992

Chairman: Ajay Tyagi

UDAN scheme to increase number of airports by 50

The implementation of the

regional air-connectivity

scheme, UDAN, will see the

number of operational airports

in the country shoot up by over

50, while the cost of travelling

will come down to as low as Rs 2,500 for up to an hour of air

journey, said Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation.

According Sinha, there are 75 small operational airports in

the country, and this number will increase to over 125 with

the successful implementation of UDAN (Ude Desh ka

Aam Nagrik).

Drawing reference to Jharkhand, the Minister said the

Centre will be able to connect all major cities of the State

in 1-2 years.

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India’s Western Regional Agriculture Fair – 2017

inaugurated in Bikaner

Union Minister of Agriculture and

Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha

Mohan Singh inaugurated India’s

Western Regional Agriculture Fair

– 2017 in Bikaner.

The Minister of Agriculture

further said that Government

of India has fixed an ambitious target for making the

farmers income double in the next five years.

To achieve this target, the out of box initiative has been

taken instead of traditional system.

Towards this, the establishment of National Agriculture

Mandi E-NAM portal is an revolutionary initiative for the

farmers with which farmers can sale their agricultural

products on better prices in any of the mandis.

South Asian Speakers’ Summit held in Indore

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan inaugurated a two-day

South Asian Speakers Summit in Indore on Achieving

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The Summit had a Plenary Session on Identifying

Resources for SDGs Implementation in South Asia:

Opportunities for Parliamentary Cooperation.

India’s only volcano active again

India's only live volcano in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

has started spewing smoke and lava again.

After lying dormant for 150 years, Barren Island volcano

erupted in 1991 and has been showing sporadic activity

since then, scientists of Goa based National Institute of

Oceanography (NIO) said.

A team of scientists led by Abhay Mudholkar, from CSIR-

National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO) in Goa

reported that the volcano is active and spewing smoke and

lava once again.

India sanctions soft loan USD 340 million to Nepal

India has sanctioned a soft loan of 340 million US dollar to

Nepal for various infrastructure development programmes.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae handed over the

approval papers to Physical Infrastructure and Transport

Minister of Nepal Ramesh Lekhak in the presence of

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.

Under this programme Mahalaki bridge and 15 roads will

be constructed in various parts of Nepal.

Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang resigns

Embattled Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang announced his

resignation from the top post, days after party legislators

withdrew their support to break the deadlock between agitating

tribal groups and the government.

Nagaland has been in a state of turmoil ever since the

Nagaland Tribal Action Committee began their agitation

demanding the resignation of Zeliang over his decision to

conduct civic bodies' elections with 33 per cent reservation

for women.

Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH commissioned in

Kochi

Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH was commissioned in

Kochi, Kerala.

The ship was commissioned by Vice Admiral AR Karwe,

Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval

Command.

The fast patrol vessel (FPV) is fitted with state-of- the-art

navigational and communication equipment including

Integrated Bridge System (IBS) and Machinery Control

System (MCS).

Post commissioning, the ship will be based at

Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

India’s first dedicated heliport to open in Delhi

The capital will soon get India's first dedicated "heliport" for

flying in and out of Delhi to nearby areas in choppers.

Aviation secretary R N Choubey said the Rs 100-crore

project will be inaugurated on February 28 and will be an

integrated one with a chopper maintenance, repair and

overhaul (MRO) unit part of the complex at Rohini.

It will be Owned by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL).

Health Secretary launches ‘SAATHIYA’ Resource Kit and

‘SAATHIYA SALAH’ Mobile App

C K Mishra, Secretary, Health and Family Welfare launched

the SAATHIYA Resource Kit including ‘Saathiya Salah’

Mobile App for adolescents, as part of the Rashtriya Kishor

Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) program.

One of the key interventions under the programme is

introduction of the Peer Educators (Saathiyas) who act as

a catalyst for generating demand for the adolescent health

services and imparting age appropriate knowledge on key

adolescent health issues to their peer groups.

In order to equip the Saathiyas in doing so, the Health

Ministry has launched the Saathiya Resource Kit

(including ‘Saathiya Salah’ Mobile App).

This Resource Kit comprises Activity Book, Bhranti-

Kranti Game, Question-Answer Book and Peer Educator

Diary.

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The mobile app is also linked to another important piece

of cost-effective information platform of a toll-free

Saathiya Helpline (1800-233-1250) which will act as an e-

counselor.

Cyber Swachhta Kendra launched to prevent cyber attacks

The government, through its Computer Emergency Response

Team (CERT-in), launched “Cyber Swachhta Kendra”, a new

desktop and mobile security solution for secure cyber space in

the country.

The new solution will notify, enable cleaning and secure

systems of end-users to prevent further infections.

“Launched USB Pratirodh, which will control the

unauthorised usage of removable USB storage media

devices like pen drives, external hard drives. Launched

App Samvid, to protect Desktops from suspicious

applications from running,” tweeted Union IT and

Electronics Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Bharat QR code launched to push less-cash economy

In its bid to promote digital economy in the country,

Government of India has launched a new payment method

using QR codes.

The solution comes as a first of its kind throughoout the

globe.

After the introduction of Bharat QR code, a consumer can

simply open his or her banking app or BHIM app, scan the

merchant's QR code, enter the payable amount and enter

the four digit code to authenticate the transaction. The

amount will be directly transferred to the merchant’s bank

account once the transaction is complete.

The method would eliminate the need of PoS machines on

a merchant outlet.

The National Payments Corporation has jointly developed

it with MasterCard and Visa.

Kashmir to observe 2017 as the ‘Year of Apple’

J & K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has declared 2017 as

‘Year of Apple’ in a major bid to promote the famed Kashmiri

apples in domestic and foreign markets.

The Chief Minister launched the High Density Apple

Plantation Scheme in Srinagar.

These high-density plants will be routed through J&K

Bank along with the subsidy.

Jammu and Kashmir is the largest apple producing State

in India at 11.2 metric tonnes, which accounts for 71% of

national production.

India aims to bring broadband to every village by 2018

India aims to bring high-speed digital connectivity to every

village by 2018 and is keen to share expertise in the area with

other nations, the government said.

In his Union Budget presented on February 1, Finance

Minister Arun Jaitley said the government would allocate

Rs 10,000 crore to expand the Bharat Net project in 2017-

18 for high-speed broadband.

National Biodiversity Congress held in Kerala

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the five-

day-long National Biodiversity Congress and Expo at Tagore

theatre in Thiruvananthapuram.

This is one of the biggest biodiversity congresses in the

country and its focal theme is 'Mainstreaming biodiversity

for sustainable development'.

Kerala

Capital: Thiruvananthapuram

Governor: P Sathasivam

Formation: 1 November 1956

J-K govt limits guests, dishes at weddings

The Jammu and Kashmir government has announced

restrictions on the number of guests to be invited and specified

the number of dishes that can be served at both public and

private gatherings, mostly weddings, in a bid to limit wastage

of food and essential commodities in such ceremonies.

The order will come into effect from April this year.

While families will be allowed to invite only 500 people

for their daughter’s wedding, the number has been

restricted to 400 if one’s son is getting married. And only

100 people can be invited for smaller ceremonies like

engagements.

The wedding menu is also likely to be restricted and non-

vegetarian dishes cannot accede more than seven with only

two servings of fruits and sweets.

Loudspeakers and firecrackers can not be used in any

government or private program.

Also, giving sweets and dry fruits with invitation cards has

been restricted.

Minister for Railways Dedicates Coaches of Antyodaya

Express to the nation

Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inspected

the newly turned rake of Antyodaya Express consisting 22

Coaches.

Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital and senior

officials were also present on the occasion.

The Minister appreciated the new Antyodaya Rake and

dedicated it to the common people of the nation.

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CCEA approves 40,000-mw solar park scheme

In a major push for solar power development in the country, a

cabinet panel approved increasing the capacity of solar parks

and projects from 20,000 MW to 40,000 MW.

"The enhanced capacity would ensure setting up of at least

50 solar parks -- each with a capacity of 500 MW and

above in various parts of the country," Power and

Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal told.

"The capacity of the solar park scheme has been enhanced

after considering the demand for additional solar parks

from the states," he said.

"The solar Parks and ultra mega solar power projects will

be set up by 2019-20 with central government financial

support of Rs 8,100 crore," he added.

India, China hold strategic dialogue

China and India today held their upgraded strategic dialogue to

shore up bilateral ties amid hectic parleys to resolve differences

over Beijing's reluctance to support India's NSG bid as well as

a UN ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar.

Just before the dialogue, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar

held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Later, Jaishankar along with China's Executive Vice

Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui held the strategic dialogue.

International Ayurvedic research Institute planned at

Kannur

Kerala government has decided to set up a Rs 300 crore

international Ayurvedic research institute at Kannur during the

13th five year plan.

The project will be implemented with central assistance.

Cabinet also decided to set up Kerala Blood Bank society

of International standards.

It will be set up jointly by Thiruvananthapuram Citizens

India Charitable Trust, Health Department with technical

assistance of WHO.

The government also decided to strengthen the Public

Works Department's design, investigation and quality

control wings.

President of India inaugurates international conference on

‘Bharat Bodh’

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated an

international conference on ‘Bharat Bodh’ organized by the

Indira Gandhi National Open University and Bhartiya

Shikshan Mandal in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, the President complimented the

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the

Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal for organizing this conference

bringing together intellectuals, academicians and

researchers to unravel various aspects of the “Bharat

Bodh”.

DoNER Ministry along with Tezpur University to

encourage entrepreneurship in Northeast

Ministry of Development of

North Eastern Region

(DONER), jointly with the

Department of Business

Administration, Tezpur

University and North Eastern

Finance Corporation Limited

(NEDFi), is coming up with a

Business Idea Challenge to encourage entrepreneurship in the

North-East Region (NER).

The annual industry-academia interface event “Sampark”,

which will see the DoNER Ministry’s involvement for the

first time, brings the spirit of entrepreneurship in the

region.

The event will take place on March 3, 2017 and will be the

17th edition in the series.

To encourage the students towards entrepreneurship, a

Pioneering Business Idea Challenge 2017 is being

organized as a part of the event.

24 February: Central Excise Day

Central Excise Day is commemorated every year all across the

India on 24th of February.

It aims to encourage the employees of excise department

to carry out the central excise duty all over the India in

better way in order to prevent the corruption.

It is also celebrated to commemorate the establishment of

the Central Excise and Salt Act on 24th of February in the

year 1944.

Rajasthan 2nd largest crude oil producer in country

Rajasthan has become the second largest crude oil producer in

the country after the offshore field Bombay High, Governor

Kalyan Singh said in the Assembly, highlighting the

achievements of the state government.

Delivering his speech on the first day of the Budget

Session, Singh said oilfields in the state were producing

nearly 90 lakh tones oil annually, which is 24 per cent of

the total domestic crude oil production.

Maneka Gandhi announces compensation fund for child

abuse victims

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has

announced the setting up of a compensation fund under

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Nirbhaya scheme to provide financial help to children who are

victims of sexual crimes.

A Central Victim Compensation Fund was set up with an

initial corpus of Rs 200 crore in 2015 but has not not been

operating, the official said.

POCSO Act or Protection of Children from Sexual

Offences Act was formulated in 2012 to address sexual

abuse and sexual exploitation of children.

PM unveils 112-foot tall Shiva statue 'Adiyogi'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the 112-foot tall statue

dedicated to ‘Adiyogi’ at Coimbatore.

The statue has been funded by Isha Foundation, founded

by the popular yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev.

The foundation has been mired in controversies since

2012. Tribal associations in the Coimbatore region allege

that the statue lack approvals.

Rajasthan inaugurates medical project RAHAT

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated a

medical project Rajasthan Heart Attack Treatment programme

(RAHAT), launched by a private hospital.

The programme is a telemedicines platform that captures

and transmits patient's EKG along with clinical history

from remote geographical locations to heart command

center hub.

Mumbai is the richest Indian city

India's financial capital

Mumbai, which is home to

46,000 millionaires and 28

billionaires, is the richest

Indian city with a total

wealth of $ 820 billion,

says a report.

According to New World Wealth, Mumbai is the richest

city in the country followed by Delhi and Bengaluru in the

second and third place, respectively.

Delhi is home to 23,000 millionaires and 18 billionaires

with a total wealth of $ 450 billion, while Bengaluru with

a total wealth of $ 320 billion houses 7,700 millionaires

and 8 billionaires.

The list also includes Hyderabad with a total wealth of $

310 billion. Hyderabad is home to 9,000 millionaires and

6 billionaires.

Goa Ranks first in having lesser infant mortality rate

While infant mortality rate in the country has been registered

at 42 deaths of kids per 1000 births the Union Territory of

Puducherry has established a record of having lesser rate of

infant mortality.

Director of Health and Family Welfare Services K V

Raman told that Union Territory was having 11 deaths of

children per 1000 babies born.

Puducherry ranked third in the achievement next to Goa

and Kerala.

Goa

Capital: Panaji

Chief Minister: Laxmikant Parsekar

Governor: Mridula Sinha

Formation: 30 May 1987

Minister of Railways Flags off Country’s first Antyodaya

Express

Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off

the fourth Humsafar clan of trains and first Antyodaya clan of

trains through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan.

Speaking on the occasion Ministry of Railways, Shri

Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that “This is the fourth

Humsafar Express to be launched and it will cross the

entire country from North to South.

Humsafar train is a fully Air Conditioned 3 AC service

having facilities like GPS based Passenger Information

System, Passenger announcement System, fire and smoke

detection and suppression system, CCTVs, comfortable

seats, mobile and laptop charging points, integrated Braille

display, LCD display above compartment doors in the

aisle, Fire retardant curtains, etc.”

He also said that “we are launching the country’s first

Antyodaya Express to be launched.

Tejas and UDAY Express will be launched soon.

Antyodaya Express is a long-distance, fully unreserved,

superfast train service, for the common man to be operated

on dense routes.

24. Reliance Defence bags Rs916-cr order from MoD

Industrialist Anil Ambani-

led Reliance Defence said it

had signed a contract with

the Ministry of Defence

(MoD) for the design and

construction of 14 Fast

Patrol Vessels for the Indian

Coast Guard valued at Rs 916 crore.

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These ships are medium-range, high-speed vessels, and

primarily used for patrol within the exclusive economic

zone, costal surveillance, and anti-smuggling, anti-piracy,

search and rescue operations.

They also support front-line warships in the hour of need.

The economic survey 2016-17

The economic survey 2016-17 was presented in the parliament

on January 31, 2017.

The survey was prepared by the finance ministry's chief

economic adviser Arvind Subramanian.

The Economic Survey 2016-17 advocates the concept of

Universal Basic Income (UBI) as an alternative to the

various social welfare schemes in an effort to reduce

poverty.

Here are the highlights of the report:

GROWTH

2017/18 GDP growth seen between 6.75 and 7.5 percent

year on year.

GDP growth rate at constant market prices for the current

year 2016/17 is placed at 7.1 percent.

The federal statistics office's estimate of 7.1 percent

growth for 2016/17 likely to be revised downwards.

Service sector is estimated to grow at 8.9 percent in

2016/17.

Industrial growth rate expected to moderate to 5.2 percent

in 2016/17 from 7.4 percent in 2015/16.

The agriculture sector is estimated to grow at 4.1 percent

in 2016/17 as opposed to 1.2 percent in 2015/16.

FISCAL DEFICIT

Implementation of wage hike, muted tax receipts to put

pressure on fiscal deficit in 2017/18.

Need for fiscal prudence for both centre and states for

fiscal health of the economy.

Fiscal windfall from low oil prices to disappear in

2017/18.

INFLATION

The average consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate

declined to 4.9 percent in 2015/16 from 5.9 percent in

2014/15.

CPI-based core inflation has remained sticky in the current

fiscal year averaging around 5 percent.

Oil prices, seen rising by one-sixth in 2017/18 over

2016/17 prices, could dampen India's economic growth.

DEMONETISATION

Remonetisation will ensure that the cash squeeze is

eliminated by April 2017.

Supply of currency should follow actual demand and not

be dictated by official estimate of desirable demand.

MONETARY POLICY

Sharp rise in prices in 2017/18 may cap monetary easing

headroom Market interest rates seen lower in 2017/18 due

to demonetisation.

GOVERNMENT DEBT

Government debt to GDP ratio in 2016 seen at 68.5 percent

down from 69.1 percent in 2015.

BANKING

Suggests setting up public sector asset rehabilitation

agency to take charge of large bad loans in banks.

Central agency with government backing could overcome

coordination and political issues on bad loans.

TAXATION

Income tax rates and real estate stamp duties could be

reduced.

Timetable for reducing corporate tax rate could be

accelerated.

UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

Universal Basic Income (UBI) proposal a powerful idea,

but not ready for implementation.

UBI is an alternative to plethora of state subsidies for

poverty alleviation; UBI would cost between 4 and 5

percent of GDP.

SBI to hike stake in two credit card joint ventures

The Mumbai-based

lender, which is also

India’s biggest

government-owned

bank by market

capitalisation, wants

to increase its stake

to at least 51% from

40% in the back office and technology arm GE Capital

Business Process Management Services, and to 74% from 60%

in SBI Cards and Payments, which markets and distribute

credit cards.

The move is in line due to demonetisation as it

increasingly drives consumers to spend online or through

cards,

According to a study by global consulting firm BCG,

digital payments in India is expected to multiply 10 times

as Internet banking and cards replace cash in transactions.

IT Department launches Operation Clean Money

Income Tax Department (ITD) has

initiated Operation Clean Money.

Initial phase of the operation

involves e-verification of large

cash deposits made during 9th

November to 30th December 2016.

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Data analytics has been used for comparing the

demonetisation data with information in ITD databases.

In the first batch, around 18 lakh persons have been

identified in whose case, cash transactions do not appear

to be in line with the tax payer’s profile.

Future Generali India Insurance ties up with Bank of

Maharashtra

Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd (FGIL) has

entered into a corporate agency tie-up for its products with

Bank of Maharashtra (BOM), a public sector bank.

With this tie-up, BOM's customers will be able to avail of

motor, home, shopkeeper and rural insurance products at

any of the 1,896 branches of the bank.

K.G. Krishnamoorthy Rao, MD & CEO, Future Generali

India Insurance Company, said bancassurance is one of the

key avenues to distribute insurance products across a

wider audience.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Fisdom tie-up to launch robo-

advisory platform

Lakshmi Vilas Bank has tied up with Fisdom, a Bangalore-

based fin-tech startup, to launch financial planning and wealth

management services based on robo-advisory platform.

The platform called Mission FINFIT will also include

services like getting the KYC done, investing money in

various platforms, viewing the account summary,

withdrawing the invested money, etc.

Banks credit growth to remain subdued at 5-6 per cent in

FY17: Icra

Bank credit growth is likely to remain subdued at 5-6 per cent

in the current financial year on weak loan demand and as debt

market continues to offer better priced, according to a report.

Deposit growth is likely to ease further to 12 per cent by

end-March 2017, with banks cutting deposit rates and

easing cash availability in the system, from 14.7 per cent

as on January 6, said the report by rating agency ICRA.

Union Budget 2017: Important Takeaways

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget

2017. This was the first time that the budget was presented in

February. Also, Railway budget was merged with the Union

budget.

Here are the highlights of the budget

36 per cent increase in FDI flow; forex reserves at

USD 361 billion in January enough to cover 12

months needs.

World Bank expects GDP growth rate at 7.6 per cent

in FY18 and 7.8 per cent in FY19

Mini labs by qualified local entrepreneurs to be set up

for soil testing in all 648 krishi vigyan kendras in the

country

Agricultural sector is expected to grow at 4.1 per cent

this fiscal

Target of agriculture credit fixed at Rs 10 lakh crore

in 2017-18

Rs 9,000 cr higher allocation for payment of

sugarcane arrears

Allocation under MNREGA increased to 48,000 crore

from Rs 38,500 crore. This is highest ever allocation.

Space technology to be used for monitoring

MNREGA implementation

Market reforms will be undertaken, states will be

asked to denotify perishables from Essential

Commodities Act

Dedicated micro-irrigation fund to be created with a

corpus of Rs 5000 crore.

National Testing agency to conduct all examinations

in higher education, freeing CBSE and other agencies

Participation of women in MNREGA increased to 55

per cent from 45 per cent in past

1 crore households to be brought out of poverty under

Antodya Scheme

Govt to set up dairy processing fund of Rs 8,000 crore

over three years with initial corpus of Rs 2,000 crore.

27,000 crore on to be spend on PMGSY; 1 crore

houses to be completed by 2017-18 for houseless

100 per cent electrification of villages to be completed

by May 2018

PM Awas Yojana allocation raised from Rs 15,000

crore to Rs 23,000 crore.

provide safe drinking water to 28,000 arsenic and

fluoride affected habitations.

In higher education, will undertake reforms in UGC,

give autonomy to colleges and institutions

The allocation for rural agri and allied sector in 2017-

18 is record Rs 1,81,223 crore

PM Kaushal Kendras will be extended to 600

districts; 100 international skill centres to be opened

to help people get jobs abroad.

Rs 500 cr allocated to set up Mahila Shakti Kendras;

Allocation raised from Rs 1.56 lakh cr to Rs 1.84 lakh

cr for women & child welfare.

National Housing Bank will refinance individual

loans worth Rs 20,000 crore in 2017-18.

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1.5 lakh health sub centres to be converted to Health

Wellness Centres.

New rules regarding medical devices will be devised

to reduce their cost

Two new AIIMS to be set up Jharkhand and Gujarat

Model Shops and Establishment Bill to open up

additional opportunities for employment of women

For senior citizens, Aadhaar based health cards will

be issued.

35 per cent increase in allocation for SC to Rs 52,393

crore

Allocation for SCs increased from Rs 38,833 cr to Rs

52,393 crore, a rise of 35 per cent

Capital and development expenditure pegged at Rs

1.31 lakh crore for railways in 2017-18 from Budget

Total allocation for rural, agri and allied sectors for

2017-18 is a record Rs 1,87,223 crore, up 24 per cent

from last year

Railway line of 3,500 km will be commissioned in

2017-18 as against 2,800 km in 2016-17

A scheme for senior citizens to ensure 8 per cent

guaranteed returns

Rs 1 lakh cr corpus for railway safety fund over five

years

Unmanned railway level crossings to be eliminated by

2020

500 stations will be differently abled by providing

lifts and escalators

Government proposes Coach Mitra facility to redress

grievances related to rail coaches

Select airports in tier-II cities to be taken up for

operations, development on PPP mode

Delhi and Jaipur to have solid waste management

plants and five more to be set up later

Service charge on e-tickets booked through IRCTC

will be withdrawn

Railway tariffs to be fixed on the basis of cost, social

obligation and competition.

New metro rail policy to be unveiled

Crude oil strategic reserves to be set up in Odisha and

Rajasthan apart from 3 already constructed

For transport sector, including railways, road and

shipping, government provides Rs 2.41 lakh crore.

Budget allocation for highways stepped up to Rs

64,000 crore in FY18 from Rs 57,676 crore.

Allocation of Rs 10,000 crore for Bharat Net project

for providing high-speed broadband in FY18

Coverage of Fasal Bima Yojana to go up from 30 per

cent of cropped area to 40 per cent in 2017-18 and 50

per cent next year

Digi Gaon will be launched to promote tele-medicine

and education

Dedicated micro-irrigation fund to be set up by

NABARD to achieve mission of Per Drop, More

Crop.

Second phase of solar power development to be taken

up with an aim of generating 20,000 MW

Trade Infrastructure Export Scheme to be launched in

2017-18; total allocation for infra at record Rs 3.96

lakh crore.

Foreign Investment Promotion Board will be abolished.

Over 90 per cent of FDI proposls are now processed

through automatic route

Rs 2,74,114 crore allocated for defence expenditure,

excluding pension; This includes Rs 86,000 crore for

defence capital.

Govt to further liberalise FDI policy

Dispute resolution in infrastructure projects in PPP

mode will be institutionalised

Computer emergency response team to be set for

cyber security of financial sector.

Govt will amend the Multi-state Cooperative Act to

protect the poor and gullible investors

Integrated public sector oil major to be created to

match global giants

More funds beyond Rs 10,000 crore for

recapitalisation of banks will be provided if needed

Of 76 lakh individuals who reported income of over

Rs 5 lakh, 56 lakh are salaried

New ETF with diverse stocks will be launched in

2017-18

The shares of railway CPSCs like IRCTC and IRFC

to be listed on various stock exchanges

Govt to double lending target under PM Mudra

Yojana to Rs 2,44,000 crore for 2017-18

Govt to introduce two new schemes to promote BHIM

App -referal bonus for users and cash back for traders.

A proposal to receive all government receipts beyond

a certain threshold through e-modes under

consideration

3 yr period for long-term capital gains tax on

immovalble property reduced to 2 years; base year

indexation shifted from 1.4.1981 to 1.4.2001

Payment regulatory board to be set up in RBI to

regulate electronic payments, replacing Board for

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Regulation and Supervision in Payments and

Settlements System.

FRBM review committee has recommended 60 per

cent debt to GDP ratio; 0.5 per cent of GDP deviation

from stipulated fiscal deficit targets

Govt considering option to amend Negotiable

Instruments Act to ensure that holders of dishonoured

cheques get payment.

Govt to set up a web-based interactive platform for

defence pensioners

Head post offices to issue passports

Capital expenditure stepped up by 25.4 per cent in

FY18 over previous year.

Maximum amount of cash donation a political party

can receive will be Rs 2000 from any one source as

part of effort to clean political funding.

Political parties can receive donations in cheque,

electronic mode; electoral bonds to be issued by RBI

FPI to be exempt from indirect transfer provisions

Customs duty on LNG halved to 2.5 per cent

With abolition of plan and non-plan expenditure, the

govt’s focus is on revenue and capital expenditure

Govt pegs fiscal deficit target at 3.2 per cent for 2017-

18 and 3 per cent for next year.

Revenue deficit reduced to 2.1 per cent from 2.3 per

cent for 2016-17

Direct tax collection not commensurate with income

and expenditure pattern

Of 3.7 cr individuals who filed tax returns in 2015-16,

99 lakh showed income below exemption limit.

Income Tax rate cut to 5 per cent for individuals

having income between Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh,

Earlier it was 10 percent

10 per cent surcharge on individual income above Rs

50 lakh and upto Rs 1 crore to make up for Rs 15,000

crore loss of due to cut in personal I-T rate.

5 per cent surcharge on income above Rs 1 crore to

continue

Government earmarks another Rs 10,000 crore for

recapitalisation into PSBs

Hit by mounting non-performing assets (NPAs) and losses, the

government will pump in Rs 10,000 crore into public sector

banks (PSBs) in the next financial year to meet their capital

requirements and bail them out from a financial mess.

This amount is being given under mission Indradhanush,

launched in 2015.

Under this, Government will invest Rs. 70,000 in PSBs in

next four years.

Govt proposes setting up of Payments Regulatory Board

under RBI

The government, keen on

promoting digital

payments, will form a

separate regulator for the

payments industry to

resolve disputes, ensure

customer protection.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley has called for an overhaul of

the Payment and Settlements Act 2007 to create the

Payments Regulatory Board. He said the board would be

under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

India's GDP growth likely at 7.1% in 2017-18: HSBC

India is expected to clock a GDP growth of 7.1 per cent in

2017-18 as the country gets sufficiently remonetised and the

schemes in the Budget play a supportive role, says an HSBC

report.

The uptick in the growth numbers would be largely driven

by the remonetisation process which is expected by April

end as this in turn would boost the consumption levels in

the country.

Growth numbers will be largely consumption driven as

investment is expected to be a drag.

RBI to soon put new Rs 100 banknotes in circulation

The Reserve Bank will soon put into circulation new Rs 100

banknotes which will be similar to the design of the ones in

Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005.

The Reserve Bank will shortly issue Rs 100 denomination

banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, bearing

the signature of Dr Urjit R Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank

of India," RBI said in a notification.

The year of printing '2017' will be on the reverse of the

banknote.

All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 100 issued by

the Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender, RBI

added.

Rs 10,000 penalty for late filing of income tax returns

The budget has however proposed a fee for delayed filing of

income tax return.

If the income tax return is furnished after the due date but

on or before the December 31 of the assessment year, there

will be a fine of Rs 5,000 imposed. In other cases, there

will be an imposition of a fine of Rs 10,000.

However, in a case where the total income does not exceed

Rs 5 lakh, the Budget proposed that the fee amount shall

not exceed Rs 1,000.

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RBI gives freedom to Banks to fix Bank Service Charges

for Transactions

In a major move to promote cashless transactions in the

country, the Reserve Bank of India has given banks the

freedom to fix bank service charges for transactions.

The RBI has deregulated interest rates on credit card dues.

Interest rates are determined by banks with the approval of

their respective Board of Directors subject to regulatory

guidelines on the interest rate on advances issued by RBI

from time to time.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

(NABARD) has approved a scheme for giving 0.5 percent

incentive on payments made through the Aadhaar Enabled

Payment System (AEPS) to merchants.

With regards to debit card transactions on PoS devices,

between January 1 and March 31, 2017, Merchant

Discount Rate (MDR) has been capped at 0.25 percent for

transaction value between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 2,000, MDR

has been capped at 0.5 percent.

Chinese banks outpace US banks

There has been a major change in global banking, says the 2017

Brand Finance Banking 500 report. For the first time, a non-

western brand tops the ranking.

Chinese banks’ brand value growth has been rapidly

outpacing that of European and North American

competitors.

Already the world’s biggest bank by assets, ICBC’s brand

value has grown 32% year on year to a total of $47.8

billion.

Three Indian banks are in hundred most valuable banks.

SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI ranked 51st,74th and 86th

respectively.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank to commenced banking

The UK's CDC Group-backed Ujjivan Small Finance Bank is

going to open its first set of branches for public transaction on

Monday and start rolling out branch network across India from

next fiscal.

The bank is operationally ready since February 1 but

customer transaction will commence only on February 6.

Corporation Bank inks pact with Religare Health

Insurance

Corporation Bank has entered into agreement with Religare

Health Insurance Co to market its products and services

through the distribution network of the Bank across India.

The Bank holds around 5% stake in Religare Health

Insurance.

Corporation Bank is a Mangalore-based mid-sized public

sector bank which was established in 1906.

Bank of Maharashtra ties up with Cigna TTK

Public sector lender Bank of Maharashtra has partnered with

insurance company Cigna TTK Health to market the insurer’s

products in the bank’s branches across the entire country.

Under the agreement, the bank will offer the all of Cigna

TTK’s superior health insurance products to its 2 crore

customers through its network of over 1,896 branches.

Axis Bank ties up with Earthport

India's third largest private bank, Axis Bank has tied up with

Earthport Plc, a cross-border payment network, to enable faster

outbound cross-border payments for its customers through

Earthport’s state-of-the-art global payments network.

Axis Bank has become the first bank in India to connect

with Earthport’s global payments network, which spans

over 60 countries.

This agreement also marks Earthport’s entry into India, the

world’s fastest growing major economy.

Highlights of sixth bimonthly RBI monetary policy

Following are the highlights of the sixth bi-monthly monetary

policy announced by RBI:

Policy repo rate unchanged at 6.25%.

Reverse Repo rate at 5.75%

Cash Reserve ratio at 4%

Statutory Liquidity ratio at 20.50%

Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate at 6.75%.

Bank Rate at 6.75%.

Economic growth for FY17 lowered to 6.9%

Growth is expected to recover sharply in 2017—18.

Retail inflation in Q4 likely to be below 5%.

Inflation projected in the range of 4—4.5% in the first half

of 2017—18 and 4.5—5% in the second half.

RBI changes policy stance from ‘accommodative’ to

’neutral’

Excluding food and fuel, inflation has been unyielding at

4.9% since September.

The next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee on

April 5-6.

Bank of America opens branches without employees

Bank of America Corp has opened three completely automated

branches over the past month, where customers can use ATMs

and have video conferences with employees at other branches,

according to spokeswoman Anne Pace.

Bank of America has been reducing its overall branch

count to cut costs even as it opens new branches in select

markets.

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Federal Bank, Commodity Online in pact for agri loans

Federal Bank Limited has

partnered with leading online

data and information portal

Commodity Online for the

distribution of loans against

warehouse receipts and

collateral management services across the country.

Commodity Online will roll out an agri-commodity

financing platform through its flagship portal

www.commodityonline.com where farmers and traders

can track commodity markets and warehouses online and

get financing for their commodities quickly.

IFFCO partners Bank of Baroda to issue co-branded debit

card

Fertiliser major IFFCO has tied up with Bank of Baroda to

launch co-branded debit cards for farmers as part of strategy to

promote cashless transactions in the rural area.

IFFCO and Bank of Baroda signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) in this regard.

The pact was signed by Yogendra Kumar, General

Manager (Marketing), IFFCO and GB Panda, General

Manager (government relationships), Bank of Baroda.

IFFCO and Bank of Baroda would pool in their resources

to promote market and make accessible organised finance

facility at competitive interest rates for the farmers who

wish to buy the products of IFFCO and its subsidiaries.

ICICI Securities inks partnership with Denmark's Saxo

Bank

Largest retail brokerage ICICI Securities announced a strategic

partnership with Denmark-based Saxo Bank to enable

domestic investors enter overseas markets, including equities

and debt segments.

The partnership will enable ICICI Securities' 4 million

clients to diversify their investments outside of the

domestic market and access multi-asset investment

opportunities on 36 stock exchanges across 24 countries.

RBI to set up panel to strengthen security

In a bid to strengthen cyber security system, the Reserve Bank

of India (RBI) decided to set up an inter-disciplinary panel on

cybersecurity to examine various threats and suggest measures

to deal with it.

The panel will review the threats inherent in the existing

or emerging technology on an ongoing basis.

It will also study adoption of various security

standards/protocols and also act as the interface with

stakeholders.

The committee will suggest appropriate policy

interventions to strengthen cybersecurity and resilience.

PNB Housing Finance limited & CREDAI-West Bengal

inks pact

Addressing the need of pacing up constructions with skilled

labour that would result in quicker delivery and hand overs,

PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNBHFL) has signed an MOU

with CREDAI West Bengal to train 1000 construction workers

in Kolkata and nearby villages.

CREDAI-Bengal would also be setting up permanent (off-

site) skill development centres in Medinipur and

Murshidabad - places with huge concentration of

construction labour.

50% of the training cost is to be borne by the West Bengal

State Government and PNBHFL, while the remaining 50%

while would be borne by the developer at the construction

site from where workers would be trained.

IDFC Bank, IndiaLends tie-up for loan services to 1st

timers

Private sector lender IDFC Bank has collaborated with fintech

startup IndiaLends to enable first time borrowers who do not

have a credit history to take loans.

IDFC Bank said it is a differentiated personal loan solution

which will offer instant loans approvals through a

completely digitised process to first time borrowers.

Govt sells 2% in ITC held through SUUTI, raises Rs 6,700

cr

The government raised Rs 6,700 crore through sale of 2 per

cent stake in tobacco-to-FMCG firm ITC, held through

Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).

The transaction took place through block deals with Life

Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) picking up the entire

chunk on offer at a price of Rs 275.85 a piece.

SUUTI, which was created to take over part of the assets

and liabilities of the now-defunct Unit Trust of India, held

11.17 per cent stake in ITC.

BoB to finance small units in diamond sector at

concessional rates

To give a leg up to micro, small and medium enterprises in the

diamond industry, Bank of Baroda is planning to launch a

supply chain financing product for the industry on a pilot basis

in Surat.

Cutting and polishing units, which procure roughs from large

companies and supply finished products back, will be provided

finance at a competitive rate of interest.

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This move is expected to give a boost to MSMEs as well as the

corporate segment within the diamond industry.

The product will be launched in the next 10-20 days.

Headquarters: Vadodara

Founded: 20 July 1908

CEO and MD: PS Jayakumar

Chairman: Ravi Venkatesan

Hindustan Motors sells iconic Ambassador car brand to

Peugeot

Ambassador, the iconic Indian car brand that till less than a

decade ago carried both the Prime Minister and the common

man, is being sold to French carmaker Peugeot.

The C K Birla Group-owned Hindustan Motors formalised

the deal for Rs 80 crore.

Production of Ambassador cars had stopped around three

years ago.

The Ambassador brand was introduced seven decades ago

when Hindustan Motors launched the Morris Oxford

series II (Landmaster) in a new avatar with minor changes.

It quickly became a national icon and continued to

dominate Indian roads till the 1980s, when the Maruti 800

exposed its inadequacies.

HDFC Bank goes live on Bharat Bill Payment System

Private sector lender HDFC Bank

said that it has gone live on Bharat

Bill Payment System (BBPS) for

HDFC Bank’s Net Banking for

customers. It is the first bank to do

so.

BBPS is a centralized system

created by National Payments Corporation of India

involving banks and non-banks, which allows agents to

access bill payments services in an interoperable manner.

Customers can now pay their utility bills like electricity,

gas and water bills instantly without registering the biller.

HDFC Bank customers can avail of BBPS after logging

onto the Net Banking page.

HDFC Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1994

Chairman: Aditya Puri

Tagline: We Understand Your World

Government allocates Rs 500 crore to IPPB for financial-

year 2017-18

Government has allocated Rs 500 crore to India Post Payments

Bank for financial year 2017-18 as it gears up to set up 650

branches across country by September 2017.

Government has allocated Rs 125 crore as “capital

infusion into corporate entity for India Post Payments

Bank” and Rs 375 crore as “grant in aid to India Post

Payments Bank (IPPB)”.

The total paid up equity of the new bank IPPB is Rs 800

crore, of which the government has already infused Rs 275

crore.

Payments banks can accept deposits up to Rs 1 lakh per

account from individuals and small businesses.

Catholic Syrian Bank’s ‘name and shame’ campaign starts

paying dividends

The ‘name and shame campaign’ initiated by Catholic Syrian

Bank Employees and Retirees against wilful defaulters in

Kerala seems to have started paying dividends.

Of the 30 defaulters identified by the bank with dues of

more than Rs 50 lakh each, 10 borrowers have already

approached the bank with settlement proposals, following

dharnas organised at 20 locations in the State.

According to EJ Kurien, DGM in charge of Asset

Recovery, the bank has already received firm assurance

for payments worth Rs 25 crore from defaulters.

IDBI Bank ties up with Consumerfed

Kerala State Cooperatives Consumers’ Federation

(Consumerfed) has tied up with IDBI Bank to facilitate

cashless purchases for its consumers.

Consumerfed runs a network of hundreds of Thriveni fair

price shops, Neethi fair price medical shops and some

beverage outlets throughout the state.

Consumers can now swipe their cards at these outlets.

More than 300 machines have already been installed.

A special IDBI Bank team was deputed to plan and

execute the scheme under the guidance of M Ramanunni,

Managing Director, Consumerfed, and M Mehaboob,

Chairman.

IDBI Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1964

CEO: Kishor Kharat

India Ratings cuts India’s GDP growth forecast for 2016-

17

India Ratings & Research, a Fitch Group company, has cut its

growth forecast for India’s gross domestic product (GDP) for

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FY17 to 6.8 per cent, lower than its initial estimate of 7.9 per

cent.

For the next financial year 2017-18, the agency expects the

country’s GDP to grow higher at 7.4 per cent, backed by

consumption demand and government spending.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) in its advance estimate

for 2016-17 had projected growth rate of 7.1 per cent.

HDFC life launches 'Pragati' plan for low income group

HDFC life has launched Pragati, a traditional life insurance

plan that has been specifically designed to empower low

income families.

Pragati makes life insurance easily accessible to every

person who wishes to financially secure his family.

With Pragati, HDFC Life wants to offer the dual benefit of

systematic savings (with guaranteed premium returns) and

wholesome life protection.

Government gives green signal to merger of SBI and its five

associate banks

The Cabinet approved a proposal to merge the five subsidiaries

of State Bank of India with the parent, kick-starting

consolidation among public sector lenders.

Two of the five associate banks —State Bank of Patiala

and State Bank of Hyderabad — are unlisted. Among the

other three, Mumbai-based SBI holds a 75 per cent stake

in State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, 90 per cent in State

Bank of Mysore and 79 per cent in State Bank of

Travancore.

A decision on Bharatiya Mahila Bank will be taken later.

RBI to reimburse MDR to banks on government payments

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it will reimburse banks

the merchant discount rate (MDR) on debit cards used for

payment of tax and non-tax dues to the government of India.

In a notification on its website, the central bank said the

reimbursement will be applicable from 1 January, 2017.

MDR is the commission paid by the merchant to the

acquiring bank for every digital transaction allowed by the

bank.

RRBs can now lend up to 2 lakh against gold

The Reserve Bank of India has doubled the quantum of loan

that Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) can give against security of

gold/ gold ornaments to Rs2 lakh.

Earlier limit was Rs 1 Lakh.

Such loans will be subject to the conditions that the period

of the loan cannot exceed 12 months from the date of

sanction; interest will be charged on the amount at

monthly rests but will become due for payment along with

principal only at the end of 12 months from the date of

sanction.

Further, RRBs are required to maintain a Loan to Value

(LTV) ratio of 75 per cent, that is, if the value of gold

ornaments pledged with a bank is Rs1 lakh, then it will

give a loan of Rs75,000, on the outstanding amount of

loan, including the interest on ongoing basis, failing which

the loan will be treated as a non-performing asset.

The RBI said crop loans sanctioned against the collateral

security of gold/ gold ornaments will continue to be

governed by the currents norms relating to income

recognition, asset classification and provisioning for such

loans.

Regional Rural Banks

Regional Rural Banks are local level banking

organizations operating in different States of India.

They have been created with a view to serve primarily the

rural areas of India with basic banking and financial

services.

However, RRBs may have branches set up for urban

operations and their area of operation may include urban

areas too.

Central Government held 50% shares of RRBs, State

Government- 15% and Sponsor Banks- 35.

These were set up on the recommendations of The M.

Narasimham Working Group.

Prathama Bank was the first bank established in 1975,

sponsored by Syndicate bank.

Citi Bank launches instant chat service for customers

Citi bank has launched instant chat services for customers

logged in to Citibank Online (CBOL) in India.

The real-time chat facility focuses on resolving queries

instantly, in a safe environment, across cards, domestic

and non-resident accounts, and loans, for clients as they

transact online.

India is the first country in Asia Pacific within the Citi

network, which spans 12 countries in the region, to launch

the generic chat capabilities.

Citi Bank India

India Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded in India: 1902

India Head: Pramit Jhaveri

IMF Launches South Asia Training and Technical

Assistance Center in New Delhi

The IMF’s South Asia Training and Technical Assistance

Center (SARTTAC) was officially inaugurated by Secretary

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Shaktikanta Das of India’s Ministry of Finance in New Delhi

on February 13, 2017.

Deputy Managing Director Carla Grasso and senior

officials from the center’s six South Asian member

countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,

and Sri Lanka) and development partners attended the

event.

SARTTAC is a collaborative venture between the IMF,

the member countries, and development partners.

The center’s strategic goal is to help its member countries

strengthen their institutional and human capacity.

International Monetary Fund

Headquarters: Washington D.C.

Managing Director: Christine Lagarde (France)

Founded: 27 December 1945

Members: 189

Parent Organization: United Nation Organization

Railway general tickets to be available in banks

In a major step towards easing availability of train tickets, the

Indian Railways will soon start disbursing tickets of the general

class from banks.

The railway board had started working on this in August

2016 and the initiative is said to be in its final stages now.

The Indian Railways and the State Bank of India are in

constant touch to work out the modalities for this.

The project will reach its final satges by April 2017 after

which a trial run will begin soon.

The Indian Railways is considering two options for this

new initiative. One is to make tickets available to the

travelers by installing an automated vending machine in

the bank premises. And the other is to make changes in the

ATM and link them with railway's ticket distribution

system.

Corporation Bank bags ‘National MSME Excellence

Award 2017’

Corporation Bank has been awarded once again ‘National

MSME Excellence Award 2017’ organized by the Federation

of Industry, Trade and Services (FITS).

D V Subramanya Varma, General Manager,

Corporation Bank received the award from Haribhai

P Choudhary, Honourable Union Minister of State,

Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in

New Delhi.

Corporation Bank

Headquarters: Mangalore

Founded: 12 March 1906

CEO and MD: Jai Kumar Garg

Tagline: A Premier Public Sector Bank

Canara Bank signs MoU with HRD Ministry

Canara Bank on Thursday said

it has signed a memorandum

of understanding with the

Ministry of Human Resource

Development (MHRD) to

operationalise the Higher

Education Financing Agency (HEFA).

In September 2016, the Union Cabinet had approved

the establishment of HEFA to give a major push for

the creation of high quality infrastructure/capital

assets in premier educational institutions.

HEFA has been jointly promoted by the Ministry of

Human Resource Development (MHRD) and Canara

Bank with an authorised capital of Rs. 2,000 crore.

Canara Bank

Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded: 1906

Chairman: T.N. Manoharan

Tagline: Together We Can

Oriental Bank launches mobile wallet ‘Batuaa’

On the occasion of its 75th Foundation Day, Oriental Bank of

Commerce (OBC) has come up with several digital offerings

including launch of mobile wallet ‘Oriental Batuaa’.

Besides introducing a new version of mobile banking,

OBC has also launched two new cards.

The two MSME schemes that have been launched are

‘Oriental Sanjeevani’ and ‘Oriental Budget Hotels and

Restaurants’.

Karnataka Bank inks pact with Daimler India

Karnataka Bank Ltd has entered into a memorandum of

understanding (MoU) with Daimler India Commercial

Vehicles Pvt Ltd (DICV) for extending finance to customers

for the purchase of commercial vehicles manufactured by the

company.

A press release said that DICV has nominated Karnataka

Bank as a preferred financier for the purchase of

commercial vehicles manufactured by the company.

Karnataka Bank

Headquarters: Mangaluru

Founded: 1924

Chairman: P Jayarama Bhat

Tagline: Your family bank across India

Dish TV partners with ICICI Bank for digital payments

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Direct-to-home operator Dish TV has tied-up with private

lender ICICI Bank for digital payments.

This alliance with ICICI Bank through UPI will drive

higher customer adoption and allow them to be a part of

the digital economy.

ICICI Bank

Established: 1994

Headquarters: Mumbai

Chairman: MK Sharma

MD and CEO: Chanda Kochar

Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khyal Aapka

Jewellery Purchase In Cash Above Rs. 2 Lakh To Attract

Tax From April 1

Cash purchases of

jewellery will

attract a 1 per cent

TCS (tax collected

at source) from

April 1, 2017 if the

amount exceeds

Rs. 2 lakh, as

against the current threshold of Rs. 5 lakh.

Once the Finance Bill 2017 is passed, jewellery will be

treated on par with general goods which attract 1 per cent

TCS on cash purchase of above Rs. 2 lakh.

The amendments will take effect from April 1, 2017.

Vijaya Bank, SIDBI ink pact to provide concessional loans

to MSEs

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has

signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vijaya Bank for

providing concessional finance to micro and small enterprises

(MSEs).

The MoU aims at promoting and strengthening units in the

MSE segment through concessional funding.

The MoU also envisages joint financing/co-financing of

MSMEs for meeting capital expenditure under the ‘SIDBI

Make in India Soft Loan Fund for Micro, Small & Medium

Enterprises’ scheme at concessional rate of 9.60 per cent,

along with working capital from Vijaya Bank.

Vijaya Bank

Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded: 1931

MD and CEO: Kishore Kumar Sansi

Tagline: A friend you can bank on

SIDBI

Headquarters: Lucknow

Founded: 2 April 1990

Chairman: Dr. Kshatrapati Shivaji

Bharti Airtel to buy Telenor India

Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecoms network operator, said it

would buy Telenor (India) Communications Pvt Ltd, in a deal

that will bolster Airtel's footprint with additional spectrum of

43.4 MHzin the 1800 MHz band.

Airtel will buy Telenor's India operations in seven circles

- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar

Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and Assam, the

company said in a statement.

Telenor India’s operations and services will continue as

normal, until the transaction is completed, the company

said.

Centre clears Rs 5,700-crore hydro project to be set up in

Nepal

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Rs

5723.72 crore by state-owned SJVN Limited in the 900-mw

Arun-III hydropower project in Nepal, power, coal, renewable

energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal said.

Financial closure for the project is expected to be achieved

by September this year and it is scheduled to be completed

after five years.

The project will offer 21.9% free power to Nepal for 25

years and generate employment of around 3000 persons in

India and Nepal.

The project will be carried out by a subsidiary owned by

public sector company SJVN.

Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) is a joint venture of centre

and Himachal government. Centre holds 64.46 percent

shares while Himachal Pradesh holds 25.51 percent

shares.

Nepal

Capital: Kathmandu

Currency: Rupee

Prime Minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal

President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari

Five associate banks to merge with SBI from April 1

The merger of State Bank of India’s five associate banks with

the SBI will become effective in the new fiscal year, the

government said.

In gazette notifications the government said the

entire undertakings of these five banks shall stand

transferred to and vested in State Bank of India

from April 1, 2017.

The combined entity will have a network of

nearly 23,000 branches, further increasing the

dominance of the country’s largest bank.

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ADB, India ink $500 million loan pact to expand power

connectivity

India and the ADB has signed a $500 million loan pact to

expand inter-regional power connectivity in the country, and

strengthen transmission system to accommodate renewable

energy-generation capacity.

The project, which is expected to be completed by

December 2020, will help build 800 kilovolt (kV) and 320

kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converter

stations and 765 kV power transmission systems in India,

the multilateral lending agency said in a statement.

The loan has a 20-year term, including a five-year grace

period with an annual interest rate determined in

accordance with ADB's LIBOR-based lending facility, it

said.

Karnataka Bank bags two awards at IBA Banking

Technology Awards

City based private sector bank - Karnataka Bank Ltd has

bagged two IBA - banking technology awards 2017.

The awards are, winner- best financial inclusion initiatives

[small bank] category; and runner up - best use of digital

and channels technology [small bank] category.

Oriental Bank ties up with Chola MS to sell insurance

products

The Public Sector Oriental Bank of Commerce has signed a

corporate agency agreement with general insurance provider

Cholamandalam General Insurance Company, for distribution

of insurance products.

Chola MS will offer a wide range of non-life insurance

products to customers of Oriental Bank of Commerce

through its branches.

The insurance products include motor, health, home and

travel, a company statement said.

Andhra Pradesh to develop Vizag as fintech hub, signs

MoU with Visa

Andhra Pradesh government has unveiled its plans to develop

Visakhapatnam as Fintech hub of the country and signed MoUs

with Visa and Thomson Reuters.

Visa, the leading global payments network, will help

transform Vishakhapatnam into India's first "less cash"

city.

This initiative is designed to provide the foundation for the

city to emerge as India's Fintech Valley.

The state government also signed a MoU with Thomson

Reuters for cooperation in Fintech initiatives in the state.

IDBI Bank set to get Rs 3000 crore bailout package from

govt

The government is all set to bail out IDBI Bank with a Rs.

3,000-crore capital infusion to help it maintain a healthy

capital-adequacy ratio and pursue credit growth.

The government has already said it is still open to bring

down its stake in the bank to below 50 per cent.

Other state-run banks will also require immediate capital

support, the finance ministry reckons.

"About seven state-run banks have reported net profit over

the past three quarters. There has also been substantial

improvement in recoveries done by some lenders,

including Indian Overseas Bank," he said.

On the other hand, IDBI Bank’s lending portfolio is mostly

in corporate segment and that is one of the major reasons

for surge in its bad loans.

IDBI Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1964

MD and CEO: Kishor Kharat

Tagline: Banking for All, Aao Sochein Bada

Dena Bank introduces Radio Frequency Identification

Card

Public lender Dena Bank has launched an RFID (Radio

Frequency Identification) card for its customers to provide

prompt and personalized services without any delay.

The card was unveiled at the hands of Bank chairman and

managing director, Ashwani Kumar.

RFID-enabled banking cards will help

Branch/Relationship Manager in identifying a card-holder

the moment they enter the branch and complete

information of that particular client will pop up on their

desktop.

Dena Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 26 May 1938

Tagline: Trusted Family Bank

NCAER lowers GDP growth forecast to 6.9 pc for FY17

After RBI and IMF, economic think tank National Council of

Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has lowered the

country's growth forecast to 6.9 per cent for the current fiscal

on account of demonetisation.

A few days before demonetisation was announced,

NCAER had projected a growth rate of 7.6 per cent for

2016-17.

Earlier this week, International Monetary Fund (IMF)

lowered GDP growth forecast to 6.6 per cent.

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TCS among top three IT services brands globally

India’s largest software services firm Tata

Consultancy Services has broken into the list of Top 3 most

valuable brands in the IT services industry by Brand Finance,

the leading global brand valuation firm.

According to a release by TCS, the company was also

rated as the industry’s highest brand strength rating of

AA+ and contributes to 69 percent of the value of the

larger Tata Brand.

Over the past year, TCS has also been recognised for

running one of the most innovative marketing programmes

in Europe and featured as a top 100 brand in the United

States.

Apollo Munich enters into bancassurance tie-up with Dena

Bank

Standalone health insurer Apollo Munich Health Insurance

said it is expanding its footprint across the country with

bancassurance tie-up with state-owned Dena Bank .

Under the tie-up the bank will distribute customised

Apollo Munich Health insurance and personal accident

policies to the bank's 20 million customers nationwide.

Dena Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 26 May 1938

CMD: Ashwani Kumar

Tagline: Trusted Family Bank

IDBI Bank receives the MSME Excellence Award 2017

IDBI Bank receives the MSME Excellence Award 2017 for

outstanding contribution in funding to MSME sector instituted

by Federation of Industry Trade and Services.

The award was received by Smt. Lalita Sharma, Chief

General Manager at the hands of Shri Haribhai P.

Chaudhary, Hon’ble Union Minister of State, Ministry of

MSME, Govt. of India.

IDBI Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1964

MD and CEO: Kishor Kharat

Tagline: Banking for All, Aao Sochein Bada

Lakshmi Vilas Bank ties with Centrum for its wealthy

clients

South-based Lakshmi Vilas has roped in Centrum group, a

leading financial services company, which will now mange the

bank’s wealthy clients.

Centrum Wealth Management currently has assets under

advise (AUA) in excess of Rs 10,000 crore.

It offers a bouquet of professional Wealth Management

Services which include investment advisory across asset

classes, portfolio management services and family office

services including estate and tax planning.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank

Headquarters: Chennai

Founded: 1926

CEO and MD: Parthasarathi Mukherjee

Tagline: The Changing Face of Prosperity

Dushyant Chautala is new TTFI chief

Dushyant Chautala was elected

as president of the Table Tennis

Federation of India (TTFI)for

the next four years at the

annual general body meeting

held at Gurugram.

M.P. Singh and Arun Kumar Banerjee will be the new

secretary general and treasurer respectively, according to

a release from TTFI.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Anushka Sharma becomes

female face of campaign

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Swachh Bharat

Mission' has now reportedly roped in Bollywood beauty

Anushka Sharma as its female face.

The 28-year-old actress has taken the responsibility of

spreading awareness about the same among women.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan is already doing his best to

make India a cleaner place by joining forces with PM's

mission.

PM Modi had launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Clean

India Campaign on October 2, 2014, and set a 5-year

deadline to usher in complete cleanliness in the country.

Chad foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat to head

African Union

Chad’s foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat has been

elected as the new chair of the African Union Commission,

pledging to place development and security at the top of his

agenda and streamline the organisation’s bureaucracy.

Moussa was chosen by the 54-member body at a summit

that has exposed splits over Africa’s relationship with the

international criminal court and Morocco’s readmission to

the union.

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He edged out his closest rival, the Kenyan foreign minister

Amina Mohamed, who had been regarded in some

quarters as the frontrunner.

Sanjeev Sanyal appointed India’s Principal Economic

Advisor

Sanjeev Sanyal, economist, author and former global strategist

and Managing Director of Deutshe Bank, has been appointed

as the principal economic adviser in the finance ministry.

A notification by the department of personnel and training

(DoPT) said Sanyal has been appointed on contract for a

three-year period from the date of assumption of charge of

the post or until further orders.

Sanyal, an alum of Delhi’s Shri Ram College of

Commerce and the University of Oxford, has worked

extensively in global financial markets.

The World Economic Forum named him the Young

Global Leader 2010.

Vikram Limaye named new MD & CEO of NSE

The National Stock Exchange (NSE), India's largest stock

exchange by turnover, named Vikram Limaye, Managing

Director of IDFC, as the new Managing Director.

The board of directors of NSE, chaired by former finance

secretary Ashok Chawla, cleared the decision.

He will fill the post vacant after the resignation of Chitra

Ramachandra.

NSE is in the process of going public. It has already filed

for its IPO and it likely to hit the market by March.

Government forms panel to improve Haj policy,look into

subsidy issue

The Centre has formed a six-member committee to give a

report on ways to improve India’s Haj policy and also look into

issue of subsidy to the pilgrimage in light of 2012 Supreme

Court order on gradually reducing and abolishing it by 2022.

Former Consulate General of India (CGI), Jeddah, Afzal

Amanullah has been appointed as convener of the high-

level panel, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs

(Independent Charge) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told.

Anand Kumar Gupta takes over as director commercial at

NTPC

Anand Kumar Gupta has taken over the charge as director

commercial at NTPC, the company said in a statement.

As director commercial, he will be responsible for the

activities relating to commercial, international and

domestic business development and consultancy business

of NTPC.

A 16 member expert panel constituted by M/o AYUSH to

prepare a Yoga Protocol for

diabetes control

A 16 member committee of

experts has been constituted

by Ministry of AYUSH to

prepare a Yoga Protocol for

Diabetes Control.

The Committee is headed

by Dr. H.R. Nagendra, Chancellor, S-Vyasa University.

Yoga is a part of adjuvant therapy.

Arun Kumar succeeds Richard Rekhy as KPMG India

chairman

KPMG India board has elected Arun M Kumar as chairman

and CEO to lead the India operations of the consulting and

accounting major.

He succeeds Richard Rekhy, who stepped down in

November last year following a large-scale exodus of key

people from the advisory team.

Earlier in January 2016, Rekhy had been re-elected for a

four-year term.

Sasikala to be next Tamil Nadu chief minister

AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala was elected as

legislature party leader by MLAs during a party meeting,

paving way for her to become next Tamil Nadu chief minister.

“Chinnamma all set to become the Next Chief Minister of

Tamil Nadu,” AIADMK said in a tweet.

O. Panneerselvam proposed her name at the meeting of

AIADMK legislators, party leaders said “I resigned and

we elected Sasikala unanimously as leader of the party in

assembly. All MLAs are in support,” said Panneerselvam.

N Chandrasekaran elected as Chairman of Tata Steel

Board

N Chandrasekaran, chairman-designate of Tata Sons and

currently the CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy

Services, was elected as Chairman of Tata Steel Board.

On January 17, Tata Motors had appointed Tata group

chief to designate Chandrasekaran as its Chairman with

immediate effect.

Farmajo wins Somalia’s presidential vote

A former prime minister who holds dual Somali-U.S.

citizenship has been declared Somalia’s new president.

Incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud conceded

defeat after two rounds of voting, and former prime

minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo was declared the

new leader and quickly took the oath of office.

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Centre appoints 3 directors to RBI central board

The Centre appointed three part-time non-official directors on

the Reserve Bank of India’s Central Board for a four-year term.

The Central Government has nominated Dr. Rajiv Kumar,

Dr. Ashok Gulati and Shri Manish Sabharwal as directors

on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India for a

period of four years with effect from February 9, 2017 or

until further orders, whichever is earlier,” according to an

RBI notification.

In addition to this, the Cabinet also approved the proposal

by the Department of Financial Services for appointment

of three members on the local board of the RBI.

These include Prasanna Kumar Mohanty (Southern Local

Board), Vallabh Roopchand Bhanshali (Western Local

Board) and Sunil Mitra (Eastern Local Board), each of

whom have been appointed for a period of four years.

Government appoints IAS officer Ajay Tyagi as Sebi chief

The government appointed Ajay

Tyagi, a low-profile, senior

bureaucrat in the finance ministry

to head the Securities and

Exchange Board of India, the

country’s capital markets

watchdog.

Mr Tyagi will replace UK Sinha who will finish his term

on March 1, 2017.

He has been in charge of the capital markets division in the

economic affairs department since October 2014 and

headed the committee that crafted the draft code on

resolution of financial firms.

He has considerable experience in senior governmental

positions having served as joint secretary in the ministry

of environment.

SEBI

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 12 April 1992

The Securities and Exchange Board of India

(SEBI) is the regulator for the securities market in

India.

Hemant Bhargava appointed as LIC managing director

Hemant Bhargava has been appointed as the managing director

of Life Insurance Corporation of India.

Presently Bhargava is the zonal manager (I/C) in Delhi.

He has been appointed by the Appointments Committee of

the Cabinet as managing director from the date of

notification of his appointment up to the date of his

superannuation (July 31, 2019) or until further orders.

The top LIC management consists of the Chairman and

three Managing Directors.

Life Insurance Corporation of India

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1 September 1956

Satinder Sartaaj chosen for UN project against human

trafficking

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has

chosen Punjabi folk singer Satinder Sartaaj for the Blue Heart

Campaign, an awareness project against human trafficking.

More than 30 artists from around the world — including

music director AR Rahman and singer Sonu Nigam.

Around 168 Million people are the victims of Human

Trafficking comprising 73 million children below the age

of 10 years.

Subir Dutta appointed as Ambassador of India to the

Republic of Madagascar

Subir Dutta has been appointed as the next Ambassador of

India to the Republic of Madagascar.

He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

He was presently appointed in the Embassy of India,

Vientiane.

Madagascar

Capital: Antananarivo

Currency: Malagasy Ariary

President: Hery Rajaonarimampianina

Prime Minister: Olivier Solonandrasana

Task force set up to check tax evasion by deviant shell firms

In the latest move to curb tax evasion, the government has set

up a task force to monitor actions of deviant shell companies.

The setting up of the task force, under the co-chairmanship

of revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia and corporate affairs

secretary Tapan Ray, followed a meeting held in Prime

Minister’s Office to review the functioning of shell

companies to prevent their misuse for money laundering

and tax-evasion, especially post-demonetisation.

Harsh punitive actions will be taken against the deviant

shell companies including freezing of bank accounts,

striking off the names of dormant companies, invocation

of Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act,

2016, a finance ministry release said.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has filed

cases against 49 shell companies after it was found that Rs

3,900 crore was laundered by 559 persons with the help of

54 professionals.

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Also, Rs 1,238 crore cash has been deposited in shell or

dormant firms, post demonetisation, the release said.

Diego Maradona to get ambassador role with FIFA

Argentina’s Diego Maradona is getting an ambassador's role

with FIFA.

It wants to ensure the Argentina great "has a major role in

FIFA's activities to promote the game across the globe,".

The 56-year-old Maradona will be involved in "relevant

development projects," FIFA said.

Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

Aim: FIFA is responsible for the organisation of football's

major international tournaments.

Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland

Founded: 21 May 1904

President: Gianni Infantino (Italy)

Secretary General: Fatma Samoura (Senegal)

Members: 204

Motto: For the game, For the world

Narinder Chauhan appointed as Ambassador of India to

Philippines

Ms. Narinder Chauhan (lFS: 1985), has been appointed as the

next Ambassador of India to the Republic of the Philippines.

She is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

She was presently Ambassador of India to the Republic of

Serbia.

Philippines

Capital: Manila

Currency: Peso

President: Rodrigo Duterte

Neelu Rohmetra: First IIM woman director

Dr. Neelu Rohmetra of Jammu University has been appointed

as the director of Indian Institute of Management Sirmaur,

Himachal Pradesh and she has become the first woman to helm

an IIM in that capacity.

Professor Neelu Rohmetra is currently the Rector of

Kathua and Billawar Campuses of Jammu University

Business School and is also the founder director of

International Centre for Cross-Cultural Research and

Human Resource Management (ICccR and HRM),

University of Jammu.

The tenure of a new director will be for five years or until

they turn 65 years of age.

Newly Appointed Directors are:

IIM Bangalore: G Raghuram

IIM Ranchi: Shailendra Singh

IIM Rohtak: Dheeraj Sharma

IIM Raipur Bharat Bhaskar

IIM Sambalpur: Mahadeo Prasad Jaiswal

IIM Nagpur: LS Murthi

IIM Bodhgaya: Professor Ganesan Kannabiran

IIM Sirmaur Professor Neelu Rohmetra

IIM-Visakhapatnam: Chandrasekhar Milawarapu

IIM Tiruchirappalli: Bhimaraya Maitri

Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey appointed as ICAI president

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has

elected Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey as president and Naveen N D

Gupta as vice-president. They have been elected for the year

2017-18, ICAI said in a release.

Vikamsey, who served as vice-president, has been a

member of the ICAI since 1985.

Gupta has been a chartered accountant for more than 20

years.

The council has 32 elected members and eight are

nominated by the Central government.

Tehmina Janjua becomes Pakistan’s first woman foreign

secretary

Career diplomat Tehmina Janjua was appointed as Pakistan’s

foreign secretary.

The first woman in the country’s history to hold the

foreign office, Janjua will replace outgoing foreign

secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.

Janjua, who holds masters degrees from Quaid-e-Azam

University, Islamabad, and Columbia University, New

York, is serving as ambassador and permanent

representative to the United Nations in Geneva, since

October 2015.

Sandeep Jajodia is new Assocham President

Sandeep Jajodia has been elected President of the industry

body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India

(Assocham).

The industry body, in a statement, said Balkrishan

Goenka, Chairman of Welspun Group, and Kiran Kumar

Grandhi, Vice-Chairman of GMR Infrastructure, have

taken over as senior vice-president and vice-president,

respectively.

Jajodia is the chairman and managing director of Monnet

Ispat and Energy, the statement added.

Assocham

Headquarters: New Delhi

Founded: 1920

Frank-Walter Steinmeier elected president of Germany

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Germany's parliamentary assembly has elected Frank-Walter

Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, as the country's 12th president.

The position of president in Germany is largely

ceremonial, because the chancellor is the official head of

government and has a higher profile on the world stage.

Steinmeier previously served as vice chancellor and

foreign minister under current Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germany

Capital: Berlin

Currency: Euro

Chancellor: Angela Merkel

Ravi Shankar appointed as High Commissioner of India to

Rwanda

Shri Ravi Shankar (IFS: 1995)

has been concurrently accredited

as the High Commissioner of

India to the Republic of Rwanda,

with residence in Kampala

(Uganda).

He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

Presently he was High Commissioner of India to the

Republic of Uganda.

Rwanda

Capital: Kigali

Currency: Franc

President: Paul Kagame

Prime Minister: Anastase Murekezi

Norman Isaac becomes first Indian to be FIBA’s Technical

Delegate

Norman Isaac has become the first Indian ever to be promoted

by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) as Technical

Delegate (TD).

The sport's worldwide governing body recently confirmed

the appointment after Isaac, along with a select few

aspirants from across the globe, successfully cleared a

series of tests in Doha, Qatar.

As a TD, he will be assigned to any country except his own

and will be responsible for conduct of an entire event,

ranging from actual competition management to every

related aspect, from media arrangements to logistics.

France’s Jean-Pierre Lacroix named new UN

peacekeeping chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced the

appointment of Jean-Pierre Lacroix of France to head UN

peacekeeping for a year.

The UN’s political affairs chief, Jeffrey Feltman of the

United States, will remain at this post, also for a year.

The two positions of under-secretary-general are among

the most high-profile at the United Nations.

France

Capital: Paris

Currency: Euro, Franc

Prime Minister: Bernard Cazeneuve

President: Francois Hollande

Vikas Swarup appointed High Commisioner to Canada

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas

Swarup has been appointed the new High Commissioner to

Canada.

Mr. Swarup, a well-known author, became the MEA

spokesperson in April 2015.

He is expected to join his new post in Ottawa by mid-

March.

He will replace Vishnu Prakash in Canada.

Gopal Baglay, the present joint secretary in charge of the

Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran desk, will be the next

spokesperson.

Canada

Capital: Ottawa

Currency: Dollar

Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau

Tamil Nadu Governor appoints Edappadi K Palaniswami

as Tamilnadu CM

Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao has appointed

Edappadi K Palaniswami as chief minister.

The Governor invited him to form the ministry at the

earliest.

The governor requested the chief minister-designate to

seek the vote confidence of the assembly within 15 days.

Palaniswami has claimed that he has the support of 124

legislators, while the O Pannerselvam camp had that of

only 10.

Tamilnadu

Capital: Chennai

Governor: C Vidyasagar Rao

Formation: 26 January 1950

Ranganathan, Mehta appointed Non-Official Director in

IOB, PNB

T C A Ranganathan and Sunil Mehta were appointed as Non-

Official Directors in Indian Overseas Bank and Punjab

National Bank respectively.

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The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has cleared

their appointment as Non-Official Director/Non-

Executive Chairman in the respective banks for a

period of three years, an order issued by Personnel

Ministry said.

Mehta's appointment is subject to a condition that he

needs to resign from the board of State Bank of India

before joining the new post.

Punjab National Bank

Headquarters: New Delhi

Founded: 1894

CEO and MD: Usha Ananthasubramanian

Tagline: The Name you can Bank Upon

Indian Overseas Bank

Headquarters: Chennai

Founded: 10 February 1937

Executive Director: K Swaminathan

Tagline: Good People to Grow With

Eight Executive Directors appointed in various banks

Eight Executive Directors (EDs) have been appointed in

various public sector banks on the recommendations of Banks

Board Bureau. The appointments have been made for three

years.

Neelam Damodharan and Atanu Kumar Das: Bank of

India.

K Swaminathan: Indian Overseas Bank

Ashok Kumar Pradhan: United Bank of India.

P Ramana Murthy: Central Bank of India

Fareed Ahmed Khan: Punjab and Sind Bank.

M K Bhattacharya: Indian Bank

S Harishankar: Allahabad Bank

Renu Pall appointed Ambassador of India to Montenegro

Ms. Renu Pall has been concurrently accredited as the next

Ambassador of India to Montenegro, with residence in Vienna

(Austria).

She is expected to take up her assignment shortly.

She is presently Ambassador of India to Austria.

Montenegro

Capital: Podgorica

Currency: Euro

President: Filip Vujanovic

Prime Minister: Dusko Markovic

Shurozelie Liezitsu elected Nagaland Chief Minister

Naga People’s Front (NPF) President Shurozelie Liezitsu was

selected as a consensus candidate by the Democratic Alliance

of Nagaland for the post of Chief Minister.

Liezitsu will be sworn as the Chief Minister of Nagaland

on February 22.

Earlier Nagaland’s Chief Minister TR Zeliang stepped

down from his post.

Nagaland

Capital: Kohima

Formed: 1 December 1963

Governor: Padmanabha Acharya

Trump Chooses H.R. McMaster as National Security

Adviser

President Trump

appointed Lt. Gen. H.

R. McMaster as his

new national security

adviser.

McMaster will

take on the role after having served several tours of duty

in Germany, Southwest Asia and Iraq.

McMaster has a PhD in military history from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

FreeCharge CEO Govind Rajan resigns

Govind Rajan, the chief executive of Jasper Infotech-owned

digital payments platform FreeCharge, has resigned from the

company.

Former Housing.com CEO, Jason Kothari, who joined

Snapdeal last month as its chief strategy and investment

officer, will oversee the business operations of

FreeCharge.

Rajan, who had joined Jasper Infotech in July 2015, initially

held the role of chief strategy officer at Snapdeal. However, he

took over the top job at Freecharge in May last year.

Suman Saxena takes charge as the Whole Time Member of

the IBBI

Ms. Suman Saxena took charge as the Whole Time Member,

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).

Ms Saxena will look after Research and Regulation Wing

comprising Corporate Insolvency, Corporate Liquidation,

Individual Insolvency, Individual Bankruptcy, Research

and Publications, Data Management and Dissemination

and Advocacy.

She will also look after National Insolvency Programme,

Continuing Professional Programme, and Knowledge

Management and Partnership.

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Ms. Saxena served as a member of the Indian Audit and

Accounts Service for over 35 years.

Her last assignment was Deputy Comptroller and Auditor

General, where she oversaw three important sectors,

namely, defence, communications and railways.

She has also been the Director of National Academy of

Audit and Accounts.

Abhijit Sarkar appointed Vice President of Asian

Hockey Federation

Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) has appointed Abhijit Sarkar

as it’s new Vice Chairman and also the chief of AHF

Commercial and TV Committee.

Sarkar, who has been associated with the Sahara India

Pariwar since 2004, was appointed on the basis of an

Executive Board Meeting held on February 7.

Justice Sapre to head Cauvery Tribunal

Supreme Court sitting judge Justice

Abhay Manohar Sapre will head the

Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal

(CWDT).

According to Ministry of Water

Resources, Supreme Court Chief

Justice J S Khehar has nominated

Justice Sapre as the tribunal chairman on 16 February.

The post was vacant after the resignation of Justice B S

Chauhan following his appointment as Law Commission

chairman, in March 2016.

Before his elevation to the Supreme Court, Sapre served

as chief justice of Guwahati High Court and the High

Court of Manipur.

He also served as judge at Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan

High Courts.

He was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court and

assumed charge on August 13, 2014. He is due to retire on

August 27, 2019.

The appointment of Sapre assumes significance since the

Supreme Court is set to hear the Cauvery case on a regular

basis from March 21.

CWDT was established by centre to resolve Cauvery water

dispute.

The president of Azerbaijan picked his wife to be vice

president

The president of oil-rich Azerbaijan picked his wife to be the

nation's first-ever vice-president.

President Ilham Aliyev, 55, named his wife Mehriban

Aliyeva, 52, as vice president after he ordered a

referendum last year to create the role and extend his own

term from 5 to 7 years.

The resolutions passed in September with more than 90

percent of the votes.

Azerbaijan

Capital: Baku

Currency: Manat

Prime Minister: Artur Rasizade

President: Ilham Aliyev

Somali president names Hassan Ali Khaire prime minister

Somalia's new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has

chosen political newcomer Hassan Ali Khaire, a former oil

company executive, as the country's prime minister.

The appointment was announced shortly before

Mohamed, also known as Farmajo, departed to Saudi

Arabia for his first foreign trip since his election.

The president has requested Somali citizens to work with

the prime minister.

Somalia

Capital: Mogadishu

Currency: Shilling

Government ropes in Shilpa Shetty as Swachh Bharat

brand ambassador

The government has roped in actress Shilpa Shetty as a brand

ambassador for the Modi government's cleanliness initiative

Swachh Bharat Mission.

The 41-year-old actress will feature in TV and radio

campaigns aimed at discouraging people from littering on

roads.

Soon, campaign posters featuring her will be displayed at

various places across the country.

Shetty is the latest entrant in the list of the mission's

ambassadors like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan,

Shankar Mahadevan and Sachin Tendulkar.

PV Sindhu set to be Deputy Collector

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu,

who is the first Indian woman

athlete to win a silver medal at the

Olympics, has accepted a

government job which was offered

by the Andhra Pradesh

Government following her Rio de

Janeiro triumph.

The 21-year-old shuttler has been working with Bharat

Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) since 2013 and is currently

an assistant manager (sports) at its Hyderabad office.

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Zeliang appointed Finance Advisor to Nagaland govt.

Former Nagaland Chief

Minister T R Zeliang was

appointed as Finance Advisor

to the state government in the

rank of a Cabinet Minister.

Mr. Zeliang, appointed by

the Governor P.B.Acharya, will receive the pay and

allowances and all other facilities admissible to a cabinet

minister, an official release said.

Mr. Zeliang resigned from the chief ministership on

February 19 for his decision to hold elections to urban

bodies with 33 per cent reservation for women and

subsequent incidents.

Birender Singh Yadav appointed as the Ambassador of

India to Togo

Shri Birender Singh Yadav has been concurrently accredited as

the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Togo, with

residence in Accra (Ghana).

He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

Presently he is the High Commissioner of India to the

Republic of Ghana.

Togo

Capital: Lome

Currency: Franc

President: Faure Gnassingbe

Ustad Imrat Khan declines Padma Shri

Noted Sitar and Surbahar player Ustad Imrat Khan has turned

down the Padma Shri award as he believes it comes "too late"

and is not "parallel" to his "worldwide reputation and

contributions".

Imrat, 82, said he has mixed feelings about getting a

Padma Shri when his "juniors" have already received the

Padma Bhushan.

SpiceJet bags 3 Asian awards

Budget carrier SpiceJet has bagged three awards at the Asia

One Awards held recently in Singapore.

Besides, winning the 'Asia's Greatest Brands - 2016'

award, the Gurugram-based airline's chairman and

managing director Ajay Singh and chief financial officer

Kiran Koteshwar were also honoured with the title of the

'Global Asian of the year' and 'Asia's Greatest CFO 2016'

awards.

Indian-origin sculptor Anish Kapoor wins Genesis Prize

Renowned Indian-origin British sculptor Anish Kapoor has

won Israel's prestigious one million dollar Genesis Prize for his

commitment to Jewish values.

He said he would use the money to help alleviate the

refugee crisis and try to expand the Jewish community's

engagement in a global effort to aid Syrian refugees.

The prize committee, headed by Jewish Agency Chairman

Natan Sharansky, acknowledged Kapoor as "one of the

most influential and innovative artists of his generation".

Hyderabad surgeon Raghu Ram wins B C Roy award

Dr P Raghu Ram, president of

Association of Breast Surgeons

of India, has won the prestigious

Dr B C Roy national award for

'outstanding service in the field

of socio medical relief' for 2016.

The announcement was made by Dr Jayshree Mehta,

president, Medical Council of India, in a letter addressed

to Ram, who is also director, KIMS-USHALAKSHMI

Centre for Breast Diseases, and CEO, Ushalakshmi Breast

Cancer Foundation.

The award, the highest recognition for medical

practitioners in India, would be conferred on Ram by

President Pranab Mukherjee on July 1, observed as

Doctors day, according to a KIMS-USHALAKSHMI

Centre perss release.

GMR Hyderabad Airport bags CAPA award

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, which operates

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, has won the Centre for

Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Chairman’s Order of Merit for

its focus on environmental sustainability and becoming the first

airport in Asia Pacific to become carbon neutral.

GHIAL received the award during the CAPA 12 Annual

India Aviation Summit in Mumbai.

CAPA India is a specialist aviation consulting and

research practice in South Asia, with the region’s largest

team of analysts and a portfolio of more than 125 advisory

and research projects.

Sudarsan's tallest sand castle storms into Guinness World

Records

Glob-trotting sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik added yet another

feature in his cap by storming into Guinness World Records for

having created the world's tallest sand castle on Puri beach.

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The official announcement was made by Guinness

authorities in the presence of state chief secretary Aditya

Padhi and other senior officers.

Sudarsan broke the previous record of Ted Siebert (45 ft)

by building a 14.84 metre high (48.8 ft) castle in the

backdrop of the Bay of Bengal in Puri.

59th Grammy Awards 2017

Album of the year: 25 - Adele

Record of the year: Hello - Adele

Song of the year: Hello - Adele

Best rap album: Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book

Best urban contemporary album: Beyonce - Lemonade

Best country solo performance: My Church - Maren

Morris

Best rock song: Blackstar - David Bowie

Best pop duo/group performance: Stressed Out - Twenty

One Pilots

Best new artist: Chance the Rapper

Best pop vocal album: Adele - 25

Best pop solo performance: Hello - Adele

Best R&B performance: Solange - Cranes In the Sky

Best R&B song: Maxwell - Lake By the Ocean

Best rap performance: Chance The Rapper featuring Lil

Wayne & 2 Chainz - No Problem

Best rap/sung performance: Drake - Hotline Bling

Best R&B album: Lalah Hathaway - Lalah Hathaway

Live

Best rap song: Drake - Hotline Bling

Best metal performance: Megadeth - Dystopia

Best rock performance: David Bowie - Blackstar

Best dance recording: The Chainsmokers - Don’t Let Me

Down

Best dance/electronic album: Skin - Flume

Best music video: Beyonce - Formation

Best country song: Humble and Kind - Tim McGraw

Best country duo/group performance: Pentatonix

Featuring Dolly Parton – Jolene

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)

awards 2017

Best film: La La Land

Best Actress: Emma Stone - La La Land

Best Director: La La Land - Damien Chazelle

Best Actor:Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea

Best Cinematography:La La Land

Best Original Screenplay:Manchester By The Sea

Best Supporting Actor: Dev Patel – Lion

Oustanding debut by a British writer, director or producer:

Babak Anvari (writer/director), Emily Leo, Oliver

Roskill, Lucan Toh (producers)

Special visual effects:The Jungle Book –

Best Animated Film:Kubo And The Two Strings -

Travis Knight

Best Supporting Actress:Viola Davis – Fences

Best Adapted Screenplay:Lion - Luke Davies

Best Film non-English language:Son Of Saul

Best Production Design:Fantastic Beasts And Where To

Find Them

Best Editing:Hacksaw Ridge

Best British short film:Home

Best British short animation:A Love

Usain Bolt wins Laureus 'Sportsman of the Year' award

World's “greatest” sprinter Usain Bolt pipped the likes of

Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James to win the 'Sportsman of

the Year' trophy for a fourth time.

Simone Biles clinched the 'Sportswoman of the Year'.

Michael Phelps bagged the 'Comeback of the Year' award.

Formula One champion Nico Roseberg claimed the

'Breakthrough of the Year' award.

In other categories, Italy's Beatrice Vio clinched the

disability award.

Olympic refugee team won the Laureus Sport for Good

award.

Hindi Scholar and writer Surendra Verma selected for

Vyas Samman award 2016

Well known Hindi Scholar and writer Surendra Verma has

been selected for Vyas Samman-2016.

Mr Verma has been chosen for this prestigious award

for his novel Kaatna Shami Ka Vriksha : Padma

Pankhuri Ki Dhar Se, published in 2010.

The award instituted by K K Birla Foundation in 1991

carries a cash award of 3.50 lakh rupees.

Sunita Jain was awarded last year.

Lata Mangeshkar honoured with 'Legendary Award ' 2017

Indian melody queen Lata

Mangeshkar has been

honoured with the 'Legendary

Award' by The Brand

Laureate.

She says she is thankful

for her gratifying career

and well-wishers.

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The Brand Laureate recognises world-class achievement

in branding amongst individuals and companies.

India’s ‘Newton’ & ‘Aaba’ Win Big at Berlinale 2017

Two Indian films at the world renowned Berlin Film festival

bagged awards - Amit Masurkar’s Newton and Amar

Kaushik’s Aaba.

While Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton brought home the

CICAE Art Cinema Award in the Forum section of the

fest, Aaba won the Special Prize of Generation KPlus

International Jury for Best Short Film.

EDII wins International Mercury Award 2016-17

The Ahmedabad-based Entrepreneurship Development

Institute of India (EDII) has received the prestigious

International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17.

Instituted by MerComm, Inc, International Mercury

Awards, honor outstanding achievement in professional

communications in around 80 countries.

Katamati Mine wins Best Green Award

Tata Steel's Katamati iron mine has been honoured with the the

Best Green Organisation of the Year Award.

The award was presented at a function organised by World

CSR Day on February 18 in Mumbai.

Katamati iron mine has been engaged in environmental

protection efforts for years and has successfully

implemented Environmental Management System as per

the requirements of ISO 14001:2004.

Haryana: 42 sportspersons conferred Bhim Awards

42 Haryana sportspersons as the players were given the Bhim

Awards for their performances in the year 2013-14, 2014-15

and 2015-2016 in an award function presided over by Haryana

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at Haryana Raj Bhawan.

Khattar and Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki

conferred the award to sportspersons.

The players were given a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, an idol

of Bhim, a scroll of honour, a blazer and tie/scarf.

2016 Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik was

also given the award for the year 2013-14.

Dohmen, Naomi win International Hockey Federation’s

Player of the Year Awards

Male Player of the Year 2016- John-John Dohmen

(Belgium)

Female Player of the Year 2016- Naomi van As

(Netherland)

Male Goalkeeper of the Year 2016- David Harte (Ireland)

Female Goalkeeper of the Year 2016 - Maddie Hinch

(Britain)

Male Rising Star of the Year 2016 - Arthur Van Doren

(Belgium)

Female Rising Star of the Year 2016- Maria Granatto

(Argentina)

Male Coach of Year 2016- Danny Kerry (Britain)

Female Coach of Year 2016- Karen Brown (Britain)

Male Umpire of the Year award 2016- Christian Blasch

(Germany)

Female Umpire of the Year award 2016- Laurine Delforge

(Belgium)

Vivek Chaand Sehgal named EY Entrepreneur of the Year

2016

Vivek Chaand Sehgal, the 60-year-old chairman of auto parts

maker Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd, has been named Indian

entrepreneur of the year 2016 by EY.

Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani was honoured

with a lifetime achievement award for spearheading

India’s Aadhaar project as head of the Unique

Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Sehgal will get a shot at winning the EY World

Entrepreneur of the Year (WEOY) award in June in Monte

Carlo where he will compete with business leaders from

around the world.

89th Academy Awards (Oscar Awards)

Best picture: Moonlight

Best director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Best actress: Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best supporting actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best supporting actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Best original screenplay: Manchester by the Sea

Best adapted screenplay: Moonlight

Best documentary short: The White Helmets

Best live-action short: Sing

Best cinematography: La La Land

Best score: La La Land

Best song: City of Stars (La La Land)

Best foreign language film: The Salesman

Best animated short: Piper

Best animated feature: Zootopia

Best production design: La La Land

Best visual effects: The Jungle Book

Best film editing: Hacksaw Ridge

Best makeup and hairstyling: Suicide Squad

Best costume design: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find

Them

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Best documentary: OJ: Made in America

Best sound editing: Arrival

Best sound mixing: Hacksaw Ridge

10th ESPNcricinfo Awards

Test Batting Performance of

the Year: Ben Stokes

(England)

Test Bowling Performance

of the Year award: Stuart

Broad (England)

ODI Batting Performance of the Year: Quinton De Kock

(South Africa)

ODI Bowling Performance of the Year: Sunil Narine

(West Indies)

T20 Batting Performance of the Year award: Carlos

Brathwaite (West Indies)

T20 Bowling Performance of the Year: Mustafizur

Rahman (Bangladesh)

Debutant of the Year: Mehedi Hasan Miraz (Bangladesh)

Captain of the Year: Virat Kohli (India)

Batting Performance of the Year (Female): Hayley

Williams (West Indies)

Bowling Performance of the Year (Female): Leigh

Kasperek (New Zealand)

Cricketer Andre Russell was banned for one year

West Indies all-rounder

Andre Russell was banned

for one year for a doping

whereabouts rule violation.

He was revealed to

have committed the

violation 11 months ago

after registering three

filing failures in 2015.

That constitutes a failed drugs test under World Anti-

Doping Agency (WADA) rules.

The 28-year-old Jamaican, who helped the West Indies

win their second World T20 title in 2016, will be banned

for a year from Jan. 31.

Lakshya Sen takes top spot in junior rankings

Lakshya Sen, 15, became the latest junior World No 1 of

badminton’s rankings, following in the footsteps of Siril Verma

and Aditya Joshi.

The Almora, Uttarakhand boy has been training at

Bangalore’s Prakash Padukone Academy.

He is the winner of u-19 tournaments in Switzerland and

Denmark, as well as international series in Pune and

Hyderabad.

Pankaj Advani pockets the National Snooker

Championship title

Champion cueist Pankaj Advani won the Indian National

Snooker Championship with a 6-0 win over Pandurangaiah of

Railways in a one-sided final.

He became the only Indian men’s cueist to be the holder

of all national billiards and snooker titles at the same time

India to host women's Asia Cup basketball

India will host two international events in 2017, the FIBA

Women's Asia Cup and FIBA Under-16 Women's Asian

Championship, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI)

announced.

The FIBA Women's Asia Cup will be held from July 23 to

29 in Bengaluru while the FIBA U-16 Women's Asian

Championship will be held from October 22 to 28 in

Hyderabad, a BFI statement said.

Sports Minister lays the Foundation Stone for the first ever

Para training center

Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Vijay

Goel took the initiative and approved a Center of Excellence

for Differently Abled Sportspersons at SAI Gandhinagar,the

first ever training centre dedicated for Para athletes in the

country.

Vijay Goel laid the foundation stone of Boundary wall for

the Center of Excellence Para Center at Sector – 25

Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Para athletes have won 4 medals in Rio Paralympics last

year.

Wisden Almanack 2017 features Virat Kohli on cover

Virat Kohli will feature on the cover of the 2017 edition of the

‘Bible of cricket’, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack after the

Indian captain's exceptional performances over the course of

2016.

Kohli had an exceptional 2016 where he finished as the

highest run-scorer with 2595 runs from 41 innings at an

average of 86.50 including 7 centuries and 13 half-

centuries.

Apart from Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian to

be featured on the cover of Wisden in 2014.

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The Almanack, which was founded in 1864 by John

Wisden, is considered the world’s most well-known sports

reference book.

England test captain Cook resigns

Alastair Cook has

resigned as England

Test captain after a

record 59 matches in

charge.

The 32-year-old

Essex batsman

took the role in August 2012 and led his country to Ashes

victories in 2013 and 2015.

However, during last year's 4-0 Test series defeat in India

he admitted to having "questions" over his role.

National Badminton Championship: Sourabh, Rituparna

clinches titles

81st Senior Badminton National Championship was held

recently in Patna. Here are the results:

Men’s Singles title: Sourabh Verma registered a 21-13 21-

12 win over Lakshya Sen.

The women's singles title: Rituparna Das registered a 21-

21 21-14 win over Reshma Karthik.

Men's doubles title: Satwik Sai Raj R and Chirag Shetty

registered a 21-17 16-21 21-14 win over Nanda Gopal K

and Sanyam Shukla.

Women's doubles title: Aparna Balan and Prajakta

Sawant registered a 21-9 21-11 win over Shikha Gautam

and Sanyogita Ghorpade.

Mixed doubles title: Satwik Sai Raj R and Maneesha K

registered a 21-14 21-18 win over Venket Gaurav Prasad

and Juhi Dewangan.

Russia banned from London World Athletics

Championships: IAAF

Russia will miss August’s World Athletics Championships in

London after their doping ban was extended.

Coe said Russia, whose 15-month ban from athletics was

prolonged at the IAAF’s Council meeting in Cap d’Ail

near Monaco, could not be reintegrated into the sport

before November.

Russia has been barred from international competition

since November 2015 following a damaging report

alleging that state-sponsored doping was rife in the

country.

Mission XI Million launched in New Delhi

Driven by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi´s vision of

making football the sport of choice in India, Mission XI

Million, the biggest school sport outreach programme was

launched here today by the Minister of State (I/C) for Youth

Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel in the presence of President

of AIFF Shri Praful Patel.

A first of its kind, the programme will encourage children

to play the beautiful game of football, gain healthy habits

and learn important life lessons in teamwork and

sportsman spirit.

The approach is to work with school principals and sports

teachers and encourage and incentivize them to make

children play football games on regular basis.

FIFA Under-17 World Cup: Official mascot 'Kheleao'

unveiled

With just 238 days remaining for th start of the tournament, the

official mascot of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017,

'Kheleao' was unveiled at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New

Delhi.

In a glittering ceremony attended by Sports Minister Vijay

Goel, the chairman of the Local Organising Committee nd

AIFF presidnt Praful Patel, the young and charismatic face

of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, a clouded leopard called

Kheleo, was introduced to hundreds of football fans.

The clouded leopard is an endangered wild cat whose

habitat extends from the Himalayan foothills to mainland

Southeast Asia.

Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland

Founded: 21 May 1904

President: Gianni Infantino (Italy)

Secretary General: Fatma Samoura (Senegal)

Members: 204

Motto: For the game, For the world

India Thrash Pakistan To Win 2017 Blind World T20

Defending champions

India thrashed arch-

rivals Pakistan by 9

wickets in Bengaluru

to lift the Blind T20

World Cup title.

Chasing Pakistan's

197/9, India lost just one wicket and romped home with

nine wickets in hand to lift the coveted title.

Prakash Jayaramaiah stood out with a splendid unbeaten

99-run knock, while Ajay Kumar Reddy was the only man

to be dismissed for 43.

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The two teams had clashed in the 2012 edition final as well

with India emerging triumphant.

Blind World Cup 2017

Man of the Final: Prakash Jayaramaiah

Man of the series: Badar Munir

Host Country: India

Brand Ambassador: Rahul Dravid

Ashwin - the fastest to 250 Test wickets

Indian spinner R Ashwin has become the fastest to reach 250

test wickets in the game's history with the dismissal of

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim.

He bettered Dennis Lillee's record of 48 Tests by three

matches.

Among India bowlers, the fastest was Anil Kumble - 55

Tests.

Jamshed suspended from all forms of cricket

Left-handed opener Nasir Jamshed has been provisionally

suspended from all forms of cricket by the Pakistan Cricket

Board (PCB) for violating its anti-corruption code.

PSL chairman Najam Sethi had earlier stated that strict

action will be taken against those who are found guilty of

corruption charges in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

PSL has already been rocked by corruption scandal with

Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif being suspended from the

tournament with Mohammad Irfan currently under

investigation.

Adam Voges retires from international cricket

Adam Voges, Australian batsman, announced his retirement

from international cricket.

The Western Australia batsman has played 20 Tests,

scoring 1485 runs at an average of 61.87 - second highest

average in Tests after Don Bradman (Among batsmen who

have played at least 20 Tests).

He has also figured in 31 One-Day Internationals and

scored 870 runs with an average of 45.78 while 139 runs

in seven Twenty20 Internationals with an average of

46.33.

East Zone clinches Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2017

East Zone clinched the Syed

Mushtaq Ali Inter Zonal

Trophy wit their fourth

consecutive win as they

trounced West Zone by eight

wickets on the final day of the

tournament at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Set a target of 150, they polished off the chase in 13.4

overs after Virat Singh's 34-ball 58 and Ishank Jaggi's

stroke-filled 56.

Afridi announces retirement from international cricket

Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi announced his retirement

from international cricket, ending an illustrious 21-year career.

The 36-year-old star had already quit Tests in 2010 and

ODI cricket after the 2015 World Cup but still skippered

the Pakistan Twenty20 team at the 2016 world

championships in India.

Nicknamed ‘Boom Boom’, Afridi had been a fan favourite

since he burst onto the scene in 1996, striking a 37-ball

one-day century against Sri Lanka in only his second

match to set a world record that was unbeaten for 18 years.

Afridi finishes his international career having played just

27 Test matches which yielded 1,176 runs with a highest

score of 156 and 48 wickets.

He played 398 one-day internationals with 8,064 runs, a

highest score of 124 while taking 395 wickets with his leg

spin.

His Twenty20 international CV saw him play 98 matches

with 1,405 runs and a career-leading 97 wickets.

India win silver at Asian Women's Rugby Sevens Trophy

India won the silver medal at the women’s Asian Rugby

Sevens Trophy having won five matches and lost one at

Vientiane, Laos.

In the seven-nation round-robin competition, India

defeated Laos 22-7, Philippines 12-5, Nepal 43-0 and

Malaysia by 26-12.

On the second day, India defeated Pakistan by 5-0 and in

the last match were beaten by South Korea by 0-29.

India to host Combined World Cup for shooting in 2019

India will be hosting the

Combined World Cup

for shooting in 2019, a

qualifying event for the

2020 Tokyo Olympics,

which will further boost

the country's profile as a

global shooting destination.

The National Rifle Association of India's (NRAI) bid was

approved by the International Shooting Sport Federation's

Executive Board in its meeting held in New Delhi.

Combined World Cup comprises all the three categories

— shotgun, rifle and pistol, and at stake in the 2019 edition

will be a number of quota places for the Tokyo Games.

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Adidas Ties Up With FIFA U-17 World Cup For Mission

XI Million

Sportswear giant Adidas has announced its association with

FIFA U-17 World Cup Local Organising Committee, coming

onboard as the exclusive performance partner for the Mission

XI Million programme.

The programme was recently flagged off by the Sports

Ministry and All India Football Federation in the capital.

The Mission XI Million is an initiative that aims at

reaching out to millions of youth across India to increase

participation in football and create a platform for them to

develop their skills.

ISSF World Cup: Pooja Ghatkar Clinches Bronze in 10m

Air Rifle Event

Pooja Ghatkar has clinched the women's 10m air rifle bronze

medal with a score of 228.8 in the International Shooting Sport

Federation (ISSF) World Cup.

China's Mengyao Shi won the gold medal with a score of

252.1, setting a new world record in the event.

Mengyao's compatriot Dong Lijie bagged the silver with a

score of 248.9 on day one of competitions.

Kalinga Lancers Clinch Maiden Hockey India League Title

Kalinga Lancers came out with a stupendous performance to

defeat Dabang Mumbai 4-1 and clinch their maiden Hockey

India League (HIL) title in Chandigarh.

The Lancers, who finished runners-up last season, went

one better to clinch the 2017 crown.

Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Wizards register a 5-4 win

over Delhi Waveriders to claim the bronze medal.

E. Ahamed passes away

IUML national president

and former minister of state

for External Affairs

Minister E. Ahamed passed

away at the Ram Manohar

Lohia hospital in New

Delhi. He was 78.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, 1996, 1998,

1999, 2004 and 2009.

May 2004 – May 2009 he served as the Minister of State

for External Affairs.

May 2009 – January 2011, he was Minister of State for

Railways.

Cricketer R. Raghavan passes away

Former Tamil Nadu left-handed batsman R. Raghavan passed

away after prolonged illness. He was 82.

Representing the State side in the 50s, Raghavan played

15 matches making 384 runs with a highest score of 79.

He played against visiting overseas sides such as a team

from Commonwealth and represented Mambalam

Mosquitos in the first division league with distinction.

Former CBI director Joginder Singh passes away

Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director

Joginder Singh passed away after a prolonged illness. He was

77.

Singh, who was the CBI director for between 1996-97 was

an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

He has been serving as an Independent Non- Executive

Director of Sunil Healthcare Ltd. since January, 2000.

Renowned fiction writer Bano Qudsia passes away

Renowned Pakistani novelist, short-writer and TV playwright

Bano Qudsia has passed away at the age of 88 years after a

prolonged illness.

She was widow of a great fiction writer and playwright

Ashfaq Ahmed.

After being married with Ashfaq Ahmed, she launched a

literary magazine “Dastango” with the help of his

husband.

Bano Qudsia’s most popular novels include “Raja Gidh”,

“Amarbail” and “Mome Ki Kalian”

Subhash Chandra Bose’s confidant colonel Nizamuddin

passes away

Colonel Nizamuddin, a close confidant of Netaji Subhash

Chandra Bose, breathed his last at his residence in Dhakwa area

of Mubarakpur, Azamgarh.

He was 116. He served as Bose’s driver.

Nizamuddin had been with Netaji between 1943 and 1945.

He reportedly last saw the leader on August 20, 1947 in

Burma. He could never meet Netaji thereafter.

Freedom fighter Racharla Samrajyam Passes away

Racharla Samrajyam, freedom fighter, died at her residence at

Vishakhapatnam. She was 98.

Samrajyam was inspired by the Quit India Movement,

when she was undergoing Hindi Pracharak training at

Anantapur in 1942. She quit the training programme and

joined the Quit India Movement.

She received the ‘Tamra Patra’ from the Government of

India in 1972.

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Sir Peter Mansfield, Nobel prize winner who developed

MRI, passes away

The Nobel prize winning physicist and Magnetic Resonance

Imaging (MRI) pioneer Sir Peter Mansfield has died aged 83.

Sir Peter received the award for Physiology or Medicine

in 2003 for advances in using MRI for medical science.

Pandit Dharmsheel Chaturvedi passes away

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the passing away

of eminent thinker, writer and journalist Pandit Dharmsheel

Chaturvedi.

The sharp writings, wit and humour of Pandit Dharmsheel

Chaturvedi endeared him to a wide spectrum of readers.

He will be missed.", the Prime Minister said.

Hindi novelist Ved Prakash Sharma passes away at 62

Celebrated Hindi novelist Ved Prakash Sharma, who has 176

novels to his credit, died in Meerut. He was 62.

Sharma had also written scripts for about half-a-dozen

Hindi movies.

Mr. Sharma started his writing career at the age of 14 and

initially ghost written novels for others.

Former MP Jambuvantrao Dhote passes away

Former Nagpur MP Jambuwantrao Dhote, who always stood

for the cause of separate Vidarbha, passed away following a

massive heart attack. He was 78.

Popularly known as “Lion of Vidarbha”, Dhote was also a

legislator for two terms from Yavatmal district.

An ardent disciple of Subhash Chandra Bose, he started

his political career with the Forward Bloc and later moved

to the Congress in the late 70s before joining the Shiv

Sena.

Former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir passes away

in Kolkata

Hailed as one of the brilliant

judges of the Supreme Court,

former Chief Justice of India,

Justice (Retired) Altamas

Kabir passed away after

prolonged illness. He was 68.

Justice Altamas Kabir enrolled as an Advocate in 1973 at

Kolkata Bar Association.

He was appointed as a judge in the Calcutta High Court in

1990.

In March 2005, Justice Altamas Kabir was apponted as the

Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court before being

elevated as a judge in the Supreme Court in September the

same year.

Justice Altamas Kabir appointed as the 39th Chief Justice

of India on Septemebr 29 in 2012. He held the office till

July 18, 2013.

Norway Nobel Committee chairwoman dies aged 65

Kaci Kullmann, the chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel

Committee which selects the Peace Prize laureates, has died

aged 65.

Kullmann became a member of the Norwegian Nobel

committee in 2003, and was elected chair in 2015.

She was among the decision makers who honoured former

US vice president Al Gore (2007), former US president

Barack Obama (2009), Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo

(2010), and Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi

(2003).

Norway

Currency: Krone

Capital: Oslo

Prime Minister: Ema Solberg

Nobel-winning economist, mathematician Kenneth J

Arrow dies

Kenneth J. Arrow, the youngest-ever winner of a Nobel prize

for economics, whose theories on risk, innovation and the basic

mathematics of markets have influenced thinking on

everything from voting to health insurance to high finance, has

died. He was 95.

Arrow and British economist Sir John R Hicks shared the

1972 Nobel memorial prize in economic science for their

pioneering mathematical work on general equilibrium

theory, which says that there is an overall balance between

supply and demand in an economy as a whole.

Their mathematical models dealt with the factors involved,

such as when and where a product is sold.

He also was known as a mentor. Five of his former

students went on to become Nobel winners.

'Apollo 13' star Bill Paxton dies at 61

Hollywood actor Bill Paxton,

best known for his roles in such

blockbusters as "Apollo 13" and

"Titanic," has died at the age of

61, a family representative said.

The versatile Texas-

born actor was a

familiar face on US movie screens, with a string of

memorable credits to his name from a career spanning

several decades.

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Former Union Minister P. Shiv Shankar passes away

Former Union Minister P.

Shiv Shankar passed away

after a prolonged illness. He

was 89.

He became Law

Minister in the Indira

Gandhi Cabinet in 1980.

From 1985 till 1993, he represented the Congress as Rajya

Sabha member from Gujarat.

Shiv Shankar served as External Affairs and Human

Resource Development Minister.

He first became Governor of Sikkim in 1994 and later was

shifted to Kerala in 1995.

‘Game of Thrones’ actor Neil Fingleton passes away at 36

Neil Fingleton, a 7-foot 7-inch actor who played the giant, Mag

the Mighty, in “Game of Thrones” has died at 36.

The Tall Persons Club says Mr. Fingleton, who was

Britain’s tallest man, died due to heart failure.

Mr. Fingleton was recognized by Guinness World Records

in 2007 as the U.K.’s tallest man.

Salman Rushdie's new book, 'The Golden House', to

release in September

After Arundhati Roy, it is

now author Salman

Rushdie's turn to return to

the literary world this year

with his new book “The

Golden House”, slated to

be released in September.

The book will be published in India by Penguin Random

House which acquired the subcontinent rights from the

Wylie Agency.

Salman Rushdie had earlier won the Booker Prize in 1981

and Best of the Booker Prize in 2008 for his book

“Midnight's Children”.

Rajnath Singh releases the book titled ‘Veerappan,

Chasing the Brigand’

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh released the

book titled ‘Veerappan, Chasing the Brigand’, written by K.

Vijay Kumar, Senior Security Adviser, Ministry of Home

Affairs.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajnath Singh said that Vijay

Kumar, who was the Chief of the Special Task Force

(STF) that was behind the killing of Veerappan during

“Operation Cocoon” in 2004, is a role model for the new

IPS Officers.

Book to chronicle Dream Girl Hema Malini's journey

Dream Girl Hema Malini's

incredible journey from an

actor, a danseuse and

filmmaker to a politician is

being chronicled in a new

book which will hit stores

on her 69th birthday this

October.

Billed as an authorised biography, 'Hema Malini: Beyond

the Dream Girl' is penned by author-columnist Ram Kamal

Mukherjee.

Amarinder Singh's biography 'The People's Maharaja'

released

Punjab congress chief Amarinder

Singh's biography, 'The People's

Maharaja', was released on 21st

February.

The authorised biography,

authored by Chandigarh-based

writer Khushwant Singh, sheds

a new light on the sequence of

events that led to the 1984 army action at Golden temple

in amritsar.

Speaking during a discussion after the launch of the book,

Amarinder explained the circumstances under which he

had resigned from the Congress over Operation Bluestar

in 1984.

He had, however, rejoined the party in 1998.

PM releases the book “Judicial Reforms – Recent Global

Trends”

The Prime Minister,

Narendra Modi, released the

book “Judicial Reforms –

Recent Global Trends” and

presented the first copy to

President Pranab Mukherjee.

Speaking on the

occasion, the Prime Minister said that India has to keep

pace with changing technology, and the new,

interdependent global order.

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Current Affairs Question 1. Benjamin Netanyahu is the first serving Prime Minister

of ____ to visit Australia?

(A) Israel

(B) Myanmar

(C) Cuba

(D) Malaysia

(E) None of these

2. Which of the following has been launched to prevent

cyber attacks?

(A) Cyber Suraksha Kendra

(B) Cyber Swachhta Kendra

(C) Cyber Sahayata Kendra

(D) Cyber Saavdhani Kendra

(E) None of these

3. What is the name of QR code system launched recently

to promote digital payments?

(A) Bharat Payment

(B) QR Digital

(C) Pay Digital

(D) Bharat QR

(E) None of these

4. Which Direct-to-home operator has tied-up with ICICI

Bank for digital payments?

(A) Airtel Digital TV

(B) Dish TV

(C) Reliance Digital TV

(D) Videocon D2H

(E) None of these

5. Jewellery purchase in cash above Rs. 2 Lakh will attract

what amount of tax from April 1, 2017?

(A) 1%

(B) 2%

(C) 3%

(D) 5%

(E) None of these

6. Which of the following has won the prestigious

International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17?

(A) Confederation of Indian Industries

(B) Council of Scientific & Industrial Research

(C) Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India

(D) Defence Research and Development Organisation

(E) None of these

7. Which iron mine has been honoured with the the Best

Green Organisation of the Year Award?

(A) Ratnagiri

(B) Bellary

(C) Sighbhum

(D) Katamati

(E) None of these

8. What is the name of the CEO of Freecharge, who has

resigned recently?

(A) Sanjay Baweja

(B) Manish Arya

(C) Govind Rajan

(D) Ajay Bansal

(E) None of these

9. Which state has hosted National Biodiversity Congress

2017?

(A) Maharashtra

(B) Tamilnadu

(C) Kerala

(D) Karnataka

(E) None of these

10. Which state has announced restrictions on the number of

guests to be invited and number of dishes that can be

served?

(A) Maharashtra

(B) Gujarat

(C) Jammu and Kashmir

(D) Rajasthan

(E) None of these

11. Government has approved increasing the capacity of

solar parks and projects from 20,000 MW to_____

(A) 45,000 MW

(B) 40,000 MW

(C) 30,000 MW

(D) 50,000 MW

(E) None of these

12. Which bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding

with SIDBI for providing concessional finance to micro

and small enterprises?

(A) Andhra Bank

(B) Canara Bank

(C) Corporation Bank

(D) Vijaya Bank

(E) None of these

13. Airtel has announced to buy which of the following

telecom company?

(A) Telenor

(B) Aircel

(C) Vodafone

(D) Idea

(E) None of these

14. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has

approved Rs 5723.72 crore to set up a hydro power

project in which country?

(A) Sri Lanka

(B) Nepal

(C) Bhutan

(D) Afghanistan

(E) None of these

15. Who has been appointed as the Vice President of Asian

Hockey Federation?

(A) Rajiv Shukla

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(B) Sunita Saxena

(C) Brij Bhushan Singh

(D) Abhijit Sarkar

(E) None of these

16. Who has been appointed as the head of the Cauvery

Water Disputes Tribunal?

(A) B.S. Chauhan

(B) Abhay Manohar Sapre

(C) Anand Sharma

(D) Kishor Sen

(E) None of these

17. Which country will host Combined World Cup for

shooting in 2019?

(A) Malaysia

(B) South Korea

(C) India

(D) Indonesia

(E) None of these

18. Which country will help India in developing missiles for

Indian Army?

(A) France

(B) Japan

(C) Russia

(D) Israel

(E) None of these

19. Which state has decided to set up International Ayurvedic

research Institute?

(A) Maharashtra

(B) Gujarat

(C) Kerala

(D) Andhra Pradesh

(E) None of these

20. Which University will help in encouraging

entrepreneurship in Northeast?

(A) Tezpur University

(B) Delhi University

(C) Nalanda University

(D) Mumbai University

(E) None of these

21. Merger of five associate banks with the SBI will be

effective from which date?

(A) 1 March 2017

(B) 1 April 2017

(C) 1 July 2017

(D) 1 December 2017

(E) None of these

22. What amount has been approved by Asian Development

bank to strengthen power transmission system in India?

(A) 200 Million Dollar

(B) 300 Million Dollar

(C) 400 Million Dollar

(D) 500 Million Dollar

(E) None of these

23. Which bank has won two awards at the IBA - banking

technology awards 2017?

(A) Karnataka Bank

(B) Canara Bank

(C) Oriental Bank of Commerce

(D) Indian Overseas Bank

(E) None of these

24. Which bank has has signed an agreement with

Cholamandalam General Insurance for distribution of

insurance products?

(A) Karnataka Bank

(B) Canara Bank

(C) Oriental Bank of Commerce

(D) Indian Overseas Bank

(E) None of these

25. Kenneth J. Arrow passed away recently. Who he was?

(A) Economist

(B) Mathematician

(C) Physician

(D) Both A and B

(E) None of these

26. Which country has become largest trading partner of

Germany?

(A) France

(B) China

(C) Russia

(D) USA

(E) None of these

27. Which country has launched military operations 'Radd-

ul-Fasaad' to counter terrorism?

(A) Iran

(B) Syria

(C) Afghanistan

(D) Pakistan

(E) None of these

28. Which state has become the second largest crude oil

producer in India?

(A) Rajasthan

(B) Gujarat

(C) Andhra Pradesh

(D) Tamilnadu

(E) None of these

29. Who is the Union Minister of Women and Child

Development?

(A) Uma Bharati

(B) Smriti Irani

(C) Maneka Gandhi

(D) Sushma Swaraj

(E) None of these

30. Andhra Pradesh government has signed a MoU with

VISA to develop _____ as Fintech hub of the country?

(A) Visakhapatnam

(B) Amravati

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(C) Karim Nagar

(D) Hyderabad

(E) None of these

31. Hassan Ali Khaire has been appointed as the Prime

minister of ____

(A) Syria

(B) Nigeria

(C) Ghana

(D) Somalia

(E) None of these

32. Which of the following is a brand ambassador Swachh

Bharat Mission?

(A) Amitabh Bachchan

(B) Shankar Mahadevan

(C) Shilpa Shetty

(D) Sachin Tendulkar

(E) All of the above

33. Which of the following has accepted the Deputy

Collector job offered by the Andhra Pradesh

Government?

(A) Saina Nehwal

(B) PV Sindhu

(C) Sania Mirza

(D) Sakshi Malik

(E) None of these

34. How many countries have been suspended from voting in

the UN General Assembly recently?

(A) 2

(B) 4

(C) 6

(D) 8

(E) None of these

35. Which city of Bangladesh will be developed by financial

assistance of India?

(A) Dhaka

(B) Sylhet

(C) Mirpur

(D) Chittagong

(E) None of these

36. Which bank will get Rs 3000 crore package from

government?

(A) Dena Bank

(B) SBI

(C) Bank of Baroda

(D) IDBI Bank

(E) None of these

37. Which bank has launched Radio Frequency Identification

card?

(A) Dena Bank

(B) SBI

(C) Bank of Baroda

(D) IDBI Bank

(E) None of these

38. Who has been appointed as Finance Advisor to Nagaland

government?

(A) TR Zeliang

(B) Sam Pitroda

(C) YV Reddy

(D) Arvind Mayaram

(E) None of these

39. Who has been awarded EY Entrepreneur of the Year

2016?

(A) Nandan Nilkeni

(B) Vivek Chand Sehgal

(C) Anand Mahindra

(D) Mukesh Ambani

(E) None of these

40. Pooja Ghatkar is related to which sport?

(A) Billiards

(B) Badminton

(C) Shooting

(D) Golf

(E) None of these

41. Bill Paxton has passes away recently. Who he was?

(A) Writer

(B) Journalist

(C) Singer

(D) Actor

(E) None of these

42. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled a 112-foot

tall statue dedicated to ‘Adiyogi’ at____

(A) Coimbatore

(B) Varanasi

(C) Ahmedabad

(D) Thiruvananthapuram

(E) None of these

43. Which state has inaugurated medical project RAHAT?

(A) Gujarat

(B) Assam

(C) Rajasthan

(D) Punjab

(E) None of these

44. RAHAT project is related to___

(A) Poverty Elimination

(B) Heart Attack

(C) Malaria Elimination

(D) Polio Elimination

(E) None of these

45. Which is the richest Indian city?

(A) New Delhi

(B) Mumbai

(C) Bengaluru

(D) Hyderabad

(E) None of these

46. What is India’s latest GDP growth forecast for for 2016-

17 by NCAER?

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(A) 6.6%

(B) 7.1%

(C) 6.8%

(D) 6.9%

(E) None of these

47. Which Indian firm is among top three IT services brands

globally?

(A) Wipro

(B) Infosys

(C) Tech Mahindra

(D) TCS

(E) None of these

48. Which film has won best film award at 89th Oscar

awards?

(A) La La Land

(B) Moonlight

(C) The Jungle Book

(D) Hacksaw Ridge

(E) None of these

49. Who has won best actor award at 89th Oscar awards?

(A) Leonardo Dicaprio

(B) Casey Affleck

(C) Mahershala Ali

(D) Damien Chazelle

(E) None of these

50. Which team has won Hockey India League 2017?

(A) Kalinga Lancers

(B) Dabang Mumbai

(C) Uttar Pradesh Wizards

(D) Delhi Waveriders

(E) None of these

51. Which state has lowest infant mortality rate?

(A) Kerala

(B) Goa

(C) Karnataka

(D) Gujarat

(E) None of these

52. Who is the Union Minister of the Railways?

(A) Suresh Prabhu

(B) Ram Vilas Paswan

(C) Mukul Dwivedi

(D) Sadanand Gowda

(E) None of these

53. Which bank has tied up with Apollo Munich Health

Insurance for Bancassurance?

(A) Dena Bank

(B) Vijaya Bank

(C) IDBI Bank

(D) Lakshmi Vilas Bank

(E) None of these

54. Which bank has won MSME Excellence Award 2017

from Federation of Industry Trade and Services?

(A) Dena Bank

(B) Vijaya Bank

(C) IDBI Bank

(D) Lakshmi Vilas Bank

(E) None of these

55. Which bank has tied up with Centrum group for its

wealthy clients?

(A) Dena Bank

(B) Vijaya Bank

(C) IDBI Bank

(D) Lakshmi Vilas Bank

(E) None of these

56. Who has been appointed as India’s ambassador to the

Republic of Togo?

(A) Renu Pall

(B) Ajay Singh

(C) Birendra Singh Yadav

(D) Yashvardhan Sinha

(E) None of these

57. Who has won 10th ESPNCricinfo Test Batting

Performance of the Year award?

(A) Ben Stokes

(B) Quinton De Kock

(C) Carlos Brathwaite

(D) Virat Kohli

(E) None of these

58. Who has won 10th ESPNCricinfo Captain of the Year

award?

(A) Misbah Ul Haq

(B) Steven Smith

(C) Alistair Cook

(D) Virat Kohli

(E) None of these

59. P. Shiv Shankar passed away recently. Who he was?

(A) Journalist

(B) Politician

(C) Actor

(D) Writer

(E) None of these

60. Neil Fingleton passed away recently. Who he was?

(A) Journalist

(B) Politician

(C) Actor

(D) Writer

(E) None of these

61. Longest elevated bike path in the world has been opened

in which country?

(A) USA

(B) Spain

(C) Sweden

(D) China

(E) None of these

62. 2017 UNESCO Natural Heritage Festival was held in

which state?

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(A) Gujarat

(B) Kerala

(C) Himachal Pradesh

(D) Madhya Pradesh

(E) None of these

63. Which city has hosted International coin fair 2017?

(A) Thiruvananthapuram

(B) Nasik

(C) Vishakhapatnam

(D) Hyderabad

(E) None of these

64. Indian Space Research Organisation has created history

by sending _____ satellites in a single rocket?

(A) 83

(B) 104

(C) 23

(D) 37

(E) None of these

65. Which state was was carved out of Darjeeling recently?

(A) Siliguri

(B) Jhargram

(C) Kalimpong

(D) Nandgram

(E) None of these

66. Which city is hosting 11th International Aero India 2017?

(A) Mumbai

(B) Bengaluru

(C) Hyderabad

(D) New Delhi

(E) None of these

67. Which country has elected Frank-Walter Steinmeier as its

President?

(A) Argentina

(B) France

(C) Uruguay

(D) Germany

(E) None of these

68. Ravi Shankar has been appointed as High Commissioner

of India to which country?

(A) Ghana

(B) Rwanda

(C) Norway

(D) Netherland

(E) None of these

69. Who has won Laureus 'Sportsman of the Year' trophy

2017?

(A) Usain Bolt

(B) Christiano Ronaldo

(C) Roger Federer

(D) Novak Djokovich

(E) None of these

70. Which country is hosting 2017 Cobra Gold Military

Exercises?

(A) USA

(B) Poland

(C) Thailand

(D) Philippines

(E) None of these

71. What is the name of the early warning system recently

inducted into Indian Air Force?

(A) Netra

(B) Trinetra

(C) Drishya

(D) Drishti

(E) None of these

72. Which scheme was recently launched by Khadi &

Village Industries Commission?

(A) Khadi Gaon

(B) Khadi Shahar

(C) Mera Gaon

(D) Khadi Swadeshi

(E) None of these

73. Which state has launched e-Prison project?

(A) West Bengal

(B) Jharkhand

(C) Assam

(D) Jammu and Kashmir

(E) None of these

74. Which telecom operator will provide pre-loaded Sim

Card to foreign tourists arriving in India on e-Visa?

(A) Jio

(B) MTNL

(C) BSNL

(D) Vodafone

(E) None of these

75. Which bank has launched ‘name and shame’ campaign?

(A) City Union Bank

(B) Catholic Syrian Bank

(C) IDBI Bank

(D) United Bank of India

(E) None of these

76. Which bank has tied up with Kerala State Cooperatives

Consumers’ Federation to facilitate cashless purchases

for its consumers?

(A) City Union Bank

(B) Catholic Syrian Bank

(C) IDBI Bank

(D) United Bank of India

(E) None of these

77. Who has become the first Indian ever to be promoted by

the International Basketball Federation as Technical

Delegate?

(A) Narendra Batra

(B) N Srinivas

(C) N Ramachandram

(D) Norman Isaac

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(E) None of these

78. What is India’s rank in Economic Freedom Index 2017?

(A) 141

(B) 123

(C) 147

(D) 143

(E) None of these

79. What is the theme of Global Investor Summit 2017 held

in Jharkhand?

(A) Invest Jharkhand

(B) Force Jharkhand

(C) Momentum Jharkhand

(D) Make in Jharkhand

(E) None of these

80. From which date, merchant discount rate will not be

levied on Government payments?

(A) 1 January 2017

(B) 1 April 2017

(C) 1 June 2017

(D) 31 December 2017

(E) None of these

81. What is the new lending limit for Regional Rural Banks

against Gold?

(A) 1 Lakh

(B) 2 Lakh

(C) 5 Lakh

(D) 10 Lakh

(E) None of these

82. Which bank has launched instant chat services for

customers?

(A) City Bank

(B) HDFC Bank

(C) Axis Bank

(D) Yes Bank

(E) None of these

83. IMF has Launched South Asia Training and Technical

Assistance Center in which city?

(A) Bengaluru

(B) Mumbai

(C) Hyderabad

(D) New Delhi

(E) None of these

84. Which bank has tied up with railway to sell general

category tickets?

(A) Punjab National Bank

(B) State Bank of India

(C) Bank of Baroda

(D) Corporation Bank

(E) None of these

85. Who has been appointed as the Chief Minister of

Tamilnadu?

(A) EK Palaniswami

(B) Panneerselvam

(C) VK Shashikala

(D) MK Stalin

(E) None of these

86. Which sailboat has been Inducted into Indian Navy on 18

February 2017?

(A) Tarini

(B) Saarthi

(C) Nauka

(D) Naiyya

(E) None of these

87. Which organisation has launched a communication radio

for the Indian armed forces?

(A) BEL

(B) BEML

(C) DRDO

(D) ISRO

(E) None of these

88. What will be the new tenure of the chairman of Securities

and Exchange Board of India?

(A) 5 Years

(B) 4 Years

(C) 3 Years

(D) 2 Years

(E) None of these

89. Which bank has won National MSME Excellence Award

2017?

(A) UCO Bank

(B) Corporation Bank

(C) Indian Overseas bank

(D) Canara Bank

(E) None of these

90. Which bank has tied up with Ministry of Human

Resource Development (MHRD) to operationalise the

Higher Education Financing Agency?

(A) UCO Bank

(B) Corporation Bank

(C) Indian Overseas bank

(D) Canara Bank

(E) None of these

91. Who has been appointed as Non-Official Director of

Punjab National Bank?

(A) T C A Ranganathan

(B) Sunil Mehta

(C) K Swaminathan

(D) Ashok Kumar Pradhan

(E) None of these

92. Who has been appointed as the Executive Director of

Central Bank of India?

(A) Neelam Damodharan

(B) Ashok Kumar Pradhan

(C) P Ramana Murthy

(D) Fareed Ahmed Khan

(E) None of these

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93. Who has been awarded with Vyas Samman 2016?

(A) Raghuveer Choudhary

(B) Padma Sachdev

(C) Sunita Jain

(D) Surendra Verma

(E) None of these

94. How many new airports will be added to UDAN scheme?

(A) 25

(B) 50

(C) 75

(D) 125

(E) None of these

95. Which city is hosting Western Regional Agriculture Fair

– 2017?

(A) Jaisalmer

(B) Jodhpur

(C) Jaipur

(D) Bikaner

(E) None of these

96. Which city is hosting South Asian Speakers’ Summit?

(A) Indore

(B) Bhopal

(C) Vishakhapatnam

(D) Bengaluru

(E) None of these

97. Who has been appointed as ambassador of India to

Montenegro?

(A) Amrit Logun

(B) VIshal Shah

(C) Renu Pall

(D) Ashish Lodha

(E) None of these

98. Who has been honoured with 'Legendary Award ' 2017?

(A) Shahrukh Khan

(B) Amitabh Bachchan

(C) Dilip Kumar

(D) Lata Mangeshkar

(E) None of these

99. Which team has won Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2017?

(A) West Zone

(B) East Zone

(C) South Zone

(D) North Zone

(E) None of these

100. Ved Prakash Sharma passed away recently. Who he was?

(A) Singer

(B) Writer

(C) Journalist

(D) Politician

(E) None of these

101. Jambuwantrao Dhote passed away recently. Who he was?

(A) Singer

(B) Writer

(C) Journalist

(D) Politician

(E) None of these

102. Which volcano has became active recently?

(A) Deccan Traps

(B) Barren Island

(C) Narcondam

(D) Baratang

(E) None of these

103. India has sanctioned a soft loan of _____ Million Dollar

to Nepal for various infrastructure development

programmes.

(A) 320

(B) 340

(C) 400

(D) 540

(E) None of these

104. T. R. Zeliang has resigned recently. He was the chief

Minister of___

(A) Assam

(B) Manipur

(C) Kerala

(D) Nagaland

(E) None of these

105. Which bank has launched mobile wallet ‘Batuaa’?

(A) Indian Overseas Bank

(B) Canara Bank

(C) Oriental Bank of Commerce

(D) Indian Bank

(E) None of these

106. Which film has been awarded at the Berlin Film festival

2017?

(A) Newton

(B) Dhanak

(C) Aaba

(D) Both A and C

(E) None of these

107. Shahid Afridi, who has announced his retirement from

international cricket recently, is from which country?

(A) Pakistan

(B) Bangladesh

(C) Afghanistan

(D) South Africa

(E) None of these

108. Which team has won Gold medal at Asian Women's

Rugby Sevens Trophy?

(A) India

(B) Pakistan

(C) Malaysia

(D) South Korea

(E) None of these

109. Altamas Kabir passed away recently. He was ____ Chief

Justice of India?

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(A) 38th

(B) 39th

(C) 40th

(D) 41st

(E) None of these

110. Who is the author of the book titled 'Hema Malini:

Beyond the Dream Girl'?

(A) Vijay Lokapally

(B) Sourabh Duggal

(C) Malti Sharma

(D) Ram Kamal Mukherjee

(E) None of these

111. Which is the world’s largest arms importer country in

last four years?

(A) USA

(B) Saudi Arab

(C) India

(D) China

(E) None of these

112. Which is the world’s largest arms exporter country in last

four years?

(A) USA

(B) France

(C) Russia

(D) China

(E) None of these

113. World Day of Social Justice is observed on which date?

(A) 18 February

(B) 21 February

(C) 19 February

(D) 20 February

(E) None of these

114. What is ICGS AYUSH?

(A) Indian Navy Ship

(B) Indian Coast Guard Ship

(C) Indian Army Aircraft

(D) Indian Army Navigator

(E) None of these

115. India's first dedicated heliport will open in which city?

(A) Mumbai

(B) Chennai

(C) New Delhi

(D) Bengaluru

(E) None of these

116. Which resource kit has been launched recently for

adolescents, as part of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya

Karyakram?

(A) SAATHIYA

(B) SALAH

(C) SHIKSHAK

(D) PRASHIKSHAK

(E) None of these

117. Which bank has entered into a memorandum of

understanding with Daimler India for extending finance

to customers for the purchase of commercial vehicles?

(A) Karnataka Bank

(B) Yes Bank

(C) Indusind Bank

(D) Kotak Mahindra Bank

(E) None of these

118. Who has been appointed as Chief Minister of Nagaland?

(A) TR Zeliang

(B) Pawan Chamling

(C) Nabam Tuki

(D) Shurozelie Liezitsu

(E) None of these

119. Who has been appointed as National Security Adviser of

USA?

(A) Keith Kellogg

(B) H. R. McMaster

(C) John Bolton

(D) Michael Flynn

(E) None of these

120. What is the currency of Norway?

1. Franc

2. Dollar

3. Krone

4. Peso

5. None of these

121. Which country has become the world’s largest producer

of solar energy?

(A) Germany

(B) China

(C) India

(D) UAE

(E) None of these

122. Which country has hosted BIMSTEC Senior Officials'

Meeting?

(A) Maldives

(B) Bhutan

(C) Nepal

(D) India

(E) None of these

123. Which is the first state in the northeast to implement e-

Cabinet solution?

(A) Arunachal Pradesh

(B) Assam

(C) Manipur

(D) Tripura

(E) None of these

124. Which state has inaugurated first smart police station in

India?

(A) Maharashtra

(B) Tamilnadu

(C) Telangana

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(D) Andhra Pradesh

(E) None of these

125. Who has won Israel's prestigious Genesis Prize?

(A) Anish Kapoor

(B) Rajan Sheikh

(C) Salim Ahmed

(D) Anil Sabharwal

(E) None of these

126. Which bank has partnered with insurance company Cigna

TTK Health?

(A) Corporation Bank

(B) Bank of Baroda

(C) Bank of Maharashtra

(D) Axis Bank

(E) None of these

127. Which bank has tied up with Earthport Plc for cross-

border payments?

(A) Corporation Bank

(B) Bank of Baroda

(C) Bank of Maharashtra

(D) Axis Bank

(E) None of these

128. Who has resigned as England Cricket team Test captain?

(A) Joe Root

(B) Eoin Morgan

(C) Alistair Cook

(D) James Anderson

(E) None of these

129. Colonel Nizamuddin passed away recently. He was a

confidant of___

(A) Jawahar Lal Nehru

(B) Mahatma Gandhi

(C) Chandra Shekhar Azad

(D) Subhash Chandra Bose

(E) None of these

130. Which country has imposed a ban on Basant festival?

(A) Sri Lanka

(B) Pakistan

(C) India

(D) Nepal

(E) None of these

131. Which city has hosted Global conference on Nuclear

Terrorism?

(A) Mumbai

(B) Patna

(C) New Delhi

(D) Bhubaneswar

(E) None of these

132. Which state has organised 17th International Counter

Terrorism Seminar?

(A) Haryana

(B) Assam

(C) Manipur

(D) Gujarat

(E) None of these

133. Which portal has been launched to enhance transparency

and accountability as a part of the Ease of Doing

Business in the Mining sector?

(A) Urja Mitra

(B) KANSA

(C) TAMRA

(D) SWARNA

(E) None of these

134. Which is the first State in India to establish Cashless

System for distribution of food grains?

(A) Punjab

(B) Andhra Pradesh

(C) West Bengal

(D) Gujarat

(E) None of these

135. What is the new name of Dalhousie Road in new Delhi?

(A) Dara Shikoh Road

(B) Aurangzeb Road

(C) Akbar Road

(D) Shah Jahan Road

(E) None of these

136. Which bank has opened branches without employees?

(A) Bank of America

(B) JP Morgan

(C) Wells Fargo

(D) Citi Bank

(E) None of these

137. Which bank has tied up with Commodity Online for

agriculture loans?

(A) Federal Bank

(B) Bank of Baroda

(C) ICICI Bank

(D) HDFC Bank

(E) None of these

138. Which bank has tied up with IFFCO to issue co-branded

debit card for farmers?

(A) Federal Bank

(B) Bank of Baroda

(C) ICICI Bank

(D) HDFC Bank

(E) None of these

139. Ayala Water and Ecology Ltd., a company from ____

will contribute in cleaning the river Yamuna?

(A) Germany

(B) Japan

(C) Israel

(D) France

(E) None of these

140. National Science Day is observed in the memory of___

(A) Homi Jehangir Bhabha

(B) C.V. Raman

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(C) Jagadish Chandra Bose

(D) APJ Abdul Kalam

(E) None of these

141. Which card has been made mandatory for taking

foodgrain through the Public Distribution System?

(A) Ration Card

(B) BPL Card

(C) Voter Card

(D) Aadhar Card

(E) None of these

142. Who is the head of the sub-committee of Central

Advisory Board of Education (CABE) to look into issues

of girl's education?

(A) Kadiyam Srihari

(B) Sukhbir Singh Badal

(C) Chandra Babu Naidu

(D) Tathagat Roy

(E) None of these

143. Which of the following has signed an MOU with

CREDAI West Bengal to train 1000 construction workers

in Kolkata and nearby villages?

(A) ICICI Prudential

(B) Punjab National Bank

(C) PNB Housing Finance Limited

(D) National Housing Board

(E) None of these

144. Which bank has tied-up with India Lands for loan

services to 1st time borrowers?

(A) Axis Bank

(B) IDFC Bank

(C) Yes Bank

(D) Bandhan Bank

(E) None of these

145. The government has recently raised Rs 6,700 crore

through sale of 2 per cent stake in which company?

(A) ITC

(B) NTPC

(C) HUL

(D) Pawan Hans

(E) None of these

146. Which country has been banned from London World

Athletics Championships 2017?

(A) Russia

(B) Italy

(C) Uzbekistan

(D) France

(E) None of these

147. Racharla Samrajyam has Passed away recently. Who she

was?

(A) Journalist

(B) Writer

(C) Singer

(D) Freedom Fighter

(E) None of these

148. Which of the following week is observed from Feb 12-18

every year?

(A) National Disarmament Week

(B) National Voters Week

(C) National Awareness Week

(D) National Productivity Week

(E) None of these

149. Which is the World’s Oldest Working Steam Engine?

(A) Fairy Queen

(B) John Bull

(C) Invicta

(D) Royal Hudson

(E) None of these

150. Which bank will finance small units in diamond sector at

concessional rates?

(A) ICICI Bank

(B) Punjab National Bank

(C) Bank of Baroda

(D) State Bank of India

(E) None of these

151. Which car brand has been sold to French carmaker

Peugeot?

(A) Maruti

(B) Tata

(C) Mahindra

(D) Ambassador

(E) None of these

152. Who has been appointed as the chief of the Securities

and Exchange Board of India?

(A) Mukul Bhargava

(B) Ajay Tyagi

(C) Akash Yadav

(D) Hemant Bhargava

(E) None of these

153. Who has been appointed as the Managing Director of the

Life Insurance Corporation of India?

(A) Mukul Bhargava

(B) Ajay Tyagi

(C) Akash Yadav

(D) Hemant Bhargava

(E) None of these

154. Who has been chosen for UN project against human

trafficking?

(A) Satinder Sartaaj

(B) Sonu Nigam

(C) AR Rahman

(D) All of the above

(E) None of these

155. What is the name of Official mascot of FIFA Under-17

World Cup?

(A) Zakumi

(B) Fuleco

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(C) Kheleao

(D) Zabivaka

(E) None of these

156. Which country is hosting naval exercise ‘Aman-17'?

(A) India

(B) Pakistan

(C) China

(D) Japan

(E) None of these

157. Which city is hosting ‘India Pharma 2017’ & ‘India

Medical Device 2017’ International Conference?

(A) New Delhi

(B) Mumbai

(C) Kolkata

(D) Bengaluru

(E) None of these

158. Which is the first bank to use Bharat Bill Payment

System?

(A) Yes Bank

(B) Axis Bank

(C) HDFC Bank

(D) ICICI Bank

(E) None of these

159. Who has been appointed as Ambassador of India to the

Republic of Madagascar?

(A) Subeer Dutta

(B) Narinder Singh

(C) Yashvardhan Sinha

(D) Renu Paul

(E) None of these

160. Who is the head of task force to check tax evasion by

deviant shell firms?

(A) Ajay Bansal

(B) Lily Vadera

(C) Tapan Ray

(D) Kishor Sahni

(E) None of these

161. Which Airport has won Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation

award 2017?

(A) Hyderabad Airport

(B) Delhi Airport

(C) Kochi Airport

(D) Mumbai Airport

(E) None of these

162. Who has entered in Gunnies book of records by building

a 14.84 metre high sand castle?

(A) Ted Siebert

(B) Sudarshan Pattnaik

(C) Ema Bellis

(D) Edmund Key

(E) None of these

163. Peter Mansfield passed away recently. Who he was?

(A) Scientist

(B) Singer

(C) Actor

(D) Writer

(E) None of these

164. Which Indian Airport is the 12th most busiest airport in

the world?

(A) Hyderabad Airport

(B) Delhi Airport

(C) Kochi Airport

(D) Mumbai Airport

(E) None of these

165. Which is the first warship to be fitted with solar panels?

(A) INS Vikramaditya

(B) INS Mormugao

(C) INS Kolkata

(D) INS Sarvekshak

(E) None of these

166. Which state has hosted National Women’s Parliament

2017?

(A) Gujarat

(B) Kerala

(C) Andhra Pradesh

(D) Madhya Pradesh

(E) None of these

167. Who has been appointed as Ambassador of India to the

Republic of Philippines?

(A) Subeer Dutta

(B) Narinder Chauhan

(C) Yashvardhan Sinha

(D) Renu Paul

(E) None of these

168. Which city is hosting International Spice Conference

2017?

(A) Ahmedabad

(B) Thiruvananthapuram

(C) Hyderabad

(D) Bhopal

(E) None of these

169. Who has been appointed as the ambassador of FIFA?

(A) Diego Maradona

(B) David Beckham

(C) Zinedine Zidane

(D) Pele

(E) None of these

170. Who has been appointed as the first woman director of

Indian Institute of Management?

(A) Alka Sirohi

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(B) Rajni Rajdan

(C) Neelu Rohmetra

(D) Sushma Pandey

(E) None of these

171. Which team has won blind T-20 world cup 2017?

(A) Pakistan

(B) South Africa

(C) Sri Lanka

(D) India

(E) None of these

172. Who is the fastest to take 250 test wickets, in terms of

matches played?

(A) Dennis Lillee

(B) Dale Steyn

(C) Ravi Ashwin

(D) Glen Mcgrath

(E) None of these

173. Which is the first cashless township in India?

(A) GNFC

(B) Ansal API

(C) IREO

(D) DLF

(E) None of these

174. India’s first floating elementary school is inaugurated in

which lake?

(A) Loktak Lake

(B) Jaisamand Lake

(C) Aana Sagar Lake

(D) Nakki Lake

(E) None of these

175. Government has allocated Rs _____ crore to India Post

Payments Bank for financial year 2017-18.

(A) 375

(B) 800

(C) 125

(D) 500

(E) None of these

176. Who has been elected as the president of the Institute of

Chartered Accountants of India?

(A) Naveen Gupta

(B) Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey

(C) Sandeep Jajodia

(D) Balkrishan Goenka

(E) None of these

177. Who has been elected as the president of the Associated

Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India?

(A) Naveen Gupta

(B) Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey

(C) Sandeep Jajodia

(D) Balkrishan Goenka

(E) None of these

178. Which city is hosting Indian Seed Congress 2017?

(A) New Delhi

(B) Kolkata

(C) Hyderabad

(D) Bhopal

(E) None of these

179. Who has been appointed as Pakistan’s first woman

foreign secretary?

(A) Shajia Haque

(B) Ashima Siddiqui

(C) Hina Sheikh

(D) Tehmina Janjua

(E) None of these

180. Dharmsheel Chaturvedi has passed away recently. Who

he was?

(A) Writer

(B) Journalist

(C) Singer

(D) Both A and B

(E) None of these

181. Which country has banned 7 Muslim countries from

entering for 90 days?

(A) UK

(B) USA

(C) Italy

(D) Russia

(E) None of these

182. Which Mobile app has been launched to monitor tiger

reserves?

(A) M-STRiPES

(B) M-FOReST

(C) M-TiGER

(D) M-MONiTER

(E) None of these

183. Who is the “most liked Chief Minister” on social media

platforms?

(A) Akhilesh Yadav

(B) Chandrababu Naidu

(C) Aravind Kejariwal

(D) Vasundhara Raje

(E) None of these

184. Which company will design and construct 14 Fast Patrol

Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard valued at Rs 916

crore?

(A) Reliance Defence

(B) Jabalpur Vehicle Factory

(C) Assam Coach Factory

(D) Augusta Westland

(E) None of these

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185. Which service has been launched by Income Tax

Department for the verification of large cash deposits?

(A) Operation Black Money

(B) Operation White Money

(C) Operation Clean Money

(D) Operation Old Money

(E) None of these

186. Which bank has tied up with Future Generali India

Insurance for Bancassurance?

(A) State Bank of India

(B) Punjab National Bank

(C) Bank of Baroda

(D) Bank of Maharashtra

(E) None of these

187. Who has been elected as president of the Table Tennis

Federation of India?

(A) Dushyant Chautala

(B) M.P. Singh

(C) Brijbhushan Singh

(D) Arun Kumar Banerjee

(E) None of these

188. Who has been appointed as the female brand ambassador

of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan?

(A) Deepika Padukone

(B) Priyanka Chopra

(C) Madhuri Dixit

(D) Anushka Sharma

(E) None of these

189. Government will build 2 crude oil storages in which of

the following states?

(A) Madhya Pradesh

(B) Gujarat

(C) Odisha

(D) Rajasthan

(E) Both C and D

190. Rs 1500 crore defence unit will be set up in which state?

(A) Madhya Pradesh

(B) Gujarat

(C) Odisha

(D) Rajasthan

(E) None of these

191. Which Bank has tied-up with Fisdom to launch robo-

advisory platform?

(A) Federal Bank

(B) Jana Laxmi Bank

(C) Laxmi Vilas Bank

(D) City Union Bank

(E) None of these

192. In Union Budget 2017, how much amount has been

allocated to MNREGA?

(A) 48000 Crore

(B) 1,81,223 Crore

(C) 274,114 Crore

(D) 64000 Crore

(E) None of these

193. In Union Budget 2017, how much amount has been

allocated for highways?

(A) 48000 Crore

(B) 1,81,223 Crore

(C) 274,114 Crore

(D) 64000 Crore

(E) None of these

194. In Union Budget 2017, how much amount has been

allocated to Defence sector?

(A) 48000 Crore

(B) 1,81,223 Crore

(C) 274,114 Crore

(D) 64000 Crore

(E) None of these

195. What is the new Income Tax rate for individuals having

income between Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh?

(A) 5 per cent

(B) 8 per cent

(C) 10 per cent

(D) 15 per cent

(E) None of these

196. What is the fiscal deficit target of government for 2017-

18?

(A) 2.3 Percent

(B) 3.3 Percent

(C) 3 Percent

(D) 3.2 Percent

(E) None of these

197. Which is the highest ranked Business school in India,

according to financial times survey?

(A) Indian School of Business

(B) Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

(C) Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

(D) Indian Institute of Management, Indore

(E) None of these

198. Which country has banned visas of 5 Muslim-majority

countries?

(A) Kuwait

(B) Iraq

(C) Iran

(D) Pakistan

(E) None of these

199. Which agency will be set up to conduct all entrance

examinations for higher education institutions?

(A) National teaching agency

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(B) National training agency

(C) National testing agency

(D) National examination agency

(E) None of these

200. The government will pump in Rs ____ crore into public

sector banks (PSBs) in the next financial year.

(A) 30,000

(B) 10,000

(C) 20,000

(D) 70,000

(E) None of these

201. Payments Regulatory Board will be set up under____

(A) SEBI

(B) NPCI

(C) NABARD

(D) RBI

(E) None of these

202. What is India is expected GDP growth for 2017-18,

according to HSBC?

(A) 7.3%

(B) 6.9%

(C) 7.1%

(D) 7.2%

(E) None of these

203. Which of the following has has turned down the Padma

Shri award recently?

(A) Harkishan Singh

(B) Imrat Khan

(C) Anuradha Koirala

(D) Punam Suri

(E) None of these

204. Which of the following airline has won three awards at

the Asia One Awards in Singapore?

(A) Spice jet

(B) Air Asia

(C) Air India

(D) Jet Airways

(E) None of these

205. Which is the World’s most valuable brand?

(A) Google

(B) Amazon

(C) Microsoft

(D) Apple

(E) None of these

206. Which of the following new bank notes will be in

circulation soon?

(A) Rs 1000

(B) Rs 100

(C) Rs 50

(D) Rs 20

(E) None of these

207. What will be the maximum penalty for late filing of

income tax returns for the income level above 5 lakh

rupes?

(A) Rs 5000

(B) Rs 10,000

(C) Rs 2000

(D) Rs 1000

(E) None of these

208. What will be the maximum penalty for late filing of

income tax returns for the income level below 5 lakh

rupes?

(A) Rs 5000

(B) Rs 10,000

(C) Rs 2000

(D) Rs 1000

(E) None of these

209. Who has been appointed as India’s Principal Economic

Advisor?

(A) Sanjeev Sanyal

(B) Amitabh Chaudhary

(C) Shaktikanta Das

(D) Ashok Chawla

(E) None of these

210. Who has been appointed as MD and CEO of the National

Stock Exchange?

(A) Chitra Ramachandra

(B) Vikram Lavaye

(C) Sujeet Bhattacharya

(D) Aakash Malhotra

(E) None of these

211. Joginder Singh passed away recently. He was the former

chief of ___?

(A) RAW

(B) Indian Army

(C) CBI

(D) Indian Navy

(E) None of these

212. According to union budget 2017, what is the maximum

limit for the cash transactions?

(A) Rs 1 Lakh

(B) Rs 2 Lakh

(C) Rs 3 Lakh

(D) Rs 5 Lakh

(E) None of these

213. Which country has launched world's longest flight?

(A) New Zealand

(B) Qatar

(C) UAE

(D) UK

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(E) None of these

214. World Cancer Day is observed on which date?

(A) 2 February

(B) 3 February

(C) 4 February

(D) 5 February

(E) None of these

215. Which of the following has recently celebrated its 40th

anniversary?

(A) Nehru Museum

(B) National Library

(C) Banaras Hindu University

(D) Rail Museum

(E) None of these

216. How many fraud websites and applications have been

shut down recently by the Unique Identification

Authority of India?

(A) 20

(B) 25

(C) 50

(D) 40

(E) None of these

217. Who has been appointed as director commercial at

NTPC?

(A) Afzal Amanullah

(B) Anand Kumar Gupta

(C) Rajeev Malhotra

(D) Dr. H.R. Nagendra

(E) None of these

218. Who is the head of the panel to to prepare a Yoga

Protocol for Diabetes Control?

(A) Afzal Amanullah

(B) Anand Kumar Gupta

(C) Rajeev Malhotra

(D) Dr. H.R. Nagendra

(E) None of these

219. Which state has recently introduced third gender category

in school exams?

(A) Punjab

(B) Assam

(C) Karnataka

(D) Bihar

(E) None of these

(F) 219

220. What is the theme of the World Cancer Day 2017?

(A) We Can, I Can

(B) We Can, You Can

(C) I Can, You Can

(D) He Can, She Can

(E) None of these

221. What percent of penalty will be imposed for receiving

cash over Rs 3 lakh?

(A) 25

(B) 50

(C) 75

(D) 100

(E) None of these

222. NABARD has approved a scheme for giving ____

percent incentive on payments made through the Aadhaar

Enabled Payment System to merchants.

(A) 1.0

(B) 0.75

(C) 0.25

(D) 0.5

(E) None of these

223. What is the rank of state bank of India in 2017 Brand

Finance Banking 500 report?

(A) 74

(B) 43

(C) 51

(D) 86

(E) None of these

224. Which bank has commenced banking operations on 6

February 2017?

(A) Suryodaya Finance

(B) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank

(C) India Post Payment Bank

(D) Airtel Payment Bank

(E) None of these

225. Who has been appointed as KPMG India chairman?

(A) AP Singh

(B) Arun Kumar

(C) Richard Rekhy

(D) Sharad Kumar

(E) None of these

226. Who has been appointed as next chief minister of

Tamilnadu?

(A) VK Sasikala

(B) O. Panneerselvam

(C) MK Stalin

(D) M Karunanidhi

(E) None of these

227. Which city will host women's Asia Cup basketball 2017?

(A) New Delhi

(B) Mumbai

(C) Hyderabad

(D) Bengaluru

(E) None of these

228. Which city will host Under-16 Women's Asian basketball

Championship 2017?

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(A) New Delhi

(B) Mumbai

(C) Hyderabad

(D) Bengaluru

(E) None of these

229. First ever Para training center in India is inaugurated in

which city?

(A) Ahmedabad

(B) Gandhi Nagar

(C) New Delhi

(D) Chandigarh

(E) None of these

230. Renowned Novelist Bano Qudsia passed away recently.

She was from which country?

(A) India

(B) Pakistan

(C) Bangladesh

(D) UAE

(E) None of these

231. Tribal communities of which state has set up a solar

manufacturing plant with the help of IIT Bombay?

(A) Telangana

(B) Tamilnadu

(C) Rajasthan

(D) Assam

(E) None of these

232. Which state has launched India’s first Social Innovation

centre?

(A) Telangana

(B) Tamilnadu

(C) Rajasthan

(D) Assam

(E) None of these

233. Which state has launched Chief Minister Samagra

Gramya Unnayan Yojana?

(A) Telangana

(B) Tamilnadu

(C) Rajasthan

(D) Assam

(E) None of these

234. Which state has topped in generating Solar energy in

India?

(A) Telangana

(B) Tamilnadu

(C) Rajasthan

(D) Assam

(E) None of these

235. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has

suspended the licence of ____ aviation security training

facility.

(A) IndiGo

(B) Jet Airways

(C) Spice Jet

(D) Vistara

(E) None of these

236. Which bank has entered into agreement with Religare

Health Insurance Co to market its products and services

through the distribution network of the Bank across

India?

(A) Corporation Bank

(B) Bank of Baroda

(C) Bank of Maharashtra

(D) Axis Bank

(E) None of these

237. Who has been elected as Chairman of Tata Steel Board?

(A) Harish Bhatt

(B) N Chandrasekaran

(C) AK Bhatt

(D) C Venkat

(E) None of these

238. Which Cricketer has been featured on the cover of

Wisden 2017 edition?

(A) David Warner

(B) Steve Smith

(C) Joe Root

(D) Virat Kohli

(E) None of these

239. Who is the first Indian Cricketer to be featured on the

cover of Wisden?

(A) Kapil Dev

(B) Sachin Tendulkar

(C) Sunil Gavaskar

(D) Virat Kohli

(E) None of these

240. Who is the author of the book titled “Midnight's

Children”?

(A) Salman Rushdie

(B) Arundhati Roy

(C) Arunima Sinha

(D) Ali Smith

(E) None of these

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Answer Key

1. A 2. B 3. D 4. B 5. A 6. C 7. D 8. C 9. C 10. C

11. B 12. D 13. A 14. B 15. D 16. B 17. C 18. D 19. C 20. A

21. B 22. D 23. A 24. C 25. D 26. B 27. D 28. A 29. C 30. A

31. D 32. E 33. B 34. C 35. B 36. D 37. A 38. A 39. B 40. C

41. D 42. A 43. C 44. B 45. B 46. D 47. D 48. B 49. B 50. A

51. B 52. A 53. A 54. C 55. D 56. C 57. A 58. D 59. B 60. C

61. D 62. C 63. A 64. B 65. C 66. B 67. D 68. B 69. A 70. C

71. A 72. A 73. D 74. C 75. B 76. C 77. D 78. D 79. C 80. A

81. B 82. A 83. D 84. B 85. A 86. A 87. A 88. C 89. B 90. D

91. B 92. C 93. D 94. B 95. D 96. A 97. C 98. D 99. B 100. B

101. D 102. B 103. B 104. D 105. C 106. D 107. A 108. D 109. B 110. D

111. C 112. A 113. D 114. B 115. C 116. A 117. A 118. D 119. B 120. C

121. B 122. C 123. A 124. D 125. A 126. C 127. D 128. C 129. D 130. B

131. C 132. A 133. C 134. D 135. A 136. A 137. A 138. B 139. C 140. B

141. D 142. A 143. C 144. B 145. A 146. A 147. D 148. D 149. A 150. C

151. D 152. B 153. D 154. D 155. C 156. B 157. D 158. C 159. A 160. C

161. A 162. B 163. A 164. B 165. D 166. C 167. B 168. B 169. A 170. C

171. D 172. C 173. A 174. A 175. D 176. B 177. C 178. B 179. D 180. D

181. B 182. A 183. D 184. A 185. C 186. D 187. A 188. D 189. E 190. A

191. C 192. A 193. D 194. C 195. A 196. D 197. A 198. A 199. C 200. B

201. D 202. C 203. B 204. A 205. A 206. B 207. B 208. D 209. A 210. B

211. C 212. C 213. B 214. C 215. D 216. C 217. B 218. D 219. D 220. A

221. D 222. D 223. C 224. B 225. B 226. A 227. D 228. C 229. B 230. B

231. C 232. A 233. D 234. B 235. A 236. A 237. B 238. D 239. B 240. A