torna… · note: masala bonds are rupee-denominated overseas bonds. currently, the limit for...

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GK Tornado for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017-18 Exam Dear readers, This GK Tornado is a complete docket of important news and events that occurred in last 6 months (1st July–31st Dec 2017). Tornado is important and relevant for all competitive exams like Banking, Insurance, SSC and UPSC Exams.

Banking & Financial Awareness

1. RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6% - On 6th December 2017, RBI in its fifth Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement

decided to keep the policy Repo rate unchanged at 6%. Therefore, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains at 5.75 per

cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25 per cent. However, RBI cut the Statutory

Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by 0.5 percent to 19.5 percent.

New Policy & Reserve Rates

1. Repo Rate 6% (unchanged)

2. Reverse Repo Rate 5.75% (unchanged)

3. CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) 4.00% (unchanged)

4. SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) 19.50% (changed)

5. MSF (Marginal Standing Facility) 6.25% (unchanged)

6. Bank Rate 6.25% (unchanged)

2. NPAs of Public Sector Banks reach Rs 7.34 lakh

crore - RBI data – According to the Reserve Bank of

India data - Bad loans of Public sector banks (PSBs)

stood at Rs 7.34 lakh crore by the end of second

quarter this fiscal, a bulk of which came from

corporate defaulters.

• "The gross non-performing assets of public sector and private sector banks as on

September 30, 2017 were Rs 7,33,974 crore, Rs 1,02,808 crore, respectively.

• Among the major public sector banks, State

Bank of India (SBI) had the highest amount of NPAs at over Rs 1.86 lakh crore followed by Punjab National Bank (Rs 57,630 crore), Bank of India (Rs 49,307 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs

46,307 crore), Canara Bank (Rs 39,164 crore) and Union Bank of India (Rs 38,286 crore).

• Among private sector lenders, ICICI Bank had the highest amount of NPAs on its books at Rs 44,237 crore by the end of September, followed by Axis Bank (Rs 22,136 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 7,644 crore) and Jammu and Kashmir Bank (Rs

5,983 crore).

3. Uma Shankar appointed RBI Executive Director. 4. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will open an office in

the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

5. RBI retains economic growth projection at 6.7% for 2017-18. Also, the projection of the Gross Value Added (GVA) growth for 2017-18 retained at 6.7%. RBI raised the inflation forecast for the remainder of the current financial year to 4.3-4.7 per cent.

6. RBI sets up task force on Public Credit Registry (PCR) - The Reserve Bank of India constituted a 10-member ‘High Level Task Force on Public Credit Registry (PCR) for India’. The task force will be headed by YM Deosthalee, ex-CMD of L&T Finance Holdings.

7. Legal Entity Identifier mandatory for all large corporate borrowers: RBI - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made 20-digit Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) compulsory for companies having aggregate fund-based and non-fund based exposure over Rs 5 crore. The move is aimed at improving risk management in

wake of huge stressed assets in banking system. Before

this, RBI had made LEI mandatory for transactions in

interest rate, forex and credit derivative market

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

➢ LEI is a 20-digit unique code to identify

parties to financial transactions worldwide.

➢ It is a global reference number that uniquely

identifies every legal entity or structure that is

party to a financial transaction, in any

jurisdiction.

➢ LEI code has been conceived as key measure to

improve quality and accuracy of financial data


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systems for better risk management post the

global financial crisis.

➢ The LEI system was developed by G20 in

response to inability of financial institutions to

identify organisations uniquely, so that their

financial transactions in different national

jurisdictions can be fully tracked. The first LEIs

were issued in December 2012.

➢ Legal Entity Identifier India Limited (LEIL), a

wholly-owned subsidiary of Clearing

Corporation of India (CCI), acts as a local

operating unit (LOU) for issuing globally

compatible legal entity identifiers (LEIs) in

India.

4. Banks to Provide Funds at 7% to Women SHGs

under DAY-NRLM: RBI - The RBI has issued

guidelines to banks will provide funds to women self

help groups, SHGs, in rural areas at 7 per cent under

the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural

Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the current fiscal

(2017-18).

Note:

➢ National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) is a

poverty alleviation project implemented by

Ministry of Rural Development, Government of

India.

➢ NRLM is focused on promoting self-

employment and organization of rural poor.

➢ Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana or DAY is a

Government of India scheme for the helping the

poor by providing skill training. 5. RBI Slaps Rs2-cr Penalty on IDFC Bank - The

Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary

penalty of Rs 2 crore on IDFC Bank for contravention

of regulatory restrictions pertaining to loans and

advances.

The penalty has been imposed in the exercise of

powers vested in RBI under the Banking Regulation

Act, 1949, taking into account failure of the bank to

adhere to certain directions issued by RBI.

6. RBI opens branch in Dehradun – RBI had opened its new branch in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The branch was inaugurated by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Earlier, the state government had to do financial transactions through the Kanpur branch of the RBI.

7. Reserve Bank of India recently acknowledged HDFC Bank Ltd as a Domestic-Systemically Important Bank (D-SIB). With this, HDFC Bank joins State Bank of India and ICICI Bank in the elite D-SIB list.

Note: The higher capital requirements applicable to D-SIBs will be applicable from April 1, 2016, in a phased manner and would become fully effective from April 1, 2019.

8. P2P platforms will now act as NBFCs: Govt. - According to the gazette notification issued by the government, all Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platforms will now considered as Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and will be regulated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). About Peer-To-Peer Lending (P2P) - Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) is a method of bulk funding that enables individuals to borrow and lend money - without the use of any official financial institution or bank as an intermediary. Peer-to-peer lending removes the middleman from the process and matches lenders with borrowers online, but it also involves more time, effort and risk than the general lending process.

9. RBI issues guidelines for Peer to Peer lending platform – Following are the guidelines - ● Unless an NBFC has received the Certificate of

Registration, it cannot start the the business of a P2P lending platform.

● New companies who are looking for registration with the bank as an NBFC-P2P must have a net owned funds of not less than 20 million rupees or such higher amount as the RBI may specify.

● The existing NBFC-P2Ps have to apply for registration as NBFC-P2Ps within 3 months.

Functions of NBFC-P2P – Following are the functions of NBFC-P2P – (i) It is necessary to provide online platform to members involved in P2P lending. (ii) Cannot lend on its own. (iv) Cannot hold its own balance sheet of funds received from lenders or funds given to borrowers (v) NBFC-P2P can’t cross-sell products. Guidelines for lenders and borrowers – (1) A lender can’t lend more than Rs 10 lakh to all borrowers at any point of time across all P2Ps (2) Borrowers can’t borrow more than Rs 10 lakh from all lenders at any point of time across all P2Ps (3) Not more than Rs 50,000 can be borrowed from single lender to the same borrower, across all P2Ps. (4) The maturity of the loans shall not exceed 36 months.

Fund transfer mechanism – Bank account is mandatory for transfer of funds. The transfer of funds between lenders & borrowers on the P2P platform will be done through escrow account mechanisms. Cash transactions are not allowed in P2P platform. 10. RBI to conduct financial literacy drive in 9 states –

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to launch

a financial literacy drive in 80 blocks in 9 states.


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The nine states include - Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh,

Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,

Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Objective –

● The main objective of the financial literacy drive

is to educate people on e-transactions, formal

sector borrowings and insurance purchases.

● Also, to create awareness among people on - e-

transactions through electronic means such as

NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, Internet Banking, Mobile

Banking and UPI (Unified Payment Interface).

Key points –

● Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF)

will implement the pilot project in collaboration

with banks and six non-governmental organisations

(NGOs)

● Six NGOs include - CRISIL Foundation, Dhan

Foundation, Swadhaar Fin Access, Indian School of

Micro Finance for Women (ISMW), Samarpit and the

PACE Foundation.

● The total cost of the project over a period of three

years would be around Rs 18.40 Cr.

11. Masala Bonds to be treated as ECB: RBI - Masala

bonds were treated by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI)

till 3rd October 2017. Now, The Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) announced that it is free from FPI and being

treated by External Commercial Borrowings (ECB).

Note: Masala bonds are rupee-denominated overseas bonds. Currently, the limit for investment by Foreign

Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in corporate bonds is Rs

2,44,323 crore and this includes masala bonds of

Rs.44,001 crore. 12. Two regional rural banks record Over Rs 150-cr

Profit in FY17: According to the Reserve Bank of

India’s ‘Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India’ - Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank and

Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank recorded net profit

of more than ₹150 crore during 2016-17.

13. RBI to pay Rs 30,659 cr dividend to Govt. - The

Reserve Bank has to pay Rs 30,659 crore to the

government for the fiscal ended June 2017. It is a less

than half of what it paid in 2016. Previous year in 2016

RBI had paid Rs 65,876 crore dividend to the

government.

14. RBI issues new Rs 200, Rs 50 banknotes - After demonetization, Rs 200 is the fourth note introduced by

the apex bank.

Features of Rs. 200 bank note – The note will carry the signature of RBI governor Urjit Patel, the year of

printing on the left, and the Swachh Bharat logo with the slogan. ● Colour – The colour of the bank note is Bright

Yellow. ● Design: It has a motif of Sanchi Stupa on the

reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. ● Dimension - The dimension of the bank note will

be 66mm X 146mm. ● Latent image with denominational numeral 200.

● Windowed security thread with inscriptions ‘भारत’ and RBI with colour shift. Colour of the thread changes from green to blue when the note is tilted.

● Denominational numeral with Rupee Symbol, ₹ 200 in colour changing ink (green to blue) on bottom right.

● Ashoka Pillar emblem on the right. ● Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (200)

watermarks Features of 50 Rs bank note – The note will carry the signature of RBI governor Urjit Patel, the year of printing on the left, and the Swachh Bharat logo with the slogan and language panel. ● Colour: The bank note is fluorescent blue in colour. ● Design: The note bears the motif of ‘Hampi with

Chariot’ on the reverse that depicts India’s cultural heritage.

● Ashoka pillar emblem on the right side. ● Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (50)

watermarks. ● Dimension - Dimension of the banknote will be 66

mm x 135 mm. ● Windowed demetalised security thread with

inscriptions ‘भारत’ and RBI,

● Note: Till now, India has currency denominations of Rs. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 2,000.

15. RBI identified 12 accounts with 25% of bank bad loans - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had identified 12 accounts which represents 25% of the gross bad loans in the banking system. RBI had ordered the banks to implement the insolvency and bankruptcy code on these 12 accounts to recover the dues. These accounts are overdue of above Rs 5,000 crore each. Name of some accounts include - Lanco Infratech Ltd, Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel, Electrosteel Steel, Alok Industries, Jyoti Structures, Monnet Ispat and Jaypee Associates. Note: IDBI Bank has initiated insolvency proceeding against Lanco Infratech ltd.

16. RBI initiates PCA against six banks as NPA mounts -

The Reserve Bank of India has initiated prompt

corrective action (PCA) against six banks in view of

the high level of bad loans.

Six banks include – Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank

of India, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Dena Bank and Indian


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Overseas Bank. The move will restrict the bank from

announcing the dividend, opening branches, hiring and

giving loans to companies rated below investment

grade.

17. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up Supervisory

Colleges for six Scheduled Commercial Banks which

have sizeable international presence. The banks include

- - State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd., Bank of India,

Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank Ltd. and Punjab National

Bank.

The objectives of the colleges are to enhance

information exchange and cooperation among

supervisors, to improve understanding of the risk

profile of the banking group and thereby facilitate more

effective supervision of internationally active banks.

18. RBI fined Rs. 3 cr penalty on UBI - The RBI has

imposed a penalty of Rs. 3 crore on state-owned Union

Bank of India for “non-compliance” with the directions

on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms. This action is

based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is

not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any

transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with

its customers.

19. RBI broadens scope of Banking Ombudsman

Scheme – With the amendment, from 1 July 2017, the

banking ombudsman scheme will include –

i. sale of insurance, mutual funds and other third-party

investment products by banks

ii. mobile and online banking services.

Now, a bank customer also files a complaint to Banking

Ombudsman on following issues –

i. Mutual Fund & Insurance policy - wrongly sold

third party products such as mutual fund schemes &

insurance policies.

ii. mobile and online banking services - delay or

failure of online payments or fund transfers and

unauthorized electronic payments or fund transfers.

Key points -

● So far, the banking ombudsman only accepted

complaints about banking products and services.

● Third-party products sold by banks, such as

insurance and mutual fund products, were kept

out of its ambit.

● RBI has included in its amended scheme that in

case of any grievance, you can lodge a complaint

against the bank for its non-adherence to RBI’s

instructions on mobile banking and electronic banking services in India.

Increase in compensation amount: The RBI has

increased the compensation limit from Rs10 lakh to

Rs20 lakh. The compensation excludes the amount

involved in the dispute. For case, if you have a complaint

about a transaction amount of, say, Rs15 lakh. The

compensation will be over and above this amount.

20. RBI limits Customer liability in Online Banking – As

per the RB guidelines on customer liability –

● The full amount will be credited to the account

- If the customers report to the banks regarding the loss they suffer through online banking

transactions within 3 days, then the amount

involved will be credited to their accounts within a

time period of 10 days.

● Only Rs. 25,000 will be credited to the account

- In case the third-party fraud is reported with a

delay of 4 to 7 working days, a customer will face

liability of up to Rs. 25,000.

● Only Rs. 10,000 will be credited to the account

- If the fraud is report after 7 days, the customer

liability will be determined as per the bank’s Board

approved policy. The maximum liability of a

savings bank account customer will be Rs10,000 in

such cases.

21. RBI’s notification related to Interest Subvention

Scheme for Short Term Crop Loans during the year

2017-18 – A farmer can avail loans up to Rs. 3 lakh at

an interest rate of 7% p.a. during the year 2017-18.

● This interest subvention of 2 per cent will be

calculated on the crop loan amount from the date

of its disbursement up to the date of actual

repayment by the farmer or up to the due date of

the loan fixed by the banks, whichever is earlier,

subject to a maximum of one year.

● Aadhaar card mandatory - To ensure hassle-free

benefits to farmers under the Interest Subvention

Scheme, the banks are advised to make Aadhaar

linkage mandatory for availing of short-term crop

loans in 2017-18.

● Note: The Cabinet has approved the total

expenditure of Rs 20,339 crore for this financial

year (FY) as interest subsidy on short-term crop

loans.


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India’s GDP Growth Rate Projected by Different Org. – 2017

1. The Reserve Bank of India - 6.7% in 2017-18.

Note: Also, the projection of real GVA (Gross Value

Added) growth for 2017-18 has been retained at 6.7

per cent

• RBI Governor – Dr. Urjit Patel

● RBI headquarter – Mumbai, India

2. The credit rating agency Fitch lowers India’s GDP

growth rate to 6.7% for 2017-18.

● Fitch CEO – Paul Taylor

● Fitch Ratings headquarter – New York, US

3. India's GDP Growth to rise to 7.5 % in 2018: Morgan

Stanley

• Headquarter of Morgan Stanley- New York, US

• CEO - James P. Gorman

4. International Monetary Fund (IMF) - 6.7% in 2017-18.

● IMF projected India’s GDP growth rate at 7.4% in

2018-19.

● IMF projected World GDP growth rate at 3.5% in

2017 and 3.6% in 2018.

● IMF Chief – Christine Lagarde

● IMF headquarter – Washington, D.C. (US)

5. United Nation (UN) – 6.7% in 2017-18.

● UN projected India’s GDP growth rate at 7.2% in

2018.

● UN projected India’s GDP growth rate at 7.4% in

2019.

● UN Secretary‑General - António Guterres

● UN headquarter – New York, US

● Members countries - 193

6. World Bank - 7% in 2017-18.

● World Bank projected India’s GDP growth rate at

7.5% in 2018-19.

● World Bank projected India’s GDP growth rate at

7.5% in 2019-20.

● World Bank projected World GDP growth rate at

2.7% in 2017-18.

● World Bank President – Jim Yong Kim

● World Bank headquarter – Washington, D.C. (US)


7. Asian Development Bank (ADB)- 7% in 2017-18.

● Asian Development Bank (ADB) projected India’s

GDP growth rate at 7.5% in 2018-19.

● ADB President: Takehiko Nakao

● ADB headquarter –Mandaluyong, Philippines


Digital Banking

1. National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) – It is a payment system which facilitates one-to-one funds transfer. Under this facility, any customer can electronically transfer funds from any bank branch to any individual, firm or corporate having an account with any other bank branch in the country.

● Transaction Limit: There is no minimum & maximum limit of amount.

● Note: For cash-based remittance and remittance to Nepal - the maximum amount per transaction is limited to Rs 50,000.

● Timing: At present, NEFT operates in hourly batches - there are twelve settlements from 8 am to 7 pm on week days (Monday through Friday) and six settlements from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays.

2. Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) – Under this facility the transfer of funds is done individually on an order by order basis (without any delay). The RTGS system is primarily meant for large value transactions.

● Transaction Limit: The minimum amount is Rs. 2 lakh. There is no upper ceiling for RTGS transactions.

● Timing: The RTGS service window for customer's

transactions is available to banks from 9.00 hours

to 16.30 hours on week days and from 9.00 hours

to 14:00 hours on Saturdays for settlement at the

RBI end. However, the timings that the banks follow

may vary depending on the customer timings of the

bank branches.

3. Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) – It is a 11-digit

alpha-numeric code which identifies a bank-branch

participating in the NEFT & RTGS system. IFSC is used

by the NEFT system to identify the originating /

destination banks / branches and also to route the

messages appropriately to the concerned banks /

branches.

Note: IFSC code represent –

● First 4 alpha characters indicate – bank name

● Fifth characters is – 0

● Last 6 characters indicate – bank branch.

● For ex - SBIN0000125 – Here – SBIN indicates –

State Bank of India. 0124 represent the Lucknow

Main Branch name.


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4. About NPCI - National Payments Corporation of India

(NPCI) is an umbrella organization for all retail

payments system in India. It was set up with the

guidance and support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

● NPCI – Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra 5. About Unified Payments Interface (UPI)- It is an

instant payment system to transfer money between two parties bank accounts. It is a similar to NEFT or RTGS transfers in that way. It is developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

6. Immediate payment service (IMPS) – It is an instant real-time payment service which help customer to transfer money anytime and anywhere in India. This service is similar to NEFT & RTGS and available 24/7 throughout the year including bank holidays. This service is offered by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). ● Transaction limit – There is a maximum limit of 2

lakhs. 7. Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) – It is an

instant interbank fund transfer service in which mobile phones are used as channel through which transaction happens with the use of Mobile Money Identifier(MMID). For each account, MMID is generated by bank and it is linked with registered mobile number. Now, account details are fetched from MMID and via registered mobile number transaction occurs. ● **Only MMID and Registered Mobile Number of

Payee are needed. Mobile Money Identifier is a 7

digit number, issued by banks.

● Transaction Limits - RBI has defined the

maximum limit per day transaction. If transaction

happens in encrypted format (from net banking)

then limit is 50,000 rupees per day whereas if

transaction happens in unencrypted messaging

formats (from mobile instrument via text message)

then limit is 1,000 rupees per day.

8. *99# Service – It is a mobile banking facility which is

based on Unstructured Supplementary Service Data

(USSD). With the help of this service a bank customer

can perform financial activities by just dialing *99#

from his/her mobile registered with the bank. *99# is a

common number across all Telecom Service Providers

(TSPs). The service works across all GSM service

providers and handsets.

9. About Unstructured Supplementary Service Data

(USSD) – USSD allows transmission of information

through a GSM (Global System for Mobile

Communications) network. It is used to send text

message between a mobile phone and application

program in the network. At present, it is one of the best

accessible communications technology to deliver

mobile financial services to low-income customers.

10. Aadhar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) – It is an

Indian payment system which is based on unique

identification number, the AADHAAR. The system

allows a person holding an Aadhaar number to carry out

financial transaction on a Micro-ATM provided by the

Banking correspondent. It is developed by National

Payments Corporation of India.

11. Aadhaar Payments Bridge System (APBS): It is a

payment gateway platform used for Aadhaar schemes.

Under this facility - Aadhaar number used as a central

key for electronically channelizing the Government

subsidies and benefits in the Aadhaar Enabled Bank

Accounts (AEBA) of the intended beneficiaries. It is

developed by National Payments Corporation of India.

It was used for the first time on 1 January 2013 when

Direct Benefit Transfer was launched by Government of

India.

12. BHIM APP – Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is an

instant payment application which allow users to

transfer fund with the help of mobile phone. It is based

on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and developed

by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

● The Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched BHIM

app for Android and iOS devices on 30th Dec 2016

at the Digi Dhan Mela event in New Delhi.

Features of BHIM App - ● Maximum limit- User can transfer maximum

amount upto Rs 20,000 in a day. ● You can send upto Rs. 10,000 in a single transaction. ● Transaction Charges – There is no transaction

charges. ● UPI PIN – It is a four or six digit number which is set

by the users itself on BHIM after the registration process. UPI PIN is used for authenticating all transactions done on UPI platform (BHIM or *99# or UPI apps).

● VPA - Virtual Payment Address (VPA) is a unique identifier which you can use to send and receive money on UPI. Note: You can use two VPA’s. First one is the default VPA (mobile number@upi). The second one, you can create on “My Profile” page.


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Important news related to digital banking -

1. State Bank of India has launched an Artificial Intelligence powered chat assistant to help customers in various banking activities. The chat assistant is known as SBI Intelligent Assistant (SIA). This chatbot is made by an Artificial intelligence banking platform - Payjo. ‘SIA’ is considered as a revolution in the digital banking field. It can resolve and handle about 10,000 queries per second.

2. Canara Bank has launched its first digital Banking branch in Bengaluru. This branch is named as ‘CANDI’.

3. Airtel Payments Bank has become the first payment bank in India to merge the UPI (Unified Payment Interface) on its digital platform. With this initiative, the bank customers can now link their bank accounts on Bhim app and make UPI payments.

Note: Airtel Payments Bank (APB), a joint venture between Bharti Airtel Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

4. Paytm Payments Bank join hands with NPCI for RuPay digital card - Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) joined with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for RuPay digital card. With this debit card customer will get free insurance cover of up to Rs 2 lakh in the case of death or permanent total disability.

5. Google Tez – The new payment app for India by Google. It is a mobile wallet app which is based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform. This works similar to the BHIM app.

Important points related to digital banking

1. DCB Bank launches first iris-based ATM in Telangana

- ATM dispense cash without a debit card as the machine

verifies the customer from the Aadhaar details like the iris

and fingerprint.

Headquarter of DCB Bank – Mumbai, Maharashtra 2. DCB Bank launched first Aadhaar-based ATM in

Bengaluru - The ATM accepts Aadhaar number and

Aadhaar fingerprint (biometric) instead of ATM / debit

card and PIN to dispense cash from the bank account.

3. Country’s first banking robot - Lakshmi launched by

City Union Bank in Chennai.

Headquarter of City Union Bank - Kumbakonam, Tamil

Nadu.

4. RBL Bank becomes the first Indian bank to launch

Aadhaar Payment Bridge System for small ticket micro-

finance loan disbursements.

Headquarter of RBL Bank – Mumbai, Maharashtra

5. RBL Bank launches India’s first credit card exclusively for

GOLF LOVERS.

6. India’s first cash giving app ‘CASHe’ launched by Tslc Pte

Ltd.

7. First Digital State - Kerala declared first digital state in India.

8. First Digital District – Nagpur declared first digital

district in India.

9. First Digital Village - Akodara village in Sabarkantha

district of Gujarat became India’s first Digital village. The

village was adopted by ICICI Bank under its digital village

project 2015.

10. First cashless island - Karang, a small lake island in

Manipur, has become the country’s first cashless island.

11. First ‘digital’ tribal colony - The Nedumkayam tribal

colony at Nilambur in Malappuram lacks basic facilities

including toilets. However, the colony has now become a

role model to the country by becoming the first 'digital'

tribal colony in India.

List of committees on Digital Banking - ● Committee for accelerating growth of Digital Payments in India is headed by Ratan P. Watal. ● Committee to study financial technology and digital banking issues in India is headed by - Sudarshan Sen


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Banking & Financial terms

1. AEPS – Aadhar Enabled Payment System 2. APBS – Aadhar Payment Bridge System 3. ATM – Automated Teller Machine 4. ALM - Asset Liability Management 5. BBPS – Bharat Bill Payment System 6. BHIM - Bharat Interface for Money 7. CBS – Core Banking System 8. CIDR - Central Identities Data Repository 9. CTS – Cheque Truncation System 10. CDR - Corporate Debt Restructuring 11. CASA – Current Account Saving Account 12. CAD – Capital Account Deficit 13. CRR – Cash Reserve Ratio 14. ECS – Electronic Clearing Service 15. DNS - Domain Name System 16. DEAF - Depositor Education and Awareness Fund 17. EFTPOS - Electronic funds transfer at point of sale 18. EFT – Electronic Fund Transfer. 19. FRBM - Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management 20. LGD - Loss Given Default 21. LTV- Loan To Value 22. GNFV - Gross Negative Fair Value 23. SFTs: Securities financing transactions 24. HCE - Host Card Emulation 25. PFE - Potential Future Exposure 26. ICAAP - Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process 27. IFSC - Indian Financial System Code 28. IMPS - Immediate Payment Service 29. IMPS - Interbank Mobile Payment Service 30. MMID - Mobile Money Identifier 31. MPIN - Mobile Personal Identification Number 32. NPA – Non- Performing Assets 33. NPCI - National Payment Corporation of India 34. NFS – National Financial Switch 35. NACH – National Automated Clearing House 36. NEFT – National Electronic Fund Transfer 37. NFC - Near field communication 38. NDTL – Net Demand and Time Liabilities. 39. OTC – Over the Counter 40. PIN – Personal Identification Number 41. PAC - Personal Access Code 42. PCA - Prompt Corrective Action

43. PSPs - Payment Support Providers 44. RTGS – Real Time Gross Settlement 45. USSD - Unstructured Supplementary Services Data 46. UIDAI - Unique Identification Authority of India 47. VPA - Virtual Payment Address. 48. GDR – Global Depository Receipt 49. GAAR - General anti avoidance rule 50. PAN – Permanent Account Number 51. PLR – Prime Lending Rate 52. SLR – Statutory Liquidity Ratio 53. SDR – Special Drawing Rights

54. DTAA – Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement

55. TIEA – Tax Information Exchange Agreement

56. EFSF – European Financial Stability Facility

57. PPP – Purchasing Power Parity 58. PPP – Public Private Partnership 59. NPS – New Pension Scheme 60. EEFC - Exchange Earner's Foreign Currency

61. FII – Foreign Institutional Investor

62. DII – Domestic Institutional Investor

63. GST – Goods and Services Tax 64. DTC – Direct Tax Code

65. FCNRA – Foreign Currency Non- Resident account

66. MFI - Micro Finance Institutions

67. MFDC – Micro Finance Development Council 68. TRAI - Telecom Regulatory Authority of India 69. MSF – Marginal Standing Facility

70. IDF – Infrastructure Debt Fund

71. CRIS – Comparative Rating Index for Sovereign 72. LIBOR – London Inter Bank Operation Rate 73. MIBOR – Mumbai Inter Bank Operation Rate 74. MICR – Magnetic Ink Character Recognition 75. SARFAESI - Securitization and Reconstruction of

Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest 76. BCBS - Basel Committee on Banking Supervision 77. NPCI - National Payments Corporation of India


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Agreement

India’s agreement with other countries

1. India and UK signed agreement in transport- India

and UK has signed a Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) in transport sector.

2. India and Switzerland signed agreement in tax

related information- India has signed an agreement

with Switzerland to allow automatic sharing of tax-

related information.

3. India & Cuba – India and Cuba signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of Health and

Medicine. 4. India has announced the financial assistance of $25

million to Myanmar for development projects in

Rakhine state. 5. U.P. & South Korea - The Uttar Pradesh government

has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Korea on to enhance cooperation in the field of tourism, skill development, culture and farming.

• It was signed after a delegation from South Korea’s Gimhae city met Chief Minister Yogi

Adityanath in Lucknow and discussed ways to

improve cooperation between the two countries.

6. India & Germany sign Govt. to Govt. Umbrella

Agreement – India and Germany signed an

agreement on the Government to Government

Umbrella Agreement concerning the Financial Cooperation in 2016 (II) under the Indo-German

Development Cooperation.

Note: • The agreement was signed to formalize an

amount up to Euro 200 million for the

Financial Cooperation in form of loan for the project ‘Climate Friendly Urban Mobility III’

and Euro 11 million Accompanying measures

in form of a grant for four projects.

Note:

Germany Capital – Berlin

Germany Currency – Euro

Germany Chancellor –Angela Merkel

7. India & Cuba – India and Cuba have signed

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for enhanced

cooperation in the health sector. The main areas of

cooperation under MoU include –training of medical

doctors, officials, other health professionals and

experts.

Note:

Cuba Capital – Havana

Cuba Currency – Peso

Cuba President – Raúl Castro

8. India & Poland – India & Poland signed MoU for the

promotion of Civil Aviation Cooperation.

Note:

• Poland Capital – Warsaw

• Poland Currency – Polish zloty

• Poland President - Andrzej Duda

• Poland Prime Minister - Mateusz Morawiecki

9. India and Philippines - The Union Cabinet approved

the signing and ratifying of an agreement between

India and Philippines on cooperation and mutual

assistance in customs matters.

Note:

• Philippines Capital – Manila

• Philippines Currency – Peso

• Philippines President – Rodrigo Duterte

10. India & Russia – India and Russia agreement on

cooperation in combating terrorism to combat all

forms of terrorism and organised crime.

Note:

Russia Capital – Moscow

Russia Currency – Rubble

Russia President – Vladimir Putin

6. India & Hong Kong - The Union Cabinet Approved

Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of

Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income between India & Hong Kong.

7. India & Colombia - The Union Cabinet approved

signing of Joint Interpretative Declaration (JID)

between India and Colombia regarding existing

Agreement for Promotion and Protection of

Investments.

Note:

• Capital of Colombia – Bogotá

• Currency of Colombia - Peso

• President - Juan Manuel Santos.

8. India & Philippines agreement on Agriculture &

related fields - The agreement provides cooperation in

fields of rice production and processing, dryland

farming systems, multi cropping system, bio-organic

farming, solid and water conservation and

management, soil fertility, Agro forestry, sericulture, livestock improvement etc.


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Note:

• Capital of Philippines – Manila.

• Currency of Philippines - Peso

• President - Rodrigo Duterte.

9. India and Kyrgyz - The Union Cabinet approved

protocol amending Agreement between India and

Kyrgyz for avoidance of double taxation and

prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on

income.

Note:

• Capital of Kyrgyz – Bishkek.

• Currency of Kyrgyz - Som.

• President - Almazbek Atambayev.

• PM - Sapar Isakov.

10. India & Armenia – The Union Cabinet approved

signing and ratifying agreement between India and

Armenia on cooperation and mutual assistance in

customs matters.

Note:

• Capital of Armenia – Yerevan.

• Currency of Armenia - Dram.

• President - Serzh Sargsyan.

• PM - Karen Karapetyan.

11. India & Tunisia - India and Tunisia jointly agreed to

enhance cooperation in various sectors including in the fields of renewable energy, infrastructure, transport

and automobiles, textiles, agriculture, drugs &

pharmaceuticals, healthcare, ICT, SMEs and energy.

Note: Besides this, the Foreign Ministries of the two

nations have decided to hold a year-long Festival of

India in Tunisia and Festival of Tunisia in India in 2018

to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the establishment

of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Note:

• Capital of Tunisia – Tunis.

• Currency of Tunisia - Dinar.

• President - Beji Caid Essebsi.

• Head of Govt. - Youssef Chahed.

12. India & Italy - India and Italy have signed six

agreements to boost cooperation in the fields of

railways safety, energy and to enhance counter-terror

cooperation.

Note:

• Capital of Italy – Rome

• Currency of Italy - Euro.

• President - Sergio Mattarella.

• PM - Paolo Gentiloni. 13. India & Sri Lanka - India and Sri Lanka signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build 1200

houses in Hambantota, a southern port city of Sri Lanka.

Note:

• Capital of Sri Lanka –Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.

• Currency of Sri Lanka - Rupee.

• President - Maithripala Sirisena

• PM - Ranil Wickremesinghe.

India’s agreement with Financial Institutions

1. India inks Financing Agreement with World Bank -

India has inked Financing Agreement with World Bank

of US $125 million (equivalent) for Skills Strengthening

for Industrial Value Enhancement Operation (STRIVE)

Project.

• The objective of project is to improve access to

quality and market-driven vocational training and

apprenticeships.

2. Tamil Nadu Government and World Bank have

signed $318 million-dollar loan agreement for the

Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization

Project.

3. The Union Government has inked Loan agreement

with World Bank for $40 Million for “Uttar Pradesh

Pro-Poor Tourism Development Project”.

4. India & World Bank - India signed USD 100 million

loan agreement with the World Bank for Shared

Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project.

5. ADB & Karnataka - Asian Development Bank (ADB)

has approved $346 million loan for highways

upgradation project in Karnataka.

6. ADB & Reliance’s Bangladesh power plant project - The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) has approved

debt financing and partial risk guarantees totalling

$583 million to develop the Reliance Bangladesh

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Power Project.

Note: • The project will increase power generation and

improve energy infrastructure in Bangladesh.


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• The power plan is located in Meghnaghat, near

Dhaka, and an LNG Terminal, near Kutubdia

Island south of Chittagong.

7. India & World Bank - India and World Bank signed a

financing agreement for loan of USD 119 million for

the Odisha Higher Education Programme for

Excellence & Equity (OHEPEE) Project.

Note: The loan will be provided by the International

Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD),

subsidiary of World Bank.

Objective of the OHEPEE Project –

• To improve the quality of student’s equitable

access to selected institutions in Odisha through Institutional Development Plan (IDP) Grants.

• It will enhance governance of the higher

education system by improving governance in

colleges and through improvement of financial

and procurement management in all government

and government-aided colleges.

• The project is expected to be completed by 30 November 2022.

8. Andhra Pradesh & Asian Infrastructure Investment

Bank (AIIB) – The AIIB has approved USD 2 million

loan (Rs. 13,000 crores) for five projects in Andhra

Pradesh. The five projects include – Two roads and

buildings department, one each for rural safe drinking

water department, municipal and urban development

department and Panchayat Raj department.

9. India & World Bank sign agreement for Assam

Rural Transformation Project - India and the World

Bank signed USD 200 million loan agreement for the

Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project.

10. India & ADB sign agreement to promote fiscal

reforms in West Bengal - The Union Government and

Asian Development Bank has signed USD 300 million

loan to promote a series of fiscal reforms in West

Bengal to improve the quality of public service

delivery.

11. Nepal & ADB - The Asian Development Bank

(ADB) will provide a USD 152 million to Nepal for the

implementation and enhancement of its power

transmission and distribution. ADB and Nepal’s

Ministry of Finance signed the loan agreement in

Kathmandu.

12. The Finance Ministry & World Bank ink pact of $24

million to improve India’s Forest Ecosystem Services.

13. NABARD sanctioned loan of Rs 1,350-cr to

Rajasthan Government for the creation of rural

infrastructure in the state under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).

14. World Bank to provide $250-million loan to train India's

job seekers - The World Bank has cleared a USD 250-

million loan for making Indian youth more employable

through reskilling, in a move that is seen to aid the Skill

India Mission. Under the program, adults in 15-59 years

of age, underemployed or unemployed, will get the skill

training.

15. ADB & Himachal Pradesh – The Asian Development

Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $80 million (about

Rs 524 crore) for the modernization of Himachal

Pradesh’s technical and vocational education and

training (TVET) institutions.

Financial & Economy News

1. J&K bank launches ‘Sahafat Finance Scheme’ -

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) bank’s chairman & CEO Parvez Ahmad has launched a special financial scheme

"J&K Bank Sahafat Finance Scheme" for journalists of

the state.

• It will enable journalists to buy cameras,

laptops, tablets, and books.

• The minimum loan under the scheme is fixed

at Rs 50,000 while maximum limit is Rs 3 lakh.

2. India ranked at 5th position among the countries

with highest NPA – India has the highest level of non-performing assets (NPA) among BRICS countries and is

ranked fifth on a list of countries with the highest

levels of NPAs, a report by CARE Ratings revealed.

Note: Greece has the highest NPA which is followed by Italy, Portugal and Ireland.

3. Govt. inject Rs. 7,577 cr into Six public sector

banks- The government has injected Rs. 7,577 cr into

various six public sector banks to improve the financial

conditions of the weaker banks.

• Bank of India received capital of ₹2,257 crore.

• IDBI received ₹2,729 crore.

• Central Bank of India got ₹323 crore, Dena

Bank has got ₹243 crore and UCO Bank got ₹1,375 crore and Bank of Maharashtra has

received the capital support of ₹650 crore.

4. Sebi recommends 10% cross-shareholding cap in

rating agencies - Market regulator, Securities and

Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed cross-


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holding in credit rating agencies (CRAs) will be capped

at 10 percent

• The regulator also decided to raise the minimum

net-worth requirement to Rs 25 crore from the

current Rs 5 crore.

5. Small savings schemes’ interest rates cut by 20 bps

- The union government has slashed the interest rates

on small savings schemes, including NSC and PPF (by

0.2 % point) for the January-March period from the

rates applicable in the previous quarter.

• Interest rate in Public Provident Fund (PPF) is

now at 7.6%

• Interest rate in National Saving Certificates (NSC)

will fetch a lower annual rate of 7.6%

• Interest rate in Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) is 7.3%.

• Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been retained

at 8.3%

• The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Account will offer 8.1% (existing 8.3%) annually.

6. SEBI hikes FPI investment limit - Capital market

regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has raised the investment limit for foreign

portfolio investors in central government securities to

over 1.91 lakh crore from next month.

• Currently, investment limit for foreign portfolio investors is 1.89 lakh crore rupees.

• The move is part of an effort by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to push inflow

from overseas investors in the country's capital

markets.

7. Niti Aayog to set up Methanol Economy Fund - The

‘Niti Aayog’ is planning to set up a Methanol Economy

Fund with a corpus of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore to promote

production and use of the clean fuel through this fund.

• The Objective of Methanol Economy Fund to

promote the use of methanol fuel, which is safer,

cheaper, and pollution free.

8. The 14th Inclusive Finance India Summit held at

Hotel Ashok, New Delhi.

• Objective of the summit - to discuss strategies to

achieve universal financial inclusion, Financial

Education and Financial Stability in India.

• A book- 'Talking financial inclusion in liberalized India: Conversations with Governors of the RBI',

edited by Prof. MS Sriram was released during the

summit.

• This book presents a set of conversations with five

former Governors of Reserve Bank of India (from 1992 onwards) on the topic of financial inclusion.

9. UPI transactions cross 10 crores in November - The

number of transactions on the Unified Payment

Interface (UPI), has crossed 10 crores mark in

November 2017.

Note: • UPI is a mobile-digital payment interface

which is introduced by the National Payments

Corporation of India (NPCI).

• In August 2017, the transactions on UPI

platform is around 1.66 crore. In September it

crossed up to 3 crores and which increased to

7.67 crores in October.

10. Paytm launched Paytm FASTag Across India – Paytm Payments Bank has launched the Paytm FASTag

across the India.

Note: • As per the government directions, it is

mandatory to use of FASTag on every new

vehicle sold from December 1.

• FASTags are simple and reusable tags based on

radio-frequency identification technology

(RFID) that can be placed on a vehicle’s

windscreen and enables electronic toll fee

collection on highways across the country.

• The FASTtag project is run in partnership with

the National Highways Authority of India

(NHAI) and NPCI.

5. Government announces Bank Recapitalisation Plan to infuse Rs. 2.11 lakh crore capital in PSBs - The Union Government has announced Bank Recapitalisation Plan to infuse Rs. 2.11 lakh crore ( $32.4 billion) capital over next two years into public sector banks (PSBs) and prioritised financing support for MSMEs in 50 clusters. The capital infusion will be accompanied by a series of banking sector reforms that will be revealed in the coming months.

Note: ➢ Under this plan, PSBs will get Rs 1.35 lakh

crore from the sale of Recapitalisation Bonds,

Rs 18,000 crore from Budgetary provisions

and remaining Rs 58,000 crore will be raised

through sale of share of banks.

6. Govt. constitutes Alternative Mechanism Panel for

PSBs consolidation - The Union Government has

constituted Alternative Mechanism Panel headed by

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to oversee

merger proposals of public sector banks (PSBs). The other members of the panel include Railway and Coal


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Minister Piyush Goyal and Defence Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman.

7. Core sector growth hits 6-month high of 5.2% in

September 2017 - According to index of eight core

industries released by the Union Ministry of Commerce

and Industry, Core sector growth has hit six-month

high in September 2017.

Note: The core industries comprising of coal, crude oil,

natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement,

and electricity was up 5.2% in September 2017

compared with 4.4% in August 2017 and 5.3% in

September 2016. Besides, August 2017 core sector

growth was revised downwards from 4.9%.

8. PFRDA increases maximum age of joining under

NPS-Private Sector to 65 years - The Pension Fund

Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)

increased the maximum age of joining under National

Pension System (NPS)-Private Sector (All Citizen and

Corporate Model) from the existing 60 years to 65

years of age.

Note:

With this, any Indian Citizen, resident or non-resident,

between the age of 60- 65 years can now join NPS and

continue up to the age of 70 years in NPS.

9. GIC Re launched India’s 3rd largest IPO - General Insurance Corp of India (GIC Re) launched its mega Rs 11,370 crore initial public offer (IPO). This is India's third biggest IPO ever after Coal India's Rs 15,200 crore and Reliance Power's Rs 11,700 crore issues.

10. Wholesale inflation rose to a four-month high of 3.24 per cent in August as prices of food articles, led by onions and vegetables, soared. Inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index was 1.88 per cent in July 2017 and 1.09 per cent in August 2016.

11. First regional centre of New Development Bank opened in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Note:

● The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) with an initial authorised capital of the bank is USD 100 billion.

● The headquarter of NDB is in Shanghai, China.

● K.V. Kamath is the first President of NDB.

12. BSNL Launches digital wallet bespoke - BSNL went digital by launching a bespoke mobile wallet (mobile payment App) that would enable its existing 100 million customers to make Bill payments. The wallet has been developed and issued by MobiKwik on behalf of BSNL.

13. Nestle set up a first food safety institute in Manesar, Gurugram to help develop standards in food safety and quality. It will provide guidance and training on food safety. While this is the first such institute in India, Nestle already runs a similar Institute each in China and Lausanne, Switzerland.

14. India becomes 1st country to give to UN Tax Fund with $100000 contribution - India has contributed $100,000 to a UN fund to help developing countries actively participate in the discussion of tax issues, becoming the first country to make the contribution. The UN Tax Trust Fund aims to support the work of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters.

15. WTO estimated World Trade to grow at 3.6% in 2017. According to revised estimates circulated by the World Trade Organisation, the World trade in goods is estimated to grow at a higher 3.6 percent in 2017. Earlier growth was projected at 2.4 percent in 2017.

16. US shut down Pakistan’s Habib Bank - The US banking regulators has shut down the Pakistan’s Habib

Bank office in New York for constantly failing to

attention concerns over possible terrorist financing and

money laundering. Note: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan is a Karachi

based multinational bank. It is the largest bank by assets

in Pakistan. Sultan Ali Allana is a Chairman and Nauman

Dar is a President & CEO of HBL.

17. India’s Forex reserves cross $400 billion for first

time - According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s

foreign exchange (Forex) reserves have crossed $400 billion mark for the first time. The increase was due

sharp rise in foreign currency assets.

Note: India is now at sixth position in forex reserves

ranking behind China (3,053 billion reserves), Japan

($1,188 billion), Switzerland ($743 billion), Saudi

Arabia ($489 billion) and Taiwan ($441 billion).

18. Air India Ties up with PNB, IndusInd - Air India has tied up Punjab National Bank and IndusInd Bank to

secure loans to the tune of over Rs 3,000 crore for

meeting working capital requirements.

19. Core sector growth rises to 4.9% in August 2017 -

According to Ministry of Commerce & Industry, eight

core sectors grew by 4.9% in August 2017, the highest

growth rate since April 2017. It was higher than 3.1% in

August 2016 and 2.6% in July 2017

20. IIP rises to 9-month high of 4.3% in August 2017-

According to data released by Central Statistics Office (CSO), factory output measured in terms of Index of

Industrial Production (IIP) has grown nine-month high

to 4.3% in August 2017.


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About Index of Industrial Production (IIP) - The IIP

is composite indicator that measures short-term

changes in volume of production of basket of industrial

products during given period with respect to chosen

base period. It is compiled and published monthly by

Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Ministry of

Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Note:

● The CSO had revised base year of IIP from 2004-05

to 2011-12 in May 2017 to capture structural

changes in economy and improve quality and

representativeness of indices. ● The revised IIP (2011-12) reflects changes in

industrial sector and also aligns it with base year of

other macroeconomic indicators like Wholesale

Price Index (WPI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

● The IIP covers 407 item groups. Sector wise these

items falls into 3 categories viz. Manufacturing

(405 items), Mining (1 items) & Electricity (1 item).

The weights of three sectors are 77.63%, 14.37%,

7.9% respectively.

21. ICEX launches world’s first diamond futures

contracts - The Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) as

launched world’s first diamond futures contracts to

provide exporters with a hedging tool. ICEX has

received approval from market regulator Securities

Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to commence trading

with diamond futures contracts.

Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) –

● ICEX is deemed recognized Stock exchange

providing a nation-wide on-line trading platform in

commodity derivative.

● It is a public-private partnership with Reliance

Capital, MMTC Ltd, Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd,

Indian Potash Ltd, KRIBHCO and IDFC Bank as

major shareholders.

● It was established under the SCRA, 1956 in terms of

Section 131(B) of Finance Act, 2015 pursuant to

central Government notification issued in August

2015.

22. Union Government launches Bharat 22 ETF to sell

stakes in 22 firms - The Union Finance Ministry has

launched second exchange-traded fund (ETF),

named Bharat 22. It will help to speed up

Government’s disinvestment programme budgeted to

raise a record Rs 72,500 crore in the FY 2018.

Note:

● Bharat 22 comprise of 22 stocks including those of

central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), public sector banks (PSBs) and its holdings under the

Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India

(SUUTI).

● Bharat 22 is a well-diversified ETF spanning six

sectors — basic materials, energy, finance,

industrials, FMCG and utilities.

● The sector wise weightage in the Bharat 22 Index

is basic materials (4.4%), energy (17.5%), finance

(20.3%), FMCG (15.2%), industrials (22.6%), and

utilities (20%).

About Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are essentially index

funds that are listed and traded on exchanges like

stocks. They are basically basket of stocks with

assigned weights that reflects the composition of an

index. They are similar to mutual funds in a certain

manner but are more liquid as they can be sold

quickly on stock exchanges like shares. The ETFs

trading value is based on the net asset value of the

underlying stocks that it represents

23. MCX gets SEBI approval to launch India’s first gold

options contract – Commodity derivatives bourse

Multi Commodity Exchange Ltd (MCX) has received markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of

India’s (SEBI) approval to launch India’s first gold

options contract.

Note: The MCX is the country’s largest metals and

energy commodity bourse. It is country’s first listed

commodity futures exchange that facilitates online

trading, and clearing and settlement of commodity

futures transactions, thereby providing a platform for

risk management.

24. CCEA approves implementation of Dairy Processing

& Infrastructure Development Fund scheme - The

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has

approved implementation of Dairy Processing &

Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) scheme with

an outlay of Rs 10881 crore.

Note:

● The Dairy Processing & Infrastructure

Development Fund will be set up as a corpus of Rs

8004 crore with National Bank for Agriculture and

Rural Development (NABARD).

● The scheme will be implemented during the period

from 2017-18 to 2028-29.

● The project will be implemented by National Dairy

Development Board (NDDB) and National Dairy


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Development Corporation (NCDC) directly through

the End Borrowers.

25. New Development Bank (NDB) - has approved USD

470 million loan for Madhya Pradesh’s Multi-Village

Rural Drinking Water Supply Scheme Project.

26. Telecom giant Verizon has acquired Yahoo’s core

business for $4.48bn (£3.51m), thus ending Yahoo’s

two-decade long run as an independent company.

Verizon is the No.1 wireless operator in the US.

27. Union Government restricts import of gold, silver items

from South Korea. India is the world's biggest gold

consumer after China and it imposes a 10 percent

import duty on gold and silver.

28. India to import crude oil from US for first time –

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, for the first

time will import crude oil from the United States. The

purchase comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s

visit to the US in June 2017 when President Donald

Trump had assured that US looks forward to export

more energy products to India.

29. DIPP to set up India’s first TISC in Punjab –

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)

will establish India’s first Technology and Innovation

Support Center (TISC) at Patent Information Centre of

Punjab. TISC will be established in Punjab under the

World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) TISC

program.

30. NMCE, ICEX to merge to create India’s third biggest

commodity exchange - National Multi Commodity

Exchange (NMCE), India’s first demutualised online

national multi-commodities exchange will merge with Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX). The merged entity

will create India’s third biggest commodity exchange.

Note:

● The largest commodity exchange by volume is the

Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) followed by

National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange

(NCDEX).

● At present, India has six national commodity

exchanges namely, Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), National Commodity and Derivatives

Exchange (NCDEX), National Multi-Commodity

Exchange (NMCE) and Indian Commodity

Exchange (ICEX), ACE Derivatives exchange (ACE)

and Universal commodity exchange (UCX) apart

from numerous regional exchanges.

● Government had established regulatory body is

Forward Markets Commission (FMC) in 1953. It

was merged with the Securities and Exchange

Board of India (SEBI) in September 2015.

31. Union Government launches new tax payer service

module Aaykar Setu - Aaykar Setu, a new tax payer

service module - The module was launched in a mobile

responsive android version along with the desktop

version to enhance mobile access experience.

32. India’s Largest Municipal Bond Programme

launched - Union Urban Development Minister

Venkaiah Naidu has launched India’s largest municipal

bond programme. The Pune Municipal Corporation

(PMC) became the first municipal corporation in the

country to tap money through municipal bonds in 14

years. The AA+ rated PMC’s municipal bonds raised Rs

200 crore at 7.59 per cent rate at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Note:

● This is the first-ever mobilisation of debt capital by

a municipal corporation on the BSE BOND platform. This will also be the first issuance since

the publication of ‘Issue and Listing of Debt

Securities by Municipalities Regulations, 2015’ by

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). ● Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was assisted by

the US Department of Treasury to create a debt

policy.

About Municipality Bonds - Municipality bonds can be

issued by the city corporations to fund developmental

projects. Institutional investors, as well as the public, can

buy these bonds. The corporations can use the revenues

earned from the developmental projects like Metro rail

network to repay the interest and principal on these bonds.

These municipal bonds have now been permitted for public

offering by SEBI.

Municipal bonds have been in existence in India from the

year 1997. Cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Nashik

and Madurai have already issued them. These bonds will

help the city corporations to directly raise funds without the

help of grants from the state governments or agencies such

as World Bank.


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SBI Bank in News

1. SBI Sanctions Rs2,317 crore for Financing Solar

Power Projects - State Bank of India announced

sanction of credit facilities amounting to Rs2,317

crore to corporates for financing Grid Connected

Rooftop Solar projects under an SBI-World Bank

program.

2. SBI launched India’s first bond index in London - SBI along with FTSE Russell, global index and data provider launched FTSE SBI Bond Index series at London Stock Exchange (LSE). It is India’s first bond index series for overseas investors.

3. SBI launched SME Assist for MSME Clients – SBI has launched a new initiative ‘SME Assist’ to provide a short-term working capital demand loan to its MSME clients. It offers loans to MSME customers on the basis of their input credit claims under Goods and Services Tax (GST). The loan processing fee under the scheme is Rs 2,000.

4. SBI to set up India’s largest Innovation Centre in Mumbai – SBI will set up a 15,000-sqft innovation centre at its Global IT Centre in Belapur in Navi Mumbai.

5. SBI launches first paperless Banking services sbiINTOUCH in Nepal – SBI has launched its fully automatic digital banking services in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.

6. SBI, World Bank finance ₹400-cr solar projects – SBI and the World Bank had financed 100 MW of rooftop solar projects worth Rs. 400 crore in India.

7. SBI tops share of Wilful Default to PSBs - SBI, accounts for over 27 per cent of the total amount owed to public sector banks by wilful defaulters. As many as 1,762 wilful defaulters owed SBI Rs 25,104 crore. Punjab National Bank (PNB) is next on the list with 1,120 wilful defaulters having outstanding non-performing assets (NPAs) of Rs 12,278 crore. Together these two banks account for Rs 37,382 crore or 40 per cent of the total outstanding loans.

8. SBI Tops Trust and Popularity Charts - According to a survey conducted by Brand Finance, a business

valuation and strategic consultancy, SBI is India’s most

trusted and most popular bank.

Other Bank in News

1. Yes Bank sets up $1 billion debt programme to

raise money - Yes Bank Ltd’s has approved the setting

up of a $1 billion medium-term note (MTN)

programme, enabling the bank to raise funds in one or

more tranches, an exchange filing by the lender showed.

• Under the MTN programme banks can sell debt securities, usually maturing between 5 and 10

years, in the overseas market and secure cheaper funding, according to analysts.

2. IPPB Bank to become operational in 650 districts

by April 2018 - The Union Government has

announced that India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will

become operational in all 650 districts of the country by April 2018 to facilitate financial inclusion.

Note: IPPB has been set up as a Public Limited

Company under Department of Posts with 100%

Government of India (GOI) equity.

3. HDFC Bank Launched SmartUp Zone in Kochi -

HDFC Bank has announced the launch of its SmartUp

Zone in Kochi, an exclusive area inside the branch

dedicated for start-ups.

4. IDFC Bank Partners with MobiKwik - IDFC Bank has

entered into a “strategic alliance” with mobile wallet

major MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa

prepaid card for customers of MobiKwik.

5. Federal Bank Gets RBI Nod to Open Offices in

Kuwait, Singapore - Federal Bank has obtained RBI

approval to open representative offices at Kuwait and Singapore.

Note: The bank already has its representative offices

in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and it has tied up with 110+

overseas banks/remittance partners. It has already received approval from RBI for opening a branch in

DIFC, Dubai and a representative office in Bahrain, the

setting up of which is under process.

6. Yes Bank Unveils Bhim Yes Pay - Yes Bank, unveiled

a superior payment wallet service, BHIM Yes Pay by

fully integrating the application with all the IndiaStack

APIs and NPCI Products.

7. AU Small Finance Gets Scheduled Commercial Bank

Status - AU Small Finance Bank has received Reserved

Bank of India (RBI) approval to operate as Scheduled Commercial Bank. This bank's name has now been

included in the Second Schedule of Reserve Bank of

India Act, 1934. Note: Now AU Small Finance Bank will be able to do

borrowing and lending with RBI under Liquidity


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Adjustment Facility (LAF) and Marginal Standing

Facility (MSF). It will also enable AU Small Finance

Bank to issue Certificate of Deposits (CDs) on

competitive interest rates in the market to get

liquidity.

8. AU Small Bank, SIDBI Launch Rs 200 crore Fund for

MSMEs - AU Small Finance Bank tied up with Small

Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to

launch a Rs200 crore fund for providing loans to micro,

small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

9. EEPC India Signs Pact with Punjab National Bank -

The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of

India has signed an MoU with Punjab National Bank to

provide easy access to finance for SMEs and merchant

exporters of the council.

10. ICICI Bank Teams with Apple to Launch Voice-

Based International Remittance Service - ICICI

Bank announced the launch of India's first voice-based

international remittance service to enable non-

resident Indians (NRIs) to send money to any bank in

India.

Note: With this new feature in the ICICI Bank's

Money2India app, an NRI customer can instantly

initiate a remittance to his/her existing payees in India

with just a simple voice command to Apple's virtual

voice assistant, Siri, on their iPhone/iPad.

11. IDBI Bank only PSB to get ‘high’ rating for code

compliance - According to the Code Compliance Rating

of banks done by the Banking Codes and Standards

Board of India (BCSBI) 2017, only one (IDBI Bank) out

of 26 public sector banks and eight out of 17 private sector banks got ‘high’ rating for their adherence to

code compliance.

The eight private sector banks that got ‘high’ rating

are- Axis Bank, DCB Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank,

IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank and

YES Bank. The three foreign banks are Citibank, HSBC

and Standard Chartered Bank, that were surveyed got

‘high’ ranking.

12. Kotak Bank launched ‘Kotak Remit’ an Aadhaar-

based integrated outward forex remittance solution for

both customers and non-customers.

13. Fincare Small Finance Bank starts banking

operations - Fincare Small Finance Bank

(previously known as Disha Microfin Limited) kick-

started its banking operations with about 25

operational branches across Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The bank was given final small finance bank (SFB) licence from the Reserve

Bank of India (RBI) in May 2017.

Note: Rajeev Yadav is the CEO of Fincare Small

Finance Bank. Its headquartered is in Bengaluru,

Karnataka.

14. PNB & BSNL ties up for mobile wallet “Speedpay” -

Punjab National Bank (PNB) & BSNL has joined hands

to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay across 10 states

in the country. Under the agreement, BSNL will expand

Speedpay services in Punjab, Chandigarh(UT), Haryana,

Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.

15. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank receives scheduled

bank status from RBI - Ujjivan Small Finance Bank

Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ujjivan Financial

Services Ltd, has been given scheduled bank status by

RBI. Ujjivan SFB commenced its operations as a Small

Finance Bank with effect from February 1, 2017.

Note: Samit Ghosh is the MD & CEO of Ujjivan SFB.

It headquartered is in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

16. Fino Payments Bank has launched its mobile banking app called “BPay”.

17. Canara Bank has launched its first ‘Digital Banking Branch’ named 'CANDI' in Bengaluru. The most attractive feature of the digital branch is a humanoid robot that addresses basic queries of customers on banking products and services. This is a first-of-its kind initiative by a public-sector bank in the country.

18. Karur Vysya Bank opens its first Aadhaar Enrolment Centre in Chennai. KVB is the first private

sector bank to provide this service in India.

19. Corporation Bank has bagged the best performance

awards for Self Help Groups bank linkage program for

Karnataka for 2015-16 and 2016-17 from National

Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

(Nabard).

20. KVGB Bags Best Performer Award - National Bank

for Agriculture and Rural Development

(NABARD) has conferred the ‘best performance award’ for 2015-16 and 2016-17 to Karnataka Vikas Grameen

Bank (KVGB) for its work in the field of credit-linking

joint liability groups (JLGs).

21. IDBI Bank has launched ‘Project Nishchay’ in

partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to

accelerate its turnaround program and improve

financial performance.

22. HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched 'Neo', a servicing bot for Twitter that uses artificial intelligence for customer service. This is the second bot put in operation by HDFC Life, after the launch of SPOK, which was an email bot to answer customer queries.


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Rank of India in Global Indexes: 2017

1. Global Business Optimism - India ranked at 7th

position among 36 countries. The repost is published by

Grant Thornton’s International Business Report (IBR).

Note: Top three countries – Indonesia, Finland &

Netherlands.

2. Doing Business Report 2018 – India ranked at 100th position among 190 countries. The repost is published

by World Bank.

Note:

• India has jumped over 30 ranks to attain 100th

spot from 130th position in 2017 Ease of Doing

Business Index.

• Top three countries –New Zealand, Singapore &

Denmark. 3. Global Gender Gap Report 2017 - India ranked at

108th position among 144 countries. The repost is

published by World Economic Forum.

Note:

• India’s previous rank – 87th in 2016.

• Top three countries – Iceland, Norway & Finland.

4. Global Passport Power Rank 2017: India ranked at

75th position among 94 countries. The repost is

published by Canada based global financial advisory firm Arton Capital.

Note:

• Top three countries – Singapore, Germany & Sweden.

5. India tops list of new TB cases in 2016: WHO

Report - According to the Global TB Report 2017

released by World Health Organisation (WHO), India has topped list of seven countries, accounting for 64%

of the over 10 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases

worldwide in year 2016.

Note: India was followed by Indonesia, China,

Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria and South Africa.

6. Global Financial Centres Index 2017 – India’s

financial capital Mumbai was ranked at 60th position

among 92 financial centres. The repost is published by

the Z/Yen and China Development Institute.

● London has topped the index followed by New York & Hong Kong.

● The GFCI is released twice a year in March &

September.

7. Global Hunger Index 2017: India ranked at 100th positions among 119 countries. The report is published

by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

● India’s Previous year ranking – 97th

● Most hunger countries in the list– The Central

African Republic (CAR), Chad and Sierra Leone.

● IFPRI headquarter – Washington D.C., US

● Director General - Shenggen Fan

8. Global Retail Development Index 2017 – India

ranked at the top position among 30 countries. The

repost is published by - A.T. Kearney's.

● India’s Previous year ranking – 2nd

● The countries ranked on second & third spot –

China and Malaysia.

● A.T. Kearney Headquarter – Chicago, Illinois,

United States

● CEO - Johan Aurik

9. World Human Development Index 2017 – India

ranked at 131st positions among 188 countries. The

report is published by United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP).

● India’s Previous year ranking – 130

● Top three countries are - Norway, Australia and

Switzerland.

● UNDP Headquarter – New York

● Director General - Achim Steiner

10. Global Connectivity Index 2017 – India ranked at

43rd positions among 50 countries. The report is

compiled and published by Huawei a leading global

information and communications technology.

● India’s Previous year ranking - 44

● Top three countries are – US, Singapore and

Sweden.

● Huawei headquarters– Shenzhen, China

● CEO - Ren Zhengfei (CEO)

11. Word Press Freedom Index 2017 – India ranked at

136th positions among 180 countries. The report is

compiled and published by Reporters Without

Borders.


● Top three countries are – Norway, Sweden &

Finland.

● Reporters Without Borders Headquarters– Paris, France

● Director General - Christophe Deloire

12. Ease of Doing Business 2017 – India ranked at 130th

positions among 190 countries. The report is published by World Bank Group.



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● Top three countries are – New Zealand, Singapore &

Denmark. ● World Bank Group Headquarters– Washington,

DC, USA

● President - Jim Yong Kim

13. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index

2017 – India ranked at 8th positions among 25

countries. The report is published by A.T. Kearney.


● Top three countries are -US, Germany & China.

● A.T. Kearney Headquarter – Chicago, Illinois, United

States

● CEO - Johan Aurik

14. Global Competitiveness Index 2017 – India ranked at

40th positions among 137 countries. The report is published by World Economic Forum (WEF).


● Top three countries are – Switzerland, US &

Singapore.

● World Economic Forum Headquarter – Cologny, Switzerland

● Founder & CEO - Klaus Schwab

15. Global Human Capital index 2017 – India ranked at

103rd positions among 130 countries. The report is published by the World Economic Forum.


● Top three countries are – Norway, Finland &

Switzerland.

● World Economic Forum Headquarter – Cologny,

Switzerland

● Founder & CEO - Klaus Schwab

16. Global Innovation Index 2017 - India ranked at 60th

positions among 130 countries. The report is published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World

Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).


● Top three countries are – Switzerland, Switzerland

& the Netherlands. ● World Intellectual Property Organization

Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland

● CEO - Francis Gurry

17. Global Peace Index 2017 - India ranked at 137th

positions among 163 countries. The report is published

by the Institute for Economics & Peace.


● Top three countries are – Iceland, New Zealand &

Portugal.

● Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) headquarter

– Sydney, Australia.

● Chairman - Steve Killelea

18. World Happiness Index 2017 - India ranked at 122nd


by United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions

Network.


● Top three countries are – Norway, Denmark &

Iceland.

● UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Headquarter – New York, USA

● Director - Jeffrey Sachs

19. Global Resilience Index 2017 - India ranked at 60th


by FM Global.

● India’s Previous year ranking – 107 ● Top three countries are – Switzerland, Luxembourg

& United Kingdom.

● FM Global Headquarter – Johnston, (US)

● Chairman & CEO - Shivan S. Subramaniam

20. Economic Freedom Index 2017 – India ranked at

143rd positions among 186 countries. The report is

published by ‘The Heritage Foundation’.


● Top three countries are – Hong Kong, Singapore &

New Zealand. ● The Heritage Foundation headquarter –

Washington, D.C

● President - Edwin Feulner

21. International Intellectual Property Index 2017 – India ranked at 43rd positions among 45 countries. The

report is published by US Chamber of Commerce’s

Global Intellectual Property Centre (GIPC).

● India’s Previous year ranking – 37 ● Top three countries are – United States, United

Kingdom & Germany.

● US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual

Property Centre (GIPC) headquarter – Washington,

D.C

● President & CEO- David Hirschmann

22. Sustainable Development Goal Index 2017 - India

ranked at 116th positions among 157 countries. The

report is published by Sustainable Development

Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann

Stiftung.


● Top three countries are – Sweden, Denmark &

Finland.

23. Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2017– India


report is published by Transparency International (TI).



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● Top 3 countries - New Zealand and Denmark in

joint first place followed by Finland and Sweden. ● Counties bottom of the index: Somalia was ranked

the most corrupt country. Other countries with

lower rankings were Syria, South Sudan, North

Korea.

● Transparency International (TI) Headquarter –

Berlin, Germany

● Chairman - José Ugaz

24. Global Index of Talent Competitiveness 2017 – India


report is published by INSEAD in partnership with The

Adecco Group and the Human Capital Leadership

Institute of Singapore (HCLI).


● Top three countries are – Switzerland, Singapore,

United Kingdom

21. Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) 2017

- India ranked at 40th positions among 130 countries.

The report is published by the World Economic Forum.

• India’s Previous year ranking – 52

• Top three countries are – Spain, France & Germany.

• World Economic Forum Headquarter – Cologny,

Switzerland

• Founder & CEO - Klaus Schwab

Govt. Schemes & Policy

1. UP govt launches free household power connection

scheme 'Prakash hai to Vikas hai' - The Uttar Pradesh Govt. has launched a free household power

connection scheme 'Prakash hai to vikas hai' for the

poor in to mark former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birth anniversary.

• Under the scheme, the government will cover 16

million households by the end of 2018.

• Initially, the two villages Lohban and Gausana of

Mathura district have been covered for 100%

electrification.

• The state govt. has also introduced Kisan Uday

Yojana scheme for farmers in which existing 5

HP/7.5 horse-power submersible and coupling

sets of farmers will be replaced free of cost.

2. Govt launch 'Ganga Gram' project at Ganga

Gram Swachata Sammelan - The Drinking

Water and Sanitation Minister Uma Bharti has

launched the 'Ganga Gram' project at the Ganga

Gram Swachata Sammelan in New Delhi. • The Ganga Gram project is an integrated

approach for the holistic development of villages situated on the banks of the holy river with the active participation of villagers.

• Earlier, union govt. declared all 4,470 villages on the banks of the Ganges, located in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, open defecation-free (ODF).

3. Govt launches Project Darpan to improve level of

postal services for rural customers - The Minister

of communications Manoj Sinha has launched

‘DARPAN’ (The Digital Advancement of Rural Post

Office for A New India) in New Delhi.

• DARPAN offers core banking services to the

account holders.

• The IT modernization project aims at realizing financial inclusion of un-banked rural

population.

• The project has an-outlay of 1400 crore rupees and intends to provide a low power technology solution to each branch postmaster.

4. Andhra Pradesh cabinet approves pension for

State's Transgenders - The Andhra Pradesh (AP)

Cabinet has approved a scheme to provide a pension of

Rs. 1500 to transgenders community above 18 years of

age in the state.

Under this scheme, the transgenders will be provided ration cards, plots, scholarships and skill development

for financial stability.

5. PENCIL portal launched for No Child labour - The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh launched the

Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour

(PENCIL) Portal to stop Child Labour in the country.

6. Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana extend till 2019-20 –

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has

extended the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) as

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana- Remunerative

Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sector

Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) for three years i.e.

2017-18 to 2019-20.

Objective of RKVY-RAFTAAR - To make farming

remunerative economic activity by strengthening

farmer’s effort, risk mitigation and promoting

agribusiness entrepreneurship. The financial

allocation of scheme is Rs. 15,722 crore.


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Note:

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana is launched in 2007 as a

part of the 11th Five Year Plan by the Government of

India. It is a State Plan Scheme of Additional Central

Assistance launched under the aegis of the National

Development Council, it seeks to achieve 4% annual

growth in agriculture through development of

Agriculture and its allied sectors.

7. Kerala govt. launched ‘She Pad’ Scheme for School

Girls – The Kerala government launched “She Pad,’’ a

scheme to distribute free sanitary napkins to girl

students from classes VI to XII in government and

aided private schools affiliated to the state school

board. Kerala became the first state to launch such

schemes.

8. Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana - Union Minister of

Communications Manoj Sinha has launched the Deen

Dayal SPARSH yojana which aims to increase the reach

of Philately.

Here SPARSH means - Scholarship for Promotion of

Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby.

Key points –

• Under the scheme, it is proposed to award

annual scholarships to children of Standard VI

to IX having good academic record and also

pursuing Philately as a hobby through a

competitive selection process in all postal

circles.

• Every Postal Circle will select a maximum of

40 scholarships representing 10 students each from Standard VI, VII, VIII & IX.

• The amount of Scholarship will be Rs. 6000/-

per annum @ Rs. 500/- per month.

About Philately

• Philately is the hobby of collection and study of

Postage stamps.

• It also entails the collection, appreciation and

research activities on stamps and other related

philatelic products.

• Philately is called the king of hobbies because

Stamp collection as a hobby has lot of

educational benefits - it teaches a lot about the

socio economic political reality of the period in

which the stamp is issued or the theme on

which it is issued.

9. 'Grahak Sadak Koyla Vitaran' App - Union Minister

of Railways & Coal Piyush Goyal has launched the

‘Grahak Sadak Koyla Vitaran App’ which aims to benefit customers of Coal India Limited (CIL) lifting

coal through road mode. The app is launched in

Kolkata.

Key points –

• The main benefits of the App for the customers

include easy accessibility of the information at

the click of the button.

• The app will monitor whether the dispatches

are made on the fair principle of ‘First in First

Out’ basis.

• It will keep a track on all the activities from

issuance of Sale Order to physical delivery of

coal by road.

10. ‘Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana’ – Communications

Minister Manoj Sinha has launched the Sampoorna

Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana in New Delhi.

Key points -

• It is an initiative for expansion of client base of

Postal Life Insurance.

• To provide affordable life insurance services to people living in rural areas of the country.

• All villages under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana will be brought under its ambit.

• At least one village (having a minimum of 100

households) will be identified in each of the revenue districts of the country, wherein

endeavour will be made to cover all

households of that identified village with a

minimum of one RPLI (Rural Postal Life

Insurance) policy each.

Note:

➢ Postal Life Insurance (PLI), introduced in 1884, is

one of the oldest life insurance schemes for benefit of

Government and semi-Government employees.

➢ Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI), introduced on

March 24, 1995 on recommendations of Malhotra

Committee, provides insurance cover to people

residing in rural areas, especially weaker sections and

women living in rural areas.

➢ Low Premium and High Bonus is the unique feature of

PLI and RPLI schemes.

➢ As on March 31, 2017, there were 46.8 lakh PLI and

146.8 lakh RPLI policies across the country.

11. 'Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana’ (BBY) launched in MP

– The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh

Chouhan launched the 'Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojna' for

the farmers of the state and to provide financial

support in case of losses in crops.

Key points ➢ The scheme is also called the ‘Price Deficit

Financing Scheme’.


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➢ At first, the scheme will cover 8 crops which

includes oil seeds and some pulses etc.

Soybean, Groundnut, Til, Ramtil. Maize, Moong,

Urad, Tuar Daal.

➢ The farmers are supposed to register

themselves with mandis to leverage the

benefits of Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana.

➢ The aim of the scheme is to encourage the

farmers to cultivate more oil seeds and pulses

products in the state.

12. 'Prerna' project for Women Farmers launched in

Odisha - Mahindra & Mahindra has launched a

‘Prerna’ programme to empower women working in

the agriculture sector by promoting efficient and

ergonomic farm tools and equipment.

Key points

➢ The project is launched in the state of Odisha,

with the intention to positively impact the lives of

over 1,500 families across 30-plus villages.

13. Union Ministries of Power & Textiles Jointly

launched 'SAATHI' Initiative - The Union Ministries

of Power and Textiles have jointly launched an

initiative 'SAATHI'.

SAATHI stands for - Sustainable and Accelerated

Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small

Industries.

Key points –

➢ Under this initiative, Energy Efficiency Services

Limited (EESL), a public sector entity under the

administrative control of Ministry of Power,

would procure energy efficient Powerlooms,

motors and Rapier kits in bulk and provide them

to the small and medium Powerloom units at no

upfront cost.

➢ The SAATHI initiative of the Government will be

jointly implemented by EESL and the office of the

Textile Commissioner on a pan-India basis.

➢ To kick start the implementation, cluster wise

demonstration projects and workshops will be

organized in key clusters such as Erode, Surat,

Ichalkaranji, etc.

14. Ministry WCD launches campaign on 'women for

women': #IamThatWoman - In an attempt to end

Gender bias in women against women, the Ministry of

Women and Child Development is undertaking an

online campaign #IamThatWoman.

Key points –

➢ The campaign aims to highlight the various

aspects of women standing 'by' and 'for' women.

➢ Ministry of WCD has urged people to shun

stereotypes associated with women harming

other women.

➢ Twitter and Facebook users have been

encouraged to tag and share stories of women

helping women with a photograph and post online

with the hashtag #IamThatWoman.

Schemes under Ministry of Finance

1. Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY)-

• For the senior citizens aged 60 years and above • The Scheme provides an assured return of 8% p.a.

payable monthly (equivalent to 8.30% p.a. effective) for 10 years.

• The scheme will be operated by LIC. 2. Jan Suraksha Yojana- (i) PRADHAN MANTRI JEEVAN JYOTI BIMA YOJANA-

• PMJJBY is a one-year life insurance scheme. • Renewable from year to year, offering coverage for

death due to any reason and is available to people in the age group of 18 to 50 years

• Premium of Rs.330/- per annum per member • life cover of Rs. 2 lakhs

(ii) PRADHAN MANTRI SURAKSHA BIMA YOJANA- • Premium of Rs.12 per year • Age group 18 to 70 years • Under it, risk coverage available will be Rs.2 lakh

for accidental death and permanent total disability and Rs. 1 lakh for permanent partial disability

(iii) Atal Pension Yojana- • Launched in 2015 • Focussed on all citizens in the unorganised sector • Age- min 18 years, Max- 40 years • The Union Govt. would also co-contribute 50% of

the subscriber’s contribution or Rs. 1000 per annum, whichever is lower.

• Subscribers would receive the fixed pension at the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions.

3. PRADHAN MANTRI MUDRA YOJANA (PMMY)- • Launched in 2015 • In this scheme, Mudra (Micro Units Development

and Refinance Agency) bank has been opened to fund all MFI (Micro Financial institutions) which provide loans to the MSMEs.

• The lending priority will be given to SC/ST enterprises.

• MUDRA Bank has launched three loan instruments: (i) Shishu- loans up to Rs 50,000 (ii) Kishor- loans above Rs 50,000 and up to Rs. 5 lakhs


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(iii) Tarun- loans above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 10 lakh

4. Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana- • To provide social security to the persons who are

above or equal to 60 years. • Implemented through LIC. • It will provide an assured pension based on a rate

of return of 8% per annum for ten years. Schemes under Ministry of Women and Child Development – 1. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)-

• Launched by the PM on January 22, 2015 at Panipat, Haryana.

• Objective- Improve Child Sex Ratio, Protection and education of girl child.

• Current brand ambassador-Olympic Bronze medallist Sakshi Malik.

2. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana- • Launched by the Prime Minister on January 21,

2015. • Under Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Women

and Child Development. • It is a part of BBBP (Beti Bachao Beti Padhao). • Only for girls whose age are equal or below 10

years. • Tenure- 21 years from the date of opening or girl’s

marriage • Current interest rate- 8.3 Percent. • Account can be opened via post offices or

commercial banks. 3. POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses) e-Box-

• Online complaint management system • Action against the offenders under the POCSO Act,

2012.

• Any human being up to the age of 18 years is recognised as a child under the POCSO Act.

4. SHe-box’ (sexual harassment electronic box) portal- • Launched in July 2017. • Online platform to enable women employees of the

central govt. to file complaints related to sexual harassment at the workplace.

5. ‘SABLA’ Scheme- • Launched in 2010, also known as Rajiv Gandhi

Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls. • Development of adolescent girls of 11-18 years by

making them ‘self-reliant’. • Focus areas- Nutrition, Skill development and

Health. 6. Tejaswini Project-

• Initially the project has been implemented in 17 districts in Jharkhand.

• Tejaswini Socio-Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) Project.

• Project is financed by World Bank. 7. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

• Launched in October 2, 1975. • Provides food, education, and primary healthcare

to children under 6 years of age and their mothers. • Anyone can visit to the Aanganwadi centre and

enroll these services. 8. Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahayog Yojana-

• Provide financial aid of Rs 6,000 to pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery for hospital admission.

• The scheme provided cash transfer to pregnant women above the age of 18 years for up to two live births.

Other programs and schemes-

1. ‘Saubhagya’ (Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana) Scheme-

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 'Power for all' scheme today to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.

• The scheme will be named ‘Saubhagya’ and will provide subsidy on equipment like transformers, meters and wires.

2. Mission Indradhanush • It was launched by Union Health Minister J. P.

Nadda on 25 December 2014. • It aims to immunize all children under the age of 2

years, as well as all pregnant women, against seven vaccine preventable diseases.

• The diseases being targeted are diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, measles and Hepatitis B.

• Later Japanese Encephalitis and Haemophilus influenzae type B, Rubella, Japanese Encephalitis, Injectable Polio Vaccine Bivalent and Rotavirus also added.

3. Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) • Prime Minister Modi launched the Intensified

Mission Indradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in Gujarat on October 8, 2017.

• Through this programme, Government of India aims to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who


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have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme.

4. Udaan • Udaan provides exposure to the youth of J&K to

the best of corporate India and corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the State.

• The scheme not only provides skill enhancement and job opportunity but also connects these bright youths from the J&K with the vibrant corporate sector of India.

5. UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) • is a regional airport development and "Regional

Connectivity Scheme (RCS)" 6. UJALA Scheme-

• Prime Minister of India Sh. Narendra Modi on January 5, 2015 had launched the world's largest and most extensive LED distribution programme, UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Lighting for All).

• Recently UJALA scheme launched in Melaka, Malaysia.

7. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) • Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched by

Prime Minister on May 1st, 2016 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.

• It is an ambitious social welfare scheme which aims to provide free LPG connections to BPL households in the country.

8. Sagarmala project • Sagar Mala project is a strategic and customer-

oriented initiative of the Government of India to modernize India's Ports so that port-led development can be augmented and coastlines can be developed to contribute in India's growth.

9. ‘Himayat’ Programme • It is a training-cum-placement programme for

unemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir. 10. DIKSHA Portal

• For teacher training by HRD Ministry

Obituaries

1. B.L. Joshi passes away – Former Governor of Uttar

Pradesh 2. Robbie Malinga passes away - Music legend (South

Africa) 3. Bobs Givens passes away - one of the animators

behind designing the iconic characters Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd passed away in Burbank, California.

4. Partha Mukhopadhyay passes away - Veteran Bengali film actor

5. Jatileswar Mukhopadhyay passes away - Bengali singer 6. Neeraj Vora passes away - Actor and filmmaker

7. Ashok Mattoo passes away - Veteran sports

administrator Ashok Kumar Mattoo was the former head of the the national boxing and hockey federations.

8. Kirti Nidhi Bista - Former Nepal Prime Minister.

9. Lalji Singh Passes Away – Lalji Singh, a pioneer of

DNA fingerprinting technology in India and former

Vice-Chancellor of Benares Hindu University, BHU

(2011 to 2014), passed away at the age of 70.

10. Sukharanjan Sengupta Passes Away – Veteran

Journalist from Bengal.

11. Johnny Hallyday Passes Away – France's biggest rock star Johnny Hallyday has died after a battle

with lung cancer.

12. Pandit Narayanrao Bodas Passes Away - Eminent

exponent of Gwalior gharana of Hindustani classical

music passed away in Maharashtra.

13. Saraswati Tripathy passes away - Eminent

freedom fighter

14. Sreerupa Mukherjee passes away - former woman

cricketer

15. Manu Sharma - Noted author and Padma Shri

awardee Manu Sharma died in Varanasi, Uttar

Pradesh following a prolonged illness.

Note: His famous book was Krishna Ki Atmakatha.

He was nominated as one of the navratna of the

Swachha Bharat Abhiyan by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi. He donated his lifetime savings of

Rs 20 lakh for the renovation of a ghat in Varanasi to

carry out a cleanliness campaign.

16. Dr. M.V. Sridhar – Ex BCCI General Manager &

Former Hyderabad Cricket Team Captain. Originally

a doctor, MV Sridhar was considered one of the best

batsmen ever from Hyderabad.

17. Punathil Kunjabdulla Passes Away - Renowned

Malayalam writer. He is regarded as one of the

major figures of modernism in Malayalam literature.

18. Girija Devi - Eminent classical singer and Padma

Vibhushan awardee Girija Devi passed away in

Kolkata.

Note: She was considered as the "Queen of Thumri"

and fondly called Appa Ji. She was from the "Benaras Gharana". She received the Padma Shri in 1972, the


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Padma Bhushan in 1989 and the Padma Vibhushan

in 2016.

19. I V Sasi - Veteran Malayalam director I V Sasi, best

known for his films “Avalude Ravukal” and

“Devasuram” passed away.

20. Shamsher Khan - India's First Olympic Swimmer

passed away. He had represented India in 1956

Melbourne Olympics. He was the first swimmer to

represent India in Olympics.

Important Committees

1. Amitabh Kant Committee - to address the problem of

Non-performing assets (NPAs) or stressed assets in

India’s power sector.

2. YM Deosthalee Committee – task force on Public Credit Registry (PCR). The committee will review the current availability of information on credit in India.

3. B C Khanduri Committee - parliamentary standing committee on defense. The committee will examine the operational preparedness of armed forces and review accidents involving strategic defence assets and also assess the procurement policy relating to defence equipment.

4. Arun Jaitley Committee - The union govt. has

constituted a ministerial panel headed by Finance

Minister Arun Jaitley to oversee merger proposals of

state-owned banks.

5. Rina Mitra Committee - The Union govt. has set up a

study group under Special secretary in the home

ministry to examine the problems of people along IB,

LOC in J&K.

6. Justice (Retd.) G. Rohini Committee - to examine the

sub-categorization of the Other Backward Classes

(OBCs).

7. Dr Hasmukh Adhia Committee - The Union

government has constituted a GST Committee on Exports

headed by Dr Hasmukh Adhia.

Note: The panel is mandated to recommend to the GST

Council a suitable strategy for helping the export sector

in the post-GST set-up.

8. Dr. Rajiv Kumar Committee - With an aim to create new jobs by enhancing India’s export, the NITI Aayog constituted an Expert Task Force. The task force will be chaired by the NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Dr. Rajiv Kumar.

9. Dr V. Kamakoti Committee - The Union Government constituted a task force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the country's Economic Transformation. The 18-member panel, headed by Dr V. Kamakoti of IIT Madras.

10. K Kasturirangan Committee - to prepare National Education Policy

New Appointments

National

1. New Foreign Secretary of India - Vijay Keshav Gokhale.

He has succeeded S Jaishankar. 2. New Deputy National Security Adviser - Rajinder

Khanna 3. New Managing Director of India Infrastructure Finance

Company Ltd (IIFCL) – Pankaj Jain 4. New Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh - Jai Ram

Thakur. He replaced Virbhadra Singh.

• Jai Ram Thakur became the 6th Chief Minister of the HP.

5. New Chief Minister of Gujarat – Vijay Rupani 6. New BCCI General Manager - Saba Karim 7. New Director-General of National Cadet Corps (NCC) -

Lt Gen B S Sahrawat

8. New President of ICCR (Indian Council of Cultural Relations) - Vinay Sahasrabuddhe

Note: He is the BJP's national Vice President and a

Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra. 9. New acting Chairman of National Green Tribunal

(NGT) - Justice U.D. Salvi. He replaced Justice Swatanter Kumar.

10. New Director of National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) - R Hemalatha

11. New Chairman of BARC India - Nakul Chopra. He

succeeds Sudhanshu Vats (Viacom18 Group CEO). 12. New Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau –

Abhay

13. New Congress President – Rahul Gandhi.


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14. New Chairman & Managing Director of Air India -

Pradeep Singh Kharola. He succeeds Rajiv Bansal.

15. Uma Shankar Appointed RBI Executive Director

16. New President Para Sports Foundation – Sarvesh

Kumar Tiwari

17. New India’s Ambassador to Turkmenistan - Azar

A.H.Khan

18. Re-appointed Prasar Bharati Chairman - A Surya Prakash. He was re-appointed for the second

consecutive term till February 8, 2020.

19. Chairman of 15th Finance Commission – NK Singh.

20. New CEO & MD of Infosys - Salil S. Parekh

21. UN Environment's Goodwill Ambassador for India -

Dia Mirza

22. Chairman of National Anti-Profiteering Authority

under GST – BN Sharma.

23. New Director-General of Police (DGP) of Andhra

Pradesh - N Sambasiva Rao

24. First woman Pilot in Indian Navy - Shubhangi

Swaroop. She became the first woman to be

inducted as Pilot in Indian Navy.

25. India’s G20 Sherpa - Shaktikanta Das

26. New Madras High-Court judge - Justice Satrughana

Pujahari.

27. President of Institute for Defence Studies and

Analysis (IDSA) - Nirmala Sitharaman (Union

Defence Minister)

28. SEBI Executive Director - Anand Rajeshwar Baiwar

29. New Chairman of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) – S.

Ravi. He succeeds Dhirendra Swarup.

30. President of 36th Intl Geological Congress - Vijay

Prasad Dimri (Scientist)

Note:

• International Geological Congress (IGC), a

global platform for the advancement of earth

science, to be held in 2020.

• Pakistan won the bid to host the 36th IGC in the

National Capital Region from March 2 -8, 2020. 19. First woman President of NASSCOM in 2018 - Debjani

Ghosh.

Note: She will succeed R Chandrashekhar after his

tenure ends in March 2018. With this appointment she

will become first female president of NASSCOM.

20. New Secretary (security) in Cabinet Secretariat – S.K.

Sinha.

21. New Finance Secretary – Hasmukh Adhia. He succeeds Ashok Lavasa.

22. New Private Secretary to President - Vikram Singh.

Note: Vikram Singh currently posted as a senior

director in the Traffic Commercial directorate in the

Railway Board.

23. New First Woman Police Chief of Karnataka -

Neelmani N. Raju has been appointed as Karnataka’s

first woman Director General and Inspector General of

Police. She succeeds Rupak Kumar Dutta.

24. New Director General of National Investigation

Agency (NIA) - Yogesh Chander Modi. He succeeds

Sharad Kumar.

25. New MD & CEO of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) -

Suresh Sethi.

Note: Hew was the former MD of Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd.

He succeeds AP Singh.

26. New Special Director of Central Bureau of Investigation

(CBI)- Rakesh Asthana.

27. New CEO & MD of Tata Steel – T. V. Narendran.

28. New CEO of Bharti AXA Life Insurance - Vikas Seth.

29. Union Government appoints Dineshwar Sharma as its

Representative in Jammu & Kashmir. The Union

Government appointed Dineshwar Sharma, former

Director of Intelligence Bureau, as a representative of

the government to initiate and carry forward a

dialogue with the elected representatives, various

organizations and concerned individuals in the state of

Jammu and Kashmir.

30. New AIBA Women's Youth World Championships

Ambassador - MC Mary Kom

Note: The event will be held in Guwahati, Assam from

November 19 to 26.

31. New Vice Chief of Naval Staff – Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar. 32. New CEO of Association of Mutual Funds in India

(AMFI) – N.S. Venkatesh.

33. New as Additional Director General of CISF - Alok Kumar Pateria.

34. New Lokayukta of Madhya Pradesh - Naresh Kumar

Gupta. He is a retired judge of Madhya Pradesh High

Court.

35. New Chief of Film and Television Institute of India

(FTII) - Anupam Kher (Veteran actor). He succeeds

Gajendra Chauhan.

36. New HSBC India CEO - Jayant Rikhye. He succeeds

Stuart Milne. Mr. Rikhye

37. New SBI Chairman - Rajnish Kumar. He succeeds

Arundhati Bhattacharya.

38. New President of US-India Business Council - Nisha

Desai Biswal.

Note: The US-India Business Council is the premier business advocacy organization that was formed in

1975 at the request of the US and Indian governments.


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It is the largest bilateral trade association in the United

States and has presence in New York, Silicon Valley

and New Delhi.

39. New CMD of Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) Ltd - P. Alli Rani.

40. New CMD of National Hydroelectric Power

Corporation (NHPC) Ltd. - Balraj Joshi.

41. The first Chairman of the five-member Economic

Advisory Council (EAC- PM) --Bibek Debroy.

Note: The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime

Minister (PMEAC) is a non-constitutional, non-

permanent and independent body constituted to give

economic advice to the Government of India,

specifically the Prime Minister.

42. New Chairman & Managing Director of ONGC (Oil and

Natural Gas Corporation) - Shashi Shanker.

43. New CMD of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism

Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd. - Mahendra Pratap Mall.

44. New CMD of the United India Insurance Co. Ltd. - M.

Nagaraja Sarma.

45. New Director General (DG) of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) - Rajni Kant Misra.

46. NPCI’s (National Payments Corporation of India)

interim Chairman - B Sambamurthy 47. New interim GSTN Chairman - A.B Panday

48. New Brand Ambassador of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in

Uttarakhand -- Akshay Kumar.

Note: In August 2017, he was also appointed as the

brand ambassador for the cleanliness campaign in

Uttar Pradesh

49. Chairman of Press Trust of India (PTI) - Viveck Goenka.

50. New Union Minister of Railways - Piyush Goyal.

51. New Election Commissioner of India - Sunil Arora.

52. Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education

(CBSE) - Anita Karwal. She succeeds ‘Rajesh Kumar

Chaturvedi’.

53. New Home Secretary - Rajiv Gauba.

54. New Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India -

Rajiv Mehrishi

55. New Defence Minister of India - Nirmala Sitharaman.

56. New Director General (DG) Railway Protection Force

(RPF) - Dharmendra Kumar.

57. New Chairman of Railway Board -- Ashwani Lohani.

58. New Executive Director of the Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) -- Mamta Suri.

59. New Chairman of the Central Board of Film

Certification(CBFC) - Prasoon Joshi

60. New Vice President of India -- Muppavarapu

Venkaiah Naidu

61. New Chief Justice of India (CJI) -- Justice Dipak Misra.

62. New CMD of Small Industries Development Bank of

India (SIDBI) -- Mohammad Mustafa.

63. New Chairman of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) -

Dhirendra Swarup.

64. New Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog - Dr. Rajiv Kumar. 65. New secretary general of the Federation of Indian

Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) - Sanjaya

Baru 66. Re-appointed as Managing Director (MD) & Chief

Executive Officer (CEO) of Axis Bank - Shikha Sharma

67. New Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar - Sushil Kumar

Modi.

68. New Chief Minister of Nagaland - TR Zeliang.

69. New MD & CEO of Oriental Bank of Commerce -

Mukesh Kumar Jain.

70. New Director General (DG)of Goods and Services Tax

Intelligence (GSTI) - John Joseph

New Governor Appointed

1. New Governor of Assam - Jagdish Mukhi.

2. New Governor of Arunachal Pradesh - B. D. Mishra 3. New Governor of Bihar - Satya Pal Malik.

4. New Governor of Tamil Nadu - Banwarilal Purohit.

5. New Governor of Meghalaya - Ganga Prasad.

6. New Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands - Devendra Kumar Joshi.


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International Appointment

1. New UNICEF Chief - Henrietta Holsman Fore. She

replaced Anthony Lake 2. Secretary General of Amnesty International - Kumi

Naidoo (South Africa). He replaced Salil Shetty. 3. New President of Chile - Sebastian Pinera. He has

replaced Michelle Bachelet. 4. New New Liberia's president - George Weah (Ex-

football superstar). He replaced Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

5. Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Environment

- Ellie Goulding (British singer-songwriter)

6. New President of Zimbabwe - Emmerson

Mnangagwa.

7. Britain's Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) -

Karen Pierce. She became the first woman to be

appointed on this post.

8. UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents and

HIV - South African Indian-origin Professor

Quarraisha Abdool Karim

9. Re-elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)

- Dalveer Bhandari

10. RBI Governor Urjit Patel appointed to the Financial

Stability Institute Advisory Board of the Bank of

International Settlement (BIS) 11. Ambassador of World Packaging Organisation -

AVPS Chakravarthi.

12. Re-elected Slovenia President - Borut Pahor 13. New UNESCO Chief - Audrey Azoulay. She succeeds

Irina Bokova (Bulgaria)

Note: Audrey Azoulay is a France's former culture

minister. Ms Azoulay is the 11th Director-General of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO).

14. New Prime Minister of New Zealand - Jacinda

Ardern.

Note: She (37-year-old) is the youngest female PM of

New Zealand in 150 years.

15. New Deputy Director-General of World Health

Organization (WHO) - Soumya Swaminathan.

Note: This position is the second-highest at the UN’s

health agency. Soumya Swaminathan is the present

director general of Indian Council of Medical Research

(ICMR). She is a paediatrician and an internationally-

recognized researcher on TB (Tuberculosis) and HIV.

16. New President of ‘Angola’ - Joao Lourenco. He

succeeds Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

17. New Chairman of Ethics Commission of the

International Olympic Committee (IOC) -- Ban Ki-

moon.

Note: Mr. Moon was the 8th Secretary-General of

the United Nations (Jan 2007 - Dec 2016). 18. First special envoy for the Oceans - Peter Thomson.

Note: Peter Thomson played a leading role at the

first-ever UN conference on oceans in June. The 193

UN member states issued an urgent call for action to

reverse the decline in the health and productivity of

the world's oceans. 19. New President of Singapore - Mdm Halimah Yacob.

20. Re-elected as President of Kenya - Uhuru Kenyatta.

21. New Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea - Peter

O’Neill

22. India’s alternate Governor on the Board of

Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) --

Subhash Chandra.

23. New UNICEF’s Global Goodwill Ambassador -- Lilly

Singh.

24. New Prime Minister of Mongolia - Ukhnaa

Khurelsukh

25. Newly elected President of Mongolia -

Khaltmaagiin Battulga

26. First female Prime Minister of Serbia -- Ana

Brnabic.

27. First woman Chief Executive of Hong Kong - Carrie

Lam.

Note: The Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE) is the

highest office of the Hong Kong Special

Administrative Region (HKSAR). 28. President of the International Economic Association

(IEA) - Kaushik Basu. 29. New Prime Minister of Romania -- Mihai Tudose.

30. New India International Centre (IIC) - N N Vohra 31. New Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia by King Salman --

Mohammed bin Salman


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New Ambassador Appointed –

1. Next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Peru - M. Subbarayudu

2. New India’s Ambassador to Pakistan – Ajay Bisaria. He succeeds Gautam Bambawale.

Note: He is currently ambassador to Poland.

3. New India’s Ambassador to Republic of Zambia - N.J.Gangte. 4. New US Ambassador to India - Kenneth Juster. He succeeds Richard Verma.

5. New India's Ambassador to China - Gautam Bambawale. He succeeds Vijay Gokhale.

6. New Ambassador of India to Switzerland - Sibi George. He succeeds Smita Purushottam.

7. New Pakistan’s Ambassador to India - Sohail Mahmood. He succeeds ‘Abdul Basit’.

8. New Russia's Ambassador to India - Nikolay Kudashev.

9. New Ambassador of India to the Republic of Kazakhstan - Prabhat Kumar.

Books & Author

1. Novel ‘Two’ authored by - Gulzar (Veteran lyricist)

2. Book 'Bollywood: The Films! The Songs! The

Stars!, launched by the Amitabh Bachchan

The book is co-authored by S.M.M. Ausaja, Karan

Bali, Rajesh Devraj and Tanul Thakur. 3. Book titled “The Coalition Years” authored by –

Pranab Mukherjee (Former President of India) 4. Book titled “The Golden House” authored by – Salman

Rushdie.

5. Book titled “India 2017 Yearbook” authored by – Rajiv

Mehrishi

6. Book titled “I Do What I Do” authored by – Raghuram

Rajan (former RBI Governor)

7. Book titled “Immortal India” authored by – Amish

Tripathi.

8. Book titled “A Horse Walks into a Bar” authored by -

David Grossman (Winner - Man Booker International

Prize 2017)

9. Book titled “How India Sees the World” – Shyam

Saran.

10. Book titled “Hit Refresh” – Satya Nadella. 11. Book titled “Unstoppable: My Life So far” authored by

– Maria Sharapova.

12. Book titled “The Shershah of Kargil” authored by -

Deepak Surana (Biography of Kargil war hero – Late

Captain Vikram Batra)

13. Book titled “Kadve Vachan” authored by – Tarun Sagar

Maharaj.

14. Book titled “I am HIV positive, so what?” authored by

– Jayanta Kalita (The book is based on the life of an

international bodybuilding champion Khundrakpam

Pradipkumar Singh hailing from Manipur, who was

diagnosed HIV-positive.)

15. Book titled “Cryptocurrency for Beginners” authored

by – Amit Bhardwaj.

16. Book titled “Making of a legend” authored by –

Bindeshawr Pathak.

17. Book titled “Dalhousie Through My Eyes” authored by

– Kiran Chadha. 18. Book titled “Playing With Fire” authored by – Katie

Price.

19. Book titled “Future of Indian Universities:

Comparative and International Perspectives” authored by – C. Raj Kumar.

20. Book titled “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness”

authored by – Arundhati Roy.

21. Book titled “The Crisis Within” authored by – Ganesh

Devy.

22. Book titled “Indira Gandhi – A life in Nature” authored

by – Jairam Ramesh.

23. Book titled “Beren And Luthien” authored by – J.R.R.

Tolkien.

24. Book titled “Yug Purush, Bharat Ratna, Atal Ji”

authored by – Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank”.

25. Book titled “Matoshree” authored by - Lok Sabha

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan


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Honors & Awards

National Awards

1. Sahitya Akademi Award 2017 – In English Mamang Dai has been awarded for her novel ‘The

Black Hill’.

• In Hindi - Ramesh Kuntal Megh has been awarded for his literary criticism ‘Vishw

Mithak Sarit Sagar’.

• In Sanskrit –‘Niranjan Mishra’ won the award for his Sanskrit novel ‘Gangaputravadanam’

• In Punjabi - ‘Nachhattar’ won the award for his Punjabi novel ‘Slow Down’

Note:

• Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary award.

• This year award given in 24 different languages.

• The award is established in 1954 and comprises

a plaque and a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh. 2. Golden Peacock Innovation Award - Joda East

Iron Mine (JEIM) of Tata Steel has been honored

with the Golden Peacock Innovation Management Award for the year 2017 for driving innovation in mines.

• Joda East Iron Mine of Tata Steel is one of the fully mechanized captive iron mines of Tata Steel.

3. 31st Moortidevi Award 2017 - Joy Goswami.

• He will get the award for his poetry collection titled ‘Du Dondo Phowara Matro’.

• ‘Du Dondo Phowara Matro’ is an autobiographical account of the poet’s life featuring his close ones including a pet cat.

• It is the first time the award will be given to a Bengali poet.

4. PETA’s Person of the Year 2017 - Anushka Sharma 5. Mr. India 2017 - Jitesh Singh Deo bagged the title of

‘Peter England Mr. India 2017’ (ninth edition).

6. Mrs. India Pride of the Nation Award – Mayanka Patel

7. Mamta Kalia Selected for Vyas Samman 2017 - Eminent Hindi litterateur & playwright Mamta Kalia

has been selected for ‘Vyas Samman-2017’ for her

novel ‘Dukkham Sukkham’.

Note:

• The novel 'Dukkham Sukkham' depicts the

story of grandmother Vidhyawati and

granddaughter Manisha's relation.

• The book, 'Dukkham Sukkham' was published

in 2010.

• Currently, she is the editor of Mahatma Gandhi

International Hindi University's quarterly

magazine ‘Hindi’.

• Vyas Samman was instituted in 1991 by the KK

Birla Foundation and carries a cash award of

Rs 3.50 lakh, a citation, and a logo.

• She is also known for her works in Hindi and

English including "Beghar", "Janch Abhi Jaari

Hai", "Nirmohi", and "Bolne Wali Aurat".

• She was born in Vrindavan, Mathura. 8. 3rd Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)

Distinguished Indologist Award for the year 2017 -

Professor Hiroshi Marui of Japan.

Note: He spent over 40 years working on Indian

philosophy and Buddhist Studies.

9. Ruskin Bond conferred with Lifetime Achievement

Award by the Chandigarh Literary Society. 10. 2017 Tata Literature Live Lifetime Achievement Award

- Girish Karnad (Actor-playwright)

11. Most Visited Place of the World’ - Golden Temple

(Amritsar). The award is presented by ‘World Book of

Records’ (WBR), a London-based organisation.

12. Big Little Book Award for year 2017 - Nabaneeta

Dev Sen (Sahitya Akademi awardee Bengali writer).

Note: The award, given out by Parag initiative of Tata

Trusts to recognise and honour authors and illustrators of

children's literature.

13. Indira Gandhi Peace Prize - Manmohan Singh

(Former PM of India) will receive the Indira Gandhi

Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development this

year for his leadership of the country between 2004

and 2014.

14. International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Awards –

The 48th International Film Festival of India held this

year in Goa.

Here is the list of winners at IFFI 2017 –

1. Best Film Award at IFFI 2017 - 120 Beats Per

Minute (A French film on fight against indifference

towards AIDS)

Note: The film is directed by - Robin Campillo


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2. Indian film personality of the year award - Amitabh

Bachchan

3. Best Female Actress Award – Parvathy Thiruvoth

Kottuvatta for the film ‘Take Off’

Note: The film is directed by - Mahesh Narayanan

4. Best Male Actor Award – Nahuel Pérez Biscayart,

Beats Per Minute

5. Best Director Award – Vivian Qu, Angels Wear

White

6. Lifetime Achievement Award – Atom Egoyan

7. Best Debut Film of a Director Award – Kiro Russo,

Dark Skull

8. ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal - Marathi Film Kshitij-

A Horizon, directed by Manoj Kadam.

15. 53rd Jnanpith award 2017- Krishna Sobti (eminent

Hindi writer).

Note:

➢ She was born in 1925 in Gujrat, in Pakistan’s

Punjab Province.

➢ Some of her popular works include Daar se

Bichhudi, Dil-o-Danish, Badalom ke Ghere,

Yaaron Ke Yaar, Mitron Marjani, and

Zindaginama.

➢ She is most known for her 1966 novel Mitro

Marajani, an unapologetic portrayal of a

married woman's sexuality.

16. UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 - The Sri

Ranganathaswamy Temple of Srirangam in Tamil Nadu

won UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for

cultural heritage conservation programme.

Note: It is the first temple from Tamil Nadu to win the prize from the UN body.

17. Best Urban Transport Practices’ of the Union

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs awards -

i. Best City Bus Services Award 2017 - Surat

Municipal Corporation awarded with the ‘Best City Bus

Services Award’ by the Union Ministry of Housing and

Urban Affairs for attracting 87 per cent of the private

vehicle and auto rickshaw users to use city buses.

ii. ‘Best Non-Motorised Transport’ Award - Mysuru’s

Public Bicycle Sharing won the Best Non-Motorised

Transport’ Award.

iii. ‘Best Urban Transport Initiative’ Award - Kochi

(Kerala) was chosen for the for completing its Metro

Rail Project in a quick time.

iv. Best Intelligent Transport Project’ - The H-TRIMS

of Hyderabad, the Traffic Integraged Management

initiative was awarded with the award. . 18. Vishnudas Bhave award - Mohan Joshi (Veteran

actor)

Note: The award is conferred in memory of Vishnudas

Bhave, the founder of Marathi theatre.

19. Tata Literature Lifetime Achievement Award 2017

- Girish Karnad (Veteran actor).

20. 2017 Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award - Javed Akhtar

(Veteran writer-lyricist).

21. ‘General Insurance Company of the Year’ - Apollo

Munich Health Insurance.

22. Green Platinum Award - The Govardhan Eco Village,

set up by the International Society for Krishna

Consciousness (ISKCON) in Palghar district won the

‘Green Platinum Award’ by Indian Green Building

Council (IGBC) of Confederation of Indian Industry

(CII).

23. Indira Gandhi National Integration award for

2015-16- T M Krishna (Carnatic music vocalist). He is

being awarded for his services in promoting and

preserving national integration in the country.

24. Cleartrip Named 'Best Mobile App for Travel' at

Mobexx Awards. 25. Ezhuthachan Puraskaram 2017 - K Satchidanandan

(Noted Malayalam Poet and literary critic) has been

selected for Ezhuthachan Puraskaram 2017. This is

Kerala government's highest literary honour. 26. UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage

Conservation - Mumbai’s The Royal Opera House.

27. Lifetime Achievement Award - Sharmila Tagore (Veteran actress)

Note: She was bestowed with the recognition by the

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi

for her contribution in the field of cinema.

28. Golden Peacock Award - N Chandrababu Naidu

(Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) has received the

Golden Peacock Award under the category 'Global Leadership in Public Service and Economic

Transformation' at a convention in London at 17th

London Global Convention.

29. Mathrubhumi Literary Award - Eminent critic,

biographer and orator M K Sanu has been chosen for

the Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016 in

recognition of his rich contribution to the Malayalam

literature.

30. Asia Game Changers Award- 2017--Dev Patel.

31. First Kesari Media Award - T J S George. (Veteran

journalist)

32. Prem Nazir Award 2017 – Sharada (Veteran actress)

33. East Bengal football club’s highest honour 'Bharat Gaurav' - Dhanraj Pillay


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34. 2018 Times Higher Education (THE) World university

ranking, Indian university has been names the top

university in India -- IISc-Bangalore.

35. First lifetime achievement award for his contribution to

Badminton -- Prakash Padukone.

36. Bollywood star has received the ‘Global Diversity

Award’ at Britain’s House of Commons - Salman Khan

37. Best film award at 18th IIFA Awards 2017-- Neerja. 38. JD(U) leader has also received the Lifetime

Achievement Award as a Rajya Sabha MP -- Sharad Yadav.

39. Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions as a Lok Sabha member -- LK Advani.

40. Indian city has been declared as a World Heritage City (WHC) by UNESCO -- Ahmedabad.

41. Indian film Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars

2018 -- Newton.

Note: Newton is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language black

comedy film directed by Amit V Masurkar and Produced

by Drishyam Films.

International Awards

1. BBC's sports personality of the year award – Four-

time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah has been voted

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017. 2. BBC overseas sports personality of the year 2017 -

Roger Federer has been voted BBC overseas sports personality of the year for a record fourth time. Earlier, Federer won the award in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

3. The Silence Breakers' named Time’s Person of the

Year for 2017 – Time magazine has named 'the silence breakers' its Person of the Year for 2017

mentioning to those women and men who have raise a

voice to sexual assault and harassment by powerful

public figures in America.

Note: • The women featured on the cover include

actress Ashley Judd, singer Taylor Swift,

former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, Visa

lobbyist Adama Iwu, Mexican agricultural

worker Isabel Pascual.

• The #MeToo movement which has seen many

people come forward with allegations of

harassment and abuse.

• The runner-up for this year’s Person of the

Year was US President Donald Trump, who

was Time’s Person of the Year in 2016.

4. Children's Peace Prize 2017 – Mohamad Al Jounde

Mohamad Al Jounde (16 years old) from Syria was awarded the International Children's Peace Prize for

his efforts to ensure the rights of Syrian refugee

children.

Note: • He set up a school with the help of his family in

a Lebanese refugee camp which provides

education to the 200 children.

• He received the prize from Malala Yousafzai,

who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her work for children's rights.

5. Miss Universe 2017 - Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters (Miss

South Africa). The event was held at the AXIS theatre at

Planet Hollywood Las Vegas, US.

6. Miss World 2017 - Manushi Chhillar (Miss India). The

event was held in Sanya City Arena in China.

Note: She was born in Rohtak, Haryana.

7. European Golden Shoe Award - Lionel Messi

8. 2017 Cervantes Prize - Sergio Ramirez Mercado. It is

the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honor.

9. Miss International 2017 - Kevin Lilliana (Indonesia)

10. Abu Dhabi Award - The Andhra Pradesh Mineral

Development Corporation (APMDC) has bagged an

international award from Abu Dhabi. 11. Mother Teresa Award 2017 - United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been named

as the recipient of the Mother Teresa Memorial Award

for Social Justice, 2017.

Note: The Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social

Justice was instituted by Harmony Foundation.

12. Jewish Nobel Prize - Natalie Portman (actress) has

been awarded Israel’s 2018 Genesis Prize in

recognition of her commitment to social causes and

deep connection to her Jewish and Israeli roots.

Note: 2018 Genesis Prize is a $1 million award, known

as “the Jewish Nobel Prize.

13. Best Short Film Award - Indian short film ‘The

School Bag’ won the ‘Best Short Film Award' at the

South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (SAFFM). It tells

a story based in Pakistan.

Note: The movie is directed by Dheeraj Jindal.


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14. 2017 Man Booker Prize - George Saunders (US

author).

Note:

➢ He won the award for fiction for his first full-

length novel 'Lincoln in the Bardo.

➢ With this, Saunders became second American

writer to win the award. In 2016, Paul Beatty

became the first American to win the award for

his novel The Sellout.

➢ Lincoln in the Bardo is an extended national ghost story. It chronicles the death of Abraham

Lincoln’s 11-year-old son Willie using the

accounts of hundreds of narrators. The book

describes the night President Lincoln visited

his son’s body in a Washington graveyard.

15. US Award For AIDS Research - Professors Salim

Abdool Karim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim received

the award from the Institute for Human Virology (IHV)

in Baltimore, US.

Note: Indian-origin South African researchers were

honored with a prestigious award for their exceptional

contributions in the field of HIV/AIDS.

16. 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist

Challenge - Indian-American Gitanjali Rao won the

2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist

Challenge for inventing a quick, low-cost test to detect

lead-contaminated water.

17. 2017 Blue Planet Prize - Prof Hans Joachim

Schellnhuber from Germany won 2017 Blue Planet

Prize, world’s most prestigious award for pioneers in

environmental science.

Note: He was awarded for establishing new field of

science ‘Earth System Analysis’ and introducing most

influential concepts including the notion of tipping

elements in the climate system in Tokyo.

List of Nobel Prize 2017 –

1. Nobel Prize in Peace ● Winner - International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear

Weapons (ICAN) ● Field - ICAN for its work to draw attention to the

catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.

● ICAN headquarter at – Geneva, Switzerland. ● ICAN Executive Director - Beatrice Fihn

2. Nobel Prize in Literature ● Winner - Kazuo Ishiguro.

● He is a British author and best known for his novel “The Remains of the Day”.

● He was born in Nagasaki, Japan. 3. Nobel Prize in Economics

● Winner - Richard Thaler ● Field – for his work in behavioral economics. ● Richard Thaler born in New Jersey, United States.

He is a professor of behavioural sciences and economics at University of Chicago.

4. Nobel Prize in Medicine ● Winner - Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and

Michael W. Young ● Field - for their discoveries on how plants, animals

and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the Earth's revolutions.

● Jeffrey C. Hall – He is from New York, US and currently Professor at Brandeis University.

● Michael Rosbash – He is from Missouri, US and currently Professor at Brandeis University.

● Michael W. Young – He is from Miami, Florida, US and Professor at Rockefeller University, University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University School of Medicine.

5. Nobel Prize in Physics ● Winner - Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S.

Thorne.

● Field - Their decisive contributions to the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) detector and the observation of gravitational waves.

● Rainer Weiss born in Berlin, Germany. He is a Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

● Barry C. Barish born in Nebraska, U.S. He is a professor at California Institute of Technology.

● Kip S. Thorne born in Utah, U.S. He is a professor

at California Institute of Technology.

6. Nobel Prize in Chemistry

● Winner - Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and

Richard Henderson.

● Field - They developed cryo-electron microscopy

for the high-resolution structure determination of

biomolecules in solution. It’s a method of

simplifying and improving the imaging of

biomolecules.

● Jacques Dubochet born in Aigle, Switzerland. He

is a professor at University of Lausanne.


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● Joachim Frank born in Siegen, Germany. He is a

professor at Columbia University.

● Richard Henderson born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

He is a professor at Laboratory of Molecular

Biology.

concise

About Global Entrepreneurship Summit The 8th edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held at the International Convention Centre (HICC) in Hyderabad,

India. The summit was co-hosted by the US and India. It is the first time when summit was held in South Asia.

Ivanka Trump, adviser to and daughter of US President Donald Trump, headed the US delegation at the event.

Theme of the Summit - 'Women First, Prosperity for All'.

The 2017 summit focuses on four innovative, high-growth industries –

(i.) healthcare and life sciences (ii.) digital economy and financial technology (iii) energy and infrastructure and (iv) media

and entertainment.

'Mitra' robot - greeted PM Modi and Ivanka Trump at the summit- Mitra, an indigenously-built robot greeted Prime

Minister Narendra Modi and Ivanka Trump with a ‘Namaste’.

About ‘Mitra robot’ –

• Mitra is an indigenous robot made of fibre-glass developed by a two-year old startup Invento Robotics in Bangalore in

2015.

• The robot was designed by Balaji Viswanathan (founder of Invento Robotics).

• The 5-foot-tall Mitra robot is also serving humans in a few Canara Bank branches as well as PVR Cinema outlets in

Bengaluru.

Summits & Conference 2017

1. India to host meeting of WTO member countries on food security in February 2018.

2. The 105th Indian Science Congress (ISC) will be held at Manipur University in Imphal.

3. The 25th edition of National Children Science Congress (NCSC-2017) was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat

4. The theme was ‘Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development’ with the special focus on persons with disabilities.

5. First SAICON 2017 held in –New Delhi. Note: • The theme of the conference was ‘Scoring

Goals in Sports with Science and Technology’. • The first International Conference on Sports

Medicine & Sports Sciences “SAICON 2017” was held in New Delhi.

• It was inaugurated by the Minister of State (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore.

6. Russia-India-China Foreign Ministers Meet held in

Delhi –Foreign Ministers of Russia, India, and China

(RIC) trilateral meeting held in New Delhi. 7. Asean-India Connectivity Summit – New Delhi.

• Theme "Powering Digital and Physical Linkages for Asia in the 21st Century".

8. 11th Ministerial conference of the World Trade

Organization (WTO) – Buenos Aires, Argentina. 9. International Conference on Climate change

held in - Nepal Note:

• The main objective of the conference is to explore holistic solutions for adaptation to change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region.

• President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari has inaugurated the event.

10. 6th International Tourism Mart 2017 held in - Guwahati, Assam. Note:

• The International Tourism Mart is inaugurated by the Jagdish Mukhi, Governor of Assam.

• The main objective of the mart is to highlight the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets.

11. The 3rd edition of the Dialogue between the NITI Aayog and the Development Research Council of China was held in Beijing, China.


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Note: • The meeting was co-chaired by Vice

Chairman NITI Aayog, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, and Mr Li Wei, President (Minister), DRC.

• The MoU was signed during the visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to China in May 2015.

• The 2nd Dialogue was held in New Delhi in November 2016.

• The next 4th NITI Aayog - DRC Dialogue will be held in India in 2018.

12. 16th Meeting of the SCO Heads of Government

Council held in Sochi, Russia. Note:

• In 2018, the next SCO Council of Heads of Government Meeting will be held in Tajikistan.

13. The first International Exhibition and Conference on AYUSH and Wellness sector- AROGYA 2017 held in New Delhi. Note:

• The conference was inaugurated by the MoS (Independent charge), Ministry of Ayush Shripad

Naik.

• The theme of the conference is ‘Enhancing the

global potential of Ayush’.

• AYUSH is the acronym of - Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.

14. World Food India 2017 - New Delhi.

• The theme of WFI 2017 is ‘Transforming the Food

Economy’.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated

World Food India 2017 (WFI) at the India Gate

Lawns in New Delhi.

• Germany, Japan and Denmark are partner countries to World Food India.

• This is first time India is hosting such an event for

the Food processing sector.

15. 'India Disaster Response Summit' – New Delhi.

Note:

• Kiren Rijiju has inaugurated the ‘India Disaster Response Summit’ in New Delhi.

• The summit was organised jointly by the

National Disaster Management Authority

(NDMA) and Facebook.

16. India to host UN wildlife summit CMS COP13 in

2020 - United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP) announced that India will host the next CMS

Conference of the Parties 13 (CMS COP13) in the year

2020.

Note:

• CMS COP is a global wildlife conference.

• UN wildlife summit CMS COP13 in 217 held

in Manila, Philippines.

• The theme of the Conference was ‘Their

Future is Our Future - Sustainable

Development for Wildlife and People’.

• CMS COP is held once in three years.

17. World Youth Forum - Egypt.

Note: The Minister of State (Independent Charge)

Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore

attend the meeting

18. 38th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing – New

Delhi.

• The main theme of the conference is Space

Applications: Touching Human Lives.

19. 21st World Congress of Mental Health - New Delhi.

20. Global Clubfoot Conference – New Delhi.

Note:

• President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated Global

Clubfoot Conference organised by CURE India in partnership with Union Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare in New Delhi.

• About Clubfoot - It is one of the most common orthopaedic birth defects where one or both feet

are rotated inwards and downwards. It

describes range of foot abnormalities usually

present at birth in which your baby’s foot is

twisted out of shape or position. In clubfoot,

tissues connecting muscles to the bone

(tendons) are shorter than usual.

21. 11th India-US Trade Policy Forum Meeting -

Washington D.C

Note: The meeting was chaired by Union Minister for

Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu and US Trade

Representative Robert Lighthizer.

22. First International Conference on Consumer

Protection - New Delhi

• The theme of the conference was

“Empowering Consumers in New Markets”.

• It was inaugurated by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi.

23. First BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine

meeting - New Delhi.

Note:

• The first-ever meeting of BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine (BITFM) was held at

Parvasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi.

• It was organized by Union Ministry of AYUSH.


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24. India-UAE Partnership Summit 2017 – Dubai.

• The theme of the summit was - Investment

Implementation.

• The objective of India-UAE Partnership

Summit is to accelerate bilateral trade and

investment between the two countries.

12. 3rd International Conference on Yoga 2017 – New

Delhi, India.

● Theme of the conference is – “Yoga for Wellness”.

● Conference was organised by – Ministry of Ayush.

● Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the

conference.

13. 5th Global Conference on Cyber Space 2017 – New

Delhi, India.

● Theme of the conference – ‘Cyber4All: An Inclusive,

Sustainable, Developmental, Safe and Secure

Cyberspace’

● The 4th GCCS conference held in The Hague,

Netherlands.

14. India – ASEAN Youth Summit 2017 – Bhopal, Madhya

Pradesh

Theme of the summit - “Shared Values, Common

Destiny”

15. First ASEAN – India Music Festival held in New Delhi,

India.

● Note: Theme – ‘Shared Values, Common Destiny’.

16. 14th India - European Union (EU) 2017 Summit –

New Delhi, India.

● President of European Union (EU) – Donald Tusk.

● Member countries – 28

● European Union (EU) headquarter - Brussels,

Belgium.

● The 15th India-EU Summit will be held in Brussels,

Belgium.

● The 13th India-EU Summit was held in Brussels,

Belgium.

17. 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2017 -

Hyderabad, India. ● Theme of the Summit – ‘Women First, Prosperity

for All’.

● 7th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2016 –

Silicon Valley, USA.

18. 3rd India International Science Festival (IISF) 2017 – Chennai, Tamil Nadu. ● The 2nd IISF held in New Delhi in 2016. ● The 1st IISF was held at Indian Institute of

Technology (IIT) New Delhi in 2015. 19. India Mobile Congress 2017 - New Delhi.

● Note: This is the first time India is all set to host its own mobile mega show. The Indian telecom market

is the second-largest in the world after China. India has a total subscriber base of over 1.18 billion subscribers.

20. 19th UN Climate Change Summit 2017- Bonn, Germany. ● Note: The United Nations Climate Change

Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

● 18th UN Climate Change Summit 2016 - Marrakech, Morocco.

21. 9th BRICS Summit 2017 - Xiamen, China. ● Theme of the Summit - “BRICS: Stronger

Partnership for a Brighter Future”. ● The Summit was attended by –

● President of Brazil – Michel Temer ● President of Russia – Vladimir Putin ● Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi ● President of China – Xi, Jinping ● President of South Africa – Jacob Zuma

● Note: BRICS comprises 5-member countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

● Venue of 10th BRICS Summit 2018- Johannesburg, South Africa.

● Venue of 8th BRICS Summit 2016- Goa, India. 22. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit

2017 – Astana, Kazakhstan. ● Note:

● SCO General Secretary – Rashid Alimov.

● SCO Headquarter - Beijing, China.

● Official Language – Chinese, Russian.

● SCO comprises 8-member countries: China,

Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,

Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

● India and Pakistan became full members of

the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

on 9 June 2017.

● Venue of SCO Summit 2018- China.

● Venue of SCO Summit 2016- Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

23. ASEAN (30th & 31st) 2017 Summit – Manila, Philippines.

● Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) organisation comprising 10 South east Asian countries - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

● Its motto is - “One Vision, One Identity, One Community.

● Note: ASEAN Summit held twice a year.

● Secretary General – Le Luong Minh.

● Chairman - Philippines Rodrigo Duterte


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● ASEAN headquarter – Jakarta, Indonesia.

● Venue of ASEAN (32nd & 33rd) 2018 Summit - Singapore.

● Venue of 28-29th ASEAN Summit 2016 – Vientiane, Laos

24. 29th APEC 2017 Summit – Danang, Vietnam

● Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)organisation comprising 21 members countries – Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, The Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States, Vietnam.

● Chairman - Trần Đại Quang

● Executive Director - Alan Bollard

● APEC headquarter – Singapore

● Venue of 30th APEC 2018 Summit - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

● Venue of 28th APEC Summit 2016 – Peru, Lima

25. 4th BIMSTEC 2017 Summit – Kathmandu, Nepal

● Note:

● Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral

Technical and Economic Cooperation

(BIMSTEC)organisation comprising 7 members

countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar,

Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand.

● Chairmanship – Nepal (since 2014)

● BIMSTEC headquarter – Dhaka, Bangladesh

● Venue of 3rd BIMSTEC Summit 2014 - Nay Pyi

Taw, Myanmar.

26. G-20 Summit 2017 – Hamburg, Germany.

● Theme of the summit – “Shaping an Inter-

connected World”

● The G20 comprises 19 countries plus the

European Union. These countries are Argentina,

Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany,

India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi

Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the

United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of

America (USA).

● Meeting of G20 Labour Ministers 2017 – Bad

Neuenahr, Germany.

● Meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and

Central Bank Governors 2017 – Baden,

Germany.

● Venue of G-20 2018 Summit - Buenos Aires,

Argentina

● Venue of G-20 2016 Summit – Hangzhou,

China 27. 43rd G-7 Summit 2017 - Sicily, Italy.

● Theme of the summit - “Building the foundations of

renewed trust.”

● The G-7 comprises 7 countries – Canada, France,

Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United

States.

● Venue of 42nd G-7 2016 Summit – Shima,

Japan

● Venue of 44th G-7 2018 Summit – Canada

28. NATO Summit 2017 – Brussels, Belgium.

● Note:

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

comprises 29 countries – Albania, Belgium,

Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark,

Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,

Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherland,

Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia,

Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United

States.

● NATO headquarter - Brussels, Belgium.

● NATO Secretary General - Jens Stoltenberg

● NATO 2018 Summit – Brussels, Belgium.

● NATO 2016 Summit -Warsaw, Poland

● Note: Turkey’s offer to host the 2018 NATO summit

is rejected by Canada and 18 European NATO members. Hence, 2018 NATO Summit will be held in

Brussels, Belgium.

29. 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBS) 2017 –

Bengaluru, Karnataka. ● Theme of 2017 PBS is “Redefined Engagement

With Indian Diaspora”.

● Note:

● Chief Guest at 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017

is - H.E. Dr. Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of the

Republic of Portugal.

● The PBS convention is held on January 9th each year

to commemorate the return of Mahatma Gandhi

from South Africa in 1915. It is celebrated to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community

to the development of the country.

● Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBS) 2016 was cancelled.

● 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBS) 2015 –

Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

● Singapore to Host Regional Pravasi Bharatiya

Divas in 2018. 30. 104th Indian Science Congress 2017 – SV University,

Tirupati.


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● Focal theme - Science & Technology for National Development.

● 105th Indian Science Congress 2018 to be hosted by Osmania University, Hyderabad.

● Focal Theme - Reaching the Unreached Through Science & Technology

31. 25th CHOGM 2018 Summit– The next 25th meeting of

the heads of government of the Commonwealth of

Nations will be held in the London, United Kingdom.

● Note: In 2017, Vanuatu was selected to host 25th

CHOGM Summit but due to the damage done by

Cyclone Pam, it was decided to be held in United

Kingdom in 2018.

● Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held

after a gap of every two years.

● Total member countries – 52.

● Headquarter – London, United Kingdom.

● CHOGM 2015 Summit – Malta.

32. 3rd World Conference on Environment 2017 – New

Delhi, India.

● It was organized by the National Green Tribunal

(NGT) and inaugurated by the President Pranab

Mukherjee.

National Affairs

1. Bengaluru becomes the first Indian city to have its

own logo - “Be U”. The logo, ‘Be U’ is a mix of typography

in English and Kannada. The objective of the logo to

make every person coming to the city to spend on

memorabilia. The logo was designed by Nammur, a design start-up.

2. Bengaluru to host 7th International Coffee festival - The seventh edition of the India International Coffee

Festival (IICF) will be held in Bengaluru from January 16-19.

3. India's first design University Opens in Haryana - India's first design university 'World University of Design' opened its campus at Sonipat, Haryana.

Note: ➢ The University is promoted by Om Parkash

Bansal Educational and Social Welfare Trust of Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab.

➢ WUD is India's first university dedicated to education in the creative domain.

➢ WUD has International Collaborations with foreign Universities like UWS University of West Scotland, VFS the Vancouver Film School, and

IAAD the Italian University of Design. 4. India to get its first runway on sea-bridge at

Lakshadweep - India is all set to get its first runway on a ‘sea bridge’, as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been given a nod to extend Lakshadweep’s Agatti Airport. The project is estimated to cost Rs. 1,500cr.

5. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has

created National Highways Investment Promotion Cell (NHIPC) for attracting domestic and foreign

investment for highways projects. 6. India’s first home-grown high purity gold reference

BND-4201 standard launched - The Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BND-4201) is India’s first home-

grown high purity gold reference standard. The BND-4201 is reference material for gold of ‘9999’ fineness (gold that is 99.99% pure with impurities of only 100 parts-per-million). It will be beneficial to the consumers and public at large to ensure purity of gold.

7. Blue Flag pilot project launched for beach clean-up and development - The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched pilot project ‘Blue Flag’ to develop and enhance standards of cleanliness on beaches.

8. Paytm becomes India’s first payments app to cross 100 million downloads on Play Store - India’s largest

mobile-first financial services platform, Paytm announced that its app has crossed the 100 million milestones on Google Play Store. This makes Paytm the country’s first payments app to cross the 100 million downloads mark.

9. Maharashtra tops in GST collection in first five months - Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are top

contributors among states and Union Territories in the first five months since the rollout of the Goods and

Services Tax (GST) regime in July 1, 2017. The data was revealed by Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla in reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

10. The Union Government has made an action plans for backward district programme to improve socio-

economic profiles of 115 identified “most-backward” districts including 35 affected by left-wing extremism.

11. e-HRMS portal launched by Dr Jitendra Singh

(Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) – The Electronic-Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS) portal will bring all employees of Government of India on employee portal so that all processes of personnel management from hiring to retiring will be on digital platform and manual system


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of handling personnel management will be dispensed with.

12. SAMEEP initiative launched by Ministry of External Affairs – The aim of this initiative to bring Indian foreign policy to students across the country. Under this, MEA

officials will talk to students to help them better understand foreign policy. The main purpose of SAMEEP

is to take Indian foreign policy and its global engagements to students across the country.

SAMEEP stands for - Students and MEA Engagement

Programme

13. Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated Start-up Incubation Centre in Mangalore - Defence Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman has inaugurated a modern development centre - the Centre for Entrepreneurship

Opportunities and Learning - for budding entrepreneurs in Mangalore.

The aim of this centre is to promote Startup India

initiative in the country. 14. Mumbai gets country's first AC suburban train -

Mumbai Railway Service (Western Railway) started the first ever Air-Conditioned local train has been flagged off from Borivali station in Mumbai. The AC local will operate only on the Churchgate-Borivili

section.

15. PM Modi launched Tuirial Hydropower project in Mizoram - PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 60-

megawatt Tuirial hydroelectric power project in Aizawl, Mizoram.

➢ Now, the Mizoram had become the third power- surplus state in the north-east after Sikkim and Tripura.

➢ Prime Minister also inaugurated the Shillong - Nongstoin Rongjeng Tura road.

➢ The hydropower project would produce ‘251 million units’ of electrical energy every year.

➢ The Tuirial hydropower project has been built on Tuirial River, a tributary of Barak River.

16. Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates eastern India’s

First CNG Stations – The Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated

eastern India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) stations for scooters in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

He has also inaugurated CNG-run scooters and CNG

stations for three-wheelers at Chandrasekharpur and

Patia area in Bhubaneswar.

The CNG stations were part of GAIL’s Pradhan Mantri

Urja Ganga and City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects in

Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

17. Indian Railways plans to make all stations 100% LED lit by March 2018.

18. Patanjali ranked India's most trusted FMCG Brand - Indian FMCG company, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. has been ranked as India's most trusted Fast-Moving Consumer

Goods (FMCG) Brand by the Brand Trust Report India Study 2017.

19. The Union Cabinet has approved proposal of Ministry of Railways to set up first ever National Rail and Transport University (NRTU) in Vadodara, Gujarat.

20. Noted writer Ramendra Kumar felicitated in Sri Lanka - Noted writer Ramendra Kumar, whose stories feature in Sri Lankan text books, has been felicitated in the neighbouring country Sri Lanka for his contribution

to children's literature.

Note:

• He is an award-winning writer with 32 books to his

credit.

• His book Dilemma and other stories, translated into

Sinhala, was also released at the felicitation

ceremony. This is his fourth book in Sinhala. 21. HAL's Dornier228 planes made under 'Make in India'

set for commercial flights - The 19-seater Dornier 228 aircraft is manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under licence from Swiss technology company RUAG for the defence forces and European markets. Recently it was successfully tested at Kanpur Airport. Well, the HAL of Kanpur has been transport aircraft division since 1960.

22. A new LIGO gravitational wave detector to be built in

India by 2025 – The new Laser Interferometer

Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detector to be

built in India by 2025. This will be the third detector the

two already operational in the US.

Note: The LIGO detectors discovered the first

gravitational waves produced by two giant merging

blackholes last year. The research won a Nobel Prize in

Physics this year.

23. Air Deccan gets DGCA nod for UDAN (Ude Desh ka

Aam Naagrik) scheme - The aviation regulator

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has granted

flying permit to Air Deccan, a move that will enable the

airline to operate flights under the regional connectivity

scheme called UDAN.

24. Odisha recognised as 'Champion State' for exports -

The Centre has recognised Odisha as a 'Champion State'

for recording the highest growth in exports during 2016-

17. • The exports from the state have increased from Rs

19,082 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 40,872 crore in 2016-


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17 with merchandise exports from Odisha

registering the highest growth rate of 114 per cent

among all the states,

25. UNESCO names Kumbh Mela in list of Intangible

Cultural Heritage – The Intergovernmental

Committee for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural

Heritage under UNESCO has inscribed ´KumbhMela´

on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural

Heritage of Humanity.

Note:

• The inscription of Kumbh Mela in list was

undertaken following recommendation by

expert body which examines nominations

submitted by member countries of UNESCO

during its 12th session of Committee held at

Jeju, South Korea.

• KumbhMela is the 14th intangible cultural

heritage from India to be listed in UNESCO’s

list.

26. Uttar Pradesh first State to approve Centre’s triple

talaq draft bill – Uttar Pradesh became first state to

approve Union Government’s draft law — Muslim

Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act that

makes practice of instant “triple talaq” or talaq-e-

biddat. a cognisable and non-bailable criminal offence.

The draft law was endorsed by the state cabinet

meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Background

27. India and Israel open centre for floriculture in

Tamil Nadu – India and Israel have jointly set up a

centre for excellence in floriculture at Thally in

Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu. It is first agro-

technology development centre to be set up with

Israel’s assistance in Tamil Nadu.

28. Bodhi Parva: BIMSTEC Festival of Buddhist

Heritage held in New Delhi – India hosted “Bodhi

Parva: BIMSTEC Festival of Buddhist Heritage” at New

Delhi as part of celebrations of 20th Anniversary of

BIMSTEC. The Festival was inaugurated by Minister of

State (IC) for Culture Dr. Mahesh Sharma.

29. India’s first mobile food testing lab unveiled in Goa

– India’s ‘first’ mobile food testing laboratory enabling

on-the-spot food safety tests was launched in Goa. It

was launched by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Note:

• This is the first ever ‘Food Safety on Wheel’

mobile laboratory in the country.

• The vehicle is equipped to conduct on-the-

spot tests to check food quality and curb

adulteration.

• It will also check hygiene level of water

and the results can be received within 15

minutes.

30. Mt Hope new tallest mountain in British Antarctic

Territory – As per new discovery from cartographers

surveying Antarctica, Mt Hope is the tallest mountain

in the British Antarctic Territory (BAT). Its height is

measured at 3,239 meters above sea level.

Note: Earlier, maps showed Mt Jackson with the height 3,184 meters as the tallest mountain in the

territory according to researchers at British

Antarctic Survey (BAS).

31. Uttarakhand government makes LED bulbs

compulsory in all government offices – The state

government of Uttarakhand has taken a new initiative

for energy conservation by making it compulsory for

all government offices to install LED bulbs.

32. Kerala’s Alappuzha in top UN clean city list - The

waste management system was being implemented in Kerala’s coast town of Alappuzha has been recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of the five models across the world for fighting the pollution menace.

Note: • Alappuzha called “the Venice of East” has

been listed in the UNEP environment report.

• PM Narendra Modi Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ranked Alappuzha at 380 among the 500 cities in the country in the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2017.

33. Farmer engagement app ‘Jai Kisaan’ launched in

Goa – The Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar

launched a farmer engagement app named ‘Jai Kisaan’

which aims to fulfil the needs of the farmer's

community in India.

34. PM Narendra Modi launches UMANG App – Prime

Minister Narendra Modi launched the UMANG App

(Unified Mobile Application), a platform that brings

more than100 government services on a single mobile

app.

35. PM Modi inaugurated Dr. Ambedkar International

Centre in New Delhi - Prime Minister Narendra

Modi inaugurated the B.R Ambedkar International

Centre in the New Delhi.


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36. Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh has been included

in the National Capital Region (NCR). Now there are

total 23 districts which come under the National

Capital Region.

37. Kacheguda becomes first energy-efficient rail

station – Kacheguda railway station (South Central

Railway) has earned the unique distinction of being

the First Energy Efficient ‘A1 Category’ Railway Station on Indian Railways. The station has achieved

100% energy efficiency replacing 1,312 conventional

lights with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting.

38. India’s largest floating Solar Power Plant opened in

Kerala by the State power minister MM Mani in Kerala.

The total budget for the project is Rs. 9.25 crore. The

plant is built at Banasura Sagar dam Kerala.

About Banasura Sagar Dam

• The Banasura Sagar Dam is located in

Wayanad District of Kerala in the Western

Ghats. It is built over Kabini River.

• It is the largest earthen dam in India and the

second largest in Asia.

• The Dam is named after the Banasura, the son

of Mahabali who was a very respected king of

Kerala.

39. Core sector grows 4.7% in October 2017 - The

growth of Core sector has grown till 4.7% in the

month of October 2017. The data is shared by the of

eight core industries released by Ministry of

Commerce and Industry.

Note:

• This is the highest core sector growth since

March 2017.

• The eight core sectors include - coal,

natural gas, crude oil, refinery products,

cement, fertilizers, steel, and electricity.

40. National Nutrition Mission approved by Union

Cabinet - The Union Cabinet has approved the setting

of National Nutrition Mission (NNM) with an outlay of

9046.17 crore rupees for three years. It will be rolled

out in three phases from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

Note:

• The function of NNM is to monitor various

schemes contributing towards addressing

malnutrition.

• More than 10 crore people will be

benefitted by this programme.

• All the States and districts will be covered

in a phased manner i.e. 315 districts in

2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and

remaining districts in 2019-20.

• It is an apex body under Ministry of

Women and Child Development.

41. Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium held in

New Delhi - The 22nd meeting of the Small Farmers’

Agri-Business Consortium held in New Delhi. The

meeting was chaired by Union Agriculture and

Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh.

About Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium

• The Small Farmers Agribusiness

Consortium (SFAC) is an autonomous society established in 1994 and is

registered under Societies Registration Act

1860.

• It is promoted by Union Ministry of

Agriculture, Cooperation, and Farmers’

Welfare.

• SFAC is also registered as Non-Banking

Financial Institution (NBFC) by Reserve

Bank of India (RBI).

42. 'Kathakar - International Storytellers Festival’

held in New Delhi - The 7th edition of the Kathakar -

International Storytellers Festival’ held at the Indira

Gandhi National Centre for the Arts ( IGNCA), New

Delhi.

Note:

• The festival was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju.

• The festival was started under the aegis of UNESCO in 2010.

• It is the only oral storytelling festival in India and is a part of Ghummakkad Narain- the Travelling Literature Festival.

• The festival this year will be hosted in the cities of Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Mumbai.

43. BSF celebrated 52nd formation - The Border

Security Force is celebrating its 52nd formation day on

1st December 2017.

Note:

• India's Border Security Force was formed on

December 1 in 1965 after the Indo-Pak and

India-China wars.


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• The KF Rustamji, from the Indian police

service, was the first Director General of BSF.

• Krishan Kumar Sharma is the

present Director General of BSF.

• BSF headquartered in New Delhi.

44. One Rupee note turns 100 - The one rupee note turns

100 years old on 30th November 2017.

Note:

• The first one-rupee note was introduced on November 30, 1917, with the photo of King George V.

• In 1926, the RBI discontinued issuance of one-rupee note but it got reintroduced in 1940. In 1994 again, the note get discontinued which got back reintroduced in 2015.

• The One Rupee note is issued by Ministry of Finance and it bears the signatures of Finance Secretary.

45. Cyclone Ockhi strikes in the Tamil Nadu & Kerala - The

cyclone Ockhi strikes in the southern districts of Tamil

Nadu and some parts of Kerala state.

46. PM Narendra Modi launches Hyderabad Metro Rail

Project – Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated

the first phase of the 72-km elevated Hyderabad Metro

Rail project.

Moreover, PM Modi also launched the mobile app

named 'T Savari' for Metro passengers. The first

phase of Hyderabad Metro Rail project has 24

stations in 30-km stretch between Miyapur and

Nagole.

47. ‘Project Saksham’ launched by Railways Ministry -

‘Project Saksham’ is a complete training programme,

which aims to train all employees of Indian Railways

with a view to upgrade their skill and knowledge. It

was launched by Union Minister of Railways & Coal

Piyush Goyal.

48. 5th Global Conference on Cyber Space held in New Delhi.

Note: The theme of the conference is Cyber for all,

a secure and inclusive cyberspace for sustainable

Development.

49. India re-elected member of UNESCO’s executive

board - India was re-elected as member of executive

board of United Nations educational, scientific and

cultural organization (UNESCO).

Note: Executive board is UNESCO’s top decision-

making body. The election was held at 39th session of

General Conference of UNESCO in Paris, France.

50. Facebook launches Disaster Maps in India - The

social networking giant Facebook Inc. has rolled out

Disaster Maps for India in a bid to help communities

recover and rebuild faster in aftermath of natural

disasters. It was launched at Facebook’s first Disaster Response Summit in India along with National Disaster

Management Authority (NDMA) to improve disaster

response and disaster management in India.

Note: Government has claimed that India will be the

first country to partner with Facebook on disaster

response.

51. India’s second Technology & Innovation Support

Centre established at Centre for Intellectual Property

Rights (CIPR), Anna University, Chennai.

Note:

• The objective of TISC is to stimulate dynamic,

vibrant and balanced Intellectual Property Rights

(IPRs) system in India to foster creativity and

innovation.

• It will thereby help to promote entrepreneurship

and enhancing social, economic and cultural

development by establishing network of TISCs in

India.

52. Supreme Court refuses to ban Kambala - The

Supreme Court has refused to pass an interim order to

stay Ordinance allowing kambala, the traditional

buffalo slush track race in Karnataka. People for

Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a non-

governmental organisation, had challenged the

Ordinance.

Note: Kambala is traditional slush track buffalo race

that is held annually in coastal districts of Karnataka

to entertain rural people of the area. The sports season

generally starts in November and lasts till March.

53. Govt. to provide financial assistance of Rs 2302.05

crore for Sagarmala projects - The Union Ministry of

Shipping undertook projects worth Rs 2302 crore for

financial assistance under the Coastal Berth Scheme of

the Sagarmala Programme. The Ministry also extended

the period of the scheme for three years up to 31

March 2020 and expanded its scope to cover capital

dredging at Major Ports and preparation of DPR for

coastal berth project.

Key points-


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➢ The 47 projects under Coastal Berth Scheme are

distributed over eight states with the highest

number of projects in Maharashtra (12 projects),

Andhra Pradesh & Goa (10 projects), Karnataka (6

projects), Kerala and Tamil Nadu (3 projects),

Gujarat (2 projects) and West Bengal (1 project).

➢ The most recent beneficiaries of the scheme were

Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Karnataka Government respectively for

developing coastal infrastructure at Jawahar Lal

Nehru Port, Karwar Port and Old Manglore Port.

About Coastal Berth Scheme of Sagarmala

Programme

➢ The Coastal Berth Scheme aims to provide

financial support to ports or state governments

for creation of infrastructure for movement of

cargo and passenger by sea or national

waterways.

➢ The total financial assistance from Central

Government is 50 per cent of the total cost of the

project subject.

54. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

approved implementation of Special Banking

Arrangement (SBA) for Rs. 10,000 crore for

payment of outstanding claims on account of fertilizer

subsidy in year 2016-17.

55. Railways launch main arch on world's highest

bridge on Chenab - The Indian Railways has

commenced the main arch of the world's highest

bridge on the River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir's

Reasi district.

56. BRO builds world's highest motorable road in

Ladakh - The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has

constructed the world's highest motorable road in

Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, passing

through Umlingla Top at a height of over 19,300 feet.

The feat was achieved under 'Project Himank' of the

organisation.

57. Govt. launched Food Regulatory & Nivesh Bandhu

portal - Union Minister of Food Processing Industries

Harsimrat Kaur Badal announced the launch of the

Food Regulatory Portal and Investor Facilitation

Portal “Nivesh Bandhu”.

About Nivesh Bandhu Portal –

➢ “Nivesh Bandhu” portal will assist investors to

make informed investment decisions.

➢ It will provide information on Central and State Governments’ investor friendly policies, agro-

producing clusters, infrastructure, and potential

areas of investment in the food processing sector.

58. India sends first wheat shipment to Afghanistan

via Chabahar port - India has flagged off shipment of

wheat for Afghanistan through Iran’s Chabahar port.

Note: Chabahar port is strategically located in Sistan-

Balochistan province on energy-rich Iran’s southern

coast in Gulf of Oman near its border with Pakistan and can be easily accessed from India’s western coast.

59. Govt. launched MSME Samadhaan Portal - The

Union Government has launched MSME (Micro, Small

and Medium Enterprise) delayed payment portal

'MSME Samadhaan'.

Key points –

➢ The portal will give information about the

pending payments of MSEs with individual

CPSEs, Central Ministries, State Governments,

etc.

➢ The portal will help in monitoring the delayed

payments in a more effective manner.

➢ It will also empower the MSEs to access the

portal and monitor their cases.

60. Indian Railways to get its first set of solar plants -

Indian Railways’ first set of solar plants having a total

capacity of 5 megawatt peak (MWp). The plants built

on the roof tops of Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi,

Anand Vihar and Delhi railway stations would be

generating 76.5 lakh units of solar power cumulatively

every year and are expected to meet about 30 per cent

of the energy requirement of these stations.

61. BharatMala Pariyojana: The Union Government has

approved mega highway projects to build 83677 km of

highways over the next five years at a cost of Rs 7 lakh

crore.

Note:

➢ These highway projects include the ambitious

Bharatmala project which is the second-largest

highway project after National Highways

Development Project (NHDP) that saw

development of about 50000 km of roads.

➢ The Bharatmala Pariyojana or Project will

subsume all the existing highway projects,

including the flagship National Highways

Development Project (NHDP).

➢ Bharatmala project is an umbrella programme for

roads under which 34800 km of highways will be

constructed at a cost of Rs 5.35 lakh crore.


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➢ Bharatmala Project will include 9000 km of

economic corridors, 6000 km of inter-

corridor and feeder routes, 5000 km of national

corridors efficiency improvement, 2000 km of

border road connectivity, 800 km of

expressways and 10000 km of balance

NHDP projects.

➢ A study under the Bharatmala project by global consultancy firm AT Kearney identified 44

economic corridors for development. The

corridors included Mumbai-Cochin-Kanyakumari,

Bengaluru-Mangaluru, Hyderabad-Panaji and

Sambalpur-Ranchi among others.

➢ The government has assigned NHAI, National

Highway and Industrial Development Corporation

(NHIDCL) and state Public Work Departments

(PWDs) for the Bharatmala Project.

62. India’s first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra for

Skilling in Smart Cities Inaugurated - Union Home

Minister Rajnath Singh along with Skill Development

Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated India's

first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for

Skilling in Smart Cities in New Delhi. The main aim

behind the development is to bring momentum in

skilling through collaborative efforts.

Note: The PMKK Centre for Smart Cities will provide

skill training for unemployed youth through its short-

term training (STT) module and contribute to capacity

building of municipal employees through Recognition of

Prior Learning (RPL) program. 63. PM Modi launches 'Ro-Ro' ferry service in Gujarat -

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Phase 1

of the RO RO (Roll on, Roll off) ferry service between

Ghogha in Saurashtra and Dahej in south Gujarat. This

is the first of its kind project not only in India but also

in South-East Asia,”

About RO RO Ferry Service

➢ The term ro-ro is generally taken for large

ocean-going vessels. This is in opposite to the lo-

lo (lift-on and lift-off) vessels, which apply a

crane to load and unload cargo.

➢ This is a first of its kind of services in India. The

RO RO ferry service will be able to bear up to

hundred of vehicles (cars, bus, truck etc.) and

250 passengers linking the two ports.

➢ The ro-ro ferry services will take wheeled cargo

on and off the ferry on their own wheels or

using a platform vehicle. The wheeled cargo

includes, cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars.

64. Jaipur & Srinagar Airport ranked first and second

in ACI-ASQ Survey - The Jaipur and Srinagar Airport

were ranked first and second respectively in ACI

(Airports Council International)-ASQ (Airport Service

Quality) Survey in the category of 2-5 million

passengers.

65. Times Higher Education Rankings: IISC & IIT

Bombay among world’s top 200 for engineering -

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore and

Indian Instituted of Technology (IIT) Bombay were

ranked among world’s top 200 institutions for

engineering and computer science in Times Higher

Education subject-wise rankings.

Note: IISc was placed at the 89th spot, while IIT

Bombay was placed in the 126 spot.

66. JP Nadda has launched 15 medical outlets of ‘AMRIT

Deendayal’ in Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab

through Video Conference from Shimla.

67. PM dedicated first All India Institute of Ayurveda

to nation - Prime Minister Narendra Modi on

dedicated first All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in

New Delhi to the nation on the occasion of National

Ayurveda Day.

Note:

➢ The first ever All India Institute of Ayurveda

(AIIA)is an apex institute under Ministry of

AYUSH.

➢ It aims to bring synergy between the traditional

wisdom of Ayurveda and modern diagnostic tools

and technology. It has been set up on lines of

AIIMS

68. India’s first micro forest being built in Chhattisgarh.

69. The union minister Harsh Vardhan has launched SECURE Himalaya project in association with UNDP at the Global

Wildlife Programme (GWP) conference in New Delhi. 70. The National Highways Authority of India has launched a

mobile app for smooth functioning of electronic toll

collection --MyFASTag.

71. Country’s first ‘Videsh Bhavan’ launched in Bandra Kurla

Complex (BKC), Mumbai by External Affairs Minister

‘Sushma Swaraj’. 72. India’s first Hyperloop project will come up in Andhra

Pradesh. 73. The ‘Kandla Port’ has been renamed as -- Deendayal Port.


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Note: Kandla Port is the largest sea port of India (by

volume of cargo handled) located in Kutch District of

Gujarat.

States News

1. Meghalaya launches India’s first social audit law -

Meghalaya state has become the first Indian state to operationalize The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act,

2017, a law that makes a social audit of government programmes and schemes a part of government

practice.

It was launched by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma at a

national convention in Shillong.

2. GAIL commissions India’s second largest rooftop solar plant in UP - GAIL India Ltd has commissioned India’s second largest rooftop solar power plant in

Uttar Pradesh. It is 5.76 MWp (Mega Watt peak) solar plant installed at GAIL’s petrochemical complex at Pata

in UP. Note: India’s largest rooftop solar plant was

commissioned in December 2015 by Tata Power Solar

in Amritsar, Punjab. It is 12 MWp solar rooftop project,

which produces more than 150 lakh units of power

annually.

3. Vaikunta Ekadasi festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu 4. The Losar festival celebrated in Ladakh region to

mark the new year.

5. Rajasthan becomes the first state to offer e-mail IDs in Hindi - Rajasthan has become the first Indian

state to launch free email addresses in Hindi (in Devanagari script) for its residents.

➢ The objective of this initiative aims to ensure maximum participation of people towards e-governance and ensure those maximum government facilities in vernacular language.

➢ Soon Rajasthan’s state personnel will have an

email id in Hindi too. 6. International Sweet Festival' to be held in Hyderabad,

Telangana

7. An International Festival of Poetry Mystic Kalinga held

in Bhubaneswar Odisha

8. Hot Air Balloon Festival held in Varanasi, UP.

9. Konark festival held in Odisha – The 31st edition

of the Konark festival held in Odisha. The festival

held every year from 1st to 5th December. The

objective of the festival is to promote the diverse

Indian dance heritage as well as the popularity of

Konark Temple and Odisha as a tourist destination.

10. Death for rape of girls aged 12 or less: MP - The

Assembly of Madhya Pradesh has passed a bill

awarding death to those found guilty of raping girls

aged 12 and below.

Note:

• The Bill will now be sent to the President

for his assent, after which it will become

a law.

• If President approved the bill, then

Madhya Pradesh will become the first

state where those convicted of such

rapes will face the death penalty.

• The bill introduced a section--376 (A)

(A)--to the Indian Penal Code (IPC)

under which a person convicted of

raping a girl aged 12 years or below may

be awarded death penalty, life

imprisonment or a minimum

imprisonment of 14 years with a fine.

11. Nagaland celebrated 54th formation Day –

Nagaland state celebrated its 54th formation day. On

1 December 1963, Nagaland became the 16th state

of India.

Note:

• The key economic activity of the state is

Agriculture and the main crops include –

rice, corn, millets, pulses, oilseeds, etc.

• The state shares its borders with the

state of Assam to the west, Arunachal

Pradesh to the North, Manipur to the

South and Burma to the east.

• The capital of Nagaland is Kohima.

Dimapur is the largest city in Nagaland.

• TR Zeliang is the present Chief Minister

of the state.

• Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya is the

Governor of the Nagaland.


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12. Hornbill festival held in Nagaland - The 18th

Hornbill festival held in Nagaland. The festival is

celebrated from 1-10 December every year in

Nagaland. It is also called the 'Festival of Festivals'.

13. Telangana Govt: Urdu as Second Official

Language - Telangana Chief Minister K

Chandrashekar Rao declared Urdu as the state's

second official language. Every office in the state will now have an Urdu speaking officer. First official

language is Telugu.

14. PM lays Foundation Stone for Infrastructure

Projects in Bihar - The Prime Minister Narendra

Modi has laid the foundation stone for four

sewerage projects under the Namami Gange

programme; and four National Highway projects, at

Mokama in Bihar. The total outlay of these projects

is over Rs. 3700 crore.

The projects include - The four sewerage projects

include Sewage Treatment Plant at Beur, Sewerage

System with Sewer Network at Beur, Sewage

Treatment Plant at Karmalichak and STP and Sewer

Network at Saidpur.

15. Aerospace Park to be set up in Tamil Nadu – The

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Edapaddi K Palaniswami,

laid the foundation stone for an aerospace park at

Kanchipuram district to be set up by the State

Government in 245 acres and at an estimated cost of

Rs 198 crore.

16. Maharashtra to build 210m World’s Tallest

statue of Shivaji – Maharashtra government has

decided to build the 210-metre-high statue of

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the sea off the

Mumbai coast.

Currently, the Spring Temple Buddha statue, which

stands at 208 metres in China, is the world’s tallest

statue.

17. Allahabad to get India’s First Black Buck

Conservation Reserve - Uttar Pradesh cabinet

decided to make India's first conservation reserve

for blackbuck in Allahabad's Meja. The decision

taken for the protection of black deer will also help

in wooing tourists.

18. Haryana became the first State in India to treat

Hepatitis-C Patients with Oral Medicine - Haryana

has emerged as the first state in the country to treat

Hepatitis-C patients through oral medicine. This

medicine would be provided free of cost to

permanent residents of all categories at district

level.

19. Goa to host Nobel Prize Event in February 2018 -

The state government of Goa signed a trilateral

memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the

Department of Biotechnology, Union Ministry of

Science and Technology and Nobel Media, Sweden to

host the Nobel Prize Series - India event during 1-28 February 2018.

The event will be jointly organized by Department of

Bio-Technology, Union Ministry of Science and

Technology in collaboration with Department of

Science and Technology and Nobel Media AB,

Sweden.

20. Goa tops Gender Vulnerability Index – Goa has

topped the Gender Vulnerability Index (GVI). The

index was prepared by Child development NGO Plan

India. Kerala and Mizoram secured second & third

rank respectively.

Bihar ranked at the bottom which is followed by

Uttar Pradesh. Delhi was placed near bottom at the

24th place

21. Lifetime pensions for 'Hindi Satyagrahis':

Haryana Govt. - The state government of Haryana

announced the lifetime monthly pension of Rs

10,000 for 'Hindi Satyagrahis' and those from the

state who were jailed during the Emergency.

22. Vrindavan, Barsana declared as Sacred Sites -

The Uttar Pradesh government issued an order

notifying Vrindavan and Barsana towns in Mathura

district as 'sacred pilgrimage sites' ('pavitra teerth

sthals'). With this, Vrindavan and Barsana became

the first two places to be notified as teerth sthal in

government records. No meat and liquor shops will

be allowed in these towns anymore.

23. Madras HC bans photographs of living persons

on sign-boards and banners - The Madras High

Court banned the use of photographs or pictures of

living persons on banners, flex boards and sign-

boards across the state of Tamil Nadu.

24. Meghalaya Election department to feature in Limca

Book of Records - The Election department of

Meghalaya state has won an entry in the Limca Book

of Records for forming a human logo with newly-

enrolled young voters of Meghalaya on 1 July 2017.

The information was shared by Limca official

Garima Manon with the office of Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer on 24 October 2017.


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25. Assam to host Global Investors Summit in 2018 -

Assam would be hosting its first Global Investors

Summit in Guwahati from 3- 4 February 2018.

26. The state government of Chhattisgarh has reduced

the rate of interest on loan given to women and their

self-help groups under Saksham Yojna. The rate of

interest on loans has been cut from 6.5 per cent to 5

per cent to benefit more women and their SHGs under the Yojna.

27. India’s first-ever Industrial Training Institute for the Divyangans will come up in the state-- Assam. Note: The foundation stone for the institute was laid at Dibrugarh ITI Complex at Borboruah in Assam.

28. Prime Minister ‘Narander Modi’ laid the foundation stone of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh.

29. Uttar Pradesh state govt. has launched a mass

marriage scheme ‘Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah

Yojana’ for BPL families. 30. Karnataka. state govt has launched 'Vision-2025'

project across the state.

Note: The project aimed at evolving a draft policy for

development of the state for the year 2025 by

seeking the opinion of the general public.

31. Odisha state Govt. has launched a Sampurna Yojna

scheme for pregnant women. 32. The Union Minister Dr. Harshvardhan has launched 'Pt

Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul

Pariyojana' in Uttarakhand.

33. Himachal Pradesh became the first Indian state to

launch electric bus service. 34. Jharkhand state government has launched Shaheed

Gram Vikas Yojana to provide houses to freedom fighters.

35. Tripura became the first Indian state to set up family welfare district committees to examine the complaints of women against their husbands and in-laws and find an amicable solution.

36. Jammu & Kashmir government has inaugurated the

second International Yoga Festival and International

Yoga Sports Championship 2017.

37. India’s first-ever railways disaster management centre will come up near Bengaluru, Karnataka by 2018.

38. India’s first-ever aviation university Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU) will come up in Fursatganj in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.

39. The 2017 Aadi Perukku festival is celebrated in Tamil Nadu.

40. India’s biggest Global Skill Park will be set up in the

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

41. India’s first automatic coastal warning for disasters

will set up in Odisha.

42. India’s first freight village will be developed by the

Inland waterways authority of India (IWAI) in --

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

International Affairs

1. Six countries enter UN Security Council – Equatorial

Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Peru, Poland and the Netherlands formally joined the ranks of the non-

permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Note: ➢ The UN Security Council has 15 members,

including five with permanent seats who have the power to veto resolutions - Britain, China,

France, Russia and the United States. ➢ The six countries who left the UN Security

Council on December 31 are Egypt, Italy, Japan,

Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay. 2. India to set up IT center in Egypt's Al Azhar

University - India will be establishing a Centre of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) at Al

Azhar University in Egypt.

3. Saudi Arabia, UAE introduce VAT for first time - Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) became

first countries of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to introduce Value Added Tax (VAT) for the first time to

increase their revenue away from oil reserves. The other members of 6 member GCC– Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar — have also committed to introduce

VAT, though some have delayed plans until at least 2019.

4. Norway becomes 1st Nation to shut national broadcasts on FM - Norway has become the world's first country to shut down national broadcasts of its

FM network by completing its transition to digital radio.

5. China successfully tested its first Photovoltaic road - The first photovoltaic (solar) highway based on


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home-grown technology was successfully tested in Shandong province of China.

Note: ➢ The photovoltaic highway is constructed using

solar panels which have a thin sheet of transparent concrete on top of them, protecting the surface.

➢ With this, China became the second country in the world to construct a photovoltaic highway.

➢ Earlier, in 2016 France had introduced world’s first photovoltaic road fitted with solar panels.

6. Guatemala to move its embassy in Israel to

Jerusalem - Guatemala’s President Jimmy Morales

has announced that it would be moving its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Guatemala was one of the 9 nations that had voted

against the United Nations resolution that rejected US

President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize

Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 7. WHO Certifies Gabon as Polio-Free - The World

Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Gabon (central African country) "polio-free country", given the lack of new reported or suspected cases

The UN health agency nonetheless recommended

taking the necessary steps to continue monitoring for possible signs of the disease.

Since 1988, Cases of polio have decreased by 99%,

when polio was endemic in 125 countries and 350,000

cases were recorded worldwide. 8. Saudi Arabia to host World Chess - Saudi Arabia will

soon host a world chess tournament for the first time nearly two years after the country’s top cleric issued a religious edict against playing the board game

9. India selected as Chair of Ad Hoc Committee of Kimberley Certification Scheme - India was selected as Chair of Ad Hoc Committee on Review & Reforms to look into various issues pertaining to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPSC) at recently held KP Plenary Session in Brisbane, Australia.

Angola will be the Vice Chair of this Adhoc Committee

and will work with India and other members of

Committee on reform issues related to changes in core

document, expansion of scope of KP.

India was appointed as the Kimberly Process (KP) Vice

Chair for 2018 & Chair for 2019 in the last plenary of

KP held in Dubai in November, 2016. The EU will be KP

Chair for 2018.

10. Google launches artificial intelligence research center in China –

Alphabet Inc's Google is opening an artificial

intelligence (AI) research center in China to target the

country's local talent.

The research center is the first of its kind in Asia and will comprise a small team operating out of its existing

office in Beijing.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence displayed by

machines, in contrast with the natural intelligence (NI)

displayed by humans and other animals.

11. India to Become the Fifth Largest Economy in 2018: Cebr Report – According to the Centre for

Economics and Business Research (Cebr) report- India's economy is expected to overtake that of Britain

and France to become the fifth largest in the world in dollar terms in 2018, and third largest in 2032. Note:

➢ China is likely to overtake the United States as the world's No.1 economy in 2032, Cebr said.

➢ India is currently seventh in the top world economies with $ 2 trillion.

➢ According to the World Economic Forum, the world's top 3 economies are-

➢ USA ($ 18 trillion), ➢ China (11 trillion dollars), ➢ Japan (4.4 trillion dollars)

12. World's longest glass bridge opens in China at 755 feet high - The 488-metre-long bridge at Hongyagu

Scenic Area in Hebei, is the world’s longest glass-floor bridge.

13. Russia has signed an agreement to build a nuclear

power plant in Sudan

14. Belgium becomes the first country to appoint

female ambassador to Saudi Arabia - Dominique

Mineur, who is currently posted in the United Arab

Emirates, will join the Belgium embassy in Saudi

capital Riyhad in summer 2018. 15. Saudi Arabia lifts 35 years ban on cinemas, movie

theaters.

16. Taj Mahal named second-best UNESCO world

heritage site – According to a survey, the Taj Mahal

of Agra, India is the second-best UNESCO world

heritage site in the world.

Note:

• Angkor Wat of Cambodia named as the

Best UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• Angkor is one of the most important

archaeological sites in South-East Asia.


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• The survey was conducted by the

world’s largest travel portal TripAdvisor

which lists the UNESCO Cultural and

Natural heritage sites which are rated by

travellers around the globe.

• Taj Mahal is followed by Great Wall,

China; Machu Picchu, Peru; Iguazu Falls,

Argentina/Brazil; Sassi of Materia, Italy;

Auschwitz, Poland; Old City of Jerusalem,

Israel; Historic areas of Istanbul, Turkey;

and Historic Krakow, Poland.

17. Venezuela Airlines banned from European Union skies - The Airline of Venezuela Avior has been

barred from European Union skies after a committee

determined it no longer meets international safety

standards.

18. Donald Trump recognise Jerusalem as Israel's

capital – Donald Trump has announced that the U.S.

will recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

19. Wassenaar Arrangement decides to admit India

as its new member – The elite export control

regime Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) has decided

to admit India as its new member at the two-day

plenary meeting of the grouping in Vienna.

It would enhance its credentials in the field of

non-proliferation despite not being a signatory

to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The Wassenaar Arrangement plays a significant

role in promoting transparency and greater

responsibility in transfers of conventional arms

and dual-use goods and technologies.

Note:

India will become the Arrangement's 42nd

participating state as soon as the necessary

procedural arrangements for joining the WA are

completed.

The Wassenaar Arrangement participating

states reviewed the progress of the number of

current membership applications and agreed at

the plenary meeting to admit India.

20. ISA become Treaty-based International

Intergovernmental organization –The

International Solar Alliance (ISA) has become the

treaty-based international intergovernmental

organization one month after Guinea became the

15th country to ratify it.

Note:

• Till now, 46 countries have signed and

19 ratified Framework Agreement of

International Solar Alliance (ISA).

• It is the first treaty-based international

government organisation to be based in

India.

• Its headquarter is located on the campus

of National Institute of Solar Energy

(NISE), Gwalpahari, Gurgaon, Haryana.

About ISA

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is

jointly launched by the Prime Minister

Narendra Modi and French President

Francois Hollande on the sidelines of

COP-21 of UN Climate Conference in

Paris in November 2015.

• The ISA is an alliance of more than 121

countries. The institutional structure of

ISA consists of an Assembly, a Council and a Secretariat.

• The alliance is also called International

Agency for Solar Policy and Application

(IASPA).

21. PM Modi emerges as most tweeted about world

leader after Trump - According to the

microblogging site Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra

Modi has emerged as the most tweeted about world

leader after US President Donald Trump this year.

Note:

• With 44.1 million followers, Donald

Trump top the “most tweeted about

world leaders” for the year 2017.

• Narendra Modi ranked on the second

spot with 37.5 million followers about

the world leader, after Donald Trump.

22. Iran President opened the first phase of

Chabahar port which is known as the Shahid

Beheshti port. Iran President Hassan Rouhani

inaugurated the port. The Shahid Beheshti Port of

Chabahar is now the only and largest port in Iran on

the Indian Ocean and will significantly help in

regional development with the rest of world

countries.

23. US withdraws from UN Migrant & Refugee pact. –

The United States has withdrawn itself from a

United Nations Migrant & Refugee pact. to improve

the handling of migrant and refugee situations.


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24. Venezuela to launch new cryptocurrency ‘Petro’

- According to the Venezuelan President Nicolas

Maduro, the country is set to launch a digital

currency called the “petro” to combat US -led

financial "blockade,".

The ‘Petro’ a cryptocurrency will be backed by

Venezuela’s oil, mineral and gold reserves. It

would help Venezuela to make financial transactions and overcome the financial

blockade.

25. India re-elected to International Maritime

Organisation Council. YK Sinha, India’s

ambassador to the UK, represented India at the

assembly in London. India joined the International

Maritime Organisation Council as a member in 1959.

Note:

• The International Maritime Organization

(IMO) is the agency of United Nation which

plays an important role in relation to the

global shipping industry.

• It was established in 1959.

• The IMO has 172 Member States and three

Associate Members.

• Headquarter of IMO – London, United

Kingdom

• Head - Kitack Lim 26. Bank of China Begins Operations in Pakistan - Bank

of China has formally launched its operations in

Pakistan, with its first branch inaugurated in Karachi.

27. Priti Patel resigned from UK Cabinet - Priti

Patel, Britain’s first Indian-origin Cabinet Minister

resigned as International Development Secretary.

Note: This was the second Cabinet resignation within a

week. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has also

resigned recently over sexual harassment allegations.

28. EU Launches Election Observation Mission for

Nepal Polls - The European Union Election

Observation Mission was officially launched to monitor

the general and provincial polls in Nepal which are

scheduled for November 26 and December 7.

29. Hong Kong, World's Top City for International

visits - Hong Kong remains the world's most visited

city by international travellers in spite of strained

relations with neighbouring China. The report is

published by Euromonitor International.

Top 3 Countries in the list are - Hong Kong, Bangkok &

London.

30. India to contribute USD 100 million to UN

partnership fund - India has pledged an additional

amount of USD 100 million towards the UN

partnership fund, scaling up its support to sustainable

development projects across the developing world.

31. ICIJ releases Paradise papers - The International

Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has

released ‘The Paradise Papers’, a global investigation

that reveals the offshore activities of some of the

world’s most powerful people and companies.

Note: Among 180 countries represented in the data,

India ranks 19th in terms of number of names. In all

names of 714 Indians have figured in this largest ever

black money data leak.

International Consortium of Investigative

Journalists (ICIJ) - The ICIJ is global network of more

than 200 investigative journalists in 70 countries who

collaborate on in-depth investigative stories. It was

founded in 1997 by respected American journalist

Chuck Lewis. It is headquartered in Washington DC,

US. Earlier in 2016, it had released Panama Papers.

32. Guinea ratifies International Solar Alliance

Framework Agreement - The Republic of Guinea

ratified the International Solar Alliance (ISA)

Framework Agreement. The instrument of ratification

was handed over to External Affairs Minister Sushma

Swaraj by Guinea’s Foreign Minister Mamady Toure,

who was on his 4 day visit to India from 3-6 November

2017.

Note:

➢ With this, Guinea became the 15th country to

ratify the agreement.

➢ With the ratification of ISA pact by 15 countries, ISA will now be an international

legal body.

About International Solar Alliance Pact

➢ The International Solar Alliance was launched

jointly by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

and French President Francois Hollande on the

first day of the COP-21 summit at Paris in 2015.

➢ The ISA headquartered in India.

➢ The alliance was conceived as a coalition of solar

resource rich countries to collaborate on meeting

their energy needs through a common and agreed

approach.

➢ The alliance will become a legal entity once at least

15 countries ratify and deposit the framework

agreement.

33. Saudi Arabia to allow women into sports stadiums

from 2018 - Turki Al-Asheikh, Chairman of the

General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia announced

that Saudi women will now be able to attend sports


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events in stadiums starting from 2018. The move is

aimed at empowering and engaging women in the

society as an integral part of the development process.

34. WHO removes Robert Mugabe as Goodwill

Ambassador for NCDs in Africa- The World Health

Organisation (WHO) cancelled the appointment of

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's appointment as

its Goodwill Ambassador for Non-Communicable

Diseases (NCDs) in Africa.

35. Nicaragua signs Paris Climate Agreement - Central

American country Nicaragua signed the Paris

Agreement on climate change, leaving the United

States and Syria as the only two countries holing out to

sign this global climate pact.

Note: As per Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega,

the Paris Agreement is the only international

mechanism that offers the conditions to face global

warming and its effects.

➢ US withdrawal from Paris agreement -

President Donald Trump on 1 June 2017

withdrew the United States from the landmark

2015 Paris agreement to fight climate change.

Trump stated that the Paris accord will

undermine the US economy, cost US jobs, weaken

American national sovereignty and put the

country at a permanent disadvantage to the other

countries of the world.

36. 14th SAARCLAW Conference held in Colombo, Sri

Lanka - The 14th South Asian Association for Regional

Co-operation in Law (SAARCLAW) Conference was

held in Colombo, capital city of Sri Lanka along with 11th SAARC Chief Justices Conference.

37. China Unveils Asia's Largest Island-Building Vessel

- China unveiled Asia's largest artificial island-building

ship. The 140-metre-long vessel, which has been

dubbed as"magic island maker", is capable of digging

6,000 cubic metres an hour, which is equivalent to

three standard swimming pools. The boat named Tian

Kun Hao is equivalent of three standard swimming

pools.

38. World’s Third Largest Book Fair Opens in Sharjah -

With more than 1.5 million book titles and 1,650

publishing houses from 60 countries, Sharjah

International Book Fair (SIBF) opened its doors to

public and trade visitors. It is the third largest book fair

in the world.

Note:

➢ The book fair was held under the theme ‘A World in My Book’. The event has been

organised by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA).

➢ United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recently

announced Sharjahas as the ‘World Book

Capital 2019’.

39. World’s First Hydrogen Tram Begins Operation in

China - The world’s first hybrid electric tram powered

by hydrogen fuel cells has started running in China,

marking a big step in the application of green energy in

public transport.

40. Burundi, first Nation to leave International

Criminal Court - Burundi became the first nation ever

to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC), set up

15 years ago to prosecute those behind the world’s

worst atrocities.

Note:

➢ Bujumbura is the capital of Burundi and

Burundian franc is its currency.

➢ International Criminal Court established in

2002. Its head office is located in the Hague,

the Netherlands.

41. Peru approves medicinal use of marijuana - The

Peru government = has approved a bill to authorises

the medicinal and therapeutic use of cannabis

(marijuana) in the country.

Note: With this Peru became sixth country in Latin

America to legalise cannabis. Uruguay was first in

2013, allowing sales of cannabis any purpose. It was

followed by Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile.

42. Chile named Best Country to Visit in 2018 - The

travel guide company Lonely Planet has ranked Chile

as the number one country to visit in 2018 in its Best in Travel 2018 list.

Note:

➢ The guide has published the 13th edition of its

annual list of the top 10 countries every traveller

should have on their bucket list for 2018.

➢ Chile was the only South American country to earn

the top spot on the list.

➢ Top 3 Countries in the list are – Chile, South Korea

& Portugal

43. Gina Miller Named UK’s Most Influential Black

Person of the Year - Indian origin campaigner Gina

Miller was named UK’s most influential black person of

the year. She won a legal challenge seeking

Parliamentary approval for triggering Brexit.

Note: Gina Miller (52-year-old) ranked on top in the

2018 'Powerlist' of 100 people of African and

African Caribbean inheritance published in London by Powerful Media.


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44. Saudi Arabia lift its ban on internet calling

applications, easing restrictions online as the

conservative kingdom faces new criticism over

censorship.

45. The world’s highest sandcastle has built in the Germany. Note: According to the Guinness World Records, the world's highest sandcastle is now standing 16.68 meters tall in the German city of Duisburg.

28. Two-day Indian Ocean Conference 2017 being organized by India Foundation in Temple Trees in -- Colombo. Note: The theme of this year’s conference is Peace, Progress and Prosperity and will involve participants from more than 35 countries. This will be second IOC conference (first edition-Sep16 in Singapore).

28. Kenya imposed the world's toughest law against plastic bags in the country to reduce plastic pollution.

29. Google has launched the latest version of its mobile operating system -- Android Oreo.

30. British scientists developed the world’s smallest surgical robot named -Versius, which could transform daily operations for tens of thousands of patients.

46. China launched its first cyber court specializing in

handling Internet-related cases in the e-commerce hub

of Hangzhou.

47. Montenegro Officially joined North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and become the 29th member

country.

48. The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge has

opened in Switzerland.

49. Peggy Whitson (an Astronaut) returned to Earth, wrapping up a record-breaking flight that catapulted her to first place for U.S. space endurance. Note: Whitson’s 665 days off the planet 288 days on this mission alone exceeds that of any other American and any other woman worldwide.

Sports News

1. 61st National Shooting Championships in

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

• Jitu Rai has clinched the Men's 50-metre pistol national title 2017.

• He set a record of 233 at the 61st National Shooting Championships in Thiruvananthapuram.

• Note: • Jai Singh secured bronze with an effort of

198.4. • Arjun Singh Cheema of Punjab won the

junior men's 50m pistol event . 2. Anisa Sayyed of Haryana won the gold at 25m

pistol category in 61st National Shooting Championships. She set a record of 33.

• In the junior women's 25m pistol, another Haryana shooter Chinki Yadav won gold

with another final national record score of 31.

3. World Rapid Chess Championship 2017 - Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand has won the World Rapid Chess Championship in Riyadh.

4. Bangladesh won SAFF U-15 Women's

Championships title – Bangladesh defeated India in the final to won the SAFF Under-15 Women's Championships.

• This is the first South Asian title for

Bangladesh in women's football.

• India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan participated in this South Asian Football

Federation tournament.

5. Indian boxers win 5 medals (3 gold, 1 silver & 1 bronze) at Galym Tournament at the Galym

Zharylgapov Boxing Tournament in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

6. Birmingham to host Commonwealth Games in

2022 - Earlier, the 2022 Commonwealth Games were originally given to Durban (South African city) in 2015, but the city was stripped of the event because of financial difficulties.

Note: Shooting game is excluded from Commonwealth

Games 2022.

7. India has won 10 medals (5-Silver and 5 Bronze) in the first Wushu Sanda Asian Cup in Guangzhou, China.

8. Sushil Kumar & Sakshi Malik win gold at Commonwealth Wrestling Championships - India’s Sushil Kumar (freestyle wrestler) clinched the gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships, in South Africa.

He defeated Akash Khullar (New Zealand) with a

pinfall in the final of the 74kg freestyle category.

• Sakshi Malik won the gold medal in the 62kg women's freestyle category


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• India’s Parveen Rana won a bronze medal in the same category.

9. Dubai World Badminton Superseries– Akane

Yamaguchi of Japan defeated P V Sindhu in the final 10. Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic named USA

Player of Year - Midfielder Christian Pulisic (19-year) has been named as the U.S. male Player of the Year.

11. Sachin Siwach named ABC’s best youth boxer - The

World youth champion Sachin Siwach has been named the Asian Boxing Confederation’s best youth boxer of the year 2017.

12. Hockey World League winner – Australia beat

Argentina by 2-1 in the final to retain their Hockey

World League title. The final was played in

Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Note: India defeated Germany by 2-1 to grab the

bronze medal at the event.

13. FIFA Lifts Kuwait Football Ban – The international

football federation, FIFA, has lifted a two-year

suspension against Kuwait’s football association that

has prevented the country from participating in

international tournaments.

14. Kanchanmala Pande wins India’s 1st World Para

Swimming Championship Gold – Kanchanmala

Pande of Nagpur has created history as she became the

first Indian to secure pole position at the World Para-

Swimming Championship in Mexico.

Note: She won the gold in the 200-meter medley

event in the S-11 category and was also the only Indian

to qualify for the women’s category. 15. Mujeeb Zadran From Afghanistan Becomes First

Cricketer Born in 21st Century - Mujeeb-ur-Rehman

Zadran, the 16-year-old off-spinner, became the

youngest ever from Afghanistan to play International

cricket and overall, he is the 9th youngest to make

debut in ODI cricket.

16. Gurdeep creates three national records in IWF C'ships – Lifter Gurdeep Singh has created three new

senior national records in +105 Kilogram weight

category in IWF World Weightlifting Championships at

Anaheim in USA.

17. Sushil Kumar quits as National Sports Observer for

wrestling –The Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar has

resigned from the post of a National Sports Observer

for wrestling. Earlier, Boxing Champion Mary Kom had

resigned as the national observer for boxing.

18. Cristiano Ronaldo wins fifth Ballon d'Or award –The Real Madrid forward ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ (32-year)

has won the Ballon d'Or for a fifth time to move level

with rival Lionel Messi at a ceremony in Paris.

Ronaldo previously won the award in 2008, 2013,

2014 and 2016.

19. IOC banned Russia from 2018 Winter Olympics

Games - The International Olympic Committee (IOC)

has banned Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics

Games.

Note:

• The decision was announced by the IOC

president Thomas Bach and his board

members on the findings and

recommendations of a 17-month investigation

on the state-sponsored doping at the 2014

Games hosted by Russia in Sochi.

• The 2018 Winter Olympics Games will be held

in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

20. India win first-ever South Asian Regional Badminton

Team Championship - India defeated Nepal by 3-0 to

win the first-ever South Asian Regional Badminton

Team Championship.

The final match was played at Tarun Ram Phookan

Indoor Stadium in Guwahati.

21. Jason Holder, captain of West Indies suspended for

2nd test –

The Captain of the West Indies team Jason Holder has

been suspended for the 2nd test against New Zealand

because of his team's slow over-rate in the opening

fixture.

According to the International Cricket Council (ICC),

the sentence was forced after the West Indies were ruled to be three overs short of their target in the

Wellington Test, which they lost by an innings and 67

runs.

22. Virat Kohli became the first captain to hit six double centuries in Test cricket. He scored his

record sixth Test double hundred in 238 balls on the

second day of the ongoing third Test against Sri Lanka

at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Note: Also, Virat Kohli became the second Indian

cricketer to score back-to-back double hundreds after

Vinod Kambli.

23. Prithvi Shaw to lead in 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup – The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup will be

held in New Zealand from 13th January to 3rd

February 2018.

24. Deepika Kumari of India has won the bronze medal at

the Indoor Archery World Cup which was concluded in

Bangkok.


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25. Mirabai Chanu becomes the second Indian to win the

Gold medal in World Weightlifting Championships at

Anaheim, USA.

Note:

• She won the Gold medal in the women’s 48kg

category.

• She became the second Indian after Karnam

Malleswari to achieve the feat.

• Karnam Malleswari won the Gold medal in

World Weightlifting Championships in 1995 in

China.

• Chanu belongs from Manipur state.

26. Gopi Thonakal became the first Indian man to win

Asian Marathon Championship held at Dongguan in

China. He belongs from Kerala state.

27. Ankushita wins 'Best Boxer' title in World Youth

Women's Boxing Championship

• Ankushita Boro, of Assam, has won the Best Boxer' title in World Youth Women's Boxing Championship held in Guwahati.

• She clinched the fifth gold for India after defeating Russia’s Ekaterina Dynnik in the 64kg final.

• She belongs from Megaai Gairrani village in Assam and began boxing in 2012.

28. Pankaj Advani wins World Snooker Championship - Pankaj Advani defeated Amir Sarkhosh of Iran 8-2 to

win the 15-frame IBSF World Snooker Championship

in Doha

It was the Indian star’s 18th world title.

Advani had won his 17th world title at the same venue

when he won the IBSF World Billiards Championship

defeating Mike Russell of England.

29. AIBA Youth Women’s World Boxing Championship

2017 - India's first youth world boxing championship

will be held from 19 to 26 November 2017 in

Guwahati, Assam.

• The official mascot, named - Guppy, is a

female version of Assam's one-horned rhino.

• The logo infuses two key elements-- the

strength of an Indian woman in the form of a

female boxer and the culture of Assam through the 'gamosa', a hand-woven piece of

cloth in the state.

• The World Championship's official anthem

is 'Make Some Noise'. It is composed by Shaan

and rendered by renowned singer Sunidhi

Chauhan.

• Mary Kom named ambassador of the AIBA Youth Women’s World Boxing Championship.

30. FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 – For the first time, India

hosted the 17th edition of FIFA U-17 World. Nicolai

Adam is the coach of Indian team. Amarjit Singh Kiyam

(Manipur) is the captain of U-17 FIFA Indian team.

Key Facts –

➢ Winner – England won the title by defeating

Spain by 5-2 in the final.

➢ Best Player Award - Phil Foden of England has

been adjudged tournament’s best player and has

been awarded ‘Golden Ball’.

➢ Golden Glove’ Award - Gabriel Brazao the

goalkeeper of Brazil’s national football team has

won the ‘Golden Glove’.

➢ Brazil has won the Fair Play Award.

➢ Jeakson Singh (Manipur) creates history by

scoring India’s first ever goal in FIFA U-17

World Cup against Colombia. ➢ FIFA U-17 WC in India becomes most attended

in event’s history for the first time. ➢ USA-Based Namit Deshpande becomes the

First NRI to Play for India’s U17 World Cup Team.

➢ Esther Staubli (Switzerland) became the first

female football referee to officiate a match.

➢ The official Mascot for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 was clouded leopard named ‘Kheleo’.

➢ The official ball for Under-17 football World Cup is called ‘Krasava’.

➢ The final match of the event was held in Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.

31. Asian Boxing Championship 2017: Indian boxer MC

Mary Kom won Gold in 48 kg category. She defeated

North Korea’s Hyang Mi Kim by 5-0. The tournament

held in Vietnam. 32. Badminton Men’s National Champion – H.S.

Prannoy. He defeated Kidambi Srikanth at 82nd

Senior National Championship, in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

33. Badminton Women’s National Champion – Saina

Nehwal. She defeated P.V. Sindhu at 82nd Senior

National Championship, in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Note: World Senior Badminton Championship held in

Kochi.

34. Jasprit Bumrah (bowler) ranked at top spot in ICC

T20 Rankings.

35. Puducherry becomes an Associate Member of BCCI

- The Cricket Association of Puducherry (CAP) was chosen by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) as

an associate member of the Board of Control for

Cricket in India (BCCI). Now Puducherry will be

allowed to play the Ranji Trophy in 2018.


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36. International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup 2017 (ISSF) – Host country – India. Heena Sidhu and Jeetu Rai won the Gold medal at 10m Air Pistol event. Note:

• The ISSF headquarters is located in Munich,

Germany. Olegario Vazquez Rana has been serving

as the President of the organisation since 1980.

37. Heena Sidhu wins Gold at 10m Air Pistol event in

Commonwealth Shooting Championships held in

Brisbane, Australia.

38. Roger Federer wins ATP World Tour 8th Basel Title by

defeating Juan Martin del Potro in the final.

39. Yonex French Open Badminton 2017: The

tournament was held in Paris, France.

List of Winners –

• Men’s Singles - Kidambi Srikanth (India) beat

Kenta Nishimoto (Japan).

• Women’s Singles - Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) beat Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)

Note:

➢ Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth became the

first Indian to win the men’s singles title at

French Open badminton tournament.

40. Scott Fleming joined National Basketball Association

(NBA) India as Head of Basketball Operations. 41. Amjyot Singh becomes third Indian in National

Basketball Association (NBA) league. Amjyot

Singh became the third Indian after Satnam Singh and Palpreet Singh Brar to walk into the National

Basketball Association (NBA) league.

42. Gokul Natesan, second Indian-Origin Player to be Signed by NBA G-League side. He was picked by Canton Charge, a minor league affiliate team of Cleveland Cavaliers.

43. Patna Pirates beats Gujarat Fortunegiants to clinched

Third Pro Kabaddi Successive Title.

44. 2017 Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey: The tournament

was held in Malaysia.

Key points

➢ Australia won the title by defeating Great Britain in the final.

➢ Indian won the Bronze medal by defeating

Malaysia.

45. Martina Hingis announces retirement from Pro

Tennis.

Key facts –

➢ Martina Hingis is from Switzerland.

➢ She is the youngest Grand Slam champion in

history, having won the Wimbledon doubles

title when she was just 15 yrs. old.

➢ Hingis was inducted into the International

Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.

➢ She also won the Women’s Doubles and Mixed

doubles of US Open 2017.

46. Aditi Ashok (golfer) won third Ladies European Tour

title in Abu Dhabi.

47. Shiv Kapur (golfer) won the Panasonic Open Title.

48. Women’s Asia Cup Hockey 2017 - Indian women's

hockey team defeated China by 5-4 to win the Asia Cup

2017 title. The final was held in Kakamigahara city in

southern Gifu Prefecture, Japan.

Note:

➢ With the victory, Team India has secured a

berth for itself at the 2018 Hockey World Cup.

This is the second time that India has claimed

the top spot in the history of the tournament.

➢ The first time was 13 years ago in the year

2004.

49. Men’s Asia Cup Hockey 2017 - India beat Malaysia in

the final to clinch Asia Cup 2017 title. The final was

played in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Note: It last clinched the trophy in 2003 and 2007 in

Kuala Lumpur and Chennai respectively.

50. Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth achieves career-

best World No 2 ranking. He won back-to-back titles

at Indonesia and Australia and then at Denmark and

France.

Note:

➢ Kidambi Srikanth wins Men's Singles Title in

French Open. He defeated Japan's Kenta

Nishimoto in the final. ➢ Kidambi Srikanth wins Men's Singles Title in

Denmark Open. He defeated Hong Kong's

Wong Wing Ki Vincent in the final.


Indonesia Open. He defeated Japan's

Kazumasa Sakai in the final.


Australia Open. He defeated China’s Chen

Long in the final.

51. Virat Kohli & Mithali Raj top the ICC ODI Rankings -

Indian cricket team captains Virat Kohli and Mithali Raj

became number one at ICC ODI rankings for batsman

and batswomen.

Key points –

➢ Indian captain Virat Kohli reclaimed the top

spot of the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen with

889 rating points. ➢ Mithali Raj was ranked number with 753

rating points.


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52. Virat Kohli becomes fastest batsman to score 9000-

run mark - Indian skipper Virat Kohli became the

sixth Indian and fastest to complete 9000 ODI runs

during India’s third and final one-day international

against New Zealand in Kanpur. Kohli has played his

202nd innings, has become the 19th batsman to break

the 9000-run mark, making him the fastest to get

there.

53. Delhi Olympic Games to be held in December - The

Delhi State Olympic Association has announced to

organise Delhi Olympic Games in the capital city. The

sporting events will be held from 9 December 2017- 18

December 2017. The announcement to conduct a

sporting event of Olympic level came in order to

promote Olympics and also the spirit of sports and

sportsmen in Delhi.

Note: Olympic wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt was

confirmed as the brand ambassador of Delhi Olympic

Games 2017.

54. Cristiano Ronaldo wins the Best FIFA Men's Player

Award - Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo won the

Best FIFA Men's Player Award for the second year in

London.

Note:

➢ Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi and Brazil’s

forward Neymar were runners up for the

award.

➢ Ronaldo got 43.16 per cent of the total votes,

while Lionel Messi and Neymar fetched 19.25

and 6.97 per cent votes respectively.

➢ Best FIFA Men's Coach - Zinedine Zidane ➢ Best FIFA Goalkeeper - Gianluigi Buffon

➢ Best FIFA Women's Player - Lieke Martens

➢ Best Women's Coach - Sarina Wiegman

➢ FIFA Fan Award - Celtic

55. Kavita Devi becomes first Indian Woman to sign

with World Wrestling Entertainment - Kavita Devi

became the first Indian woman to tie-up with the

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Note:

➢ Shadia Bseiso became the first Arab woman

from the Middle East to sign a WWE

developmental contract.

➢ Kavita Devi hails from Haryana and was an

accomplished kabaddi player in high school.

➢ In 2016, she won gold in the 75kg weightlifting

division at the South Asian Games.

➢ She is the first Indian woman to compete in a WWE ring.

56. Ashish Nehra retired from all format of Cricket –

Ashish Nehra has announced his retirement from all

formats of Cricket during the third T-20 match against

India and New Zealand in Delhi.

Note:

➢ Ashish Nehra made his cricket debut in 1999

under Mohammed Azharuddin in India.

➢ He made his international debut in a Test

match against Sri Lanka in Colombo in

February 1999.

➢ He has taken 44 Test wickets, besides 157 ODI

and 34 T20.

57. FIFA suspends the Pakistan Football Federation -

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association

(FIFA) has decided to suspend the Pakistan Football

Federation (PFF) with immediate effect in accordance

with the verdict of the Bureau of the FIFA Council on

10 October 2017 on account of undue third-party

interference. Following its decision to suspend the PFF,

the Pakistan Football Federation loses all its

membership rights as per FIFA Statutes.

58. Iceland makes history to Qualifies for FIFA 2018

World Cup - Iceland created history by qualifying for

the 2018 World Cup. This is the first time that Iceland

qualified for the World Cup.

Note:

➢ Iceland became the smallest country to clinch a

position at the 21st FIFA World Cup.

➢ The previous smallest country to have reached

the World Cup was Trinidad & Tobago which

had a population of 1.3 million. ➢ The 21st edition of FIFA World Cup 2018 will

be held in Russia.

➢ This is the first time when Iceland and Panama

will be participants.

59. Gaganjeet Bhullar Clinches Macao Open Golf Title

2017 – With this win Gaganjeet Bhullar has lifted

his eighth Asian Tour title at the Macau Open.

60. India to host Junior Asian Wrestling Championship

(JAWC) 2018.

61. Sivalingam Sathish Kumar and Ragala Venkat Rahul qualified for next year’s Commonwealth Games after winning a gold medal each in their respective weight divisions at the Commonwealth Senior (men & women) Weightlifting Championships in Gold Coast, Australia.

62. India's Pooja Kadian has won the first ever gold medal at Wushu World Championships in Kazan, Russia. Note: Pooja defeated Evgeniya Stepanova in the final.

63. Maharashtra won the Chief Minister's cup with 45

gold medals at the National kickboxing championship

held in Raipur.


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64. India has lost the World Group Play-off tie of Davis

Cup Tennis Tournament to the host Canada 2-3.

65. India finishes 5th in medals tally with one gold and two silver medals at Moscow Shotgun World Championships. Note: Italy topped the tally with nine gold medals for a total of 17 medals in all and USA (12 medals) -2nd.

66. India will host the 2019 edition of the Commonwealth (Youth, Junior and Senior) Weightlifting Championships.

67. Ankur Mittal has won silver in senior men’s double

trap at 2017 ISSF World Shotgun Championship in

Moscow. 68. Star India has won the coveted Indian Premier League

(IPL) media rights for 2018-23. 69. Para Athlete & Hockey player have been selected for

this year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award_-- Sardar Singh & Devendra.

70. Lakshya Sen (shuttler) clinched the Bulgaria Open International Series title in Sofia, Bulgaria

71. PV Sindhu won the 2017 BWF Korean Open Super

Series Women’s Singles title.

72. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated Mahendra Singh Dhoni for Padma Bhushan award for his contribution to the game.

73. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become the first wicketkeeper in world cricket to effect 100 stumpings in One Day Internationals(ODI). Note: Mr. Dhoni achieved the feat in his 301st ODI in Colombo (Sri Lanka), when he whipped off the bails to remove batsman Akila Dananjaya (Sri Lankan) off leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal's bowling.

74. ICC has chosen captain of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 team -- Mithali Raj.

75. India will host the Men's World Boxing Championship for the first time in 2021.

76. Rahul Yadav Chittaboina (shuttler) has won the

men’s singles Lagos International 2017

77. Boxer Sachin Siwach wins gold at Commonwealth

Youth Games held in Bahamas.

78. Real Madrid won the 2017 UEFA Champions League

trophy by defeating Manchester United in the final.

79. Los Angeles (USA) will host the 2028 Olympics and Paris will host 2024 Olympic Games.

80. US Open Title 2017 – List of Winners – • Men’s single – Rafal Nadal (Spain) defeated Kevin

Anderson (South African) • Women’s single - Sloane Stephens (American)

defatted Madison Keys (American) 81. Lewis Hamilton won the 2017 Italian Formula One

Grand Prix tournament.

82. Lewis Hamilton won the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix of

Formula.

83. Australian fast bowler retired from Test Match and

ODIs --John Hastings.

84. Usain Bolt (legendary sprinter) retires from the Athletics world.

85. FIBA Asia Championship (Asia’s biggest basketball

tournament) 2017 held in Lebanon.

86. Rafael Nadal won 6th ATP title of 2017 – Rafael

Nadal beats Nick Kyrgios of Australia in straight sets of

6-2, 6-1 in the China Open final to win his sixth ATP

title of 2017.

Note: In the women’s event, France’s Caroline Garcia

defeated world no.1 Simona Halep (Romania) in

straight sets of 6-4, 7-6 (3) to clinch the China Open.


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List of Upcoming Sports Venue

1. Asian Games - The Asian Games, also known as Asiad is a Pancontinental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF). Note: First Asian games were held in New Delhi, India in 1951. ● Venue of Asian Games 2014 – Incheon, South

Korea. ● Venue of Asian Games 2018 - Jakarta-Palembang,

Indonesia. ● Venue of Asian Games 2022 – Hangzhou, China. ● Venue of Asian Games 2026 – Nagoya, Japan.

2. Commonwealth Games (CWG) - The Commonwealth Games is an international multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations held every four years. Note: The first Commonwealth Games held in 1911 in London, England. ● Venue of CWG Games 2010 – New Delhi, India. ● Venue of CWG Games 2014 – Glasgow, Scotland. ● Venue of CWG Games 2018 – Gold Coast,

Australia. ● Venue of CWG Games 2022 – Birmingham,

England. Note: The 2022 Commonwealth Games will no longer take place in Durban, South Africa as the South African government failed to give financial guarantees for the event.

3. Olympics Games - The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart. Note: ● The first modern Olympics games were held in

Athens, Greece, in 1896. ● International Olympic Committee (IOC)

headquarter - Lausanne, Switzerland. ● IOC President - Thomas Bach Summer Olympic - ● Venue of Summer Olympic Games 2016 – Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil ● Venue of Summer Olympic Games 2020 – Tokyo,

Japan ● Venue of Summer Olympic Games 2024 – Paris,

France Winter Olympic –

● Venue of Winter Olympic Games 2014 – Sochi, Russia.

● Venue of Winter Olympic Games 2018 – Pyeongchang, South Korea.

● Venue of Winter Olympic Games 2022 – Beijing, China.

4. ICC World Cup Cricket - The ICC Cricket World Cup is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), every four years. Note: The first World Cup was held in England in June 1975. West Indies won the title by defeating Australia in the final. Australia has been the most successful team in the World Cup, with 5 titles and 2 runners up. India won the first World Cup title in 1983 by defeating West Indies in the final. Australia won the World Cup title in 2015 after defeating New Zealand in the final. ● International Cricket Council (ICC) headquarter -

Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ● President of ICC – Zaheer Abbas. ● Chairman of ICC – Shashank Manohar. ● CEO – David Richardson. ● Venue of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – India, Sri

Lanka, Bangladesh. ● Venue of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 – Australia &

New Zealand. ● Venue of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 – England,

Wales. ● Venue of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 – India.

5. ICC World Cup T20 – The ICC World Twenty20 is the international championship of Twenty20 cricket. It is organised the International Cricket Council (ICC). Note: ● The first T20 World Cup was held in Johannesburg,

South Africa in 2007. ● India won the first T20 world cup title after

defeating Pakistan in the final. ● West Indies won the T20 World Cup title two

times. West Indies wont the title in 2016 after defeating England in the final.

● Venue of World Cup 2014 – Bangladesh. ● Venue of World Cup T20 2016– India. ● Venue of World Cup 2020 – Australia.

6. ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup – The ICC Women's

Cricket World Cup is the oldest and most prestigious international women's cricket tournament. Note: The first Women’s World Cup was held in England in 1973, two years before the inaugural men's tournament. England won the title by defeating Australia in the final. Australia has been the most successful team in the Women’s World Cup, with 6 titles and 3 runners up.


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England won the Women’s World Cup in 2017 by defeating India in the final. ● Venue of ICC Women Cricket World Cup 2013 –

India. ● Venue of ICC Women Cricket World Cup 2017 –

England. ● Venue of ICC Women Cricket World Cup 2021 –

New Zealand. 7. ICC Women’s World Cup T20 - The ICC Women’s

World Twenty20 is the international championship for Women’s Twenty20 cricket. It is organised the International Cricket Council (ICC). Note: ● The first Women’s T20 World Cup was held in

England in 2009. ● England won the first T20 world cup title after

defeating New Zealand in the final. ● Australia has been the most successful team in the

Women’s World Cup, with 3 titles and 1 runners up.

● West Indies won the title in 2016 after defeating Australia in the final.

● Venue of World Cup 2014 – Bangladesh. ● Venue of World Cup T20 2016– India. ● Venue of World Cup 2020 – Australia.

8. Hockey Men’s World Cup – The Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer Olympics. Note: The first Men’s Hockey World Cup was held in 1971 Barcelona, Spain. Pakistan won the title after defeating Spain in the final. Pakistan has been the most successful team in the World Cup, with 4 titles from 6 appearances in the final. Australia won the title in 2014 after defeating Netherlands in the final. Note: ● International Hockey Federation (IHF)

headquarter - Lausanne, Switzerland. ● President of IHF - Narinder Batra. ● Venue of Hockey Men’s World Cup 2010 – New

Delhi, India. ● Venue of Hockey Men’s World Cup 2014 – The

Hague, Netherlands. ● Venue of Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018 –

Bhubaneswar, India. 9. Hockey Women’s World Cup - The Women’s Hockey

World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer Olympics.

Note: The first Women’s Hockey World Cup was held in 1974 in Mandelieu, France. Netherlands won the title after defeating Argentina in the final. Netherlands has been the most successful team in the World Cup, with 7 titles from 11 appearances in the final. Netherlands won the title in 2014 after defeating

Australia in the final.

● Venue of Hockey Men’s World Cup 2010 – Rosario,

Argentina.

● Venue of Hockey Men’s World Cup 2014 – The

Hague, Netherlands.

● Venue of Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018 – London,

England.

10. FIFA (Football) World Cup – The FIFA World Cup is

an international association football competition

contested by the senior men's national teams of the

members of Fédération Internationale de Football

Association (FIFA). It is held every four years.

Note: The first FIFA World Cup was held in 1930 in

Uruguay. Uruguay won the title after defeating

Argentina in the final.

Brazil has been the most successful team in the World

Cup, with 5 titles from 7 appearances in the final.

Germany won the title in 2014 after defeating

Argentina in the final.

Note:

● Fédération Internationale de Football Association

(FIFA) headquarter - Zürich, Switzerland.

● President of FIFA - Gianni Infantino.

● Venue of FIFA World Cup 2014 – Brazil. ● Venue of FIFA World Cup 2018 – Russia.

● Venue of FIFA World Cup 2022 – Qatar.

11. FIFA Women's World Cup – The FIFA Women's

World Cup is an international football competition

contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football

Association (FIFA). It is held every four years.

Note: The first FIFA Women’s World Cup was held in

1991 in China. United States won the title after

defeating Norway in the final.

USA is the most successful nation in the tournament's

history, with 3 titles and 1 runners up.

USA won the title in 2015 after defeating Japan in the

final.

● Venue of FIFA World Cup 2015 – Canada.

● Venue of FIFA World Cup 2019 – France.

12. FIFA (U-17) World Cup – The FIFA U-17 World Cup,

founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later


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changed to its current name in 2007, is the world

championship of association football for male players

under the age of 17 organized by Fédération

Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). It is held

every two years.

Note: The first FIFA (U-17) World Cup was held in

1991 in Italy. Ghana won the title after defeating Spain

in the final.

Nigeria is the most successful nation in the

tournament's history, with five titles and three runners

up.

Nigeria won the title in 2015 after defeating Mali in the

final.

● Venue of FIFA (U-17) World Cup 2015 – Chile. ● Venue of FIFA (U-17) World Cup 2017 – India.

Science & Defense

Military Exercise -

1. ‘Naseem Al Bahr’ or ‘Sea Breeze’ - Naval exercise

between India & Oman held in Oamn.

2. Ekuverin’ - Indo-Maldives joint military exercise held at at Belagavi, Bengaluru.

3. 'Hamesha Vijayee' - The Indian Army's Southern

Command had conducted exercise 'Hamesha Vijayee'

in the deserts of Rajasthan

4. 'Ajeya Warrior- Indo-UK military exercise 2017' held

in Bikaner, Rajasthan

5. ‘Vigilant Ace’ - Largest Air exercise between United

States & South Korea held in Seoul, South Korea.

6. “Flag4” - UAE Armed Forces along with the UK, US

and French armies conducted a joint exercise in Abu

Dhabi.

7. PRABAL DOSTYK 2017: India & Kazakhstan Joint

Exercise held at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh.

8. Indra-2017 – India & Russia. First mega tri-services

war game involving their armies, navies and air forces

with an aim to boost their operational coordination

conducted at Vladivostok in Russia.

9. 'Sampriti' 2017 – India & Bangladesh Joint Military

Combat Exercise held in Meghalaya and Mizoram. 10. 'MITRA SHAKTI 2017' – India & Sri Lanka Joint

Training Exercise conducted at Aundh Military Station,

Pune.

11. ‘Blue Flag-17’ – India & Israel bi-annual multilateral

exercise held at Uvda Air Force Base in Israel.

12. CORPAT (Coordinated Patrol) – The bilateral exercise

between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy conducted at Belawan Indonesia.

Defense News –

1. India's submarine ‘INS Kalvari’ inducted in Indian Navy - Prime Minister Narendra Modi has

commissioned India's modern conventional submarine ‘INS Kalvari’ into Navy's fleet in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

2. China launches remote sensing satellites - China has successfully launched remote sensing satellites

designed to conduct electromagnetic probes and other experiments.

3. India successfully test-fired its indigenously

developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) supersonic interceptor missile, capable of destroying any

incoming ballistic missile at low altitude, from a test range in Odisha.

4. Akash missile successfully tested – The Akash

missile was successfully tested with indigenous radio

frequency seeker from a test range in Odisha.

The state-of-the-art indigenous missile targeting an

UAV 'Banshee', was fired from the launch complex-III

of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur.

Akash is Surface to Air Missile (SAM) with a range of

25 km and carries a 55- kg fragmentation warhead that

is triggered by proximity fuse.

This was the first supersonic surface-to-air missile (SAM) with indigenous seeker that has been test fired.

The Akash missile is developed by Defence Research

and Development Organisation (DRDO) under

Integrated Guided-Missile Development Programme

(IGMDP).

5. Godrej Aero gets new contract for BrahMos Missile

airframes –

• Godrej Aerospace has won the deal from BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. (BAPL) for supply of additional 100 units airframe fuel management systems for BrahMos Air-Launched Cruise Missile.


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• Godrej Aerospace had recently completed the supply of its 100thairframe for the missile.

• Since 2000, it has been associated with BrahMos. It is a unit of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.

BrahMos missile • Brahmos is supersonic cruise missile

developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint-venture between Russia’s Mashinostroyenia and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

• It is capable of carrying a warhead of 300 kilograms (both conventional as well as nuclear).

• It is hailed as world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation.

• It is a two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant.

6. Defence Research and Development Organisation

(DRDO) successfully conducted flight test of NIRBHAY

Sub-Sonic Cruise Missile at Chandipur, Odisha.

About NIRBHAY Missile ➢ It is India’s first indigenously designed and

developed Long Range Sub-Sonic Cruise

Missile. ➢ It has operational range of 1000 km and can

carry warheads of up to 300 kg including

nuclear warheads. It can be launched from

various kind of platforms.

7. First offshore patrol vessel ‘Vikram’ handed to

Indian Coast Guard - Larsen and Toubro (L&T)

handed over offshore patrol vessel (OPV) named

“Vikram” to the Indian Coast Guard. It is country’s first-

ever such defence vessel to be built in a private

shipyard. It will be inducted into service by April 2018

after completion of extensive trials of equipment and

machineries.

8. ‘INS Kiltan’ commissioned into Indian Navy –

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has

commissioned an indigenously-built anti-submarine

warfare stealth corvette INS Kiltan into the Indian

Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

Note: INS Kiltan is the latest indigenous warship after

Shivalik class, Kolkata class and sister ships.

9. India successfully tests its first fully indigenous

‘Glide bomb’ in Chandipur in Odisha.

Note:

➢ The bomb - SAAW (Smart Anti Airfield

Weapon) - was dropped from an Indian Air

Force aircraft at the Integrated Test Range

(ITR) in Chandipur.

➢ The bomb has been developed by the Research

Centre Imarat (RCI), Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO), along with

other laboratories of the DRDO and the Indian Air Force.


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