GA Power Capsule for Syndicate & Canara PO Exam 2018 Power Capsule for Syndicate & Canara PO Exam...

GA Power Capsule for Syndicate & Canara PO Exam 2018

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Contents

Union Budget 2018-19 : A Complete Analysis ................................................................................................................. 3

The Most Important 35 Points from the Economic Survey… ........................................................................................ 5

The Most Important Current Affairs for Syndicate & Canara Bank PO Exams .......................................................... 7

Static Takeawys from January 2018 Current Affairs ..................................................................................................... 11

Static Take Aways December 2017 Current Affairs ...................................................................................................... 13

Static Take-Aways November 2017 Current Affairs ..................................................................................................... 14

Current Affairs Injections: 1st to 6th February 2018 ..................................................................................................... 16

Static Takeaways from February 2018 Current Affairs ................................................................................................ 18

BANKING & FINANCIAL AWARENESS CURRENT AFFAIRS ............................................................................... 18

ECONOMY/FINANCIAL CURRENT AFFAIRS .......................................................................................................... 23

Static Takeaways from Banking & Economy Current Affairs ..................................................................................... 24

BUSINESS NEWS (NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL) ............................................................................................. 26

Static Takeaways from Business Current Affairs .......................................................................................................... 27

AGREEMENTS/MOU SIGNED ...................................................................................................................................... 27

NEW APPOINTMENTS: NATIONAL ........................................................................................................................... 29

NEW APPOINTMENTS: INTERNATIONAL ............................................................................................................... 31

Countries|Capital|Currency Part 1 ................................................................................................................................ 32

Static Takeaways from New Appointments .................................................................................................................. 32

AWARDS ............................................................................................................................................................................ 33

CURRENT SUMMITS/EVENTS HELD (NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL)........................................................... 35

COMMITTEES IN NEWS ................................................................................................................................................. 37

NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS .................................................................................................................................. 38

INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS ...................................................................................................................... 41

CURRENT AFFAIRS RELATED TO STATES IN INDIA ............................................................................................. 43

ALL ABOUT THE STATES IN INDIA CM/GOVERNORS/WILDLIFE SANTUARIES/NATIONAL PARKS /

POWER PLANTS IN INDIA ............................................................................................................................................ 45

Country & Currency in News .......................................................................................................................................... 49

OBITUARIES (NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL) ........................................................................................................ 50

LIST/INDEXES ANNOUNCED RECENTLY ................................................................................................................ 51

Static Takeaways: Index/Reports released by different Organisations ..................................................................... 53

IMPORTANT DAYS OBSERVED RECENTLY .............................................................................................................. 54

BOOKS & AUTHORS ........................................................................................................................................................ 55



DEFENCE CURRENT AFFAIRS ...................................................................................................................................... 56

SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ......................................................................................................................................... 58

International Organization In News ............................................................................................................................... 63

Science & Technology (Nasa, Isro & Others) ................................................................................................................. 63

SCHEMES............................................................................................................................................................................ 63

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS ............................................................................................................................................. 67

Banking Awareness for Syndicate & Canara Bank PO 2018 ....................................................................................... 68

HANDY NOTES BANKING: PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING ................................................................................... 76

Static Awareness Capsule for Syndicate & Canara Bank PO 2018 ............................................................................. 89

IMPORTANT AIRPORTS IN INDIA .............................................................................................................................. 93

BOUNDARY LINES .......................................................................................................................................................... 94

IMPORTANT DAMS IN INDIA ...................................................................................................................................... 94

IMPORTANT DAYS .......................................................................................................................................................... 95



Union Budget 2018-19 : A Complete Analysis Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents the Union Budget 2018-19 on 1st February 2018. In his speech he said that, "When our government took over, India was part of "fragile five," but now are now the fastest growing economy of the world. He also said that Indian economy is a $2.5 trillion economy. India is expected to become the fifth largest economy very soon.

Agriculture & Rural Economy The government will set up a fund of Rs 2,000 crore for

developing agricultural markets. MSP for Kharif cost will be 1.5 times the cost of

production. The government will develop 22,000 Gramin

agricultural markets. The cluster-model approach will be adopted for

agricultural production. Allocation in food production sector doubled to Rs 1400

crore. Minimum Support Price shall be increased by 1.5 times.

Operation Green will be launched for agriculture & the Minister allocates Rs500 crore for this.

Agricultural corpus worth Rs 2000 crore will be set up. 470 APMCs have been connected to eNAM network, the rest to be connected by March 2018.

A fund for the fishery, aquaculture development & animal husbandry will be set up with a total corpus to be Rs 10,000 crore. We will also allocate Rs 1290 crore for a bamboo mission, as it is green gold.

In all, we are providing Rs 10 lakh crore to Rs 11 lakh crore as credit for agricultural activities.

Ujjwala Yojana, the free LPG connection scheme expanded to eight crore households.

Six crore toilets have been built already, & in the next year, two crore additional toilets will be constructed.

The government will provide 4 crore electricity connections to the poor under Saubhagya Yojana.

Kisan credit card to be extended to fisheries,animal husbandry farmers.

The government will establish a dedicated affordable housing fund.

Loans to self-help groups will increase to Rs75,000 crore.

Govt. allocated Rs5,750 crore to National Livelihood Mission & Rs2,600 crore to the groundwater irrigation scheme.

Education, Health & Social Protection

Outlay on health, education & social protection will be 1.38 lakh crore.

By 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population & at least 20,000 tribal people will have 'Ekalavya' school at par with Navodaya Vidyalas.

A major initiative named Revitalising Infrastructure & Systems in Education (RISE) to be launched by 2022 with a total investment of Rs.1,00,000 crore in next four years.

Government will launch the Prime Minister‟s Research Fellows (PMRF)‟‟ Scheme this year.

Allocation on National Social Assistance Programme this year has been kept at Rs. 9975 crore.

Govt. is launching a new national health protection scheme – Rashtriya Samaj Beema Yojana. This will have 50 crore beneficiaries & 10 crore families will get 5 lakh per year for their families to cover secondary & tertiary hospital expenses. This is the world's largest government-funded healthcare program.

A Rs 600 crore corpus is being set up to help Tuberculosis patients. This will build a new India in 2022 & enhance productivity & will also generate lakhs of jobs for women.

PM Jeevan Beema Yojana benefitted more than 2 crore families.

Jan Dhan Yojana will be extended to all 60 crore bank accounts.

Rs 1200 crores allocated for the National Health Policy, 2017, which with 1.5 lakh Health & Wellness Centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people.

Government will be setting up 24 new Government Medical Colleges & Hospitals.

All 4465 Ganga Grams – villages on the bank of river - have been declared open defecation free.

Medium, Small & Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) &

Employment Rs. 3794 crores provided for giving credit support,

capital & interest subsidy & for innovations. Target of Rs.3 lakh crore for lending under MUDRA for

2018-19.

Employment Generation Finance Minister cited an independent study as

showing that 70 lakh formal jobs will be created this year.

An outlay of Rs.7148 crore for the textile sector in 2018-19.

EPF contribution has been reduced to 8% for the first 3 years of employment & 12% government contribution to EPF in sectors employing a large number of people, however, there will be no changes in employer contribution.

Infrastructure & Financial Sector Development

Increase of budgetary allocation on infrastructure for 2018-19 to Rs.5.97 lakh crore



Under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, about 35000 kms road construction in Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs.5,35,000 crore has been approved.

Railways

Railways Capital Expenditure for the year 2018-19 has been pegged at Rs.1,48,528 crore.

600 railway stations to be redeveloped. Over 3600 km railway track renovation targeted in the

current year. In Railways, 18,000 kms of doubling of tracks would

eliminate capacity constraints. We are moving towards optimum electrification of the

railway. Over 3,600 km of track renewal is being targeted in 2018-19.

150 km additional suburban railway network at the cost of Rs. 40,000 cr.

Rs 11,000 crore is being allocated for Mumbai Suburban Railways.

Proposal for railway university in Vadodara. Rs. 17,000 crore is being set aside for Bengaluru Metro. Govt. to eliminate over 4,267 unmanned level crossings

in the next two years. All railway stations & trains will have WiFi & 150

kilometres of additional suburban corridors in being planned.

Air Transport

Airport capacity to be hiked to handle 1 billion trips per year.

UDAN will connect 56 unserved airports & 36 unserved heliports.

As per the FM, The Airport Authority of India has 124 airports.

Finance & Digital Economy

Government will establish a unified authority for regulating all financial services in International Finance Service Centre (IFSCs) in India.

NITI Aayog will initiate a national program to direct efforts in artificial intelligence.

Department of Science & Technology will launch a Mission on Cyber Physical Systems

Allocation on Digital India programme increased to Rs 3073 crore in 2018-19

Proposed to set up five lakh wi-fi hotspots to provide net connectivity to five crore rural citizens.

Rs. 10000 crores allocated in 2018-19 for creation & augmentation of Telecom infrastructure.

Disinvestment

Finance Minister announced that 2017-18 disinvestment target of Rs. 72,500 crores has been exceeded & expected receipts of Rs.1,00,000 crore.

Disinvestment target of Rs. 80,000 crores for 2018-19. Three Public Sector Insurance companies- National

Insurance Co. Ltd., United India Assurance Co. Ltd., & Oriental India insurance Co. Ltd., will be merged into a single insurance entity.

A comprehensive Gold Policy will be formulated to develop gold as an asset class

To celebrate the 150 Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi an amount of Rs.150 crore set aside for the activities leading to the commemoration programme.

Fiscal Management, Direct & Indirect Taxes

Budget Revised Estimates for expenditure in 2017-18 are Rs.21.57 lakh crore (net of GST compensation transfers to the States) as against the Budget Estimates of Rs.21.47 lakh crore.

FM projected a Fiscal Deficit of 3.3% of GDP for the year 2018-19.

Revised Fiscal Deficit estimates for 2017-18 were put at Rs. 5.95 lakh crore at 3.5% of GDP.

Proposed acceptance of key recommendations of the Fiscal Reform & Budget Management Committee to bring down Central Government’s Debt to GDP ratio to 40%.

Growth of direct taxes in financial year 2016-17 was 12.6 percent, & for financial year 2017-18 (upto 15th Jan, 2018) is 18.7 percent. Buoyancy in personal income tax for financial year 2017-18 (RE) is 2.11.

Number of Effective Tax Payers has increased from 6.47 crore at the beginning of Financial year 2014-15 to 8.27 crore at the end of 2016-17.

Proposed 100 percent deduction to companies registered as Farmer Producer Companies with an annual turnover upto Rs. 100 crores on profit derived from such activities, for a period of five years from financial year 2018-19.

Payments exceeding Rs. 10,000 in cash made by trusts & institutions shall be disallowed & would be subject to tax.

Long Term Capital Gains exceeding Rs. 1 lakh to be taxed at the rate of 10 percent, without allowing any indexation benefit.

Proposed to introduce a tax on distributed income by equity oriented mutual funds at the rate of 10 percent

Proposed to increase the cess on personal income tax & corporation tax to 4 percent from the present 3 percent. It will be called the ―Health & Education Cess‖.

Increase customs duty on mobile phones from 15 percent to 20 percent, on some of their parts & accessories to 15 percent & on certain parts of televisions to 15 percent.

Customs duty is proposed to be reduced on raw cashew from 5 percent to 2.5 percent, to help the cashew processing industry.



Proposed to change the name of the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC).

Deduction of 30 percent on emoluments paid to new employees Under Section 80-JJAA to be relaxed to 150 days for footwear & leather industry, to create more employment.

No adjustment in respect of transactions in immovable property where Circle Rate value does not exceed 5 percent of consideration.

Standard Deduction of Rs. 40,000 in place of present exemption for transport allowance & reimbursement of miscellaneous medical expenses. 2.5 crore salaried employees & pensioners to benefit.

Introduce a tax on distributed income by equity oriented mutual fund at the rate of 10%.

Relief to Senior Citizens proposed in the Budget

Exemption of interest income on deposits with banks & post offices to be increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000.

Benefit also available for interest from all fixed deposit schemes & recurring deposit schemes.

Hike in deduction limit for health insurance premium and/ or medical expenditure from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 under section 80D.

Increase in deduction limit for medical expenditure for certain critical illness from Rs. 60,000 (in case of senior citizens) & from Rs. 80,000 (in case of very senior citizens) to Rs. 1 lakh for all senior citizens, under section 80DDB.

Proposed to extend Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana up to March, 2020. Current investment limit proposed to be increased to Rs. 15 lakhs from the existing limit of Rs. 7.5 lakh per senior citizen.

Other Important Highlights from the Budget

To make the villages open defecation free & improving the lives of villagers, FM announced the launch of

Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBAR-DHAN).

2600 crore allocated under Prime Minister Krishi Sinchai Yojna to provide assured irrigation in 96 deprived irrigation districts

Allocation of Rs 1,34,572 crore has been made for the transport sector while the efforts to develop disaster resilient infrastructure is being given a push with an allocation of Rs. 60 crores in 2018-19.

Total earmarked allocation for SCs in 279 programmes increased to Rs. 56,619 crores & for STs in 305 programmesto Rs. 39,135 crores for 2018-19.

Under the Smart City mission, 99 cities selected with the outlay of Rs. 2.04 lakh crores.

The government announced AMRUT program to focus on water supply to all households in 500 cities. Water supply contracts for 494 projects worth 19,428 crores will be awarded.

24 Public Sector Units to be divested. The government will involve a scheme to assign every

enterprise a unique ID just like Aadhaar. The Department of Investment & Public Asset

Management will come up with debt Exchange Traded Fund.

National Logistics Portal as a single online window will link all stakeholders, to be developed by Department of Commerce.

Salaries of President, VP & Governors will be increased. Rs. 5 lakhs for President, Rs 4.0 lakh for VP & Rs 3.5 lakh for governors. Salaries of Members of Parliament will also be raised.

A new law will be introduced that will automatically revise MPs' emoluments every five years, indexed to inflation.

Government to set up two industrial defence industrial development corridors in 2018-19.

Estimates 1.38 trillion rupees expenditure on health, education & social security. Railway capital expenditure set at 1.49 trillion rupees for 2018/19.

The Most Important 35 Points from the Economic Survey… Economic Survey is an annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, & reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months, summarises the performance on major development programs, & highlights the policy initiatives of the government & the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term. Economic Survey 2017-18 tabled in Parliament on 29th January 2018 by the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley.

1. The Economic Suvey 2017-18 was in pink colour to highlight the gender issues.

2. As per the Economic Survey, a series of major reforms undertaken over the past year will allow real GDP growth to reach 6.75 percent this fiscal & will rise to 7.0 to 7.5 percent in 2018-19.

3. The Gross Value Added (GVA) at constant basic prices is expected to grow at the rate of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18 as compared to 6.6 per cent in 2016-17. Agriculture, industry & services sectors are expected to grow at the



rate of 2.1 per cent, 4.4 per cent, & 8.3 per cent respectively in 2017-18.

4. Economic Survey draws attention to 10 new Economic facts on Indian Economy. Goods & Services Tax (GST) has given a new perceptive of the Indian economy & new data has emerged. There has been a fifty percent increase in the number of indirect taxpayers.

5. As per the survey, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Telangana account for 70% of India‘s exports. India‘s internal trade in goods & services is 60 percent of GDP.

6. Over the last 10-15 years, India‗s performance improved on 14 out of 17 indicators of women‗s agency, attitudes, & outcomes.

7. The Gross Non-Performing Advances (GNPA) ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) increased from 9.6 percent to 10.2 percent between March 2017 & September 2017. Non-Food Credit (NFC) grew at 8.85 percent Y-o-Y in November 2017 as compared to 4.75 per cent in November 2016. Bank credit lending to Services & Personal Loans (PL) segments continue to be the major contributor to overall NFC growth. The IBC mechanism is being used actively to resolve the NPA problem of the banking sector. A major factor behind the effectiveness of the new Code has been the adjudication by the Judiciary.

8. Consumer Price Index(CPI) based headline inflation averaged 3.3 percent during the period which is the lowest in the last six financial years.

9. As per the survey, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which is a volume index with base year 2011-12, shows that the industrial output increased by 3.2 percent during April-November 2017-18. As per the survey, the Eight Core Infrastructure Supportive Industries, viz. Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Petroleum, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement & Electricity attained a cumulative growth of 3.9 percent during April-November, 2017-18. In 2017-18 (April – September), the inflow of total FDI was to the quantum of USD 33.75 billion.

10. Regarding Civil Aviation Sector, the Economic Survey says that in 2017-18 (April - September), domestic airlines carried 57.5 million passengers, showing a growth rate of 16% over the corresponding previous year period, with 10.3 percent domestic cargo handled.

11. Highlighting the initiatives & achievement in the Power Sector, the Survey mentions that All-India installed power generation capacity has reached 3,30,860.6 MW as on 30thNovember, 2017 & electrification in 15,183 villages has been completed.

12. As per the survey, with growing rural to urban migration by men, there is feminisation‗ of agriculture sector, with increasing number of women in multiple roles as cultivators, entrepreneurs, & labourers. For Recognizing the critical role of women in agriculture,

the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has declared 15th October of every year as Women Farmer‗s Day.

13. As per the survey, Rs.20,339 crores has been approved by the Government in 2017-18 to meet various obligations arising from interest subvention being provided to the farmers on short term crop loans, as also loans on post-harvest storages meets an important input requirement of the farmers in the country, especially small & marginal farmers who are the major borrowers.

14. The Survey says that the actual expenditure of Department of Agricultural Research & Education/Indian Council of Agricultural Research has increased from Rs.5393 crore in 2010-11 to Rs.6800 (BE) crore during 2017-18.

15. According to the survey, on 30th November 2017, the share of renewable energy sources was 18 percent in the total installed capacity of electricity.

16. During the period April-September 2017-18, growth in services exports & services imports were robust at 16.2 per cent & 17.4 per cent. To boost services exports, the Government in its mid-term Review of Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020, has increased incentives under Services Exports from India Schemes (SEIS) by 2 per cent, leading to an additional annual incentive of Rs.1,140 crores

17. As per the Survey, out of the 32 States & Union Territories (UTs), in 15 states & UTs, the Services Sector is the dominant sector, contributing more than half of the Gross State Value Added (GSVA). The major services in most of the States are trade, hotels & restaurants, followed by real estate, ownership of dwellings & business services.

18. FDI equity inflows to the services sector grew by 15.0 percent during 2017-18 (April-October). At present, more than 90 per cent of FDI inflows are through automatic route.

19. The Services sector, with a share of 55.2 per cent in India‗s Gross Value Added (GVA), continued to be the key driver of India‗s economic growth contributing almost 72.5 per cent of GVA growth in 2017-18, as per the Economic Survey 2017-18. The growth of Service Sector as a whole is expected to be at 8.3 per cent in 2017-18, the growth in Services exports was 16.2 per cent in H1 of 2017-18.

20. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during 2017 were 10.2 million, with a growth of 15.6 per cent, while Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism were US$ 27.7 billion, with a growth of 20.8 per cent over 2016.

21. India‗s gross expenditure on R&D has been at around 1 per cent of GDP. India ranks 60th out of 127 on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017, improving from 66th rank in 2016.



22. Foreign exchange earnings of India from export of satellite launch services increased noticeably in 2015-16 & 2016-17 to Rs 394 crore.

23. Expenditure on Social services stands at 6.6 per cent in 2017-18 (BE).

24. The Survey mentions that there has been highest ever budget allocation under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) during 2017-18. About 4.6 crore households were provided employment totaling 177.8 crore person days during 2017-18 as on 14th January, 2018. Out of this, 54 per cent were generated by women, 22 per cent by Schedule Castes & 17 per cent by Schedule Tribes.

25. The Survey takes note of the National Health Policy 2017 which recommended increasing State sector health spending to more than 8 per cent of the States‗ Government Budget by 2020.

26. As per the survey, With the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) on 2nd October, 2014, the sanitation coverage in rural India has increased substantially from 39 per cent in 2014 to 76 percent in January, 2018. The number of persons defecating in open in rural areas, which were 55 crore in October, 2014 declined to 25 crore in January, 2018. So far, 296 districts & 307,349 villages all over India have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). Eight states & two Union Territories. i.e., Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Daman & Diu & Chandigarh have been declared as ODF completely.

27. As per the survey, DEMONITISATION HAS HELPED SHARE OF FINANCIAL SAVING RISE

28. India‗s foreign exchange reserves reached US$ 409.4 billion on end-December 2017. Foreign exchange reserves grew by 14.1 percent on a y-o-y basis from end December 2016 (US$ 358.9 billion) to end December 2017 (US$ 409.4 billion). Foreign exchange reserves increased further to US$ 413.8 billion on January 12, 2018.

29. India‗s CAD stood at US$7.2 billion (1.2 percent of GDP) in Q2 of 2017-18, narrowing sharply from US$ 15.0 billion (2.5 percent of GDP) in the preceding quarter.

30. Economic Survey calls for Fiscal Federalism & accountability to avoid low equilibrium trap.

31. As India emerges as one of the world‗s largest economics, it needs to gradually move from being a net consumer of knowledge to becoming a net producer. This has been emphasized in the Economic Survey.

32. Current account deficit for 2017-18 expected to average between 1.5%-2% of GDP.

33. Personal income-tax collections to rise to 2.3% of GDP in 2017-18

34. As per the survey, India will need $4.5 trillion investment in infrastructure by 2040.

35. As per the Survey, the policy agenda for next year is support agriculture, privatise Air India, finish bank recapitalization.

The Most Important Current Affairs for Syndicate & Canara Bank PO Exams Padma Awards 2018 Announced: Full List of Recipients

The President of India has approved the awards for 85 individuals, which includes 3 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan & 73 Padma Shri.

Fourteen of the awardees are women & 3 persons have been awarded posthumously.

In sports personalities, former India cricket captain

Mahendra Singh Dhoni & multiple world champion cueist Pankaj Advani have been conferred with the third-highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan.

The 2017 World Weightlifting Champion Saikhom

Mirabai Chanu & former Asian Games gold medallist

tennis player Somdev Devvarman have been conferred

with the Padma Shri. The awards are announced on the eve of the Republic Day every year. Padma Vibhushan Awards (2nd highest civilian award)

Winner Category

Ilayaraja Art (Music)

Ghulam Mustafa Khan Art (Music)

Parameswaran Parameswaran Literature & Education

Padma Bhushan Awards (3rd highest civilian award)

Winner Category

Pankaj Advani Sport (Billiards/Snooker)



Mahendra Singh Dhoni Sports (Cricket)

Alexander Kadakin (Foreigner/Posthumous)

Public Affairs

Ved Prakash Nanda Literature & Education

Laxman Pai Art (Painting)

Arvind Parikh Art (Music)

Sharda Sinha Art (Music)

Philipose Mar Chrysostom Others (Spiritualism)

Ramachandran Nagaswamy Others (Archaeology)

And the Grammy 2018 award goes to…

The 60th Annual Grammy Awards were held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the USA. James

Corden was the host of the ceremony for the second year in a row. It was Bruno Mars' night at the Grammy Awards held in New York, with the three biggest wins - Album of The Year & Record of The Year for 24K Magic & Song of The Year for 'That's What I Like'. The list of winners is given below:

Album of The Year: Bruno Mars Song of the Year: Bruno Mars', That's What I Like Record of The Year: Bruno Mars, 24K Magic Best Pop Solo Performance: Ed Sheeran, Shape of You Best Pop Vocal Album: Ed Sheeran, Divide Best Dance Recording: LCD Soundsystem, Tonite Best Music Film: The Defiant Ones Best Children's Album: Feel What U Feel, Lisa Loeb Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: La La

Land Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost

Roger Federer won the Australian Open 2018

The 2018 Australian Open was the 106th edition of the

tournament. Roger Federer was the defending champion & successfully defended his title, defeating Marin Cilic in

the final. It was Federer's 20th Grand Slam title. In women's' single, Caroline Wozniacki became the first Danish player to win a Grand Slam singles title, defeating Simona Halep in the final.

Complete list of Winners of Australian Open

Category Winner Runner Up

Men's Singles

Roger Federer (Switzerland)

Marin Cilic (Croatia)

Women's Singles

Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)

Simona Halep (Romania)

Men's Doubles

Oliver Marach (Austria) & Mate

Pavic(Croatia)

Robert Farah & J. Cabal (Colombia)

Women's Doubles

Kristina Mladenovic

(France) & Tímea Babos (Hungary)

Elena Vesnina (Russia)& Ekaterina Makarova (Russia)

Mixed Doubles

Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada)& Mate Pavic (Croatia)

Timea Babos (Hungary)& Rohan

Bopanna (India)

World Economic Forum Summit in Switzerland

Concludes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned home after concluding his visit to Davos, Switzerland. During the visit, he delivered a keynote address at the plenary session of the 48th annual meeting of World Economic Forum. He became the first Indian prime minister in two decades to join the world‘s top business leaders in the Swiss resort town of Davos.

Mr Modi outlined climate change, terrorism & protectionism as three global threats. He also met his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau. Both leaders discussed issues of mutual interest & reiterated their commitment to stand firm in combating terrorism.

He also held a meeting with Queen Maxima of the

Netherlands & discussed steps to deepen the bilateral relationship. He also interacted with top global CEOs at the International Business Council event. Note: Capital of Switzerland- Bern, Currency- Swiss franc

| Founder & Chairman of WEF- Klaus Schwab.

Cabinet Approves Amendments in FDI Policy, Policies Further Liberalized

The Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has approved amendments in FDI Policy & further liberalized few of the policies of FDI. Highlights of the Amendments-

100% FDI under automatic route for Single Brand Retail Trading.

100% FDI under automatic route in Construction Development.

Foreign airlines allowed to invest up to 49% under approval route in Air India.

FIIs/FPIs allowed to invest in Power Exchanges through primary market.

Definition of ‗medical devices‘ amended in the FDI Policy. a) Government approval no longer required for FDI in

Single Brand Retail Trading (SBRT): Extant FDI policy on SBRT allows 49% FDI under automatic route, & FDI beyond 49% & up to 100% through Government approval route. It has now been decided to permit 100% FDI under automatic route for SBRT.

b) Civil Aviation: As per the extant policy, foreign airlines are allowed to invest under Government approval route in the capital of Indian companies operating scheduled & non-scheduled air transport services, up to the limit of 49% of their paid-up capital. However, this provision was presently not applicable to Air India, thereby implying that foreign airlines could not invest in Air India. It has now been decided to do away with this



restriction & allow foreign airlines to invest up to 49% under approval route in Air India.

c) Construction Development: Townships, Housing, Built-up Infrastructure & Real Estate Broking Services: It has been decided to clarify that real-estate

broking service does not amount to real estate business & is therefore, eligible for 100% FDI under automatic route.

d) Power Exchanges: Extant policy provides for 49% FDI under automatic route in Power Exchanges registered under the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Power Market) Regulations, 2010. It has now been decided to do away with this provision, thereby allowing FIIs/FPIs to invest in Power Exchanges through primary market as well.

All You Need to Know About New Rs10 Banknote in

Mahatma Gandhi Series

a) Reserve Bank of India has announced to issue Rs10

denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, bearing the signature of Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Governor, RBI.

b) The new denomination has motif of Sun Temple,

Konark on the reverse, depicting the country's cultural heritage.

c) The base colour of the note is Chocolate Brown. The dimension of the banknote will be 63 mm x 123 mm.

Obverse (Front): See through register with denominational numeral 10, Denominational numeral 'Bharat' in Devnagari, Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre, Guarantee Clause, Governor's signature with Promise Clause & RBI emblem towards right of Mahatma Gandhi portrait, Ashoka Pillar emblem on the right, Mahatma Gandhi portrait & electrotype (10) watermarks, & Number panel with numerals growing from small to big on the top left side & bottom right side.

Reverse (Back): Year of printing of the note on the left, Swachh Bharat logo with slogan, Language panel, Motif of Sun Temple, Konark, & Denominational numeral in Devnagari. ISRO' successfully launched its 42nd PSLV named PSLV-

C40

a) The Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) launched its 42nd Polar Satellite Launch

Vehicle (PSLV)from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

b) The PSLV-C40 is to place 31 satellites, originating from seven countries, across two orbits.

c) Its primary payload was the fourth satellite in the advanced remote sensing Cartosat-2 series. The satellite's design life is five years. ISRO successfully sent up a rocket carrying India's 100th satellite along with 30 others.

Important Facts About the Launched Satellite-

The 30 other satellites include two other satellites from India & 28 satellites from six countries -Canada, Finland, France, Korea, the United Kingdom & the United States.

This was done through what scientists call the "multiple

burn technology" under which the rocket's engine is switched off & then switched on to control its height.

The 710-kg earth observation satellite the PSLV is carrying the third in the Cartosat 2 series. The last satellite of the series had been launched successfully in June 2016.

ISRO's workhorse PSLV rocket weighs nearly 320 tonnes &

stands up to 44.4 meters, equivalent to a 15-storey building.

And the 63rd Filmfare Awards 2018 goes to…

a) Bollywood came together to celebrate the industry's talent at 63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018, held in Mumbai. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan & filmmaker Karan Johar hosted the show.

b) 'Hindi Medium' bagged honours in the categories of Best Film & Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) for Irrfan

Khan's impeccable performance. c) Vidya Balan won her career's sixth Filmfare award for her

passionate portrayal of a middle-aged homemaker who turns into a radio jockey in 'Tumhari Sulu' as she claimed the Black Lady for the Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female).

Complete list of winners of 63rd Filmfare Awards 2018 Category Winner

Best Film 'Hindi Medium' Critics' Award for Best

Film 'Newton'

Best Actor In A Leading Role (Female)

Vidya Balan for 'Tumhari Sulu'

Best Actor In A Leading Role (Male)

Irrfan Khan for 'Hindi Medium'

Critics' Award for Best Actor (Male)

Rajkummar Rao for 'Trapped'

Critics' Award for Best Actor (Female)

Zaira Wasim for 'Secret Superstar'

Best Director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari for 'Bareilly Ki Barfi'

Best Debut Director Konkona Sensharma for 'A



Death in the Gunj' Best Actor In A

Supporting Role (Male)

Rajkummar Rao for 'Bareilly Ki Barfi'

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

(Female)

Meher Vij for 'Secret Superstar'

Best Dialogue Hitesh Kewalya for 'Shubh Mangal Saavdhan'

Best Screenplay Shubhashish Bhutiani for 'Mukti Bhavan'

Best Original Story Amit Masurkar for 'Newton' Best Actor (Male) in a

Short Film Jackie Shroff for 'Khujli'

Best Actor (Female) in a Short Film

Shefali Shah for 'Juice'

People's Choice Award for Best Short Film

'Anahut'

Best Short Film (Fiction)

'Juice'

Best Short Film (Non Fiction)

'Invisible Wings'

Best Music Album Pritam for 'Jagga Jasoos' Best Playback Singer

(Male) Arijit Singh for 'Roke na ruke

naina' - 'Badrinath Ki Dulhania'

ICC Award 2017- Complete List of Winners

Australia captain Steve Smith has been crowned the International Cricket Council's Test Player of the

Yearfor a second time, while Indian captain Virat Kohli

has been honoured twice in the ICC's annual awards. It's the first time since 2011 that the winner of the Test Player of the Year Award was not also crowned the Cricketer of the Year. Kohli was the fourth-highest run-scorer's in Tests in 2017. 1. Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men‘s Cricketer of the Year - Virat Kohli (India)

2. ICC Men‘s Test Cricketer of the Year – S. Smith (Aus) 3. ICC Men‘s ODI Cricketer of the Year - Virat Kohli 4. ICC Men‘s Emerging Cricketer of the Year - Hasan Ali (Pakistan) 5. ICC Men‘s Associate Cricketer of the Year - Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) 6. ICC Men‘s T20I Performance of the Year - Yuzvendra Chahal (6-25 v England) (India) 7. David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year – Marais Erasmus 8. ICC Spirit of Cricket - Anya Shrubsole (England) 9. ICC Fans Moment of the Year - Pakistan stuns India to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

Sushma Swaraj Embarked on Tour of 3 Southeast Asian

Nations External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj left on a 5-day visit to three South East Asian countries – Thailand,

Indonesia & Singapore. On the first leg of the visit, Ms Swaraj will reach Thailand

& will hold an official meeting with Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai. During the visit to Indonesia, Ms Swaraj will co-chair the 5th meeting of India-Indonesia Joint Commission. In Singapore, the External Affairs Minister will inaugurate the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas of ASEAN countries. She will have bilateral meetings with the leaders in Singapore. Thailand Capital- Bangkok, Currency- Thai baht. Indonesia Capital- Jakarta, Currency- Indonesian rupiah.

BJP wins absolute Majority in Gujarat & Himachal

Pradesh Assembly Elections 2017

BJP retained power in Gujarat for the 6th time in a row & swept the polls in Himachal Pradesh finishing just short of two-third majority. The party romped home again in Gujarat by winning 99 seats, seven seats more than the mark of absolute majority in the 182-member House. Congress won 77 seats & others 6. In Himachal Pradesh, BJP wrested power from Congress by winning 44 seats, two seats short of two-third majority, in the 68-member House. In Himachal Pradesh, Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has won, while former BJP Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has lost. Jairam Thakur will be Himachal Pradesh‘s new CM while Vijay Rupani Remains Gujarat‘s CM State-Run Banks' NPAs Touched Rs 7.34 Lakh Crore- RBI

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, private sector banks' NPAs were considerably low.

Moreover, for the recovery of the bad loans, the network of Debt Recovery Tribunals have been



expanded to 39 at present, as compared to 33 in 2016-17, as per data by by the RBI & the govt..

The gross non-performing assets of the public sector & private sector banks as on September 30, 2017, were Rs 7,33,974 crore & Rs 1,02,808 crore, respectively.

Among the major govt.-owned banks, State Bank of India had the highest level 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).

Up to end-September, among private banks, ICICI Bank had the most amount of NPAs at Rs 44,237 crore, followed by Axis Bank (Rs 22,136 crore) & HDFC Bank (Rs 7,644 crore).

Small Savings Schemes‘ Interest Rates Cut by 20 bps

Govt. slashed interest rates on small savings schemes, including National Savings Certificate (NSC) & Public Provident Fund (PPF), by 0.2 percentage point for the

January-March period from the rates applicable in the previous quarter. This will prompt banks to lower deposit rates.

Instrument Rate of Interest

National Savings Certificate (NSC) 7.6%

Sukanya Samriddhi Account 8.1%

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) 7.3%

Public Provident Fund (PPF) 7.6%

Senior Citizens Savings Scheme 8.3%

Savings Deposit 4%

5 Years Recurring Deposit 6.9%

11th WTO Ministerial Conference Held in Argentina

Eleventh World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC11) took place in Buenos Aires,

Argentina. The Conference was chaired by Minister

Susana Malcorra of Argentina. Indian Delegation was led by Minister of Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhu.

Narendra Modi Inducts Scorpene-Class Submarine Kalvari into Indian Navy

PM Narendra Modi commissioned India's first modern

conventional submarine, INS Kalvari, into Navy's fleet in Mumbai, a first in almost two decades. Kalvari is the first of the six Scorpene-class submarines handed over by shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL). Key facts to know about Kalvari Submarine- 1. Dreaded Tiger shark- Kalvari is named after the dreaded tiger shark, a deadly deep-sea predator of the Indian Ocean. 2. French naval defense's design- The submarines, designed by French naval defense & energy company

DCNS, are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in Mumbai as part of Project-75 of the Indian Navy. 3. Scorpene class submarine- The Navy is inducting six Scorpene-class submarines on a 3-billion dollar contract. Construction for the first submarine, designated as MDL

Yard 11875 commenced in December 2006. Static Takeawys from January 2018 Current Affairs

Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group- Jack Yun MA, Headquarters- Hangzhou, China.

Axis Bank CEO & MD- Shikha Sharma, Head Office- Mumbai.

Google CEO- Sundar Pichai, Parent organization- Alphabet Inc., Headquarters- The USA.

Paytm Founder- Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Headquarters- Noida.

MD & CEO of Indian Overseas Bank- R Subramaniakumar, Headquarters- Chennai.

MD & CEO of the National Housing Bank- Sriram Kalyanaraman, Headquarters- New Delhi.

HDFC Bank is the first lender to cross Rs5-lakh crore mark in market capitalisation.

Ashu Suyash is the MD & CEO of CRISIL. Gurpreet Chhatwal President of CRISIL. It Headquarters in Mumbai.

CRISIL- Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited.

Atal Pension Yojana (APY): It was launched by PM Modi in 2015. It is the first ever guaranteed pension product, open to all citizens between the ages of 18 & 40 years. It provides a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs1,000 to Rs5,000 per month, after the age of 60 years, depending on the monthly contribution made by a subscriber.

Managing Director of IMF- Christine Lagarde, Headquarters in- Washington DC, USA.

Chairman & Managing Director of ONGC- Shashi Shanker, Headquarters- Uttarakhand.

Chairman & Managing Director HPCL- M.K.Surana, Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Headquarters of UN- New York

United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. It is currently made up of 193 Member States.

WEF was established in 1971. President of the World Economic Forum- Borge Brende.

Chairman & MD of Capital First- V Vaidyanathan

Headquarters of IDFC Bank- Mumbai| Founder, MD & CEO of IDFC Bank- Rajiv Lall

Indian Railways Finance Corporation: IRFC is a finance arm of the Indian Railway. S K Pattanayak is Managing



Director of IRFC. IRFC was set up on 12th December 1986.

Invoicemart CEO & MD- Kalyan Basu.

TReDS stands for Trade Receivables Discounting System.

India Ratings is a subsidiary of Fitch Ratings. Brett Hemsley is Global Analytical Head for Fitch Ratings.

MD & CEO of AU Small Finance Bank- Sanjay Agarwal, Headquarters- Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Phone Pe Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Sameer Nigam.

CEO of Freecharge- Sangram Singh, Owner- Axis bank.

PNB Chairman- Sunil Mehta, Headquarters- New Delhi.

World Bank's Prospects Group Director- Ayhan Kose.

HSBC Headquarters in London, United Kingdom. | Present CEO of HSBC- Stuart Gulliver.

HDFC Bank- India‘s largest private bank by market capitalization| HDFC Bank Chairman- Aditya Puri.

NABARD-National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development. NABARD Chairman- Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Headquarters- Mumbai.

Allahabad Bank MD & CEO- Usha Ananthasubramanian, Headquarters- Kolkata.

Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank Chairman- Narasi Reddy.

MD & CEO of India Post Payments Bank- Suresh Sethi. | DG & CEO of IICA- Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh.

TIHCL‘s Advisor & Director- B Yerram Raju

Paytm Payments Bank MD & CEO- Renu Satti.

IndusInd Bank Chairman- R. Seshasayee, Headquarter- Mumbai, Owner- Hinduja Group.

SAG aims at empowering out of school adolescent girls of 11 to 14 years by improving their nutritional & health status, upgrading their skills. | Minister of Women & Child Development- Maneka Gandhi.

Himachal Pradesh Governor- Acharya Dev Vrat.

SC Jamir is the present Governor of Odisha.

John Mathai was the first Railway Minister of Independent India.

KVIC Chairman- V K Saxena. NDMC Chairman- Naresh Kumar.

AYUSH- Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha & Homoeopathy.

Andhra Pradesh Governor- ESL Narasimhan.

Zurich is the capital of Canton of Zurich

ASEAN Secretariat- Jakarta, Indonesia| Secretary-General of ASEAN 2018 -2022 is H.E. Lim Jock Hoi.

PM of Israel- Benjamin Netanyahu| President of Israel- Reuven Rivlin. Israeli Shekel is the currency of Israel.

Puducherry CM- V. Narayanasamy, Gov- Kiran Bedi

Govt. of India has approved Rs 1,756 crore for a period of three years for the revamping of 'Khelo India'.

Constituency of Rajyavardhan Rathore- Jaipur (Rural), Rajasthan.

1st Chief Election Commissioner of Independent India- Sukumar Sen.

UIDAI Chief Executive Officer(CEO)- Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Headquarters- New Delhi.

Transport Minister of Delhi- Kailash Gahlot| Lieutenant Governor of Delhi- Anil Baijal.

Myanmar State Counsellor- Aung San Suu Kyi, Capital- Naypyidaw.

SAARC- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. SAARC Secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Arunachal Pradesh CM- Pema Khandu, Governor- Brigadier BD Mishra.

FTII Pune Established in - 1960, Current Chairman - Anupam Kher.

Governor of Rajasthan- Kalyan Singh.

Chairman of Indian Oil- Sanjiv Singh.

VSSC had a small beginning in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on the south-west coast of India, in 1962.

Sanjaya Baru is the Secretary General of FICCI.

Facebook CEO- Mark Zuckerberg.

The four mints operationalized in Idia are located in Kolkata, Noida, Hyderabad, & Mumbai.

The first woman to be appointed as a judge of SC since independence was Justice M Fathima Beevi in 1989.

IOA President- Narinder Dhruv Batra.

WBCSD CEO & President- Peter Bakker.

ISRO was established in 1969. Founder & 1st Chairman of ISRO- Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, Headquarters in- Bengaluru, Karnataka.

NPCI is an umbrella organisation for retail payment systems in India. NPCI's Registered Office is in Mumbai.

Meghalaya CM- Mukul Sangma, Governor- Ganga Prasad.

Sikkim Governor- Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil.

National Security Council is headed by the PM. It is the apex body on all internal & external security-related matters.

Riva Ganguly Das is the Director General of ICCR.

Valletta is the smallest capital in the European Union. It is located in a fortress & is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

SCO comprises of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India & Pakistan. India &



Pakistan were admitted in 2017 into the grouping in which China plays an influential role.

South Korea President- Moon Jae-in, North Korea Supreme Leader- Kim Jong-un.

Avtar Singh Cheema was the first Indian to climb Mount Everest successfully.

Mount Everest is the tallest Mountain (by Elevation) in the world.

UNESCO- United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization. France's Audrey Azoulay- 11th DG of UNESCO, Headquarters- Paris, France.

UAE Capital- Abu Dhabi, Currency- Dirham.

Cochin Port Trust Chairman- P.Raveendran.

Admiral Sunil Lanba is the present Chairman of Indian Navy.

IATA's Director General & CEO- Alexandre de Juniac, Headquarters- Montreal, Canada.

Karnataka CM- Siddaramaiah, Governor- Vajubhai Vala.

Om Prakash Rawat has been appointed as the next (22nd) chief election commissioner (CEC) of India.

Uttar Pradesh CM- Yogi Adityanath, Governor- Ram Naik.

Sanjay Kumar is the Director General of NDRF. NDRF came into existence on 19th January 2006.

Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister- Giriraj Singh.

Governor of Maharashtra- Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao. CM of Maharashtra- Devendra Fadnavis.

V.P. Singh Badnore is the present Governor of Punjab.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman- India's fifteenth PM, Narendra Modi.

'Transport for London‘ is a statutory body established under Greater London Authority Act, 1999 (UK) to improve public transport in India.

Bihar Governor- Satya Pal Malik, CM- Nitish Kumar.

This year a special regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to commemorate 25 years of partnership between India & the Association of South East Asian Nations Submit (ASEAN) is being held in Singapore.

Established in 2003, & sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Govt. of India, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is held from 7-9 January every year.

Research Designs & Standards Organisation headquartered in Lucknow.

Dublin is the capital city of Ireland.

Present DG of WTO- Roberto Azevedo.

ICC Chief Executive- David Richardson, Headquarters- Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Sweden Capital- Stockholm, Currency- Swedish krona.

Static Take Aways December 2017 Current Affairs K K Sharma, DG, BSF. HQ:- New Delhi. SIMBEX is the Joint Military Exercise between India &

Singapore. Halimah Yacob named Singapore's first female president. Nagaland CM- T R Zeliang, Governor- Padmanabha

Balakrishna Acharya. Secretary-General of IMO- Kitack Lim, HQ:- London, UK. 2018 Youth Olympics, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Gujarat CM- Vijaybhai R. Rupani, Governor- OP Kohli. Andhra Pradesh CM- Chandra Babu Naidu, Governor-

ESL Narsimhan. HDFC Bank- India‘s largest private bank by market

capitalization AYUSH- Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha

& Homoeopathy. Minister- Shripad Yesso Naik. 21st FIFA World Cup in, 2018, in 11 Russian cities. Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

HQ: in Rome, Italy. CM, Kerala is Pinarayi Vijayan. M Venkaiah Naidu is the 13th VP if India. ISA, headquartered in India & its secretariat located in

National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurgaon, Haryana. International Olympic Committee headquarter-Lausanne,

Switzerland. UNICEF Headquarter - New York, United States.

BR Ambedkar- Independent India's first law minister. Passed Away: 6 December 1956. His Place of Birth: Mhow in Central Provinces (currently Madhya Pradesh).

NITI- National Institution for Transforming India. Chairperson- Narendra Modi, Vice Chairperson- Dr. Rajiv Kumar.

J. P. Nadda- Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare. Sriharsha Majety- CEO & Co-founder of Swiggy. Legislature or Parliament is headed by President of India. As per the World Bank, Financial inclusion means that

individuals & businesses have access to useful & affordable financial products & services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit & insurance – delivered in a responsible & sustainable way.

PCA- Prompt Corrective Action. Corporation Bank Managing Director & CEO- Jai Kumar

Garg, Headquarter- Mangalore, Karnataka. OBOPAY Established in- 2005, Chairman- D.

Padmanabhan, Head Office- Bengaluru, Karnataka. BCCI President- Vinod Rai. BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) India is an

industry body set up to design, commission, supervise & own an accurate, reliable & timely television audience measurement system for India. BARC India CEO- Partho Dasgupta.

CM of Tamil Nadu- Edappadi Palaniswami.



The first finance minister of independent India was R. K. Shanmukham Chetty, who also presented its first Budget.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) was established in 1976. Smt. Neeta Verma- Director-General of NIC, Headoffice- New Delhi.

International Buddhist Confederation is the biggest religious Buddhist confederation, based in Delhi, India.

SEBI- Securities & Exchange Board of India. Chairman- Ajay Tyagi, HQ:- Mumbai.

Air India Founded: 15 October 1932 (as Tata Airlines), HQ:- Delhi

Germany Capital- Berlin, Currency- Euro. Delhi CM- Arvind Kejriwal, Lt. Governor- Anil Baijal. Minister of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga

Rejuvenation- Nitin J Gadkari. Kacheguda Railway Station- Situated in Hyderabad. Wassenaar Arrangement Secretariat- Vienna, Austria. The

current Head of Secretariat- Ambassador Philip Griffiths (New Zealand).

NCDEX- National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange, Samir Shah- Managing Director, NCDEX. Arun Thukral- Managing Director, Axis Securities.

WTO Director-General- Roberto Azevêdo, Established- 1 January 1995, HQ:- Geneva, Switzerland.

IEA Executive Director- Fatih Birol, Established in- 1974, Secretariat- Paris, France.

A.K. Panda- Secretary, MSME. BIMSTEC- The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral

Technical & Economic Cooperation. It came into being on 6 June 1997. BIMSTEC member states are India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka & Thailand.

FIFA President- Gianna Infantino. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,

Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, & Vietnam.

Mizoram CM- Lal Thanhawla, Governor- Lt. General (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma

XXIII Olympic Winter Games will be held from 9 to 25 February 2018 in PyeongChang, the Republic of Korea.

CMD DishTV India Limited- Mr. Jawahar Goel. Syndicate Bank MD & CEO- Melwyn Rego, HQ:- Manipal. ICICI CEO- Chanda Kochhar, Headquarter- Mumbai. Goa CM- Manohar Parrikar, Governor- Mridula Sinha. Non-Executive Chairman & an Independent Director of

ICRA- Arun Duggal,

ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information & Credit Rating Agency of India Limited) was set up in 1991.

CEO of Ola- Bhavish Aggarwal, HQ:- Bengaluru. Lakshwadeep Administrator- Farooq Khan. The two main rivers of Assam are Brahmaputra & Barak. Minister of State for Skill Development &

Entrepreneurship- Anantkumar Hegde. IBRD- International Bank for Reconstruction &

Development. Bank of India was founded on 7th September, 1906.

Managing Director & CEO- Dinabandhu Mohapatra. Competition Commission of India (CCI) Chairperson-

Ashok Chawla. AU Small Finance Bank HQ:- Jaipur, Rajasthan, Started in-

1996, Chairman- Mannil Venugopalan. YES Bank MD & Chief Executive- Rana Kapoor, HQ:-

Mumbai. 1st Railway Minister of Independent India- John Mathai. Present Textile Minister of India- Smriti Zubin Irani. MD & CEO of United Bank of India- Pawan Kumar Bajaj,

HQ:- Kolkata, West Bengal. Gold Coast, Australia, will host the next Commonwealth

Games in 2018. Water Resources & Ganga Rejuvenation Minister- Nitin

Gadkari. Srivatsa Krishna- Secretary, Coffee Board of Karnataka. Anil Bhandari- President, India Coffee Trust. D. Rajkumar- Chairman & Managing Director of BPCL. Founder & Executive Chairman of WEF- Klaus Schwab,

HQ:- Geneva, Switzerland. Samsung is the Korean Based company. Dr. Oh-Hyun

Kwon- Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of Samsung. IRDAI- Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of

India. T.S.Vijayan- Chairman of IRDAI. GIFT City- Gujarat International Finance-Tec City HAL Chairman & Managing Director (CMD)- T. Suvarna

Raju. PETA is the largest animal rights organization in the

world. Ingrid Newkirk- President, PETA. CM of West Bengal- Mamta Bannerjee, Governor- Keshari

Nath Tripathi. IDBI MD & CEO- Mahesh Kumar Jain, Headquarter-

Mumbai. BC Tripathi- Chairman & Managing Director of GAIL. Governor of Bihar- Satya Pal Malik

Static Take-Aways November 2017 Current Affairs The permanent members of the Security Council are

USA, Russia, France, UK & China.

International Court of Justice HQ: Hague, Netherlands.

Haryana CM- Manohar Lal Khattar, Governor- Kaptan Singh Solanki.

Minister of Drinking Water & Sanitation- Uma Bharati.

Blue Revolution: Integrated Development & Management of Fisheries.

Managing Director & CEO of Andhra Bank- Suresh N Patel. Headquarter- Hyderabad, Telangana.

HQ: of United Nations- New York, USA.

President, EBRD- Suma Chakrabarti | HQ: London,UK

President of Sri Lanka- Maithripala Sirisena

Western Naval Command (HQ: at Mumbai).

The Eastern Naval Command (HQ: at Visakhapatnam).

The Southern Naval Command (HQ: at Kochi).

Chilika lake located in Odisha.

Radha Mohan Singh is Union Agriculture Minister. Constituency - Purvi Champaran (Bihar).

Secretary general of UN- Antonio Guterres.

RBL Bank MD & CEO- Vishwavir Ahuja, Corporate Office- Mumbai, Maharashtra.



Golden temple is in Amritsar, Punjab. CM of Punjab is Amarinder Singh.

Current Governor of Punjab is V P Singh Badnore.

Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog is Rajiv Kumar.

HQ: of ‗Coinome‘ is located in Mumbai. CEO of Coinome is Vivek Steve Francis.

HQ: of BOB is in Vadodara, Gujarat & Tagline is ‗India‘s International Bank‘. Current MD & CEO of BOB is P S Jayakumar.

ADB has its Headquarter in Mandaluyong, Philippines. President of ADB is Takehiko Nakao.

Civil Aviation Secretary is R N ChoubeyMinister of Civil Aviation is Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati.

Mridula Sinha is the Governor of Goa.

HQ: of IOC- Lausanne, Switzerland. The 2020 Summer Olympics held in- Tokyo (Japan) in 2020. President of IOC- Thomas Bach.

Smriti Irani is union Information & Broadcasting & Textiles Minister.

Raman Singh is CM of Chhatisgarh. Balram Das Tandon is present Governor of Chhatisgarh.

Dudhawa Dam located in Chhattisgarh across the Mahanadi river.

AIBA HQ: is in Lausanne, Switzerland.

NGT, HQ- New Delhi, Established- November 2010.

IDFC Bank MD & CEO- Sunil Kakkar, HQ:- Mumbai.

HDFC Bank CEO- Aditya Puri, Headquarter- Mumbai.

Bank of China Chairman- Chen Siqing.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor- Tariq Bajwa.

Dharmendra Pradhan- Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.

Adani Power Chairman & Founder- Gautam Adani, Headoffice- Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Jharkhand CM- Raghubar Das, Governor- Droupadi Murmu.

Federal Bank MD & CEO- Shyam Srinivasan.

Kuwait Capital- Kuwait City, Currency- Kuwaiti Dinar (world's highest-valued currency unit).

NDMA Chairman- PM Narendra Modi, Headquarter- New Delhi.

Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change: Dr. Harsh Vardhan.

Union Home Minister- Mr. Rajnath Singh.

Urjit Patel- 24th Governor, RBI, Headquarter- Mumbai.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Est: 1989, HQ:- Singapore, Current Chairperson- Tran Dai Quang. 2016 APEC held in- Lima, Peru.

Menaka Gandhi- Cabinet Minister of Women & Child Development

Softbank Chairman & CEO- Masayoshi Son, HQ:- Tokyo, Japan.

PNB MetLife India Insurance MD & CEO- Ashish Srivastava,

CPCB Chairman- S.P. Singh Parihar, Headquarter- New Delhi.

AIFF President- Praful M Patel, Headquarter- Dwarka,

New Delhi.

Arjan Singh Bhullar- 1st Indian-origin fighter to be signed by the UFC.

Communication Minister- Manoj Sinha,

Electronics & IT Minister- Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Air India CMD- Rajiv Bansal.

MD & CEO of Bank of India- Dinabandhu Mohapatra, HQ:- Mumbai, Maharashtra.

FIFA World Cup 2018- in Russia

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology- Ravi Shankar Prasad.

APCERT- Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team.

ISA- International Solar Alliance.

June 21- UN-designated- International Yoga Day- in 2015.

Japan Capital- Tokyo, PM- Shinzo Abe.

Home Minister of India- Rajnath Singh.

Union Minister of State (I/C) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER): Dr. Jitendra Singh.

Nagaland CM- T.R. Zeliang, Governor- P.B. Acharya.

Jharkhand was created on the birthday of Birsa Munda who fought against the British.

FSIAB- Financial Stability Institute Advisory Board.

BIS- Bank of International Settlement.

Maharashtra CM- Devendra Fadnavis, Governor- Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao.

WHO Director-General- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Headquarter- Geneva, Switzerland.

WPO- World Packaging Organisation, Founded in- September 6, 1968 in Tokyo, Japan.

WPO President- Mr. Thomas Schneider.

Indira Gandhi was born on- 19th November 1917| Assassination- 31st October 1984| Shakti Sthal- Memorial to Indira Gandhi

RBL Bank MD & CEO- Vishwavir Ahuja, Corporate Office- Mumbai, Maharashtra.

General Bipin Rawat is the present & 27th Chief of Army Staff.

COP 22 was held in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Piyush Goyal is the Present Minister of Railways.

Antonio Guterres is the Secretary general of United Nations. UN HQ: in New York, United Nations.

S. Christopher is the present Chairman of DRDO.

Irina Bokova is the Present Director-General of UNESCO. UNESCO HQ: in Paris, France.

Majuli is a river island in the Brahmaputra River, Assam. It is India‘s first island district & world‘s largest river island.

Natarajan Chandrasekaran is the Chairman of TATA Steels.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the WHO‘s Director General. WHO HQ: in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jamsetji Tata was the founder of TATA Steels. It HQ: in



Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Bharti AXA Life is a life Insurance player that was started in 2006. It brings together the Paris-headquartered AXA Group & Bharti Enterprises.

Martina Hingis is from Switzerland.

WEF, HQ: in Geneva, Switzerland. Klaus Schwab is the Founder & Executive Chairman of WEF.

Siddaramaiah is the present CM of Karnataka. Vajubhai Vala is the present Governor of Karnataka.

Krish Iyer is the President & CEO of Walmart India.

ONGC stands for Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited. Shashi Shankar has been recently appointed CMD of ONGC.

Lt Gen SK Shrivastava is the Director General Border Roads Organization.

Sushil Chandra is the Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

Boxing Federation of India (BFI) President- Ajay Singh.

AIBA- Amateur International Boxing Association.

AIBA President- Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, HQ:- Switzerland.

Ambassador for AIBA Youth Women‘s World Boxing Championship 2017- Mary Kom.

Twitter CEO- Jack Dorsey, HQ:- California, USA.

Microsoft CEO- Satya Nadella.

Apollo Munich Health Insurance, CEO- Antony Jacob.

BHIM- Bharat Interface for Money, UPI- Unified Payment Interface.

Rajiv Kumar- Financial Services Secretary.

Ajay Narayan Jha- Expenditure Secretary,

Neeraj Kumar Gupta- Secretary, DIPAM.

Subhash Chandra Garg- Economic Affairs Secretary.

Current Affairs Injections: 1st to 6th February 2018 India has slipped to 42nd place on an annual Global

Democracy Index as per the data compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The top 5 Countries in the list are: Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand & Denmark.

CSO revised the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for 2015-16 to 8.2% from the earlier estimates of 8% & kept the 2016-17 growth unchanged at 7.1%. The real GDP or GDP at constant (2011-12) prices for the years 2016-17 & 2015-16 stand at Rs121.96 trillion & Rs113.86 trillion respectively. In terms of real gross value added (GVA), it stated that the GVA at constant (2011-12) basic prices grew 7.1% in 2016- 17, as against a growth of 8.1% in 2015-16.

The government & World Bank signed a $100 million (about Rs 6,40 crore) loan agreement to promote rural economy in selected blocks of Tamil Nadu across 26 districts, benefiting over 4 lakh people.

Lt. Gen Anil Chauhan took charge as the new Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Indian Army. He succeeds Lt General A K Bhatt.

The world's oldest man Francisco Nunez Olivera has died just over a month after celebrating his 113th birthday.

India has joined Ashgabat Agreement on the establishment of an International Transport & Transit Corridor between the Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan.

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) & Joint Stock Company United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), Russia have signed an MoU to collaborate & engage in Design, Development & Execution of contemporary, State-of-Art vessels for Inland & Coastal Waterways. It will give a push to the Government‘s Make-in-India programme.

The 7th India Energy Congress was held in New Delhi. The theme of the 7th edition of India Energy Congress is 'Energy 4.0: Energy Transition Towards 2030'.

The 32nd Surajkund International Crafts Mela has begun in Faridabad, Haryana. The Mela is organized by the Surajkund Mela Authority & Haryana Tourism. This year Uttar Pradesh is the theme state & Kyrgyzstan is the Partner Nation.

United Arab Emirates has made a record by opening the world's longest zip line, measuring 2.83 km in length. Guinness World Records officials certified the zip line in Ras al-Khaimah.

Rwanda become the first low-income country to provide universal eye care for its 12 million population.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has received Rs173.06 crore capital infusion from the government in the current fiscal.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed its joint secretary Vikram Singh Sisodia as the Chef-de-Mission for the upcoming Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold Coast, Australia.



Senior-most Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Neelam Kapur was appointed Director-General of Sports Authority of India (SAI). It is for the first time that an IIS officer has been appointed as SAI chief.

Magahi writer Shesh Anand Madhukar, who has been working extensively for the development of the language, was honoured with this year's Sahitya Akademi Bhasha Samman award.

The five-time World Champion MC Mary Kom claimed the gold medal in the India Open International Boxing tournament at Thyagraj Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. She defeated Josie Gabuco from the Philippines to grab the gold in the women's 48kg weight category.

The first two-day Global Investment Summit has been organized in Assam. The summit emphasises on promoting investments in the state & the North East. The conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj has returned home after successful completion of the goodwill visit to Nepal. This was the first high-level visit from India after completion of historic three-tier elections in Nepal. In her first meeting, Swaraj held talks with CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Mr Arun Jaitley launched CriSidEx, India‘s first sentiment index for micro & small enterprises ( MSEs) developed jointly by CRISIL & SIDBI. CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters & measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extremely negative ) to 200 ( extremely positive).

Alphabet has appointed John L. Hennessy as the new board chairman of the company. He has replaced Eric Schmidt.

Shabnam Asthana was awarded the 'Times Power Women of the Year 2017'- Pune for Global PR.

Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) committee has decided to bestow V. Shantaram lifetime achievement Award to veteran film producer & director Shyam Benegal.

India has defeated Australia to lift the Under 19 World cup for the fourth time. The Men in Blue defeated the three-time champions Australia at Bay Oval, New Zealand. Manjot Kalra was the Hero of the match with his brilliant century.

Manjot Kalra was declared Man of the Match. Shubman Gill was declared Player of the Tournament. Anukul Roy finished the 2018 edition with joint-highest 14 wickets.

India‘s leading squash player, Saurav Ghosal jumped five places to No. 14 to become the highest ranked Indian in the latest Professional Squash Association (PSA) rankings.

The First ever International Kala Mela was inaugurated by the VP, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi.

Maharashtra govt. approved Ghodazari in Chandrapur district as a new wildlife sanctuary in the state. It will include 159 sq km of Brahmapuri forest.

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) signed a project agreement with World Bank for Jal Marg Vikas Project on river Ganga. World Bank entered into a USD 375 million loan agreement with the Department of Economic Affairs for Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP).

The book penned down by PM Narendra Modi named 'Exam Warriors' was launched to reach out to the students across the country ahead of their exams. The book was released by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

World Cancer Day is observed on 4th February every year to raise awareness about cancer, its treatment & to encourage methods of its prevention. The theme for WCD 2016-18 is 'We can, I Can'.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched world‘s smallest rocket with the ability to put a tiny satellite into orbit. It carried a microsatellite TRICOM-1R, a three-unit CubeSat weighing about 3 kilograms.

Sri Lanka celebrated the 70th Independence Day on 4th February 2018 in Colombo. The theme of the ceremony was "One Nation".

President of Bangladesh, Abdul Hamid appointed Syed Mahmud Hossain as the new Chief Justice of the country. Justice Hossain is the 22nd chief justice of Bangladesh.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has won re-election for a second term.

India Open is a badminton event held annually at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi. In women's singles Defending champion P V Sindhu was defeated by American Beiwen Zhang to finish runner-up at the India Open Super 500 tournament.

Indian cricketers Jasprit Bumrah & Harmanpreet Kaur as well India women‘s hockey team goalkeeper Savita Punia & shooter Heena Sidhu are among Forbes India 30 Under 30 list.

National News External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has left for her

first official visit to Saudi Arabia. During her visit, she will meet with the Saudi leadership to discuss bilateral, regional & global issues of mutual interest. She will also participate in the National Heritage & Culture Festival ‗Janadriyah‘.

India successfully test-fired the indigenously developed short-range nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile. The missile was fired from the Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast. The range of Missile is 700 km. It was 18th version of Agni-I.



Cab-hailing startup Ola & the Government of Assam signed an MoU to pilot an app-based river taxi service in Guwahati. The river taxis will be machine-operated boats & users will be able to book the rides through Ola's app.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport of Mumbai sets record with 980 flights in 24 hours or almost one flight every minute. With this, the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport bettered its own feat of 974 flights in 24 hours, recorded in December 2017. While Gatwick, the U.K.‘s second-largest airport, remains the most efficient single-runway airport in the world.

Uttar Pradesh State government in association with UNICEF has launched massive door to door campaign DASTAK to eradicate deadly Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) & Japanise Encephalitis (JE) disease in the state. The war cry of DASTAK is 'Darwaja Khatkhatao, AES aur JE ko bhagao'. In DASTAK campaign, whole state machinery with the help of UNICEF will now literally go door to door in 38 JES &

AE affected districts which mostly fall in the Tarai region.

Sweden & the United Nations World Food Programme signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement committing an unprecedented $370 million dollars to WFP over the next four years. The contribution for the period 2018-2021 is the biggest ever made by a donor within a WFP Strategic Partnership Agreement.

Maldives president, Abdulla Yameen, has declared a state of emergency in the country as heavily armed troops stormed the country‘s top court & a former president Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed was arrested in a deepening political crisis.

Jerome H Powell was sworn in as the 16th Chairman of the Federal Reserve for a four-year term. Mr Powell has succeeded Janet Yellen, the first woman to lead the US central bank in its 100-year history.

Shubhankar Sharma has emerged as the best Indian golfer in the world, grabbing the 72nd position in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). Dustin Johnson from the USA is currently the World Number 1 in Official World Golf Ranking.

Static Takeaways from February 2018 Current Affairs Kyrgyzstan Capital: Bishkek, Currency: Kyrgyzstani

som. Iran Capital- Tehran, Currency- Iranian rial. Oman Capital- Muscat, Currency- Omani rial. Turkmenistan Capital- Ashgabat, Currency-

Turkmenistan manat. Uzbekistan Capital - Tashkent, Currency- Uzbekistani

som. Chairman & Managing Director, Cochin Shipyard

Limited- Shri Madhu S Nair. United Shipbuilding Corporation President- Alexey

Rakhmanov. Sagarmala Program aims to promote port-led

development in the country. The concept of Sagarmala was approved by the Union Cabinet on 25th March 2015.

UAE Capital- Abu Dhabi, Currency- UAE dirham. Rwanda Capital- Kigali, Currency- Rwandan franc,

President- Paul Kagame. IOB MD & CEO- R. Subramaniakumar, Headquarters-

Chennai.

21st Commonwealth Games will be held from April 4 to 15 in Gold Coast, the second largest city in Australia.

Gregory Gaultier from France is currently at No. 1 Position in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) rankings.

Minister of State for Culture (I/C) & Environment, Forest & Climate Change is Dr Mahesh Sharma.

Maharashtra Governor- C V Rao. Jim Yong Kim is the 12th President of the World Bank

Group. Cyprus Capital- Nicosia, Currency- Euro. The 15-metre-long Agni-I weighing 12 tonnes can carry

payloads up to 1,000 kg. United Nations International Children's Education

Fund (UNICEF) is a UN program headquartered in New York City, the USA. Henrietta H. Fore is the Executive Director of UNICEF.

Sweden Capital- Stockholm, Currency- Swedish krona. Maldives Capital- Male, Currency- Maldivian rufiyaa. The Federal Reserve System is the central banking

system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913.

BANKING & FINANCIAL AWARENESS CURRENT AFFAIRS

RBI in News

Govt. announced 88,139 crore rupees capital infusion

in 20 public sector banks, PSBs, during the current fiscal ending 31st March to boost lending & revive

growth. IDBI Bank will get the most- Rs10,610 crore followed by State Bank of India 8,800 crore rupees.

As per Finance Ministry, RBI Bonds Scheme has not been closed but the interest rate on such papers

lowered to 7.75%. 8% Savings Bonds Scheme, also



known as RBI Bonds Scheme, is not being closed but is being replaced by 7.75% Savings Bonds Scheme.

RBI initiated 'prompt corrective action' (PCA) against

Allahabad Bank over its high bad loans. There are total 11 banks on which RBI has initiated PCA till date.

RBI issued Rs10 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series. The new denomination has the motif of Sun Temple, Konark on the reverse. The base colour of the note is Chocolate Brown. The dimension of the banknote will be 63 mm x 123 mm.

As per RBI, housing loans in up to Rs. 2 lakh slab had the highest level of non-performing assets (NPAs).

RBI put Kolkata-based United Bank of India under the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework.

RBI placed Bank of India under Prompt Corrective

Action Framework. RBI imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on Syndicate Bank

for non-compliance with its directions on "Cheque Purchase or Discounting, Bill Discounting, & KYC norms.

As per the IT Ministry, govt. will bear the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges on transactions up to Rs 2,000 made through debit cards, BHIM UPI or

Aadhaar-enabled payment systems to promote digital transactions.

RBI increased the limits for investment by foreign

portfolio investors (FPIs) for Jan-Mar 2018 quarter by Rs 6,400 crore in Central Govt. Securities (G-Secs) & Rs 5,800 crore in State development loans (SDLs) {Rs. 2,56,400 crores in G-Secs}

RBI imposed Rs 3 crore penalty on IndusInd Bank for breaching rules on income classification norms.

RBI has triggered prompt corrective action against

Corporation Bank, in view of high non-performing loans & requirement to raise capital.

OBOPAY announced that the company has secured a license for Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) from RBI to operate a semi-closed loop wallet in the country.

RBI allowed Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) to hold more than 26% post conversion of debt into equity in companies undergoing restructuring.

One rupee note turns 100 on 30th November 2017. The first one-rupee note was printed in India with the photo of King George V.

Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) cannot outsource core management functions like internal audit, strategic & compliance functions for KYC norms, sanction of loans & management of investment portfolio. As per the notification, access to customer information by staff of the service provider shall be on 'need to know' basis i.e., limited to those areas where the information is required in order to perform the outsourced function.

RBI reportedly rejected HDFC Bank's plea to

declassify its parent Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) as a foreign institutional investor (FII).

RBI Governor Urjit Patel appointed to the Financial Stability Institute Advisory Board of Bank of

International Settlement (BIS). BIS is a global financial organization owned by major central banks from across the world.

As per RBI, all the corporate borrowers having exposure of Rs. 5 crores & above mandatorily to obtain 20-digit Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). Banks also required to acquire LEI number from borrowers & submit it to Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC).

RBI constituted a 10-member ‗High Level Task Force

on Public Credit Registry (PCR) for India‘, which will suggest a roadmap for developing a transparent, comprehensive & near-real-time PCR for India. The committee will be Headed by YM Deosthalee, ex-CMD, L&T Finance Holdings.

Indian govt. announced an allocation of Rs 2.11 lakh crore over 2 years for the recapitalization of public

sector banks. As part of the plan, the government will essentially issue bonds to banks worth Rs 1.35 lakh crore while Rs 76,000 crore will come through budgetary support.

After making Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) mandatory for transactions in interest rate, forex & credit derivative market, RBI is set to make LEI compulsory for companies having aggregate fund-based & non-fund based exposure over Rs 5 crore. Banks will be required to capture this number in the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) database that captures details of loan above Rs 5 crore. The LEI number will help banks in monitoring the aggregate exposure of corporate borrowers. Firms can obtain their LEI code from Legal Entity Identifier India Ltd. (LEIL).

RBI issued guidelines to banks to provide funds to women self help groups, SHGs, in rural areas at 7% under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the current fiscal (2017-18).

Government made it mandatory for banks & financial institutions to check the original identification documents of individuals dealing in cash above Rs.

50,000, to weed out the use of forged or fake copies. RBI opened a branch in the Dehradun city to make

transactions of the Uttarakhand State government more convenient.

As per the direction by RBI, banks need to provide banking services to senior citizens of more than 70 years of age & differently-abled persons at doorstep.



SBI IN NEWS

SBI & NABARD signed an agreement with five NGOs in Bengal for the promotion of 2,500 joint liability

groups (JLGs) in select districts of the State. JLGs are informal groups of 4-10 members engaged in similar

economic activities & willing to jointly undertake the responsibility to repay loans taken by the group from a bank.

A pilot scheme of credit cards for farmers is launched

by SBI. With this, it will extend credit facility to farmers for 40 days just like regular credit card.

As per SBI, its board has approved raising Rs 8,000 crore through various sources, including masala bonds, to meet Basel III capital norms.

SBI introduced a loyalty program for its valued

customers named as State Bank Rewardz, which gives the customers several opportunities to earn reward points & earn many times faster at Max Get More partner outlets.

SBI launched a unified integrated app called YONO

(You Need Only One) that would offer all kinds of financial & lifestyle products.

SBI announced sanction of credit facilities amounting to Rs. 2,317 crores to corporates for financing Grid Connected Rooftop Solar projects under an SBI-World Bank program.

SBI launched a new product to provide a short-term

working capital demand loan to its MSME clients. The new initiative, called SME Assist, would offer loans to MSME customers on the basis of their input credit claims under Goods & Services Tax (GST). The loan processing fee under the scheme is Rs 2,000.

Govt. named Rajnish Kumar as the new chairman of

SBI, for 3-year term. Kumar will succeed Arundhati Bhattacharya.

ALL OTHER PUBLIC-SECTOR BANKS

CRISIL revised its outlook on 18 public sector banks

(PSBs) from ―negative‖ to ―stable‖ after the Govt. announced bank-wise capital infusion & reform plans.

Indian Overseas Bank signed an MoU with National

Housing Bank for Rural Housing Interest Subsidy Scheme (RHISS). The aim is to provide subsidy for

housing loans taken by those living in rural areas for construction & modifications of their dwelling units. Interest subsidy under the scheme is 3% for a loan

amount of Rs2 lakh for 20-year tenure. Indian Overseas Bank become one of the first public sector banks to implement the scheme.

PNB & National Scheduled Castes Finance & Development Corporation (NSFDC) tied up to provide financial assistance for economic empowerment of persons belonging to Scheduled Caste families living below Double Poverty Line (DPL).

Bank of Baroda entered into MoU with POORTI Agri

Services Pvt. Ltd to enable the farmers to purchase agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, seeds

etc. provided by POORTI. IDBI Bank received the capital infusion of Rs 2,729

crore from the govt. of India. Bank of India received capital infusion of Rs. 2,257

crores from the govt. Allahabad Bank entered into an agreement with state-

run National e-Governance Services Limited (NeSL)

for utilizing the NeSL‘s Information Utility Services envisaged under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Corporation Bank launched its RuPay Select & RuPay

Platinum credit cards. Jai Kumar Garg, MD & CEO unveiled it.

Andhra Bank launched a new scheme for self-help

groups (SHGs) to encourage entrepreneurship. The scheme, Pattabhi Sitaramayya — Self Business Group

(PS-SBG), introduced to commemorate the 138th birth anniversary of its founder Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya, & the Silver Jubilee of the SHG-Bank linkage programme in the country. Under this, SHGs having five years of association with Andhra Bank & having successfully completed three credit rotations with good repayment record & an aptitude for entrepreneurship, will be eligible for a loan.

Bank of Baroda launched digital Supply Chain

Finance solution which aims to accelerate working capital loan opportunities for the small & medium enterprises & large corporate clients.

Debt-laden Air India received a loan worth of Rs. 1,500

crore from Bank of India to meet urgent working capital needs.

Union Bank of India launched an Android app, Union

Sahyog, as part of its drive to digitise customer-facing banking services. Union Sahyog app is bilingual — offering both English & Hindi language — & packs in all mobile-based banking applications, missed call/SMS-based services, Internet banking login & self-user creation & other services.

SMALL & PAYMENT BANKS IN NEWS

Ministry of Finance announced that "Payments Banks & Small Finance Banks" will offer social security

scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to their subscribers. AU Small Finance Bank signed an MoU with LIC to

offer Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY).

Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) & India

Post Payments Bank signed an agreement for the training of employees of the latter in the area of payment banking.

Paytm Payments Bank has partnered Induslnd Bank to introduce a facility to create a fixed deposit (FD) when



the customer balance exceeds Rs. 1 lakh at the end of the day.

AU Small Finance Bank announced signing an MoU

with Sahaj e-Village for extending its banking service in remote areas through Business Correspondent Agent (BC) model.

Paytm Payments Bank rolled out Paytm FASTag to enable electronic toll fee collection on highways across the country.

Paytm Payments Bank is the only bank providing zero balance accounts & zero charges on digital transactions. It unveiled 'Paytm Ka ATM' outlets that allows customers to open Saving A/c & deposit/withdraw money from their A/c.

'Paytm Payments Bank' formally launched at the hands of FM Jaitley. Currently, India has four Payments

Bank which are Paytm Payments Bank, Airtel Payments Bank, India Post Payments Bank & Fino Payments Bank.

AU Small Finance Bank received RBI approval to

operate as Scheduled Commercial Bank. This bank's name has now been included in the Second Schedule of RBI Act, 1934.

Paytm introduced payments using BHIM UPI on its platform, using which users can create their own Paytm BHIM UPI ID on the app, which will be issued by Paytm Payments Bank.

AU Small Finance Bank tied up with SIDBI to launch a Rs. 200 crores fund for providing loans to micro,

small & medium enterprises (MSMEs). The program will fund term loans in the Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 2 crore ticket size.

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 & Andhra Pradesh.

Sunil Mittal-driven Airtel Payments Bank integrated

the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on its digital platform, allowing customer choice & convenience to facilitate secure digital payments.

Fino Payments Bank launched its mobile banking app

called BPay. Fino aims to make banking easy for millions of underbanked people in India.

ICICI Bank in News

Govt. engaged ICICI Bank to enable online payments at 470 mandis integrated with the national portal of electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).

Paytm & ICICI Bank collaborated to announce an all-new initiative where users can get interest-free short-term digital credit. Called Paytm-ICICI Bank Postpaid.

ICICI Bank launched India's first voice-based international remittance service to enable non-resident Indians (NRIs) to send money to any bank in India.

ICICI Bank announced a new home loan scheme that

offers borrowers the benefit of 1% cashback on every EMI, for the entire tenure.

ALL OTHER PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS in News

Axis Bank launched the fourth edition of ‗Evolve‘ in

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. It is an annual multi-city knowledge series for Bank‘s small & medium-sized enterprises (SME) customers. The current edition titled as ―Transform your Family Business into your dream company‖.

Digital invoice discounting marketplace - Invoicemart

tied up with Bank of Baroda to discount invoices for MSMEs. Invoicemart is a joint venture between Axis Bank Ltd & junction services ltd.

Amplus Energy Solutions entered into a pact with Yes

Bank for strategic tie-up to co-finance projects in the solar energy space in India.

Federal Bank entered into a strategic partnership with

Hedge Equities Ltd for providing Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) services to NRIs.

IDFC Bank & Capital First approved merger of Capital First with IDFC Bank.

IndusInd Bank & Dynamics Inc. at 2018 Consumer

Electronics Show (CES) announced plans to introduce the first battery-powered, interactive payment cards to the Indian market in 2018.

HDFC Bank has announced a partnership with Rajasthan Govt. to promote & nurture startups in the state.

By selling India's first "Social Bonds", Indiabulls Housing Finance raised Rs. 1000 crores. These bonds are the debt instrument, issued to raise funds which is to be used in social projects such as affordable housing, water supply etc. Yes Bank was the sole investor in this.

Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved scheme of amalgamation between IndusInd Bank & Bharat Financial Inclusion.

YES Bank & European Investment Bank will co-finance $400-million funding for renewable power

generation in the country. Agri service solutions provider Sohan Lal Commodity

Management (SLCM) having operations across India & Myanmar tied up with HDFC Bank & IndusInd

Bank to provide collateral management services. Axis Bank launched an instant international payment

services using Ripple‘s enterprise blockchain

technology solution for retail & corporate customers. HDFC Bank launched its SmartUp Zone in Kochi, an

exclusive area inside the branch dedicated for start-ups. From 1st November 2017, HDFC Bank Ltd. made online

transactions through RTGS & NEFT free of cost to promote a digital economy.



IDFC Bank entered into a ―strategic alliance‖ with

MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card for customers of MobiKwik.

Federal Bank obtained RBI approval to open representative offices at Kuwait & Singapore.

Yes Bank signed an MoU with Innovation Centre

Denmark India (ICDK India) to bring fintech innovations & startups from Denmark to India, & facilitate entry of Indian startups to the region.

Yes Bank, unveiled a superior payment wallet service, BHIM Yes Pay by fully integrating the application with all the IndiaStack APIs & NPCI Products.

Yes Bank signed an agreement with the government to provide Rs 1,000 crore financing for food processing

projects. The funding will be provided to around 100 food processing projects with an average ticket size of Rs 10 crore each.

RBL Bank set up an all women branch in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

HDFC Bank topped the list of the country‘s top 50 brands as per report released by WPP Plc & Kantar Millward Brown. Airtel is at 2nd spot & State Bank of India is at 3rd.

RBI included HDFC Bank in the list of 'too big to fail' lenders, referred to as D-SIB or domestic systemically

important bank. India's largest lender SBI & private sector major ICICI Bank were classified as D-SIBs in 2015.

ALL OTHER BANKS/INSTITUTIONS in News

NABARD sanctioned Rs 372.51 crore loan

assistance under the Rural Infrastructure Development

Fund (RIDF) to Odisha towards irrigation & rural bridge projects for the last quarter of this fiscal.

Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank

(APGVB) operationalised its first desktop ATM in

Telangana. The mini-ATM within the branch premises will facilitate customers to withdraw small amounts.

Telangana Industrial Health Clinic Ltd (TIHCL), a State Govt. initiative got RBI clearance to register &

function as a non-banking finance company (NBFC). It will be the first State promoted & co-financing NBFC.

Corporation Bank launched its RuPay Select & RuPay

Platinum credit cards. Jai Kumar Garg, MD & CEO unveiled it.

Sub-Committee of Financial Stability & Development

Council (FSDC) headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel discussed the setting up of the National Centre for

Financial Education (NCFE), operationalisation of information utilities registered by the IBBI, sharing of data among regulators & the implementation status of Legal Entity Identifier (LEI).

Indian online payments firm BillDesk-owned Hatio

Innovations launched cryptocurrency exchange

‗Coinome‘ in India offering trading of Bitcoin & Bitcoin Cash.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) gathered momentum in some northern States post demonetisation. With its area & size of population, Uttar Pradesh tops in opening new PMJDY accounts.

Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board of India registered National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) as an Information Utility (IU) under the IBBI (Information

Utilities) Regulations, 2017. With this, NeSL has become the first IU registered by the IBBI & the registration is valid for five years from the date of registration.

Insurance Industry in News

IRDAI issued regulations for insurance firms to carry out offshore business from GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). Under this, for the 1st

time in the country, foreign insurers are permitted to open IFSC Insurance Office (IIO) at GIFT IFSC.

Life insurer PNB MetLife signed a corporate agency agreement with Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait B.S.C (BBK).

Reliance General Insurance, a subsidiary of Reliance Capital signed comprehensive bancassurance-corporate agency agreement with YES Bank.

HDFC Life Insurance Company launched 'Neo', a

servicing bot for Twitter that uses artificial intelligence for customer service. This is the second bot after the launch of SPOK.

HDFC Life Insurance & Apollo Munich Health come together to launch ‗Click2Protect Health plan‘, which provides both life & health cover under a single plan.

India‘s first ever insurance cover for individual

victims of cyber crime was launched by Bajaj Allianz. Under this, insurance will be provided against online fraud, identity theft, cyber-stalking & extortion, phishing & malware attack. Sum insured for the policy is in range of Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1 crore.

The first private Life Insurer to Implement e-NACH

(Electronic – National Automated Clearing House) service of NPCI is ICICI Prudential Life.

India‘s first-ever micro-insurance plan ‗insurance

khata‘ was introduced by IndiaFirst Life. It is introduced for individuals of the informal sector & agricultural labourers with seasonal incomes.

Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority

(PFRDA) announced that the upper age limit for joining the National Pension Scheme (NPS) had been raised to 65 years, from the current 60.

INTERNATIONAL BANKS

US buyout giant KKR & Co become the first foreign investor to fully own an asset reconstruction company

(ARC) in India as it received approval from RBI.



Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the creation of a new virtual currency named 'Petro' to ease the country's economic crisis.

Bank of China formally launched its operations in

Pakistan, with its first branch inaugurated in Karachi. American digital payments company PayPal launched

domestic operations in India.

HSBC has appointed John Flint as its next chief

executive. He will take over from current chief executive Stuart Gulliver.

The 1st Canadian bank to be added to Financial

Stability Board‘s (FSB) list of global systemically important banks (G-SIB) deemed ‗too big to fail‘ is

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Note: Financial Stability Board (FSB) is in Basel, Switzerland.

ECONOMY/FINANCIAL CURRENT AFFAIRS India emerged as the fifth most attractive market for

investments & the optimism over global economic growth is at a record level, as per the survey of CEOs

by global consultancy PwC. US remains the top spot. Mauritius was the largest source of foreign investment

in India, followed by the US & the UK, as per the census by RBI.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)'s India International Exchange listed the first bond on its Global Securities Market. The bonds issued by Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC) are one of the highest credit rated bonds issued by an Indian corporate & has been IRFC's first foray into the Green Bond market.

India emerged as a top borrower from AIIB with USD 1.5 billion worth of loans last year & USD three billion more in the pipeline. Indonesia has emerged as the

second largest borrower with about USD 600 million loans.

UIDAI launched 'Virtual ID', which an Aadhaar-card holder can generate from its website. The Virtual ID will be a random 16-digit number.

2.52% of paid-up capital of National Mineral

Development Corporation (NMDC) successfully divested by the Central govt.

India‘s First Agri-commodity Options in Guar Seed on National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) platform was launched by the FM Arun Jaitley launched.

Govt. lowered the additional borrowing requirement

for the current fiscal year to Rs 20,000 crores from Rs. 50,000 crores.

India‘s first home-grown high purity gold reference

standard - Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BND-4201) - launched. BND-4201, is the reference material for gold

of ‗9999‘ fineness (gold that is 99.99% pure), will be beneficial to the consumers & public at large to ensure purity of gold.

SEBI stated that cross-holding in credit rating agencies

(CRAs) will be capped at 10% & also decided to raise the minimum net worth requirement to Rs. 25 crores from the current Rs 5 crores.

Cryptocurrency dealer 'Pluto Exchange' announced the launch of India‘s first mobile application for transacting in virtual currencies.

GST Council decided to implement the e-way bill mechanism throughout the country by June 1st after reviewing the readiness of the IT network.

Axis Securities, a subsidiary of Axis Bank become the first-ever broking arm of a bank to take membership of a commodity exchange by registering itself with NCDEX.

BSE's India International Exchange (India

INX) received approval from SEBI for the listing of

debt securities. This will enable Indian & foreign issuers to issue masala bonds, Eurobonds, & foreign currency bonds from India INX at International Financial Service Centre at GIFT for the first time.

CBDT entered into 2 Bilateral Advance Pricing

Agreements. These Agreements are the first ever Bilateral APAs with the Netherlands. With this, the total number of APAs by the CBDT has gone up to 186.

This includes 171 Unilateral APAs & 15 Bilateral APAs. GOI increased the budget of Agricultural Education by

47.4% this year as compared to the financial year 2013-14.

Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu stated that the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme

(MEIS) incentive rate will be raised by 2% across the board for labor-intensive/MSME sectors.

Cabinet approved the setting up of the 15th Finance

Commission which will assess the tax resources of the nation & suggest a formula for their devolution among states. Its recommendations will have to be in place

before April 1, 2020, it takes 2 years for FC to give its recommendations.

New York based Standard & Poor‘s (S&P) kept its sovereign rating for India unchanged at ‗BBB-‗, with outlook for the nation as ‗stable‘.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) increased annual funding to India to up to $4 billion from existing $2.7 billion from next year.

23rd GST Council Meet held in Guwahati. It was headed FM Jaitley. GST rate on 177 items reduced from 28% to 18%. Only 50 items will attract 28% GST rate.

Bitcoin rose above the symbolic $10,000 threshold for the first time, bringing its rise for the year to date to more than 900%.



As per CBDT, farmers are not required show PAN for

cash sale of their produce up to Rs. 2 lakh a day. As per Bank of America-Merrill Lynch stated that in

the next decade, India will overtake Japan to become

the third-largest economy. As per this, India is likely to become the world‘s fifth largest economy by 2019.

Moody's Investors Service upgraded India's local & foreign currency issuer ratings to Baa2 from Baa3 & changed the outlook on the rating to stable from positive.

Ministry of Finance increased maximum age of joining the National Pension System (NPS) from the existing

60 years to 65 years under NPS - Private Sector (i.e. all citizen & corporate model).

Income Tax Department clarified that the cash sales of agricultural produce by a cultivator to a trader for less

than 2 lakh rupees will not attract tax under the Income Tax Act.

New Fund Offer (NFO) for BHARAT-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) was launched by GOI. The target is to raise initial amount of about Rs. 8000 crores as part of disinvestment programme for current fiscal. The NFO

is managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund. As per the NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar,

the GDP is likely to grow at 6.9-7% this fiscal (2017-18)

& 7.5% in 2018-19. The economic growth slowed to 7.1% in 2016-17.

Loan/Finance from International Organizations

India contributed USD 50,000 to UN Secretary General

Antonio Guterres's Office of Envoy on Youth to help with its mission of involving young people in the world body's goals.

AIIB approved USD 2 million loan (Rs. 13,000 crores) for five projects in Andhra Pradesh.

Static Takeaways from Banking & Economy Current Affairs Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs): ARC's are specialized financial institution that buys the NPAs or bad assets

from banks & other financial institutions to clean up the balance sheets of Banks & FIs. LEI: Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a global reference number that uniquely identifies every legal entity or structure that

is party to a financial transaction, in any jurisdiction. Andhra bank: HQ: Hyderabad | CEO: Shri Suresh N Patel | Where India Banks BOB: HQ: Vadodara | CEO: P. S. Jayakumar | India's International Bank Union Bank of India: HQ: Mumbai | CEO: Rajkiran Rai G. | Good People to bank with Vijaya Bank: HQ: Bengaluru | CEO: R. A. Sankara Narayanan | A Friend you can bank upon Federal Bank: HQ: Aluva, Kochi, Kerala: CEO: Shyam Srinivasan | Your Perfect Banking Partner RBL Bank: HQ: Mumbai | CEO: Vishwavir Ahuja | Apno ka bank Kotak Mahindra Bank: HQ: Mumbai | Founder: Uday Kotak IndusInd Bank: HQ: Mumbai | CEO: Romesh Sobti | Corporation Bank: HQ: Mangalore | CEO: Jai Kumar Garg Bank of China: HQ: Beijing, China PayPal: American company | CEO: Daniel Schulman HSBC: HQ: London, United Kingdom

Foreign Exchange Reserves

Foreign Exchange Reserves as on 26th January 2018

₹ Bn. US$ Mn.

Total Reserves 26,535.3 417,789.2 1.1 Foreign Currency Assets 24,999.7 393,743.8

1.2 Gold 1,305.5 20,421.6 1.3 SDRs 98.0 1,544.0

1.4 Reserve Position in the IMF 132.1 2,079.8 Masala Bonds

It refers to the rupee-denominated borrowings by Indian entities in overseas markets. Gross Value Added



It is a measure of total output & income in the economy. It provides the rupee value for the amount of goods & services produced in an economy after deducting the cost of inputs & raw materials that have gone into the production.

GVA gives a picture of the state of economic activity from the producers‘ side or supply side, the GDP gives the picture from the consumers‘ side or demand perspective.

PNB | The Name you can Bank Upon | New Delhi | CEO: Sunil Mehta BSNL | New Delhi | CEO: Shri Anupam Shrivastava J&K Bank | Serving to Empower | Srinagar | Parvez Ahmed (Chairman & CEO) Vijaya Bank | A friend you can Bank Upon | Bengaluru | Shri. R A Sankara Narayanan (MD & CEO) IDBI Bank | Bank aisa Dost jaisa | Mumbai | Mr. Mahesh Kumar Jain (MD & CEO) Syndicate Bank| Faithful, Friendly | Mr Melwyn Rego, Managing Director & CEO Canara Bank| Together we can | Shri. Rakesh Sharma, MD & CEO Indian Bank| Your Own Bank | Mr. Kishor Kharat, MD & CEO Corporation Bank | Shri. Jai Kumar Garg: Managing Director & CEO Indian Overseas Bank | Good People to Grow with | Shri. R. Subramaniakumar: MD & CEO Union Bank of India| Good People to Bank with| Shri Rajkiran Rai G, Managing Director & CEO Fincare Small Finance Bank | Bengaluru| Pramod Kabra, Chairman| Rajeev Yadav, MD& CEO

Airtel Payment Bank| Shashi Arora, MD & CEO

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank| Bengaluru, India| Samit Ghosh, CEO & MD FINO Payment Bank| Qadar Aapki Mehnat Ki| Mumbai| Rishi Gupta, MD & CEO ICICI Bank| CEO: Chanda Kochhar| Mumbai| Industrial Credit & Investment Corporation of India HDFC Bank| Bank aapki mutthi mein| CEO: Aditya Puri|Mumbai Karnataka Bank| Your Family Bank Across India| Shri Mahabaleshwara M. S., MD & CEO IndusInd Bank| Mumbai| R. Seshasayee, Chairman| Romesh Sobti, MD & CEO Karur Vysya Bank| Smart Way to Bank| Karur, Tamil Nadu| Shri P R Seshadri, MD & CEO IDFC Bank| The Bank of Now| Mumbai | Dr. Rajiv Lall, FOUNDER MD & CEO Axis Bank| CEO: Shikha Sharma| Chairperson: Dr. Sanjiv Misra (Part Time) | Mumbai Kotak Mahindra Bank| Arvind Kathpalia, President| Mumbai South Indian Bank| Experience Next Generation Banking| Thrissur, Kerala| V.G. Mathew, MD & CEO Yes Bank| Mumbai| CEO: Rana Kapoor EXIM Bank| 1982 under the Export-Import Bank of India Act, 1981| David Rasquinha, MD

SIDBI| Small Industries Development Bank of India| April 2, 1990| Mohammad Mustafa,CMD NHB| National Housing Bank | Sriram Kalyanaraman, MD &CEO| July 9, 1988- NHB Act, 1987

NHB is wholly owned by Reserve Bank of India, which contributed the entire paid-up capital. IBBI

Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board of India was set up on 1st October 2016 under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code). It writes & enforces rules for transactions, namely, corporate insolvency resolution, corporate liquidation, individual insolvency resolution & individual bankruptcy under the Code. Dr. M. S. Sahoo is the Chairperson.

NPCI National Payments Corporation of India, an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments & settlement systems in

India. It is an initiative of RBI & Indian Banks‘ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment & Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.

Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) & Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

REITs are listed entities that primarily invest in leased office & retail assets, allowing developers to raise funds by selling completed buildings to investors.

InvITs are trusts that manage income-generating infrastructure assets, typically offering investors regular yield & a liquid method of investing in infrastructure projects.

UIDAI Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar

Act, 2016 on 12 July 2016 by the Govt. of India. Shri J Satyanarayana, Chairman(part-time), UIDAI| Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO HQ:| New Delhi

Multi Commodity Exchange Ltd It is a state-of-the-art, commodity derivatives exchange that facilitates online trading, & clearing & settlement of

commodity derivatives transactions, thereby providing a platform for risk management. Mr. Saurabh Chandra: Chairman Asian Development Bank (ADB) | Philippines| President: Takehiko Nakao| 19 Dec 1966| 67 countries World Bank | President: Jim Yong Kim| CEO: Kristalina Georgieva| Washington, D.C., United States

WTO| Geneva, Switzerland| 1 Jan 1995| 164 countries (July 2016) | Roberto Azevêdo (Director-General)



New Development Bank| Shanghai, China| President: K. V. Kamath| 15 July 2014 NTPC: Gurdeep Singh, CMD

BUSINESS NEWS (NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL)Companies Key Points

Paytm & Alibaba Group-AGTech

Holdings Ltd

Formed a joint venture to launch 'Gamepind' a gaming platform aimed at mobile users in India.

Reliance Industries (RIL)

Become the first Indian company to cross the Rs. 6-lakh crore mark in market capitalization.

Vodafone India partnered with Flipkart

To provide a range of entry-level smartphones at an effective price of Rs999.

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation

Got the consent for acquiring controlling stake in fellow PSU Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL). As per ONGC, it has acquired 51.11% stake of HPCL.

Indian Oil Corporation Signed Letters of Intent (LoI) with Phinergy & YEDA, a technology spin-off company from Israel. Agreement with Phinergy will allow Indian Oil to work on adoption of advanced

energy systems.

India‘s Tata Consultancy Services

Signed an over GBP 500 million (USD 690 million) deal with M&G Prudential, the UK & European savings & investments business of Prudential plc.

Paytm set up a new entity called Paytm Money Ltd that will offer investment & wealth management products

India‘s most-valued lender HDFC Bank Ltd

Crossed Rs.5 trillion market capitalisation for the first time, making it only the third Indian company to achieve this milestone.

Flipkart‘s payments arm PhonePe

Partnered with FreeCharge to allow the latter‘s customers pay for transactions at PhonePe‘s partner merchants.

Airtel Payments Bank CEO Shashi Arora quit the company following the controversy of violation of rules on using Aadhaar for its e-KYC.

SBI Card & Bharat Petroleum, launched the BPCL SBI Card – most rewarding fuel co-branded credit card.

HDFC Sold its realty brokerage business HDFC Realty & HDFC RED (Real Estate Destination) to online classifieds player Quikr.

Bharti Airtel Ltd Signed Definitive agreement with Millicom International Cellular S.A., under which Airtel Rwanda Ltd will acquire 100% equity in Tigo Rwanda Ltd.

Ola, operated by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd

Acquired food delivery start-up Foodpanda India Pvt. Ltd from its German parent Delivery Hero AG

Dish TV India Limited Received the final approval for closing of the merger of Videocon d2h with DishTV.

Samsung India Tie-up with UNESCO for virtual reality content & 360-degree videos on Indian heritage.

Maruti Suzuki Became India's sixth most valued firm, crossing SBI. Reliance Industries is the country's most valued company firm in India.

Paytm Bought an undisclosed stake in Urja Money Pvt. Ltd, which evaluates creditworthiness of people seeking loans to buy two-wheelers.

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the ratings of infrastructure government-related issuers (GRIs) NTPC, NHPC, NHAI & GAIL to Baa2 in line with India's sovereign ratings.

Walmart India Launched its first fulfilment centre in Mumbai.

ONGC Got approval from the Department of Investment & Public Asset Management for acquiring the majority stake in HPCL. ONGC acquired 51.11% stake in HPCL.

Tata Steel Established India‘s largest Coke Dry Quenching (CDQ) facility at Kalinganagar Industrial Complex in Jajpur district of Odisha.

Ola With Microsoft, is building a new connected vehicle platform for car manufacturers worldwide.

Reliance Communication

Received the final approval on its merger with Sistema from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT). This merger will extend validity of RCom's spectrum portfolio

in the highly valued 800 & 850 MHz band.



Static Takeaways from Business Current Affairs ONGC: Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited| Shashi Shanker, Chairman & Managing Director Reliance Communication: Chairman: Anil Dhirubhai Ambani HPCL: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited: M.K.Surana, Chairman & Managing Director Tencent: Founded in November, 1998, Tencent is a leading provider of Internet value added services in China. NSDC: National Skill Development Corporation | It aims to promote skill development by catalyzing creation of large,

quality & for-profit vocational institutions. Britannia Industries: Nusli N Wadia, Chairman | Varun Berry, Managing Director Flipkart | Bengaluru | Kalyan Krishnamurthy (CEO) Indian Oil Corporation: Shri Sanjiv Singh, Chairman Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd | Shashi Shanker, Chairman & Managing Director Amazon | Washington, U.S. | Jeff Bezos (Chairman, President & CEO) Twitter | San Francisco, California |Jack Dorsey (CEO) Samsung | Seoul, South Korea | Lee Kun-hee (Chairman) Netflix | California, United States | Reed Hastings (Chairman, CEO) Microsoft | Washington, U.S. | John W. Thompson (Chairman) | Satya Nadella (CEO)

Google | California, U.S. | Sundar Pichai (CEO)

AGREEMENTS/MOU SIGNED

Between Whom MoU/Agreement Details

Asian Development Bank & the Indian Government

250-million-dollar loan agreement to finance the construction of over 6200 kilometres all-weather rural roads in 5 states viz Assam, Chhattisgarh,

MP, Odisha & West Bengal under PMGSY.

India & Cambodia 4 agreements in the field of cultural exchange, an exchange line of credit of $26.9 million, cooperate in legal matter & on prevention of human

trafficking. Signed b/w PM Modi & Cambodian PM Hun Sen.

National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) with SME Corporation Malaysia

MoU for exchange of information & cooperation in areas such as policies to aid development of small & medium businesses (SMBs).

National Highways & Infrastructure MoU sigend for construction of 14.150 km long 2-lane bi-directional Zojila

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited-

HPCL

become the first Oil Marketing Company (OMC) from India to mark its presence in the lubricant market in Myanmar.

Bharti Airtel Received Ghana‘s National Communications Authority‘s approval for the merger between Bharti Ghana (Airtel) & Millicom Ghana (Tigo), subject to certain conditions.

INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES

Google Introduced app named "Bulletin" that allows anybody to submit stories for & about their communities.

Amazon Bought an Andover, Massachusetts-based company 'Blink' that makes Internet-connected doorbells & security cameras.

Samsung Launched its 'Bill Payments' on its flagship payments service, Samsung Pay in partnership with Axis Bank.

Tencent become the first Chinese company to be valued at more than $500 billion in Asia.

Facebook Expects to train about five lakh people in India on digital skills by 2020 & unveiled two programmes which are Facebook Digital Training & Facebook Startup Training Hubs.

Swedish Company IKEA

Launched its first experiential centre 'IKEA Hej HOME' in Hyderabad

Jet Airways & Air France-KLM

Come in partnership to route more traffic through Europe & on to North America.

Uber Technologies Inc. Approved SoftBank Group Corp.‘s offer to buy a multibillion-dollar stake in UBER.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) & Microsoft

Teamed up to launch an open-source & deep learning interface 'Gluon' that will help developers to deploy machine learning models across several platforms.



Development Corporation & M/S IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd

Tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir. This will be India‘s longest road tunnel & the longest bi-directional tunnel in Asia.

GOI, Govt. of Uttarakhand & World Bank

Signed a $120 million Loan Agreement which will help increase access to improved water supply services in peri-urban areas in UK state.

National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) made its First investment. It partnered with DP World to create an

investment platform for ports, terminals, transportation & logistics businesses in India.

Telangana Govt. with Clean Authority of Tokyo

MoU in connection with municipal solid waste incineration in Hyderabad.

India & Israel MoU to enhance co-operation in the areas of agriculture, science & technology & security.

Punjab Govt. with Indian Oil Corporation

Signed an MoU to set up bio-gas & bio-CNG plants in the state.

Cabinet approved signing & implementation of MoU between Ministry of Road Transport & Highways & ‗Transport for London‘ to improve public transport in the country.

South Korea & the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI)

signed an MoU for co-operation between industries in Gujarat & the East Asian country, with a focus on automobile, defence & textiles sectors.

Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi approved: a) MoU between India & Canada for cooperation in the field of Science & Technology. The MoU will provide a mechanism & help to foster scientific cooperation between R&D & academic institutions of India & Canada.

b) Implementation of CCEA decision on the closure of Tungabhadra Steel Products Limited.

Uttar Pradesh govt. with South Korea MoU to enhance cooperation in the field of tourism, skill development, culture & farming.

India & the World Bank Signed USD 40 Million IBRD Credit agreement for ―U.P. Pro-Poor Tourism Development Project‖

India & Germany Signed Loan agreement for providing additional funding of EUR 20 million for Pare Hydroelectric Plant project, Arunachal Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh govt. with moonshot factory of Alphabet X

Agreement to bring Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) technology to provide internet through the govt. Fibergrid project.

Skill Development Ministry & Maruti Suzuki signed an agreement to impart training to youth & enhance their employment potential.

India & Myanmar MoU on Rakhine (Myanmar) State Devt. Programme & on Govt. to Govt. agreement on long-term socio-economic devt. of state.

India & Singapore Agreement on enhancing the naval cooperation

AIIB approved its first loan to China, its largest shareholder, to reduce its dependence on coal by over 600,000 tonnes annually by building a natural gas distribution network for villages.

India & World bank USD 250 million Financing(Loan) Agreement for the ―Skills Acquisition & Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) Project‖.

India & Morocco MoU for enhanced cooperation in the health sector

India & Singapore Agreement on enhancing naval cooperation

India with World Bank Signed Loan Agreement for USD 100 Million for ―Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project‖

India & Greece Signed Air Services Agreement (ASA) & MoU on Cooperation (MoC) in field of New & Renewable Energy.

Delhi government with Seoul Metropolitan Government

Signed a twin city agreement for strengthening cooperation in the fields of e-governance, transportation, climate change & smart city.

Adani Power (Jharkhand) with Bangladesh Power Development Board

(BPDB)

Long-term pact to supply electricity from its upcoming 1,600 MW plant at Godda in Jharkhand to Bangladesh.

Nepal Electricity Authority with China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC)

Joint venture agreement to construct 750 MW West Seti Hydropower Project. CTGC will have 75% stake & NEA will have remaining 25%.

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) & the Tourism & Hospitality Sector Skill Council (THSC) signed a tripartite an MoU with Airbnb to provide hospitality skills training to hospitality micro-entrepreneurs in India.



Assam government with Singapore Signed MoUs & Terms of Reference for skilling youth in Assam.

Indiana, a State in the US, & Karnataka Signed an agreement to establish sister-state ties for cooperation in economic, educational & cultural fields.

Odisha Skill Development Authority & Singapore‘s ITE Education Services

(ITEES)

Signed MoU for skill development in Odisha.

Goa govt. signed a trilateral MoU with Department of Bio-Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, GoI &

Nobel Media, Sweden to hold ‗Nobel Prize Series — India 2018 (Science Impacts Life)‘ to be held in Goa.

Government of India (GoI) & Patanjali MoU of Rs 10, 000 Crores .

Financing Agreement for IBRD loan of US$ 119 million for ―Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence &

Equity (OHEPEE) Project‖ signed with World Bank.

NEW APPOINTMENTS: NATIONAL

Designation/Post Who is Appointed?

Constitutional & Other Posts

1. 22nd Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat (replaced Achal Kumar Joti)

2. New Election Commissioner Ashok Lawasa

3. ' New governor of Madhya Pradesh Anandiben Patel (replaced Om Prakash Kohli)

4. New Director General (DG) of the 'black cats' commando force NSG

Senior IPS officer Sudeep Lakhtakia (replaced S P Singh)

5. Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command Ajendra Bahadur Singh

6. First woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India.

Indu Malhotra

7. Foreign secretary of India Vijay Keshav Gokhale (replaced S Jaishankar)

8. Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) Rajinder Khanna

9. New CM of Himachal Pradesh Jairam Thakur

10. Director General of National Cadet Corps B S Sahrawat

11. Ambassador of India to the Republic of Peru. Shri M. Subbarayudu

12. Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Senior IPS officer Abhay

13. CM of Gujarat Vijay Rupani

14. Deputy CM of Gujarat Nitin Patel

15. Officiating Chairperson, National Green Tribunal Justice U D Salvi

16. National Green Tribunal Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar retired after completing his 5-year tenure.

17. Ambassador of India to Turkmenistan Shri Azar A.H. Khan

18. Government appointed former revenue secretary NK Singh as the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission

(FC). Other members are Shaktikanta Das, Anoop Singh, Ashok Lahiri, & Ramesh Chand. Chand & Lahiri are part time members. FC to submit its report by Oct. 30, 2019.

19. Private Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind. Railway officer Vikram Singh

20. India‘s High commissioner to Pakistan. Ajay Bisaria

21. Karnataka‘s first woman Director General & Inspector General of Police.

Neelmani N. Raju (replaced Rupak Kumar Dutta)

22. New Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia

23. Special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation-CBI

Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana

24. Ambassador of India to Switzerland Sibi George (Replaced Smita Purushottam)

25. Additional Director General, CISF. Shri Alok Kumar Pateria

26. High Commissioner of India to Republic of Zambia N.J.Gangte

27. Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS) Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar

28. India's new Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale (Replaced Vijay Gokhale)

29. Member (Staff) Railway Board & ex officio Secretary D.K. Gayen



to the Government of India

30. Member (Engineering) Railway Board & ex officio Secretary to the Government of India

M K Gupta

31. Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit

32. High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Malta Rajesh Vaishnaw

33. Additional Director General of BSF Nasir Kamal

34. Ambassador of India to Ecuador Ravi Bangar

35. Ambassador of India to the Principality of Liechtenstein

Sibi George

36. Solicitor-General of India Ranjit Kumar, the second highest ranking law officer of the government, resigned.

37. New Governor of Bihar Satya Pal Malik

38. New Governor of Assam Prof Jagdish Mukhi

39. New Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi

40. New Governor of Arunachal Pradesh Brigadier (Retd) BD Mishra

41. New Governor of Meghalaya Ganga Prasad

42. New Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG). Rajiv Mehrishi

43. New Election Commissioner Sunil Arora

44. Gautam Bambawale will head the Indian mission in China.

CEO‘S/Chairman of Companies/Organizations/Banks/ Other Appointments

45. New director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre S Somanath (replaced K Sivan)

46. First woman chairman of Indian Banks‘ Association Usha Ananthasubramanian, MD, Allahabad Bank

47. Deputy Chairman of IBA for the year 2017-18 Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India

48. Vice Chairman of the US-India Strategic & Partnership Forum.

Indian-American Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen

49. Director General, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)

Dilip Chenoy

50. MD & CEO of NCDEX Vijay Kumar

51. CMD of Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL)

S Selvakumar (Replaced Anurag Agarwal)

52. Chairman of the Finance Commission of the Indian Olympic Association.

Senior sports administrator Anil Khanna

53. Chairman, Maritime Board V J Mathew

54. Chef De Mission for 23rd Winter Olympic Games, Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018

Harjinder Singh

55. 9th Chairman of ISRO Sivan K (replaced A.S. Kiran Kumar)

56. MD & CEO, National Payments Corporation of India Dilip Asbe (replaced AP Hota)

57. Brand Ambassador of Sikkim Music composer A R Rahman

58. National vice-president of the BJP, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe appointed the President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations.

59. MD, India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd Pankaj Jain

60. PETA's (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) Person of the Year

Actress Anushka Sharma

61. New Chairman, BARC India (Broadcast Audience Research Council)

Nakul Chopra (Replaced Sudhanshu Vats)

62. Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. R Hemalatha

63. President of Para-Sports Foundation (PSF), India. Sarvesh Kumar Tiwari

64. New Executive Director (ED) of RBI Uma Shankar

65. Chairman & Managing Director of Air India Pradeep Singh Kharola (Replaced Rajiv Bansal)

66. 16th President, Indian National Congress Rahul Gandhi

67. Secretary General, International Buddhist Confederation (IBC)

Buddhist monk Dhammapiya from Tripura

68. Director General, Ordnance Factories (DGOF) & Shri Sunil Kumar Chourasia



Chairman, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)

69. CEO & MD, Infosys Salil S. Parekh

70. Chairman of Prasar Bharati Board Veteran journalist A Surya Prakash

71. President of the National Restaurant Association of India.

Rahul Singh

72. CEO, Online food delivery start-up Swiggy Vishal Bhatia

73. MD & CEO of Aegon Life Insurance. Vineet Arora (replace K S Gopalakrishnan)

74. Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh resigned as Head of jury of Indian Panorama, 48th International Film Festival of India (IIFI).

75. Chairman of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sethurathnam Ravi (replaced D. Swarup)

76. Executive Director of SEBI. Anand Rajeshwar Baiwar

77. CEO & MD of Tata Steel globally T V Narendran

78. Executive Director & CFO of Tata Steel Koushik Chatterjee

79. CFO, Paytm Payments Bank Sudhanshu Jain

80. Honorary Consul General in Hyderabad Suresh Chukkapalli

81. CEO of Bharti AXA Life Insurance Vikas Seth

82. 1st Woman Senior Deputy Director General, Tamil Nadu, Telecom Enforcement Resource Monitoring

N Poonguzhali

83. MD & CEO of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) Mr. Suresh Sethi (Replaced A.P. Singh)

84. CEO, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) NS Venkatesh

85. Vice-chairman of NITI Aayog Economist Rajiv Kumar (replaced Arvind Panagariya)

86. New Chairperson of Central Board of Secondary Education

Anita Karwal (replaced Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi)

87. MD & CEO of Vijaya Bank R A Sankara Narayanan

88. MD & CEO of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank. KV Rama Moorthy (replaced HS Upendra Kamath)

89. CMD of United India Insurance Co. Ltd M. Nagaraja Sarma

90. Chairman & Managing Director of NMDC Ltd. N Baijendra Kumar

91. Chairman of Press Trust of India Viveck Goenka (Replaced Riyad Mathew)

92. Ashish Kashyap resigned as the President & Co-founder of MakeMyTrip.

93. President of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers

Force Motors Chairman Abhay Firodia

NEW APPOINTMENTS: INTERNATIONAL

Designation/Post Who is Appointed?

President/PM/Heads of Countries/Organizations

1. Prime Minister of Mali Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga

2. Finland‘s President Sauli Niinistowon

3. New President of Liberia George Weah (Replaced Ellen Johnson Sirleaf)

4. New President of Chile Sebastian Pinera (replaced Michelle Bachelet)

5. Kenya‘s President Uhuru Kenyatta (Second 5-year term)

6. Pakistan's law minister Zahid Hamid resigned.

7. India‘s nominee to International Court of Justice (ICJ) Dalveer Bhandari was re-elected to the fifth & the last seat of the world court.

8. UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents & HIV. AIDS researcher Quarraisha Abdool Karim

9. President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa (Replaced R. Mugabe)

10. 2nd Woman Director-General of UNESCO. Audrey Azoulay (succeeds Irina Bokova)

11. President of Slovenia Borut Pahor

12. New US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster (Replaced Richard Verma)

13. PM of New Zealand (Youngest NZ PM in 150 yrs) Jacinda Ardern

14. 30th PM of Mongolia Ukhnaa Khurelsukh



15. 8th President of Singapore Halimah Yacob

16. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has sacked his deputy Tourism Minister Arundika Fernando.

17. Prime Minister of Peru Mercedes Araoz Fernandez

18. President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski

19. PM of Iceland Mr. Bjarni Benediktsson has resigned from the post.

20. Fourth term as chancellor in Germany Angela Merkel

21. Angola‘s New President Joao Lourenco

Mayors/Member of Parliament/Envoy/Judges

22. UK‘s 'Minister for Loneliness' Tracey Crouch

23. Mayor of Yuba city in California Preet Didbal (first Sikh woman to hold the position in USA)

24. Resigned as International Development Secretary Priti Patel, Britain‘s first Indian-origin Cabinet Minister

25. Bangladesh Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha resigned.

26. U.S ambassador to India. Kenneth I. Juster

Other Appointments

27. Facebook appointed Kenneth Chenault to its board, making him the first African-American to be on the board.

28. Chairman of the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Sunny Verghese

29. UN Environment‘s Goodwill Ambassador for India. Former Miss Asia Pacific Dia Mirza

30. 'International Ambassador' who will be tasked with championing the UK capital across the globe.

Noted Indian businessman Deepak Parekh

31. Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Environment British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding

32. President of 36th International Geological Congress (IGC)

Scientist Vijay Prasad Dimri (replaced Shailesh Nayak)

33. Ambassador of World Packaging Organisation. Ecobliss India MD AVPS Chakravarthi

34. WHO‘s Deputy Director General for Programmes Soumya Swaminathan

35. WHO‘s Deputy Director General for Corporate Operations

Ms Jane Ellison

36. Chief of Naval Staff of Pakistan Vice-Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi

37. Chairperson of World Hindu Congress, Chicago-2018 Tulsi Gabbard

Countries|Capital|Currency Part 1 Singapore: Singapore dollar | Capital: Singapore Greece: Athens | Euro Ethiopia: Addis Ababa | Ethiopian birr Afghanistan: Kabul | Afghan afghani Norway: Oslo| Norwegian krone

Somalia: Mogadishu | Somali shilling Iran: Tehran | Iranian rial Sweden: Stockholm | Swedish krona (SEK) Sri Lanka: Administrative Capital: Sri Jayewardenepura|

Commercial Capital: Colombo | Rupee (SL) Bangladesh: Dhaka | Bangladeshi taka

Static Takeaways from New Appointments CISF: Central Industrial Security Force| O.P. Singh, Director General |Existence in 1969 Zambia: Lusaka | Zambian kwacha Republic of Malta: Valletta | Euro & Maltese scudo BSF: Border Security Force | December 1, 1965 | K K Sharma, Directore General Equador: Quito | United States Dollar Principality of Liechtenstein: Vaduz | Swiss franc NHPC: Shri Balraj Joshi, Chairman & Managing Director SAARC | Kathmandu | 8 members | Secretary-General, Amjad Hussain B. Sial | 1985 WHO | 7 April 1948 | Geneva, Switzerland | Tedros Adhanom, Director-General CAG: Shri Rajiv Mehrishi. He is primarily entrusted with the responsibility to audit the accounts & related activities of the

three tiers of Govt. – Federal, Provincial & Local.



NITI Aayog: National Institution for Transforming India, also called NITI Aayog, was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog is the premier policy ‗Think Tank‘ of the Govt. of India, providing both directional & policy inputs. Vice Chairperson: Dr. Rajiv Kumar b) Chief Executive Officer: Shri Amitabh Kant

NHAI | National Highways Authority of India | Shri Deepak Kumar, Chairman BIMSTEC stands for ‗Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical & Economic Cooperation‘, includes namely

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka & Thailand.

AWARDS

Name of the Award Winner

Awards for Literature/Journalism

1. Sahitya Akademi Award (English) Author Mamang Dai for The Black Hill

2. Sahitya Akademi Award (Hindi) Author Ramesh Kuntal Megh for Vishw Mithak Sarit Sagar

3. 31st Moortidevi Award for the year 2017 Eminent Bengali poet Joy Goswami

4. Big Little Book Award for 2017 in "Author in Bengali Language" category for her contribution to

the children's literature.

Sahitya Akademi awardee Bengali writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen

5. Ezhuthachan Puraskaram 2017 (Kerala govt.'s highest literary honour)

Noted Malayalam Poet & literary critic, K Satchidanandan

6. 53rd Jnanpith Award for the year 2017 Renowned Hindi litterateur Krishna Sobti

7. 2017 Man Booker Prize US author George Saunders

8. Saraswati Samman 2016 Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail for 'Hawthan'

Country‘s Highest Honour Given

9. Indian Parliamentary Group (IPG) headed by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan announced that five members of parliament (MPs) selected for the Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards. This includes, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad (2015), Trinamool Congress‘ Dinesh Trivedi (2016), Manipur‘s governor Najma A

Heptulla (2013), BJP‘s Lok Sabha member Hukumdev Narayan Yadav (2014) & five-time Rajya Sabha member Bhartruhari Mahatab of the Lok Biju Janata Dal (BJD) (2017).

10. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan honoured with 24th Crystal Award atWEF, Davos, Switzerland. He received Award for "his leadership in championing children's & women's rights in India".

11. President has approved the awards for 85 individuals, which includes 3 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan

& 73 Padma Shri. In sports personalities, Mahendra Singh Dhoni & multiple world champion cueist Pankaj

Advani conferred with the 3rd highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan. 2017 World Weightlifting Champion Saikhom Mirabai Chanu & tennis player Somdev Devvarman conferred with the Padma Shri.

12. Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee received the Legion of Honour, the highest French civilian award for his contribution to cinema.

13. Natalie Portman awarded Israel‘s 2018 Genesis Prize in recognition of her commitment to social causes & deep connection to her Jewish & Israeli roots. It is also known as ―the Jewish Nobel Prize,‖.

14. Nicaraguan author & former politician Sergio Ramirez Mercado won the 2017 Cervantes Prize. It is the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honor.

Film/Music Awards

15. Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle will be given the 'Yash Chopra Memorial Award'. She will be the fifth

winner of the award.

16. Janakavi P Sawlaram award Actor Sudhir Dalvi

17. In the 63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018, Vidya Balan won her career's sixth Filmfare award for 'Tumhari Sulu'.

18. Veteran singer K S Chitra selected for prestigious 'Harivarasanam' Award 2017.

19. Golden Peacock award for best film at 48th International Film Festival of India

Robin Campillo‘s French film 120 Beats Per Minute

20. 'Best Short Film Award' at the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (SAFFM)

Indian short film ‗The School Bag‘. Directed by Dheeraj Jindal

21. Madhya Pradesh government's prestigious National Lata Mangeshkar Award.

Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Usha Khanna, Bappi Lahiri & Anu Malik



Other Awards Conferred

22. Best Central bank governor in Asia-Pacific for 2018 by

UK-based magazine, The Banker. MD of the Monetary Authority of Singapore

(MAS), Ravi Menon,

23. 1st Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Award for Probity in Public Life Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar

24. Ihsan Dogramaci Family Health Foundation Prize by WHO. Dr Vinod Paul, Member of NITI Aayog (Become the first Indian to receive this award)

25. Prestigious National Design Award Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri & DG, Missiles & Strategic Systems

26. Golden Peacock Innovation Management Award 2017 Joda East Iron Mine (JEIM) of Tata Steel

27. Ballon d'Or Award 2017 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) (5th time)

28. 'Yeraringan' Award Prof. M.S. Swaminathan

29. Miss Supranational 2017 (in Poland) Miss Korea Jenny Kim

30. Mr. India Pageant 2017 Jitesh Singh Deo from Lucknow

31. Mr. India Supranational 2017 Indian footballer Prathamesh Maulingkar

32. International Children's Peace Prize 16-year-old Mohamad Al Jounde from Syria

33. Asian Boxing Confederation‘s best youth boxer for 2017 Sachin Siwach

34. 24-year-old model & Miss Korea Jenny Kim bagged the title of Miss Supranational 2017 held in Poland.

35. 16-year-old Mohamad Al Jounde from Syria awarded the International Children's Peace Prize for his efforts to ensure the rights of Syrian refugee children.

36. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare awarded Bronze Medal for its creative & informative display at the 37th India International Trade Fair 2017 being held at Pragati Maidan.

37. Veteran journalist Manik Banerjee presented with the 'Life Time Achievement Award' by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF).

38. ―Rashtriya Bal Kalyan Award 2017‖ was given to Super 30 founder Anand Kumar for his contributions in the field of teaching & education by President Kovind.

39. In International Bosphorus Film Festival which held in Turkey, Ishaan Khattar won Best Actor award for ‗Beyond the Clouds‘. It is directed by Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi.

40. Awarded ‗Most visited place of the world‘ by ‗World Book of Records‘ (WBR), London.

The Golden Temple

41. Miss World 2017 India's Manushi Chhillar (From Haryana)

42. Miss Universe 2017 Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters

43. 3rd Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR) Distinguished Indologist Award

Professor Hiroshi Marui of Japan

44. Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice, 2017 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

45. International award from Abu Dhabi in the category of ―social contribution in country value.‖

Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC)

46. Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament & Development

Former PM Manmohan Singh

47. Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple of Srirangam in Tamil Nadu won UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for the cultural heritage conservation program.

48. Royal Opera House awarded the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

Static Takeaways from Awards & Recognition

International Gandhi Peace Prize: For contributions towards social, economic&political transformation through non-violence&other Gandhian methods.

Bharat Ratna: Premier civilian award, to serve the nation. Padma Vibhushan: Ranking wise the second award is the

Padma Vibhushan in the Indian Republic. It awarded people from various fields including Govt. service to distinguish extraordinary service for the country.

Padma Bhushan: The Padma Bhushan is the highest civilian award third in rank in the Indian Republic.

Padma Shri: It is awarded to citizens of India for their distinguished contribution in several fields including Education, Literature, Arts, Science, Industry, Social Service, Medicine, Sports&Public Affairs.

Dronacharya Award: For brilliance in sports coaching. Dhyan Chand Award: Highest lifetime achievement award

in sports&games in India Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: Highest honor given for

accomplishment in sports. Vyas Samman: For literary in the Hindi language.



Saraswati Samman: For outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any Indian language listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India.

Param Vir Chakra: Highest decoration Awarded for the most conspicuous bravery or some daring or prominent act of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy on land, sea or air.

Maha Vir Chakra: Second highest decoration. It is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air.

Vir Chakra: It is the third in the order of awards for acts of gallantry in the face of the enemy on land, sea or air.

Ashok Chakra: Awarded for the most conspicuous bravery or some daring act of valour or self-sacrifice on land, at sea or in the air.

Academy (Oscar) Awards: Film (From 1929)

Grammy Award: Music (From 1958) Ramon Magasaysay Award: Govt. (Public) Service, Social

Service, Journalism, Literature, Communication&International Understanding Bourlog Award: Agriculture (From 1992)

Grammy: Music Pulitzer: Journalism&Literature Arjun: Sports Bowelay: Agriculture Kalinga: Science Dhanwantri: Medical Science Nobel Prize: Peace, Literature, Economics, Physics,

Chemistry, Medical Science Abel: Maths Man Booker: Literature Vachspati Samman: Sanskrit Literature

CURRENT SUMMITS/EVENTS HELD (NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL)

Name of the Summit Location/Held in

SUMMITS HELD NATIONALLY

1. International bird festival to held in Dudhwa National Park, UP

2. 16th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial meeting to be held in New Delhi

3. 7th Asia Steel International Conference to be held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha

4. 'Kachra Mahotsav 2018' which is India's first Garbage Festival organized in Chhattisgarh

5. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu inaugurated 3rd edition of 'Raisina Dialogue'on the topic 'Managing Disruptive Transitions - Ideas, Institutions & Idioms' in

New Delhi

6. 65th meeting of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) held in New Delhi

7. International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) held in New Delhi

8. 4th edition of India International Science Festival held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

9. Agriculture ministers of ASEAN countries met for the fourth sitting in New Delhi.

10. 5th Bilateral Technical Meeting on cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine between Govt. of India & Malaysia held in

New Delhi

11. International Dharma-Dhamma conference held in (Inaugurated by President) Rajgir in Bihar

12. PM Modi inaugurated the first Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) Parliamentary Conference in Delhi.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas observed on 9th Jan. In the Conference, the biggest delegation was from Guyana.

13. Conference on Transformation of Aspirational Districts held in New Delhi

14. 4th ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture & Forestry held in New Delhi

15. ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit to commemorate 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations held in

New Delhi

16. 7th India International Coffee Festival (IICF) to be held in Bengaluru

17. International Coffee Organization‘s World Coffee Conference 2020 Bengaluru, India

18. 78th session of the Indian History Congress Kolkata, West Bengal

19. 1st International Conference on Sports Medicine & Sports Sciences SAICON 2017 Note: Inaugurated by MoS (I/C) Youth Affairs & Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore.

New Delhi

20. International Conference on Groundwater issues in India held in New Delhi Theme: Groundwater Vision 2030- Water Security, Challenges, & Climate Change Adaptation

21. 100th Annual Conference of Indian Economic Association held at Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur of Andhra Pradesh. President inaugurated it.

22. New Delhi to host the Asean-India Connectivity Summit (AICS) on the theme "Powering Digital & Physical Linkages for Asia in the 21st Century".

23. India to host a meeting of WTO member countries in Feb-2018 to muster support for food security & other issues.



24. UN Women in collaboration with Facebook inaugurated event in Mumbai titled 'We the Women' to empower & recognise the magnificent contribution of women in our society.

25. ‗Bodhi Parva: BIMSTEC Festival of Buddhist Heritage‘ New Delhi

26. Trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers of Russia, India, & China (RIC) held in New Delhi

27. 3rd Annual Meet of Board of Governors of AIIB for 2018 Theme: ―Mobilizing Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation & Collaboration‖.

Mumbai, India

28. 14th Inclusive Finance India Summit held in New Delhi

29. 4th India-Australia-Japan Trilateral Dialogue held in New Delhi

30. Shared Value Summit 2017 with the theme ―Equity & Empowerment‖ held in (Minister of Industry & Commerce, Suresh Prabhu was the chief guest)

New Delhi

31. 15th Finance Commission first meeting under the Chairmanship of Shri N.K. Singh & other members held in

New Delhi

32. 1st International exhibition & Conference on AYUSH & Wellness sector- AROGYA 2017 with the theme 'Enhancing the global potential of Ayush' held in

New Delhi

33. 6th International Tourism Mart-2017 Guwahati, Assam

34. VP M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated 12th Annual convention of central information commission in New Delhi.

35. a) First South-Asian edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), organised by NITI Aayog in partnership with government of USA held in Hyderabad, Telangana. b) U.S. President Trump‘s Adviser & daughter Ivanka Trump lead the US delegation. c) The theme of the Summit was "Women First, Prosperity for All".

36. 5th Global Conference on Cyber Space inaugurated by PM Modi held in New Delhi

37. International Gita Mahotsav 2017 inaugurated by President Kovind held in (Mauritius was partner country & Uttar Pradesh was partner state)

Kurukshetra, Haryana

38. Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) based at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) conducted ―Multi-State Mega Mock Exercise of Tsunami for East Coast of India‖.

39. 12th meeting of Standing Committee of Inter-State Council (ISC) held in (It was chaired by Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh)

New Delhi

40. Korea festival showcasing Korea's rich art, culture & heritage inaugurated at Ambience Mall, Haryana

41. 1st edition of International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency (INSPIRE 2017) held in

Jaipur, Rajasthan

42. Nordic-Baltic embassies will host the first ever youth film festival of the European nations in Delhi.

43. ‗India Disaster Response Summit‘ held in New Delhi

44. Ministry of Women & Child Development celebrated the Child Rights Week by hosting ‗Hausala 2017‘ festival. The nation celebrates Children‘s Day on 14 Nov. & International Child Rights Day on 20 Nov.

45. 21st World Congress of Mental Health New Delhi

46. 37th India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). The theme was ―Startup India Standup India‖.

Vietnam was Partner Country|Kyrgyzstan was Focus Country|Jharkhand was Partner State.

47. 34th Annual conference of Asian Bankers Association (ABA) with the theme 'Asia's turn to transform' to be held in

Mumbai

48. 15th Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) Conference with the theme "Building Trust in the Digital Economy" held in

In New Delhi

49. India‘s first Tribal Entrepreneurship Summit jointly organized by NITI Aayog & govt. of USA held in

Dantewada, Chhattisgarh

50. Three-day AP AgTech Summit-2017 held in Visakhapatnam

51. ―12th North-East Business Summit‖ to explore the scope for business opportunities in the North-Eastern region of India.

In New Delhi

52. Ninth edition of CMS Vatavaran - an international film festival on environment & wildlife with the theme Conservation 4 Water" held in

New Delhi.

53. World Food India 2017 food Event held in New Delhi

SUMMITS HELD INTERNATIONALLY

54. An informal WTO ministerial gathering held in Davos, Switzerland



55. PM Modi returned home his visit to Davos, Switzerland. He delivered a keynote address at the plenary session of the 48th annual meeting of World Economic Forum. He also met his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau. He also

held a meeting with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

56. 2nd UN World Tourism Organization/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism & Culture held in Muscat, Oman. Note: MoS for Culture (IC) & Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma led Indian delegation

57. International Conference on Climate Change, 'Resilient Hindu Kush Himalaya: Developing Solutions towards a Sustainable Future for Asia' inaugurated by

Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari held in

Nepal

58. 3rd Dialogue b/w NITI Aayog & Development Research Council of China, co chaired by VC Dr. Rajiv Kumar, & Mr Li Wei, President (Minister), DRC held in

Beijing

59. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders‘ Meeting 2017 with the theme ‗Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future‘ held in

Note: APEC summit 2018 to be held in Papua New Guinea.

Da Nang, Vietnam

60. 10th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) with the theme ―Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive & Sustainable Development in South Asia‖.

Kathmandu, Nepal

61. 31st ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit with the theme "Partnering for Change, Engaging the World" held in

Note: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte chaired the summit.

Manila, Philippines.

62. A Curtain Raiser Event for the Founding Ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was held in

Bonn, Germany

63. 2017 UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference held in Vancouver, Canada

64. IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour Buenos Aires(Argentina)

65. WHO Global Ministerial Conference ―Ending TB in the Sustainable Development Era: A Multisectoral Response‖ held in

Moscow, Russia

COMMITTEES IN NEWS

Purpose for which Committee is formed Headed by

1. 12-member inter-ministerial committee to look for changes in the existing law of playing of the national anthem in cinema halls & public places.

B.R. Sharma

2. 14-member panel to study the usage of social media & other digital platforms before elections

Umesh Sinha

3. High-level committee set upby the Govt. to address the problem of stressed assets in India's power sector.

Headed by NITI Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant

4. 7-member committee formed by Union Environment Ministry to formulate measures to solve the problem of air pollution in Delhi-NCR region.

Environment Secretary C.K. Mishra

5. Govt. set up a ministerial panel to consider & oversee mergers among the country‘s 21 state-run banks.

FM Arun Jaitley

6. Govt. constituted task force for redrafting the 50-year old income tax law in sync with the economic needs of the country.

Arbind Modi, CBDT Member (Legislation) as the Convener

7. Panel formed by RBI for hedging commodities in global markets Chandan Sinha

8. Economic Advisory Council to PM (EAC-PM) held its first meeting in New Delhi to deliberate upon & lay out a roadmap to give a leg up to the Indian

economy in the short term.

EAC-PM is chaired by Dr. Bibey Debroy

9. Inter-State Council (investigates & advises on disputes between states) has been reconstituted

PM Modi is the Chairman

10. Committee formed for the review of the laws governing Goods & Services Tax (GST).

M Vinod Kumar

11. Panel for by the Govt. to study merger of District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) with Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank

Yashwant Thorat

12. Group of ministers (GoM) on making the GST composition scheme more attractive held its first meeting in New Delhi.

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma



The 5-member GoM, led by:

13. 5-member committee formed to select the candidate for the post of editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV).

Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash

14. President Kovind appointed a five-member Committee to examine sub-categorization of OBCs under Article 340 of the Constitution.

Headed by Delhi High Court's former Chief Justice G Rohini

15. Govt.'s Committee on Haj Policy has recommended phasing out of subsidy for Haj pilgrims & allowing women devotees above 45 years of age to travel

in a group of at least four without a male

Headed by Afzal Amanullah

16. Centre has set up a high-level committee for proper management of water resources in the North-Eastern region to be head by

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar

NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

INDIA & WORLD

On the eve of ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit to celebrate 25 years of India-ASEAN partnership, PM Modi held bilateral meetings with leaders of three ASEAN nations - Myanmar, Vietnam & Philippines in New Delhi. PM met his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc, he met Philipino President Rodrigo Duterte & then he met the Myanmar's State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi.

India celebrated its 69th Republic Day on 26th January

in Rajpath, New Delhi. Heads of ten ASEAN countries

are chief guests at Republic Day. The family members of Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala (Posthumous) of IAF, who died fighting militants in Kashmir valley, received India‘s highest peacetime gallantry award, Ashok Chakra.

India & Vietnam released first ever set of

commemorative postage stamps to mark the long-term friendly bilateral relationships between two countries.

PM Modi visited Davos, Switzerland to attend the 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. The theme of the meet is 'Creating a shared future in a fractured world'.

India-ASEAN business & investment conference held in New Delhi.

India & Israel signed nine documents to further the

cooperation. It includes cooperation in; Cybersecurity, Petroleum & natural gas, film co-production, homoeopathy medicines, space science, boosting investment, metal-air batteries & solar thermal technology & document for the amendment to the air transport agreement.

Bangladesh, India & Nepal given nod to operating

procedures for movement of passenger vehicles in the sub-region under Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) motor vehicles agreement. It was signed in 2015 in Thimphu, Bhutan for seamless flow of passenger & cargo traffic in the region.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu also visited Mumbai during his visit to India. He addressed the India-Israel Business Summit & attended the ‗Shalom

Bollywood‘. He also launched a monthly magazine titled ‗Namaste Shalom‘.

PM Modi & PM Benjamin Netanyahu inaugurated the 'iCreate Centre' at Deo Dholera in Ahmedabad. iCreate paves way for the two nations to jointly script new stories of success through innovation.

India joined the Australia Group export control

regime & has become the 43rd Member of that Group. It is an informal forum which seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.

Cabinet approved agreement between India &

Myanmar on Land Border Crossing. This will facilitate movement of people on the basis of valid passports & visas which will enhance economic & social interaction between the two countries.

India excluded Pakistan from the list of SAARC

member countries with which it will be connecting its state-of-the-art National Knowledge Network

(NKN) for sharing scientific databases & remote access to advanced research facilities. NKN is a multi-gigabit pan-India network which facilitates the development of India's communications infrastructure, stimulates research & creates next-generation applications & services.

As per the Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Saudi Arabia has given the green signal for India‘s decision to revive the option of sending Haj pilgrims through sea route also. For the first time, Muslim women from India will go to Haj without ―Mehram‖ (male companion).

Indian Government to set up a $ 350 million solar

development fund for financing solar projects. PM Modi stated that Republic Day celebration in 2018

would be "remembered through the ages" because the govt. for the first time in India's history would host leaders of 10 ASEAN countries as chief guests on 26th

January 2018. India is set to jump Britain & France in 2018 to

become the world‘s fifth-largest economy in dollar

terms, as the Centre for Economics & Business



Research (CEBR) consultancy‘s 2018 World Economic

League Table. The Top 3 Economies of the world as

per World Economic Forum are- USA, China, & Japan. Govt. of India, Govt. of Tamil Nadu & the World

Bank signed a $318 million loan agreement for the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization

Project to promote climate resilient agriculture technologies, improve water management practices, & increase market opportunities for small & marginal farmers.

World Bank committed $125 million (around Rs. 800 crores) loan to India for STRIVE project for skill development.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj & her Jordanian counterpart Ayman Al Safadi held a bilateral meeting in New Delhi & discussed deepening bilateral ties across multiple sectors.

In a move aimed at combating black money stashed abroad, India signed an agreement with Switzerland

that would allow automatic sharing of tax-related

information. India re-elected to the Council of the International

Maritime Organisation under Category B. Indian High Commissioner to the UK Y K Sinha represented India at the assembly.

Govt. to Govt. Umbrella Agreement between India & Germany concerning Financial Cooperation in 2016 (II) signed to formalize an amount up to Euro 200 million for Financial Cooperation in form of loan for the project ‗Climate Friendly Urban Mobility III‘ & Euro 11 million accompanying measures in form of grant for four projects.

India & Cuba signed MoU for enhanced cooperation in the health sector.

Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh with H.E Maurizio Martina, Italian Minister for Agriculture Food & Forestry Policies have signed a new MoU for cooperation in Agriculture & Phytosanitary issues.

India re-elected to the Council of the International

Maritime Organisation under Category B. Indian High Commissioner to the UK Y K Sinha represented India at the assembly.

The government of India will assist Mauritius to

develop & set up digital locker services, on the sidelines of Global Conference on Cyber Space 2017.

Russia will assist India to set up a national crisis

management centre in the country to handle disaster & other emergency situations.

PM Modi & his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the long-awaited direct train-

service between Kolkata & Khulna. The new train service is called Bandhan Express.

Govt. notified the third protocol between India & New Zealand for avoidance of double taxation &

prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

India re-elected as the member of the UNESCO‘s

executive board. The election held at the 39th session of the General Conference of the UNESCO in Paris, France.

4 agreements signed by India & Philippines in areas including Defence Cooperation & Logistics, agriculture, Micro, Medium & Small Enterprises-MSME & forging closer relations between the Indian Council of World Affairs & the Philippines Foreign Service Institute.

India, the United States, Japan & Australia held their

first official-level talks in Manila, Philippines with a focus on keeping the India-Pacific region "free & open".

India & France agreed to deepen security cooperation,

bilaterally & in the multilateral fora, & strengthen strong commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms & manifestations.

India & Tunisia agreed to jointly combat terrorism &

extremism while ramping up cooperation in the field of security. This was signed at the 12th India- Tunisia Joint Commission Meeting. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired with her Tunisian counterpart Khemaies Jhinaoui. Six agreements in the fields of judicial cooperation, cooperation in youth issues, information & communications technology, trade & business, were also signed.

India 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.

OTHER NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

Marking the 69th Republic Day celebrations, Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) & New Delhi

Municipal Council (NDMC) have launched the first ever 'Khadi Haat' in the country.



The ‗I4Fund Call for Proposal‘ was announced by the two PMs (Narendra Modi & Benjamin Netanyahu). The "India-Israel Industrial R&D & Technological

Innovation Fund (I4F)" was announced in 2017. Under this, Department of Science & Technology, India & National Innovation Authority of Israel established a

40 million US dollar Fund. Election Commission of India announced dates for

elections to the Assemblies of Meghalaya, Tripura & Nagaland. Polling for legislative assembly elections in Tripura on 18 February, while Meghalaya & Nagaland will go to vote on 27 February. All the three states have 60 seats each in their assembly.

As per the Power Minister RK Singh, India will set up a $350-million fund to finance solar projects as the country steps up efforts to achieve its ambitious target of adding 175 gigawatts (GW) in renewable energy by 2022.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) introduced a concept of 'Virtual ID' to further strengthen privacy & security of Aadhaar number holders. The Aadhaar number holder can use 'Virtual ID' in place of an Aadhaar number whenever authentication or KYC services are performed.

PM Modi will become the first PM in 20 years to

attend the World Economic Forum‘s (WEF) annual celebration of the global elite. The meeting will be held in Davos town of Switzerland.

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.

Lok Sabha passed the Muslim Women (Protection of

Rights on Marriages) Bill 2017 making instant triple

talaq illegal with up to three years in jail for the husband.

India's first & only design university, 'World

University of Design' opened its campus at Sonipat, Haryana.

Elite export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) decided to admit India as its new member.

India declared free from infectious Trachoma which is a contagious bacterial infection of the eye. It causes inflamed granulation on the inner surface of the lids.

Half a billion people have gained access to electricity in India since 2000, almost doubling the country‘s electrification rate, as per the World Energy Access report released by the International Energy Agency .

PM Modi inaugurated the BR Ambedkar International

Centre in New Delhi. He also unveiled two statues of the Dalit icon at the center in Janpath.

Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi has approved setting up of National Nutrition Mission (NNM) with a 3-year budget of Rs.9046.17 crore commencing from

2017-18. The program through the targets will strive to

reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anemia & low birth weight babies.

Combining the production of all types of fisheries (capture & culture), the total fish production has reached at about 11.41 million tonnes in 2016-17 & India has become the second largest fish producing country in the world.

Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi has approved India's Membership for European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD).

Minister of Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi launched an intensive training program

for Elected Women Representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions & Master Trainers, in New Delhi.

Govt. embarked upon a major policy initiative for the rapid transformation of 115 backward districts across

the country by 2022. Senior level government officials, at the rank of Additional Secretary & Joint Secretary, have been nominated as ‗Prabhari‘ officers for each district. A detailed briefing of these officials was held under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha.

Union Home Ministry formed two new divisions to exclusively deal with emerging security challenges such as radicalization & cyber crime. The two divisions called Counter-Terrorism & Counter-Radicalization (CTCR) & the Cyber & Information Security (CIS). CTCR wing is basically modified version of the Home Ministry‘s internal security-II division. CIS division will monitor online crimes & threats, including cyber fraud & hacking.

Centre given an in-principle approval to provide an assistance of Rs 10,000 crore to fund 107 irrigation projects in drought-hit Vidarbha & Maratha regions of Maharashtra.

India topped the list of seven countries, accounting for 64% of 10.4 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases worldwide in 2016, as per report by the World Health

Organisation. An estimated 1.7 million people died from TB in 2016.

SC ruled that technical education cannot be provided through correspondence courses. The Apex Court restrained educational institutions from providing courses in technical education like engineering.

India Pavilion at Conference of Parties (COP) 23 inaugurated by Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan at Bonn in

Germany. The 23rd United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held at the Bonn, Germany. India‘s theme for COP 23 is ―Conserving Now, Preserving Future‖.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas & Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated India's first Pradhan Mantri



Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for Skilling in Smart Cities, in collaboration with New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced that former Director IB Dineshwar Sharma was handpicked by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to hold a dialogue with stakeholders of Jammu &

Kashmir. A sustained dialogue will be initiated with all shades of opinion in Kashmir Valley.

Union Cabinet approved the biggest ever highway project to develop & expand approximately 83,000 km of roads at an investment of Rs 6.9 lakh crore by 2022. The project also includes the new 28,400 km Bharatmala

highway program connecting border areas, improving international, port & coastal connectivity.

India overtakes the US to become the world‘s second-

largest smartphone market, trailing only China, as per Canalys.

Union Cabinet approved over Rs 7,000 crore for construction of permanent campuses of six new Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) across the

country. Each of the permanent campuses to be established at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Dharwad (Karnataka), Jammu (Jammu & Kashmir), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) & Goa will have a facility for housing 1,200 students from the academic year 2020-2021.

INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS Iceland become first country in the world to legalise

equal pay among men & women. Romania's left-wing PM Mihai Tudose resigned after

losing the backing of his party due to internal power struggles.

India & Sri Lanka signed four agreements for

collaboration in the Information & communication technology (ICT) sector, setting up of an e-office system & connecting of National Knowledge Network (NKN) for collaboration among universities & academics. With this, Sri Lanka become the first country to be connected to India‘s NKN.

India, for the first time, took part in meeting of the international military cooperation departments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Beijing, China.

Valletta, the capital of Malta, was officially named European Capital of Culture 2018.

India signed an MoU with the United Kingdom to enable the return of illegal Indian migrants within a month of their detection by authorities abroad.

China became Nepal‘s second internet service provider, breaking India‘s monopoly in providing internet access to Nepal.

UN Environment & the World Health Organization

agreed a new, wide-ranging collaboration to accelerate action to curb environmental health risks that cause an estimated 12.6 million deaths a year.

World‘s largest Ice Festival 'International Ice & Snow Festival' was held in Harbin, China. It is the 34th

annual Ice Festival in Harbin, north-east China. Nepal has banned solo climbers from scaling its

mountains, including Mount Everest, in a bid to reduce accidents.

Israel filed notice to withdraw from the UNESCO alongside the United States. Israel was the member of UNESCO since 1949. Both Israel & the US have filed its own withdrawal notice in October 2017.

Saudi Arabia & the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced value-added tax (VAT). These are the first two countries in the Gulf which have introduced the VAT system. The 5% levy is being applied to the majority of goods & services.

Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Peru, Poland & the Netherlands formally joined the ranks of the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to make a difference.

The unusual & very efficient whistle

language commonly called "bird language" used as a means of communication by villagers in remote northern Turkey entered the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Pakistan allowed Chinese currency Yuan for exports & financing transactions.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the fifth meeting of the India-Indonesia Joint Commission with her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi.

Himalayan Hydro Expo 2018 held at Kathmandu, the capital Nepal. President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the exhibition.

Prince Harry has been named the president of African

Parks, a conservation group that manages a dozen wildlife areas across the continent.

US President Trump signed into law a sweeping

overhaul of the US tax code. Congress passed the 1.5 trillion dollars overhaul, set to impact every corner of the economy through dramatic tax cuts for corporations & temporary reductions for individuals.

World Health Organisation has declared Gabon a

"polio-free country", given the lack of new reported or suspected cases in the central African country.

France's parliament approved a law banning all exploration & production of oil & natural gas by 2040 within the country & its overseas territories.



Washington resident Shree Saini has been crowned Miss India USA 2017.

Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia for the first time to

become India's top crude oil supplier in the current fiscal, according to the Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

President of USA Donald Trump announced that the US now recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital,

overturning decades of official US policy. China Three Gorges New Energy Co. is building a 1

billion yuan ($151 million) floating solar power plant, the world‘s biggest, in the nation‘s eastern province of Anhui.

Mount Hope, in the British Atlantic Territory, recently re-measured & found to be 377 metres taller & thus Becomes UK's New Highest Mountain.

Saudi Arabia will have its first public cinemas in more than 35 years after the govt. announced the lifting of the ban on movie theatres.

Google announced that it will open a research lab focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Beijing, China. It will be its first such center in Asia.

Norway became the world's first country to shut down

national broadcasts of its FM network by completing its transition to digital radio.

IMF approved a new USD 88 billion credit line for

Mexico which will boosts Mexico‘s ability to immediately deal with a potential need for liquidity.

Raj Shah who holds a key position in the White House, gaggled with reporters on board US Presidential chopper Air Force One, becoming the first Indian-American to enjoy the privilege.

The first phase of Chabahar port inaugurated by

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The port, located in Iran‘s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province.

ADB Board of Directors has approved debt financing & partial risk guarantees totaling $583 million to develop the Reliance Bangladesh Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) & Power Project.

Australia‘s parliament legislated for marriage equality, passing a bill almost unanimously to allow two people, regardless of sex, to marry. Australia becomes the 25th country to recognize same-sex marriage.

US President Donald Trump & Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to support the U.N. effort to "peacefully resolve" the nearly seven-year-long Syrian civil war.

Robert Mugabe resigned as President of Zimbabwe

with immediate effect after 37 years in power. Scientists developed the world‘s first artificial

intelligence politician that can answer a person‘s queries regarding local issues such as policies around housing, education & immigration. The virtual

politician, called SAM, was created by Nick Gerritsen, a 49-year-old entrepreneur in New Zealand.

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of the Freedom of Oxford award over her "inaction" in handling the raging Rohingya refugee crisis & turning a "blind eye to violence" in the country that forced over 600,000 people to flee to Bangladesh.

European Union Election Observation Mission officially launched to monitor the general & provincial polls in Nepal which are scheduled for November 26 & December 7.

Saudi Arabian government approved the practice of

yoga as a sports activity, claimed a social media post of Nouf Marwaai, founder of the Arab Yoga Foundation in the Saudi kingdom.

Typhoon Damrey arrived in Vietnam. It was the strongest cyclone in 16 years.

China launched world's first all-electric ship that can

travel up to 80 km with 2000-tonnes cargo after a two-hour charge. The 70.5-metre-long ship, which weighs about 600 tonnes, was launched in Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province.

As per UN report, Syria has officially signed up to the Paris Agreement, leaving the United States as the only country to reject the global climate-rescue pact. Syria became 169th of 196 countries that are members of the UN climate convention.

Food & Drug Administration approved the first drug in the United States with a digital ingestion tracking

system, in an unprecedented move to ensure that patients with mental illness take the medicine prescribed for them.

With more than 1.5 million book titles & 1,650 publishing houses from 60 countries, Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) opened its doors to public & trade visitors. It is the third largest book fair in the world. The book fair was held under the theme ‗A World in My Book‘.

China unveiled Asia's largest artificial island-building

ship. The 140-metre-long vessel has been dubbed as "magic island maker". It 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. As per the govt. of Kazakhstan, the name of this

Central Asian Country will change to Qazaqstan by 2025.

PM Modi visited International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Philippines & inaugurated ‗Shri Narendra Modi Resilient Rice Field Laboratory‘ there.

DMRC with Embassy of Sweden jointly inaugurated Nobel Memorial Wall at the Rajiv Chowk Metro station, Delhi.

Lebanese PM Saad al-Hariri resigned from his post.



Countries | Capital | Currency Part 2

International Maritime Organization: HQ: London, UK| Head: Kitack Lim

UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization| HQ: Paris, France

Cuba: Havana | Cuban convertible peso, Cuban peso Tunisia: Tunis | Tunisian dinar Myanmar: Naypyidaw | Burmese kyat Iran: Tehran | Iranian rial Libya: Tripoli | Libyan dinar Yemen: Sana'a | Yemeni rial Chad: N'Djamena | Central African CFA franc Lebanese: Beirut | Lebanese pound Nicargua: Managua | Nicaraguan córdoba Burundi: Bujumbura | Burundian franc

Cyprus: Nicosia |Euro, Cypriot pound San Marino: San Marino |Euro Peru: Lima |Sol Iceland: Reykjavik |Icelandic króna Angola: Luanda |Angolan kwanza Serbia: Belgrade |Serbian dinar Papua New Guinea: Port Moresby |Papua New

Guinean kina Uzbekistan: Tashkent | Uzbekistani soʻm Iraq: Baghdad |Iraqi dinar Norway: Oslo | Norwegian krone Malta: Valletta | Euro Bolivia: Sucre | Bolivian bolivian

CURRENT AFFAIRS RELATED TO STATES IN INDIA

NORTHERN STATES Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal launched a common card

for rides on public buses & the metro. Delhi is the first city in the country to have a common mobility card.

24X7 'Gudiya helpline' was set up by Himachal Pradesh CM, Jai Ram Thakur for reporting crimes against women. ‘Gudiya‘ is a nickname given to the 16-year-old victim of rape & murder.

BJP Chief Amit Shah launched "Yuva Udghosh

programme" in Varanasi, UP. Senior BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur took oath as the 6th

CM of Himachal Pradesh. He has replaced Virbhadra Singh.

UP's Shamli district included in the National Capital

Region (NCR), taking the total number of districts in the NCR to 23.

Uttar Pradesh becomes the first state to endorse the Centre's draft bill that makes instant triple talaq a

cognizable & non-bailable offense. As per the draft law, its three years' imprisonment & a fine to a Muslim man trying to divorce his wife by uttering "talaq" three times.

The world's biggest toilet pot model unveiled at Marora, popularly known as "Trump village", in Haryana on World Toilet Day (19 November) in a bid to create awareness towards sanitation & use of toilets.

Haryana government signed initial pacts worth Rs. 2,069 crores with 44 agro-based & food processing enterprises & establishments that will provide employment to 5,012 persons.

Haryana emerged as the first state in the country to

treat Hepatitis-C patients through oral medicine. Haryana Govt. announced lifetime monthly pension

of Rs 10,000 for 'Hindi Satyagrahis' & those from the state who were jailed during the Emergency.

Uttar Pradesh cabinet decided to make India's first conservation reserve for blackbuck in Allahabad's Meja.

Border Roads Organisation (BRO) built the world's highest motorable road at a height of over 19,300 feet. The road constructed in the Ladakh region of J&K. 86-kilometre road constructed under 'Project Himank' of the BRO.

EASTERN STATES

Kolkata become the first Indian Metro to get a

Floating Market. The market will be located on a water-body with boats doubling up as shops.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee unveiled the official emblem which highlights the Ashoka emblem on the top with the theme of "Biswa Bangla" at the centre.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar laid foundation stones for more than 100 projects worth Rs. 700 crores in

Nalanda district as part of his state-wide "Vikas Samiksha Yatra".

Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated eastern India‘s first compressed natural gas (CNG)

stations for scooters in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Nagaland is all set to celebrate the 54th Statehood Day

& the 18th Hornbill festival 2017 at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama.

NORTH-EASTERN STATES

Arunachal Pradesh declared open defecation

free ahead of the national deadline of October 2, 2019. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, & Haryana were declared open defecation free states in October 2017.

Minister of State (I/C) of Ministry of Devt. of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh announced that Arunachal Pradesh would get its first Film &



Television Institute. This would be the second one

after Pune. The citizen of Assam witnessed the release of the first

draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) containing the first batch of 19 million names of genuine Indian citizens in compliance with the Supreme Court 's orders. Registrar General of India

Sailesh released the document. Assam is the only state in the state that has an NRC.

Assam Assembly is to introduce digital budget in its upcoming session.

PM Modi inaugurated the 60-megawatt Tuirial hydroelectric power project in Aizawl.

Assam govt. has signed an MoU with Isha Foundation to conserve & rejuvenate the rivers of Assam.

Nagaland is all set to celebrate the 54th Statehood Day

& the 18th Hornbill festival 2017 at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama.

Nagaland became the first State in the Northeast to launch Point of Sale (POS) facility for electricity bill payment, where the mode of payment will be cashless. It was launched at Kohima.

A group of ministers (GoM) set up under Assam

Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to make the composition scheme more attractive & also revisit GST rates on restaurants.

Tripura become the first state in the country to set up family welfare district committees to examine the complaints of women against their husbands & in-laws & find an amicable solution. Tripura High Court is the first high court among 24 high courts of the country that has constituted the family welfare district committees.

WESTERN STATES

PM Modi inaugurated the project commencement of Rajasthan Refinery at Pachpadra in Barmer district. This is the first oil refinery in the state. The 43,000 crores rupee project is a joint venture between HPCL & the Rajasthan Govt.

The first state in India to completely implement door-

to-door garbage collection in all areas under urban bodies is Madhya Pradesh.

Vijay Rupani was sworn as the CM of Gujarat

state. Governor Om Prakash Kohli administered the Oath of Office & Secrecy to 21 ministers including Mr Rupani & his deputy Nitin Patel.

Rajasthan become the first state in the country to

launch free email addresses in Hindi (in Devanagari script) for its residents.

PM Modi inaugurated unique world-class hospital at Swaminarayan Gurukul Vidyapeeth Pratisthanam in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. This world-class hospital aims at providing top of the line medical & health care on subsidized rates.

Gujarat‘s commercial capital Ahmedabad formally accorded the status of India‘s first World Heritage City by UNESCO.

The Kandla Port, one of the top 12 major ports in the

country, has been renamed as Deendayal Port in the name of Hindutva icon Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay.

CENTRAL STATES

'Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat' was launched by CM of Jharkhand Raghubar Das at Balijore village, in

Dumka district of Jharkhand. As per him, Jharkhand is the first state in India, where beneficiaries are provided stoves along with gas connections.

MP Assembly unanimously passed a Bill awarding death to those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 & below. With this, Madhya Pradesh becomes the first

State where those convicted of such rapes will face the gallows.

Chhattisgarh Government imposed a ban on the bursting of firecrackers in six of its cities, including the state capital Raipur, ahead of the wedding season.

Madhya Pradesh has won the ‗Best Tourism State‘

national award for the third consecutive year. President Ram Nath Kovind handed over the award, named as ‗Hall of Fame Award‘, to Minister of State for Tourism Surendra Patwa.

SOUTHERN STATES

The first Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK)

of Puducherry was inaugurated at Karaikal.It is the 60th POPSK to become functional & first POPSK to become operational in the UT of Puducherry.

Andhra Pradesh Govt. & the Canton of Zurich signed a letter of intent, to promote mutual prosperity & development.

Minister of State (IC), for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik laid the foundation stone for Central Research

Institute (CRI) in Jaipur, Rajasthan. This will be the third CRI under the aegis of Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH).

Maharashtra become the first state in the country that has come out with a public cloud policy, virtually mandating its departments to shift their data storage onto the cloud.

The govt. of Tamil Nadu has launched an e-

governance policy to help public, government & commercial establishments avail all services through digital medium.

India's first National Park for differently abled people was inaugurated by Telangana govt. in Hyderabad.

Maharashtra State‘s tableau has been adjudged as the ‗Best Tableau‘ at 69th Republic Day parade.



Mumbai got India's first ever AC suburban local train

as Christmas gift. The first service of the 12-coach EMU will commence between Borivali & Churchgate.

Karnataka's capital city Bengaluru has become the first Indian city to have its own logo after the state govt. launched it.

Nirmala Sitharaman launched a start-up incubation centre called the Centre for Entrepreneurship

Opportunities & Learning (CEOL) in Mangaluru, Karnataka.

President Kovind, dedicated to the people of Andhra Pradesh four projects of the State Govt. The Projects were AP Fibregrid Project, AP Surveillance Project, Drone Project; & Free Space Optical Communication

(FSOC) system. He focused on the 24/7 hyper-connected world & the online presence of the govt.

Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved scheme to provide a pension of Rs 1500 to transgenders above 18 years in the state. Under this, transgenders will be provided ration cards, plots, & scholarships, also skill development for financial stability.

Andhra Pradesh assembly unanimously passed the Kapu reservation bill which will provide the community with a 5% quota in education & employment in the state.

Kacheguda Railway Station in Hyderabad under South Central Railway (SCR) earned the unique distinction of being the first Energy Efficient ‗A1

Category‘ Railway Station on Indian Railways. It achieved 100% energy efficiency by replacing 1,312

conventional lights with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, among other steps.

Telangana sgovt.‘s prestigious Kaleshwaram Lift

Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) finally got the Green Nod from central govt.

Kerala govt. lead by Left Democratic Front (LDF) decided to raise the legal drinking age from 21 to 23 years.

Goa has celebrated its 56th Liberation Day on 19th December.

Air Force & Coast Guard have launched a massive rescue operation off the Kerala coast to save hundreds of fishermen stranded in the rough sea hit by Cyclone Ockhi.

Telugu would be implemented as a compulsory

subject in the CBSE & ICSE schools, from the next academic year in Telangana.

Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao declared Urdu

as the state's second official language. Every office in the state will now have an Urdu speaking officer.

Govt. given go-ahead for setting up India‘s first mega coastal economic zone (CEZ) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra as part of a plan to develop 14 such industrial clusters to spur manufacturing & generate jobs.

Kerala government inked an MoU with Intel & UST Global for exploring the possibility of transforming the state into an electronic hardware manufacturing hub.

15th International Film Festival for Documentary,

Short & Animation films to be hosted by Mumbai in Jan-Feb 2018.

ALL ABOUT THE STATES IN INDIA CM/GOVERNORS/WILDLIFE SANTUARIES/NATIONAL PARKS / POWER PLANTS IN INDIA

States National Parks(NP) Wild Life Sanctuaries Power Plants

J&K

CM : Mehbooba Mufti Governor: Narendra Vohra

Capital: Jammu(Winter) Srinagar(Summer)

Dachigam National Park Hemis National Park Kishtwar National Park Salim Ali National Park

Gulmarg WLS Limber WLS Nandini WLS

-

Himachal Pradesh

CM: Jairam Thakur

Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat

Capital: Shimla

Pin Valley National Park Great Himalayan National

Park Inderkilla National Park Khirganga National Park Simbalbara National Park

Bandli WLS Daranghati WLS Dhauladhar WLS Nargu WLS Pong Dam Lake WLS Shilli WLS Talra WLS

Girinagar Hydel Project Binwa Hydel Project Rangtong Hydel

Project Baner&Neugal Project

Punjab CM: Captain Amarinder

Singh Governor: V P Singh

Badnore Capital: Chandigarh

Abohar WLS Harike Lake WLS Jhajjar Bacholi

WLS

Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant



Haryana

CM: Manohar Lal Khattar Governor: Kaptain Solanki

Capital: Chandigarh

Kalesar National Park Sultanpur National Park

Bhindawas WLS Kalesar WLS Khaparwas WLS

Gorakhpur Atomic Power Station

Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram TPS

Rajiv Gandhi TPS

UP

CM: Yogi Adityanath Governor: Ram Naik

Capital: Lucknow

Dudhwa National Park

Hastinapur WLS Ranipur WLS Sohagibarwa WLS Sur Sarovar WLS Chandraprabha WLS

National Chambal WLS

Narora Atomic Power Station

Rihand Thermal Power Station

Anpara Thermal Power Station

Bihar CM: Nitish Kumar

Governor: Satya Pal Malik Capital: Patna

Valmiki National Park

Gautam Budha WLS Kaimur WLS Pant (Rajgir) WLS Valmiki WLS

Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Station

Barauni TPS

Chattisgarh

CM: Raman Singh Governor: Balram Tandon

Capital: Raipur

Indravati National Park Kanger Valley National

Park Guru Ghasi Das (Sanjay)

Badalkhol WLS Bhairamgarh WLS Bhoramdev WLS Udanti Wild Buffalo

WLS

Sipat Thermal Power Plant

Hasdeo TPS Bhilai Expansion Power

Plant

Jharkhand CM: Raghuvar Das

Governor: Draupadi Murmu

Capital: Ranchi

Betla National Park

Lawalong WLS Palkot WLS Parasnath WLS

Chandrapura TPS Koderma Thermal

Power Station Bokaro TPS

Andhra Pradesh

CM: N. Chandrababu Naidu Governor: E.S.L

Narasimhan Capital: Amravathi

[*Hyderabad initially]

Sri Venkateswara National Park

Coringa WLS Kolleru WLS Nellapattu WLS Pulicat Lake WLS Rajiv Gandhi

(Nagarjuna Sagar-Srisailam) WLS

Rollapadu WLS

Simhadri Super Thermal Power Plant

Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station

Telangana

CM: K. Chandrashekar Rao

Governor: E. S. L. Narasimhan

Capital: Hyderabad

Mrugavani National Park

Kawal WLS

Assam

CM: Sarbananda Sonowal Governor: Jagdish Mukhi

Capital: Dispur

Dibru-Saikhowa NP Kaziranga National Park Manas National Park Nameri National Park Rajiv Gandhi Orang

National Park

Amchang WLS Chakrashila WLS Dihing Patkai WLS East Karbi Anglong

WLS North Karbi Anglong

WLS Nambor WLS

Bongaigaon Thermal Power Plant

Goa

CM: Manohar Parrikar Governor: Mridula Sinha

Capital: Panaji

Bhagwan Mahavir (Mollem) National Park

Bondla WLS Madei WLS Bhagwan Mahavir

(Mollem) WLS Netravali WLS

-

Gujarat

Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar

Jambugodha WLS Jessore WLS

Mundra Thermal Power Station



CM: Vijay Rupani Governor: O.P.Kohli Capital: Gandhinagar

Gir Forest National Park Marine National Park,

Gulf of Kutch Bansda National Park

Kutch Desert WLS Mitiyala WLS Porbandar Lake WLS Rampara Vidi WLS Ratanmahal WLS Shoolpaneswar

(Dhumkhal) WLS Thol Lake WLS Wild Ass WLS

Ukai Thermal Power Station

Akrimota Thermal Power Station

Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant

Karnataka

CM: Siddaramaiah Governor: Vajubhai R. Vala

Capital: Bangalore

Bandipur National Park Bannerghatta National

Park Kudremukh National Park Nagarhole National Park Anshi national park

Arabithittu WLS Attiveri WLS Bhadra WLS Bhimgad WLS Brahmagiri WLS Cauvery WLS Nugu WLS Pushpagiri WLS Ranganathittu Bird

WLS Sharavathi Valley

WLS Someshwara WLS

Raichur Thermal Power Station

Udupi Thermal Power Plant

Bellary Thermal Power Station

Kerala

CM: Pinarayi Vijayan Governor: P. Sathashivam Capital: Trivandampuram

Eravikulam National Park Mathikettan Shola

National Park Periyar National Park Silent Valley National

Park Anamudi Shola National

Park Pampadum Shola NP

Aralam WLS Chimmony WLS Idukki WLS Malabar WLS Mangalavanam Bird

WLS Neyyar WLS Periyar WLS Thattekad Bird WLS

Brahmapuram Power Station

Kayamkulam Power Station

MP

CM: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Governor: Anandiben Patel Capital: Bhopal

Kanha National Park Madhav National Park Mandla Plant Fossils

National Park Panna National Park Pench National Park Sanjay National Park Satpura National Park Van Vihar National park

Bori WLS Gandhi Sagar WLS Ghatigaon WLS Ken Gharial WLS Narsighgarh WLS National Chambal

WLS Orcha WLS Kuno WLS Sardarpur WLS Son Gharial WLS

Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station

Sant Singaji Thermal Power Plant

Satpura Thermal Power Station

Amarkantak TPS Sasan Ultra Mega

Power Project

Maharashtra

CM: Devendra Fadnavis Governor: C. Vidyasagar

Rao Capital: Mumbai

Chandoli National Park Navegaon National Park Tadoba National Park Gugamal national park

Aner Dam WLS Bhamragarh WLS Bhimashankar WLS Great Indian Bustard

WLS Jaikwadi WLS Koyana WLS Nagzira WLS Painganga WLS Radhanagari WLS Sagareshwar WLS Tipeshwar WLS

Tarapur Atomic Power Station

Tirora Thermal Power Station

Amravati Thermal Power Plant



Tungareshwar WLS

Manipur CM: N Biren Singh Governor: Najma A

Heptulla Capital: Imphal

Keibul Lamjao National Park

Yangoupokpi-Lokchao WLS

-

Meghalaya CM: Mukul Sangma

Governor: Ganga Prasad Capital: Shillong

Balphakram National Park Nokrek National Park

Baghmara Pitcher Plant WLS

Nongkhyllem WLS Siju WLS

-

Mizoram

CM: Lal Thanhawla Governor: Nirbhaya

Sharma Capital: Aizawl

Murlen National Park Phawngpui Blue National

Park Mountain National Park

Dampa WLS (TR) Ngengpui WLS Pualreng WLS Tokalo WLS

-

Nagaland CM: T.R. Zeliang

Governor: P.B.Acharya Capital: Kohima

Intanki National Park

Fakim WLS Puliebadze WLS Rangapahar WLS

Dikhu Hydro Electric Power Plant

Odisha

CM: Naveen Patnaik Governor: S.C. Jamir

Capital: Bhubaneshawer

Bhitarkanika National Park

Simlipal National Park

Badrama WLS Baisipalli WLS Chilika (Nalaban)

WLS Hadgarh WLS Khalasuni WLS Satkosia Gorge WLS

Talcher Super Thermal Power Station

Rajasthan

CM: Vasundhara Raje Governor: Kalyan Singh

Capital: Jaipur

Sariska National Park Ranthambore National

Park Darrah National Park Desert National Park Keoladeo National Park

Bundh Baratha WLS Darrah WLS Jawahar Sagar WLS Kailadevi WLS Mount Abu WLS Ramsagar WLS Sariska WLS Sawai Man Singh WLS Shergarh WLS Sitamata WLS

Chhabra Thermal Power Station

Suratgarh Power Station

Sikkim CM: Pawan Kumar

Chamling Governor: Srinivas Patel

Capital: Gangtok

Khangchendzonga National Park

Fambong Lho WLS Kitam WLS (Bird) Maenam WLS Pangolakha WLS

Rangit Hydro Electric Power Prject

Tamil Nadu

CM: Edapaddi Palaniswami Governor: Banwaril Lal

Purohit Capital: Chennai

Mudumalai National Park

Mukurthi National Park Indira Gandhi

(Annamalai) National Park

Guindy National Park Gulf of Mannar Marine

National Park

Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) WLS

Kalakad WLS Karaivetti WLS Karikili WLS Mudumalai WLS Pulicat Lake WLS Vaduvoor WLS Vedanthangal WLS Vettangudi WLS

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

Neyveli Thermal Tuticorin Thermal

Power Station

Tripura

CM: Manik Sarkar Governor: Tathagata Roy

Bison( Rajbari ) National Park

Clouded Leopard

Gumti WLS Rowa WLS Sepahijala WLS

Palatana Thermal Power Plant



Capital: Agartala National Park Trishna WLS

UK CM: Trivendra Singh

Rawat Governor: K.K. Paul Capital: Dehradun

Gangotri National Park Jim Corbett National Park Valley of Flowers National

Park

Askot Musk Deer WLS Binsar WLS Govind Pashu Vihar

WLS Kedarnath WLS Sonanadi WLS

Chibro Power Plant Khodri Power Plant Chilla Power Plant

WB

CM: Mamata Banerjee Governor: Keshari Nath

Tripathi Capital: Kolkata

Buxa National Park Neora Valley

NationalPark Singalila National Park Sundarbans National Park

Ballavpur WLS Chintamani Kar Bird

Sanctuary Haliday Island WLS Lothian Island WLS Mahananda WLS

Mejia Thermal Power Station

Farakka Super Thermal Power Station

Kolaghat Thermal Power Station

Bakreshwar Thermal Power Station

Durgapur Steel Thermal Power Station

Arunachal Pradesh CM: Pema Khandu

Governor: BD Mishra

Namdapha National Park Mouling National Park

Country & Currency in News Israel Capital- Jerusalem, Currency- Israeli new shekel,

President- Reuven Rivlin. Bangladesh Capital- Dhaka, Currency- Taka. Russia Capital- Moscow, President- Vladimir Putin. Capital of Syria: Damascus, President: Bashar al-

Assad, Currency: Syrian pound Capital of Ukraine- Kiev, Currency: Ukrainian

hryvnia, Capital of Zimbabwe- Harare Capital of Sri Lanka- Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte|

Currency of Sri Lanka- Sri Lankan rupee PM of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern. Capital of China is Beijing Seoul is the capital of the Republic of Korea (ROK),

also known as South Korea. Capital of South Africa is Cape Town. Capital of Iran is Tehran. The capital of Japan is Tokyo. New Zealand Capital- Wellington, Currency- New

Zealand dollar. Estonia Capital- Tallinn, Latvia Capital- Riga,

Lithuania Capital- Vilnius. South Korea Capital- Seoul, Currency- South Korean

won. UK PM- Theresa May, Capital- London, Currency-

Pound.sterling. Nepal PM- Sher Bahadur Deuba, President- Bidhya

Devi Bhandari. Pakistan PM- Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, President-

Mamnoon Hussain. Philippines Capital- Manila, Currency- Philippine

peso, President- Rodrigo Duterte.

Canada Capital- Ottawa, Currency- Canadian Dollar. PM- Justin Trudeau.

Bahrain Capital- Manama, Currency- Bahraini dinar. Vietnam Capital- Hanoi, Currency- Vietnamese dong. Italy Capital- Rome, Currency- Euro Qatar Capital- Doha, Currency- Qatari riyal. Slovenia Capital- Ljubljana. Poland Capital- Warsaw. Belarus Capital- Minsk. Argentina Capital- Buenos Aires, Currency- Argentine

peso France Capital- Paris, Currency- Euro, President-

Emmanuel Macron| PM: Edouard Philippe Russia Capital- Moscow, President- Vladimir Putin. Spain Capital- Madrid, Currency- Euro. Malaysia

Capital- Kuala Lumpur, Currency- Malaysian ringgit Capital of Lebanon is Beirut. Its Currency is Lebanese

pound. Cairo is the capital of Egypt. Egyptian pound is the

currency of Egypt. Tunis is the capital of Tunisia. Beji Caid Essebsi jas is

the present President of Tunisia. Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan. Dzongkha is the

official language of Bhutan. Astana is the Capital of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstani

tenge is the currency of Kazakhstan. Guinea Capital- Conakry, Currency- Guinean Franc. Yerevan is the Capital of Armenia. Its currency is

Armenian dram. Mexico- a Country in North America, Capital- Mexico

City. Kenya Capital- Nairobi, Currency- Kenyan shilling.



Germany Capital- Berlin, Chancellor- Angela Merkel. Venezuela Capital- Caracas, Currency- Venezuelan

bolivar. UAE Capital- Abu Dhabi, Currency- UAE dirham Saudi Arabia Capital- Riyadh, Currency- Saudi riyal. Afghanistan Capital- Kabul, President- Ashraf Ghani. Cuba Capital- Havana, Currency- Cuban peso. Australia Capital- Canberra, Currency- Australian

dollar. Capital of Morocco- Rabat, Currency- Moroccan

dirham. Norway Capital- Oslo, Currency- Norwegian krone. Oman Capital- Muscat, Currency- Omani rial. Turkmenistan Capital- Ashgabat, Currency-

Turkmenistan manat Mexico Capital: Mexico City, Currency: Mexican peso Kuwait Capital- Kuwait City, Currency- Kuwaiti

dinar. Libreville is the capital city of Gabon, a country on the

coast of Central Africa. Ali Bongo Ondimba is a President of Gabon.

Chile Capital- Santiago, Currency- Chilean peso. Rwanda Capital- Kigali, Currency- Rwandan franc. Myanmar PM- Aung San Suu Kyi, Capital-

Naypyidaw. Switzerland Capital- Bern, President- Doris Leuthard. Peru Capital- Lima, Currency- Sol. Kazakhstan Capital- Astana, Currency- Kazakhstani

tenge. Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia- Mohammed bin

Salman. Saudi Arabia Capital- Riyadh, Currency- Saudi riyal.

Maldives Capital- Male, Currency- Maldivian rufiyaa.

King of Jordan- Abdullah II. Jordan Capital- Amman, Currency- Jordanian dinar.

Liberia Capital- Monrovia, Currency- Liberian dollar. Mauritius Capital- Port Louis, Currency- Mauritian

rupee. Myanmar Capital- Naypyidaw| Vietnam Capital-

Hanoi| Philippines Capital- Manila. Capital of Romania- Bucharest. Romanian leu is the

currency of Romania. President of Romania- Klaus Iohannis.

Iceland Capital- Reykjavik, President- Guoni Th. Johannsson.

Cambodian Capital- Phnom Penh, Currency- Cambodian riel.

Indonesia Capital- Jakarta, Currency- Indonesian rupiah.

OBITUARIES (NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL) Person Died Profession/Famous In?

Politician (National-International)

1. Raghunath Jha Senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader & former Union Minister

2. Dinesh Nandan Sahay Chhattisgarh's first Governor

3. Roy Bennett Zimbabwean opposition leader

4. Kirti Nidhi Bista Former PM of Nepal

5. Purushottam Lal Kaushik Former Union minister & socialist leader

Singer/Musician (National-International)

6. Hugh Masekela Trumpeter, & Singer, known as the 'father of South African jazz'

7. Jatileswar Mukhopadhyay Acclaimed Bengali Singer

8. Robbie Malinga Legendary South African musician

9. Johnny Hallyday France's biggest rock star

10. Jagdish Mohan Renowned Hindustani vocalist of Kirana Gharana

11. Girija Devi Eminent classical singer & Padma Vibhushan awardee. Also known as "Queen of Thumri" & fondly called Appa Ji.

Actor/Director/Producer (National-International)

12. Supriya Devi Veteran Bengali film actress



13. Charu Rohatgi TV actress

14. Partha Mukhopadhyay Famed Bengali film Actor

15. Shashi Kapoor Veteran actor

16. Neeraj Vora Bollywood actor, writer, & filmmaker

17. I V Sasi Veteran Malayalam director

18. Roy Dotrice Veteran British actor, died in London.

19. Kundan Shah Veteran director

Author/Journalist/Activist/Painter (National-International)

20. Ursula K. Le Guin Science fiction & fantasy writer

21. Anwar Jalalpuri Noted Urdu poet

22. Sukharanjan Sengupta Veteran journalist

23. Manu Sharma Noted author & Padma Shri awardee

24. Kunwar Narayan Eminent Hindi poet & Jnanpith awardee

25. Punathil Kunjabdulla Renowned Malayalam writer

26. Satish Chandra Veteran & one of India‘s eminent historian

Sportsmen/Sportswomen (National-International)

27. Jo Jo White Basketball Hall of Famer

28. Saksham Yadav Powerlifting World Champion

29. Shamsher Khan India's first Olympic swimmer

30. A G Milkha Singh Former Test cricketer

31. Daniel Hegarty British Motorcycle Racer

32. Naim Suleymanoglu Turkish weightlifter

33. Violet Mosse-Brown (Jamaica) The world's oldest person has died at the age of 117.

34. Arjan Singh The sole Marshal of the Indian Air Force

35. Dr. KS Chugh ―Father of nephrology in India‖

36. Dina Wadia Only child of Pakistan‘s Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Others (National-International)

37. Chandi Lahiri Famous Cartoonist

38. Baldev Raj Renowned administrator of nuclear power technologies

39. Peter Sutherland 1st Director-General of WTO

40. John Young Legendary astronaut

41. Bob Givens One of the animators designing characters Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd

42. Lalji Singh Pioneer of DNA fingerprinting technology in India

43.

LIST/INDEXES ANNOUNCED RECENTLY

Name of the Index/List Rank of India Topped By?

WEF‘s Global Manufacturing Index (‗Readiness for future of production report‘)

India ranked at 30th Japan topped the index

Logistics index chart released by Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhu

Gujarat topped the index. From

Hilly states, Tripura topped Among the UT‘s, Daman &

Diu topped the index.

India overtaken US to become the world‘s third-largest steel producer. Birender Singh is Union Minister of Steel.

List of wealthiest countries released by New World Wealth

India ranked sixth with the total wealth of $ 8,230 billion

Topped by the United States of America

As per the survey by GoBankingRates, India is ranked second only to South Africa as the cheapest country to live or

retire. The top most expensive country in the survey was Bermuda (ranked 112).

WEF‘s Inclusive Development Index India ranked at the 62nd

Norway: World‘s most inclusive advanced economy, while



Lithuania again tops the list of emerging economies

Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2018 by Yale & Columbia Universities along with WEF

India ranked 177 Switzerland leads the list

Global Index of Talent Competitiveness India ranked at 81st Switzerland topped the list

India's domestic air passenger traffic grew by 16.4% in November 2017, topping the growth chart worldwide, as per

the global aviation body, International Air Transport Association (IATA).

As per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Jeff Bezos, founder & CEO of Amazon has become the richest man in the history.

As per the All India Higher Education Survey (AIHES), India‘s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education

registered an increase from 24.5% in 2015-16 to 25.2% in 2016-17.

Tamil Nadu has the highest GER in the country at 46.9%. Bihar has the least GER of 14.9%.

In the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Global Democracy Index 2017, India ranked 42nd.

As per data collected through National Family & Health Survey (NFHS-4) conducted among more than 6 lakh households in 2015-16, Delhi is the richest state while Bihar is the poorest.

As per the survey of Gallup International, PM Modi at 3rd rank among world leaders. French president Emmanuel Macron ranked at first.

As per the Forbes List of Top-grossing actor 2017 Vin Diesel topped the List. -

Report by CARE (Credit Analysis & Research Ltd) Ratings on Highest Level of NPA‘s

Topped by Greece India (Highest level of NPA among BRICS) ranked 5th

Forbes' Rankings of Best countries in the world for business in 2018

United Kingdom topped India was ranked 62nd

Most expensive premium office locations in the World Report by JLL India (real estate services)

Top spot is taken by Hong Kong Delhi Ranked 7th & Mumbai ranked 16th

Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017 List topped by Switzerland India ranked 60th

Forbes India Celebrity 100 list 2017 topped by Actor Salman Khan (Second consecutive year)

As per World Inequality Lab in its World Inequality Report 2018, Since 1980, India led to substantial increase in inequality so much that top 0.1% of earners continued to capture more growth than all those in bottom 50% combined.

Time magazine‘s Person of the Year was given to ―The Silence Breakers‖, the vanguard of a global movement by millions of women to share their stories of sexual harassment & abuse.

As per the survey by TripAdvisor, Taj Mahal in Agra, is the second-best UNESCO world heritage site in the world, after Cambodia's Angkor Wat.

Waste management system implemented in Kerala's coastal town of Alappuzha, recognized by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for fighting the pollution menace. It listed in the UNEP environment report

entitled, 'Solid approach to waste: how five cities are beating pollution'.

As per the Forbes List, Michael Jordan named as the highest-paid athletes of all time.

Forbes‘ Annual World‘s highest-paid musician list

Musician Diddy topped the list.

As per World Migration Report 2018 published by International Organisation for Migration.

Note: US remained the top destination for migrants in the world in 2015

Indian diaspora is largest in the world, with over 15 million migrants from India living

abroad

World's 3 largest diasporas- India, Mexico & Russia.

‗The Legatum Prosperity Index 2017‘ Norway topped the Index India ranked at 100th

Fortune‘s ‗Businessperson of the Year‘ 2017 Aditya Puri, MD of HDFC Bank ranked at 18th

Topped by Nvidia‘s Mr. Jensen Huang

Foreign Policy magazine's 2017 list of '50 Leading Global Thinkers'

Indian-American senator Kamala Harris

Time magazine readers‘ Person of the Year Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

IMD World Talent Ranking India Ranked 51 Switzerland topped the list

Global University Employability Ranking 2017 by Times Higher Education

Indian Institute of Science (IISc) ranked 29th in 150 Universities

IIT Delhi ranked 145th & IIT Bombay ranked 148th.

Forbes Highest-paid woman in Music in 2017 American singer Beyonce topped the List. Adele came second & Taylor Swift ranked third.



Grant Thornton's International Business Report 'Business Optimism' Index

India ranked 7th in the Sept. Quarter

Indonesia is at the top

As per Euromonitor International, Hong Kong remains the world's most visited city by international travelers. The Top 3 Countries in the list are- 1. Hong Kong. 2. Bangkok. 3. London.

As per the report by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) among the 42 cities

Holy city Varanasi is most polluted

It is followed by Gurugram & Delhi.

World Bank‘s ‗Doing Business 2018 — Reforming to Create Jobs‘

India ranked at 100 (Ease of Doing Business

rankings)

New Zealand topped the list.

As per the Global Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2018 by Germanwatch, India is the 6 th most vulnerable country in the world in terms of facing extreme weather events. The list is topped by Haiti followed by Zimbabwe & Fiji.

India‘s Ambani family topped the Forbes list of Asia‘s Richest Families for 1st time with net worth $44.8 billion.

Binge watching in public is the new trend in India, & Indians are the second-highest public bingers in the world

behind Mexico, according to a survey released by online streaming platform Netflix.

As pet the report of IMF, Qatar named the world's richest country. The per capita GDP of Qatar is over Rs. 81 lakhs. Macao ranked at second & Luxembourg at third.

As per the report India's GDP per capita was $7,170 (Rs 4.66 lakh) in 2017 & ranked at 126.

Forbes list of top-earning dead celebrities

Michael Jackson topped (for the 5th straight year)

Golf legend Arnold Palmer at 2nd & Peanuts creator Charles

Schulz at 3rd.

Gender Vulnerability Index (GVI) by NGO Plan India

Goa is safest for girls. Bihar least-safest for girls.

World Economic Forum‘s Global Gender Gap index

India ranked at 108 Topped by Iceland

Five Indian women featured on the list of the World‘s 100 most powerful women compiled by Forbes. Topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the list ranked Chanda Kochhar (32); Roshni Malhotra (57), Ed &

CEO of HCL Enterprise; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (64), CMD of Biocon; Shobhana Bhartia (92), Chairperson &

Editorial Director, HT Media Ltd & Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra at 97.

64 cities from 44 countries designated as UNESCO Creative Cities by Director-General, Irina Bokova. Chennai is the third Indian city on the list of UNESCO Creative Cities list after Jaipur & Varanasi.

India's Silicon Valley - 'Bengaluru' - is the best host among 45 cities worldwide, as per Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU). San Francisco came in second followed by two other Indian cities, Mumbai & New Delhi.

Static Takeaways: Index/Reports released by different Organisations Report title Organisation

Asian Development Outlook ADB (Asian Development bank)

Global Money Laundering Report FATF (Financial Action Task Force)

Nuclear Technology Review IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)

Ease of Doing Business IBRD (World Bank)

World Development Report IBRD (World Bank)

Safety Reports ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization)

Global Hunger Index report IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute)

World Employment & Social Outlook ILO (International Labour Organization)

World of Work Report ILO (International Labour Organization)

World Economic Outlook IMF (International Monetary Fund)

Global Innovation Index Cornell University INSEAD & the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

World Energy Outlook (WEO) International Energy Agency

World Oil Outlook OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries )

World Happiness Report Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)

Global Corruption Report (GCR) Transparency International

Levels & Trends in Child Mortality Report UN Inter-agency Group

World Investment Report UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade & Development)

Actions on Air Quality UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme )



Global Environment Outlook UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme )

Global education monitoring Report UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization)

World Cities Report UN-Habitat

The Global Report UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees )

Report on Regular Resources UNICEF (United Nations Children‘s Emergency Fund )

Industrial Development Report UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization)

World Drug Report UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime)

Global Information Technology Report WEF (World Economic Forum)

Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report WEF (World Economic Forum)

Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) WEF (World Economic Forum)

World Intellectual Property Report (WIPR) WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)

IMPORTANT DAYS OBSERVED RECENTLY

Date Day Theme

25th January 8th National Voters‘ Day

24th January Uttar Pradesh Diwas

15th January 70th Army Day: To commemorate the day when General (later Field Marshal) K.M Carriappa took over the command of Army

19th January National Disaster Response Force‘s 13th Raising Day

12th January National Youth Day

10th January World Hindi Day

1st December World AIDS day 'Right to health'

1st December BSF Raising Day -

3rd December International Day of Disabled Persons ―Transformation towards sustainable & resilient society for all‖

4th December Indian Navy Day

5th December World Soil Day ‗Caring for the Planet starts from the Ground‘

7th December Armed Forces Flag Day (To honor the martyrs & the men in uniform who valiantly fought on our borders to safeguard the country's honor)

10th December Human Rights Day Campaign named as #standup4humanrights

14th December National Energy Conservation Day -

16th December Vijay Diwas -

18th December International Migrants Day 'Safe Migration in a World on the Move'

22nd December National Mathematics Day Mathematician Ramanujan‘s birth anniversary

23rd December Kisan Diwas (Farmer's Day) Note: Birth anniversary of the fifth PM of India Chaudhary Charan Singh

25th December Good Governance Day Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee‘s birthday

20th November United Nations Universal Children's Day Theme of UCD 2017 is 'Kids Take Over'

21st November World Fisheries Day Theme is ―2022 Ka Hai Sapna … Kisan Ki Aay Ho Dugna - Sankalp Se Siddhi‖

26th November Constitution Day

14 November World Diabetes Day (WDD) 'Women & diabetes - Our right to a healthy future'

16th November National Press Day To commemorate establishment of Press Council of India.

19th November National Integration Day. It is observed to foster & reinforce the spirit of communal harmony & national Integration

19 November World Toilet Day Wastewater

5th November World Tsunami Awareness Day 'Reduce the Number of Affected People'.

31 October Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National UnityDay) Birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

24th October United Nations Day 72nd anniversary of the UN Charter

27th October World Day for Audiovisual Heritage "Discover, remember & share"



13th October International Day for Disaster Reduction

‗Home Safe Home: Reducing Exposure, Reducing Displacement‘.

17th October International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP)

‗Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: A path toward peaceful & inclusive societies‘.

17th October 2nd Ayurveda Day in New Delhi Note: PM Modi was the Chief Guest & inaugurated country's first All India Institute of Ayurveda

16th October World Food Day "Change the future of migration. Invest in food security & rural development"

20th October World Statistics Day

15th October International Day of Rural Women

―Challenges & opportunities in climate-resilient agriculture for gender equality & the

empowerment of rural women & girls"

21st October National Police Commemoration Day

BOOKS & AUTHORS Former President Pranab Mukherjee released the third part of his memoir ‗The Coalition Years: 1996-2012‘, speaking

candidly about believing he could have been the Congress choice for the PM‘s post.

Rajasthan CM V. Raje launched e-book titled 'India 2017 Yearbook', compiled by present CAG Rajiv Mehrishi.

"Dreamnation: Uniting a Country with Handwritten Dreams" Co-authored by Saji Mathew & Jubie John

'Bollywood: The Films! The Songs! The Stars!' S.M.M. Ausaja, Karan Bali, Rajesh Devraj & Tanul Thakur

Former President Pranab Mukherjee released the third part of his memoir ‗The Coalition Years: 1996-2012‘

‗Journey of Women Law Reforms & The Law Commission of India – Some Insights‘

Dr. Pavan Sharma.

'India 2017 Yearbook' Compiled by present CAG Rajiv Mehrishi

Dreamnation: Uniting a Country with Handwritten Dreams" Saji Mathew & Jubie John.

Hema Malini's biography 'Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl' Ram Kamal Mukherjee

What Happened Hillary Clinton

Democracy‘s XI: The Great Indian Cricket Story Rajdeep Sardesai

Smritichitre Lakshmibai Tilak

The Crisis Within: On Knowledge & Education in India G.N. Devy

Political Violence in Ancient India Upinder Singh

A Life of My Own Claire Tomalin

'Unstoppable: My Life So Far' Maria Sharapova

―How India Sees the World: Kautilya to the 21st Century‖ Shyam Saran

Biography of Capt. Vikram Batra "The Shershah of Kargil" Deepak Surana

"Future of Indian Universities: Comparative & International Perspectives"

Compiled by Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar.

PM Modi released a photo book titled "President Pranab Mukherjee - A Statesman"

Cryptocurrency for Beginners Amit Bhardwaj

Book on PM Modi‘s Life named ―Making of A Legend‖: Compiled by Bindeshwar Pathak

Dalhousie...Through My Eyes Kiran Chadha

President‘s Lady‖ (Pranaber Preyosi) on Pranab Mukherjee‘s Wife Late Smt. Suvra Mukherjee

Sangeeta Ghosh

Playing with Fire Katie Price

The Trees of Medley Gardens (Red Turtle) Ranjit Lal

Watercolours: A Story from Auschwitz Lidia Ostalowska

Touched by God: How We Won the Mexico ‘86 World Cup Diego Armando Maradona with Daniel Arcucci

The People Next Door: The Curious History of India‘s Relations with Pakistan

T.C.A. Raghavan

From Chanakya to Modi: The Evolution of India‘s Foreign Policy Aparna Pande

A Bonsai Tree: An Autobiography Narendra Luther

Turtles All the Way Down John Green



Partition: The Story of Indian Independence & the Creation of Pakistan in 1947

Barney White-Spunner

Balanced Constitutionalism: Courts & Legislatures in India & UK Chintan Chandrachud

The Empress: The Dramatic Life of A Powerful & Enigmatic Leader Kalyani Shanka

The War is in the Mountains Judith Matloff

Demonetisation Decoded: A Critique of India‘s Currency Experiment

Jayati Ghosh, C.P. Chandrasekhar & Prabhat Patnaik

Behind Bars: Prison Tales of India‘s Most Famous Sunetra Choudhury

Kandhamal: Introspection of Initiative for Justice 2007-2015 Vrinda Grover & Saumya Uma

Dialogue of the Deaf T. C. A. Srinivasa-Raghavan

The Decline of Civilization Ramin Jahanbegloo

Sanjay Manjrekar launched his autobiography named

‗Imperfect‘. President Kovind unveiled a book titled 'The

Heartfulness Way'. Kamlesh D. Patel is the author of this book. Joshua Pollock is the second author of this book.

Dilli Meri Dilli: Before & After 1998?, pictorial book by former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit released.

―Majuli: Resources & Challenges‖ edited by Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti.

The book, The Way I See It - a Gauri Lankesh

Reader, has been edited by writer & sociologist Chandan Gowda.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan launched a book based on Indian cinema. It is titled 'Bollywood:

The Films! The Songs! The Stars!', is a coffee table book, co-authored by S.M.M. Ausaja, Karan Bali, Rajesh Devraj & Tanul Thakur.

DEFENCE CURRENT AFFAIRS

Indian Defence Forces Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

allowed Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)

manufactured Dornier 228 to be used for civilian flights. The 19-seater aircraft has, till now, been used by defence forces & is the first plane to be made in the country for commercial flights.

Indian Army's Southern Command conducted exercise 'Hamesha Vijayee' in the deserts of Rajasthan to evaluate the capability of the armed forces to strike deep into the enemy territory in an integrated air-land battle.

Indian Navy in collaboration with its Sri Lankan counterpart successfully completed the second phase of the joint oceanographic survey conducted off the South-Western Coast of Sri Lanka.

Conference of all Commanders of Eastern Air Command held at Shillong in Meghalaya.

Shubhangi Swaroop has been inducted as a pilot in the

Indian Navy for the first time. She is from Uttar Pradesh & will soon be flying Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft. Three other women cadets, Astha Segal from

New Delhi, Roopa A from Puducherry & Sakthi Maya

S from Kerala, created history by becoming the country‘s first women officers at the Naval Armament Inspectorate (NAI) branch of the Navy.

Defence Minister Sitharaman elected as President of the Institute for Defence Studies & Analysis (IDSA).

Indian Air Force launched an innovative health mobile

App named `MedWatch' on the occasion of its 85th anniversary. It was launched by Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa during the Air Force Commanders' Conference in New Delhi.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman flagged off the Navika Sagar Parikrama by an all-women crew of Indian Navy aboard Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini from INS Mandovi jetty in Goa. Navika Sagar Parikrama is the first attempt by an Indian all-women crew to circumnavigate the globe.

INS | Missile| Device Inducted/ Decommissioned

Indian Navy launched 'INS Karanj', the third of the six indigenous Scorpene-class submarines. It is equipped with superior stealth features & precision-guided

weapons, has been built at Mumbai's Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. It has an overall length of 67.5 meters & a height of about 12.3 metres.

India test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-V inter-

continental ballistic missile (ICBM), which has a strike range of over 5,000km from Abdul Kalam island off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha.

Indian Naval Ship Vikramaditya, the Indian Navy's largest ship & its sole aircraft carrier was formally affiliated to the Indian Army's highly-decorated & battle-hardened Bihar Regiment & the Indian Air Force's No 6 Squadron.

Charlie-435, a state-of-the-art patrol vessel of Indian Coast Guard commissioned at Karaikal in Puducherry.

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.

Surface to Air Missile AKASH with indigenous radio frequency seeker against target Banshee has been


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successfully launched from the Launch Complex-III at ITR Chandipur, Odisha.

Brahmos, the world‘s fastest supersonic cruise missile created history as it was successfully flight-tested first time from the Indian Air Force‘s (IAF) frontline fighter

aircraft Sukhoi-30MKI. Indian Air Force, along with DRDO successfully tested

an indigenously developed lightweight ‗Glide‘ bomb

in Chandipur in Odisha. It is Named SAAW (Smart Anti Airfield Weapon).

Indian Army launched an independent & fully-integrated Joint Training Node (JTN) at Umroi

cantonment in Shillong, Meghalaya. It will pave a way for projecting the states of Meghalaya & Assam on the world map of foreign armies.

India conducted a flight test of its indigenously designed & developed long-range sub-sonic cruise

missile ‗Nirbhay‘. It can carry warheads of up to 300 kg from a test range at Chandipur along the Odisha coast.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commissioned an indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette INS Kiltan into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

India's indigenously developed third generation anti-

tank guided missile (ATGM) Nag successfully flight tested by DRDO in deserts of Rajasthan, marking the completion of development trials.

Final development trials of indigenous beyond visual range air-to-air missile Astra successfully concluded into the Indian Air Force.

An indigenous artillery gun, Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), being developed by

DRDO has set a new world record in range by hitting targets at a distance of 48 km. ATAGS is a 155mm, 52 calibers towed artillery gun.

The first of the Scorpene class submarines, INS Kalvari, was delivered to the Indian Navy by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL).

INS Tarasa, a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft intended for extended coastal & offshore surveillance & patrolling, was commissioned into the Indian Navy. The vessel has been built in Kolkata.

International Defence Forces

South Korea & USA launched their largest-ever joint aerial drills called Vigilant Ace.

UAE Armed Forces along with the UK, US & French armies are participating in joint exercises in Abu Dhabi. The drill code is named as ―Flag4‖.

Russia launched world's largest nuclear-powered

icebreaker ship in a bid to expand its strategic presence in the resource-rich, terrain of the Arctic. The massive vessel, named Sibir (Siberia).

US Army & the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) inaugurated a permanent base In Israel. This is the first time that a

permanent American base has been opened in the Middle Eastern country.

Defence Exercises/Operations Conducted

Armies of India & Vietnam participated in the joint military exercise in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. It is named as ‗VINBAX‘ is the first military exercise between the two countries.

American & Japanese military forces launched joint

exercise named Iron Fist. 13th annual Iron It was held in the U.S. western state of California.

Indian Naval Ships Trikand & Teg are deployed to

Oman for 11th bilateral exercise ‗Naseem Al Bahr‘ or ‗Sea Breeze‘.

8th edition of the Indo-Maldives joint military exercise,

‗Ekuverin‘, came to an end at Belagavi, Karnataka. South Korea & USA launched their largest-ever joint

aerial drills called Vigilant Ace. UAE Armed Forces along with the UK, US & French

armies are participating in joint exercises in Abu Dhabi. The drill code is named as ―Flag4‖.

Defence of Andaman & Nicobar Islands Exercise (DANX) was conducted under the aegis of Andaman & Nicobar Command.

International Multilateral Maritime Search & Rescue

Exercise 2017 (IMMSAREX 2017) held in Cox Bazar, Bangladesh. Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff of Indian Navy, is attending the exercise.

Joint Indo-Russia Tri-Services Exercise INDRA-2017

successfully conducted at Vladivostok in Russia. The theme was ‗Preparation & Conduct of Operations by a Joint Force for Suppression of International Terror Activity at the request of a host country under UN mandate‘.

45-member contingent of the Indian Air Force left for

Israel to participate in exercise ‗Blue Flag-17‘. Blue Flag is a bi-annual multilateral exercise which aims to strengthen military cooperation amongst participating nations.

14-day joint training exercise ―PRABAL DOSTYK –

2017‖ between the Indian Army & the Kazakhstan

Army held at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh. The training contingents comprise of platoon strength from the 11th Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army & a similar strength of the Kazakhstan Army.

The joint coastal security exercise between Odisha &

West Bengal named as ‗Sagar Kavach‘ to be held along the 630-km long coastline.

―Vigilant Ace‖, the joint drill between the air forces of South Korea & USA will be conducted in December 2017.

Army personnel of India & Bangladesh are going to take part in a joint training exercise 'Sampriti-7' in

Meghalaya & Mizoram. This is the 7th edition of the joint training exercise.



Indian Navy Ship Sukanya under the command of Commander SA Deodhar arrived at Belawan Indonesia to participate in the 30th CORPAT (Coordinated Patrol) & 3rd Bilateral exercise between the Indian Navy & the Indonesian Navy. The exercise is aimed to foster closer maritime ties with countries located on the rim of the Indian Ocean

Navies of India & Japan began anti-submarine

warfare exercise in the Indian Ocean region to deepen their operational coordination in the strategically important sea lanes around the two countries.

The fifth India-Sri Lanka Joint Training Exercise (JTE) MITRA SHAKTI 2017 held conducted at Aundh Military Station, Pune. The exercise is based on Counter Terrorist Operations & an Infantry company from both the countries is participating in the same.

12th India-Nepal joint military exercise- Surya Kiran XII heldin Saljhandi, Nepal.

A joint military training, Exercise Yudh Abhyas-2017

conducted at Washington, USA between India & USA. Indian Navy & Sri Lankan Navy conducted the 2017 Sri

Lanka-India Exercise (SLINEX) at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

The air forces of China & Pakistan conducted joint training exercise named "Shaheen VI" & deployed their latest fighter jets & AWACS aircraft.

US & UAE's ground forces conducted a joint military exercise in Abu Dhabi, as part of efforts to consolidate their bilateral relations & exchange training & military expertise. Code-named Iron Union 5, the drill is an extension of a series of Iron Claw exercises.

The joint exercise DRUZBA 2017 between special forces of Pakistan & Russia Armies conducted in Minralney Vody, Russia.

Defence Agreements Signed/Defence Summits Held

Defence Ministry cleared contracts worth 2,420 crore

rupees for Navy & Army which includes the procurement of P-8I Training Solution & Low-Intensity Conflict Electronic Warfare System (LICEWS).

Indian Navy inked an MoU with Cochin Port Trust (CPT), Kerala towards leasing of 228 metres of berths at Mattancherry Wharf for a period of five years.

A Defence Innovation Centre to be set up by

CODISSIA, Coimbatore, to assist small industries in manufacturing components for the defence sector. Note:

Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) is a trade organization based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

Def-Expo India 2018 to be held in Chennai. It is the largest event of India‘s defence sector.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) decided to cancel the $500

million deal for Spike ATGM with Israel. MoD has asked DRDO to indigenously develop & produce a

Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) for the Army.

Navies of India & Japan began anti-submarine

warfare exercise in the Indian Ocean region to deepen their operational coordination in the strategically important sea lanes around the two countries.

Two indigenously built Indian Naval ships INS Satpura & INS Kadmatt reached Vladivostok Port & were given a traditional ceremonial welcome. The Indian contingent for the Exercise is led by the Task Force Commander Major General ND Prasad.

India & France agreed to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation as a key Pillar of strategic partnership between the two countries. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman & French Minister for the Armed Forces, Ms. Florence Parly discussed a range of measures to expand military to military ties. The joint Naval exercise named the VARUNA is scheduled in early 2018 between the two countries.

SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS

Cricket {National Game of: Australia, Bermuda, England, Jamaica No. of Players: 11

Important Terms associated: Arm ball, Beamer, Bottom hand, Bouncer, Cameo, Carrom ball, Chinaman, Flick,

Free hit, Glance, Googly, Hat-trick, Hit wicket, Leg bye, Nelson, Night watchman, Pinch hitter, Sweep, Upper

Cut.} Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the final of both

the men‘s & women‘s World Twenty20 when the tournaments come to Australia in 2020.

Sandeep Lamichhane became the first cricketer from

Nepal to land a deal an IPL contract. He was picked by Delhi Daredevils in the player's auction.

International Cricket Council (ICC) announced, the 2018 edition of the Women‘s World T20 will be hosted by West Indies.

India beat Pakistan by two wickets to win the Blind Cricket World Cup 2018 for the second time. Sunil Ramesh was declared the man of the match.

Vidarbha created history by winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time in history with a thumping nine-wicket win over Delhi at the Holkar stadium in Indore. Rajneesh Gurbani was declared player of the Match.

India to host the 2023 World Cup, the global cricketing event‘s 13th edition. India will also host Champions Trophy in 2021. ICC World Cup 2019 will be held in England & Wales.

Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim has appointed as General Manager (Cricket Operations) of the BCCI. He will report to CEO Rahul Johri.

India become the first-ever team to register 300+ totals

100 times in ODIs, after posting 392/4 against Sri Lanka in Mohali.



BCCI decided to lift the ban on the Rajasthan Cricket

Association (RCA) provided former IPL chief Lalit Modi stays away from its functioning, the Board decided in its Special General Meeting (SGM).

Virat Kohli surpasses Brian Lara for Most Double Centuries as Captain by scoring his 6th Double Century in Delhi.

Mumbai's Prithvi Shaw named captain of Indian

Under-19 team for the 2018 U-19 World Cup to be held in New Zealand.

Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh will be promoting a UNICEF sports initiative for youngsters in South Asia. He launched the "Power of Sports to Shape the Future

of Adolescents" campaign in South Asia. Mujeeb Zadran From Afghanistan Becomes First

Cricketer to Born in 21st Century. 16-year-old off-spinner, became the youngest ever from Afghanistan to play International cricket.

Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Afghanistan defeated Pakistan to clinch their maiden Under-19 Asia Cup title, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ikram Ali khil was the man of the match.

Football {National Game of: Brazil, Italy, Germany, Israel,

Mauritius, Poland No. of Players: 11

Important Terms Associated: Back Pass, Corner Kick, Free Kick, Dribble, Futsal, Header, Kick off, Banana Kick,

Toe Poke, Throw-in, Bicycle Kick}

Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho formally confirmed his retirement from football.

Team Liverpool sold Brazilian football player Philippe Coutinho to Team Barcelona for 160 million Euros ($192 million). With this, transfer of Philippe Coutinho has become the 2nd Most Expensive transfer in World Soccer History.

Lionel Messi, the star forward of Barcelona, received La Liga‘s top scorer & best player awards for 2016-17 football season.

Former AC Milan & Real Madrid midfielder Kaka, who lifted the 2002 World Cup with

Brazil, announced his retirement from football. Real Madrid earned the honor of being able to wear

the official FIFA World Champions Badge on their competition jerseys for the duration of 2018 by defeating Gremio in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017.

FIFA, lifted a two-year suspension against Kuwait‘s

football association that has prevented the country from participating in international tournaments.

The final draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup was held

in the Russian capital of Moscow. The ceremony was held at the State Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia.

Lionel Messi wins fourth European Golden Shoe Award.

Supreme Court appointed former football captain Bhaskar Ganguly as ombudsman as per All India Football Federation (AIFF). It also appointed S Y Quraishi as the ombudsmen to formulate the AIFF Constitution.

In Football, Italy has failed to qualify for the FIFA

World Cup for the first time since 1958. The four-time champions failed to make the cut after they lost the World Cup Qualifying European play-off against Sweden, 0-1.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the richest sports personality in the world, according to the latest Forbes' Rich List.

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo beaten Lionel Messi & Neymar to win the Best FIFA Men's Player

award for the second year running. Ronaldo was presented the award at The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony in London, UK. Netherlands' Lieke Martens won The Best FIFA Women's Player award. Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane was named the Best FIFA Men's Coach.

England scripted a dramatic turnaround in Kolkata to

win the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup for the very first time after a 5-2 win over European U17 champions Spain.

Netherlands captain Arjen Robben announced the end

of his international career after his country failed to

reach the 2018 World Cup finals despite a 2-0 win over Sweden.

Indian football team has qualified for the 2019 Asian

Cup after they had a convincing 4-1 win over Macau with two matches still to go in the qualifying round. This is the third time the country has qualified for the continental showpiece.

Switzerland's Esther Staubli become the first female referee to officiate a match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup. She was the referee in the match between Japan & New Caledonia in the final round group E match.

Jackson Singh Thounaojam created history at Delhi‘s

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium by scoring India‘s first goal in a FIFA U-17 World Cup during India‘s match against Colombia.

Maidan heavyweights Mohun Bagan won the 37th All India Governor's Gold Cup football tournament for the 10th time by defeating Partha Chakra.

Hockey {National Game of: India, Pakistan

No. of Players: 11 Important Terms Associated: Advancing, Bully, Center

Pass, Dribble, Drive, Flagrant Foul, Flick, Free Hit, Striker, Tackle, Undercutting, Dodge, Drag Flick, Grip,

Hacking, Penalty Corner, Wall Pass}

India defeated Germany 2-1 in Hockey World League

Final to grab bronze medal at the event, in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.



Australia beat Argentina 2-1 in the final of the Hockey

World League Final (HWLF) to win gold at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

India defeated China 5-4 via shootout to win the women‘s Asia Cup hockey title 2017. With this, India also qualified for World Cup 2018 as Continental champion. Savita Punia was adjudged Goalkeeper-of-the-Tournament while Monica won the Woman-of-the-Match award. The Championship was held in Kakamigahara, Japan.

Logo & mascot of Hockey World Cup 2018 have been unveiled at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar by Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. Odisha had successfully hosted the Asian Athletics Championships recently.

India beats Malaysia to win the 2017 Asia Cup Hockey

tournament held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was India's third continental title. Lalit Upadhyay won goal of the match award while Akashdeep Singh adjudged the Man of the match.

Indian Junior Men‘s Hockey team beat hosts Malaysia in the Bronze medal match of the 7th Sultan of Johor Cup 2017 at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium, in Malaysia.

Current Affairs related to Tennis

Gilles Simon of France lifted the inaugural Tata Open Maharashtra Tennis trophy.

Switzerland won their third Hopman Cup as Roger

Federer & Belinda Bencic beat Germany's Alexander

Zverev & Angelique Kerber in the finals. Elina Svitolina secured her first WTA title in Australia

with a straight-sets victory in the Brisbane

International final. ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moet &

Chandon honours the season's best players & tournaments. Roger Federer‘s 2017 season recognized with three ATP World Tour Awards. He has been selected by fans as ATPWorldTour.com Fans‘ Favourite for a 15th straight year, & winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award & Comeback Player of the

Year. Neville Godwin chosen as the winner of Coach

of the Year in the 2017 ATP World Tour Awards. Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan have been voted by fans as the ATPWorldTour.com Fans‘ Favourite.

Indian tennis duo of Leander Paes & Purav Raja lifted

the Knoxville Challenger title after clinching a fighting win in the finals of the men's doubles event in Tennessee.

India's tennis star Yuki Bhambri clinched his first title of the 2017 season on the ATP Challenger Tour by

winning the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger in Pune. Martina Hingis, one of only six women's players to

hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles & doubles at the same time, will retire after the WTA Finals.

Current Affairs related to Grand Prixes

Valtteri Bottas won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian Grand

Prix. Mercedes‘ Lewis Hamilton won the Formula 1

Singapore Grand Prix, in Singapore. Hamilton‘s rival Sebastian Vettel withdrew in the middle of the race due to his damaged Ferrari car.

Badminton

World no.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan defeated Saina Nehwal in the finals of the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta.

Young Indian shuttler Siddharth Pratap Singh secured his maiden international title, bagging the Swedish

Open Junior International Series by defeating Denmark‘s Mads Christophersen in the finals in Uppsala in Sweden.

India‘s top-ranked junior shuttler Aakarshi Kashyap

won U-17 & U-19 singles titles at Badminton Junior Nationals in Guwahati, Assam.

Top Indian shuttler P V Sindhu won the Silver medal in women‘s singles summit clash of the Dubai World

Super Series Final in Dubai. She was defeated by World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

India has won the first-ever South Asian Regional Badminton Team Championship. In the title clash played in Guwahati, India defeated Nepal, 3-0.

Indian contingent to BWF Para-Badminton World Championships in Ulsan, South Korea clinched 10 medals, including two golds. India‘s Parul Parmar defeated Thailand‘s Wannaphatdee Kamtam in the women‘s singles Standing Lower (SL3). Other gold was also won by Parul Parmar, who paired with Japan‘s Akiko Sugino in women‘s doubles.

World number 11 Saina Nehwal became the national champion for the third time, defeating world number 2 PV Sindhu in the women's singles final of Senior National Badminton Championships, in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

H.S Prannoy defeated World No 2 Kidambi Srikanth in a thrilling finale to claim the men‘s singles title at the 82nd Senior National Championship, in Nagpur, Maharashtra.



Boxing/ Wrestling/Weightlifting

Lifter Rakhi Halder created a new national record in clean & jerk to a gold medal in the 63kg women‘s category in the 33rd Women Senior National Weightlifting Championships, in Mangaluru, Karnataka.

Indian boxers claimed three gold, a silver, & a bronze

medal at Galym Zharylgapov Boxing Tournament in

Karaganda, Kazakhstan. The country‘s Gold Medal winners were K Shyam Kumar in 49kg, Naman

Tanwar in 91kg & Satish Kumar in the 91kg category. 19-year-old Naman Tanwar was also adjudged the best boxer of the tournament.

Vijender Singh defended his WBO Oriental & Asia Pacific super middleweight titles against Ghana‘s

Ernest Amuzu at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Sushil Kumar was wanted by all the teams ahead of the new season of Pro Wrestling League (PWL) & the bidding war created history in New Delhi.

Indian junior boxers had clinched total 11 Medals (six gold, four silver & a bronze medal) at the fifth International Sven Lange Memorial Tournament, to finish as overall champions in the German city of Schwerin.

Double Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar clinched a

gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling

Championships in South Africa. He defeated New

Zealand's Akash Khullar. Ritu Phogat clinched silver medal in Under-23 Senior

World Wrestling Championship at Poland. She lost against Turkish Wrestler Demirhan.

India won 5 gold medals at the AIBA World Women‘s

Youth Boxing Championships, in Guwahati. Nitu (48kg), Jyoti Gulia (51kg), Sakshi choudhury (54kg), Shashi Chopra (57kg) & Ankushita Boro (64kg) won gold medals for India in the finals. Jyoti Gulia also qualified for next year‘s Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. Ankushita named boxer of tournament.

Boxing Federation of India (BFI) was recognised as a national body by the Indian Olympic Association, which removed the terminated Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) as its affiliate after months of indecision.

Sushil Kumar & Geeta Phogat won gold medals at the 62nd National Wrestling championship held in Indore.

Bharat Khandare became the first India-born fighter to be signed by Ultimate Fighting Championship

(UFC) as the Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. Five-time world champion & Olympic bronze medalist

MC Mary Kom named as the ambassador of the upcoming AIBA Women's Youth World Championships.

M.C. Mary Kom (48kg) notched up her fifth gold medal at the Asian Women‘s Boxing Championships in Vietnam. She has defeated North Korea‘s Kim Hyang Mi. This is Mary Kom‘s sixth medal in the Asian Women‘s Boxing Championships & fifth gold medal.

Assam's famed one-horned rhino unveiled as the official mascot of the 2017 AIBA Youth Women's World Boxing Championship in Guwahati, Assam. The official mascot, named Guppy, is a female version of Assam's one-horned rhino. The World Championship's official anthem is 'Make Some Noise'.

It is composed by Shaan & rendered by renowned singer Sunidhi Chauhan.

Other Sports Current Affairs

PM Modi launched the first Khelo India School Games at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.

Sharath Kamal defeated Anthony Amalraj to win the

men singles title for the eighth time, in the 79th 11Even Sports Senior Nationals in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Suthirta Mukherjee from West Bengal emerged the new women champion.

North & South Korea agreed to march together under

a single unified Korea flag at Winter Olympics. The Games will take place in February 2018 in Pyeongchang in South Korea.

Professional player Aditya Mehta won Kolkata Open

2018 International Invitation Snooker Championship. He defeated Englishman Professional Player Alfie Burden.

Aanchal Thakur made history as she won India's first

ever international medal in skiing. She clinched

bronze in the coveted Alpine Ejder 3200 Cup. It was organised by the Federation Internationale de Ski (skiing's international governing body) in Erzurum, Turkey.

Indian golfer Shiv Kapur won the Royal Cup at

Pattaya, which is his third Asian Tour title of 2017. G Sathiyan become India‘s highest-ranked player in

the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings. He surpasses his compatriot the legendary Sharath Kamal. The current ranking of Sathiyan is 49.

Meghalaya signed the Host City Contract with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for hosting the 39th National Games in 2022.

India‘s ace chess player Viswanathan Anand won World Rapid Chess tournament title in Saudi Arabia by beating Russia‘s Vladimir Fedoseev. Saudi Arabia hosted the world chess tournament for the first time. The women‘s title was won by China‘s Ju Wenjun.

Haryana shooter Anisa Sayyed won the women‘s 25m

pistol gold with a new record at the ongoing 61st National Shooting Championship Competitions (61st NSCC), in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.



The emblems of the Beijing 2022 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games have been named ―Winter Dream‖ & ―Flight‖.

Central English city of Birmingham will host the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Gold Coast,

Australia, will host the next Commonwealth Games in 2018.

World 10,000m champion Sir Mo Farah has been voted

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017. He becomes the first long-distance runner to win the Sports Personality award since Paula Radcliffe in 2002.

Nagpur‘s Kanchanmala Pande created history as she became the first Indian to secure pole position at the World Para-Swimming Championship in Mexico. She won gold in 200-meter medley event in the S-11 category & was also the only Indian to qualify for the women‘s category.

Indian Diving Team won 1 Gold, 3 Silver & 2 Bronze Medals in Indonesia Open Aquatic Championship 2017. It was concluded in Indonesia's Jakarta.

India's Saurabh Chaudhary qualified for the Youth Olympics Games with a gold medal & a junior world record in 10m air pistol at the ongoing Asia Youth Olympics Games qualification tournament in Wako City, Japan.

Pistol aces Jitu Rai & Heena Sidhu bagged bronze at the 10th Asian Championship 10m Rifle/Pistol in Wako City, Japan. Jitu won an individual bronze in the men's 10m Air Pistol while Heena claimed an individual bronze in the women's 10m Air Pistol.

21-year-old Indian Golfer Shubhankar Sharma claimed his maiden European Tour victory in

the Joburg Open, in South Africa. Indian archers produced an impressive performance,

grabbed three gold, four silver & two bronze medals at the Asian Championships in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

India's Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan won gold medal at Asian Luge Championships at Altenberg, Germany.

India‘s Deepika Kumari won bronze medal at the

Indoor Archery World Cup Stage 2 held in Bangkok, Thailand.

Russia was banned from the 2018 Winter Games by

the International Olympic Committee over its state-orchestrated doping programme.

Gopi Thonakal created history by becoming first

Indian man to win Asian Marathon Championship in China.

Indian men‘s & women‘s kabaddi teams were crowned the champions of Asia after beating Pakistan

& South Korea in Gorgan, Iran. 7th International military games will be held in

Wuhan city in the central China's Hubei Province. Mascot is Bing Bing.

Five more Russian competitors from the 2014 Sochi

Winter Olympics, including two gold medallists, banned for life over anti-doping rule violations by

International Olympic Committee (IOC). Dmitrii Trunenkov & Aleksei Negodailo, both in the gold-medal winning four-man bobsleigh team, plus biathlon relay silver medalists Yana Romanova & Olga Vilukhina, who also won silver in the 7.5 kilometers event. Sergei Chudinov, who came fifth in the men's individual skeleton, was also disqualified for doping breaches.

Mirabai Chanu became the first Indian in over two decades to claim a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, USA.

Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani lifts the IBSF World Billiards Championship by defeating Mike Russell. Pankaj Advani clinched his 17th world title at Doha, Qatar.

Aditi Ashok qualified for the season-ending CME

Group Tour Championship on the LPGA, becoming the first from the country to play in the prestigious meet.

France will host the 2023 Rugby World Cup to stage one of the world‘s best attended & lucrative sporting events.

Shagun Chowdhary bagged a National Champion Crown when she won the women's trap event at the 61st National Shooting Championship. Chowdhary is the first Indian woman trap shooter to win an Olympic berth.

Ethiopians Birhanu Legese & Almaz Ayana won the Delhi Half Marathon, 2017. In the Men's section, Legese clocked 59 minutes 46 seconds to claim the first spot. In the Women's section, Almaz Ayana finishing at the top of the podium.

Olympic bronze-medallist Gagan Narang won a silver medal in the men‘s 50m rifle prone event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in

Australia. Annu Raj Singh won bronze medal in women‘s 50m pistol competition.

19-Year old Indian golfer Aditi Ashok made her return to the Ladies European Tour by clinching the Fatima

Bint Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi. It is Aditi's third LET win in less than 12 months.

Shiv Kapur clinched his first Asian Tour title in India,

bagging the Panasonic Open at the Delhi Golf Club. Indian shooting contingent finished the Commonwealth

Shooting Championship 2017 at top with the best tally of 20 medals. Indian shooters won a total of six gold, seven silver & seven bronze medals in the competition. Satyendra Singh & Sanjeev Rajput won a gold & a silver respectively in the men's 50m rifle three positions.



Bills passed/proposed in the Parliament Union Cabinet cleared the Muslim Women (Protection

of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, or the Triple Talaq

bill, which makes the practice a non-bailable offense. It proposes a three-year jail term for men who practice instant Triple Talaq.

International Organization In News International Solar Alliance (ISA) has now become a

treaty-based international intergovt.al organization. ISA is India's global initiative & was jointly launched by PM Modi & president of France in November 2015 in Paris.

UNESCO inscribed 'Kumbh Mela' on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of

Humanity. Ministry of Finance appointed former economic affairs

secretary Shaktikanta Das as India‘s G20 Sherpa for the Development Track of the grouping.

UNESCO‘s executive board chose former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay to be the UN cultural agency‘s next leader. He succeeds outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria.

Science & Technology (Nasa, Isro & Others) ‗Pratyush‘, India‘s fastest ‗multi-petaflops‘

supercomputer was inaugurated by Union Minister for Science & Technology, Harsh Vardhan.

China successfully launched remote sensing satellites designed to conduct electromagnetic probes & other experiments.

India's first wave-powered navigational buoy, developed by the National Institute of Ocean

Technology (NIOT), to guide ships in & out of ports, was launched in Chennai, Tamil Nadu at Ennore Kamarajar Port, in Chennai.

Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was launched by NASA. It is launched for improving the accuracy of weather forecasts & Earth observations from California, US.

As per ISRO Satellite Centre Director M. Annadurai, India will launch ‗Aditya-L1‘, the first Indian mission to study the Sun, by 2019 – 2020.

Space Kingdom of Asgardia launched its first satellite. This so-called ‗virtual nation‘ is the pet project of Russian scientist & billionaire Igor Ashurbeyli. The

Asgardia-1 satellite contains half a terabyte of data. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will set up

a research centre in Guwahati, Assam for startups, academicians, environmentalists & entrepreneurs.

SCHEMES

POWER PLANTS ESTABLISHED The largest-ever floating solar power plant in India

inaugurated by state power minister MM Man at the Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad, Kerala. The solar power plant that floats on the surface of the water has a capacity of 500 kilowatts.

The largest-ever floating solar power plant in India inaugurated by state power minister MM Man at the

Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad, Kerala. The solar power plant that floats on the surface of the water has a capacity of 500 kilowatts.

Schemes launched by Union Govt.

Centre sanctioned projects over 10,000 crore rupees in

the North East for better network connectivity. 2 MoUs have been signed to cover the uncovered areas in the North East including Assam & Arunachal Pradesh.

Union Housing & Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced the list of nine new Smart

Cities, which have emerged winners in Round 4. These nine cities are, Silvassa in Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Erode in Tamil Nadu, Diu in Daman & Diu, Bihar Sharif in Bihar, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh & Kavaratti in Lakshadweep.

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Arun

Jaitley launched the National CSR Data Portal &

Corporate Data Portal in Delhi. This initiative is a significant step towards driving accountability &

transparency for corporate India. The portals‘ easy accessibility to the general public will ensure a high level of compliance & will help in institutionalising & consolidating the CSR activities.

What is the ‗Electoral Bonds‘ Scheme? a) Centre unveiled the ‗Electoral Bonds‘ scheme, which

seeks to ensure the flow of clean money to political parties, without revealing the donors‘ names.



b) As per Jaitley, the electoral bonds will be a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory Note & an

interest-free banking instrument. c) A citizen of India or a body incorporated in India will

be eligible to purchase the bond from specified branches of the State Bank of India.

d) The bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of Rs1,000; Rs10,000; Rs1 lakh; Rs10 lakh; & Rs1 crore.

Namami Gange Projects Worth Rs. 295 crores approved by NMCG i.e. National Mission for Clean

Ganga. Three projects pertain to sewage management in West Bengal at an estimated cost of Rs 278.6

crore, one relates to sewage management in Uttarakhand at an estimated cost of Rs 4.68 crore & one project worth Rs 11.73 crore is related to ghat improvement works in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

Govt. formally launched the ‗Ganga Gram‘ project at the Ganga Gram Swachata Sammelan in New Delhi. It is an integrated approach for the holistic development of villages situated on the banks of the holy river with the active participation of villagers.

With an aim to bring the foreign policy to the masses, External Affairs Ministry come up with an initiative called SAMEEP - 'Students & MEA Engagement

Programme'. Under this, MEA official will talk to students to help them better understand foreign policy. The main objective is to take Indian foreign policy & its global engagements to students across the country.

Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi approved the Ministry of Railways' transformative initiative to set up India's first ever National Rail & Transport University (NRTU) in Vadodara, Gujarat to skill its human resources & build capability.

CCEA given its approval for a new skill development

scheme covering the entire value chain of the textile sector excluding Spinning & Weaving in organized Sector, titled "Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile

Sector (SCBTS)" from 2017-18 to 2019-20 with an

outlay of Rs. 1300 crore. It will have National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) compliant training courses.

President Kovind, laid the foundation stone of the 'Nyaya Gram project' of the High Court of Allahabad

in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. 'Nyaya Gram' is a residential & training complex of Allahabad High Court.

A Public Procurement Portal named ‗MSME

Sambandh‘ launched by Shri Giriraj Singh, MoS (IC) for MSME in New Delhi. The objective is to monitor the implementation of Public Procurement from MSEs by C-PSE.

On 2nd Anniversary of Ujwal DISCOM Assurance

Yojana (UDAY), Government of India signed four MoUs under the Scheme with the State of Nagaland & with Union Territories (UTs) of Andaman & Nicobar

Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu for operational improvements.

PM Modi launched Umang mobile application, an integrated platform for government to citizen services. Umang- an acronym for "unified mobile app for new age" e-governance - currently hosts around 162 services from 33 government departments of central & state governments. It is developed by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY).

Centre approved setting up of 'Pradhan Mantri Mahila

Shakti Kendras' across 115 most backward districts of the country through a new scheme for reaching out to rural women & facilitating skill development, employment, digital literacy, health & nutrition. Govt. also approved expanding Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao

scheme from 161 districts to 640 districts in the country, as well as 150 additional 'one stop centres' for the survivors of sexual violence along with seven other programmes that are part of the umbrella scheme -- the National Mission for Empowerment of Women. The financial outlay for these schemes from 2017 to 2020 will be Rs 3,636.85 crore.

To provide high-speed broadband service in all Gram Panchayats by March 2019, govt. launched its second &

final phase of BharatNet project. It will be implemented at an outlay of Rs. 34 thousand crores.

Govt. launched the ‗Bharat 22‘ exchange traded fund

(ETF) managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, targeting an initial amount of about Rs. 8,000 crores.

Cabined chaired by PM Modi approved the proposal

for creation of National Testing Agency (NTA) for conducting various entrance examinations.

Manyata was launched by FOGSI (Federation of Obstetric & Gynecological Societies of India). ‗Manyata‘ is a nationwide movement which is emphasising the need for quality care for mothers during & immediately after childbirth.

India Hypertension Management Initiative (IHMI) was launched by Health Ministry & ICMR (Indian

Council of Medical Research). The objective of this initiative is to reduce morbidity & mortality due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) by controlling high blood pressure. It is a collaborative project of ICMR, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), WHO & State Govts.

Minister of State Health & Family Welfare Anupriya Patel launched a nationwide health campaign to sensitise women about the early screening & the preventive care for cancer. Themed 'Nurturing the Nurturer', the campaign was launched by FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) in partnership with the Apollo Hospitals group.

PM Modi launched Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana or ‗Saubhagya‘, to supply 24/7 electricity supply to poor households. The government stated that states will be



required to complete the household electrification by

March 31, 2019. The total outlay for the Saubhagya scheme will be Rs 16,320 crore. PM Modi launched - Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana ‗Saubhagya‘ to provide electricity connections to over 4 crore families in rural & urban areas by December 2018. India will achieve the target of power for all by December 2018, while all villages will be electrified by the end of 2017.

Schemes launched by State Govt.

CM of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur launched the ‗Shakti‘ app for women‘s safety in the state. It is developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) of HP govt. The main objective is to fight crimes against women in the state.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh launched the release of benefits under 'Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas

Yojana' (MGSVY) aimed at the inclusive growth of the distressed sections of the society.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launched the ‗Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Jojana‘ (MMKSJ) –

an assistance scheme for Artists in the state. Govt. has decided to give Rs 1,200 per month as artist assistance. Under this, a male artist can avail assistance after attaining the age of 50 years instead of the existing 60 years & for female artists it is reduced to 40 years.

Haryana become the first state in the country to launch High-Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal. This portal not only helps in early identification of high-risk pregnant cases up to the grass-roots level but also ensures their timely referral to the civil hospitals for further management & delivery by specialists.

The state cabinet of UP launched ‗Mukhya Mantri

Awas Yojna Grameen‘, a new scheme to construct

houses in rural areas. Under this, Rs 1.30 lakh financial aid (for constructing houses) will be given to people residing in Naxal-affected areas of UP & Rs 1.20 lakh to selected beneficiaries.

Uttar Pradesh launched a free household power

connection scheme for the poor in the state to mark former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee‘s birth anniversary. The scheme is driven by govt.‘s motto ‗Prakash hai

to Vikas hai‘ (the barometer of development is light). The govt. also introduced Kisan Uday Yojana, a novel scheme for farmers.

Jammu & Kashmir Bank launched a special financial scheme for journalists of the state. The scheme "J&K Bank Sahafat Finance Scheme" was launched by the bank's chairman & CEO Parvez Ahmad.

Odisha government launched a scheme named 'Fish

Pond Yojana' to boost fish production in the state with a budgetary provision of Rs 96 crore. It aims to create additional 2,200 hectare of fresh water aquaculture farming with 50% financial assistance to farmers.

Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana

(SAUBHAGYA) launched in Manipur, by Union Minister of State (IC) for Power & New & Renewable Energy, R.K. Singh & N. Biren Singh, CM, Manipur.

Kerala government launched ―She Pad,‘‘ a scheme to distribute free sanitary napkins to girl students from classes VI to XII in government & aided private schools affiliated to the state school board.

President Kovind launched various schemes entailing total expenditure of Rs 3,455 crore in Jharkhand to coincide with the state's 17th Foundation Day. He launched Rs. 636-crores 'Mukhyamantri Health

Insurance Scheme'. He also launched JOHAR (Jharkhand's Opportunities for Harnessing Rural

Development) schemes entailing the expenditure of Rs 1,500 crore to help tribal & Dalit families double their incomes in four years.

Goa CM Parrikar launched Jai Kisaan App, a farmer engagement app containing features & functions to fulfill the needs of the farmer community in India. It is a one-stop solution on agricultural information & cultivation, covering crop nutrition, protection, seeds, & diagnostic services.

Rajasthan Govt. launched ‗Dishari‘, an educational mobile application that provides free study materials for youths preparing for competitive examinations.

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal rolled out 647 schemes entailing an investment of Rs 24.57 crore for development of world's largest river island Majuli. Out of these, 448 schemes under MGNREGA involved Rs 21.90 crore & 199 schemes under 14th Finance Commission have an outlay of Rs 2.67 crore, it added.

Odisha Government launched ‗Sampurna (Sishu Abond Matru Mrityuhara Purna Nirakaran Abhijan) Yojna‘ scheme for pregnant women, in Odisha. Under the scheme, Odisha government will provide Rs. 1,000 as transport cost for pregnant women to travel to the hospital.

Schemes launched by Ministries

Environment Minister Harshvardhan launched a 2.8 PetaFlop capacity high-performance computer system ‗Mihir‘ in Noida. It will help the department in predicting severe climate-related calamities & warnings for fishermen.

Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD), Mr Rakesh Srivastava launched Phase -1 i.e. the beneficiary module of Rapid Reporting System (RSS) for the Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) on 24th January. It is a web-based online monitoring for the Scheme for Adolescent Girls in New Delhi.

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), announced the 'Cyber Surakshit Bharat'

initiative in association with National e-Governance

Division (NeGD) & industry partners. It is the first



public-private partnership of its kind & will leverage the expertise of the IT industry in cybersecurity.

Saksham (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav) is an annual flagship event of Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. It focuses the active involvement of the Oil & Gas PSUs along with other stakeholders for creating focused attention on

fuel conservation through people-centric activities. Ministry of Railways launched Smart Freight

Operation Optimisation & Real Time Information (SFOORTI) App for Freight Managers which provides features for monitoring & managing freight business using Geographic Information System (GIS) Views & Dashboard. It will help them plan the traffic flows & optimize freight operations.

Union Minister of State (I/C) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr

Jitendra Singh launched the electronic-Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS) in New Delhi.

Union Agriculture & Farmers‘ Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has launched Livestock Disease Forewarning –Mobile Application (LDF-Mobile App). The app is developed by ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology & Disease Informatics (ICAR-NIVEDI), Bengaluru.

To enhance standards of cleanliness on beaches, the

environment ministry has launched a pilot project 'Blue Flag' for its clean-up & development. With the prime objective of enhancing standards of cleanliness, upkeep & basic amenities at beaches, the ministry has launched a pilot project, also striving for the 'Blue Flag' certification for such identified beaches.

Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha launched DARPAN- ―Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India‖ Project to improve the quality of service, add value to services & achieve 'financial inclusion' of the unbanked rural population.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju, inaugurated the first national-level training of trainers program to sensitize various Central

Ministries & Departments on the utilization of Sendai Monitor for developing action plans for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in New Delhi.

Electronics & Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched first NIC-CERT (Computer Emergency Response Teams), a setup of National

Informatics Centre to prevent & predict cyber-attacks on govt. utilities.

Shri R.K. Singh, Minister of State (IC) for Power & New & Renewable Energy, launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – ‗Saubhagya‘ Web Portal. It can be accessed at http://saubhagya.gov.in.

Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha launched a Pan India scholarship program for school children called Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana to increase the

reach of Philately. Note: SPARSH (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a

Hobby). Under this govt proposed to award annual scholarships to children of Standard VI to IX having good academic record & also pursuing Philately as a hobby. The amount of Scholarship will be Rs. 6000/- per annum @ Rs. 500/- per month.

Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways & Coal has launched ‗Grahak Sadak Koyla Vitaran App‘

benefitting customers of Coal India Limited (CIL) lifting coal through road mode.

Union Ministries of Power & Textiles jointly launched an initiative 'SAATHI' (Sustainable & Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries). Under this initiative, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a public sector entity under the Union Ministry of Power, will acquire energy efficient Powerlooms, motors & Rapier kits in bulk & provide them to the small & medium powerloom units.

Salient features of SFOORTI Application

a) With this application, movement of freight trains on Geographic Information System (GIS) view can be tracked.

b) Both passenger & freight trains can be tracked over Zones/Divisions/ Sections in single GIS View.

c) Comparative Analysis of Zonal/Divisional Traffic. d) This app provides a Bird‘s eye view of all Freight Assets

in a single window. Union Minister of Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh

Vardhan dedicated India‘s fastest & first multi-petaflops supercomputer named ‗Pratyush‘ to the nation in Pune. It is established at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune. It will be a national facility for improving weather & climate forecasts & services under the umbrella of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Women & Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi inaugurated an online portal NARI in New Delhi for the empowerment of women. It stands for National Repository of Information for Women. The portal will provide women with easy access to information on Govt. schemes & initiatives for women. The portal summarises over 350 Govt. schemes & other important information.

Assamese & Manipuri language versions of PM‘s Official website- www.pmindia.gov.in were launched. Now the PM INDIA website is available in 11 regional

languages.



MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

INDIAN RAILWAYS/ METRO in India Matunga suburban station on the Central Railway

(CR) found its way into the Limca Book of Records for

having an all-woman staff. Matunga station is situated in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The first railway station in the country to have

Sanitary napkin Vending Machine is Bhopal station. Indian Railways launched the main arch of the world's

highest bridge on the River Chenab in Jammu & Kashmir's Reasi district which will provide direct connectivity to the Kashmir Valley.

PM Modi, West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee & Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina jointly flagged off

‗Bandhan Express‘, a passenger train between Kolkata & Bangladesh‘s city of Khulna. It will cover 172 kms distance between Kolkata & Khulna in four hours.

Railways plans to equip all trains with Bio-Toilets by December 2018.

Asia‘s largest Solid-State Interlocking (SSI) system

was installed in Kharagpur by the Indian Railways. This will enable station masters to set 800 different routes for trains in a matter of minutes.

OPERATIONS LAUNCHED

GOI commenced Swachh Survekshan - 2018. It is called as the world‘s largest cleanliness survey. Under this, all 4041 cities & towns in India will be rated & ranked on various parameters of sanitation & cleanliness.

Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative was launched with the objective to spread awareness about cybercrime & to train & prepare all Chief Information Security Officers & staff.

INDIA‘S GDP REPORTS

As per IMF, India is projected to grow at 7.4% in 2018

as against China‘s 6.8%, making it the fastest growing country among the emerging economies. In 2017, India‘s growth rate dropped to 6.7%. For 2019, it has projected 7.8%.

India Ratings & Research projected the country‘s

economic growth to improve to 7.1% in 2018-19 from 6.5% in 2017-18.

World Bank projected India‘s growth rate at 7.3

percent in 2018 & 7.5 for the next two years. India‘s economy is estimated to have grown at 6.7 percent in 2017.

As per the HSBC report, India's growth rate is expected

to accelerate at around 6.5 percent in 2017-18 & is likely to improve further to 7.6 percent by 2019-20.

Indian economy will expand by 6.5% in 2017-18, as per the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The economy had grown by 6.3% in the September quarter. The Indian economy grew at 7.1% in 2016-17.

Indian economy is expected to witness cyclical growth recovery, with real GDP growth likely to accelerate from 6.4 % this year to 7.5% in 2018 & further 7.7% in

2019, as per report of Morgan Stanley. Indian economy is likely to grow by 7.2% in 2018 &

7.4% in 2019 as per the ‗World Economic Situation & Prospects 2018‘ report by United Nations Department of Economic & Social Affairs (UN DESA).

ADB lowered India‘s GDP forecast for the current fiscal by 0.3% to 6.7 %. & 7.3% from March 2018.

As per Finance Minister, India has recorded an average growth of 7.5% from 2014-15 to 2016-17.

OTHERS

Oxford Dictionaries has chosen ‗Aadhaar‘ as the Hindi word of 2017. The word gained popularity due to Aadhaar card, which was in news in 2017.

Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), the research arm of Ministry of Railways, has launched ―New Online Vendor Registration System‖.

Uttarayan festival is celebrated in Gujarat. As per GAIL, India‘s second largest rooftop solar

power plant to be installed at Pata, Uttar Pradesh. Government has launched MyGov platform to get

suggestions from citizens of India from all walks of life. Central Government declared year 2018 as the

‗national year of millets‘. VP Naidu inaugurated the Centenary celebrations of

the Yoga Institute in Mumbai. Frenchman Francois Gabart smashed the world record

for the fastest non-stop solo navigation of the globe, completing the mammoth feat in 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes & 35 seconds.

UNESCO inscribed 'Kumbh Mela' on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of

Humanity. The largest-ever floating solar power plant in India

inaugurated by state power minister MM Man at the Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad, Kerala. The solar power plant that floats on the surface of the water has a capacity of 500 kilowatts.

The word 'populism' announced as Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year 2017.

The Nation on 3rd December 2017 remembered India's first President Rajendra Prasad on his 133rd birthday.

India's first Madame Tussauds wax museum has been opened in New Delhi.

President Kovind cleared an ordinance amending the

Indian Forest Act, 1927. It omits bamboo grown in

non-forest areas from the definition of trees, thereby exempting it from requiring permits for felling or transportation.

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has sent a proposal to United Nations for declaring 2018 as

"International Year of Millets" to raise awareness



among consumers, policy makers, industry & research sector.

President Kovind inaugurated International Ambedkar

Conclave, organised by the Forum of SC & ST Legislators & Parliamentarians, in New Delhi.

World's first Sanskrit 3D film 'Anurakthi among the main attraction in 3D category at the International Film Festival of India in Panaji in Goa.

The iconic Trump Tower comprising 140 ultra-luxury

apartments has been launched in Kolkata. A grateful nation is paying homage to former PM

Indira Gandhi on her 100th birth anniversary on 19th November 2017.

210-metre-high statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj received environmental clearance, making it the world‘s tallest statue, once built.

Fake news, a term popularised by U.S. President Donald Trump, has been named the word of the year

by Collins dictionary due to its widespread use around the world.

The annual ‗Balijatra‘ festival was inaugurated by Health & Law Minister Pratap Jena at Gadagadia ghat

in Odisha on the banks of river Mahanadi.

Person on Visit

Russia‘s Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin arrived in New Delhi. He will co-chair the meeting of India-Russia Inter-Govt.al Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological & Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

PM Modi visited Ockhi affected Lakshwadeep, Tamil

Nadu & Kerala to take stock of the situation, meets affected people. He announced the relief package of Rs 325 crore for all 3 states & ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased.

Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu is in

Buenos Aires, Argentina to attend the 11th Ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Singapore Defence minister Ng Eng Hen was in India & signed the agreement with Defence Minister Seetharaman.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the

Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit at Sochi in Russia.

PM Modi met Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. Sri Lankan PM, who arrived in India on a four-day visit, will hold bilateral talks with PM Modi & will also call upon President Ram Nath Kovind.

PM Narendra Modi reached the Philippines capital

Manila. He will be attending the 31st ASEAN, the East Asia & the India-ASEAN annual Summits.

King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck arrived in New Delhi. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Gyaltsuen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck.

President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan arrived in New Delhi. He attended the World Food India Conference 2017.

Minister of State (IC) Youth Affairs & Sports Col.

Rajyavardhan Rathore visited Egypt to attend World Youth Forum at Sharam El Shiekh. It was inaugurated by the President of Egypt Mr Abdelfateh El Sisi.

Prince of Wales, Charles Philip Arthur George arrived in New Delhi. This visit is a part of their 10-day tour to Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei & India. The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held a meeting with Guinea‘s Foreign Minister, Mamady Toure, during the course of which the latter handed over his country‘s instrument accession to the India-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA).

Banking Awareness for Syndicate & Canara Bank PO 2018

List of Mergers in the Indian Banking Industry

The Bank which acquired

The Bank which got Merged

Year of Merger

State Bank of India

5 SBI‘s Associate Banks & Bharatiya

Mahila Bank

2017

Kotak Mahindra Bank

ING Vysya Bank 2016

ICICI Bank Bank of Rajasthan 2010

State Bank of India

State Bank of Indore 2009

State Bank of India

State Bank of Saurashtra

2008

HDFC Bank Centurion Bank of Punjab

2008

Centurion Bank Lord Krishna Bank 2007


69 www.bankersadda.com | www.sscadda.com| www.careerpower.in| Adda247 App REPORT THE ERROR IN CAPSULE at [email protected]

of Punjab

Indian Overseas Bank

Bharat Overseas Bank

2007

IDBI Bank United Western Bank Ltd.

2006

Federal Bank Ganesh Bank of Kurundwad

2006

Centurion Bank Bank of Punjab (BoP)

2005

IDBI Bank Limited

IDBI Limited 2005

Oriental Bank of Commerce

Global Trust Bank (GTB)

2004

Punjab National Bank

Nedungadi Bank 2003

Bank of Baroda Benares State Bank 2002

ICICI Bank Limited

ICICI Limited 2002

ICICI Bank Bank of Madura 2001

HDFC Bank Times Bank 2000

Union Bank of India

Sikkim Bank 1999

State Bank of India

Kashinath State Bank

1995

Bank of India Bank of Karad 1994

Punjab National Bank New Bank of India

1993

State bank of India

Bank of Cochin 1985

Canara Bank Lakshmi Commercial Bank

1985

Head Office of Small Finance Banks

Au Financiers (India) Ltd., Jaipur Capital Local Area Bank Ltd., Jalandhar Disha Microfin Private Ltd., Ahmedabad Equitas Holdings P Limited, Chennai ESAF Microfinance & Investments Private Ltd.,

Registered Office- Chennai, Corporate Office- Thrissur (Kerala)

Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited, Bengaluru

RGVN (North East) Microfinance Limited, Guwahati Suryoday Micro Finance Private Ltd., Navi Mumbai Ujjivan Financial Services Private Ltd., Bengaluru Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Ltd., Varanasi

Head Office Payment Banks

Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited- Veraval, Gujarat Airtel M Commerce Services Limited- Registered

Office- New Delhi, Corporate Office- Gurugram, Haryana

Cholamandalam Distribution Services Limited- Chennai

Department of Posts (IPPB)- New Delhi Fino PayTech Limited- Navi Mumbai National Securities Depository Limited- Mumbai Reliance Industries- Mumbai Vodafone m-pesa Limited- Mumbai

A Brief on NPCI National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an umbrella organization for all retail payments system in India. It was incorporated in December 2008&the Certificate of Commencement of Business was issued in April 2009. The authorized capital was pegged at Rs 300 crore&paid up capital was Rs 100 crore. B.Sambamurthy- Interim Chairman.

A Brief on BHIM Bharat Interface for Money is an app that lets you

make simple, easy&quick payment transactions using Unified Payments Interface (UPI). This can be done using just Mobile number or Virtual Payment Address (VPA). Currently it is available in 12 languages.

Virtual Payment Address (VPA) is a unique identifier which you can use to send&receive money on UPI.

Amount of money that can be sent using BHIM is uptoRs 10,000 per transaction&a maximum of Rs 20,000 per day for one bank account.

A Brief on UPI- 2016

Unified Payments Interface is an instant payment system developed by NPCI. UPI is built over the IMPS infrastructure&allows you to instantly transfer money between any two parties' bank accounts.

UPI-PIN is a 4-6 digit pass code you create/set during first time registration with this App.

The upper limit per UPI transaction is Rs. 1 Lakh.

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) It was launchedin 2010. IMPS offers an instant, 24X7, interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones.

Overview of *99# Service *99# service launched by NPCI, which works on Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel. This service was launched in 2014. Banking customers can avail the service by dialing *99#, a ―Common number across all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs)‖ on their mobile phone&transact through an interactive menu displayed on the mobile screen.

Overview of *99*99# Service *99*99# is a USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) based value added service from NPCI that facilitates the customers to check the status of his/her Aadhaar



number seeding/linking in the bank account. The service works across all GSM service providers&brings together the diverse ecosystem partners such as Banks & TSPs (Telecom Service Providers).

MMID

MMID stands for Mobile Money Identifier. MMID is a 7-digit code issued by the bank to their customers for availing IMPS.

A Brief on QSAM *99*99# service, is alternatively known as QSAM (Query Service on Aadhaar Mapper). Using this service, a person can check the Aadhaar seeding/linking status in his/her bank account.

A Brief on NACH NPCI implemented ―National Automated Clearing House (NACH)‖ for Banks, Financial Institutions, Corporates&Govt., is a web based solution to facilitate interbank, high volume, electronic transactions which are repetitive&periodic in nature. NACH System can be used for making bulk transactions towards distribution of subsidies, dividends, interest, salary, pension etc. for bulk transactions towards collection of payments pertaining to telephone, electricity, water, loans, investments in mutual funds, insurance premium etc. NACH‘s Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) System, developed by NPCI has been helping the Govt.&Govt. Agencies in making the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme a success.

BBPS Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) will function as a tiered structure for operating the bill payment system in the country under a single brand image. NPCI will function as the authorized Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU), which will be responsible for setting business standards, rules&procedures for technical&business requirements for all the participants.

Priority Sector Lending Certificates (PSLCs) These are a mechanism to enable banks to achieve the

priority sector lending target&sub-targets by purchase of these instruments in the event of shortfall. This also incentivizes surplus banks as it allows them to sell their excess achievement over targets thereby enhancing lending to the categories under priority sector.

All PSLCs will be valid till March 31st&will expire on April 1st.

There are only four eligible categories of PSLCs i.e. PSLC General, PSLC Small&Marginal Farmer, PSLC Agriculture & PSLC Micro Enterprises.

A brief on ACU

Asian Clearing Union (ACU) was established with its head-quarters at Tehran, Iran, on December 9, 1974.

The Central Banks&the Monetary Authorities of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan&Sri Lanka are currently the members of the ACU.

Asian Monetary Units (AMUs) is the common unit of account of ACU&is denominated as ‗ACU Dollar‘&‗ACU Euro‘. All instruments of payments under ACU have to be denominated in AMUs.

Rupee Denominated Bonds

Any corporate (entity registered as a company under the Companies Act, 1956/ 2013) or body corporate (entity specially created out of a specific act of the Parliament) &Indian banks are eligible to issue Rupee denominated bonds overseas. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)&Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) coming under the regulatory jurisdiction of SEBI are also eligible. The minimum maturity period for such bonds will be 3 years.

Risk in Banking Sector

Banking risk can be defined as exposure to the uncertainty of outcome. It is applicable to full-service banks like SBI, PNB & Others. Types of bank risks

1. Credit risk 4. Market risk 2. Operational risk 5. Liquidity risk 3. Business risk 6. Reputational risk

Credit risk: It usually occurs because of inadequate income or business failure. Credit risk signifies a decline in the credit assets‘ values before default that arises from the deterioration in a portfolio or an individual‘s credit quality. Market risk: Basel Committee on Banking Supervision defines market risk as the risk of losses in on- or off-balance sheet positions that arise from movement in market prices. Market risk is the most prominent for banks present in investment banking. Operational risk: Basel Committee on Banking Supervision defines operational risk ―as the risk of loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people&systems or from external events. Operational risk, the risk in all banking transactions Liquidity risk: Liquidity risk is the risk of a bank not being able to have enough cash to carry out its day-to-day operations. Reputational risk—when banks lose the public‘s trust It is the risk of damage to a bank‘s image&public standing that occurs due to some dubious actions taken by the bank.



Business Risk: Business risk is the risk arising from a bank‘s long-term business strategy. It deals with a bank not being able to keep up with changing competition dynamics, losing market share over time, & being closed or acquired.

Sectors in the Indian Economy

Indian Economy is normally categorized into three sectors namely - 1. Primary Sector 2. Secondary Sector 3. Tertiary Sector 1. Primary Sector Primary Sector is directly dependent on environment for manufacture&production. For example, agriculture, mining, farming etc. 2. Secondary Sector Secondary Sector adds value to the proud by transforming raw materials into valuable products. For example, processing & construction industries. 3. Tertiary Sector/Service Sector Tertiary Sector is involved in production&exchange of services. For example, transportation, communication, & other services of such kind. Tertiary Sector is also known as Services Sector as it facilitates the production&exchanges of services.

National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) It was established in 1969 by RBI, in consultation with the Govt. of India, as an autonomous apex institution for research, training, education&consultancy in bank management. Its mandate is to play a proactive role of ―think-tank‖ of the banking system. The Governor of RBI

is the Chairman of the Governing Board. It is situated at Pune, Maharashtra.

Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS)

EFTPOS is the method for paying for goods or services without needing to carry cash.

Small Finance Banks

The objective is to further financial inclusion by (a) provision of savings vehicles,(b) supply of credit to small business units; small&marginal farmers; micro&small industries;&other unorganised sector entities, through high technology-low cost operations.

It shall primarily undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits&lending to unserved & underserved sections including small business units, small&marginal farmers, micro&small industries &unorganised sector entities. The minimum paid-up equity capital is Rs. 100 crores.

The promoter's minimum initial contribution to the paid-up equity capital of such small finance bank shall at least be 40 %&gradually brought down to 26 %

within 12 years from the date of commencement of business of the bank.

Payments Banks

The objective is to further financial inclusion by providing (i) small savings accounts(ii) payments/remittance services to migrant labour workforce, low income households, small businesses, other unorganised sector entities&other users.

Scope of activities: Acceptance of demand deposits. It will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs. 100,000 per individual customer.

It cannot undertake lending activities. Apart from amounts maintained as CRR on its outside demand& time liabilities, it will be required to invest minimum 75% of its "demand deposit balances" in SLR eligible. The minimum paid-up equity capital shall be Rs. 100 crore.

The promoter's minimum initial contribution to the paid-up equity capital of such payments bank shall at least be 40 % for the first five years from the commencement of its business.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

i. RBI established on April 1, 1935 under RBI Act 1934 (recommendations of John Hilton Young

Commission 1926 – called Royal Commission on Indian Currency&Finance), is the central bank of the country&wasnationalisedw.e.f Jan 01,1949.

ii. Originally it was a shareholders‘ bank which was taken over by the Central Govt. under Reserve Bank (Transfer of Public Ownership) Act 1948 (paid up capital Rs. 5 cr).

iii. RBI‘s central office is in Mumbai.

Functions of RBI: Issuance of currency: RBI is the authority in India to issue currency notes (called bank notes) under signatures of Governor. (One rupee note called currency note is issued by the Central Govt.&signed by Finance Secretary). The stock of currency is distributed with the help of currency chests spread all over the country. Banker to Govt.: RBI transacts govt. business&manages public debt. SBI or any other bank is appointed Agent where RBI does not have office. It provides Ways & Means advances to Govt. Bankers‘ bank: It keeps a part of deposits of commercial banks (as CRR) & acts as lender of last resort by providing financial assistance to banks. It provides export credit refinance, Liquidity Adjustment Facility&MSF. Controller of Banks: An entity which is to conduct banking business in India has to obtain license from RBI. It acts as controller of banks by including the banks in 2nd Schedule of the Act. It issues directions, carries inspection (on-site as well as off-site) &exercises management control.



Controller of credit: RBI can fix interest rates (including Bank Rate)&exercise selective credit controls. Various tools such as change in cash reserve ratio, stipulation of margin on securities, directed credit guidelines etc. are used for this purpose. It also carries sale&purchase of securities which are known as open market operations. Maintenance of external value: RBI is responsible also for maintaining external value of Indian currency as well as the internal value. Foreign exchange reserves are held by RBI&it has a wide power to regulate foreign exchange transactions under Foreign Exchange Management Act.

BANKING REGULATION ACT 1949 a) Passed as the Banking Companies Act 1949 (came into force wef 16.3.49&changed to Banking Regulation Act 1949 w.e.f. 01.03.66, it was made applicable to J & K in 1956 (and now applicable throughout India). b) The Act is not applicable to primary agricultural credit societies, cooperative land mortgage banks&non-agricultural primary credit societies.

SCHEDULED BANK a) As per Sec 2 (e) of RBI Act, a scheduled bank means a bank who is included in 2nd schedule of RBI Act 1934. b) A scheduled bank should satisfy the conditions which include paid-up capital&reserves requirement of not less than Rs. 5 lac, satisfaction of RBI that the affairs will not be conducted by the bank in a way to jeopardize the interests of the depositor. (Commercial, Rural&many State Coop Banks are classified as Scheduled Banks). c) A bank that is not included in the 2nd Schedule of RBI is called Non-scheduled Bank.

Total No. of Banks (As per IBA Website) Total PSBs: 22 (IPPB is 100% Equaty of GoI)

Total Private Sector Banks: 24, If we include Payment & Small Bank (7) then it is 31. RRB‘s: 56 | Foreign Banks: 46 | Cooperative Banks: 42

IMPORTANT POINTS ON RBI

RBI is not expected to perform the function of accepting deposits from the general public.

Prime lending rate is decided by the individual banks. RBI decides the following rates namely; Bank rate,

repo rate, reverse repo rate&cash reserve ratio. The quantitative instruments of RBI are – bank rate

policy, cash reserve ratio&statutory liquidity ratio. The objective of monetary policy is to control inflation;

discourage hoarding of commodities&encourage flow of credit into neglected sector.

When RBI is lender of the last resort, it means that RBI advances credit against eligible securities.

GOI decides the quantity of coins to be minted.

The method which is used currently in India to issue currency note – minimum reserve system. For issuing notes, RBI is required to hold the minimum reserves of Rs. 200 crore of which note less than Rs. 115 crore is to be held in gold.

POLICY RATES

Current Reserve Ratios & Policy Rates

Bank Rate 6.25%

Repo Rate 6.00%

Reverse Repo Rate 5.75%

CRR 4.00%

SLR 19.50%

MSF 6.25%

Repo Rate Repo rate is the rate of interest which is levied on Short-Term loans taken by commercial banks from RBI. Whenever the banks have any shortage of funds they can borrow it from RBI. Reverse Repo Rate This is exact opposite of Repo rate. Reverse repo rate is the rate at which commercial banks charge on their surplus funds with RBI. RBI uses this tool when it feels there is too much money floating in the banking system. SLR Rate Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the amount a commercial bank needs to maintain in the form of cash, or gold or Govt. approved securities (Bonds) before providing credit to its customers. It is determined as the %age of total Net Demand&Time Liabilities (NDTL). Bank Rate It is defined in Sec 49 of RBI Act 1934 as the ‗standard rate at which RBI is prepared to buy or rediscount bills of exchange or other commercial papers eligible for purchase under this act‘. CASH RESERVE RATIO CRR refers to the ratio of bank‘s cash reserve balances with RBI with reference to the bank‘s net demand&time liabilities to ensure the liquidity&solvency of the scheduled banks.

ACCOUNTS IN A BANK a) Savings Bank Account b) Current Deposit Account c) Fixed Deposit Account d) Recurring Deposit a/c

Savings Bank Account The rate of interest on savings bank account varies from

bank to bank&also changes from time to time. Interest rate is paid to the account holders on daily balance basis.

Current Deposit Account

This account is mainly for big businessmen, companies&institutions, since there are no restrictions on number of withdrawals from this type of account.



From this withdrawal can be made any number of times.

For the convenience of the account holders banks also allow withdrawal of amounts in excess of the balance of deposit. This facility is known as overdraft facility.

Fixed Deposit Account (also Term Deposit Account) Money is deposited in a fixed deposit account to earn

interest at a higher rate. Recurring Deposit Account

The rate of interest allowed on the deposits in this account is higher than that on a savings bank deposit but lower than the rate allowed on a fixed deposit for the same period.

Important points to remember

a) Minimum age to open a bank account is now 10 years. b) Maximum Interest rate is given on FD A/c. c) The maximum period of an FD is 10 years & for RD is 10

years.

INTEREST RATE ON BANK ACOUNTS A) Some points related to Interest Rates on Bank

Accounts {Differential rate of interest (DRI)}

Interest on Savings A/c is calculated on daily balance basis.

Now, All SCBs (Excluding RRBs) have the discretion to offer differential interest rates based on whether the term deposits are with or without-premature-withdrawal-facility, subject to the following guidelines:

a) All term deposits of individuals (held singly or jointly) of Rs.15 lakh&below should, necessarily, have premature withdrawal facility.

b) For all term deposits other than (i) above, banks can offer deposits without the option of premature withdrawal as well.

c) Banks should disclose in advance the schedule of interest rates payable on deposits i.e. all deposits mobilized by banks should be strictly in conformity with the published schedule.

B) Taxation of Savings Bank Interest rates:

Unlike interest on fixed deposits, interest earned on savings bank accounts is not subject to Tax Deduction at Source. However, this does not mean the interest earned on Savings accounts is completely tax free. It is exempt uptoRs. 10,000 in a year,&if the interest you earn from Savings accounts crosses this threshold, it becomes subject to tax.

Inoperative & Dormant Accounts

RBI clarified on 30.10.09 that SB account can be treated as inoperative account only after 2 years from the date of the last credit entry of interest on Fixed Deposit account, where FD interest is being credited to SB account or where dividend on shares is being credited).

TERMS RELATING TO DEPOSITS

Unclaimed Deposits: The banks are to furnish to RBI a statutory annual return (penalty for delay) for unclaimed accounts which have not been operated for a period of 10 years or more in December every year u/s 26 of RBI Act. Demand liabilities Current deposits, Demand liabilities portion of saving deposits, margins held against LC/LG, Balances in overdue FD, cash certificate&RD, Outstanding TTs, MTs & DDs, Unclaimed deposits, Credit balance in CC a/c & Deposits held as security for loan payable on demand. Time liabilities FDs, cash certificate, cumulative & RDs, time liabilities portion of saving bank deposits, staff security deposits, margins against LC not payable on demand, deposit held as securities for advances&India Dev Bonds.

NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS ACT 1881

In India the Negotiable Instruments Act was passed during 1881 which came into force wef March 01, 1882. CHEQUE A cheque is (a) a bill of exchange (b) drawn on a specified bank&(c) not expressed to be payable otherwise than on demand. It includes electronic image of a truncated cheque&also an electronic cheque. AMOUNT OF A CHEQUE Where amount of a cheque differs in words&figures, as per Section 18, amount written in words should be paid irrespective of the fact, which amount is less or more. Types of Cheque 1. Bearer Cheque or open Cheque When the words "or bearer" appearing on the face of the cheque are not cancelled, the cheque is called a bearer cheque. The bearer cheque is payable to the person specified therein or to any other else who presents it to the bank for payment. 2. Order Cheque

When the word "bearer" appearing on the face of a cheque is cancelled & when in its place the word "or order" is written on the face of the cheque, the cheque is called an order cheque. Such a cheque is payable to the person specified therein as the payee, or to any one else to whom it is endorsed (transferred). 3. Crossed Cheque

Crossing of cheque means drawing two parallel lines on the face of the cheque with or without additional words like "& CO." or "Account Payee" or "Not Negotiable". A crossed cheque cannot be encashed at the cash counter of a bank but it can only be credited to the payee's account.



4. Ante-Dated Cheque If a cheque bears a date earlier than the date on which it is presented to the bank, it is called as "ante-dated cheque". Such a cheque is valid upto 3 months from the date of the cheque. 5. Post-Dated Cheque If a cheque bears a date which is yet to come (future date) then it is known as post-dated cheque. A post dated cheque cannot be honoured earlier than the date on the cheque. 6. Stale Cheque

If a cheque is presented for payment after 3 months from the date of the cheque it is called stale cheque. A stale cheque is not honoured by the bank. 7. A self cheque A self cheque is written by the account holder as pay self to receive the money in the physical form from the branch where he holds his account. 8. ―A truncated cheque‖ means a cheque which is truncated during the course of a clearing cycle, either by the clearing house or by the bank whether paying or receiving payment, immediately on generation of an electronic image for transmission. The expression ―clearing house‖ means the clearing house managed by the RBI or a clearing house recognised as such by the RBI.‘

Parties of a Cheque: There are three parties to the cheque

Drawer or Maker The bank - on whom the cheque is drawn (i.e. the bank

with whom the account is maintained by the drawer) Payee – Payee is the person whose name is mentioned

on the chequeto whom or to whose order the money is directed to be paid.

ENDORSEMENT

As per Section 15, endorsing means signing on the face or backside of an instrument (or even on a paper called Allonge or stamped paper), for the purpose of negotiating (transferring to next person) a negotiable instrument. Endorsement in full If an endorser signs his name&adds a direction to pay the amount mentioned in the instrument to, or to order of, a specified person, the endorsement is said to be in full. Blank endorsements can be converted into full. Restrictive endorsement

Where an endorsement prohibits & restricts further negotiability of the instrument, it is called restricted endorsement. The words ‗Pay to Ashish only‘ or ‗Pay to Ashish for my use‘ or ‗Pay to Ashish for account of B‘, are the cases of restrictive endorsement.

Crossing Crossing of a cheque means two parallel transverse lines on the face with or without words, such as ‗& Co‘, ‗not-negotiable‘, ‗payee‘s account only‘ etc. The words without lines will not constitute crossing. Such instruments should not be paid as drawer‘s mandate is not clear. Crossing is applicable in case of cheques & demand

draftonly & does not cover BOE or promissory note.

TYPES OF CROSSING General crossing (sec 123)

General crossing is where a cheque bears across its face two parallel transverse lines (with or without words such as ―& co‖ or any abbreviation. (Words not important, lines are).

Special crossing (sec 124) Where a cheque bears across its face, name of bank, either with or without the words not-negotiable (lines are not important, the addition of name of the bank is important), that addition shall be deemed as special crossing & the cheque be considered to be crossed specially to banker.

Special Crossing in favour more than one bank

As per Section 127, if a cheque is crossed specially to more than one bank (unless one bank is acting as collecting agent to another), the payment shall be refused. A cheque crossed to two or more branches of the same bank is considered to be crossed to one bank only. Not negotiable crossing

As per Section 130, a person taking a cheque crossed generally or specially bearing the words ‗not negotiable‘ shall not have not be capable of giving a better title to the cheque than that, which ther p erson from whom he took it, had.

Demand Drafts Demand draft is defined as per Section 85 (a) of NI Act 1881 as an order to pay money drawn by one office of a bank upon another office of the same bank for a sum of money payable to order on demand. Important features of a demand draft are:

It is payable to order on demand (85-A NI Act). It cannot be issued as payable to bearer (Sec. 31 RBI

Act). If a bank fails to honour a bank draft, it renders itself

liable for damages. Similarly, omission of signatures or wrong signatures can also make the bank liable.



By prior arrangement, the paying bank could be a different bank also.

BANKING OMBUDSMAN SCHEME 2006

The Scheme enables a bank customer for filing of complaints relating to certain services rendered by banks. 1) The Banking Ombudsman is a senior official

appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in certain banking services.

2) All Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks&Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks are covered under the Scheme.

3) The Banking Ombudsman does not charge any fee for filing&resolving customers‘ complaints.

4) The maximum compensation which a BO can help a complainant to get is Rs. 20 lakhs.

5) If a complaint is not settled by an agreement within a period of one month, the BO proceeds further to pass an award. Before passing an award, the BO provides reasonable opportunity to the complainant&the bank, to present their case.

6) If one is not satisfied with the decision passed by the BO, one can approach the appellate authority who is the Deputy Governor of the RBI.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION

Financial inclusion involves

1) Give formal banking services to poor people in urban & rural areas.

2) Promote habit of money-savings, insurance, pension-investment among poor-people.

3) Help them get loans at reasonable rates from normal banks. So they don‘t become victims in the hands of local moneylender.

Some Important initiatives for Financial Inclusion

Lead banking scheme (LBS). No frills account. BSBDA Business Correspondents (BC) system. Swabhiman Campaign PMJDY

Lead Bank Scheme

Lead Bank Scheme, introduced towards the end of 1969, envisages assignment of lead roles to individual banks (both in public sector&private sector) for the districts allotted to them.

A bank having a relatively large network of branches in the rural areas of a given district&endowed with adequate financial&manpower resources has generally been entrusted with the lead responsibility for that

district. Accordingly, all the districts in the country have been allotted to various banks.

The lead bank acts as a leader for coordinating the efforts of all credit institutions in the allotted districts.

No Frill Account

'No Frills 'account is a basic banking account. Such account requires either nil minimum balance or very low minimum balance. Charges applicable to such accounts are low.

The RBI in 2005-06 called upon Indian banks to design a ‗no frills account‘ – a no precondition, low ‗minimum balance maintenance‘ account with simplified KYC (Know Your Customer) norms.

But all the existing ‗No-frills‘ accounts opened were converted into BSBDA in compliance with the guidelines issued by RBI in 2012.

BSBDA

In 2012, RBI introduced BSBDA. Some important points are:

This account shall not have the requirement of any minimum balance.

The services available in the account will include: deposit&withdrawal of cash at bank branch as well as ATMs; receipt/credit of money through electronic payment channels or by means of deposit/collection of cheques drawn by Central/State Govt. agencies & departments;

While there will be no limit on the number of deposits that can be made in a month, account holders will be allowed a maximum of four withdrawals in a month, including ATM withdrawals.

Facility of ATM card or ATM-cum-Debit Card. Business Correspondent

BCs are bank representatives. They personally go to area allotted to them&carry out banking. They help villagers to open bank accounts, in banking transactions etc.

Business Correspondents get commission from bank for every new account opened, every transaction made via them, every loan-application processed etc.

LENDING RATES

Base Rate RBI decided that banks should switch over to Base

Rate system w.e.f. 1.7.2010. Banks may determine their actual lending rates w.r.t.

Base Rate. No loan can be sanctioned below base rate. Exempted accounts: The following loans could be

priced without reference to Base Rate: (a) DRI loans (b)



loans to banks‘ own employees (c) loans to banks‘ depositors against their own deposits.

Marginal Cost Based Lending Rate

RBI introduced MCLR w.e.f. 1.4.2016 to determine Base Rate by banks to improve the efficiency of monetary policy transmission.

All rupee loans sanctioned&credit limits renewed w.e.f. 01.04.16 to be priced w.r.t. MCLR. It will be internal benchmark.

The MCLR comprises of (a) Marginal cost of funds; (b) Negative carry on account of CRR; (c) operating costs; (d) Tenor premium.

Marginal Cost of funds (MCF): It has 2 components (a) Marginal cost of borrowings (b) return on networth.

By using MCF, it will be calculated as: Required CRR × (marginal cost) / (1-CRR)

Exemptions from MCLR

loans under schemes of Govt. of India wherein banks have to charge interest rate as per the scheme.

Working Capital Term Loan, Funded Interest Term Loan etc. as part of rectification/restructuring package.

Loans under various refinance schemes of Govt. of India or any Govt. Undertaking wherein banks charge interest at the rates prescribed under the schemes.

The following loans can be priced without being linked to MCLR :

a) Loan to depositors against their own deposits. b) Loan to banks‘ employees&Chief Executive

Officer/Whole Time Directors. c) Loans linked to a market determined external

benchmark. d) Fixed rate loans. In case of hybrid loans where the

interest rates are partly fixed&partly floating, interest rate on the floating portion should adhere to the MCLR guidelines.

HANDY NOTES BANKING: PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING It means provide credit to the needy sectors of the society. The sectors are: • Agriculture • Micro&Small Enterprises • Education • Housing • Export • Weaker Sections • Social Infrastructure • Renewable Energy

Targets under PSL Agriculture: 18% of ANBC (Adjusted Net Bank

Credit). Out of this 18%, a target of 8% of ANBC is for Small & Marginal Farmers, to be achieved in a phased manner i.e., 7% by March 2016 & 8% by March 2017.

Weaker Sections: 10 % of ANBC. Micro Enterprises: 7.5% of ANBC has been prescribed

for Micro Enterprises, to be achieved in a phased manner i.e. 7% by March 2016 & 7.5% by March 2017.

Overall PSL Target for Domestic Bank/Foreign Bank

with more than 20 Branches: 40% of ANBC.

Overall PSL Target for Foreign Bank with less than 20

Branches: 40% of ANBC to be achieved in phased

manner

2017-18 36

2018-19 38

2019-20 40

Categorization of MSME according to MSME ACT 2006

Manufacturing Sector (Goods)

Enterprises Investment in plant&machinery

Micro Enterprises

Does not exceed twenty five lakh rupees

Small Enterprises

More than twenty five lakh rupees but does not exceed five crore rupees

Medium More than five crore rupees but does not

Enterprises exceed ten crore rupees

Service Sector

Enterprises Investment in equipment

Micro Enterprises Does not exceed ten lakh rupees

Small Enterprises More than ten lakh rupees but does not exceed two crore rupees

Medium Enterprises More than two crore rupees but does not exceed five crore rupees

Other Targets under PSL

Farmers with landholding of up to 1 hectare are considered as Marginal Farmers. Farmers with a landholding of more than 1 hectare & upto 2 hectares are considered as Small Farmers.

SCB having any shortfall in lending to priority sector shall be allocated amounts for contribution to Rural Infrastructure Development Fund with NABARD.

For Renewable Energy, bank loans up to a limit of Rs.15 crore to borrowers for purposes like solar based power generators, etc. For individual households, the loan limit will be Rs.10 lakh per borrower.

For Housing, banks can provide loans to individuals up to Rs. 28 lakh in metropolitan centres (with population of ten lakh&above) & loans up to Rs. 20 lakh in other centres for purchase/construction of a dwelling unit per family.

Export credit will be allowed up to 32% of ANBC for Foreign banks with less than 20 branches in India.

For Education, banks can provide loans to individuals for educational purposes including vocational courses uptoRs. 10 lakh for studies in India&Rs. 20 lakh for studies abroad.



Limits under Social infrastructure Bank loans up to a limit of Rs.5 crore per borrower for building social infrastructure for activities namely schools, health care facilities, drinking water facilities&sanitation facilities in Tier II to Tier VI centres.

Monitoring of Priority Sector Lending targets To ensure continuous flow of credit to priority sector, there will be more frequent monitoring of priority sector lending compliance of banks on ‗quarterly‘ basis instead of annual basis as of now. Non-achievement of Priority Sector targets

Scheduled Commercial Banks having any shortfall in lending to priority sector shall be allocated amounts for contribution to RIDF established with NABARD&other Funds with NABARD/NHB/SIDBI, as decided by the Reserve Bank from time to time.

The interest rates on banks‘ contribution to RIDF or any other Funds, tenure of deposits, etc. shall be fixed by Reserve Bank of India from time to time.

RBI revises priority sector lending norms for RRBs

Salient features of the guidelines:- Targets: 75 % of total outstanding to the sectors

eligible for classification as priority sector lending. Categories of the Priority Sector: Medium

Enterprises, Social Infrastructure&Renewable Energy will form part of the Priority Sector, in addition to the existing categories, with a cap of 15% of total outstanding.

Agriculture: 18% of total outstanding should be advanced to activities mentioned under Agriculture.

Small & Marginal Farmers: A target of 8% of total outstanding has been prescribed for Small&Marginal Farmers within Agriculture.

Micro Enterprises: A target of 7.5 % of total outstanding has been prescribed for Micro Enterprises.

Weaker Sectors: A target of 15 % of total outstanding has been prescribed for Weaker Sections.

Monitoring: Priority Sector Lending will be monitored on a quarterly as well as annual basis.

Note: The revised guidelines will be operational with effect from Jan 2016.

REVERSE MORTGAGE LOAN

The scheme of reverse mortgage has been introduced for the benefit of senior citizens owning a house but having inadequate income to meet their needs. Some important features of reverse mortgage are: A homeowner who is above 60 years of age is eligible

for reverse mortgage loan. It allows him to turn the equity in his home into one lump sum or periodic payments mutually agreed by the borrower&the banker.

NO REPAYMENT is required as long as the borrower lives, Borrower should pay all taxes relating to the house&maintain the property as his primary residence.

The amount of loan is based on several factors: Borrower‘s age, Value of the property Current interest rates & The specific plan chosen. As per the scheme formulated by National Housing Bank (NHB), the maximum period of the loan period is

15 years. The residual life of the property should be at least 20 years. Where the borrower lives longer than 15 years, periodic payments will not be made by lender. However, the borrower can continue to occupy.

MONEY MARKET

It is a market for short-term debt securities, such as commercial paper, repos, negotiable certificates of

deposit,&Treasury Bills with a maturity of one year or less.

CAPITAL MARKETS IN INDIA

It is the market for long term funds. It refers to all the facilities & institutional arrangements for borrowing & lending medium & long term funds.

Money Market VS Capital Market

Money Market Capital Market

Market for short term financial assets

Market for long term financial assets

Maturity period less than one year

Maturity period beyond one year

Deals over the counter Deals at stock exchange

No. of players limited No. of players unlimited

Regulated by RBI Regulated by SEBI

Major money market Instruments

Certificate of Deposit (CD) Commercial Paper (CP) Inter Bank Participation Certificates Inter Bank term Money Treasury Bills Bill Rediscounting Call/Notice Money

Terms relating to Money Market

Call Money Money lent or borrowed for one day

Notice Money Money lent or borrowed for a period of 2-14 days.

Term Money Money lent or borrowed for 15 daysto 1 year.

Yield to maturity

Expected rate of return on an existing security purchased for the market.

Coupon Rate Specified interest rate on a fixed



maturity security fixed at the time of issue.

CALL/NOTICE MONEY MARKET OPERATIONS

Under call money market, funds are transacted on overnight basis & under notice money market, for 2 days to 14 days.

Participants include banks (excluding RRBs) & Primary Dealers (PDs), both as borrowers & lenders. Non-bank institutions are not permitted in the call/notice money market with effect from August 6, 2005.

Calculation of interest payable is based on FIMMDA‘s (Fixed Income Money Market & Derivatives Association of India) Handbook of Market Practices.

INSTRUMENT OF GOVT. BORROWING

To meet the temporary receipt & expenditure mismatch, govt. obtains over draft from RBI under Ways & Means Advances. For short term liquidity, it issues cash management bills, treasury bills of 91 days, 182 days & 364 days maturity. For long term funds, it uses dated securities in the form of bonds/long term loans.

TREASURY BILLS

These are the instruments (in the form of promissory notes) of short term borrowing by the Central govt., first issued in India in 1917.

TBs can be purchased by any one (including individuals) except State govt.

Minimum amount of face value Rs. 25000 & in multiples thereof.

Maturity: 91 days, 182 days & 364 days.

Treasury bills are zero coupon securities. They are issued at a discount&redeemed at face value at maturity.

Cash Management Bills (CMB)

CMB introduced on 11.08.11, is a short-term security to be sold by Govt. of India to raise temporary money for cash management needs.

The tenure is less than 91 daysbut the notified amount&date of issue depends upon the temporary cash requirement of the Govt.

It is issued at discount to the face value through auctions, as in the case of the Treasury Bills.

DATED SECURITIES

These are long term securities & carry a fixed or floating coupon (interest rate) paid on the face value, payable at fixed time periods (half-yearly).

The tenor of dated securities can be up to 40 years. Public Debt Office of RBI acts as the

registry/depository of Govt. securities & deals with

the issue, interest payment & repaymentof principal at maturity.

WAYS & MEANS ADVANCES (WMAs)

WMAs were introduced as per an agreement between RBI & Govt.

WMAs are temporary overdrafts by RBI to govt. (Central & State) under Section 17(5) of RBI Act. WMSs replaced the earlier ad hoc T-Bills system.

WMAs bridge the time interval of mismatch between govt. expenditure&receipts.

Duration: 10 consecutive working days for Central Govt.&14 days for State Govt.

OTHER MONEY MARKET INSTRUMENTS

CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT

This scheme was introduced in July 1989, to enable the banking system to mobilize bulk deposits from the market, which they can attract at competitive rates of interest.

Who can issue

Scheduled commercial banks (except RRBs) & All India Financial Institutions within their ‗Umbrella limit‘.

CRR/SLR Applicable on the issue price in case of banks

Investors Individuals (other than minor), corporations, companies, trusts, funds, associations etc.

Maturity Min: 7 daysMax : 12 Months (in case of FIs minimum 1 year&maximum 3 years).

Amount Min: Rs. 1 lac, beyond which in multiple of Rs. 1 lac

Int. Rate Market related. Fixed or floating

Loan Against collateral of CD not permitted

Nature Usance Promissory note. Can be issued in Dematerialisation form only wef June 30, 2002

COMMERCIAL PAPER

i. CP introduced during 1990, is a short term money market instrument issued as an unsecured usance

promissory note&privately placed. ii. Who can issue Commercial paper (CP): Companies, primary dealers (PDs)&all-India financial institutions (FIs). iii. A company is eligible to issue CP if: (a) Its tangible net worth, as per latest audited balance sheet, is not less than Rs. 4 crore. (b) Sanctioned working capital limit by bank/s or all-India financial institution/s; (c) The borrower accounts are classified as a Standard Asset by financing bank/s/ institution/s&‗ (d) Minimum credit rating from SEBI approved credit rating agency (CRA) is A3. iv. Maturity: Min 7 days & max upto one year v. Amount: Min Rs. 5 lakh or multiples thereof.



MERCHANT BANKING

Merchant banking stands for providing various services relation to capital market&financing the corporate sector. The Merchant Bankers provide consultancy to the corporate sector on the issues like finance, capital structure&investment, mergers, takeover&amalgamations, establishing coordination between the Govt.&the corporate sector.

CAPITAL MARKETS IN INDIA

a) It refers to all the facilities & institutional arrangements for borrowing&lendingmedium & long-term funds. b) It is segregated into (i) gilt edged market&(ii) the industrial securities market. c) The gilt edged marketrefers to the market for govt. &

semi-govt. securities which are traded in the market in stable value&are sought after by banks&other institutions. d) The industrial securities market refers to the market for shares&debentures of old as well as new companies. This market is further divided as primary market&secondary market. The primary market refers to the setup which helps the

industry to raise funds by issuing different types of securities, which are issued directly to the investors, both individual&institutions.

The secondary market refers to the network for subsequent sale&purchase of securities, after these are issued.

INDIAN DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS (IDRs)

IDR is an instrument in the form of a Depository Receipt created by the Indian depository in India against the underlying equity shares of the issuing company. In an IDR, foreign companies would issue shares, to an Indian companies would issue shares, to an Indian Depository which would in turn issue depository receipts to investors in India.

MUTUAL FUND TERMS

Asset Management Company: A company formed & registered under the Companies Act 1956 & approved as such by the SEBI to manage the funds of a mutual fund. Under an agreement (with the trustees of the Mutual Fund), an AMC undertakes to formulated mutual funds schemes, distribute income as per agreement.

Close-ended scheme: A scheme where funds are raised for a fixed period. The scheme is wound up after that period&funds are returned with capital appreciation to unit holders. Normally, a close-ended scheme is listed on a stock exchange.

Net asset value: The price of value of one share of a fund. It is calculated by summing the quoted values of all the securities held by the fund, adding in cash & any accrued income & subtracting liabilities & dividing the result by the number of shares outstanding.

Open ended scheme: A scheme is the one which continuously offers its units&buys them back from investors.

DICGC (Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee

Corporation of India) 1. Which banks are insured by the DICGC?

All commercial banks including branches of foreign banks functioning in India, local area banks&regional rural banks are insured by the DICGC.

2. What does the DICGC insure? It insures all deposits such as savings, fixed, current, recurring, etc. except the following types of deposits. (i) Deposits of foreign Govt.s; (ii) Deposits of Central/State Govt.s; (iii) Inter-bank deposits; (iv) Deposits of the State Land Development Banks with the State co-operative bank;

(v) Any amount due on account of any deposit received outside India

(vi) Any amount, which has been specifically exempted by the corporation with the previous approval of Reserve Bank of India.

3. What is the maximum deposit amount insured by the DICGC?

Each depositor in a bank is insured upto a maximum of Rs.1,00,000 for both principal & interest amount held by him in the same capacity.

4. HQ: Mumbai Chairman: NS Vishwanathan

NPA-Non-Performing Asset & SARFAESI

It means once the borrower has failed to make interest or principal payments for 90 days, the loan is considered to be a non-performing asset.

Criteria for classification of loan as NPA

Farm Credit within Agriculture loans: A loan will be treated as an NPA if installment of the principal or



interest remains unpaid beyond the due date for (a) two crop seasons in case of short duration crops (maturing within one year)&(b) one crop season for long duration crops (maturing after one year). This would also be applicable, mutatis mutandis, to agricultural term loans. In other agriculture loans, the 90 days norm would be applicable.

SARFAESI Act & Rules

SARFAESI Act (The Securitization&Reconstruction of Financial Assets & Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002) was enacted to regulate securitization & reconstruction of financial assets & enforcement of security interest created in respect of Financial Assets to enable realization of such assets.

The Act provides for the manner for enforcement of security interests by a secured creditor without the intervention of a court or tribunal.

If any borrower fails to discharge his liability in repayment of any secured debt within 60 days of notice from the date of notice by the secured creditor, the secured creditor is conferred with powers under the SARFAESI Act to

a) Takes possession of the secured assets of the borrower, including transfer by way of lease, assignment or sale, for realizing the secured assets

b) Takeover of the management of the business of the borrower including the right to transferby way of lease, assignment or sale for realizing the secured assets,

c) Appoint any person to manage the secured assets possession of which is taken by thesecured creditor, and

d) Require any person, who has acquired any of the secured assets from the borrower andfrom whom money is due to the borrower, to pay the secured creditor so much of the money as if sufficient to pay the secured debt.

The assets portfolio of the banks is required to be

classified as (1) standard assets (2) sub-standard assets (3) doubtful assets (4) loss assets. Standard asset is one that does not disclose any

problems&which does not carry more than normal risk attached to the business.

An asset which has been classified as NPA for a period not exceeding 12 months is considered as sub-standard asset.

Doubtful asset is one which has remained NPA for a period exceeding 12 months.

An asset which is considered uncollectible&loss has been identified by the bank or internal or external auditors or the RBI inspection&the loss has not been written off is regarded as loss asset.

What is pledge: U/s 172 of Indian Contracts Act, pledge is bailment (delivery) of goods as security for payment of a loan. Only goods (movable assets excluding actionable claims (Sec 2(7) of Sales of Goods Act) can be pledged.

HYPOTHECATION/PLEDGE-DISTINCTION

Hypothecation Pledge

Defined in SARFAESI Act 2002 (Sec 2 n)

Indian Contract Act 1872 (section 172)

Definition Charge on movable property in favour of secured creditor without delivery of possession

Bailment of goods as security for payment of a debt or performance of promise

Parties: -Borrower -Bank

Hypothecator Hypothecate

Pledger / pawner Pledger / pawnee

Nature of securities

Movable assets such as stocks, machinery, vehicles

Goods

Possession Borrower (in trust for bank). Bank cannot take possession without consent of the borrower. On taking possession bank gets rights of pledge&can sell the assets without intervention.

Possession with bank till repayment of the loan. Bank has to preserve the goods carefully&return the same, if loan is repaid.

MORTGAGE

As per section 58 of Transfer of Property Act 1882, mortgage is transfer of interest in specific immovable property for the purpose of securing the payment of money advanced or to be advanced by way of loan, an existing or future debt or the performance of an engagement which may give rise to pecuniary liability.

ATM Q.1 What is an Automated Teller Machine (ATM)? Ans. Automated Teller Machine is a computerized machine that provides the customers of banks the facility of accessing their account for dispensing cash&to carry out other financial & non-financial transactions without the need to actually visit their bank branch.

Q.2 What is White Label ATMs (WLAs)? Ans. ATMs set up, owned&operated by non-banks are called White Label ATMs. Non-bank ATM operators are authorized under Payment & Settlement Systems Act, 2007 by the Reserve Bank of India.



Q.3. Is there any time limit for the card issuing banks for recrediting the customers account for a failed ATM/WLA transaction? Ans. As per the RBI instructions, banks have been mandated to resolve customer complaints by re-crediting the customer‘s account within 7 working days from the date of complaint.

Q.4. Are the customers eligible for compensation for delays beyond 7 working days? Ans. Yes. Effective from July 1, 2011, banks have to pay compensation of Rs. 100/- per day for delays in re-crediting the amount beyond 7 working days from the date of receipt of complaint for failed ATM transactions. The compensation has to be credited to the account of the customer without any claim being made by the customer. If the complaint is not lodged within 30 days of transaction, the customer is not entitled for any compensation for delay in resolving his / her complaint.

CURRENCY IN INDIA Money as a means of payment consists of coins, paper money & withdrawable bank deposits. Legal tender: As per provisions of coinage Act 1906, bank notes, currency notes&coins (Rs. 1&above) are legal tender for unlimited amount. The subsidiary coins (below Re 1) are legal tenders for sum not exceeding Re 1. Issue of 1, 2&3 paise coins discontinued wef Sep 16, 1981.

What do you know by currency chest? Currency chests are operated by RBI so that they can provide good quality currency notes to the public. However, RBI has appointed commercial banks to open&monitor currency chests on behalf of RBI. The cash kept in currency chests is considered to be kept in RBI. What is a small coin depot? The bank branches are also authorised to establish Small Coin Depots to stock small coins. The Small Coin Depots also distribute small coins to other bank branches in their area of operation. What are soiled, mutilated&imperfect banknotes?

"Soiled note" means a note which, has become dirty due to usage & also includes a two piece note pasted together wherein both the pieces presented belong to the same note, & form the entire note.

Mutilated banknote is a banknote, of which a portion is missing or which is composed of more than two pieces.

Imperfect banknote means any banknote, which is wholly or partially, obliterated, shrunk, washed, altered or indecipherable but does not include a mutilated banknote.

Pre-2005 series Banknotes

The banknotes issued before 2005 MG series are called pre-2005 series banknotes, which do not have the year of printing on the reverse side. On Jan 23, 2014, RBI decided to withdraw, from circulation, these notes as they have fewer security features. 1. These notes shall continue to be legal tender. The notes

are only being withdrawn from circulation. 2. These notes can be exchanged at select bank branch till

30.06.16.

NATIONALISATION OF BANKS

Nationalisation of Imperial Bank of India&its conversion into State Bank of India in July 1955.

Conversion of 8 major State-associated banks into subsidiary banks of SBI in 1959.

Nationalisation of 14 Indian scheduled banks in July 1969.

Nationalisation of 6 more banks in April 1980 & New Bank of India merged into Punjab National Bank.

TRANSFER SYSTEM IN BANKING SECTOR

Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) RTGS implemented w.e.f. 26.03.2004 is a centralized

payment system operated by RBI. In RTGS inter-bank payment instructions are processed & settled, on gross basis in a real time environment.

It uses Indian Financial Network (INFINET) & SFMS platforms. RTGS is regulated by RTGS System Regulations, 2013.

National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) RBI operationalisedNEFTSystem in Nov 2005. It facilitates transfer of funds from any bank branch to any other bank branch. Amount: There is no lower/upper value limit. Bank account: NEFT is an account to account transfer system. The remitter&beneficiary should have a bank account. Processing Charges/Service Charges 1. Banks cannot levy any charges for inward NEFT, 2. For outward NEFT: Up to Rs. 10000 = Rs. 2.50, above

Rs. 10000 to Rs. 1 lac = Rs. 5. Above Rs. 1 lac to Rs. 2 lac = Max Rs. 15&above Rs. 2 lac = Max Rs. 25 (w.e.f. 13.07.2012).

CENTRALIZED FUNDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (CFMS) CFMS was operated & maintained by RBI to enable operations on current accounts maintained at various offices of the RBI, through standard message formats in a secure manner.



NEPAL REMITTANCE SCHEME

It is a cross-border one-way remittance facility scheme, for remittance from India to Nepal. Amount: Up to Indian Rs. 50,000 from NEFT branches. Beneficiary will receive funds in Nepalese rupees. CORE BANKING SOLUTIONS Core Banking Solutions (CBS) or Centralised Banking Solutions is the process which is completed in a centralized environment i.e. under which the information related to the customer‘s account (i.e. financial dealings, profession, income, etc.) is stored in the Central Server of the bank (that is available to all networked branches) instead of the branch server.

Accounts for Foreign (Currency/Person) in India a) NRO A/c (Foreign Tourist)

Foreign tourists during their short visit to India can open a Non-Resident (Ordinary) Rupee (NRO) account (Current / Savings) with any Authorised Dealer bank dealing in foreign exchange.

Can be opened up to a maximum period of 6 months. All payments to residents exceeding INR 50,000 can be

made only by means of cheques / pay orders / DDs. b) EEFC A/c

Exchange Earners' Foreign Currency Account (EEFC) is an a/c maintained in foreign currency with Authorised Dealer.

It is a facility provided to foreign exchange earners, including exporters, to credit 100% of their foreign exchange earnings to the a/c, so that the account holders do not have to convert foreign exchange into Rupees, thereby minimizing the transaction costs.

All categories of foreign exchange earners, such as individuals, companies, etc. who are resident in India, may open EEFC accounts.

It can be held only in the form of a current account. No interest is payable on EEFC accounts.

ACCOUNTS FOR NRI/PIO

Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee Account (NRO Account)

NRO accounts may be opened / maintained in the form of current, savings, recurring or fixed deposit accounts.

Interest rates offered by banks on NRO deposits cannot be higher than those offered by them on comparable domestic rupee deposits.

Account should be denominated in Indian Rupees. NRI/PIO may remit from the balances held in NRO

account an amount not exceeding USD one million per financial year, subject to payment of applicable taxes.

The limit of USD 1 million per financial year includes sale proceeds of immovable properties held by NRIs/PIOs.

Non-Resident (External) Rupee Account (NRE Account) NRE account may be in the form of savings, current,

recurring or fixed deposit accounts. Account will be maintained in Indian Rupees. Accrued interest income&balances held in NRE

accounts are exempt from Income tax. Authorised dealers/authorised banks at their

discretion allow for a period not more than two weeks, overdrawings in NRE savings bank accounts, up to a limit of Rs. 50,000.

Loans up to Rs.100 lakh can be extended against security of funds held in NRE Account either to the depositors or third parties.

Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) Account – FCNR

(B) Account FCNR (B) accounts are only in the form of term

deposits of 1 to 5 years Account can be in any freely convertible currency. Loans up to Rs.100 lakh can be extended against

security of funds held in FCNR (B) deposit either to the depositors or third parties.

The interest rates are stipulated by the Department of Banking Operations & Development, RBI.

How Ranting done to Banks in India

RATING OF BANKS RBI‘s 1995 working group headed by Sh. S. Padmanabhan suggested method for rating. RBI rates the banks on a 5 point scale of A to E, widely on the lines of international CAMELS rating model for domestic banks&CALCS model for foreign banks.

CAMELS Rating for Domestic Banks

C Capital adequacy ratio

A Asset quality

M Management Effectiveness

E Earning (i.e. profitability)

L Liquidity (asset-liability management)

S System&controls

Rating parameters for foreign banks

C Capital adequacy ratio

A Asset quality

L Liquidity

C Compliance

S System&controls

BASEL-3 NORMS

Basel Committee is the primary global standard-setter for the prudential regulation of banks & provides a forum for cooperation on banking supervisory matters.



Its mandate is to strengthen the regulation, supervision & practices of banks worldwide with the purpose of enhancing financial stability.

Stefan Ingves, Governor of Sveriges Riks bank

(SWEDEN), is the Chairman of the Basel Committee. Basel III or Basel 3 released in December, 2010 is the third

in the series of Basel Accords. These accords deal with risk management aspects for the banking sector.

According to Basel Committee on Banking Supervision "Basel III is a comprehensive set of reform measures, developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, to strengthen the regulation, supervision&risk management of the banking sector".

Basel 3 measures aim to: a) Improve the banking sector's ability to absorb shocks

arising from financial & economic stress, whatever the source

b) Improve risk management & governance c) Strengthen banks' transparency & disclosures.

Three Pillars of Basel 3

Pillar 1: Minimum Regulatory Capital Requirements based on Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs):

Maintaining capital calculated through credit, market&operational risk areas (mainly that capital which can absorb risk.)

Pillar 2: Supervisory Review Process: Regulating tools&frameworks for dealing with peripheral risks that bank face.

Pillar 3: Market Discipline: Increasing the disclosures that banks must provide to increase the transparency of banks

Important Facts related to BASEL 3

Minimum Ratio of Total Capital To RWAs--10.50% Minimum Ratio of Common Equity to RWAs--4.50% to

7.00% Tier I capital to RWAs--6.00% Core Tier I capital to RWAs--5.00% Capital Conservation Buffers to RWAs--2.50% Leverage Ratio--3.00% Countercyclical Buffer--0% to 2.50%

NBFC

Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 engaged in the business of loans & advances, acquisition of shares/stocks/bonds/debentures/securities issued by Govt. or local authority or other marketable securities of a like nature, leasing, hire-purchase, insurance business, chit fund business.

Difference between BANK & NBFC:

NBFCs lend & makeinvestments & hence their activities are akin to that of banks; however there are a few differences as given below: i. NBFC cannot accept demand deposits; ii. NBFCs do not form part of the payment

&settlementsystem&cannot issue cheques drawn on itself;

iii. Deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to depositors of NBFCs, unlike in case of banks.

Register with RBI: A company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956&desirous of commencing business of non-banking financial institution as defined under Section 45 I(a) of the RBI Act, 1934 should comply with the following: a) It should be a company registered under Section 3 of

the companies Act, 1954 b) It should have a minimum net owned fund of Rs 200

lakh. Deposits in NBFC: a) Presently, the maximum rate of interest an NBFC can

offer is 12.5%. The interest may be paid or compounded at rests not shorter than monthly rests.

b) NBFCs are allowed to accept / renew public deposits for a minimum period of 12 months & maximum period of 60 months. They cannot accept deposits repayable on demand.

c) The deposits with NBFCs are not insured. d) The repayment of deposits by NBFCs is not

guaranteed by RBI.

TYPES OF MONEY Commodity Money - Commodity money value is derived

from the commodity out of which it is made. The commodity itself represents money, & the money is the commodity.

Representative Money - is money that includes token coins, or any other physical tokens like certificates, that can be reliably exchanged for a fixed amount/quantity of a commodity like gold or silver.

Fiat Money - Fiat money, also known as fiat currency is the money whose value is not derived from any intrinsic value or any guarantee that it can be converted into valuable commodity (like gold). Instead, it derives value only based On Govt. order (fiat)

Commercial Bank Money - Commercial bank money or the demand deposits are claims against financial institutions which can be used for purchasing goods & services. Reserve Money (M 0)



Currency in circulation + Bankers‗ ‗deposits with the RBI + ‗Other‘ deposits with the RBI = Net RBI ‗credit to the Govt. + RBI credit to the commercial sector + RBI's claims on banks + RBI's net is foreign assets + Govemment‘s currency liabilities to the public - RBI's net non-monetary liabilities. M1=Currency with the public + Demand deposits with the banking system + 'Other' deposits with the RBI M2=M1 + Savings deposits of office savings banks. M3=M1+ Time deposits with the banking system = Net bank credit to the Govt. M4=M3 +All deposits with post office savings banks (excluding National Savings Certificates) Note: Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) RBI established BRBNMPL in February 1995 as a wholly-owned subsidiary to augment the production of bank notes in India&to enable bridging of the gap between supply&demand for bank notes in the country.

BANKING ABBREVIATIONS

1. PSBs: Public Sector Banks 2. SNBCs: Schedule Non- Commercial Banks 3. SENSEX: Sensitive Index of Stock Exchange 4. KYC: Know Your Customer 5. RTGS: Real Time Gross Settlement 6. NEFT: National Electronic Fund Transfer 7. EFT: Electronic Fund Transfer 8. CBS: Core Banking Solutions 9. LIBOR: London Interbank Offered Rate 10. MIBOR: Mumbai Interbank Offered Rate 11. MIBID: Mumbai Interbank Bid Rate 12. SARFAESI: Securitisation & Reconstruction of

Financial Assets & Enforcement Of Security Interest 13. CAR: Capital Adequecy Ratio 14. FIIs: Foreign Institutional Investments 15. MICR: Magnetic Ink Character Recognition 16. BIRD: Bankers Institute of Rural Development 17. IBA: Indian Bank Association 18. BPLR: Benchmark Prime Lending Rate 19. SWOT: Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities&Threats 20. SWIFT: Society For Worldwide Interbank Financial

Telecommunication 21. FERA: Foreign Exchange Regulatory Act 22. FEMA: Foreign Exchange Management Act 23. CASA: Current&Saving Account 24. NDTL: Net Demand&Time Liabilities 25. NASDAQ: National Association For Securities Dealers

Automated Quotations 26. CRISIL: Credit Rating&Investment Services India

Limited 27. CIBIL: Credit Information Bureau Of India Limited

28. NAV: Net Asset Value 29. ICRA: Indian Credit Rating Agency 30. CARE: Credit Analysis & Research Limited 31. WMAs: Ways & Means Advances 32. ALM: Asset Liability Management 33. INFINET Indian Financial Network 34. OLTAS - On-line Tax Accounting System (OLTAS) for

Direct Taxes 35. TIN - Tax Information Network (TIN) 36. IMPS - Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) or

Immediate Payment Service 37. CDR- Corporate Debt Restructuring 38. CAD- Capital Account Deficit 39. REITs: Real Estate Investment Trusts 40. InvITs: Infrastructure Investment Trusts 41. ALM- Asset Liability Management 42. ASBA: Application Supported by Blocked Amount 43. PIN: Personal Identification Number 44. CECA: Comprehensive Economic Cooperation

Agreement 45. CEPA: Comprehensive Economic Partnership

Agreemeny 46. DTAA – Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement 47. EFSF – European Financial Stability Facility 48. FINO- Financial Inclusion Network Operation 49. FIPB – Foreign Investment Promotion board 50. FSLRC– Financial Sector Legislative Reforms

Commission 51. CRAR: Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio 52. LCR: Liquidity Coverage Ratio 53. TARC - Tax Administration Reform Commission 54. GIRO - Govt. Internal Revenue Order 55. FRBMA: Fiscal Responsibility&Budget Management

Act 56. AMFI- Association of Mutual Fund in India. 57. TIEA – Tax Information exchange Agreement 58. GAAR - General anti avoidance rule 59. GSLV - Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle 60. PPP – Public Private Partnership & Purchasing Power

parity 61. PSLV – Polar Satellite Launch vehicle 62. TAPI - Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India. 63. QFI -Qualified Foreign Investors 64. AD-Authorized Dealer. 65. ASSOCHAM-Associated Chambers of Commerce &

Industry of India. 66. BCSBI-Banking Codes & Standards Board of India. 67. BIS-Bank for International Settlements. 68. CDS-Credit Default Swap. 69. CEPA-Comprehensive Economic Partnership

Management. 70. FIMMDA-Fixed Income Money MARKETS &

Derivatives Association. 71. FPI-Foreign Portfolio Investment.



72. IBRD-International Bank for Reconstruction & Development.

73. UIDAI-Unique Identification Development Authority of India.

74. PMGSY- Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana 75. PMEGP- PM's Employment Generation Programme 76. NRDWP- National Rural Drinking Water Programme 77. PMKK- Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras 78. SANKALP- Skill Acquisition & Knowledge

Awareness for Livelihood Promotion programme 79. STRIVE- Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value

Enhancement 80. NTA- National Testing Agency 81. ICDS- Integrated Child Development Services 82. TIES- Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme 83. FIPB- Foreign Investment Promotion Board 84. CERT-Fin- Computer Emergency Response Team for

our Financial Sector 85. IRFC- Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited 86. FFO- Further Fund Offering

IMPORTANT BANKING TERMS

Moral Suasion: Moral Suasion is just as a request by the RBI to the commercial banks to take so & so action & measures in so & so trend of economy. RBI may request commercial banks not to give loans for unproductive purpose which does not add to economic growth but increases inflation.

Bouncing of a cheque: Where an account does not have sufficient balance to honour the cheque issued by the customer, the cheque is returned by the bank with the reason "funds insufficient" or "Exceeds arrangement". This is known as 'Bouncing of a cheque'. Demat Account: The term "demat", in India, refers to a

dematerialised account for individual Indian citizens to trade in listed stocks or debentures.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR): Capital adequacy ratio measures the amount of a bank‘s capital expressed as a %age of its credit exposure. Globally, the capital adequacy ratio has been developed to ensure banks can absorb a reasonable level of losses before becoming insolvent. Indian banks are expected to maintain a minimum capital adequacy ratio of 9 % (Rs 9 as capital for every Rs 100 in loan or asset)

IMPORTANT BANKING CONCEPTS

1) What is Balance of Trade? The value of a country‘s exports minus the value of its imports. Unless specified as the balance of merchandise trade, it normally incorporates trade in services, including earnings (interest, dividends, etc.) on financial assets. 2) What is Balance of Payments? A list of all of a country‘s international transactions for a given time period, usually one year.

3) What is NOSTRO Account? A Nostro account is maintained by an Indian Bank in the foreign countries. 4) What is VOSTRO Account? A Vostro account is maintained by a foreign bank in India with their corresponding bank. 5) What is BCBS? Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is an institution created by the Central Bank governors of the Group of Ten nations. 6) What is LIBOR? London InterBank Offered Rate. An interest rate at which banks can borrow funds, in marketable size, from other banks in the London interbank market. 7) What is STRIPS? Separate Trading for Registered Interest & Principal Securities. 8) What do you mean by term ―CASA‖ related to bank? CASA stands for Current Account Savings Account. The CASA ratio shows how much deposit a bank has in the form of current&saving account deposits in the total deposit. A higher CASA ratio means better operating efficiency of the bank. Note: The CORE word in CBS stands for Centralized Online Realtime Exchange.

IMPORTANT CODES USED IN BANKING

IFSC (Indian Financial System Code) Indian Financial System Code is an alpha-numeric code

that uniquely identifies a bank-branch participating in the NEFT system.

This is an 11 digit code with the first 4 alpha characters representing the bank, The 5th character is 0 (zero) & the last 6 characters representing the bank branch.

For ex: PNBN0014976 : First 4 character PNBN – refers to Punjab National Bank. 0 is a control number. Last six characters (014976) represents the branch

MICR – Magnetic ink character Recognition MICR is 9-digit numeric code that uniquely identifies a

bank branch participating in electronic clearing scheme. Used to identify the location of a bank branch. City (3) Bank (3) Branch (3) It is allotted to a bank branch is printed on the MICR

band of cheques. MICR used for electronic credit system. SWIFT Code: Society for Worldwide Interbank financial

tele-communication

India was 74th Nation to join SWIFT Network. SWIFT Code is a standard format of bank Identifier

code. This code is used particularly in International transfer of

money between banks.



A majority of FOREX related message are sent to correspondent banks abroad through SWIFT.

SWIFT Code consist 8 or 11 character when code is 8 digit,

It is referred to primary office. 4 – bank code 2 – country code 2 – location code 3 – branch code (optional)

HQ: of NATIONALIZED/PSBs BANKS

Allahabad Bank-Kolkata

Bank of India -Mumbai

Bank of Maharashtra -Pune

Canara Bank -Bangalore

Central Bank of India -Mumbai

Corporation Bank -Mangalore

Dena Bank -Mumbai

Indian Bank- Chennai

Indian Overseas Bank- Chennai

Oriental Bank of Commerce- Gurgaon

Punjab National Bank- New Delhi

Punjab & Sind Bank- New Delhi

State Bank of India- Mumbai

Syndicate Bank- Manipal

UCO Bank- Kolkata

Union Bank of India- Mumbai

United Bank of India- Kolkata

Vijaya Bank- Bangalore

Andhra Bank- Hyderabad

Bank of Baroda- Vadodra

IDBI Bank- Mumbai

IPPB- New Delhi

FINANCIAL REGULATORS

Chit Funds Respective State Govt.s

Insurance companies IRDA

Housing Finance Companies

NHB

Venture Capital Fund / SEBI

Merchant Banking companies

SEBI

Stock broking companies SEBI

Nidhi Companies Ministry of corporate affairs, Govt. of India

TYPES OF BANKING

Para banking- When Bank provides banking services except the general banking facility.

Narrow Banking- When banks invest its money in Govt. securities instead investing in market to avoid risk.

Offshore Banking- Bank which accept currency of all countries.

Green banking- Promoting environmental-friendly practices&reducing your carbon footprint from your banking activities.

Retail Banking- Retail banking refers to the division of a bank that deals directly with retail customers.

Wholesale banking-Wholesale banking is the provision of services by banks to organisations such as Mortgage Brokers, large corporate clients, mid-sized companies, sreal estate developers&investors, international trade finance businesses etc.

Universal Banking R H Khan committee & recommended the concept of

Universal Banking. It means allowing Fls& banks to undertake all types of banking or development financing activity, subject to compliance of statutory&other requirements of RBI, Govt.& related legal Acts.

Islamic Banking: An Islamic bank is a deposit-taking banking institution whose scope of activities excluding borrowing&lendingon the basis of interest.

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

National Bank for Agriculture&Rural Development

Established on 12th July 1982 on the recommendation of CRAFICARD committee (also called as SivaramanComittee)

For Agricultural finance, It is the apex organization. Chairman: Dr. Harsha Kumar Bhanwala Head Quarters: Mumbai Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) is

operated by NABARD, instead in April 1995. NABARD is the "Micro-Finance Regulatory Authority"

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI in

short) was established in the year 1990 (Date: 2nd April 1990) under the Small Industries Development Bank of India Act 1989 as a subsidiary of Industrial Development Bank of India.

Chairman- Mohammad Mustafa Head Quarters: Lucknow

Securities&Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

It is theregulator for the securitiesmarket in India. SEBI was initiallyestablished as a non statutory body in April 1988, to regulate theworking of stock exchange. Later itwas given a statutory status onApril 1992 via SEBI Act, 1992with the following objectives.

Chairman- Ajay Tyagi



Head Quarters : Mumbai

REGIONAL RURAL BANK (RRB):

Regional Rural Bank Were Set Up By An Ordinance In 1975, Later Replaced By Rrbs Act, 1976 As Pre Banking Commission Recommendation In 1975.

Father Of Rrb Is M.Swaminathan. The Govt. Of India Had Appointed A Working

Group On Rural Banks Under The Chairmanship Of Mr. M. Narasimham In 1975. First Rrbs Were Set Up On 2nd Oct.

Share Holder Contribution: Govt. Of India 50% Sponsor Bank 35% State Govt. 15%.

EXIM BANK: Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India is the principal

financial institution in India for coordinating the working of institutions engaged in financing export&import trade.

It is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the Govt. of India.

It was established on January 1, 1982 for the purpose of financing, facilitating&promoting foreign trade of India.

Chairman- David Rasquinha Headquarters : Mumbai

NATIONAL HOUSING BANK(NHB)

It is the apex institution of housing finance in India, was set up as wholly owned subsidiary of RBI.

The bank started its operations from July 1988. NHB is a subsidiary bank of Reserve Bank of India. National Housing Bank was established under section

6 of National Housing Bank Act (1987). The HQ: of NHB is in New Delhi. Chairman: Shri Sriram Kalyanaraman

ECGC

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India. This organisation provides risk as well as insurance cover to the Indian exporters.

Chairman- Geetha Muralidhar Head Quarters : Mumbai

A brief on Financial Terms

1. Cross Selling Cross-selling stands for offering to the existing&new customers, some additional banking products, with a view to expand banking business, reduce the per customer cost of operations&provide more satisfaction&value to the customer.

2. Credit Card Business Issue of cards (a) Banks having net worth of Rs. 100 cr or above only

can undertake the credit card business.

(b) RBI permission is not required to undertake credit card issue business.

LIQUIDITY ADJUSTMENT FACILITY

Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) was introduced by RBI during June, 2000 in phases, to ensure smooth transition&keeping pace with technological upgradation. Tenor: Reverse Repo auctions (for absorption of liquidity) & Repo auctions (for injection of liquidity) are conducted on a daily basis (except Saturdays). Cap: 0.25% of NDTL w.e.f. 01.04.14.

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) MSF was introduced w.e.f. May 09, 2011, by RBI. Eligibility: Scheduled Commercial Banks having Current Account & SGL Account with RBI.

Amount: 1% of NDTL

CLEARING CORPORATION OF INDIA Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) was incorporated on 30th April 2001, as the country‘s first clearing house for the Govt. securities, forex&other related market segments. It commenced operations from Feb 15, 2002. It provides a system for efficient clearing of money, Govt. securities & foreign exchange market transactions.

CollateralisedBorrowing&Lending Obligation (CBLO)

CBLO, an RBI approved money market instrument, is developed by CCIL for the benefit of the entities phased out from interbank call money market or given restricted participation in terms of ceiling on call borrowing& lending transactions & who do not have access to the call money market.

It is a discounted instrument available in electronic book entry form for the maturity period ranging from 7 days to 90 Days (can be up to one year as per RBI guidelines).

ASSET SECURITISATION

Securitisation of assets is an additional channel for recycling of funds by business entities including banks. Securitisation is process through which the future receivables (say rent, installment of a term loan due in future) of an organization (say bank), are converted into debt instruments (such as bonds with a fixed rate of return)&then sold.

BANKING CODES & STANDARDS BOARD OF INDIA

Banking Codes & Standards Board of India (BCSBI) was set up on the lines of a similar set up in UK to oversee the Fair Practice Code evolved by the Bankers. Members: The Board was set up as a Society, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Commercial banks, RRBs & Urban Coop Banks are its members.



A Governing council of the BCSBI looks after its

financial affairs&managerial policies. The tenure of the Council is 5 years&the appointment of the Council after 5 years would be with the concurrence of the RBI.

KISAN VIKAS PATRA

KPV are regulated by KVP Rules 2014, Scheme is available through Post Offices&those banks that are authorized to operate PPF scheme. Denomination: Rs.1000, Rs.5000, Rs.10000&Rs.50000 Types of certificates: Category Single, Joint A-Type&Joint B-Type (E/S). Maturity period: 115 Months Rate of Interest: 7.5%. Rate of interest: Rs.1000 becomes double during the maturity period. 1. Nomination facility, 2. Pledge for loan facility& 3. pre-mature payment after 2 years & 6 months subject to certain conditions, is eligible.

MUDRA BANK

MUDRA, which stands for Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd, is a financial institution being set up by Govt. of India for development&refinancing micro units‘ enterprises. Under the aegis of Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana

(PMMY), MUDRA has already created its initial products/schemes. The interventions have been named ‗Shishu‘, ‗Kishor‘&‗Tarun‘ to signify the stage of growth/development&funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit / entrepreneur&also to provide a reference point for the next phase of graduation / growth to look forward to. The financial limit for these schemes is:- (a) Shishu: covering loans up to 50,000/- (b) Kishor: covering loans above 50,000/-&up to 5 lakh

(c)Tarun: covering loans above 5 lakh to 10 lakh

Indian Banks' Association (IBA)

Indian Banks' Association (IBA) set up in 1946 with 22 members to discuss issues of common interests. Over the years, IBA emerged as the Voice of Indian Banking Industry. IBA adopts a consultative approach to give its views on any issue pertaining to banking sector. As on December 28, 2015 the total Membership of the Association is 237.

Ordinary: 139 Associate: 98 Total: 237 Rajeev Rishi is present Chairman of IBA & it‘s

headquarter is in Mumbai.

Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) To ensure that banks don't go bust, RBI has put in place some trigger points to assess, monitor, control & take corrective actions on banks which are weak & troubled. The process or mechanism under which such actions are taken is known as Prompt Corrective Action, or PCA.

What is PCA as per RBI? All Misconceptions Cleared RBI clarified that the PCA framework is not intended to

constrain normal operations of the banks for the general public.

Under RBI's supervisory framework, it uses various measures/tools to maintain sound financial health of banks. PCA framework is one of such supervisory tools.

It involves monitoring of certain performance indicators of the banks as an early warning exercise & is initiated once such thresholds as relating to capital, asset quality etc. are breached.

Its objective is to facilitate the banks to take corrective measures including those prescribed by the Reserve Bank, in a timely manner, in order to restore their financial health.

It provides an opportunity to the Reserve Bank to pay focussed attention on such banks by engaging with the management more closely in those areas.

The PCA framework is, thus, intended to encourage banks to eschew certain riskier activities & focus on conserving capital so that their balance sheets can become stronger.

Salient Features of revised PCA Framework for Banks

A. Capital, asset quality & profitability continue to be the key areas for monitoring in the revised framework. B. Indicators to be tracked for Capital, asset quality & profitability would be: a) CRAR/ Common Equity Tier I ratio CET ratio – the percentage of core equity capital, net of regulatory adjustments, to total risk weighted assets as defined in RBI Basel III guidelines b) Net NPA ratio NNPA ratio – the percentage of net NPAs to net advances c) Return on Assets ROA – the percentage of profit after tax to average total assets C. Leverage would be monitored additionally as part of the PCA framework. D. Breach of any risk threshold (as detailed under) would result in invocation of PCA. E. The PCA framework would apply without exception to all banks operating in India including small banks & foreign banks operating through branches or subsidiaries based on breach of risk thresholds of identified indicators. F. A bank will be placed under PCA framework based on the audited Annual Financial Results & the Supervisory Assessment made by RBI.

Currency Quick Facts

Den. Letter Colour Motif Dimension

50 - Fluorescent Blue

Hampi with Chariot

66 mm x 135 mm

200 H Bright Yellow

Sanchi Stupa 66 mm × 146 mm



500 - Stone Grey Red Fort 66mm x 150mm

2000 - Magenta Mangalyaan 66mm x 166mm

Static Awareness Capsule for Syndicate & Canara Bank PO 2018

List of Schemes & Apps launched by Banks Airtel money – AXIS BANK + AIRTEL Asha Home loan – AXIS BANK BOUTIQUE FINANCING SCHEME – State Bank of

India Branch on Wheel – ICICI Bank in Odisha Chillar – HDFC Bank China‘s first online Banking ―webank‖ – Tancet

Holdings DDA Housing Scheme 2014 – HDFC Bank Digital Banking ―POCKET‖ – ICICI Bank Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat –

ICICI Bank eforex – State Bank of India E-KYC – State Bank of India EMI ON DEBIT CARD – ICICI Bank E-Wallet – IRCTC Bank Facebook-based funds transfer platform ―KayPay‖ –

Kotak Mahindra Bank First home grown INDEX ―COMPOSITE INDEX‖ –

State Bank of India I-Mobile app for windows phone – ICICI Bank India‘s first‖ transparent credit card ―in association

with American Express – ICICI Bank ICICI Apathon App – ICICI Bank launches ‗ICICI

Appathon‘, a Mobile App Development Challenge India‘s first credit card exclusively for GOLF LOVERS

– RBL Bank Instant money transfer – Bank of India Instant Money Transfer (IMT) – Bank of India Kisan card – AXIS BANK Maha Millionaire‖, ―Maha Lakhpati‖ – Bank of

Maharashtra M-Pesa – ICICI Bank+Vodafone M-Wallet – Canara Bank State Bank Freedom App – State Bank of India Student Travel Card – ICICI Bank TAB BANKING FACILITY – State Bank of India Tap & pay – ICICI Bank Twitter Handle account – State Bank of India Video conferencing – IndusInd & federal bank Youth for India – State Bank of India First home grown INDEX ―COMPOSITE INDEX‖ –

State Bank of India IMobile app for windows phone – ICICI Bank India‘s first‖ transparent credit card ―in association

with American Express – ICICI Bank India‘s first credit card exclusively for GOLF – RBL

Bank

Instant money transfer – Bank of India Kotak Bharat‘ mobile banking app - Kotak Mahindra

Bank (KMB) ‗Saral Rural Housing Loan‘ Scheme - ICICI Bank Awareness initiative ‗Dhanchayat - HDFC Bank UPI App That Turns Your Smartphone into a Bank for

Easy Transfers – RBI SBI launches ‗State Bank of India No Queue‘ Mobile

App – State Bank of India ICICI Bank launches ‗ICICI Appathon‘, a Mobile App

– ICICI Bank Lakshmi Vilas Bank launches ‗LVB Mobile‘ app –

Laxmi Vilas Bank IMT APP -(Instant Money transfer ) Launched By –

State Bank Of India Ananya Project launched By – Syndicate Bank UcoPay wallet - UCO Bank LIME App - Axis Bank PAYZAPP App - HDFC Bank

List of Union Cabinet Ministers & their Constituency

Cabinet Ministers Portfolio Constituency

Shri Raj Nath Singh

Home Affairs Lucknow, Uttar

Pradesh

Smt. Sushma Swaraj

External Affairs Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

Shri Arun Jaitley Finance &

Corporate Affairs Gujarat Rajaya

Sabha

Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari

Road Transport & Highways

Shipping, Water

Nagpur, Maharashtra



Resources, River Development &

Ganga Rejuvenation

Shri Suresh Prabhu

Commerce & Industry

Andhra Pradesh, Rajya

Sabha

Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda

Statistics & Programme

Implementation

Bangalore North,

Karnataka

Sushri Uma Bharati

Drinking Water & Sanitation

Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh

Shri Ramvilas Paswan

Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution

Hajipuri, Bihar

Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

Women & Child Development

Pilibhit , Uttar Pradesh

Shri Ananthkumar

Chemicals & Fertilizers

Parliamentary Affairs

Bangalore South,

Karnataka

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad

Law & Justice Electronics & Information Technology

Bihar – Rajya Sabha

Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda

Health & Family Welfare

Himachal Pradesh, Rajya

Sabha

Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju

Pusapati Civil Aviation

Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh

Shri Anant Geete Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises

Raigad, Maharashtra

Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Food Processing Industries

Bathinda, Punjab

Shri Narendra Singh Tomar

Rural Development Panchayati Raj

Mines

Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh

Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh

Steel Haryana, Rajya

Sabha

Shri Jual Oram Tribal Affairs Sundargarh,

Odisha

Shri Radha Mohan Singh

Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Purvi Champaran,

Bihar

Shri Thawar Chand Gehlot

Social Justice & Empowerment

Madhya Pradesh, Rajya

Sabha

Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani

Information & Broadcasting and

Textiles

Gujarat, Rajya Sabha

Dr. Harsh Vardhan

Science & Technology

Chandni Chowk, Delhi

Earth Sciences, Environm

ent, Forest & Climate Change

Shri Prakash Javadekar

Human Resource Development

Madhya Pradesh, Rajya

Sabha

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan

Petroleum & Natural Gas

Skill Development &

Entrepreneurship

Deogarh

Shri Piyush Goyal Railways

Coal Maharashtra

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman

Defence Rajya Sabha Karnataka

Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Minority Affairs Jharkhand

Important Sport Evets

Summer Olympics Japan (2020); Paris (2024), Los

Angles (2028)

Winer Olympics Pyeong Chang, South Korea (2018); Beijing China (2022)

Common Wealth Games

Queensland, Australia (2018); London (2022)

Asian Games Indonesia (2018); Hangzohu, China (2022)

FIFA Russia (2018); Qatar (2022)

Common Wealth Youth Games

Brahmas (2017); Belfast (2021)

Common Wealth Weightlifting

Championship

Lima, Peru (2018)

Men Hockey World Cup 2018 (India)

Women Hockey World Cup 2018 (London)

ICC Women Cricket World Cup

2021 (New Zealand)

ICC Men Cricket World Cup

2019 (England); 2023 (India)

FIFA (Women) World Cup 2019 (France) → Dare to Shine

ITTF Table Tennis World Cup

2018 (London)

Quick Facts Related to International Campaign to Abolish

Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) It is a coalition of non-Govt.al organizations in one

hundred countries promoting adherence to & implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty.



ICAN began in Australia & was officially launched in Vienna, Austria in 2007.

ICAN‘s HQ: is in Geneva, Switzerland. Beatrice Fihn is the Executive Director of ICAN.

Venues for the upcoming Tournaments

Hockey World Cup 2018 Venue: 1. Men‘s Hockey World Cup – India 2. Women‘s Hockey World Cup - England

ICC World Cup Cricket Venue:

ODI: (One day International): 1. England - 2019 2. India – 2023 T20 World Cup: 1. Australia - 2020. FIFA (Football) World Cup venue

1. 2018: Russia 2. 2022: Qatar Commonwealth Games venues: 1. 2014 – Glasgow (Scotland). 2. 2018 – Gold Coast (Australia). 3. 2022: Birmingham (England) Olympics Games venues: 1. 2014 winter: Sochi (Russia) 2. 2016 Summer: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 3. 2018 winter: Pyeongchang (South Korea) 4. 2020 summer: Tokyo (Japan) 5. 2022 Winter: Beijing (China) 6. 2024 Summer: Paris (France) Asian Games host cities: 1. 2014: Incheon (South Korea) (Note: 2010 Asain Games

held in Guangzhou, China). 2. 2018: Jakarta, Indonesia 3. 2022: Hangzhou, China

United Nations HQ:

International Organizations HQ:

UNO (United Nations Org) New York

UNICEF New York

UNCTAD Geneva

WHO (World Health Org) Geneva

ILO (International Labour Org) Geneva

WMO (World Meteorological Org) Geneva

World Intellectual Property Org Geneva

International Standards Org. Geneva

IMF Washington DC

World Bank Washington DC

UNESCO Paris

OECD Paris

UNIDO (United Nations Vienna

Industrial Dev. Org)

IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)

Vienna

OPEC Vienna

Amnesty International London

Commonwealth of Nations London

International Maritime Organization

London

ICJ (International Court of Justice) The Hague

Food&Agricultural Organization Rome

NATO Brussels

Transparency International Berlin

SAARC Kathmandu

ASEAN Jakarta

APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Forum)

Singapore

Organization of Islamic Cooperation

Jeddah

Revolutions in the field of agriculture in India:

Black Revolution - Petroleum Production Blue Revolution - Fish Production Brown Revolution - Leather/Non-conventional

(India)/Cocoa production Golden Fiber Revolution - Jute Production Golden Revolution - Fruits/Overall Horticulture

development/Honey Production Green Revolution - Food grains Grey Revolution - Fertilizer Pink Revolution - Onion production/Pharmaceutical

(India)/ Prawn production Red Revolution - Meat & Tomato Production Round Revolution - Potato Silver Fiber Revolution - Cotton Silver Revolution - Egg/Poultry Production White Revolution (In India: Operation Flood) -

Milk/Dairy production Yellow Revolution - Oil Seeds production Evergreen Revolution - Overall development of

Agriculture.

CENSUS 1) The population of the country as per the provisional

figures of Census 2011 is 1210.19 million of which 623.7 million (51.54%) are males&586.46 million (48.46%) are females. The major highlights of the Census 2011 (Provisional figures) are as under: *The population of India has increased by more than 181 million during the decade 2001-2011.

2) %age growth in 2001-2011 is 17.64; males 17.19&females 18.12.



3) *Uttar Pradesh (199.5 million) is the most populous State in the country followed by Maharashtra with 112 million.

Some of the highlights Slogan - Our census, Our Future India's 1st Census - 1872 2011 Census is - 15th Census Total Population - 1,21,01,93,422 India's Rank in population - 2nd with 17.5% (1st China

with 19%) Most Populous State - Uttar Pradesh Least Populous State - Sikkim Most Literate State - Kerala (93.9%) Least Literate State - Bihar (63.82%) National Sex Ratio - Female : Male (940 : 1000) Highest Sex Ratio (State) - Kerala (1084 : 1000) Lowest Sex Ratio (State) - Haryana Highest Sex Ratio (UT) - Puducherry Least Sex Ratio (UT) - Damn & Dayyu (61 : 1000) Literacy of Male - 82.14% Literacy of Female - 65.46% Population Growth Rate - 17.64% Highest fertility Rate - Meghalaya Most literate union territory - Lakshadweep (92.2%) Least literate Union Territory - Dadra Nagar & Haweli Most Literate District - Serechhip (Mizoram) Least Literate District - Dadra Naga & Haveli Highest Density of Population - Bihar (1102 sq.km) Lowest Density of Population - Arunachal Pradesh (17) Total number of districts - 640 Highest Populous District - Thane (Mumbai) 100% Literacy District - Palakkad (Kerala) 100% Banking State - Kerala 100% Banking District - Palakkad (Kerala) Density of Population in India - 382 sq. km Increase in population (during 2001-2011) - 181 million

Who‘s who?

Important National Officials

Designation Name

Chairperson, CBDT Suhsil Chandra

Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

Nand Kumar Sai

Chairperson, UGC V.S Chauhan

Chairman, ISRO AS Kiran Kumar

Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission Shekhar Basu

Chairperson, TRAI Ram Sevak Sharma

Chairperson, NHAI Deepak Kumar

Chairman, National Cadet Corps

Hemant M Nerurkar

Chairperson, Central Board of Secondary

Education

Anita Karwal

Chairperson, IRDAI TS Vijayan

Chairperson, Press Council of India

CK Prasad

Director General, BSF K K Sharma

Director General, SSB Rajni Kant Mishra

Director General, CRPF Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar

Director General, ITBP RK Pachnada

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar resigned

Attorney General KK Venugopal

Chairperson, National Green Tribunal

Justice Swatantra Kumar

Director, NCERT Hrushikesh Senapaty

President, ASSOCHAM Sandeep Jajodia

Chairperson, NASSCOM Raman Roy

Chairman, Press Trust of India

Vivek Goenka

Bureaucrats

Designation Name

National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval

Chairman, Railway Board Ashwani Lohani

Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

Alok Verma

Chief, Intelligence Bureau (IB) Rajiv Jain

Chief, Research&Analysis Wing (RAW)

Anil Dhasmana

Director General, NIA YC Modi

Important Dignitaries

Post Name

Chief Justice, Supreme Court Deepak Misra(45th)

Speaker, Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan

Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha M. Thambidurai

Comptroller&Auditor General of India

Rajiv Mehrishi

Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat

Chairman, Union Public Service Commission

David R. Syiemlieh

Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha PJ Kurien

Important International Officials

Designation Name

Secretary-General, United Nations Organisation

Antonio Guterres

Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

Christine Lagarde

President, World Bank Jim Yong Kim

Director-General, World Trade Organisation

Roberto Azevedo

DG, UNESCO Audrey Azoulay



President, UN General Assembly Miroslav Lajcak

Director-General, WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

President, International Court of Justice

Ronny Abraham

President, Asian Development Bank

Takehiko Nakao

President, International Olympic Committee

Thomas Bach

Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency

Yukiya Amano

Secretary-General, NATO Jens Stoltenberg

Secretary-General, ASEAN Lee Luang Minh

Secretary-General, SAARC Amjad Hussain B Sial

Secretary-General, Commonwealth

Patricia Scotland

President, FIFA Gianni Infantino

Chairman, International Cricket Council

Shashank Manohar

The 12 Major Ports are

Port State

Kolkata West Bengal

Paradip Orissa

Vishakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh

Chennai Tamil Nadu

Ennore Tamil Nadu

Tuticorin Tamil Nadu

Cochin Kerala

New Mangalore Karnataka

Mormugao Goa

Jawaharlal Nehru Maharashtra

Mumbai Maharashtra

Kandla Gujarat

Stock Exchanges around the World

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): HQ in New York City

NASDAQ OMX: HQ in New York City. Tokyo Stock Exchange: HQ in Tokyo London Stock Exchange: HQ in London. Shanghai Stock Exchange: HQ in Shanghai. Hong Kong Stock Exchange: HQ in Hong Kong. Toronto Stock Exchange: HQ in Toronto. BM&F Bovespa: HQ in Sao Paul Australian Securities Exchange: HQ in Sydney Deutsche Börse: HQ in Frankfurt. Taiwan Stock Exchange – HQ in the city of Taipei JSE Limited HQ in Johannesburg, South Africa. American Stock Exchange (AMEX) HQ in New York,

USA

Borsa Italia HQ in Milan, Italy London International Financial Futures&Options

Exchange (LIFFE) HQ in London, Great Britain Montreal Exchange (MSE) HQ in Montreal, Canada Nordic: Baltic market (OMX) HQ in Stockholm, Sweden Bolsa de Madrid (Madrid Stock Exchange) HQ in

Madrid, Spain Afghanistan Stock Exchange HQ in Kabul Chittagong Stock Exchange HQ in Chittagong Royal Securities Exchange of Bhutan HQ inThimphu Maldives Stock Exchange HQ in Malé Nepal Stock Exchange HQ in Kathmandu Sialkot Stock Exchange HQ in Sialkot Colombo Stock Exchange HQ in Colombo

Famous Temples in India

Badrinath Temple: Chamoli district, Uttarakhand The Konark Sun Temple: Puri district of Odisha Brihadeeswara Temple: Thanjavur city of Tamil Nadu Somnath Temple: Saurashtra (Gujarat) Kedarnath Temple: Garhwal area (Uttarakhand) Sanchi Stupa: Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh Ramanathaswamy Temple: Tamil Nadu Vaishno Devi Mandir: J&K, near Katra. Siddhivinayak Temple: Prabha Devi, Mumbai Gangotri Temple: Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand Golden Temple or Sri Harmandir Sahib: Amritsar Kashi Vishwanath Temple: Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) Lord Jagannath Temple: Puri (Orissa) Yamunotri Temple: Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand Meenakshi Temple: Madurai (Tamil Nadu) Amarnath Cave Temple: State of J&K Lingaraja Temple: Orissa Tirupati Balaji: Tirumala (Andhra Pradesh) Kanchipuram Temples: Tamil Nadu Khajuraho Temple: Madhya Pradesh Virupaksha Temple: Hampi, Bellary, Karnataka Akshardham Temple: Delhi Shri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir: Oldest Jain temple in

Delhi Gomateshwara Temple: Shravanabelagola town of

Karnataka Ranakpur Temple: Pali district of Rajasthan Shirdi Sai Baba Temple: Shirdi town of Maharashtra Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple :

Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala Dwarkadhish Temple: Dwarka city (Gujarat) Laxminarayan Temple: In Delhi

IMPORTANT AIRPORTS IN INDIA

Airport City State/UT

Kempegowda International

Bangalore Karnataka



Airport

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International

Airport

Kolkata West Bengal

Rajiv Gandhi International

Airport

Hyderabad Telangana

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International

Airport

Ahmedabad Gujarat

Chaudhary Charan Singh International

Airport

Lucknow Uttar Pradesh

Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi

International Airport

Guwahati Assam

Srinagar Airport Srinagar J&K

Biju Patnaik International

Airport

Bhubaneswar Odisha

Visakhapatnam Airport

Visakhapatnam

Andhra Pradesh

Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport

Indore Madhya Pradesh

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

International Airport

Nagpur Maharashtra

Lok Nayak Jayaprakash

Airport

Patna Bihar

Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International

Airport

Amritsar Punjab

Swami Vivekananda

Airport

Raipur Chhattisgarh

Bagdogra Airport Bagdogra West Bengal

Veer Savarkar International

Airport

Port Blair andaman&Nicobar Islands

Birsa Munda Airport

Ranchi Jharkhand

Maharana Pratap Airport

Udaipur Rajasthan

Raja Bhoj International

Airport

Bhopal Madhya Pradesh

Jolly Grant Airport Dehradun Uttrakhand

Rajahmundry Airport

Rajahmundry Andhra Pradesh

Silchar Airport Silchar Assam

Lengpui Airport Aizwal Mizoram

Zaruki International

Airport

Shillong Meghalaya

Daporijo Airport Daporijo Arunachal Pradesh

Tezu Airport Tezu Arunachal Pradesh

Kandla Airport Kandla Gujarat

Sonari Airport Jamshedpur Jharkhand

Birsa Munda Airport

Ranchi Jharkhand

Agatti Aerodrome Agatti Lakshadweep

BOUNDARY LINES Durand Line: Afghanistan & Pakistan Hindenburg Line: Germany & Poland. Mason-dixon Line: Line of demarcation between four

states in the United States. Mannerheim Line: Russia-Finland border. Macmahon Line: India & China Medicine Line: Canada & the United States. Order-neisse Line: Poland & Germany Radcliffe Line: India & Pakistan. Siegfried Line: Germany on its border with France. 17th Parallel: North Vietnam & South Vietnam 26th Parallel south: Africa, Australia & South America. 30TH PARALLEL Equator & the North Pole. 38th Parallel: Separates North Korea&South Korea. 39th Parallel north is an imaginary circle of latitude that

is 39 degrees north of the Earth‘s equatorial plane. 40th Parallel north: formed the original northern

boundary of the British Colony of Maryland. 42nd Parallel north: New York - Pennsylania Border. The Parallel 440 north is an imaginary circle of latitude

that is 44 degrees north of the Earth‘s equatorial plane. 45th Parallel north is often called the halfway point

between the Equator&the North Pole. 45th parallel makes up most of the boundary between

Montana&Wyoming. 49th Parallel is the boundary between USA&Canada

IMPORTANT DAMS IN INDIA

Dam River State

Tehri Dam Bhagirathi Uttarakhand

Lakhwar Dam Yamuna Uttarakhand

Idukki (Eb)/Idukki Arch Dam

Periyar Kerala

Bhakra Dam Satluj Himachal Pradesh

Pakal Dul Dam Marusudar J&K

Sardar Sarover Gujarat Dam

Narmada Gujarat



Srisailam (N.S.R.S.P) Dam

Krishna Andhra Pradesh

Ranjit Sagar Dam Ravi Punjab

Baglihar Dam CHENAB J&K

Pong Dam Beas Himachal Pradesh

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam

Krishna Telangana

Salal (Rockfill& Concrete) Dam

Chenab J&K

Supa Dam Kali Nadi Karnataka

Koteshwar Dam Bhagirathi Uttarakhand

Rihand Dam Rihand Uttar Pradesh

Indira Sagar (NHDC) Dam

Narmada Madhya Pradesh

Pillur Dam Bhavani Tamil Nadu

Madupetty (Eb) Dam

Palar Kerala

Parbati II Dam Parbati Himachal Pradesh

Chakra Dam Chakra Karnataka

Ukai Dam Tapi Gujarat

CLASSICAL DANCES&FOLK DANCES IN INDIA

Indian Classical Dances

Bharatnatyam: Tamil Nadu & Karnataka Kathak: North India Kathakali: Kerala. Kuchipudi: Andhra Pradesh. Manipuri: Manipur Mohiniattam: Kerala. Odissi: Orissa state. Gaudiya Nritya: West Bengal Sattriya: Assam Ghoomar: Rajasthan Thang Ta: Manipur

Folk dances in India

Gaur dance: Folk dance of Madhya Pradesh Bihu: Folk dance of Assam Dumhal: Popular dance of Kashmir Padayani: Southern Kerala. Dollu Kunitha: Karnataka state. Dandiya: Popular folk dance of Gujarat. Bathukamma: Flower & Cultural Festival of Telangana Changu: Odissa & Andhra Pradesh. Dhaman: Punjab & Andhra Pradesh Gair: Rajasthan Garba: Gujarat Gatka: Punjab Karagam: Tamil Nadu. Raas: Gujarat Dumhal: A folk dance of Kashmir. Chau: Orissa, Bihar & West Bengal

IMPORTANT DAYS Important Days: April

2 April - World Autism Awareness Day 5 April - National Maritime Day

7 April - World Health Day 10 April - World Homoeopathy Day

11 April - National Safe Motherhood Day 18 April - World Heritage Day

22 April - World Earth Day 24 April - National Panchayati Day

25 April - World Malaria Day 26 April - World Intellectual Property Day

29 April - International Dance Day Important Days: May

1 May - International Labours day

Important Days: October First Monday of October-World Habitat Day

5th October- World Teachers Day 9th October- World Post Day

10th October- World Mental Health Day 11th October- International Day of the Girl Child

13th October- International Day for Disaster Reduction 15th October- International Day of Rural Women

16th October- World Food Day 17th October- International Day for Eradication of Poverty

21st October- Police Commemoration Day 24th October- United Nations Day, World Polio Day,

31st October- Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day)



2 May - World Asthma Day 3 May - Press Freedom Day

8 May - World Red Cross Day 11 May - National Technology Day

17 May - International Telecommunication Day 22 May - International Day for Biological Diversity

24 May - Commonwealth Day 31 May - Anti Tobacco Day

Important Days: June

4th June: World Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

5th June: World Environment Day 8 June: World Oceans Day

12 June: World Day Against Child Labor 14th June: World Blood Donor Day

15th June: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 3rd Sunday of June: World Father's Day

21st June: International Yoga Day 23rd June: International Olympic Day

26th June: International Day against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking

Important Days: January

4th Jan: International World Braille Day 9th Jan: NRI Day

10th Jan: World Laughter Day 12th Jan: National youth day (India)

15th Jan: Army Day (India) 24th Jan: National Girl child day (India)

25th Jan: Tourism Day & National Voters Day (India)

Important Days: February

2nd Feb: World Wetlands Day

4th Feb: World Cancer Awareness Day 21st Feb: International Mother Language Day 23th Feb: World Peace & Understanding Day

28th Feb: National Science Day (India)

Important Days: November 9 Nov: World Legal Services Day

10 Nov: World Immunization Day 12 Nov: World Pneumonia Day

16 Nov: International Day for Tolerance 17th Nov: International Students Day

19 Nov: International Journalist‘s Remembrance Day 20th Nov: Universal Children‘s Day

21st Nov: World Television Day, World Fisheries Day 25th Nov: International Day for the Elimination of

Violence against Women 26th Nov: National Law Day (India)

Important Days: December 1st Dec: World Aids Day

2nd Dec: International Day for the Abolition of Slavery 4th Dec: Indian Navy Day

7th Dec: Indian Armed Force Flag Day, International Civil Aviation Day

9th Dec: International Day against Corruption 10th Dec: Human Rights Day

14th Dec: National Energy Conservation Day (India) 18th Dec: International Migrants Day

23rd Dec: Farmers Day (India) 29th Dec: International Biodiversity Day

Important Days: March 8 Mar: International Women‘s Day

15 Mar: World Consumer Rights Day, World Disabled Day

16 Mar: National Vaccination Day World Forestry Day: 21Mar

World Day for Water: 22Mar World TB Day: 24 Mar

Nick Names of Important Indian Places

Nick Names City

Golden City Amritsar

Manchester Of India Ahmedabad

City Of Seven Islands Mumbai

Queen Of Arabian Sea Cochin

Space City Bangalore

Garden City Of India Bangalore

Silicon Valley Of India Bangalore

Electronic City Of India Bangalore

Pink City Jaipur

Gateway Of India Mumbai

Twin City: Hyderabad, Secunderabad

City Of Festivals Madurai

Deccan Queen Pune

City Of Buildings Kolkata

Dakshin Ganga Godavari

Old Ganga Godavari

Egg Bowls Of Asia Andhra Pradesh

Soya Region Madhya Pradesh

Manchester Of The South Coimbatore

City Of Nawabs Lucknow

Venice Of The East Cochin

Sorrow Of Bengal Damodar River

Sorrow Of Bihar Kosi River



Blue Mountains Nilgiri

Queen Of The Mountains Mussoorie (Uttarakhand)

Sacred River Ganga

Hollywood Of India Mumbai

City Of Castles Kolkata

State Of Five Rivers Punjab

City Of Weavers Panipat

City Of Lakes Srinagar

Steel City Of India Jamshedpur (Called Tatanagar)

City Of Temples Varanasi

Manchester Of The North Kanpur

City Of Rallies New Delhi

Heaven Of India J&K

Boston Of India Ahmedabad

Garden Of Spices Of India Kerala

Switzerland Of India Kashmir

Abode Of The God Prayag(Allahabad)

Pittsburg Of India Jamshedpur

Important Defence Exercise Conducted in the World

Garuda: India-France HAND-HAND: India-China Indra: India-Russia Jimex: India-Japan Malbar: Us-India-Japan Shade: Naval Forces Of India, Japan&China Surya Kiran: India&Nepal Varuna: France&India Simbex: Indian Navy With Republic Of Singapore

Navy Ibsamar: India with Brazil&South African Navy Konkan: Indian Navy&Royal Navy Of Britain Ausindex: Indian&Australian Navy Indradhanush Or Rainbow: India-Uk Air Exercises Nomadic Elephant: Indian Army Exercises with

Mongolia Ekuverin: Maldives&India Garuda Shakti: India&Indonesia Mitra Shakti: India-Sri Lanka Naseem Al-Bahr: India-Oman

SLINEX: Joint exercise in Navy between India&Sri Lanka

Sahyog-Kaijin -Joint exercise of Coast Guards of India&Japan

Malabar: India&US Yudh Abhyas: India&US Red flag: India&US Cope: India&US SAMPRITI – India&Bangladesh

Stadiums Around the World

Stadiums in Australia

Adelaide Oval- Adelaide Bundaberg Rum Stadium- Cairns Telstra Dome- Melbourne Manuka Oval- Canberra Marrara Cricket Ground- Darwin Melbourne Cricket Ground- Melbourne Sydney Cricket Ground- Sydney W.A.C.A. Ground- Perth

Stadiums in Bangladesh

Bangabandhu National Stadium- Dhaka Chittagong Stadium- Chittagong

Stadiums in England

Edgbaston- Birmingham Headingley- Leeds Lord's- London Old Trafford- Manchester Sophia Gardens- Cardiff St Lawrence Ground- Canterbury The Brit Oval- London Trent Bridge- Nottingham

Stadiums in India

Barabati Stadium -Cuttack Barkatullah Khan Stadium -Jodhpur Barsapara Cricket Stadium: Guwahati Greenfield International Stadium:

Thiruvananthapuram Brabourne Stadium -Mumbai Eden Gardens -Kolkata Feroz Shah Kotla -Delhi Gandhi Stadium -Jalandhar Green Park -Kanpur Indira Gandhi Stadium -Vijayawada Rajiv Gandhi Port Silver Jubilee Stadium -

Visakhapatnam Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium -New Delhi Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium -Hyderabad M.Chinnaswamy Stadium -Bangalore MA Chidambaram Stadium -Chennai Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground -Rajkot



Moin-ul-Haq Stadium -Patna Sardar Vallabhai Patel Motera Stadium -Ahmedabad Sawai Mansingh Stadium -Jaipur Vidarbha CA Ground -Nagpur Wankhede Stadium –Mumbai Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium: Kochi (Kerala) Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Cricket Stadium: Guwahati

(Assam) Dhyan Chand National Stadium: Delhi

Stadiums in New Zealand

Basin Reserve-Wellington Eden Park-Auckland Jade Stadium-Christchurch John Davies Oval-Queenstown McLean Park-Napier

Stadiums in Pakistan

Arbab Niaz Stadium-Peshawar Ayub National Stadium-Quetta Gaddafi Stadium-Lahore

Stadiums in South Africa

Kingsmead-Durban New Wanderers Stadium-Johannesburg Newlands-Cape Town St George's Park-Port Elizabeth Centurion Super Sport Park-Pretoria

Stadium in Sri Lanka

Colombo Cricket Club Ground-Colombo Galle International Stadium-Galle P.Saravanamuttu Stadium-Colombo R.Premadasa Stadium-Colombo Sinhalese Sports Club Ground-Colombo

Stadiums in West Indies

Sabina Park Kingston-Jamaica Antigua Recreation Ground St John's-Antigua Guyana Cricket Stadium Georgetown-Guyana Kensington Oval Bridgetown-Barbados Mindoo Phillip Park Castries-St Lucia Albion Sports Complex Berbice-Guyana

Stadiums in Zimbabwe

Bulawayo Athletic Club-Bulawayo Harare Sports Club-Harare Kwekwe Sports Club-Kwekwe Queens Sports Club-Bulawayo

Stadiums in United Arab Emirates

Sheikh Zayed Stadium-Abu Dhabi Sharjah Cricket Stadium-Sharjah

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