NICL AO & CLERICAL POWER SHOTA new monetary policy framework agreement with the Reserve Bank of...

NICL AO & CLERICAL POWER SHOT IMPORTANT FINANCIAL NEWS OTHER FINANCIAL NEWS SPORTS OTHER NEWS RAIL BUDGET UNION BUDGET ECONOMIC SURVEY DEMISE OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES COMMITTEES COUNTRIES, CAPITALS AND THEIR CURRENCIES CABINET MINISTERS OF INDIA 2015

CENSUS SURVEY 2011: HIGHLIGHTS OTHER STUDY MATERIAL

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A POWER SHOT FOR NICL AO & Assistant EXAM

Part A: Important Financial News

A new monetary policy framework agreement with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to keep inflation below 6%:

o Target set is inflation below 6% by January 2016. o For FY 2016-17 and after that 4% with a band of +/- 2% o Once every six months, RBI shall publish a document explaining

source of inflation and forecast inflation for next 6-18 months. o RBI shall be seen to have failed if inflation is more that 6% or less that

2% for three consecutive quarters.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its monetary policy review enhanced the limit under Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) to $250,000 per person per year.

Month/Year Limit under LRS

Current limit (FEB 2015) $250,000

June 2014 $125,000

2013 $75,000

Rates:

Repo Rate 7.50

Reverse Repo Rate 6..50

CRR 4

SLR 21.5

Marginal Standing Facility Rate 8.50

e-Biz platform to be used to report the inflow of FDI by the companies. The Reserve Bank of India, under the aegis of the e-Biz project of the Government of India has enabled the filing of the returns with the Reserve Bank of India

RBI has made mandatory for all NBFCs, banks to become a member of at least one Credit Information Company (CIC) and provide credit data in the prescribed format to CIC.

Presently, four CICs have been granted Certificate of Registration by RBI. They are

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i. Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited, ii. Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited,

iii. Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Limited and iv. CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Private Limited

Foreign investment in India by Foreign Portfolio Investors: FPIs shall be permitted to invest in government securities, the coupons received on their existing investments in government securities. These investments shall be kept outside the applicable limit (currently USD 30 billion) for investments by FPIs in government securities.

Export and import of currency: With a view to mitigating the hardship of individuals visiting from India to Nepal or Bhutan, it has now been decided that, an individual may carry to Nepal or Bhutan, currency notes of Reserve Bank of India denominations above Rs.100/-, i.e. currency notes of Rs.500/- and/or Rs.1000/- denominations, subject to a limit of Rs.25000/-

Date of exchanging the pre 2005 notes has been extended to 30.06.2015.

Extension of RTGS time Window as below:

Introduction of Digital Life Certificates for Pensioners: the Government of

India has since launched “Jeevan Pramaan”, a digital life certificate based on Aadhaar Biometric Authentication.

Guidilines for White Label ATM issued by Government of India: i. allow WLAs to accept international credit/debit/prepaid cards.

ii. permit the facility of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) for the use of international cards at WLAs




Reserve Bank of India has estimated the Current Account Deficit (CAD) for 2014-15 at 1.30 percent of the GDP on 3rd Feb’15

Reserve Bank of India permits banks to act as insurance brokers Seeking to increase insurance penetration in the country, the Reserve Bank today allowed banks to act as brokers for insurers, set up their own subsidiaries and also undertake referral services for multiple companies. "Banks may undertake insurance agency or broking business departmentally and/or through subsidiary..." RBI said in the guidelines for entry of banks into insurance business. The banks have also been allowed to set up subsidiaries and joint venture companies for undertaking insurance business with risk participation, it said.

Part B: Other Financial News

Entry of Banks into Insurance Business –Insurance Broking Business: IRDA has formulated and notified the IRDA (Licensing of Banks as Insurance Brokers) Regulations, 2013 to enable banks to take up the business of insurance broking departmentally. Banks desirous of offering insurance broking services should seek specific prior approval of Reserve Bank of India.

Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) ties up with SBI Cards: Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) and SBI Cards have joined hands for roll-out of credit cards to customers of India’s first women-focused commercial bank. This will be the first instance of a public sector bank promoting a white-label credit card issued by SBI Cards.

ICICI Bank, India‟s largest private sector bank, on Tuesday launched first digital Bank in the country, “Pockets‟, on a mobile phone.

For violating regulatory norms, IRDA imposed penalty on Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Ltd and Anand Rathi Insurance Brokers.

Year 2014-15 - Crop Loan (upto Rs.3 lacs) @7% p.a. to farmers GoI Scheme for 2% int. subvention to banks and 3% int. subvention as incentive to farmers for prompt repayment of crop loans

The State Bank of India (SBI) on 9 December 2014 launched two indices namely the SBI Monthly Composite Index and the SBI Yearly Composite Index. These indices will primarily track manufacturing and services activity to determine contraction and expansion of the Indian economy.

RBI imposed monetary penalty on ICICI bank and Bank of Baroda for violation of its instructions regarding norms on KYC and AML.




Jeevandas Narayan Takes Over as MD of SBT: Jeevandas Narayan has taken over as the managing director of State Bank of Travancore (SBT).

Information stealing virus detected in online banking space: The virus named "Dexter, black POS, memory dump and grabber" can acquire seven aliases when infecting a system and once it is successful in breaching the security protocols of a POS terminal, it steals confidential data like card holder's name, account number, expiration date, CVV code and other discretionary information which could lead to financially compromising and phishing attacks on the card at a later stage.

ICICI Bank launches 'digital village' project, adopts Gujarat village This village, named Akodara was adopted to provide services ranging from cashless banking to digitize school teaching.

ICICI Bank launches banking services on Twitter

11.50 cr. bank accounts opened under Jan Dhan Yojana by Jan 17

SBI signs 100 million euro loan pact with EIB(European Investment Bank) to support SMEs

Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla, Future Group and Vakrangee Ltd apply for payments bank licences

RIL in JV pact with SBI for payment bank

ICICI Bank launches India's first digital bank ‘Pockets’ ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, on Tuesday launched first digital Bank in the country, “Pockets’, on a mobile phone.

PSU banks, unions settle on 15% wage hike; strikes to be called off

ADB signs $400 mn loan pacts ADB signs $400 mln loan pact with India to upgrade district roads in Madhya Pradesh and to support improvements to power transmission and distribution systems in Assam.

RBS to shut down operations in India, 24 other countries

Lok Sabha clears insurance bill to raise FDI ceiling to 49% The Lok Sabha passed the long-pending insurance bill that proposes to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) ceiling in the sector to 49% from 26%, a key economic reform that the government said was crucial for improving insurance penetration in the country.

RBI eases norms for home loans for up to Rs10 lakh

IMF ups India growth forecast to 7.2% for current fiscal and 7.5% in the next fiscal year 2015-16.




Five sick PSUs which includes Air India, MTNL, Hindustan Shipyard and HMT to be closed down in the list of 65 Sick PSUs

India’s trade deficit narrowed to a 17-month low of $6.85 billion in February

The government has slashed import tariff value on gold to $375 per 10 grams and silver to $512 per kg following weak global price trends.

Indian economy to grow 7.7% in FY15, says OECD

Cabinet approves Bill to unearth black money The Union Cabinet on Tuesday cleared a stringent law proposed in the budget to curb black money, and also decided to sign the financial information sharing pack with the US that will help trace illegal wealth. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCA that makes it mandatory for foreign financial institutions to report accounts of US citizens held with them and also accounts of certain foreign entities with substantial US owners.

Part C: Sports in News

1. Australian Open Results:

Winner Defeated

Men’s Singles Novak Djokovic Andy Murray

Women’s Singles Serena Williams Maria Sharapova

Men’s Doubles Simone Boleli&

Fabio Fogini

(Italian Pair)

Pierre-Hugues Herbert&

Nicolas Mahut

(French Pair)

Women’s

Doubles Bethanie Mattek-Sands

(the US) and Lucie

Safarova (Czech

Republic)

Zheng Jie (China) and Chan

Yung-jan (Taiwan)

Mixed Doubles Leander Paes (India) andMartina Hingis (Switzerland)

Daniel Nestor (Canada) and Kristina Mladenovic (France)

2. Paul van Ass appointed as coach of National Men’s Hockey team

3. ICC lifted the five-year ban imposed on Pakistan’s fast bowler Mohammad

Amir

4. India to host ICC Twenty20 World Cup in 2016

5. Sean Abbott of Australia named as the Bradman Young Cricketer of the

Year 2015




6. Stephen Constantine appointed as head coach of India's men football team

7. Next FIFA world cup for football to be held in Russia in 2018.

8. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will be hosted by England and Wales

9. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is scheduled to be hosted by India.

10. Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or Award

11. Australia won 4-match Border-Gavaskar Test series, 2-0

12. India to host World Bridge Championships 2015

13. S Shrikrishna won his maiden National Sub-Junior Billiards title 2015

14. Andy Murray won ATP World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi

15. The Indian men’s Kabaddi team and women’s Kabaddi team won Kabaddi

World Cup title, by defeating Pakistan and New Zealand, respectively

16. The International Boxing Association on 17 December 2014 banned

Laishram Sarita Devi for one year for not accepting her bronze medal at

Asian Games 2014 medal ceremony

17. Name of mascots of the 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympics Games were

revealed. They have been named as Vinicius and Tom

18. Viswanathan Anand defeated British Grandmaster Michael Adams to win

his maiden London Classic title.

19. Germany won the 2014 Champions Trophy of Hockey after defeating

Pakistan by 2-0 margin at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha

20. Indian Blind Cricket team defeated Pakistan to win the fourth edition of the

Blind Cricket World Cup (BCWC) in Cape Town, South Africa

21. Mascot for the 2016 European football championship named Super Victor

22. Switzerland won its first Davis Cup Tennis title after defeating France by

securing three-one lead at Lille Stade Pierre Mauroy.

23. Magnus Carlsen of Norway on 23 November 2014 won FIDE World Chess

Championship 2014 played at Sochi, Russia.He defeated Viswanathan

Anand of India with a score of 6.5 – 4.5.




24. Indian Women pugilists Sarjubala Devi and Saweety won Silver medals in

the 8th World Women's Boxing Championships, in Jeju, South Korea.

25. Lewis Hamilton won Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to become the F1 World

champion for second time

26. Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won women’s and men’s singles title

of the China Open Super Series Premier of Badminton.

27. Angelo Mathews was named as captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year

2014 by a panel chaired by Anil Kumble. Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 5

November 2014 was named as the captain of ICC OCI Team of the Year

2014.

28. Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh entered Bradman Hall of Fame at a

gala dinner held at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground.

29. Cristiano Ronaldo was presented with 2013-14 European Golden Boot

award. He shared the prize with Luis Suarez, having scored 31 times

30. Pankaj Advani won the World Billiards Point Format Championship by

defeating Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist, 6-2 at Leeds, United Kingdom

31. Paralympic Games to be held in India in February 2015

32. MC Mary Kom was chosen as Most Valuable Player of India’s Incheon

Asian Games campaign by contingent sponsors Samsung India.

33. Sydney international Tennis Tournament

Winner Defeated

Women’s Singles Petro Kvitova

(Czech Republic)

Karolina Pliskova

(Czech Republic)

Women’s

Doubles

Sania Mirza and

Bethanie Mattek-

Sands(US)

Abigail Spears(US) and Raquel

Kops-Jones(US)

34. International hockey Federation player of the year 2014 awarded to Mark

Knowles and Ellen Hoog in men and women category, respectively.

35. Brisbane International Tennis Tournament

Winner Defeated

Men’s Singles Roger Federer Milos Raonic

Women’s Singles Maria Sharapova Ana Ivanovic




Men’s Doubles James Murray and John

Peers

Alexandr Dolgopolov and Kei

Nishikori

Women’s Doubles Martina Hingis and

Sabine Lisicki

Caroline Garcia and Katarina

Srebotnik

36. Dominant Wawrinka wins third Chennai Open title

37. An aggressive Stanislas Wawrinka won his third Chennai Open title on

Sunday beating qualifier Aljaz Bedene in the final.

38. Indian swimmer Bhakti Sharma set world record

A record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes at a temperature of 1 degree Celsius in

the Antarctic Ocean, on January 14, 2015.

39. Pankaj Advani trounces Sitwala to annex National Billiards title

40. South Africa's AB De Villiers hits the fastest ton

South Africa's captain AB De Villiers scored fastest One Day International Hundred

of just 31 balls in the 2nd ODI against West Indies.

He broke the record of New Zealand batsman Corey Anderson who took 36 balls to

complete his century.He also equalled Rohit Sharma's record of hitting most sixes.

i.e.16 sixes.

41. Those with stakes in IPL cannot fight BCCI polls: Supreme Court

This means that N. Srinivasan, who is the Managing Director of India Cements, the

company which owns the Chennai Super Kings, has to shed his equity in the CSK to

be eligible to contest the BCCI elections.

42. Saina beats World Champ, retains Syed Modi crown

43. Hockey Olympian Jaswant Singh Rajput passes away

44. Anil Kumble to be inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

He thus became the 77th member. He is the fourth India cricketer to be inducted into

the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame after fellow former captains Bishen Bedi, Kapil Dev

and Sunil Gavaskar.

45. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Ranchi Rays win Hockey India League 3 crown

on debut.




46. AB De Villiers at his best:

Hits fastest ODI 150 in World Cup. It is the fastest ever 150 in one-day

internationals.

De Villiers took 64 deliveries to reach 150, beating the previous best,

set by Australia's Shane Watson

47. Roger Federer beats Novak Djokovic to win Dubai title

48. Martin Crowe inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

49. Jagmohan Dalmiya becomes BCCI president

50. All England Badminton Championship: Saina Nehwal loses to Carolina

Marin

51. Indian women beat Poland 3-1 to win Hockey World League Round 2

52. Kidambi Srikanth wins Swiss Open title

Part D: Other Important News

1. Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor gets Cabinet nod: Spinning off a massive infrastructure and manufacturing zone, the Union Cabinet on Monday approved setting up of the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) and formation of the AKIC Development Corporation (AKICDC).

2. Number of jobless globally crosses 200 million: ILO report: Global unemployment rose by 5 million last year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said. Some 202 million people, or 6 per cent of the world’s working-age population, were without a job last year.

3. Richard Rahul Verma sworn in as US Ambassador to India He is the first ever Indian-American to be the top US diplomat in New Delhi. He will replace Nancy Powell, who resigned in March.

4. Barack Obama is to be the Chief Guest on Republic Day: US President Barack Obama will arrive in late January to attend the Republic Day Parade on January 26 as the Chief Guest.

5. Mittal appointed Railway Board Chairman




A.K. Mittal was appointed as the new Chairman of Railway Board succeeding Arunendra Kumar

6. 102nd Indian Science Congress held in Mumbai The 102nd session of Indian Science Congress at Mumbai University and started from 03.01.2015.It was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

7. Planning Commission is now 'Niti Aayog': It will be responsible for formulating what the government described as "a Bharatiya approach to development". The new organisation - NITI stands for National Institution for Transforming India will be headed by the prime minister and comprise a vice-chairperson.




8. Five new countries join UNSC as non permanent members Five new countries joined the U.N. Security Council as non-permanent members, while Chile assumed the rotating presidency for January. With the start of a new year, five new countries — Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Spain — have begun their two-year term, replacing Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, South Korea and Rwanda, Xinhua reported.

9. Kiran Vadodaria elected INS president Kiran B. Vadodaria of Sambhaav Metro was elected president of Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for 2014-15 at its 75th annual general meeting on Friday.

10. Scientist Vasant Gowarikar passes away Space veteran and eminent scientist Vasant Gowarikar passed away. Check our blog to keep yourselves updated with articles helpful for all banking and finance related Exams on http://www.examsfunda.in/blog

11. Photo journalist Virendra Prabhakar passes away Well known photo journalist Virendra Prabhakar passed away this morning after suffering cardiac arrest. He was 84.He was awarded Padmashree in 1982 for his contribution to photography. He was named in Limca Book of Records as the “longest spell working Press Photo Journalist”. He had 14,458 published news photos in his entire career.

12. Columbia Economist Arvind Panagariya To Run PM Modi's Policy Panel Eminent free market economist Arvind Panagariya, an Indian-born economics, has been appointed to run Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new Policy Commission



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13. Sutirtha Bhattacharya takes charge as Coal India CMD Sutirtha Bhattacharya on Monday took charge as Coal India's full-time chairman and managing director

14. Keshari Nath Tripathi sworn in Meghalaya Governor

15. Centre gives nod to set up Rs 1,500Cr underground neutrino lab in Theni India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) in Theni district at an estimated cost of Rs 1,500 crore will be established.

16. President Pranab Mukherjee inks law to alter Citizenship Act to give life long visa to PIO

17. Atul Khare is U.N. Under-Secretary-General

18. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas commences in Gandhinagar

19. Maithripala Sirisena trounces Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka's historic

elections

20. Sindhushree Khullar named Niti Aayog CEO Please note that the govt. appointed noted economist Arvind Panagariya as Niti Aayog’s Vice-Chairman. Mr. Modi is the Niti Aayog’s Chairman.

21. Vistara takes to the skies Vistara, the new airline of Tata SIA Airlines, on Friday, commenced commercial operations.





22. NRIs can vote through postal ballots

The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the EC’s recommendation to extend voting rights to NRIs through postal ballots have been accepted in letter and spirit.

23. Government appoints Kiran Kumar Alur Seelin as ISRO chairman The government has appointed Kiran Kumar Alur Seelin, a key figure behind Mangalyaan.

24. India’s November industrial output up 3.8 per cent

Industrial activity, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), registered a healthy growth of 3.8 percent during November from a deceleration of 1.3 percent during the corresponding month of 2013. Month wise IIP data for last from August is as below:

25. List of Golden Globe Winners:-

Picture, Drama: "Boyhood."

Actor, Drama: Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

Actress, Drama: Julianne Moore, "Still Alice."

Director: Richard Linklater, "Boyhood.”

Foreign Language: "Leviathan."

Animated Film: "How to Train Your Dragon 2."

26. Amitabh Bachchan gets Social Media Person of the Year award

27. Govt sacks DRDO chief and architect of Agni missile Avinash Chander

28. GDP Growth India

Year Institution Rate

2014-15 World Bank 5.6



2014-15 UNESCA 5.9

2015-16 UNESCA 6.3

2014-15 Nomura 5.5

November 2014 3.8%

October 2014 4.2%

September 2014 2.5%

August 2014 0.4%




2015-16 Nomura 6.6

2014-15 RBI 5.5

2014-15 IMF 5.6

2014-15 ADB 5.5

2014-15 FICCI 5.6

2014-15 UNCTAD 5.5

29. India’s Rank

Report by Name Rank

World Economic Forum Gender-gap Index 101

World Economic Forum global competitiveness list 71

World Bank Ease of Doing Business 142

International Food policy

research institute

Global Hunger Index 2014 55

Institute for Economics and

peace

Global Peace Index 143

Global Environment Performance

Index

155

Reporters Without Borders

(RWB) World Press freedom index 140

Transparency International Global Corruption Index 94

Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 85

UNDP Human Development Index 135

Global Competitiveness Index 71

UNCTAD FDI destination ranking 4

30. FDI Limits

Sectors Limit

Defence 49% from 26%

Insurance 49% from 26%

Pension 49

Tourism 100

Single Brand retail 100

Multi Brand 51

Pvt sector Banks 74

Public sector Banks 20

Print Media 26




31. Nobel Peace Prize

32. World GDP Forecast

UNESCA 2014-15 3.10

UNESCA 2015-16 3.30

OECD 2014-15 3.3

OECD 2015-16 3.7

OECD 2016-17 3.9

33. Madhya Pradesh will celebrate 2015 as Tourism Year

34. Madhya Pradesh now fastest growing state, Uttarakhand pips Bihar to reach second

35. H S Brahma to be India's next Chief Election Commissioner After J M Lyndogh, Brahma will become the second officer from the northeast to be appointed to this post.

36. Hindi litterateur Kamal Kishore Goyanka selected for prestigious Vyas Samman award

Kamal Kishore Goyanka has been selected for the prestigious Vyas Samman for 2014 for his book 'Premchand Kee Kahaniyo Kaa Kaalkramanusar'




37. India’s Mars Orbiter team wins US award India’s Mars Orbiter programme team has won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the science and engineering category from the US based National Space Society (NSS), the society said.

38. Former CBI chief Shri A.P. Singh resigns as UPSC Member

39. Leela Samson, Ira Bhaskar and many other censor board member quits Central Board of Film Certification chairperson Leela Samson’s resignation over the film Messenger of God

40. HAL chief Shr R.K.Tyagii gets ‘best CEO’ award R.K. Tyagi, Chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd

41. Parrikar hands over LAC SP-1 to Air Force Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar handed over Indian Air Force first series production of Light Combat Aircraft (LAC) to Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, in the presence of Chairman of HAL, R.K. Tyagi.

42. India’s foreign reserves up $322 bln approx. in January

43. Pahlaj Nihalani appointed new Censor Board chairperson

44. India to beat China in growth in 2016: IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected India to grow at 6.5 per cent in 2016, overtaking China whose growth was forecast to slow down to 6.3 per cent.





45. EU lifts ban on Indian mangoes

46. World's top-selling automaker is Toyota Toyota Motor Corp warded off Volkswagen AG to remain the world's top-selling automaker for a third consecutive year, driven by record US deliveries of its SUVs.

47. Jaipur Literature Festival Begins With a Soulful Hymn The highlight of the festival will be Sir VS Naipaul commemorating fifty years of his seminal book on post colonial literature "A House for Mr Biswas".

48. PM Modi launches `Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' rally in Haryana The campaign has been launched from Haryana as the state has the worst sex ratio (number of females per 1,000 males) and child sex ratio in the country. Out of the 100 worst districts in India for sex ratio, Haryana accounts for 12 districts. Haryana's sex ratio stands at just 879 females per 1,000 males.

49. Queen Elizabeth II is now world’s oldest monarch Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is now the world’s oldest monarch following the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

50. NASA releases 100 millionth image of the Sun




51. ECB launches 1 trillion euro rescue plan to revive euro economy

52. In a first, woman officer leads Guard of Honour at Rashtrapathi Bhavan Wing Commander Pooja Thakur became the first woman to lead the ceremonial Guard of Honour which was inspected by the U.S. President Barack Obama at Rashtrapathi Bhavan on Sunday.

53. Arundhathi Subramaniam wins poetry prize Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam on Saturday won the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry for her work When God is a Traveller.




54. India, US achieve major breakthrough in N-deal as Obama waives off conditionalities

55. India, U.S. sign three MoUs on smart cities The U.S. has agreed to partner with Indian in developing three smart cities in Allahabad, Ajmer, and Visakhapatnam.

56. Five firsts at Republic Day 2015

i. All-women contingents of the Army, Navy and Air Force march through Rajpath for the first time

ii. The first time that a U.S. President is Chief Guest for the parade iii. The President and the chief guest arrived in different motorcades, a

departure from the standard practice of arriving together iv. CRPF shows off Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) used in

anti-Naxal operation. v. The long-range advanced MiG-29K fighter jet on display

57. Greece election: Anti-austerity SYRIZA storms to historic victory

58. Miss Colombia Paulina Vega beats Miss USA, crowned Miss Universe 2014




59. R.K. Laxman passes away Eminent cartoonist and creator of the ‘Common Man’, R.K. Laxman, passed away at the Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital in Pune on Monday evening. He was 93.

Mr. Laxman, battling a severe urinary tract infection and kidney failure, was put back on mechanical ventilator support after his health took a turn for the worse, becoming “very critical” since Sunday evening. Incidentally, he was taken off the ventilator last week after his health showed marginal but steady improvement, sparking hopes of a possible recovery.

60. Govt to sell up to 10% of Coal India on 30.01.2015

61. Kalyan Singh takes over as Himachal Governor

62. S. Jaishankar takes charge as foreign secretary

63. Shekhar Sen named chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi

64. Charles Townes, Creator of Laser, Dies at 99

65. Subhash Ghisingh who spearheaded the Gorkhaland movement passes away




66. Manav, India’s first 3D-printed humanoid robot

Built with 21 sensors, two cameras in its eye sockets and two mikes on either side of its head, Manav is India’s first 3D (three-dimensional) printed humanoid robot.

Weighing 2kg, Manav—which means man in Sanskrit—has in-built vision and sound processing capability, allowing it to talk and act exactly like a human. It was completed two weeks ago and made a debut at the recently-concluded Techfest 2014-15 at IIT Bombay (IIT-B).

67. Taiwan plane crashes into river after take-off, killing 23 A TransAsia Airways (6702.TW) plane with 58 passengers and crew on board careered into a river shortly after taking off from a downtown Taipei airport on Wednesday, killing 23 people and leaving 20 missing, officials said.

68. UNCTAD report: China overtakes US as the top foreign investment destination

69. Forex reserves jump to record high of $327.88 billion




70. Samsung loses pole position in India smartphone market to Micromax - Canalys

71. Alibaba dials into India mobile payments with PAYTM stake

72. Zoe Konstantopoulou, Youngest President of Greek Parliament with Record 235 Votes

73. Dr M O Garg takes charge as director general of CSIR

Dr M O Garg - director, CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP), Dehradun - has assumed charge as the director general of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) on February 5, 2015.

74. Maiden flight by 2nd prototype of LCA Tejas' naval variant

The second prototype of naval variant of light combat aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas' today undertook its successful maiden flight with arrested landing and ski-jump take off.

75. Indian Anirban Lahiri wins European Tour title in Malaysia

76. Grammy 2015: India's Ricky Kej's album ‘Winds Of Samsara’ wins award India-based Ricky Kej's collaborated album ‘Winds Of Samsara’ won the Best New Age Album trophy at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles. Another Indian artist to make it big at the awards this year was Neela Vaswani. She won the trophy in the Best Children's Album category for ‘I Am Malala: How One Girl




Stood Up For Education And Changed The World (Malala Yousafzai)’. Vaswani narrated the audio version of the book.

77. AAP routs BJP, Congress in Delhi elections Delhi election results showed that the AAP has won 67 seats—a win percentage of more than 90, a feat achieved only twice before in Sikkim and Bihar.

78. India fastest growing economy The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Monday that India is set to grow 7.4 per cent and cross the $2.1-trillion mark this year against 6.9 per cent in 2013-14. India grew 7.5 per cent in the October-December quarter, according to the estimates released, overtaking China’s 7.3 per cent growth in the same quarter, to become the fastest growing major economy in the world.

79. Amartya Sen Awarded Inaugural John Maynard Keynes Prize The inaugural Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize has been awarded to noted economist and Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen.

80. Facebook rings Reliance Communications for free data access The partners on Tuesday launched Internet.org, a Facebook-led initiative to bring internet to everyone in the world.

81. BAFTA Awards 2015 The 68th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held at the Royal Opera House in London. Major categories award winners are as follows:

Best Film: Boyhood

Outstanding British Film: The Theory of Everything.

Best Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood).

Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything).

Best Actress: Julianne Moore (Still Alice).

Best Film Not in the English Language: Ida.

82. Make in India: Govt receives proposals worth Rs21,000 crore




83. Apple becomes first U.S. company in history with $700B market cap after

shares close at record high

84. Reliance Power to develop solar projects for Rajasthan, India, totalling 6,000MW

85. Unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched from Florida

It was carrying unmanned Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite. This satellite will be used by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to monitor the Sun.

86. Telugu novelist and medical doctor, Kesava Reddy dies His novel Athadu Adavini Jayinchadu (He Conquered Forest) which was published in `80s, was well received by the people and probably the best among his works.

87. BrahMos missile successfully test-fired from INS Kolkata

88. Arvind Kejriwal becomes 8th Delhi CM, says must act strongly against any act of religious hate

89. MCX appoints Balasubramaniam Venkataramani as MD & CEO

90. Former Maharashtra home minister RR Patil passes away

91. India, SriLanka ink civil nuclear pact, agree to expand defence ties

92. WPI inflation turns negative in January on fuel price drop

India’s wholesale inflation turned negative in January, mainly on account of a sharp fall in fuel prices. Inflation based on the wholesale price index fell 0.39% in January from a year earlier. Prices had gained 0.1% in December.

93. PM Narendra Modi inaugurates RE-Invest 2015, the first Renewable Energy Global Investors' Meet and Expo

94. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar chosen for Nayudamma award

World renowned astrophysics scientist and cosmologist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar will be given away the Dr. Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award for the year 2013 at a function to be held at Tenali on March 1.




95. 3 Indians in 100 shortlisted for one way trip to Mars

The Indian candidates include 29-year-old Taranjeet Singh Bhatia, who is studying Doctorate in Computer Science at the University of Central Florida. The other two are Ritika Singh, 29, who lives in Dubai, and Shradha Prasad, 19, from Kerala.

96. NTPC to build $10 billion-worth green energy projects State-run power generator NTPC will invest Rs.60,000 crore ($10 billion) for setting up renewable energy projects in the next five years, the company announced Tuesday

97. Infosys acquires automation tech firm Panaya for $200 million

98. Delhi airport ranked best by Airport Council International, Mumbai's in top five

99. Croatia's First Woman President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic Sworn in

100. 10th Aero India show begins in Bengaluru

101. Dadasaheb Phalke Award-winning filmmaker Daggubati Ramanaidu

passes away at 79

102. PM launches soil health card scheme It benefit 145 million farm owners. The budget allotted Rs.100 crore for issuing cards and an additional Rs.56 crore to set up 100 mobile soil testing laboratories across the country.




103. Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi resigned. The resignation was

given to Bihar Governor Brajesh Mehrotra.

104. "Delhi Declaration of Friendship" a bilateral dialogue on the UN and multilateral issues was held between US and India

105. Union Government launches single window e-biz portal. The

services available on the portal, www.ebiz.gov.in

106. Tapan Misra new head of ISRO application centre. He succeeded A.S. Kiran Kumar.

107. Nuclear-tipped Prithvi-II successfully test fired from Integrated Test

Range (ITR), Chandipur, off Odisha coast.

108. Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar Chief Minister for 4th time

109. CPI leader Govind Pansare succumbs to injuries

110. International Mother Language Day : 21st February

111. Maldives ex-prez Mohamed Nasheed arrested on terror charges

112. ‘Science Cities’ to be set up in six zones across the country

‘Science City’ would cater to scientific institutions/ labs located in different States in that particular zone. The ‘Science City’ would have the required infrastructure and other facilities, including a convention centre, high-end research laboratories and hotels. It would cater to scientific institutions of States covered by that zone and international researchers could also make use of the available facilities 113. RK Pachauri quits as chairman of UN climate change panel under

sexual harassment cloud

114. S&P raises India’s GDP forecasts to 7.9%

115. Australian researchers create first 3D-printed jet engine




116. Oscar Awards: 87th Academy Awards

The 87th Academy Awards was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The award is given for 24 categories. However we have only listed those which are important from the point of view of competitive exams.

Best Picture Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Best Actor Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

Best Actress Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Best Supporting Actor J. K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Best Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Best Foreign Language Film Ida (Poland)

Best Documentary Feature CitizenFour

117. Delhi’s AAP govt halves power tariff, gives 20,000 litres of free water.

However, the rider is that if consumption crosses 400 units, then full charges from zero base will have to be paid on power tariff.

118. 14th Finance Commission tax formula raises fund flow to states

Union government said it has accepted the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission to share 42% of its net tax revenue with states during the five-year period starting 2015-16, up from the existing 32%.

The 14th Finance commission headed by former Reserve Bank of India governor Y.V. Reddy

119. Cabinet nod for 15000 MW grid-connected solar projects.

This is under the National Solar Mission. The scheme will be implemented through NTPC and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited.

120. Navy concludes month-long Tropex exercise: (Theatre Level

Readiness and Operational Exercise)

121. IRCTC joins hands with Amazon.in for online shopping: Customers who access the IRCTC portal can now buy products.




122. DRDO’s high performance computing system DHRUVA-3 unveiled

123. The Department of Financial Services (DFS) appointed the

Managing Directors (MD) and Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of four

Nationalised Banks.

Indian Overseas Bank R Koteeswaran

Oriental Bank of Commerce Animesh Chauhan

Vijaya Bank. Kishore Kumar Sansi

United Bank of India P. Srinivas

124. National Science Day:Celebrated on 28th February.

125. Bhutan became 181st member of MIGA, agency of World Bank.

126. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic won the 2015 Presidential elections of

Croatia

127. Beji Caid Essebsi was sworn in as the President of Tunisia and

became the first freely elected leader of Tunisia.

128. Venezuela entered recession with inflation at 63 percent and

economic growth shrinking for the first three quarters of 2014

129. Ola Cabs acquires TaxiForSure for $200 million India’s largest taxi aggregator Ola acquired rival and second-largest operator TaxiForSure in a cash and stock deal worth $200 million on Monday, heralding consolidation in the country’s booming cab services market.

130. Mukesh Ambani richest Indian for 8th year; Bill Gates on top globally

131. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to take oath as J&K CM

132. Arun Singh Named New Indian Ambassador to United States

133. China kicks off $79.8bn Silk Road infrastructure project

China has launched a massive $79.8 billion infrastructure project in the northwest province of Gansu which will facilitate trade and people exchanges between China and central Asia as part of its ambitious Silk Road plan.




134. Rs 2,082 crore deal: Anil Ambani’s Reliance acquires Pipavav In the biggest deal in the defence sector, billionaire Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure on Wednesday announced acquisition of controlling stake in Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering for up to Rs 2,082.3 crore. Reliance Infra will buy 18 per cent stake from promoter group led by Nikhil Gandhi at Rs 63 per share, aggregating to Rs 819 crore.

135. Spectrum auction: Centre gets bids worth Rs. 60,000 cr

136. Coal mines bill gets Lok Sabha nod

137. Bangalore, Karachi Cheapest Cities to Live in the World: Survey

List topped by Singapore for being the most expensive for the second consecutive year. It heads an unchanged top five compared to last year, joined by Paris, Oslo, Zurich and Sydney.

138. Citizenship bill passed by Lok Sabha

139. India and Spain join hands for defence cooperation

140. Obama re-nominates Indian-American to key administration post

141. Islamic State militants bulldoze ancient Assyrian city Nimrud

142. Modi among 30 most influential people on internet: Time

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named among the 30 most influential people on the internet by Time magazine in a list which also features US President Barack Obama.

143. Former Bihar Chief Minister Ram Sundar Das passes away

144. PM Modi’s 5-day visit to Seychelles, Mauritius, Sri Lanka begins on

Tuesday

145. Wipro, Tata Steel,Tata Power in world's most ethical cos' list Three Indian companies, Wipro, Tata Steel and Tata Power, have been named among the world's most ethical companies by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of righteous business practices.

146. HRD Ministry unveils digital gender atlas

147. Stree Shakti Puraskar and presented to 6 Indian women

148. NASA's space probe "Dawn" started orbiting Dwarf Planet "Ceres"




149. Land acquisition bill passed in Lok Sabha. It is still to be passed in

Rajya Sabha

150. World's first solar Aircraft- Solar Impulse has been launched

151. India's CAD rose to 1.6% of GDP for Quarter ended December 2014

152. IMF ups India growth forecast to 7.2% for current fiscal and 7.5% in the next fiscal year 2015-16

153. Mr. Veerappa Moily selected for Saraswati Samman 2014

154. India’s literacy rate rose to 72.98 % in 2011: Union Government

155. MC Mary Kom appointed as brand ambassador for North East According to a global consultancy EY report, released during the Summit, India’s North East region offers Rs 2.4 trillion opportunity, with 45 million people looking to consume goods and services.

156. Pakistan tests 1st indigenous armed drone Burraq and laser guided

missile Barq

157. Former Maldives President Nasheed jailed for 13 years

158. Karnataka clinched eighth Ranji title of cricket

159. Services beat Punjab 5-4 in tie-breaker to lift Santosh trophy

160. Statue of Mahatma Gandhi unveiled in Parliament Square A statue has been unveiled of Mahatma Gandhi in London's Parliament Square. The unveiling of the 9ft (2.7m) bronze statue marks 100 years since Gandhi returned to India from South Africa to begin his struggle for independence.

161. Cyclone Pam hits New Zealand after devastating Vanuatu

162. Green India Mission converged with MGNREGA to reclaim forest

163. Crisil appoints Ashu Suyash as new MD & CEO




164. Indian Researcher Wins Woman of the Year 2015 in New South Wales

56-year-old Indian, Minoti Apte, a pancreatic cancer researcher in Australia has been named New South Wales Woman of the year 2015 for her contributions to medical research, tertiary education and the Indian community.

165. Textile Sector To Boost As India Ink Pact With Kyrgyzstan

166. Netanyahu wins Israel election after sharp shift to the right

167. 19 killed in Tunis museum attack, including 17 foreign tourists:

Tunisia PM

168. Astra test-fired successfully against simulated target

169. BJP’s Kavinder Gupta elected J&K Assembly speaker

170. Rajya Sabha passes bills to allow mine auctions

171. European countries express readiness to joining China-led bank

172. Ratan Tata to head Indian Railways' Kaya Kalp council Railway minister Suresh Prabhu has set up two committees in line with the promises made in his maiden rail budget last month, including Innovation Council 'Kaya Kalp' headed by former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata to suggest ways to turn around the ailing organisation.

173. BIRAC AcE Fund launched by Union Government

The Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, YS Chowdary has launched Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) AcE Fund on March 19, 2015.The BIRAC AcE Fund has been launched to accelerate the growth of entrepreneurs in the Biotechnology sector in India.

174. Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar’s book 'Indian

Parliamentary Diplomacy- Speaker's Perspective' released

175. Indian-origin Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan to head Royal Society in UK

He is currently deputy director of the British Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge University. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2003 and was knighted by Britain's Queen in 2012.




176. Six Indians among Forbes' 50 'Power Businesswomen'

Rail Budget

177. Railway Budget 2015-16. Highlights are as under

NO HIKE IN PASSENGER FAIRSNO NEW TRAINS

BIO TOILETS AND AIRPLANE-TYPE VACCUM TOILETS IN TRAINS

"OPERATION 5 MIN: TRAVELLING UNRESERVED CAN NOW BOOK A TICKET

SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS IN LADIES COACHES WITHOUT COMPROMISING PRIVACY. TOLL FREE NO 182 FOR SECURITY

RESERVATION 120 DAYS IN ADVANCE

9 CORRIDORS WITH SPEED 200 KM/HRWIFI AND MOBILE CHARGING FACILITY

ONLINE BOOKING OF WHEEL CHAIR FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

FOUR RAILWAY RESEARCH CENTRES

CENTRALLY MANAGED RAILWAY NETWORK




Union Budget

178. Union Budget 2015: Key highlights

i. Fiscal deficit

Fiscal deficit seen at 3.9% of GDP in 2015-16

Will meet the challenging fiscal target of 4.1 percent of GDP and medium term fiscal deficit target of 3% of GDP

Current account deficit (CAD) below 1.3% of GDP

ii. Growth

GDP growth seen at between 8% and 8.5% year-on-year

Nominal economic growth seen between 11% and 12%

iii. Inflation

Expects consumer inflation to remain close to 5% by March

Monetary policy framework agreement with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to keep inflation below 6%

iv. Revenues

Revenue deficit seen at 2.8% of GDP

Non-tax revenue seen at 2.21 trillion rupees

v. Disinvestment

Total stake sale in 2015-16 seen at 69,500 crore

Targets Rs41,000 crore of disinvestment in 2015-16

Targets Rs55,000 crore of disinvestment in 2016-17

vi. Market reforms

Propose merger of Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

To bring a new bankruptcy code

To set up public debt management agency

To establish an autonomous bank board bureau to improve management of public sector banks




vii. Policy reforms

To enact a comprehensive new law on black money Propose to create a universal social security system for all Indians To launch a national skills mission soon to enhance employability of rural youth To raise visa-on-arrival facility to 150 countries from 43 Allocates Rs34,699 crore for rural employment guarantee scheme viii. General anti-avoidance rules (GAAR)

Government defers rollout of anti-tax avoidance rules GAAR by two years. To apply prospectively from 1 April 2017.

Retrospective tax provisions will be avoided

ix. Taxation

To abolish wealth tax

Replaces wealth tax with additional 2% surcharge on super-rich

Proposes to cut to 25% corporate tax over next four years

Proposes to rationalise capital gains tax regime for real-estate investment trusts (REITs)

Extends withholding tax concession on foreign debt purchases by two years

Expects to implement goods and services tax by April 2016

To reduce custom duty on 22 items

Basic custom duty on commercial vehicle doubled to 20%

Proposes to increase service tax rate and education cess to 14% from 12.36%

Plans to introduce direct tax regime that is internationally competitive on rates without exemptions

Tax department to clarify indirect transfer of assets and dividend paid by foreign firms

x. Personal income tax

No revision of income tax brackets

Limit of deduction of health insurance premium increased to Rs25,000 from Rs15,000. Limit increased to Rs30,000 from Rs20,000 for the elderly(above 80)

Additional deduction of Rs25,000 for the disabled

Limit on deduction for contributions to pension fund and new pension scheme increased to Rs150,000 from Rs100,000 rupees

Additional deduction of Rs50,000 for contribution to new pension scheme under section 80CCD




Monthly transport allowance exemption doubled to Rs1,600

xi. Import tax

Import tax on iron and steel increased to 15% from 10%

Import tax on metallurgical coke increased to 5% from 2.5% xii. Infrastructure

Investment in infrastructure will go up by Rs70,000 in 2015-16

Plans to set up national investment infrastructure fund (NIIF)

Proposes tax-free infrastructure bonds for projects in roads, rail and irrigation projects

Proposes five ultra mega power projects for 4,000 MW each

Second unit of Kudankulam nuclear power station to be commissioned xiii. Expenditure

Plan expenditure estimated at about Rs4.65 trillion

Non-plan expenditure seen at about Rs13.12 trillion rupees

Allocates Rs2.46 trillion for defence spending

Allocates Rs33,150 billion rupees for health sector xiv. Investment

Government to provide Rs7,940 crore capital infusion to state-run banks

Propose to do away with different types of foreign investment caps and replace them with composite caps

To allow foreign investment in alternative investment funds xv. Gold

To launch gold deposit accounts and sovereign bond

Import duty stays at 10%; disappoints jewellers

To work on Indian-made gold coin to cut imports xvi. Cigarettes Raises excise duty on cigarettes by 25% (length not exceeding 65mm) and by 15% for cigarettes of other lengths




xvii. Subsidies

Food subsidy seen at Rs1.24 trillion

Fertilizer subsidy seen at Rs72,969 crore

Fuel subsidy seen at Rs30,000

Major subsidies estimated at Rs2.27 trillion

Economic Survey

179. Key Highlights of Economic Survey 2014-15 The survey prepared by the finance ministry's chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian.

i. Fiscal Deficit

India must meet its medium-term fiscal deficit target of 3% of GDP

Government will adhere to fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of GDP in 2014-15

Government should ensure expenditure control to reduce fiscal deficit

Expenditure control and expenditure switching to investment key

ii. Growth

2015-16 GDP growth seen at over 8% y/y

On new GDP calculation formula Economic growth at market prices seen between 8.1 - 8.5% in 2015-16

iii. Inflation

Inflation likely to be below central bank target by 0.5 – 1.0% point

Government and central bank need to conclude monetary framework pact to consolidate gains in inflation control (Now done in Union Budget)

Consumer inflation in 2015-16 likely to range between 5.0-5.5%

iv. Current Account Deficit

Estimated at about 1.3% of GDP in 2014-15 and less than 1.0% of GDP in 2015-16




Part E:Demise of Famous Personalities

A. R. Antulay, 85, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Maharashtra (1980–1982).

1. V. R. Krishna Iyer, 100, Indian judge, member of the Supreme Court.

2. Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, 87, Indian carnatic vocalist, lung cancer.

3. Rustom K. S. Ghandhi, 90, Indian admiral.

4. N. L. Balakrishnan, 72, Indian actor and photographer.

5. G. Verghese, 87, Indian journalist and newspaper editor (Hindustan Times,

The Indian Express).

6. Vasant Gowarikar, 81, Indian scientist and ISRO chairman, dengue and

urinary tract infection.

7. R. K. Laxman, 93, Indian cartoonist, illustrator and humorist, multiple organ

failure.

8. Jaswant Singh Rajput, 88, Indian field hockey player, Olympic champion

(1948).

9. Subhash Ghisingh, 78, Indian politician (Gorkha National Liberation Front),

cirrhosis and liver cancer.

B. Ramanaidu, 78, Indian film producer, prostate cancer.

10. R. R. Patil, 57, Indian politician, cancer.

11. Anand Shukla, 74, Indian cricketer.

12. Sadashiv Amrapurkar, 64, Indian actor (Ardh Satya, Sadak), lung infection.

13. Murli Deora, 77, Indian politician, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas

(2006–2011).

14. Sitara Devi, 94, Indian Kathak dancer.

15. Bollywood Actor Ashraful Haque passed away

16. Veteran cartoonist Rajinder Puri passed away

17. Acclaimed Indian sculptor and artist Mrinalini Mukherjee passed away

18. Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died

19. Noted Hindi poet Nand Chaturvedi died

20. Former Bihar Chief Minister Ram Sundar Das passes away

21. Renowned journalist Vinod Mehta dies of multi-organ failure

22. Kerala Speaker G. Karthikeyan dies in Bengaluru

23. Industrialist Deepak Khaitan passes away

24. Veteran sports journalist K Baskaran died on 11 March 2015 following a brief

illness.

25. Renowned fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett passes away

26. Noted Gandhian Narayan Desai passes away

27. Renowned Malayalam poet Yusufali Kechery passes away




Committees Restructuring of Food Corporation of India (FCI) Shanta Kumar Committee

Re-examine and recommend appropriate set of businesses, size, conversion and licensing terms for the Urban Cooperative Banking (UCB) Sector.

R Gandhi

Advisory Group for Integrated Development of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy

Suresh Prabhu

A Panel on Road Safety Justice K S Radhakrishnan

Committee to evaluate applications received for payment banks

Dr Nachiket Mor

Committee to evaluate applications received for the proposed small finance banks

Usha Thorat

To provide Bankruptcy code for SMEs. T.K. Vishwanathan

To assess compensation for coal blocks. Pratyush Sinha

To help draft a new National Intellectual Property Rights Policy (National IPR Policy)

Justice Prabha Sridevan

To examine the financial architecture for MSME sector.

K V Kamath

Review of NPS schemes in pvt sector G N Bajpai Committee

To examine the un-claimed amount in PPF, Post Office and Savings Schemes.

H R Khan

Expenditure Management Commission. Bimal Jalan

To review, identify and recommend amendment in obsolete laws to further smoothen and simplify the governance

R. Ramanujam Committee

Implementation of Bharat Bill Payment System (BPPS) G. Padmanabhan Committee

On Data and Information Management in the Reserve Bank of India

Deepak Mohanty Committee

To review Governance of Boards of Banks in India. PJ Nayak

Panel favours single mobile banking app on all SIMs. B. Sambamurthy

Panel to probe IPL spot-fixing Mukul Mudgal

Tax Administration Reform Commission Parthasarathi Shome

Alleged irregularities at the National Spot Exchange Ltd

Arvind Mayaram




List of Countries, Capitals and their Currencies NAME OF THE COUNTRY

CAPITAL CURRENCY

Afghanistan Kabul Afghani

Algeria Algiers Dinar

Angola Luanda Kwanza

Antigua and Barbuda St. John's East Caribbean Dollar

Argentina Buenos Aires Peso

Australia Canberra Australian dollar

Austria Vienna Euro

Azerbaijan [Europe] Baku Manat

Bahamas Nassau Bahamian Dollar

Bahrain Manama Bahraini dinar

Bangladesh Dhaka Taka

Barbados Bridgetown Barbadian Dollar

Belarus Minsk Belarusian ruble

Belgium Brussels Euro

Bermuda Hamilton Bermudian Dollar

Bhutan Thimphu Bhutanese ngultrum

Botswana Gaborone Pula

Brazil Brasília Real

Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei dollar

Bulgaria Sofia Lev

Burkina Faso Ouagadougou CFA franc

Cambodia Phnom Penh Riel

Cameroon Yaoundé CFA franc

Canada Ottawa Canadian Dollar

Cayman Islands George Town Cayman Islands Dollar

Chile Santiago Peso

China Beijing Renminbi (yuan)

Colombia Bogotá Peso

Costa Rica San José Costa Rican colon

Croatia Zagreb Kuna

Cuba Havana Cuban peso

Czech Republic Prague Czech koruna

Denmark Copenhagen Danish krone[a]

Ecuador Quito United States dollar

Egypt Cairo Egyptian pound

Equatorial Guinea Malabo Equatorial Guinean peseta

Estonia Tallinn Euro

Ethiopia Addis Ababa Birr

Fiji Suva Fijian dollar




Finland Helsinki Euro

France Paris Euro

Germany Berlin Euro

Ghana Accra Ghana cedi

Gibraltar Gibraltar Gibraltar pound

Greece Athens Euro

Greenland Nuuk Danish Krone

Hong Kong Special administrative region of China

Hong Kong dollar

Hungary Budapest Forint

Iceland Reykjavík Icelandic króna

India New Delhi Rupee

Indonesia Jakarta Rupiah

Iran Tehran Rial

Iraq Baghdad Iraqi dinar

Ireland Dublin Euro

Israel Jerusalem New Shekel

Italy Rome Euro

Jamaica Kingston Jamaican Dollar

Japan Tokyo Yen

Jordan Amman Jordanian dinar

Kazakhstan Astana Tenge

Kenya Nairobi Kenyan shilling

Kuwait Kuwait City Kuwaiti dinar

Kyrgyzstan Bishkek Som

Lebanon Beirut Lebanese pound

Liberia Monrovia Liberian dollar

Libya Tripoli Dinar

Luxembourg Luxembourg Euro

Macau Special administrative region of China

Macanese pataca

Macedonia Skopje Macedonian denar

Madagascar Antananarivo Malagasy ariary

Malaysia Kuala Lumpur (official) Ringgit

Maldives Malé Maldivian rufiyaa

Malta Valletta Euro

Mauritius Port Louis Mauritian rupee

Mexico Mexico City Mexican peso

Monaco Monaco Euro

Morocco Rabat Moroccan dirham

Myanmar (Burma) Naypyidaw Kyat

Namibia Windhoek Namibian dollar




Nepal Kathmandu Nepalese rupee

Netherlands Amsterdam Euro

New Zealand Wellington New Zealand Dollar

Nigeria Abuja Naira

North Korea Pyongyang North Korean won

Norway Oslo Norwegian krone

Oman Muscat Rial

Pakistan Islamabad Pakistani Rupee

Palestine Ramallah (West Bank seat of government)

Israeli Shekel

Panama Panama City United States Dollar

Peru Lima Nuevo sol

Philippines Manila Philippine Peso

Poland Warsaw Złoty

Portugal Lisbon Euro

Puerto Rico San Juan United States Dollar

Qatar Doha Riyal

Romania Bucharest Romanian leu

Russia Moscow Russian ruble

Rwanda Kigali Rwandan franc

Saint Martin Marigot Euro

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Saint-Pierre Euro

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Kingstown East Caribbean Dollar

Saudi Arabia Riyadh Saudi riyal

Serbia Belgrade Serbian dinar

Singapore Singapore Singapore dollar

Slovenia Ljubljana Euro

Somalia Mogadishu Somali shilling

South Africa Pretoria (administrative/executive)

South African rand

South Korea Seoul South Korean won

Spain Madrid Euro

Sri Lanka Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Sri Lankan rupee

Sweden Stockholm Swedish krona

Switzerland Bern Swiss franc

Syria Damascus Syrian pound

Taiwan Taipei New Taiwan dollar

Thailand Bangkok Baht

Trinidad and Tobago Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago Dollar

Tunisia Tunis Tunisian dinar




Turkey [Europe] Ankara Turkish lira

Uganda Kampala Ugandan shilling

Ukraine Kiev Ukrainian hryvnia

United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi UAE dirham

United Kingdom London Pound sterling

United States Washington, D.C. United States Dollar

Uruguay Montevideo Uruguayan peso

Vatican City Vatican City Euro

Venezuela Caracas Bolívar fuerte

Vietnam Hanoi đồng

Yemen Sana'a Yemeni rial

Zimbabwe Harare various

Cabinet Ministers of India 2014

S.No Portfolio Name

1 Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;

Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space;

All important policy issues and all other portfolios

not allocated to any Minister

Narendra Modi

2 Home Affairs Rajnath Singh

3 External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs Sushma Swaraj

4 Finance, Corporate Affairs, Information &

Broadcasting

Arun Jaitley

5 Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty

Alleviation, Parliamentary Affairs

M. Venkaiah Naidu

6 Road Transport and Highways, Shipping Nitin Jairam

Gadkari

7 Defence Manohar Parrikar

8 Railways Suresh Prabhu

9 Law & Justice D.V. Sadananda

Gowda




10 Water Resources, River Development and Ganga

Rejuvenation

Uma Bharati

11 Minority Affairs Dr. Najma A.

Heptulla

12 Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ramvilas Paswan

13 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra

14 Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay

Gandhi

15 Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananthkumar

16 Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar

Prasad

17 Health & Family Welfare Jagat Prakash

Nadda

18 Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi

Raju Pusapati

19 Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Anant Geete

20 Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur

Badal

21 Mines, Steel Narendra Singh

Tomar

22 Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water

and Sanitation

Chaudhary

Birender Singh

23 Tribal Affairs Jual Oram

24 Agriculture Radha Mohan

Singh

25 Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand

Gehlot




26 Human Resource Development Smriti Zubin Irani

27 Science and Technology, Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan

Census Survey 2011: Highlights

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.

*Percentage growth in 2001-2011 is 17.64; males 17.19 and females 18.12.

*2001-2011 is the first decade (with the exception of 1911-1921) which has actually

added lesser population compared to the previous decade.

*Uttar Pradesh (199.5 million) is the most populous State in the country followed by

Maharashtra with 112 million.

*The percentage decadal growth rates of the six most populous States have declined

during 2001-2011 compared to 1991-2001:

-Uttar Pradesh (25.85% to 20.09%)

-Maharashtra (22.73% to 15.99%)

-Bihar (28.62% to 25.07%)

-West Bengal (17.77 % to 13.93%)

-Andhra Pradesh (14.59% to 11.10%)

-Madhya Pradesh (24.26% to 20.30%)

*During 2001-2011, as many as 25 States/UTs with a share of about 85% of the

country’s population registered an annual growth rate of less than 2% as compared

to, 15 States/UTs with a share of about 42% during the period 1991-2001.




*15 States/UTs have grown by less than 1.5 per cent per annum during 2001-2011,

while the number of such States/UTs was only 4 during the previous decade.

*The total number of children in the age-group 0-6 is 158.8 million (-5 million since

2001)

*Twenty States and Union Territories now have over one million children in the age

group 0-6 years. On the other extreme, there are five States and Union Territories in

the country that are yet to reach the one hundred thousand mark.

*Uttar Pradesh (29.7 million), Bihar (18.6 million), Maharashtra (12.8 million), Madhya

Pradesh (10.5 million) and Rajasthan (10.5 million) constitute 52% children in the age

group of 0-6 years.

*Population (0-6 years) 2001-2011 registered minus (-)3.08 percent growth with

minus (-)2.42 for males and -3.80 for females.

*The proportion of Child Population in the age group of 0-6 years to total population

is 13.1 percent while the corresponding figure in 2001 was 15.9 percent. The decline

has been to the extent of 2.8 points.

*Overall sex ratio at the national level has increased by 7 points to reach 940 at

Census 2011 as against 933 in Census 2001. This is the highest sex ratio recorded

since Census 1971 and a shade lower than 1961. Increase in sex ratio is observed in

29 States/UTs.

*Three major States (J&K, Bihar & Gujarat) have shown decline in sex ratio as

compared to Census 2001.

*Kerala with 1084 has the highest sex ratio followed by Puducherry with 1038,

Daman & Diu has the lowest sex ratio of 618.




*Child sex ratio (0-6 years) is 914. Increasing trend in the child sex ratio (0-6) seen in

Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and A&N

Islands. In all remaining 27 States/UTs, the child sex ratio show decline over Census

2001.

*Mizoram has the highest child sex ratio (0-6 years) of 971 followed by Meghalaya

with 970. Haryana is at the bottom with ratio of 830 followed by Punjab with 846.

*Literacy rate has gone up from 64.83 per cent in 2001 to 74.04 per cent in 2011

showing an increase of 9.21 percentage points.

*Percentage growth in literacy during 2001-2011 is 38.82; males : 31.98% & females

: 49.10%.

*Literates constitute 74 per cent of the total population aged seven and above and

illiterates form 26 per cent.




Other Study Material and References Please click on the link below to download other articles and free mock papers already published on our website www.examsfunda.in

1. Fortnightly News letter FEB PART II http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/fortnightly-newletter-feb-2015-part-ii/

2. Recent Appointments in India http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/recent-appointment-in-india/

3. Fortnightly News letter FEB PART I http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/fortnightly-newsletter-feb-part-1/

4. Fortnightly News letter JAN PART I http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/newsletter-from-15th-to-31st-jan-2015/

5. Monetary Policy and monetary policy tools http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/monetary-policy-and-monetary-policy-tools/

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7. Get the detailed Date wise Current Affairs from our website http://www.examsfunda.in/category/news/

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http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/fortnightly-newletter-feb-2015-part-ii/

http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/recent-appointment-in-india/

http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/fortnightly-newsletter-feb-part-1/

http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/newsletter-from-15th-to-31st-jan-2015/

http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/monetary-policy-and-monetary-policy-tools/

http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/monetary-policy-and-monetary-policy-tools/

http://www.examsfunda.in/blog/bhtt/

http://www.examsfunda.in/category/news/

http://app.appsgeyser.com/Prepare4GK

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