· was ranked first in the smaller states category and Chandigarh topped the rankings in the UTs...

BAZOOKA-JULY EDITION www.practicemock.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SR. NO. TOPIC

1. Top 100 Current Affairs of June

2. Top 50 Banking and Business Affairs of June

3. Important Current Affairs of July (Upto July 15)

4. Union Budget 2018-19: Important Q&A

5. Word Power: Made Easy

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TOP 100 CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JUNE APPOINTMENTS

1. BJP Member of Parliament (MP) from Rajasthan’s Kota district, Om

Birla has been unanimously elected as the new Speaker of 17th Lok

Sabha.

2. Tapan Ray has been appointed as the Managing Director (MD) of

India’s first international financial services center-Gujarat International

Finance Tec-City (Gift City).

3. Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Rajiv Mehrishi has

been elected as external auditor of the World Health Organization

(WHO).

4. Anita Bhatia has been appointed as the Deputy Executive Director

of United Nations entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of

Women - UN Women.

5. Sarada Kumar Hota has been appointed as the Managing Director

of National Housing Bank (NHB).

6. IPS Officers Samant Kumar Goel and Arvind Kumar have been

appointed as the Directors of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) and IB

(Intelligence Bureau) respectively.

7. Nigeria’s Ambassador to the UN Tijjani Muhammad-Bande was

elected as the President for the 74th session of United Nations General

Assembly (UNGA) to be held in New York.

SCHEMES

8. As per Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology around 2.22

crore villagers were given Digital Education under Pradhan Mantri

Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA).

9. The Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Human

Resource Development (MHRD) recently released a five-year vision

plan named Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme

(EQUIP) to transform higher education with the help of more than

50 initiatives.

10. The Union government has approved monthly pension of Rs 3,000

to small traders, businessmen, and shopkeepers i.e. those having

Goods and Services Tax (GST) turnover below Rs 1.5 crores.

Age of the applicant should be between 18- 40 years and the pension

would start after the beneficiary attains the age of 60 years.



11. IT and Electronics Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad stated that all

gram panchayats (GPs) in the country will be connected with the

high-speed broadband under Bharatnet project by March 2020.

12. Union Cabinet has increased the ambit of Pradhan Mantri Kisan

Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN) to all eligible farmer families,

irrespective of the size of their landholding, the decision will cover all the

14.5 crore farmers in the country.

STATES

13. 23rd edition of Sindhu Darshan Utsav 2019 started at Sindhu Ghat

Shey in Leh recently.

14. The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM)

has granted GI tag for Kolhapuris Chappals jointly to Karnataka and

Maharashtra for making these chappals.

15. L&T Finance Services Ltd. recently launched “Digital Sakhi”, an

educational program aimed at financial inclusion of rural women in

Villupuram District, Tamilnadu.

16. Bihar Government recently announced ban on felling of trees in

different cities of Bihar, citing increasing pollution as well as a fatal

heatwave in the state.

17. Triennial International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) recently held

their first congress in Asia at Hyderabad.

18. Recently Kheer Bhawani Mela was organised at famous Ragnya

Devi temple in Ganderbal, Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K).

19. Manipur recently received a “Museum of Peace” built on the

memories of Battle of Imphal, one of the fiercest battles of Second World

War (WWII) by Nepal.

20. India has opened its first specialized hydrotherapy treatment

centre for elephants suffering from arthritis, joint pain and foot ailments

in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

NATIONAL

21. Bancha in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh became the first village

in India to have zero wooden stoves.

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22. Chaukhandi Stupa, an ancient Buddhist site located in Sarnath,

Uttar Pradesh (UP) has been declared as ‘protected area of national

importance’ by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

23. According to the Sample Registration System (SRS), India’s infant

mortality rate declined from 42 in 2012 to 33 in 2017. Madhya

Pradesh and Assam had the worst IMR of 47 and 44 respectively while

Kerala and Tamil Nadu recorded the lowest IMR of 10 and 16 respectively.

24. The Centre government has set a target of providing clean

drinking water to all by 2024. It includes increasing coverage of piped

water to households from current 18% to 100% by 2024.

25. Indian Navy launched Operation Sankalp in the Persian Gulf

and the Gulf of Oman recently to reassure Indian flagged vessels

transiting through the area following the recent maritime incidents in

the region.

26. National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) data shows that India

has 20.6 health workers per 10,000 people, it is less than the World

health Organization’s (WHO) minimum overreach of 22.8 per 10,000

people.

27. Veteran Actor Anupam Kher has penned an autobiography titled

“Lessons Life Taught Me, Unknowingly”.

28. The pre-emptive non-military air strike conducted by Indian Air

Force (IAF) on a terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, on 26

February 2019 was code named as “Operation Bandar”.

29. India and Portugal (Capital: Lisbon, Currency: Euro) will cooperate

in setting up of a national maritime heritage museum at ancient

Indian site of Lothal in Gujarat.

30. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani inaugurated India’s first

Dinosaur Museum-cum-Park at in Balasinor town of Mahisagar district.

31. Co-authored by senior journalist Uday Mahurkar, Yoga guru Baba

Ramdev will release his autobiography titled- ‘My Life, My Mission’.

32. As per the Ericsson Mobility Report of June 2019 edition, India ‘s

data usage per smartphone was the highest in the world at 9.8 Giga

Byte (GB) per month up to December 31, 2018. It is set to double to 18

GB by 2024.

33. National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) and Power Grid

Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) have signed an agreement to set

up National Electricity Distribution Company Limited (NEDCL) to get into

consumer supply business.



34. Central Government constituted a five-member committee headed

by economist Kirit Parikh to review the existing marketing structure

of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in India.

35. As per Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Environment India’s

forest cover has increased by 1% in last one-year period and over

24.69% of India’s geographical area is now covered with forest.

36. According to the survey, “The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

for 2017-18” by NSSO Nagaland has the highest unemployment

rate among the states with 21.4%. The overall unemployment rate is

6.1%.

INTERNATIONAL

37. The UAE Central Bank's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has

launched the new anti-money laundering platform, called (goAML),

to gather and analyse intelligence submitted by reporting entities.

The goAML system, the first platform to go live in the GCC, was

developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),

to help in combating both money laundering and financing of

terrorism - locally and internationally.

38. World Health Organization (WHO) launched a global campaign

“AdoptAWaRe, Handle antibiotics with care” urging governments to

adopt a tool named “AWaRe” (Access, Watch, and Reserve), to reduce the

spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), adverse events and costs.

39. A Letter of Intent (LoI) was exchanged between Ahmedabad and

Japanese city of Kobe for a sister city partnership.

40. NASA Astrobee Robot “Bumble” became the first robot to fly

under its own power in space. It will help researchers in examining the

new technologies in zero gravity.

41. BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and

Economic Cooperation) member countries consisting of Bangladesh,

India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, and Bhutan celebrated the

BIMSTEC Day- 2019 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

42. Saudi Arabia has become first Arab country to be granted full

membership of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) (Headquarters:

Paris, France).

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43. A US based scientific organisation National Geographic Society

(NGS) announced successful installation of world’s highest operating

weather station at Mount Everest’s Death Zone.

44. The first phase of the world’s largest multi-stage, multi-purpose

scheme Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) worth Rs 80,000

crore was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Telangana Chandrashekar

Rao at Medigadda in Jayashankar - Bhupalpally district near the

borders with Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

45. According to the 26th edition of the UN population estimates and

projection report, ‘The World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights’,

India is going to surpass China as the world’s most populous

country by 2027.

46. Sri Lanka’s first ever satellite ‘Raavana-1’, designed and

developed by two Sri Lankan engineers, was successfully placed into

orbit.

47. Armies of India and Myanmar carried out coordinated operation in

their respective border areas called ‘Operation Sunrise 2’ to bust terror

camps.

EVENTS

48. 10th edition of Regional Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment

(GRIHA) summit, 2019 was held in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Theme of

2019 summit was “Transformation Strategies for Built Environment”.

49. “Go Tribal Campaign” by Tribes India was launched by Minister of

State for Tribal Affairs, Smt. Renuka Singh recently in New Delhi.

50. G20 Ministerial meeting on Trade and Digital Economy was

recently held in Tsukuba, Japan.

51. The 2019 Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) was recently held

in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

52. Second Global Disability Summit was recently held in Buenos

Aires, Argentina.

53. A week-long exercise between the Indian army and the Indian Air

Force (IAF) – Kharga Prahar recently held in Punjab.

54. Second edition of India International Mega Trade fair (IIMTF) was

held at Bidhannagar (or Salt Lake) city in Kolkata.

55. The Indian Navy recently hosted a Maritime Information Sharing

Workshop 2019 edition under the aegis of the Information Fusion Centre-

Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at Gurugram, Haryana.



56. India hosted the Intersessional meeting of Kimberley Process

(KP) 2019 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Kimberley Process Certification

scheme outlines rules that govern trade in rough diamonds.

57. Union Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, participated in G20

Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in

Fukuoka, Japan.

58. A two-day Elephanta festival of art and culture was recently held

on Elephanta-Gharapuri (island), Mumbai to promote tourism and culture

in Maharashtra. The theme for this year is ‘Swarang’.

59. 16th Asia Media Summit 2019 was organised in Cambodia to

deliberate on many issues pertaining to media & broadcasting industry.

RANKS

60. As per Mercer’s 25th annual cost of living survey, Mumbai was

considered as India’s most expensive city. The costliest city in the world

is Hong Kong.

61. NITI Aayog recently released second edition of “Healthy States,

Progressive India: Report on Rank of States and UTs”. The current

edition of health index accounts for period 2015-16 (base year) to 2017-

18.

Kerala topped the rankings in the bigger states’ category, Mizoram

was ranked first in the smaller states category and Chandigarh topped the

rankings in the UTs category.

62. Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries is the top ranked Indian

company (rank 71) in the ‘world’s 2,000 largest public companies’,

compiled by Forbes magazine. Total there are 57 Indian companies in the

list, the overall chart has been topped by the Industrial and Commercial

Bank of China (ICBC).

63. According to the recent study “Traffic Index 2018”, analysis of the

current status of traffic mobility, Mumbai is the most traffic-congested

city among 403 cities in 56 countries with a congestion level of 65

percent, while New Delhi ranked fourth with congestion of 58 percent.

64. Sri Lanka’s national carrier Sri-Lankan Airlines has been named the

‘World’s Most Punctual Airline’ for second consecutive time by global

flight tracker, ‘Flightstats.

65. As per a UK based NGO ‘Save the children’, India was ranked

113 in the End of Childhood Index tracking the wellbeing of children

with 769 score out of 1000.



66. India has been ranked at 141st position among 163 countries

on annual Global Peace Index released by Institute for Economics and

Peace (IEP). Iceland remains as the most peaceful country in the world.

67. Amazon India has been rated as India’s most ‘attractive

employer brand’ according to the research by Randstad Employer Brand

Research (REBR).

68. In the recent QS World University Ranking 2020, Indian Institute

of Technology, Bombay (IIT-Bombay) emerged as India’s best

institution.

69. Property consultants, Knight Frank in its “Active Capital” 2019 Report,

ranked India at the 20th spot among the top capital importing

countries and in outbound cross-border investments, India was ranked at

30th position.

70. The Kalu police station in Bikaner district of Rajasthan was

ranked the best police station in the country as per rankings of police

stations for the year 2018 by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

AWARDS

71. Rachna Khaira of The Tribune News Service has bagged

prestigious RedInk Award for Excellence in Indian Journalism ‘Journalist

of the Year’ 2019 for her expose during 2018 on functioning of the Unique

Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and its Aadhaar data cache.

72. Nitesh Kumar Jangir an Indian engineer won 2019 Commonwealth

Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development

Award in London, United Kingdom (UK).

73. National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), an Odisha-based

Navaratna Company has been selected for President’s award for

utilisation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund in social

development. It has been selected for its Aliali Jhia Scheme.

74. Suman Rao from Rajasthan won the Femina Miss India World

2019 beauty pageant.

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75. Akshaya Patra, a Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation (NGO)

which runs school meals project in India was awarded by BBC World

Service Global Champion Award.

76. In the 6th Edition of TechGig Code Gladiators 2019, an annual Sameer

Gulati won the title as ‘world’s best coder’.

77. The Prime Minister’s Awards for outstanding contribution for

Promotion and Development of Yoga 2019 were announced by the

Ministry of AYUSH recently, Swami Rajarshi Muni and Antonietta Rozzi

of Italy won the award in the National and International category.

78. Social activist Makarand Tilloo was conferred with ‘Save Water

Hero Award’, he received this award for his efforts to raise awareness

about water conservation in Pune.

79. The 16-year old climate activist, Greta Thunberg of Sweden won

Amnesty International’s ‘Ambassador of Conscience’ Award 2019

for mobilising public opinion about Global Warming worldwide.

80. PM Modi was conferred with Maldives’ highest honour- ‘Order of

the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddeen’ in Male, Maldives.

81. The Medical and Health Department of Rajasthan was conferred

with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Tobacco Control Award for

2019 in recognition of its achievements in the field of tobacco control.

82. The Women Sangams (groups) of Deccan Development Society,

Telangana (DDS) were honoured with Equator Prize 2019 by United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for their contribution to

ecology and innovations in rainfed millet cultivation.

SPORTS

83. Veteran actress Sheela was conferred with Kerala’s highest J C

Daniel award for her contribution to Malayalam cinema.

84. Renowned author Amitav Ghosh was felicitated with 54th Jnanpith

Award for his outstanding contribution to enrichment of Indian

Literature in English. His latest novel is Gun Island.

85. Actor Priyanka Chopra will be awarded Danny Kaye

Humanitarian Award by United Nations International Children’s Fund’s

(UNICEF).

86. Former president of India, Pratibha Patil was honored with the

highest civilian award of Mexico termed “Orden Mexicana del Aguila

Azteca” (Order of the Aztec Eagle).

SPORTS



87. India won the women’s FIH Series Finals Hockey Tournament by

beating hosts Japan in the finals.

India’s junior Boxing women’s team was won best team trophy in

5th Black Forest Cup held in Germany.

88. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won the French and Canadian Grand

Prix 2019.

89. Rafael Nadal of Spain won the French Open Tennis tournament

(his 12th French open title) defeating Dominic Thiem of Austria in the men’s

singles event. Ashleigh Barty (Australia) won the women’s singles

title defeating Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic).

90. Indian Women’s Rugby team claimed their first ever international

women’s 15s victory after beating Singapore in the Asian Women Rugby

Championship Division 1 in Philippines, Manila.

91. Asian champion PU Chitra of India won a gold medal in women's 1500m

at Folksam Grand Prix 2019 held in Sweden.

92. England captain Eoin Morgan set the world record for most sixes

(17) in an One Day International (ODI). He achieved this record during his

71-ball 148-run knock against Afghanistan.

93. Indian professional squash player, Joshna Chinappa won the

national squash title for the record 17th time at the 76th Senior

National Squash Championship, 2019 held in Pune. Mahesh Mangaonkar

won the men’s title.

OBITUARIES

94. Renowned Tamil playwright and comedy actor Mohan

Rangachari, popularly known as ‘Crazy’ Mohan, passed away in Chennai,

Tamil Nadu.

95. Jaspal Inder Singh Kalra known as Jiggs Kalra, celebrated chef

and culinary passed away recently in New Delhi. He has many titles like

“Czar of Indian Cuisine” and “Tastemaker to the Nation”

96. Bengali singer-actress Ruma Guha Thakurta passed away recently

in Kolkata, West Bengal.

98. Poet and lyricist Pazhavila Ramesan passed away at

Thiruvananthapuram.

99. The renowned playwright, actor and Jnanpith awardee Girish

Karnad passed away at the age of 81 in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

100. Mohan Ranade, the Veteran freedom fighter who played a major

role in Goa Liberation Movement in 1950s, recently passed away in Pune.



TOP 50 BANKING AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS OF JUNE

1. Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved $350 million loan to

rehabilitate and upgrade two state highways and 23 major district

roads in Chhattisgarh.

2. Working on the recommendations of DK Mohanty committee on

Committee on Currency Movement (CCM), RBI recently asked all

banks to ensure their ATMs are grouted to a structure preferably

wall, pillar, or floor by 30 September 2019 in a move to enhance

security of cash vending machines.

3. The US has decided to roll back export incentives given to India

under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).

4. IDBI has signed a bancassurance agreement with Tata AIG

General Insurance Company Ltd to provide Tata AIG’s Property and

Casualty insurance products to its customers.

5. Government of India reduced the interest rate on small savings

schemes by 0.1 per cent for the July-September quarter. Current

interest rates for various small savings are:

Kisan Vikas Patra: 7.6%, will now double in 113 months.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: 8.4%

Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Savings Certificate

(NSC): 7.9%

6. Recently RBI amended Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial

Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002, to

permit Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) to acquire financial

asset from other ARCs.

8. RBI has reduced the leverage ratio (LR) to 4 per cent for Domestic

Systemically Important Banks (DSIBs) and 3.5 per cent for other banks

for banks to help them boost their lending activities. New ratios would be

effective from the quarter commencing October 1.

9. Ministries of Commerce and Industry and Steel have announced to

ensure that engineering goods exports double in the next five years

and reach $200 billion by 2030.

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10. The World Bank and the Government of India signed a loan

agreement of $400 Million for the Program Towards Elimination of

Tuberculosis (TB).

11. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a project worth

Rs 1,650 crore to develop infrastructure in seven districts headquarter

towns of Tripura.

12. RBI recently released guidelines for setting up of Financial

Benchmark Administrator (FBA) for administering "significant

benchmarks" in the markets for financial instruments. Significant

benchmark means any benchmark notified by the Reserve Bank of India.

FBA will be a company incorporated in India and will maintain a minimum

net worth of Rs 1 crore at all times.

13. Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian and

the former MD-CEO of IDBI Bank B Sriram were recently appointed as

part-time members of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India

(IBBI).

14. RBI launched Complaint Management System (CMS) on its

website for lodging complaints against banks and NBFCs with a view to

improve customer experience in timely redressal of grievances.

15. The RBI initiated Financial Literacy week from June 3-7, 2019.

The theme of the event was “Farmers” and how they benefit by being

a part of the formal banking system.

16. FundzBazar, an online mutual fund investment platform launched by

Prudent, has initiated a ‘Selfiewala KYC’ feature for the first-time

mutual fund investors.

17. According to American multinational banking firm, Goldman Sachs,

India’s economic growth is estimated to rise to 7.2 percent in 2019-

20.

18. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set an objective of achieving a

PoS-based debit card transaction share of 44% by 2021 to achieve

the goal of a less cash digital economy.

19. As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI), bank frauds have amounted

to Rs 71,500 crores in 2018-19 with over 6,800 cases.

20. Union government, state government of Kerala and World Bank

signed a loan agreement of $250 million (Rs 1,725 crore) for the Kerala

Resilient Programme.

21. With an annual growth rate of 150% since 2016, the Aadhar-

Enabled Payments Channel (AEPS), which falls under the broader



category of micro-ATMs, has emerged as one of the fastest growing

payments systems in the country, second only to the Unified Payment

Interface (UPI) system in terms of annual volume growth.

22. RBI has constituted a high-level committee under the

chairmanship of VG Kannan, Chief Executive of Indian Banks’

Association to examine the issue of ATM charges.

23. DBS Bank in its report on the Indian economy revised India’s Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) forecast for the fiscal year 2020 to 6.8%.

24. RBI stated that India’s Current Account Deficit (CAD) increased

to $57.2 billion or 2.1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in FY19 as

against 1.8% of 2018 which stood at $48.7 billion.

25. Central Government, Government of Rajasthan and the World Bank

signed a $ 250 million loan agreement for Phase II of Rajasthan State

Highways Development Project.

26. Fitch reduced India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal year

(FY20) from 6.8% to 6.6% due to the slowdown of manufacturing and

agriculture sectors over the past years.

27. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to India grew by 6 per cent to

USD 42 billion in 2018, with strong inflows in the manufacturing,

communication and financial services sectors, and cross-border merger and

acquisition activities, according to a World Investment Report

released by UNCTAD. The report also ranked India among the top 20 host

economies for FDI inflows in 2017-18.

28. Union government, state government of Kerala and World Bank

signed a loan agreement of $250 million (Rs 1,725 crore) for the Kerala

Resilient Programme.

29. World Bank in its report “Global Economic Prospects report”

retained India’s growth forecast at 7.5% for the FY-20.

30. The Indian government has extended the financial aid of 1.6

billion Nepalese rupees to Nepal for the rebuilding of houses in

Nuwakot and Gorkha districts, Nepal.

31. Indian Air Force (IAF) signed Rs.300 crore deal with Israel’s

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, to procure a batch of SPICE 2000

guided bombs.

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32. India has for the first time extended $15 Million financial support

to Niger as a support for organising African Union (AU) summit scheduled

to be held in Niamey, country’s capital.

33. Facebook recently announced to launch its own cryptocurrency-

“Libra”, which the social media giant will roll-out in 2020.

34. A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed between the Union

Ministry of Shipping and IIT, Kharagpur for setting up Centre for Inland and

Coastal Maritime Technology (CICMT).

35. Government formed a 18-member working group headed by

Ramesh Chand, member of NITI Aayog, to revise current series of

Wholesale Price Index (WPI) with base year 2011-12 and come up with

a new Producer Price Index (PPI).

36. An MOU was signed between Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs

(MCA) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for data

exchange between two regulatory organizations and to tighten

regulatory oversight.

37. A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed between the

Union Ministry of Shipping and IIT, Kharagpur for setting up Centre

for Inland and Coastal Maritime Technology (CICMT).

38. Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation

Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL)

signed an agreement to form a Joint Venture (JV) for laying the

world’s longest Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline from Kandla,

Gujarat to Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

39. Facebook launched its first interactive Game Show “Confetti”.

It will challenge participants to answer pop culture trivia questions for a

chance to win Rs 3 lakh as cash prize every day. The interactive game is

exclusive to Facebook Watch.

40. RBI has removed charges for payments via NEFT and RTGS and

asked banks to pass on the benefits to customers. This means that

payments via NEFT and RTGS would become either free or charges would

be drastically reduced.

41. Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) will provide Line of Credit

(LoC) worth $245 million to Ghana and Mozambique for agricultural

and railway projects.

42. As per RBI, if any information related to transactions are stored

abroad, it should be deleted from their systems and brought back to

India not later than one business day or 24 hours from the payment

processing, whichever is earlier.



43. According to American multinational banking firm, Goldman Sachs,

India’s economic growth is estimated to rise to 7.2 percent in 2019-

20.

44. FDI inflow declined to $44.37 billion (Rs 309,867 crore) in 2018-

2019 from $44.86 billion in the previous year (Rs 288,889 crore) as per

Department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT).

FDI in services sector grew by 36.5 per cent to $9.15 billion in 2018-19.

45. The merger of Induslnd Bank recently merged with Bharat

Financial Inclusion Ltd (BFIL); the merger was effective from 4 July

2019.

46. Global internet body Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and

Numbers (ICANN), and Indian apex body for IT industry NASSCOM

(National Association of Software and Services Companies) announced

collaboration for working in developing standards and identifying

technology that will feed into the global consultation for managing

Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and infrastructure using internet.

47. According to a new report “Benchmarking India’s Payment

Systems”, released by RBI the share of e-Money in India’s payment

systems raise to 21.5 percent in 2017 from 0.8 percent in 2012.

48. As per Union Finance Minister in Lok Sabha, the number of wilful

defaulters in nationalised banks has increased by more than 60% to

8,582 in five years to March 2019.

49. SEBI allowed the stock exchanges with Commodity Derivative

Segment (CDS) to introduce futures on commodity indices. This will

facilitate mutual fund and institutional participation in commodity

exchanges.

50. The Government of India, Tamil Nadu, and the World Bank signed a

$287 million loan agreement for the state’s Health System Reform

Programme in New Delhi.



IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY APPOINTMENTS

1. B Harideesh Kumar has been appointed as director of Institute of

Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).

2. International Monetary Fund (IMF) (Headquarter: Washington DC)

Managing Director Christine Lagarde has been appointed as new head

of European Central bank (ECB) (Headquarter: Frankfurt, Germany).

3. Karnam Sekar has been appointed as the new MD and CEO of

Chennai based Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).

4. Anshula Kant, MD of SBI has been appointed as Managing director

and Chief Financial Officer (MD & CFO) of the World Bank.

SCHEMES

5. Uttar Pradesh government has launched a massive campaign called

‘Dastak’ to eradicate deadly Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and

Japanese Encephalitis.

6. University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched STRIDE (Scheme

for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy) scheme

to boost research culture and innovation in colleges and universities.

7. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched

‘LaQshya’ (Labour room Quality improvement Initiative) initiative to

improve quality of care in labor room and maternity operation theatres

in public health facilities.

8. Haryana Government launched online portal named “Meri Fasal

Mera Byora” for farmers to directly avail crop related benefits of state

government schemes.

BANKING

9. RBI has constituted a six-member working group headed by Tapan

Ray to review regulatory guidelines and supervisory framework for

Core Investment Companies (CIC).

10. Karnataka Bank launched the web tool named ‘Vasool So-Ft’

(Vasool So-Fast) for digitizing the Non-Performing Asset (NPA)

recovery process of the bank.

11. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will now be the regulator of Housing

Finance Firms (HFFs) instead of NHB (National Housing Bank).

12. RBI will adopt a three-year road map for medium-term objective

named “Utkarsh 2022” for strengthening regulation, supervision of the

central bank.



BUSNINESS

13. Reliance Jio has partnered with Facebook to launch a digital

literacy initiative named “Digital Udaan” to empower first-time internet

users with digital literacy and understanding of the Internet in real time.

In a first ever loan to an NBFC, AIIB will provide $100-million loan

to L&T Infrastructure Finance Company (LTIF) for wind and solar

infrastructure projects.

STATES

14. Butterfly species Tamil yeoman (Cirrochroa thais) has been

officially declared as state butterfly of Tamil Nadu.

15. Asia’s first Six Sigma Institute of Mountain Medicines and High-

Altitude Rescue to be established at Rudraprayag district in

Uttarakhand.

16. On 12 July 2019, West Bengal government observed Save Water

Day across the state to spread the message of water conservation.

17. The annual festival of worship of 14 Gods, popularly known as

Kharchi Puja was recently celebrated in Tripura.

NATIONAL

18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has constituted a High-powered

Committee of Chief Ministers (CMs) for ‘Transformation of Indian

Agriculture’, the nine-member committee would be headed by

Devendra Phadnavis (CM Maharashtra).

19. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has

operationalized first ‘Aadhaar Seva Kendra’ (ASKs) in Delhi and

Vijayawada.

20. Jaipur known for its iconic architectural legacy and vibrant culture

became the second Indian city to be listed as a heritage city by

UNESCO.

21. Border Security Force (BSF) has launched a massive exercise,

code named as Sudarshan, to fortify Anti-Infiltration Grid along Pakistan

border in Punjab and Jammu.

22. Indian scientists from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

(TIFR), Mumbai have developed a new material called ‘black gold’.

INTERNATIONAL

23. NASA will send a nuclear-powered drone, “Dragonfly” to Saturn’s

moon Titan to search for signs of microbial alien life.



24. ‘Fashionova’, India’s first Design Development Center was

launched in the Textile city Surat, Gujarat to promote the city in the field

of the fashion design sector.

25. South Central Railways (SCR) of Indian Railways commissioned the

longest electrified tunnel in India. It is situated between Cherlopalli and

Rapuru stations in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh.

26. World’s largest burn and plastic surgery institute named Sheikh

Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute started its functioning

in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

27. The French government has imposed a GAFA Tax (an acronym for

Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) of 3% on sales generated in the

country by these online giants.

28. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared that measles

disease has been eradicated in Sri Lanka.

EVENTS

29. The Indian Air Force and French Air Force have participated in a

bilateral air exercise Garuda VI at Mont de Marsan in France.

30. First Global Conference for Media Freedom 2019, hosted by the

United Kingdom (UK) and Canada, was recently held in London, UK.

RANKS

31. NITI Aayog released its “Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly

Reforms Index” (AMFFRI) for the year 2019. Maharashtra was

ranked first for implementing most of the marketing reforms. Gujarat

secured the second rank.

32. Tata Steel Kalinganagar (Odisha) becomes the first and the only

Indian manufacturing plant that has been included in prestigious

Lighthouse Network of the World Economic Forum (Headquarter:

Cologny, Switzerland).

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33. According to the recent Henley Passport Index 2019, Indian

passport ranked at 86th position with a mobility score of 58. Japan and

Singapore secured the joint top spot as the most powerful passports in the

world with a score of 189.

AWARDS

34. Indian men’s football team captain Sunil Chhetri and women’s

footballer Ashalata Devi have been announced as the men’s and

women’s footballer of the year respectively at All India Football

Federation (AIFF) 2018-19 awards.

35. The Annual Gandhi Mandela Peace Medal 2019 has been awarded

to Thich Nhat Hanh a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist.

SPORTS

36. Indian pro boxer Vaibhav Yadav became World Boxing Council

(WBC) Asia silver Welterweight Champion after winning the title bout

held in Pattaya, Thailand.

37. Novak Djokovic (Serbia) and Simona Halep (Romania) won the

Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam in the men’s and women’s category

respectively.

38. Max Verstappen (Belgium) who drives for Red Bull won the 2019

Austrian Grand Prix.

39. IIT Kanpur awarded an honorary doctorate to Pullela Gopichand,

national coach for the Indian Badminton team.

40. Indian sprint runner Hima Das, won two-gold medals in women’s

200m Poznań Athletics Grand Prix and Kutno Athletics Meet in Poland.

41. The United States of America (USA) won FIFA Women’s World Cup

2019 title after beating Netherlands in final at Lyon, France.

42. Dutee Chand recently became the first Indian woman to have won

gold medal in women’s 100m in World Universiade, 30th Summer

University Games held in Naples, Italy.

43. England beat New Zealand in the finals held at Lord’s, London UK to

win the 12th ICC Cricket World Cup.

44. Ben Stokes (England) was the Man of the Match in the Finals and

Kane Williamson (New Zealand) was the Man of the tournament.



OBITUARIES

45. Jaya Arunachalam, Indian social worker and pioneer of the

women’s SHG and founder of Working Women’s Forum (WWF) passed

away recently.

46. Basant Kumar Birla, Indian businessman and Birla group patriarch

passed away recently in Mumbai.

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Important Question & Answers from the Union Budget

2019-20 Q. 1 What amount has been allocated for the recapitalisation of the

Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in the Union Budget 2019-20?

Answer: Rs. 70,000 crores

Q. 2 Union Budget 2019-20 provided how many points vision for the next

decade?

Answer: Ten

Q. 3 As per the Union Budget 2019-20 India will be a three trillion-dollar

economy by?

Answer: 2019-20.

Q. 4 Name the scheme under which monthly pension of Rs. 3000 would be

given to about three crore retail traders & small shopkeepers? with annual

turnover

Answer: Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Mandhan Scheme.

Explanation: Annual turnover of the beneficiary must be less than Rs. 1.5

crore.

Q. 5 What amount has been allocated for FY 2019-20 for 2% interest

subvention (on fresh or incremental loans) to all GST-registered MSMEs,

under the Interest Subvention Scheme for MSMEs?

Answer: Rs. 350 crores

Q. 6 As per the Union Budget 2018-19 what amount investment is

needed in Railway Infrastructure during 2018-2030?

Answer: Rs. 50 lakhs

Q. 7 Name the new water conservation scheme announced during the

budget 2019 speech?

Answer: Jal Jeevan Mission

Explanation: 1592 critical and over exploited Blocks spread across 256

District have been identified for this mission.

Q. 8 What is the total amount the government expects to garner through

new financial instruments like Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs),

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) as well as models like Toll-Operate-

Transfer (ToT)?

Answer: Rs. 24,000 crores.



Q. 9 What is the financial outlay for 3 years approved for Phase-II of FAME

(Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles)

Scheme?

Answer: Rs. 10,000 crores

Q. 10 Name the organistion that has been announced to be set up in the

current fiscal to enhance the sources of capital for infrastructure financing?

Answer: Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation

Q. 11 Name the Public Sector Enterprise, incorporated as a new commercial

arm of Department of Space to tap the benefits of ISRO?

Answer: New Space India Limited (NSIL)

Q. 12 The government has raised the annual turnover limit from Rs

250 crore to what amount for availing a lower corporate tax rate of 25 per

cent?

Answer: Rs 400 crores

Q. 13 According to this year’s Union Budget what is the disinvestment

(of Central Public Sector Enterprises) target of the government for this

fiscal?

Answer: Rs. 1,05,000 crores

Q. 14 Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) during its

second phase (2019-20 to 2021-22), approximately how many houses with

amenities like toilets, electricity and LPG connections are to be built?

Answer: 1.95 crore

Q. 15 As per the budget the government will organise an annual Global

Investors Meet in India, using which fund?

Answer: National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF)

Q. 16 The Union Budget proposed an additional deduction of up to Rs. 1.5

lakhs for interest paid on loans borrowed up to 31st March, 2020 for

purchase of house valued up to what amount?

Answer: Rs. 45 lakhs

Q. 17 To boost the usage of electric vehicles to counter pollution, an

additional income tax deduction of what amount is proposed in the Union

budget?

Answer: Rs. 1.5 lakhs



Q. 18 Which scheme has been announced to address critical gaps in the

value chain including infrastructure, modernization and productivity of the

fisheries sector?

Answer: Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)

Q. 19 Under the consolidated ASPIRE scheme (Scheme for Promotion of

Innovation, Rural Industry and Entrepreneurship’) how many

entrepreneurs to be skilled in agro-rural industry sectors?

Answer: 75,000

Explanation: Also, 80 Livelihood Business Incubators (LBIs) and 20

Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) to be setup in 2019-20 and 10,000

new Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to be formed, to ensure

economies of scale for farmers.

Q. 20 Under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) target of

connecting the eligible and feasible habitations advanced from 2022 to?

Answer: 2019. 97% of such habitations have already been provided with

all-weather connectivity.

Q. 21 Which scheme has been announced to make traditional industries

more productive, profitable and capable for generating sustained

employment opportunities?

Answer: Scheme of Fund for Upgradation and Regeneration of Traditional

Industries’ (SFURTI)

Explanation: 100 new clusters to be setup during 2019-20 with special

focus on Bamboo, Honey and Khadi, enabling 50,000 artisans to join the

economic value chain.

Q. 22 To mark the achievement of Open Defecation Free (ODF) India by

2nd October 2019, Rashtriya Swachhta Kendra would be inaugurated at?

Answer: Gandhi Darshan, Rajghat

Q. 23 Name the encyclopaedia being developed by National Council for

Science Museums to sensitize youth and society about positive values?

Answer: Gandhipedia

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Q. 24 Name the foundation which was proposed in the recent budget to

fund, coordinate and promote research in the country?

Answer: National Research Foundation (NRF)

Q. 25 What amount has been provided for “World Class Institutions”,

for FY 2019-20?

Answer: Rs. 400 crores

Q. 26 An overdraft of what amount would be provided to every verified

women SHG (Self Help Group) member having a Jan Dhan Bank Account?

Answer: Rs. 5,000

Q. 27 As per the Union budget, under the MUDRA Scheme, one woman per

SHG to be eligible for a loan up to?

Answer: Rs. 1 lakh

Q. 28 TDS of 2% would be levied on cash withdrawal exceeding what

amount in a year from a bank account?

Answer: Rs. 1 crore

Q. 29 The Union Budget proposes investment of what amount in

infrastructure over the next five years?

Answer: Rs. 100 lakh crores

Q. 30 As per the Union Budget how many iconic Tourism Sites are being

developed into model world class tourist destinations?

Answer: Seventeen



WORD POWER: MADE EASY A Reading Comprehension passage accounts for around 30% of the verbal

section of most banking and government exams. Due to the lack of a

regular reading habit, many students are unable to score marks in this

section. PracticeMock is here to help such students gain mastery over this

part of the verbal section through a holistic approach. In this initiative, we

will be picking passages that span a variety of topics, ranging from

economics to environmental science from prominent newspapers such as

The Hindu, Economic Times, etc, and provide the meanings of all the

difficult words/ phrases used in the passage. We hope this will help you not

only to master your vocabulary but also to understand the contextual usage

of the words.

Let’s see analysis of the below editorial.

Financial Stability Report: Halfway House

The latest edition of RBI’s Financial Stability Report (FSR) was much

awaited for answers to some of the burning questions

(An urgent or crucial issue under heated discussion; महत्वपूर्ण मुद्दा ) relating

to the non-bank crisis simmering in India’s debt markets. This is especially

so after the June edition of the monetary policy review passed without any material comment from either the RBI or the Monetary Policy Committee

on this issue. The report takes an analytical deep-dive into the asset-liability profiles of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing

finance companies (HFCs) to reveal the anatomy (a study of the structure

or internal workings of something; किसी चीज़ िी संरचना या आंतररि िामिाज िा

अधयन्न) of the crisis. But it stops short of offering, or even debating, possible

solutions to it.

The FSR has good news to impart on domestic banks, concluding that their

legacy NPAs peaked out in March 2018 and are now set to steadily

(gradually; लगातार / धीरे - धीरे ) diminish. The bulk of these NPAs are now

accounted for, with the provision coverage at 60 per cent. The improvement

in banks’ aggregate capital adequacy ratio to 14.3 per cent with a shrinkage

in the number of precarious (in danger; likely to fall or suffer harm; अकनकित

/खतरे में , कगरने या नुक्सान िी सम्भावना ) PSBs, should have the Centre heaving a

sigh of relief. But the section devoted to the non-bank sector raises more

questions than it answers. For instance, noting that market borrowings via

debentures (a type of loan, often used by companies to raise money; एि

प्रिार िा ऋर्, कजसिा उपयोग अक्सर िंपकनयां पैसा जुटाने िे कलए िरती है ) have been

drying up for NBFCs/HFCs, it finds that banks are now larger funders of NBFCs. However, the report also observes that 80 per cent of bank

exposures to NBFCs are concentrated in the top 30 names, begging a question on how the remaining 9,600-odd non-banks are meeting their

liquidity needs. Presenting granular data on delinquencies (late payment;



देरी से भुगतान ) in loans given out by banks vis-a-vis NBFCs/HFCs, it concludes

that NBFCs have an ‘adverse selection’ bias. But the fact that NBFCs lend to riskier segments of borrowers is already well-known. The question now

is whether their risk management practices are robust enough to ward off solvency risks (risk that an institution cannot meet maturing obligations

as they come due for full value, even after disposal of its assets). The FSR’s stress-tests lead to the finding that the failure of a beleaguered HFC or

NBFC can dent the Tier 1 capital of the entire banking system, while possibly triggering one or two bank failures. But after presenting this

alarming conclusion, it refrains from either naming the precariously placed

HFCs/NBFCs or discussing a resolution plan.

Overall, while the report does a thorough job of diagnosing the weak spots

lurking in the financial system, it disappoints by not suggesting cures. The tone of the report also gives the impression that the RBI, at this juncture,

given its dual roles as the regulator of non-banks and the custodian of

financial sector stability, is torn between taking a critical view of its constituents and soothing the market’s frayed nerves (feeling worried;

कचंकतत महसूस िरना). The collapse of the systematically important IL&FS and

yawning asset-liability mismatches at HFCs also call for introspection

(examination of your own thoughts and ideas; आत्मकनरीक्षर्) on the part of

the RBI on how its own supervisory failures contributed to this crisis. It

would have been good if the FSR had dwelt on this aspect as well.
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