हिन्दी साहित्य- सीमांचल
Current Affairs MCQ: 12 February 2015
1) O.P. Jaisha who won gold by finishing first in the women’s 5,000m with a new Games Record time of 15:31.37, (previous 15:54.26 by Kavita Raut of Maharashtra in Ranchi 2011) in the 35th National Games recently, represents which state?
(A) Kerala (B) Punjab (C) Services (D) Haryana
2) Which social networking site on 10 February 2015 announced a tie-up with Reliance Communications to launch in India, that will allow users free access to basic mobile internet services?
(A) Twitter(B) Instagram(C) Facebook(D) LinkedIn
3) Adani Enterprises on 9 February 2015 signed a pact with which state government to develop the country's largest solar park in the state with 10,000 MW capacity?
(A) TamilNadu(B) Gujarat(C) West Bengal(D) Rajasthan
4) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) scored a landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly elections on 10 February 2015 by winning how many seats in the 70 member assembly?
(A) 69(B) 67(C) 65(D) 63
5) Indian's Ricky Kej (Musician) and activist Neela Vaswani recently won which International Award?
(A) BAFTA Awards(B) Grammy Awards(C) Oscar Awards(D) Golden Globe Awards
6) Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has made payment process for National Highways (NHs) related works and services more transparent, with the inauguration of a web based payment monitoring system on 9 February 2015. Name the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways who inaugurated this?
(A) Ashok Ghelot(B) Suresh Prabhu(C) Venkaih Naidu(D) Nitin Gadkari
7) State-of-the-art, high capacity Cold Storage Plant for silkworm egg was recently inaugurated at?
(A) Kottayam(B) Mussorie(C) Mysuru (D) Coimbatore
8) Tony Tan Keng Yam who recently visited India was the president of which country?
(A) Singapore(B) Malaysia(C) Thailand(D) Vitenam
9) Acclaimed Journalist Vinod Mehta was on February 9, 2015 awarded the Yash Bharti Samman 2015 by the government of?
(A) Madhya Pradesh(B) Uttar Pradesh(C) Himachal Pradesh(D) Goa
10) ___th edition of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) was presented on 9 February 2015?
(A) 68th(B) 57th(C) 65th(D) 51st
Answers
1) Ans. (A) Kerala 2) Ans. (C) Facebook 3) Ans. (D) Rajasthan 4) Ans. (B) 67 5) Ans. (B) Grammy Awards
6) Ans. (D) Nitin Gadkari 7) Ans. (C) Mysuru 8) Ans. (A) Singapore 9) Ans. (B) Uttar Pradesh 10) Ans. (A) 68th
02 Feb - World Wetlands Day.
10 Feb - National Deworming Day. 140 Million Deworming tablets distributed to school children across nation to combat worms that make numerous children sick every year.
10th Aero India show inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bengaluru (Karnataka).
Aero India show comprises of aircrafts, aviation products, aero technology and air shows and is organized every two years by Defence Exhibition Organisation arm of Ministry of Defence and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
12 Year Old Saloni Dalal from Karnataka became youngest medal winner in 35th National Games in Kerala .She won a Bronze medal in the 200 meter breast stroke swimming event.
13 Feb- World Radio Day.
13th meet of Foreign Ministers of India, Russia and China was held in Beijing (China). Participants were Sushma Swaraj (India), Wang Yi (China) and Sergey Lavrov (Russia).
18th National Conference on e-Governance held in Gandhinagar (Gujarat). National Awards for e-Governance in 1 Categories were also announced on this occasion.
2 Feb - MGNREGA Day. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was started on 2 February 2006 with 200 Districts.
[pic]20 Feb - Statehood Day of Arunachal Pradesh. It was given statehood on Feb 20, 1987.
[pic]21 Feb - International Mother Language Day.
[pic]21 Feb is Mother Language Day. 2015 Theme is Inclusive Education through and with Language - Language Matter.
[pic]24 Feb - Central Excise Day.
[pic]28 Feb - Eighth International Rare Disease Day. (Held annually on last day of February).
[pic]28 Feb - National Science Day. Prof. C V Raman was honored by Nobel Award for discovery of Raman effect on Feb 28, 1930.
[pic]35th National Games mascot Ammu, The Great Hornbill (State bird of Kerala) has been included in Limca Book of Records for its play, featuring the bird in lead role in Kalikkunna Play.
[pic]3rd Tortoise Festival organised at Hajong Lake in Assam to create awareness among people on the endangered tortoise species by Environment and Forest Department of Dima Hasao (ASSAM).
[pic]4 Feb - World Cancer Day.
[pic]45th Meet of World Economic Forum hel in Davos (Switzerland). Finance Minister Arun Jaitley participated on India's Behalf.
[pic]57th Annual Grammy Awards -
These are recording industry’s most prestigious award presented annually by National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States.
83 Grammy Awards were presented this year.
Main Grammy Awards wnners 2015 -
|Category |Album |Artist |
|Best album |Morning Phase |Beck Hansen |
|Best record |Stay With Me |Sam Smith |
|Best song |Stay With Me |James Napier, William |
| | |Phillips & Sam Smith |
|Best new artist |- |Sam Smith |
|Children’s Album |I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education |Neela Vaswani (India) |
| |And Changed The World (Malala Yousafzai) | |
|Best Pop solo |Happy (Live) |Pharrell Williams |
|performance | | |
|Best Pop Duo/Group |Say Something |A Great Big World With |
|Performance | |Christina Aguilera |
|Best Rock Performance |Lazaretto |Jack White |
|Best Metal Performance |The Last In Line |Tenacious D |
|Best Rock Album |Morning Phase |Beck |
|Best R&B Performance |Drunk in Love |Beyonce featuring Jay Z |
|Best Rap Performance |I |Kendrick Lamar |
[pic]5th India-Myanmar Joint Trade Committee meeting held in Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar. India’s Minister of State for Commerce & Industry (Independent Charge) Nirmala Sitharaman met Myanmar’s Minister of Commerce U Win Myint.
[pic]60th Filmfare Awards announced -
Best Actor (male) : Shahid Kapoor for film Haider directed by Vishal Bhardwaj
Best Actor (female) : Kangana Ranaut for film Queen directed by Vikas Bahl
Best Film: Queen directed by Vikas Bahl
Best Director: Vikas Bahl for film Queen
Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award: Kamini Kaushal
[pic]68th British Academy Films Awards (BAFTA) (London)
Best Film : Boyhood
Leading Actress : Julianne Moore for Still Alice
Leading Actor : Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything
Best Director : Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Supporting Actress : Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
Supporting Actor : JK Simmons for Whiplash
Best Animated Film : The Lego Movie
Original Music : Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel
[pic]77th annual convention of presiding officers, speakers and secretaries of legislative assemblies and councils held in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).
[pic]2 Years 8 Months and 28 Nights has been written by Salman Rushdie.
[pic]Brigade of The Guards and the Sikh Regiment were collectively awarded Best Marching Contingents Trophy for Republic Day Parade 2015.
[pic]Cricket World cup : The Indian Challenge has been written by Aashish Re.
[pic]Editor Unplugged: Media, Magnates, Netas and Me has been written by Vinod Mehta.
[pic]Fragile Frontiers: The Secret History of Mumbai Terror Attacks has been written by SK Rath.
[pic]Spirit of Kumbh has been written by Santosh k mishra (chief of chattisgarh Tourism board).
[pic]Vedic Astrology: A Journey Through History, Principles And Mathematica has been written by G Srinivasan.
[pic]Union Budget 2015 - 2016 - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2015-16 in Lok Sabha. It was first full year Budget of the NDA government and second budget of Arun Jaitley. Main Points are -
Expenditures (Total 1777477 Crores)
Planned Expenditure - 465277 Crores
Non-Planned Expenditure - 1312200 Crores.
Revenue Receipts (Total 1671223 Crores)
Tax Revenue - 1449490 Crore Rupees
Non Tax Revenue - 221733 Crore Rupees
Estimates of various Deficits -
Fiscal Defict (Rajkoshiya Ghata) to be 3.9 % of GDP
Further Estimations - 3.5 % of GDP in 2016-17 and 3 % oof GDP in 2017-18
Revenue Deficit to be 2.8 % of GDP
Taxation -
Abolition of wealth tax and Additional 2% surcharge for the super rich with income of over Rs. 1 crore.
Corporate tax to come down from 30% to 25% over the next 3 year period.
No change in individual income tax rates and slabs, overall deduction benefits to individual taxpayers hiked to Rs 4.44 lakh a year.
2 % Swachh Bharat cess on Service Tax and 100 % deduction on investment in Swachh Bharat Kosh.
Excise duty is up to 12.5 % and and service tax Increased to 14 % (From 12.36 %).
Pension fund exemption increase from Rs.1,00,000 to Rs.1,5,0000
Mediclaim policy limit increased from Rs.15,000 to Rs.25,000 (Rs.30,000 for Senior Citizen)
Goods and Services Tax to be implemented by April 2016.
Agriculture -
Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.
Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.
Farmers credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore.
Infrastructure -
Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.
Atal Innovation Mission to be established to draw on expertise of entrepreneurs, and researchers to foster scientific innovations; allocation of Rs. 150 crore.
Setting up of 5 ultra mega power projects, each of 4000 MW.
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) will be made with annual flow of Rs.20,000 crores to help infrastructure finance companies leverage extra equity from the funds and use it to erect infrastructure.
Self- Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU), a Techno-Financial, Incubation and Facilitation Programme will be created to support all aspects of start up businesses particularly in technology-driven areas. An amount of Rs.1000 crore is being set up initially in NITI (National Institute of Transforming India) Aayog for SETU.
Education -
New AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.
New IIT in Karnataka; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT.
University of Disability Studies to be formed in Kerala.
Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.
New IIMs in Jammu - Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.
Defence Expenditure - 2,46,726 Crores (9.87 % [pic])
Welfare Schemes -
DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) will be further be expanded from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.
For the Atal Pension Yojna, govt. will contribute 50% of the premium limited to Rs. 1000 a year.
Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA this year taking the allotement to 34699 Crores all time high.
Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank will be made with funds Rs. 20,000 crore and credit guarantee fund of 3,000 crore to refinance Micro-Finance Institutions through Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.
Visa on Arrival Facility for 150 Countries.
1000 crore rupees more allocated to Nirbhaya fund
For students belonging to minorities, a new scheme named Nayi Manzil will be started
Transport allowance increased to 1600 rupees per month
Pradhan Mantra Suraksha Bima Yojana to cover accidental death risk of Rs. 2 lakh for just Rs. 12 per year.
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana to cover both natural and accidental death risk
Unclaimed deposits of about Rs. 9,000 crores in the PPF and EPF funds will be used to revitalize Senior Citizen Welfare funds.
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana will be launched to enhance the employability of Rural Youth with capital of 1500 Crores.
National Skills Mission will be launched with capital of Rs. 1,500 crores apart for Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gramin Kaushal Yojana.
A fully IT based Student Financial Aid Authority will be set up to manage Scholarships and Educational Loan Schemes, through the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram.
Scheduled Castes Development Sub-Schemes to get 30851 Crores and Scheduled Tribes to get 19980 Crores, women welfare schemes get 79258 Crores.
Rural -
Rs. 15,000 crore for Long Term Rural Credit Fund
Rs. 45,000 crore for Short Term Cooperative Rural Credit Refinance Fund
Rs. 15,000 crore for Short Term RRB Refinance Fund
Renewable Energy -
Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.
Total 175 K MW Renewable energy target for 2022: 100 K MW in solar; 60 K MW in wind; 10 K MW in biomass and 5 K MW in small hydro.
Gold -
New scheme for depositors of gold to earn interest and jewellers to obtain loans on their metal accounts.
An Indian gold coin with Ashok Chakra on its face will be made to reduce the demand for foreign coins and recycle the gold available in the country.
Financial -
Forward Markets Commission to be merged with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
NBFCs with asset size above 500 crores to be considered as ‘financial institution’ under Sarfaesi Act, 2002, enabling them to fund SME and mid-corporate businesses.
Implementation of GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rule) has been deferred by 2 Years.
People will have to quote their PAN for all purchases above 1 lakh rupees
GDP growth seen between 8% and 8.5% this year
Disinvestment target set at Rs 69,500 crore for 2015-16.
Tough Law to black money to be introduced including imprisonment up to 10 years and 300% penalty on tax for concealing income and assets.
Total transfer to the states will be 62 %
Electrification of remaining 20000 villages by 2020
Subsidies - 227000 Crores ([pic] of 10.2 % from 2014 - 15).
Food Subsidy Increased to 122000 Crores.
Fertilizer Subsidy - 72968 Crores
Petroleum Subsidy - 60270 Crores
Others -
Year 2022 will be the Amrut Mahotsav, the 75th year, of India’s independence. Housing for all and employment for at least one person in every family is to envisioned to achieved by 2022.
Schemes and Expenditure -
Rural Development - 79526 Crores ([pic] of 10 %)
Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) - 34699 Crores ([pic] of 2.1 %)
Health Sector - 33152 Crores
Education Sector - 68968 Crores (Including Mid Day Meal)
Housing and Urban Development - 22407 Crores
Women and Child Welfare - 10351 Crores
Water Resources and Namami Gange - 4173 Crores
[pic]Economic Survey 2014 - 2015 Highlights -
Finance Minister of India (Arun Jaitley Currently) presents the Economic Survey in the parliament every year, just before the Union Budget. It is the ministry’s view on the annual economic development of the country.
Highlights on Economic Survey 2014-15 are
Prepared by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and his team in Finance Ministry.
To improve investment climate and reduce backlog of stalled projects, a three-pronged strategy is suggested
Revival of public investment in short term, to act as an engine of growth in infrastructure sector.
Creative solutions needed to strengthen institutions relating to bankruptcy to ensurte that exit options are available.
Restructuring the PPP (Public Private Partnership) model is required to make it more viable.
Inflation
Inflation declined by over 6 % since late 2013 and likely to remain 5-5.5 in 2015-16.
Fiscal Deficit
Government will stick to fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of GDP in 2014-15
Country needs to meet its medium-term fiscal deficit target of 3% of GDP and expected to attain the same over next 3 years period.
Current account deficit
Current account deficit will decline from a 6.7 % of GDP in Quarter 3 of 2012-13 to 1.0 % in 2015-16.
GDP Growth
GDP Growth Rate to stay 7.4 % in 2014 - 2015 and Expected GDP Growth rate for India in 2015-16 lies between 8.1 - 8.5 % as expectations are high due to large scale economic reforms.
After huge phase of deceleration, GDP has been growing at 7.2 % on average since 2013-14, based on the new growth estimates of the Central Statistics Office.
Foodgrains production
Foodgrains production for 2014-15 is estimated at 257.07 million tonnes, it exceeds average food grain production of last five years by 8.5 million tones.
Subsidies and the JAM Number Trinity Solution
Food Subsidy Bill stands at 107823.75 crore rupees during 2014-15, increase of 20 % over previous year
The JAM Number Trinity – Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile – can enable the State to transfer financial resources to the poor in a progressive manner without leakages and minimal distorting.
Other Facts
Rational Investor Ratings Index (RIRI) that combines indicators of macro-stability with growth illustrates that India ranks amongst the most attractive investment destinations.
Growth will receive boost from cumulative impact of reforms, lower oil prices, likely monetary policy easing due to lower inflation and normal monsoon expected in 2015-16. In the long-run, private investments will be the engine of growth.
Complement Make in India initiative with Skill India initiative to enable larger number of people to benefit from structural transformation that such sectors will facilitate.
National Market for Agricultural Commodities should be created in place of thousands of agricultural markets
The Model APMC Act, 2003 should be amended along the lines of the Karnataka Model that has successfully introduced an integrated single licensing system.
Fiscal Framework
Expenditure control combined with recovering growth and GST will ensure that medium term targets are comfortably met.
In the short run, need for accelerated fiscal consolidation will be conditioned by recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC).
[pic]Oscar Awards 2015 (87th Academy Awards, Ceremony held in Los Angles (USA)))
Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 24 categories.
Notable awards
Best Picture: Birdman
Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything
Best Actress: Julianne Moore for Still Alice
Best Supporting Actor: JK Simmons for Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
Best Animated Movie: Big Hero Six 6
Best Original Song: John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn for Glory
Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel
[pic]Aerospace firm SpaceX successfully launched a Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite through the Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on its third attempt.
The satellite will be used by United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for monitoring Sun activities.
It will collect information on solar storms and will monitor changes in solar wind and will provide warnings to the forecasters on hazardous outbursts from earth to help them predict changes that affect satellites, power grids and communication systems.
[pic]Agriculture Department issued second estimates for foodgrains production in 2014-15.
In 2014-15, total foodgrains production is expected to stay around 257.07 Million tonnes, which is 3.3 % less than previous year (2013-14)'s record production of 265.57 Million tonnes.
[pic]Ajay Shukla has been appointed as new Member (Traffic) in Railway Board.
[pic]All India Football Federations (AIFF) Player of the Year Awards 2014 -
Men - Sunil Chhetri
Women - Bala Devi
[pic]Amitava Roy is appointed as as a judge in Supreme Court. Prior to this, he served as the Chief Justice of Odisha High Court.
With This, strength of judges in Supreme Court has become 29 with maximum sanctioned strength of 31 judges.
[pic]An ancient idol of Lord Vishnu dating back about to 7th century AD was found in a village in Tarn Taran district of Punjab.
[pic]Andhra Pradesh Government signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IT Firm Wipro for building and implementing the AP State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA).
[pic]Arvind Kumar Jain has been appointed as Director General (DG) of Police of Uttar Pradesh (UP).
[pic]As per data by Controller General (CGA) of Accounts, India's fiscal deficit crossed budget estimate of Rs 5.31 lakh crore by December-end. Target is to keep it under 4.1 % of GDP in 2014-15.
[pic]Ashok K Agarwal has been appointed as General Manager of Southern Railway.
[pic]Ashton Carter has been appointed as Defence Secretary by US Senate.
[pic]Australian Open 2015 -
Male - Novak Djokovic (Serbia) defeated Andy Murray (England). It was fifth Australian Open title for Novak Djokovic.
Female - Serena Williams (USA) Defeated Maria Sharapova (Russia). This was 19th Grand Slam and sixth Australian Open win for Serena Williams.
Men's Doubles - Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini from Italy.
Women's Doubles - Bethanie Mattek-Sands (United States ) and Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic)
Mixed Doubles - Martina Hingis (Switzerland ) and Leander Paes (India).
[pic]Balasubramaniam Venkataramani will be new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX).
[pic]Bangladesh Senior Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mozammel Haque Khan Visited India and signed agreements for stepping up Patrolling across India-Bangladesh Borders.
[pic]Bhanu Pratap Sharma has been appointed as Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
[pic]Bhopal based Indian Institute of soil science (Sponsered by Indian Council of Agricultural Research) created ‘Mridaparikshak’ - a MINILAB that can determine soil health.
[pic]Bihar Government anounced to allot 35% reservation for women in Non-Gazetted jobs
[pic]Bihar Government decided to provide free education to the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and girl students till Post Graduation (PG) level in the State.
[pic]Bihar government approved inclusion of Dusadh (Dhari and Dhadi) caste in the Mahadalit category. There are no more any Dalits in Bihar as all Dalits are now categorised as Mahadalits in the State.
[pic]Bollywood actor Ashraful Haque passed away.
[pic]Book Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh is written by PR Mohana Rao.
[pic]Book Kiran Bedi — Kaise Bani Top Cop is written by her sisters, Reeta Peshawaria Menon and Anu Peshawaria
[pic]Britain's House of Commons adopted Bill to amend the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (HFEA) to allow creation of babies with DNA from three people.
[pic]Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved four highway Projects in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
[pic]Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved mandatory packaging of 90 % of foodgrains produced in India as well as 20 per cent of sugar in jute bags for the 2014-15 crop season to help the jute sector.
Almost all the foodgrains procured by Food Corporation of India is packaged in jute bags.
West Bengal produces 80 % of India’s total annual jute production of 11-12 million bales (one bale is 180 kg).
[pic]Centre for Science and Environment released report Heat on Power and claimed that Indian coal-based thermal power plants are among most inefficient in world. Report was released by MS Swaminathan, father of India’s Green Revolution.
Inefficient resources use and technological backwardness leads to high levels of pollution.
Plants are operating at 60-70 % capacity, if capacity utilisation is improved, additional power requirement can be without making new plants.
Delhi- based NTPC’s Badarpur plant one of the most polluting in the country.
55 % of the units were violating air pollution standards which are already extremely lax.
[pic]Chhattisgarh has been awarded for being one of the best-performing states in Renewable Energy Sector in India.
[pic]Chief Minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi resigned.
[pic]Chrishantha de Silva has been appointed as 21st chief of Sri Lanka Army.
[pic]Classical vocalist Prabha Atre has been honored by Bhimsen Joshi Lifetime Achievement Award-2014.
[pic]DK Pandey has been appointed as Director General of Police (DGP) of Jharkhand
[pic]Delhi Assembly Elections 2015 Results -
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won by winning 67 seats out of 70 seats. 3 Seats won by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Arvind Kejriwal will be seventh Chief Minister of Delhi.
[pic]Dosmoche festival celebrated in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
[pic]Dr. Ambedkar National Merit Awards were given to 84 Students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
[pic]Dunya Maumoon, Foreign Minister of Maldives Visited India.
[pic]Ecuador open tennis tournament has been won by Victor estrella burgos from Czech republic after beating Feliciano lopez from spain.
[pic]Edgar Lungu has been appointed as President of african country Zambia.
[pic]Eighth India-Nepal Combined Military Exercise Surya Kiran-VIII started in Saljhandi (Nepal).
[pic]Election Commission of India will launch Electoral Roll Authentication Mission (ERAM) from March 1 to authenticate and purify electoral rolls by using database of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to link Aadhaar number of voters.
[pic]Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has set up online help desk for tracing inoperative accounts and seek final settlement. There are about 8.15 crore inoperative EPFO accounts with 27000 crore rupees in them.
[pic]Famous Cartoonist and political activist Rajinder Puri passed away
[pic]Famous Industrialist, Chairman of JK Group Gaur Hari Singhania Passed Away.
[pic]Famous Urdu poet Kalim Ahmed Ajiz passws away.
[pic]Federal Bureau of Investigation of USA announced a reward of 3 million USD for information on Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, one of the world’s most prolific cyber criminal from Russia.
[pic]Fertilizer Producer Krishak Bharati Cooperative appointed Chandrapal singh yadav as its chairman.
[pic]First Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo, called RE-Invest 2015 held in New Delhi to attract large scale investments for the renewable energy sector in India.
[pic]First World Ocean Science Congress (WOSC) held in Kochi (Kerala) with theme Protect Oceans for Posterity and Blue Economy and aim is to find sustainable means to utilize the resources carefully without causing any damage to the oceans and its marine life.
[pic]Forbes released Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen 2015 list with six Indian women featured in it -
Arundhati Bhattacharya, CMD, State Bank of India
Chanda Kochchar, CEO, ICICI Bank,
Akhila Srinivasan, MD/Non-Executive Director, Shriram Life Insurance/Shriram Capital
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Founder, Chairman and MD, Biocon
Shikha Sharma, CEO and MD, Axis Bank
Usha Sangwan, MD, Life Insurance Corp. of India
[pic]Former Indian cricketer Saurav Ganguly has been given Honorary Life Membership to england's Marylebone Cricket Club.
[pic]Former New Zealand cricketer Martin David Crowe inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
[pic]Four new fish species discovered in Kerala with names - Puntius nelsoni, Puntius nigronotus, Systomus chryseusand and Systomus rufus.
[pic]France signed a 5.9 billion USD deal with Egypt for supplying 24 Rafale fighter planes to Egypt.
[pic]German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks visited India for Indo-German Environment Forum and Pledged to co-operate with India in cleaning of Ganga river and financial assistance of 3 Million euros.
[pic]German scientists combined sunlight from a Solar Vacuum Tower Telescope in Canary Islands with light of Laser Frequency Comb (LFC) to make possible searching Earth-like planets with ease and precision.
[pic]Global Intellectual Property Center Released third annual International IP Index for 30 Countries and ranked India at 29th place with Thailand at bottom and USA at top.
[pic]Government approved 2486 Crore Rupees for development of Dholera (Gujarat) as India's first smart city.
[pic]Government approved Project-17A worth 8 billion USD for building 7 advanced warships with stealth and other advanced features for avoiding detection. These frigates be built at government shipyards in Mumbai and Kolkata.
Aim is to boost Make in India campaign for building domestic defence industrial base and reduce dependencies on expensive foreign suppliers.
[pic]Government approved a development package of 850 crore rupees for Andhra Pradesh for development of backward areas of Rayalaseema and North Coastal region of the State
[pic]Government approved enhancing authorised capital of NMDFC (National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation) to 3000 crore rupees from 1500 crore rupees
[pic]Government approved providing overdraft facility of drawing upto rs. 5000 from accounts opened under PMJDY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhayn Yojana). The amount is to be paid in 3 years with maximum 2% applicable interest.
[pic]Government approved setting up of 15000 Mega Watt (MW) Grid-connected Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV) Power projects under National Solar Mission (NSM) due to high hopes in Solar Power in recent years. It will be implemented through National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (VVNL) in three tranches.
[pic]Government approved the 4000 crore renuka dam project in Himachal Pradesh. It will provide 275 million gallons of water to Delhi every day and will produce 40 MW Power for Himchal Pradesh.
[pic]Government constituted a committee under former Union Home Secretary Anil Baijal to suggest a framework to assess Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities undertaken by companies.
[pic]Government created three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Pramod Asthana for re-investigation of 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases.
[pic]Government imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of graphite electrodes for five years to protect domestic industry from below-cost shipments of graphite electrodes used in steel melting.
[pic]Government launched nation-wide ‘Soil Health Card’ (SHC) scheme in Rajasthan.
The Soil Health Card under this scheme will be issued to 14 crore holdings and will carry crop-wise recommendations of fertilizers required for farms of different soil types. It will help farmers in identifying health of the soil therefore improving productivity through proper use of fertilizers and water.
[pic]Government launched online grievances monitoring system called MADAD with tagline Because You Are Us for redressing consular grievances to help Indians living abroad to file grievances online about services by Indian Missions and Embassy.
[pic]Government revised National Sports Awards Schemes - Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award and Dronacharya Awards based on recommendations made by Kapil dev led panel that decided on Arjuna awards 2014. Selection Committee for Arjuna Award will now be headed by the Retired Judge of Supreme Court/High Court.
[pic]Government updated the base year for calcutaion of GDP Growth Rate from 2004-05 to 2011-12. As per the new stats, GDP Growth rates and projections are updated -
GDP Growth rate in FY 2013-14 is updated to 6.9 % (from 4.7 % earlier).
GDP Growth rate in FY 2012-13 is updated to 5.1 % (from 4.5 % earlier).
GDP Growth rate in FY 2014-15 is expected to be 7.4% and will rise to 8-8.5 % in FY 2015-16.
[pic]Government will give 6990 crore rupees to nine Public Sector Banks to enhance their capital and meet requirements. This is the first installment of capital infusion of 11200 crore rupees alotted in the Union Budget 2014-15. SBI got most (2970 Crores), BOB Second (1260 Crores) and PNB Third (870 Crores).
[pic]Government's scheme PEHAL has been named as world's largest Cash subsidy transfer scheme under which the cooking gas subsidy gets transferred directly to the bank accounts of 10 crore LPG Users. Note that more than 12 crore bank accounts were opened in Jan Dhan Yojana making a world record of its kind.
[pic]Gujarat Forest Department tied up with Zoological Society of London for conservation of Asiatic lion and its habitat.
[pic]Gujarat State Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation (GSHHDC) will launch its own e-commerce portal under the ‘Garvi-Gurjari’ brand to reach to a bigger customer base and boost sales in overseas markets.
GSHHDC, a Gujarat government undertaking which owns ‘Garvi-Gurjari’ stores across the country, has signed an MoU with global e-commerce giant eBay.
[pic]H C Bisht has been appointed as Director General of Indian Coast Guard.
[pic]HDFC Bank Launched Mobile App - Chillar App to enable easy transfers of upto 25000 / Month and max 5000 at a time through Mobile App.
[pic]Hanumanthu Purushotham appointed as as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of National Research Development Corporation (NRDC).
[pic]Haryana Government Launched Online Registration Of Land Deals.
[pic]Haryana government raised cash reward under inter-caste marriage scheme from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh to promote inter-caste marriages and remove caste discrimination in the state.
[pic]Henn-na Hotel in Nagasaki (Japan) will be first completely Robot-staffed Hotel in the World.
[pic]Himachal Pradesh became India's first state to present a 'paperless' budget.
Himachal Pradesh already has country's first green assembly, all documents related to budget would be online and only 10 budget copies would be printed for record.
[pic]Himachal Pradesh government launched Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) project in the state for connecting police stations and other related bodies with state crime records bureau.
[pic]Hindi novelist Mithileshwar won the Shrilal Shukla Sahitya IFFCO Literary Award 2014.
[pic]ICICI Bank launched India’s first digital Bank on mobile phone named Pockets. This digital e-wallet can be downloaded from Google Playstore. It uses a virtual VISA card that enables transacting on any website or mobile application in India.
[pic]ICICI Bank patnered with global payment solutions company UAE Exchange to offer an instant bank transfer service named FLASHremit.
Using FLASHremit, customers of the bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may send money instantly to any ICICI Bank account in India in rupees in a secure manner.
[pic]ICICI Bank started Funds transfer Through Social network Twitter with ease and speed.
[pic]India signed agreement of 8 million USD loan with World Bank for funding of its Sustainable Livelihoods and Adaptation to Climate Change (SLACC) Project.
[pic]India successfully test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from INS Kolkata off the Goa coast.
BrahMos has range of 300 kilometers and may carry warhead up to 300 KG with top speed about 3000 KM/Hour.
[pic]India successfully tested nuclear capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile from Chandipur (Odisha) with Range 350 km
[pic]India test-fired canister-based missile Agni-V with strike range of over 5000 kilometers.
[pic]India's Deepika Pallikal won the winnipeg winter club women squash championship 2015 in Canada.
[pic]India's First Postal Bank ATM Opened in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).
[pic]India's Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi) has been named as best among world’s most performing airports in 25-40 million passengers per annum category by the Airport Council International (ACI). Mumbai Airport is also in top five list.
Delhi Airport won annual Service Quality (ASQ) award in Geneva-based ACI’s ASQ passenger's satisfaction survey
[pic]India's Muthoot Group signed co-operation agreement with World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature - India for its Project -Friends for Life.
[pic]India-made Dhruv choppers restricted from flying in Ecuador after one crashing.
[pic]Indian Army and State Bank of India (SBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Defence Salary Package.
[pic]Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli became first Indian to score a century against Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup.
[pic]Indian Economist Amartya Sen has been given the Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize 2015.
[pic]Indian Former Cricketer Anil Kumble and Former Australian women cricketer Betty Wilson will be inducted in ICC (International Cricket Council) Hall of fame.
[pic]Indian Navy concluded its Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX)-2015 aimed at validating Indian Navy’s Concept of Operations and the area of operations spanned across the Arabian Sea and Northern Indian Ocean.
[pic]Indian Navy conducted large Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise in the Lakshadweep Islands.
[pic]Indian Railways concluded its first bilateral power procurement agreement between Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and North Central Railway.
Under the agreement, Railways will buy 50 MW of power from DVC at Auraiya Grid Sub-station facilitated by Railways Energy Management Company Limited, a Joint Venture (JV) of Indian railway and RITES, a PSU of Ministry of Railways.
Indian Railways is the largest consumer of electricity with consumption of 18 Billion Units per year.
[pic]Indian drug maker Lupin tied-up with Poland's Celon Pharma to jointly develop a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair Diskus, a drug used to treat asthma.
[pic]Indian foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Oman.
[pic]Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri won Indian Open golf in Delhi Golf Club.
[pic]Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri won Malaysian Open by defeating Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger.
[pic]Indian sculptor and artist Mrinalini Mukherjee passed away.
[pic]Indian telecom Provider Bharti Airtel partnered with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for providing health, education and youth-focused content to its customers in 17 African countries.
[pic]Indian writer Hindol Sengupta’s book Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is Revolutionizing the World's Largest Democracy, has been shortlisted for U.S.’ prestigious Hayek Prize 2015.
[pic]Indian-American Ajaypal Singh Banga has been appointed as Member of Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN), a key administration position in the United States (US).
[pic]Indian-American Purnendu Dasgupta has been awarded with J. Calvin Giddings Award 2015 for Excellence in Education by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
[pic]Indian-American Rashad Hussain has been appointed as Special Envoy and Coordinator for Strategic Counter-terrorism Communication in the United States (US).
[pic]Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary has been appointed as Executive Director for Regions and Centre Operations at Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States of America.
[pic]Indian-origin scientist Gurpreet Singh has been given the presented with the prestigious National Science FoundationCareer award wit cash prize money of 500000 USD for his research on Scalable liquid exfoliation processing of ultrathin two-dimensional metal dichalcogenides nanosheets for energy storage devices.
[pic]Indian-origin scientist Srikanth Jagabathula has been honored by Career Development Award (CAREER) by National Science Foundation of the United States for developing data-driven modelling and learning techniques to improve the accuracy of operational decision making.
[pic]Iranian nuclear power plant Bushehr and India's Kudankulam nuclear power plant projects are named as projects of the year 2014 by US Power Engineering magazine in the Nuclear energy category.
[pic]Jamaica Government allowed to decriminalise possession of small amount of marijuana for personal use.
[pic]Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt announced that he will retire from athletics after the 2017 World Championships in London.
[pic]Janatal Dal (United) leader NItish Kumar sworn in as Chief Minister of Bihar for fourth time after Jeetan manjhi resigned. He is 34th CM Of Bihar.
[pic]Japan successfully launched Information Gathering Satellite (IGS) reconnaissance satellite by H-2A rocket. It is meant to support constellation of four IGS satellites, comprising two optical and two radar satellites.
[pic]Jaspal Singh Kandhari has been appointed as president of Gymnastics Federation of India.
[pic]Javed Usmani Sworn In As New Chief Information Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh
[pic]Jharkhand Government will provide laptops to all girls student in class 9 - 12 in government Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV).
[pic]Journalist Vinod Mehta has been conferred with Uttar Pradesh's highest civilian award Yash Bharti.
Yash Bharti Samman is conferred by the Uttar Pradesh Government for excellence in literature, fine arts, folk and classical music and sports.
[pic]KS Radhakrishnan Committee on Road Safety submitted its report to supreme court and recommended ban of sale of alcohol on National and State highways to minimize road accidents along with other recommendations.
[pic]Karnataka became first in country to provide universal health coverage with launch of two schemes, the Rajiv Arogya Bhagya for APL households and the Jyothi Sanjeevini for government employees.
[pic]Kenya's Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs Amina Mohamed visited India to Attend Seventh India-Kenya Bilateral Meeting
[pic]Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Monitoring Cell for Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) for enhancing business and project skills of beneficiaries under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) which is being implemented by KVIC.
[pic]Kotak Mahindra Bank started social bank accounts with JIFI Saver technology that enables funds transfers to contacts on social networks such as facebook.
[pic]Krishi Karman Awards 2013-14 Given by PM Narendra Modi
Individual crops
Rice - Chhattisgarh
Wheat - Madhya Pradesh
Pulses - Assam and Tamil Nadu
Coarse Cereals - West Bengal
Oil Seeds - Gujarat
Total Food Grains Production
Category-I (foodgrains production > 10 million tonnes) - Punjab
Category-II (foodgrains production 1 - 10 million tonens) - Odisha
Category-III (foodgrains production < 1 million tonnes) - Meghalaya
Each award winning state received a trophy, a citation and a cash award of 2 crore rupees
[pic]Kshatrapati Shivaji is appointed as new CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) of SIDBI.
[pic]LC Goyal has been appointed as Union Home Secretary of India.
[pic]Leaders from Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine met in Minsk (Belarus) to sign an agreement to end the Nine month long violent conflict in eastern ukraine. The agreement is named as MINSK II.
[pic]Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was included in the LIMCA book of records for being first Indian woman to represent the same Lok Sabha constituency on the same party ticket for eight times in a row.
[pic]M O Garg has been appointed as Director General of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).
[pic]M Ravindran is appointed as Chairman of Indraprastha Gas Limited that looks after distribution of Natural gas mainly across NCR (National Capital region).
[pic]Madhusudhan Prasad is appointed as Secretary in the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD).
[pic]Madhya Pradesh won 10th National Award for excellent work in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) during MGNREGA summit in New Delhi.
[pic]Madras High Court on directed Tamil Nadu government to ban beauty contests in colleges and educational institutions.
[pic]Maharashtra government signed an MoU with Major engineering and construction company L&T, for setting up closed-circuit television (CCTV) based surveillance in Mumbai to guarantee safety to citizens.
[pic]Manipur Government assured setting up a memorial for freedom fighter Haipei Rani Gaidinliu in Capital Imphal.
[pic]Marathi Writer Bhalchandra Nemade has been given then the Jnanpith (Gyanpeeth) Award 2014 for his novel Kosala.
[pic]Micromax took over Samsung and became India’s biggest and world's third largest smartphone vendor in the world. According to the report, in October-December 2014 (Quarter 4), Micromax handled 22 % market share in smartphones shipments in India compared to 20 % market share of Samsung.
[pic]Minis0try of Railways constituted an eight member Committee under Mohd. Jamshed to identify factors and issues affecting growth of traffic (Freight & Passenger) and suggest a plan of action for Traffic Optimization.
[pic]Mumbai University signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Railways to set up a Rail Innovation and Technology Centre to train students for attaining expertise in Railway Engineering.
[pic]Myanmar Vice-President Sai Mauk Kham visited India.
[pic]Mysuru’s erstwhile royal family adopted Yaduveer Gopal Raj Urs as heir to Wadiyar dynasty.
[pic]NASA successfully launched its first Earth satellite Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) to collect global observations of the vital soil moisture.
[pic]Nagesh Kukunoor's Film Dhanak won two awards at 65th Berlin International Film Festival.
[pic]Nandita Chatterjee is appointed as new Secretary in Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.
[pic]Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of GEF (Global Environment Facility) Visited India.
[pic]National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ) launched web based tool named Atrocity Tracking and Monitoring (ATM) System to monitor atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis & to deliver speedy justice.
[pic]National Tribal Festival Vanaj 2015 inaugurated by Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram at the Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts (IGNCA) in New Delhi.
[pic]Noted Film Producer Daggubati Ramanaidu passed away. He was a recepient of Dada Saheb Phalke award and Padmabhushan award.
[pic]Noted Journalist Diptosh Majumdar passed away.
[pic]Novelist Chitra Mudgal has been honored by Nirala Smriti Samman 2015.
[pic]Odia filmmaker Nirad Mahapatra passed away.
[pic]Odisha Government has appointed Justice Madan Mohan Das as Chairman of committee for Inquiring of multi-crore chit fund scam in Odisha.
[pic]Online shopping portal acquired luxury fashion site for undisclosed amount. With this, Snapdeal aims to strengthen its fashion business and reach 2 billion US dollars in gross value in fashion category in 2015.
[pic]Pakistan successfully test-fired Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) Ra’ad with Strike range 350 KM.
[pic]Parle Products launched nationwide Litter Free Campaign for urging consumers for puttng garbage at proper places.
[pic]Patroling Vessel ICGS (Indian Coast Guard Ship) Amogh is inducted into the Indian Coast Guard.
[pic]President Pranab Mukherjee presented Visitor’s Awards for Central Universities in the categories of Best University, Innovation and Research for 2015-
Best University : University of Hyderabad.
Innovation Award: Prof. Vijay K. Chaudhary and Dr. Amita Gupta of University of Delhi for their invention of TB Confirm, a rapid diagnostic test for Tuberculosis.
Research Award: Cosmology and Astrophysics Research Group, Centre for Theoretical Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia for path breaking research carried out in the field of Astrophysics and Cosmology.
[pic]RBI Allowed Gold loan Non Banking Financial Company Muthoot Finance to act as business correspondent for Yes Bank. It is the first time a bank has appointed any NBFC as their Business Correspondent.
[pic]RBI made USIRS (United States Internal Revenue Service) Registration under FTCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) optional for RRBs (Regional Rural Banks) with assets under $175 USD.
[pic]RBI removed ban on importing gold coins and medallions by banks and allowed import of gold on consignment basis.
[pic]Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the Railway Budget 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha -
In his first Railway Budget, Suresh Prabhu outlined a plan to invest over 8 lakh crore rupees over 5 years.
The size of the Plan Budget has gone up by 52 % from 65789 crore rupees in 2014-15 to 100011 crore rupees in 2015-16.
Freight rate for cement, coal, others hiked by up to 10%
Rail tickets can now be booked 120 days in advance.
Speed on nine railway corridors to go up to 200 km per hour.
Wi-Fi in 400 stations, mobile phone charging facilities in all train compartments.
All india 24/7 helpline - 138 from March 2015 and Toll free No.182 for security.
No hike in passenger fares
No new trains announced
'Operation 5 mins', wherein passengers travellling unreserved can purchase a ticket in 5 minutes.
Four Railway Research Centres to start in four universities.
Transport Logistics Corporation of India (TRANSLOC), to be set up for developing common user facilities to provide end-to-end logistics solution at select Railway terminals through Public Private Partnerships.
Operating ratio to improve to 88.5% in 2015-16
The operating ratio, a key measure of efficiency, was at 91.8 per cent in 2014-15 after touching a high of 93.6 per cent in the previous financial year. The lower the operating ratio, the better is the profitability of an entity.
Fast-track sanctioned works on 7,000 kms of double/third/fourth lines
Commissioning 1200 km in 2015-16 at an investment of Rs. 8,686 crore, 84% higher Y-O-Y.
Commissioning 800 km of gauge conversion targeted in current fiscal.
77 projects covering 9,400 km of doubling/tripling/quadrupling works along with electrification, covering almost all States, at a cost of Rs. 96,182 crore, which is over 2700% higher in terms of amount sanctioned
Traffic facility work is a top priority with an outlay of Rs. 2374 crore .
Preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey (PETS) for four other DFCs in progress.
Acceleration of pace of Railway electrification: 6,608 route kilometers sanctioned for 2015-16, an increase of 1330% over the previous year.
[pic]Rajasthan Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) for setting up India’s largest solar park with 10000 MW capacity.
[pic]Rajya Sabha passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2014 to modify list of Scheduled Castes in three states- Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and one Dadra and Nagar Haveli Union Territory.
It amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes Order, 1962.
It adds following communities to list of Scheduled Castes -
Haryana: Kabirpanthi Julaha
Karnataka: Od, Odde, Vaddar, Waddar, Voddar, Woddar, Bovi (Non Besta), Kalluvaddar, and Mannuvaddar
Odisha: Rajak, Rajaka, Adhuria Dom, Adhuria Domb, Khatia, Sapua Kela, Nalua Kela, Sabakhia Kela, Matia Kela, Gaudia Kela, Khadal, Khodal and Betra
Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Rohit
[pic]Ram Niwas Goel elected as Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly
[pic]Rana Bhagwandas, The first Hindu Chief Justice of Pakistan, Died.
[pic]Ranchi Rays won Hero Hockey India League 2015 (HHIL) by defeating Punjab Warriors.
[pic]Ratan Tata has been honoured with an honorary Doctorate of Automotive Engineering by the Clemson University at the South Carolina Automotive Summit in USA for his contributions to the global automotive industry.
[pic]Reliance Communications tied-up with social networking site Facebook to offer free internet access to people in India through Facebook's initiative, .
will provide access to popular websites and services with zero data charge to make it easier for people to access the Internet.
[pic]Researchers in Monash University of Australia created world's first 3D-printed jet engine.
[pic]Reserve Bank of India changed external commercial borrowings (ECB) norms under which authorised money changing banks have been allowed to create a charge on securities.
AD Category-I banks may now allow creation of charge on assets, financial securities in favour of overseas lender to secure the ECB to be raised.
[pic]Reserve Bank of India increased annual overseas investment limit by Indians to $250,000 per person due to foreign exchange reserves touching record levels.
[pic]Russia signed an agreement with Cyprus to give Russian navy ships access to Cyprus ports in Mediterranean Sea mostly to be used for anti-terrorism and anti-piracy efforts.
[pic]SAFAR-Air , India’s first Mobile App for checking air quality in Real Time, has been launched at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune (Maharashtra).
SAFAR stands for System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research.
[pic]Scientists Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan have been selected for Dr.Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award 2014.
[pic]Sergio Mattarella is appointed as President of Italy.
[pic]Singapore government appointed Gopinath Pillai as its special envoy to Andhra Pradesh to speed up construction of new capital in the state.
[pic]Somdev Devvarman won Delhi Open title of tennis.
[pic]Sri Lanka's New President Maithripala Sirisena Visited India and Signed 4 Agreements in Civil Nuclear Co-operation.
[pic]Supreme Court directed CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to investigate role of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in the multi-crore chit-fund scam.
[pic]Supreme Court sought responses from Union Ministry of Human Resources Development and Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) on a plea for making make Moral Science compulsory subject in curriculam of Classes I - XII.
[pic]Supreme court ordered Online advertisement companies like Google, Yahoo to not to accept publication of sex determination content over their networks.
[pic]Takahiro Hachigo has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Japanese automaker Honda Motor Corp.
[pic]Tapan Misra has been appointed as Chief of ISRO’s Space Applications Centre (SAC).
[pic]Tax receipts improved in April - January period of Financial year 2014-15 - (Total - 1006537 Crores)
|Tax |Total Receipts |% of Total Receipts |
|Direct Taxes - 578715 Crores |
|Corporate Tax |364665 |36.2 % |
|Income Tax |207613 |20.6% |
|Indirect Taxes - 427822 Crores |
|Excise Duty |140284 |14.0 % |
|Customs Duty |155248 |15.4% |
|Service Tax |132290 |13.2% |
[pic]Telangana Government announced organizing Godavari Pushkaralu Event on lines of Kumbh Mela.
[pic]Telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) stated that Telecom subscriber base in India reached all-time high of 970 million by December 2014. Main highlights of the report -
Number of telephone subscribers in increased to 970.97 million.
Broadband subscribers base increased by 4.28% on monthly basis to 85.7 million.
Teledensity in India increased to 77.58 (Connections per 100 persons)
[pic]Telugu novelist Kesava Reddy passed away.
[pic]Tenth Joint Exercise of India - Mongolia armies began in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
[pic]The 20th meet of TAPI (Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline or Turkmenistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan - India Pipeline) Gas Pipeline Project held in Pakistan. Dharmendra Pradhan, (Minister of state for Petroleum and Natural Gas) attended on India's Behalf.
[pic]The Hurun Report Inc released the Hurun Global Rich List 2015 sponsored by Chinese home builder Star River Property.
2089 billionaires from 68 countries were listed in the ranking list.
Around 649 billionaires saw their wealth increase and there were 341 new faces in the list.
Bill Gates (85 USD) topped the List followed by Mexican Carlos Slim (83 USD) on second position and Warren Buffett on third Position.
In India, Mukesh Ambani is richest Indian at Rank 41 followed by Dilip Shanghvi (53), Pallonji Mistry & family (60).
Bill Gates remains the world's wealthiest individual increasing his wealth to 85 billion US dollars while Mexican Carlos Slim is second in the list with wealth of 83billion US dollars.
Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg is youngest member of the Top 10 rich list. His wealth increased by 42 %, moving him up to number 7.
New York has highest number of billionaires (91) and Russia's capital city Moscow is second with 73 billionaires.
USA and China have 537 and 430 billionaires respectively.
In China, solar energy tycoon Li Hejun replaced e-commerce giant Alibaba's CEO Jack Ma as the richest chinese with 26 billion USD Worth.
Richest family in world: The Walton family, owner of Wal-Mart, with the wealth of 138 Billion US dollars is the richest family in the world by far.
[pic]Three Indians - Ritika Singh, Shradha Prasad and Taranjeet Singh Bhatia have been shortlisted for one-way trip to Mars under Mars One mission in 2024.
[pic]Three sub-groups of Chief Ministers constituted within the NITI Aayog -
First Sub-group - Study 66 centrally-sponsored schemes and recommend which schemes should continue, which to discontinue, and which are to be transferred to states.
Second Sub-group - Look after creation of skilled manpower and skill development within states.
Third Sub-group- Taking decisions about institutional mechanisms to be evolved for Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan to make cleanliness a part of life.
[pic]Tintu Luka won gold in 800m in 35th National Games in Kerala.
[pic]Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of Singapore Visited India.
[pic]Tropical cyclones Marcia and Lam hit Australia. It is first time that two cyclones have hit Australia at one time
[pic]Two former scientists of ISRO, B. Anantharaman K.S. Vishwanathan presented the book "Atmatirtham", which describes Adi Sankara's life and teachings written by Nochur Venkataraman to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
[pic]UN Human Rights Council appointed former US judge Mary McGowan Davis as head of UN inquiry into the 50-day Gaza conflict Between Israel - Hamas in 2014.
[pic]USA closed its Embassy in Yemen due to the ongoing political instability and uncertain security situations in Yemen.
[pic]USA's Kristen Stewart won Best Supporting Actress Award at France's Cesar Awards for her role in Clouds of Sils Maria.
She became first American actress to win a trophy at France's Cesar Awards.
[pic]United Arab Emirates closed its Embassy in Yemen due to the ongoing political instability and security situations.
[pic]United Nations Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change and former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg visited India. Ministry of Urban Development partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies for Smart Cities Initiative of Government.
[pic]United Natons appointed Bulgaria 's Nickolay Mladenov as Special Coordinator for Peace Process in Middle East and Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority.
[pic]Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav presented State's Budget 2015-16 of 302687 crore rupees.
State government has focused on agriculture, education, power, health, roads and infrastructure development for which 51516 Crore rupees have been allotted.
Budget size of 2015-16 is 10 % more than budget of 2014-2015.
growth rate of up is expected to be 5 %, more than national growth of 4.7 %. Fiscal deficit is targeted to be kept under 2.96 5 of the State GDP and debt is targeted at around 27.5 % of State GDP.
[pic]Uttarakhand Government launched Himalaya Darshan Campaign to boost tourism in the state of Uttarakhand.
[pic]Vijay Kumar won Gold in 25 metre centre fire pistol event in men’s category in shooting competitions of 35th National Games in Kerala.
[pic]West Bengal Government launched a Micro Business Credit Card to give boost to MSME sector in the state. Through This facility, entrepreneurs in the state will be able to avail cash credit up to 5 lakh rupees for their business activities.
[pic]West Bengal’s capital city Kolkata has become India’s first fully WiFi-enabled metro city.
[pic]West Indies Cricketer Chris Gayle became first to make double century in any Cricket World Cup. He scored it against Zimbabwe in 2015 World cup.
[pic]World Health Organisation approved ReEBOV Antigen rapid test kit developed by Corgenix in the United States for Ebola disease that can give result in 15 minutes.
[pic]World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) 2015 released by Reports Without Borders (RWB) -
India was placed at 136th position out of 180 nations, It improved from 140th rank last year.
Finland is at the top in terms of freedom for press with Norway and Denmark following.
Eritrea is the worst in terms of freedom for press as per the report, North Korea is second worst.
[pic]Zakir A. Naik, president of Islamic Research Foundation of India, won the 2015 King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) for Service to Islam.
Current Affairs January
2015
Month January 2015 Type All
230 Current Affairs were found in Month January
2015 for Type All
1. 2014 has been ranked as Earth’s hottest year since 1880 as per analyses done by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Global average temperature for 2014 was 1.24°F (or 0.69°C) warmer than the 20thcentury
average.
2. Government launched two schemes to support the Scheduled Castes (SC). Named Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes and Green
Business scheme.
Venture Capital Fund Financial
assistance of 15 Crore rupees for 6 years will be provided to 30 SC entrepreneurs in a year. Initial capital
is 200 crore rupees
Green Business loan
for up to 1 lakh rupees at concessional interest rate will be provided to Scheduled Castes for activities such as erickshaw,
Solar Pump and Solar energy powered implements, poly house etc.
3. India China
trade deficit increased to 37.8 billion USD in 2014. Although the bilateral trade was increased to 70.59 USD (Hike of 7.9 %).
India China Trade was USD 73.9 billion in 2011, 66.57 billion in 2012, 65.57 billion in 2013 and 65.49 billion USD in 2013.
China’s export to India in 2014 was 54.2 billion USD and India’s exports to China was 16.4 billion USD. The trade target of India China was
100 billion USD for 2014.
4. Indian Government's Jan Dhan Yojana has been included in Guinness Book of World Records for Opening of About 11.5 Crore Bank Accounts
in short span of About five months. It makes way for government's ambitious plan to transfer annual subsidy directly to bank accounts of more
than 15 crore beneficiaries to remove system leakages.
5. PM Narendra Modi launched Sukanya Samridhi Yojana small deposit scheme for girl child under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. It will
ensure equitable share to a girl child in resources and savings of a family and will enable parents to open bank accounts of girls who are under 10
years of age with an interest rate of 9.1 %.
6. 12 January National
youth day (birthday of Swami Vivekanand).
7. 15 January Army
Day (India).
8. 18th National Conference on eGovernance
held in Gujarat with Theme Conference was Digital Governance New
Frontiers.
9. 19 Jan National
Investigation Agency Foundation day.
10. 20th Law Commission of India headed by A P Shah submitted 253rd report Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High
Courts and Commercial Courts Bill, 2015.
11. 21st screen awards Actor
Shahid
Kapoor (Haider)
Actress Priyanka
Chopra (Mary Kom)
Film Queen
Director Vikas
Bahl (Queen)
Lifetime Achievement Award Hema
Malini
12. 24 January National
Girl Child Day.
13. 26 Jan Indian
Republic Day.
14. 30 Jan World
Laprosy Day.
15. 4 Jan Louis
Braille Day, he was the inventor of braille, a system of reading and writing used by people who are blind or visually impaired.
16. 72nd Golden Globe Award
Drama
Picture Boyhood
Actor Eddie
Redmayne
Actress Julianne
Moore
Musical / Comedy
Picture The
Grand Budapest Hotel
Actor Michael
Keaton
Actress Amy
Adams
Supporting Actor J.
K. Simmons
Supporting Actress Patricia
Arquette
Director Richard
Linklater
17. 76th Senior Table Tennis Championship 2015 Soumyajit
Ghosh won in Male and Mouma Das won in Female Category.
18. 9 Jan Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas (Mahatama Gandhi Returned to India from south africa on this day).
19. A few Good men and the angry sea has been written by Nitin Sathe on the tenth anniversary of Tsunami Tragedy.
20. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Srajan aur Mulyankan has been written by Pritam Singh.
21. Defence Research and Development Organisation got approval for building a missile launch testing facility at a site near to Krishna Delta
Complex in Andhra Pradesh. The is a nesting site of Olive Ridley turtles which is an endangered species.
22. Neither a Hawk nor a Dove is written by Pakistan's ExForeign
Minister Khurshid M Kasuri.
23. Rajesh Khanna : Kuch to Log Khenge has been written by Yasir Usman.
24. Raksha Blu vaccine was launched by Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), (Telangana) To counter the bluetongue disease.
25. Relbanks issued list of 66 largest banks in the world by market Capitalization.
India's HDFC was ranked 45th with 41.58 USD Market Capitalization. SBI was ranked 51st with 36.40 USD and ICICI was 55th with 33.42
USD Market Cap.
Wells Fargo & Co. of US is first with market cap of 284.39 Billion USD and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) of China is
second with market cap of 269.70 Billion USD.
26. Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is named as new King of Saudi Arabia after King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz passed away.
27. The Lunchbox has been nominated for British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards 2015 under nonEnglish
best film
category. The film is the only Indian film to be nominated for 2015 BAFTA Awards.
28. Tipu Sultan : A Crussader for Change has been written by B Sheikh Ali.
29. Vande Mataram has been written by Prabodh Kumar Mishra.
30. A.K. Mittal has been appointed as Chairman of Railway Board replacing Arunendra Kumar.
31. Actor Amitabh Bachchan has been presented with Social Media Person of Year 2015 award by Internet and Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI).
32. Alexis Tsipras is appointed as Prime Minister of Greece after his party SYRIZA won the Greek General Elections.
33. Amitabh Bachchan has been conferred with the second Yash Chopra Memorial Award.
34. An advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) suite made by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was successfully tested on
Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) TejasPV1.
35. Andhra Pradesh Government decided to file a defamation case against State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) as SBH Freezed Accounts of Andhra
Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) amounting to 25 crore rupees.
The accounts of APSCHE were frozen after Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) sent a letter to various banks asking
them to freeze the accounts of APSCHE as it accused APSCHE of illegally capturing off money that was to be shared between the two
states.
36. Andhra Pradesh government constituted Fourth State Finance Commission under the Chairmanship of M L Kantha Rao.
37. Andhra Pradesh government launched 17 Skill Development Centres (SDC) for training and honing skills of youth and help them select the
course at the time of entering college and provide source of information for employment.
38. Andhra Pradesh government signed a pact with International Crop Research Institute for Semiarid
Tropics (ICRISAT) to provide assistance in
making agriculture sustainable and profitable.
39. Andy Murray (Scotland) won ATP World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi after Serbian Novak Djokovic withdrew from finals due to illness.
40. Anupam Shrivastava is appointed as Chief Managing Director of BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited).
41. Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog that replaced Planning Commission. Sindhushree Khullar has been
appointed as CEO of NITI Aayog.
42. As per IMF (International Monetary Fund) Report India's
GDP Growth Rate in 2016 will be 6.5 %, It will surpass China's Expected growth rate of 6.3 % in 2016.
India VS China GDP Growth Rates Year
India China
2013 5 7.8
2014 5.8 7.4
2015 6.3 6.8
2016 (Expected) 6.5 6.3
As per recent Reports, Number of Tigers in India has risen by 30% up to 2226 from 1706 in 2010. Nearly 70% of world's Tigers are in India.
Karnataka has most number of tigers (406) followed by Uttarakhand (340) and Madhya Pradesh (308).
43. As per a recent report by Assam's Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI), Assam has the potential to produce Purple Tea which is believed to be
health rich and is currently grown in Kenya Only.
44. As per a recent report by ICC, India will Host the Twenty20
cricket world cup in 2016 and England will host the ODI world cup in 2019.
45. Ashok Prasad has been appointed as new special secretary of home ministry's crucial internal security division.
46. Australia's Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb Visited India.
47. Australia’s national airline Qantas has been named as the world’s safest airline by .
48. Avijit Ghosh appointed as CMD of Heavy Engineering Corporation.
49. Ayonika Paul (Railways) and Annu Raj Singh (Maharashtra) won Gold in 4th Gun for Glory Shooting Championship.
50. Baba Ramdev is named as state brand ambassador for Haryana Government.
51. Beji Caid Essebsi has been appointed as President of Tunisia.
52. Bengaluru FC won the federation cup Football by beating Dempo FC.
53. Bhagabatpur Crocodile Project in Sunderbans (West Bengal) has been given as fresh start with help of renowned experts in herpetology and
best global practices in crocodile conservation to increase the number of saltwater crocodiles.
In past few years, project did not see a significant increase in the number of saltwater
crocodiles. The eggs to hatching ratio also declined
to 40 per 100 eggs collected.
54. Bibek Debroy is appointed as a Member of NITI Aayog.
55. Book The Indian Parliament – A Critical Appraisal has been written by Sudha Pai and Avinash Kumar.
56. Boxing India has been recognised as governing body for representing boxing in India.
57. British government honored Indian Fauja Singh by prestigious British Empire medal for being world's oldest marathon runner
58. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved proposal of HDFC Bank to raise the foreign holding limit to 74 % (From 73.2
Currently). It will enable inflow of around 10000 crore rupees into the country from overseas EA also approved proposal of Drug
Maker Lupin's proposal of raising foreign holding up to 49%.
59. Central Banking Awards 2015 announced by the Central Banking PublicationsGovernor
of the Year Award: Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor
Central Bank of the Year award: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Jacques de Larosiere former Governor of the Banque de France (1987–1993)
Economics in Central Banking (inaugural award): Claudio Borio, head of the monetary and economic department at the Bank for
International Settlements
60. China Successfully tested ICBM DF41
(Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) with Over 12000 KM Range.
61. China's submersible Jiaolong started exploration for active hydrothermal vent for first time in southwestern Indian Ocean.
62. Chinese nuclear physicist Yu Min was was given the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award 2014 by Chinese President Xi Jinping for
his research in nuclear weapons since 1960s.
63. Committee headed by Shanta Kumar submitted report on restructuring of Food Corporation of India (FCI) and suggested to focus
procurement on eastern belt and hand over procurement of wheat and rice to six States Punjab,
Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and
Odisha.
64. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and China's ecommerce
firm Alibaba signed an agreement to provide global platform to Indian small
and medium enterprises (SMEs).
65. Deep Kumar Upadhyay is appointed as Nepal's ambassador to India.
66. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar commissioned four Indian Coast Guard (ICG) patrolling and interception vessels in Goa. These are two fast
patrol vessels ICG
Amogh and ICG Amey and two interceptor boats Charlie 413 and Charlie 414.
67. Devender Singh Ahluwalia has been appointed as Director (Finance) of National Minerals Development Corporation (NMDC).
68. Dinesh Oraon of Bharatiya Janata Party has been elected as Speaker of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly
69. Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) imposed penalty of 100 crore rupees on Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Limited (RSBL) for violation of
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms.
70. Divya Prakash Sinha appointed as Security Secretary in the Union Cabinet Secretariat.
71. Dubai’s 55storey
tall Maze Tower has been listed in Guinness World Record as world’s largest vertical maze.
72. Ease of Business Report by Forbes India
has been ranked at 93rd place in 143 Countries.
Denmark at top, followed by Hongkong.
73. Eminent IndianAmerican
entrepreneur and philanthropist, Frank Islam, has been honored by prestigious Martin Luther King Jr Award for his
efforts in international service and civil engagement.
74. European Union decided to lift a sevenmonthlong
ban on the import of mangoes from India on account of health concerns.
75. Evans Paul Assumed Office as 18th Prime Minister of Haiti (Caribbean country).
76. Famous Cartoonist R K Laxman Passed Away.
77. Famous Greek Singer Demis Roussos passed away.
78. Famous Malayalam Actor Mala Aravindan passed away.
79. Famous mobile messaging application WhatsApp launched a new service for sending messages from a Web browser.
80. Filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani has been appointed as Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
81. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Vsited Davos (Switzerland).
82. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India declined by over 6 % in November 2014 to USD 1.53 billion as compared to USD 1.63 billion FDI In
November 2013. However, for the AprilNovember
period of the ongoing fiscal, FDI grew by 22 per cent to USD 18.88 billion as against USD
15.45 billion in the same period a fiscal before, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion data.
83. Former Dutch Hockey team coach Paul van Ass is appointed as head Coach of Indian men's hockey team.
84. French weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo’s Paris office was attacked by Terrorists reportedly due to the aggressive history of Charlie Hebdo and
Publishing of Cartoons of Islamic Prophet Mohammed.
85. Global Talent Competitiveness Index By INSEAD Business School and Human Capital Leadership Institiute of Singapore Switzerland
Topped The List, Followed by Singapore and Luxembourrg.
India Got 78th Place in the List with Yemen at Last.
86. Google’s CEO Larry Page has named as the ‘business person of the year’ for 2014 by Fortune magazine.
87. Government Scrapped Planning Commission (Formed in 1950) and created National Institute of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
88. Government accepted recommendations of M P Bezbaruah committee to look into concerns of people of the the North East states living in
other parts of the country.
89. Government allowed fertiliser firms to produce 100 % NeemCoated
Urea to boost income of farmers and reducing subsidy bill by up to 6500
crore rupees.
Neem coated urea
Neem coated urea works as insecticide. It costs 5 % more than the cost of normal urea which is about 260 rupees per tonne.
It will reduce ground and soil pollution, increase crop yields and will lower cost for the farmers.
It reduces nitrogen loss by more than 10 % thereby gaining a net savings of 13.5 rupees per bag for farmers.
90. Government announced to reissue
One Rupee Note after two decades of outage.
91. Government appointed M Sathiyavathy as First Women Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
92. Government approved mandatory packaging of sugar and foodgrains in jute material to minimum extent of up to 90 per cent of production as
a major boost to jute sector.
93. Government approved to set up Indiabased
Neutrino Observatory (INO) in Tamil Nadu
94. Government divested 10 % Stake in Maharatna Coal India Limited (CIL). With this, government’s share in CIL came down to 79.65 %.
Government divested 63.16 crores shares (10 %) of CIL through offer for sale (OFS) at a floor price of 358 rupees per share and got an amount of
22557.63 crore rupees through the disinvestment.
95. Government launched Website, Logo, Vision and Mission of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited
(NHIDCL). Site
Logo: Building Infrastructure Building
the Nation.
96. Government launched women safety mobile app called Himmat.
97. Government reconstituted Empowered Committee for setting up of Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication (FAB) manufacturing facilities in the
country under NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat.
98. Government reconstituted Pollution Control Board Working Group to simplify procedures to get consent certificates and categorisation of
industries. The Working Group comprising of 11 members will be headed by Ayi Vaman N Acharya.
99. Government released commemorative coin to mark 175th birth anniversary of Jamsetji Tata.
100. Gujarat Government launched Taluka (Tehsil) Planning Atlas (TPA) to enable local administration for taking decisions about the regional
development through precise information about current status of various facilities and schemes.
101. Gujarat Technological University (GTU) launched eRaksha
Research Centre to fight cybercrime to curb cybercrimes. Centre will encourage
research and enhance capability to provide solution for issues related to cyber security.
102. Hanumanthu Purushotham is appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of National Research Development Corporation
(NRDC).
103. Harishankar Brahma is appointed as 19th Chief Election Commissioner of India.
104. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman R.K. Tyagi has been conferred with JGBSTop
Rankers' Excellence Award for CEO of 2014.
105. Hockey Player Jaswant Singh Rajput passed away, he was part of Indian hockey team that won gold medal in 1948 London and 1952 Helsinki
Olympics.
106. Hyderabad (Telangana) will host World Congress on Information Technology in 2018 with theme Future of enterprises.
107. ICICI Bank launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat to provide various services from cashless banking to digitised school
teaching with themes cashless,
comprehensive and connected.
108. ICICI Bank launched India’s first contactless debit and credit cards using Near Field Technology enabling payments by just waving the card
near merchant terminals instead of swiping them
109. Idukki district of Kerala became first district in India to have complete rural broadband coverage after it was linked to the National Optic Fiber
Network.
110. In the sixth BiMonthly
Monetary Policy Statement 201415,
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced cut in REPO rate of .25%.Now the REPO
rate has come down to 7.75%. Accordingly, Reverse Repo rate has come down to 6.75%, Bank rate to 8.75% and Marginal Standing Facility
(MSF) rate to 8.75%. Note that CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) is unchanged at 4% and SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) is unchanged at 23%.
111. India provided 7 Crore rupees Assistance to Nepal for Nepal's Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Programme (IDDCP) for goitre control across
the country.
Goitre is swelling of neck or larynx due to enlargement of thyroid gland (thyromegaly) due to its functioning properly.
112. India will host the 42nd World Bridge Championships in Chennai.
113. India will provide 60 million USD Line of Credit (LoC) to Guyana for its road infrastructure projects.
114. India's First CNG Train Started Between Rewarti and Rohtak in Haryana.
115. India's First international institute dedicated to music is to be opened in Kerala.
116. India's National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Black Business Council of South
Africa for developing youth enterprises and empower the marginalized group in South Africa through NSIC's Rapid Incubation Programme.
117. India's State Bank of India (SBI) signed a 100 million Euro loan agreement with European Investment Bank (EIB).
118. India's Trade deficit (Imports Exports)
declined to ten month low of 9.43 billion USd in December 2014 mainly due to fall down of global oil
prices and fall of demand for gold. Imports declined by 4.8 % to 34.8 billion USD in December 2014 as compared to 36.6 billion USD dollars in
December 2013. Exports fell by 3.8 % to 25.4 billion USD.
119. Indian Badminton Player Saina Nehwal won women’s singles of Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold Badminton Tournament 2015 after defeateing
Carolina Marin of Spain in Lucknow (India).
120. Indian Jasjit Ahluwalia has been appointed as Dean of School of Public Health at the Rutgers University in the US.
121. Indian Nihal Singh Agar has been honored by Order of Australia for his service to the Hindu community in Australia and fostering crosscultural
cooperation
with a focus on medical education.
122. Indian Novelist Vikram Chandra is named among the finalists for National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Awards of US for his nonfiction
work
Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty.
123. Indian Origin writer Sumona Sinha has been awarded French academy award for her contribution to French language and literature.
124. Indian Person Atul Khare has been appointed as United Nations UnderSecretary
General.
125. Indian open water swimmer Bhakti Sharma set a world record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one degree temperature in the Antarctic
Ocean. 24year
old Bhakti is the first Asian girl and youngest in the world to do this.
126. 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).
127. IndoRussian
Musical Festival ZimaFest 2015 has been hosted by Goa.
128. International Crops Research Institute for the SemiArid
Tropics (ICRISAT) launched GreenPHABLET for small farmers to help them
purchase inputs at lower price, get a better price for their produce, and link them to markets.
129. International Hindi Conference will be held in New Jersey (USA) in April 2015 with theme Expanding World of Hindi: Possibilities and
Challenges.
130. International Hockey Federation (FIH) Player of the Year 2014 Men
Mark
Knowles (Australia)
Women Ellen
Hoog (Netherland)
131. International Labour Organisation (ILO) released a report titled World Employment and Social Outlook Trends
2015 The
report stated that unemployment will rise in the coming years to more than 212 million in 2019 as compared to 201 million currently.
132. Jammu and Kashmir has been selected for National Award for eGovernance
for the best districtlevel
initiative in CitizenCentric
Service
Delivery through ICT.
133. Jan 10 World
Hindi Day.
134. Japan announced to provide an Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) loan of 2620 crore rupees to India.
135. Japan approved largest budget ever for 2015 of total 814 Billion USD. The defence budget was also enhanced to an all time high of 43 Billion
USD.
136. Jiji Thomson resigned as Director General of Sports Authority of India (SAI).
137. Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir as the Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
138. Justice Narayanan Nadar Paul Vasanthakumar is appointed as new Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
139. K Durga Prasad is appointed as the Special Director General of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force).
140. Kalyan Singh has been appointed as 20th Governor of Rajasthan.
141. Kalyan Singh has been appointed as Governor of Himachal Pradesh. He is also the governor of Rajasthan.
142. Kanagasabapathy J Sripavan is appointed as 44th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka.
143. Kaptan Singh Solanki has been appointed as New Governor of Punjab. He is also the governor of Haryana.
144. Kiran Bhai Vadodaria has been elected as President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for 20142015.
145. Kiran Kumar Alur Seelin has been appointed as new chief of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization).
146. Kolinda GrabarKitarovic
on won 2015 Presidential elections of Croatia and she will be croatia's First Female President.
147. Krishna Chaudhary is appointed as Director General (DG) of the IndoTibetan
Border Police (ITBP).
148. Legendary social activist and freedom fighter Ghelubhai Naik passed away.
149. Libby Lane has been named as Church of England’s first female bishop.
150. Lithunia Joined as 19th Member of The Eurozone.
151. M K Goel has been appointed as Chairman of PFC (Power Finance Corporation).
152. M Satyawati has been appointed as First Female Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
153. M.Y.S.Prasad, director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, has been awarded the Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Award for 20142015
by the Indian
Science Congress Association (ISCA).
154. Maharashtra government announced to observe September 17 as ‘Industries Day’.
155. Maharashtra government launched online Facility for filling Right to Information (RTI) application.
156. Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Singh Posthumously Awarded Ashok Chakra during the 66th Republic day celebrations.
157. Ministry for Social Justice & Empowerment launched national toll free helpline (1800110031)
to assist the alcoholic and drug dependent
persons.
158. Ministry of Defence Awards of the 2015 Republic Day Parade Services
Brigade
of Guards Regiment and Sikh Regiment jointly judged as best marching contingents.
ParaMilitary
Forces Central
Industrial Security Force (CISF) contingent
Tableaux CategoryFirst
position won by Maharashtra, which depicted the pilgrimage to Pandharpur. Jharkhand tableau on Maluti
Temples was second best and Karnataka Tableau was third (based on Channapatna Toys).
Competitive category of school children itemsDaang
Dance of Gujarat by West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur (Rajasthan).
159. Mithripala Sirisena won 2015 Presidential Elections of Sri Lanka. He will be 7th President of Sri Lanka.
160. Modibo Keita has been named as New Prime Minister of Mali by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.
161. Music composer Shekhar sen is appointed as Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) replacing Leela Samson.
162. NGO Pratham released 10th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2014).
163. New antibiotic Teixobactin has been discovered by a team of scientists from Northeastern University in Massachusetts. This antibiotic is capable
of fighting infections that kill several people each year.
164. Noted Hindi Writer Kamal Kishore Goenka has been honored by the Vyas Samman 2014 for his Research Work 'Premchand Ki Kahaniyon ka
Kaalkramanusar Adhdhyan'.
165. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation won 10th Savio Cup All India Basketball tournament by defeating Indian Overseas Bank.
166. P Krishnamurthy is appointed as Private Secretary of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
167. PM Narendra Modi Inaugerated 102nd session of Indian Science Congress (ISC) at University of Mumbai.
168. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Dandi Kutir museum in Gandhinagar, Gujarat during the 13th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD). to mark the
100th anniversary of MK Gandhi's return to India from South Africa. A Commemorative Postal stamp was also released on this occasion.
169. PM Narendra Modi presented National Bravery Awards 2014 to 24 awardees.
170. Pachim Bekeli Village of Assam has been adopted by Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY). He
represents Assam in the Rajya Sabha.
171. Padam Awards 2015 Total
104 Padma Awards have been conferred this year (9 Padma Vibhushan, 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri)
Padma Vibhushan
S. No. Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile
1. Shri L. K. Advani Public Affairs Gujarat
2. Shri Amitabh Bachchan Art Maharashtra
3. Shri Prakash Singh Badal Public Affairs Punjab
4. Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade Social Work Karnataka
5.
Shri Mohammad Yusuf Khan alias Dilip
Kumar
Art Maharashtra
6.
Shri Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami
Rambhadracharya
Others Uttar Pradesh
7. Prof. Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan Science and Engineering Tamil Nadu
8. Shri Kottayan K. Venugopal Public Affairs Delhi
9.
Shri Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan
(Foreigner)
Trade and Industry France/UK
Padma Bhushan
S. No. Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile
1. Shri Jahnu Barua Art Assam
2. Dr. Vijay Bhatkar Science and Engineering Maharashtra
3. Shri Swapan Dasgupta Literature and Education Delhi
4. Swami Satyamitranand Giri Others Uttar Pradesh
5. Shri N. Gopalaswami Civil Service Tamil Nadu
6. Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap Public Affairs Delhi
7. Dr. (Pandit) Gokulotsavji Maharaj Art Madhya Pradesh
8. Dr. Ambrish Mithal Medicine Delhi
9. Smt. Sudha Ragunathan Art Tamil Nadu
10. Shri Harish Salve Public Affairs Delhi
11. Dr. Ashok Seth Medicine Delhi
12. Shri Rajat Sharma Literature and Education Delhi
13. Shri Satpal Sports Delhi
14. Shri Shivakumara Swami Others Karnataka
15. Dr. Kharag Singh Valdiya Science and Engineering Karnataka
16. Prof. Manjul Bhargava(NRI/PIO) Science and Engineering USA
17. Shri David Frawley (Vamadeva)(Foreigner) Others USA
18. Shri Bill Gates(Foreigner) Social Work USA
19. Ms. Melinda Gates(Foreigner) Social Work USA
20. Shri Saichiro Misumi(Foreigner) Others Japan
Padma Shri
S. No. Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile
1. Dr. Manjula Anagani Medicine Telangana
2. Shri S. Arunan Science and Engineering Karnataka
3. Ms. Kanyakumari Avasarala Art Tamil Nadu
4. Dr. Bettina Sharada Baumer Literature and Education Jammu and Kashmir
5. Shri Naresh Bedi Art Delhi
6. Shri Ashok Bhagat Social Work Jharkhand
7. Shri Sanjay Leela Bhansali Art Maharashtra
8. Dr. Lakshmi Nandan Bora Literature and Education Assam
9. Dr. Gyan Chaturvedi Literature and Education Madhya Pradesh
10. Prof. (Dr.) Yogesh Kumar Chawla Medicine Chandigarh
11. Smt. Jayakumari Chikkala Medicine Delhi
12. Shri Bibek Debroy Literature and Education Delhi
13. Dr. Sarungbam Bimola Kumari Devi Medicine Manipur
14. Dr. Ashok Gulati Public Affairs Delhi
15. Dr. Randeep Guleria Medicine Delhi
16. Dr. K. P. Haridas Medicine Kerala
17. Shri Rahul Jain Art Delhi
18. Shri Ravindra Jain Art Maharashtra
19. Dr. Sunil Jogi Literature and Education Delhi
20. Shri Prasoon Joshi Art Maharashtra
21. Dr. Prafulla Kar Art Odisha
22. Ms. Saba Anjum Sports Chhattisgarh
23. Smt. Ushakiran Khan Literature and Education Bihar
24. Dr. Rajesh Kotecha Medicine Rajasthan
25. Prof. Alka Kriplani Medicine Delhi
26. Dr. Harsh Kumar Medicine Delhi
27. Shri Narayana Purushothama Mallaya Literature and Education Kerala
28. Shri Lambert Mascarenhas Literature and Education Goa
29. Dr. (Mrs.) Janak Palta McGilligan Social Work Madhya Pradesh
30. Shri Veerendra Raj Mehta Social Work Delhi
31. Shri Tarak Mehta Art Gujarat
32. Shri Neil Herbert Nongkynrih Art Meghalaya
33. Shri Chewang Norphel Others Jammu and Kashmir
34. Shri T. V. Mohandas Pai Trade and Industry Karnataka
35. Dr.Tejas Patel Medicine Gujarat
36. Shri Jadav Molai Peyang Others Assam
37. Smt. Bimla Poddar Other Uttar Pradesh
38. Dr. N. Prabhakar Science and Engineering Delhi
39. Dr. Prahalada Science and Engineering Maharashtra
40. Dr. Narendra Prasad Medicine Bihar
41. Shri Ram Bahadur Rai Literature and Education Delhi
42. Ms. Mithali Raj Sports Telangana
43. Shri P. V. Rajaraman Civil Service Tamil Nadu
44. Prof. J. S. Rajput Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh
45. Shri Kota Srinivasa Rao Art Andhra Pradesh
46. Prof. Bimal Roy Literature and Education West Bengal
47. Shri Shekhar Sen Art Maharashtra
48. Shri Gunvant Shah Literature and Education Gujarat
49. Shri Brahmdev Sharma (Bhaiji) Literature and Education Delhi
50. Shri Manu Sharma Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh
51. Prof. Yog Raj Sharma Medicine Delhi
52. Shri Vasant Shastri Science and Engineering Karnataka
53. Shri S. K. Shivkumar Science and Engineering Karnataka
54. Ms. P. V. Sindhu Sports Telangana
55. Shri Sardara Singh Sports Haryana
56. Ms. Arunima Sinha Sports Uttar Pradesh
57. Shri Mahesh Raj Soni Art Rajasthan
58. Dr.Nikhil Tandon Medicine Delhi
59. Shri H. Thegtse Rinpoche Social Work Arunachal Pradesh
60. Dr.Hargovind Laxmishanker Trivedi Medicine Gujarat
61. Shri Huang Baosheng(Foreigner) Others China
62. Prof. Jacques Blamont(Foreigner) Science and Engineering France
63.
Late Shri Syedna Mohammad
Burhanuddin(Posthumous)
Others Maharashtra
64. Shri JeanClaude
Carriere(Foreigner) Literature and Education France
65. Dr. Nandrajan “Raj” Chetty(NRI/PIO) Trade and Industry USA
66. Shri George L. Hart(Foreigner) Others USA
67.
Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maha
Raja(NRI/PIO)
Others Portugal
68. Late Shri Meetha Lal Mehta (Posthumous) Social Work Rajasthan
69. Ms. Tripti Mukherjee(NRI/PIO) Art USA
70. Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori(NRI/PIO) Medicine USA
71. Dr. Raghu Rama Pillarisetti(NRI/PIO) Medicine USA
72. Dr. Saumitra Rawat(NRI/PIO) Medicine UK
73. Prof. Annette Schmiedchen(Foreigner) Literature and Education Germany
74.
Late Shri Pran Kumar Sharma alias
Pran(Posthumous)
Art Delhi
75. Late Shri R. Vasudevan(Posthumous) Civil Service Tamil Nadu
172. Pakistan Parliament passed 21st Constitution Amendment Bill 2015 and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2015 to make way for
establishment of military courts in the country.
173. Pankaj Advani won his seventh National Billiards Championship in Kolkata after defeateding Dhruv Sitwala.
174. Paulina Vega of Colombia has been named as winner of Miss Universe 2015 beauty pageant held in Miami (USA).
175. People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced to create India's first fenced elephant sanctuary within Bannerghatta Biological
Park in Karnataka to allow elephants to move around freely within the secure area.
176. Periyar Tiger Reserve, spread over 925 sq.km. in Kerala, has won the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) biennial award for
encouraging local public participation in managing the reserve.
177. Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam has been given the first Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for her work When God is a Traveller at Jaipur
Literature Festival.
178. Poland Won the Hopman Cup of Tennis after beating USA in Australia.
179. Pope Francis Declared 17th Century Indian Priest and Missionary Joseph Vaz as Saint in Sri Lanka.
180. Popov Ivan of Russia won 7th Chennai International Open Grandmaster Chess title.
181. Portugese Footballer who plays for Real Madrid Club, Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the best footballer of the
year in the world.
182. Prabhu Nath Dwivedi has been named as winner of Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit, 2014 for his short stories collection Kanakalochanaha.
183. President signed bill for creating new system of appointment of judges to Supreme and High Courts by forming National Judicial Appointment
Commission (NJAC) to replace collegium system of appointing judges to higher judiciary by sixmember
panel comprising Chief Justice of India,
two Supreme Court judges, Law Minister and 2 eminent persons.
184. President rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir (J &K) on the recommendation of the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir N N Vohra due to
deadlock over the formation of the new government. Note that Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election were held in five phases in
December 2014. In the Assembly election, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 25 and National
Congress (NC) won 15 seats.
185. Prime Minister of Bhutan Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay visited India with his spouse Aum Tashi Doma, Foreign Minister Rinzin Dorji and
Economic Affairs Minister Norbu Wangchuk.
186. RBI Relaxed Know Your Customers (KYC) rules for NonBanking
Financial Companies (NBFCs) due to difficulties being faced by NBFCs in
getting KYC documents at frequent intervals. Now, the KYC exercise will be required to be done Highrisk
individuals and entities Every
2 years
Medium risk individuals and entities Every
8 years
Low risk individuals and entities Every
10 years
187. RBI allowed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) to buy up to 49 % of paidup
capital of Bajaj
Corp Ltd under Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).
188. Renowned Indian RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal has been given the Giraffe Hero award 2015 by a USbased
NGO The Giraffe Heroes
Project for his bravery in utilising Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 for public good despite challenges.
189. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted a Committee under RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi, to reexamine
appropriate set of businesses and
licensing terms for Urban Cooperative Banks (UCB).
The eightmember
committee will be chaired by R Gandhi, the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India.
190. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory
Information with Brazil’s Central Bank, Banco Central do Brasil (BCB).
191. Reserve Bank of India lifted ban on carrying bank notes of Indian Rs 1000 and 500 to Nepal and Bhutan.
192. Ruhakana Rugunda is appointed as New (10th) Prime Minister of Uganda.
193. Russian President Vladimir Putin approved foreign soldiers to serve in Russian Military for at least five years.
194. S Jaishankar has been appointed as new Foreign Secretary of India replacing Sujata Singh.
195. S Shrikrishna won National SubJunior
Billiards title berating Ishpreet Singh Chadha of Maharashtra.
196. Samsung India Electronics and NMDC (National Mineral Development Corporation) have been awarded the ‘Golden Peacock Award for
Corporate Social Responsibility 2014’ for its initiatives for children’s education and skill development.
197. Scientists of UK's University of Southampton are planning to grow lettuce on Mars in 2018 under Project LettuceOnMars.
198. Sean Abbott of Australia has been named as Bradman Young Cricketer for the Year 2015.
199. Sikkim government signed Memorandum of Understanding with Netherlands and Thailand for development of floriculture.
200. Sindhushree Khullar has been appointed as First CEO of NITI Aayog and Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as Vice Chairman.
201. SnoopSnitch Android app launched in Chaos Computer Congress’ annual meeting in Germany. The app can detect International Mobile
Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers so as to inform a person that someone is spying on him.
202. Social Media Site Twitter Buys ZipDial, Its First Acquisition of an Indian Company in a 35 Million USD Deal.
203. South Africa’s cricketer AB de Villiers hit fastest century in OneDay
International (ODI) cricket in Just 31 Balls against West Indies.
204. South American Country Venezuela entered recession with shrinking economic growth and Recession Jumping upto 63%.
205. Spanish writer Javier Moro's Book 'The Red Sari' biography
of Congress President Sonia Gandhi released in India.
206. Sport Education Development Australia (SEDA) and India's Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFS)
signed an
Memorandum of Understanding during Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb's Visit to India.
207. Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara became fastest cricketer to score 12000 Test runs.
208. Stephen Constantine has been appointed as head coach of Indian men’s football team.
209. Steve Easterbrook has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Famous Fast Food Chain McDonald’s Corporation.
210. Surendra Kumar Sinha has been appointed as First Hindu Chief Justice of Bangladesh.
211. Sutirtha Bhattacharya took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Coal India Limited.
212. Switzerland Tennis Player Roger Federer claimed his 1000th ATP career win at the Brisbane International by defeating Canadian Milos Raonic.
It was 1000th win and 83rd title of his career.
213. Sydney International Tennis tournament
Men's Singles Viktor
Troicki of Serbia won by defeating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
Women's Singles Cetra
Kvitova of Czech Republic won by defeating Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic.
Women's Doubles Sania
Mirza and Bethanie MattekSands
of US won by beating Americans Abigail Spears and Raquel KopsJones.
214. The Fifth General Assembly of IRENA (International Renewable Energy Association) held in Abu Dhabi (UAE).
215. Thomas Kurian Is appointed as New President of Oracle Corporation.
216. Trends in Global Carbon DiOxide
Emission Report 2014
217. US will host an international Antiterror
Summit in Washington in February 2015 to prevent terrorism.
218. USA President Barack Obama Arrived in India for attending Celebrations and Parade of India's 66th Republic day.
219. USA based Apple Inc recorded profit of 18 billion USD dollar in 2014 which is Highest ever profit earned by any company in the corporateworld.Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones in quarter ending December 2014.Revenue of the Apple Inc rose to 74.6 billion USD in 2014 from 57.6 billion USD in 2013.Apple now has a cash pile up of 178 billion USD which is enough to buy IBM or the equivalent to pay 556 USD to every American.The success of Apple may be attributed to Apple'spartnership in China with China Mobile LimitedLarger screen size of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.Doubling of sales of iPhone in Singapore and Brazil and Significant rise in India as well.
220. United Nation (UN) SecretaryGeneral
Ban Kimoonappointed Indian sociologist Saraswathi Menon in a Panel for reviewing peace buildingactivities.
221. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released Global Investment Trend Monitor Report to provide globalinvestments trend in 2014 and prospects of global investments in 2015.Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows declined by 8 % in 2014 to 1.26 trillion USD due to fragility of global economy, geopoliticalrisks and Political Uncertainities.Report in context of IndiaFDI flow in India in 2014 increased to 35 billion USD (26 % Up) with maximum growth in the services sector.Maximum growth in FDI in India was in services sector especially in electricity, gas, water, waste management and information andcommunication
This is one of the highest in recent years, though in 2008 FDI peaked in India with 47 billion dollars followed by 35.6 billion dollar in2009 Top five FDI recipients’ countries in 2014
China is largest recipient of FDI with 3 % Increase. China replaced US that attracted largest FDI since 1980.
Rankings of Highest FDI Attracting Countries China with 128 billion USDHong Kong with 111 billion USDThe United States with 86 billion USD Singapore with 81 billion USD Brazil with 62 billion USD
222. United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospectus Report 2015 India 's GDP growth will rise to 5.9 % in 20142015
and 6.3 % in 2016, recovery is credited to key reforms by the new Government led by PM Narendra Modi.
Economic growth in South Asia will pick up from 4.9 % in 2014 to 5.4 % in 2015 and 5.7 % in 2016.
Global economy is expected to grow at 3.1 % in 2015 and 3.3 % in 2016, compared with growth of 2.6 % in 2014.
The WESP report is produced at the beginning of each year by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the UN Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the five UN regional commissions and the World Tourism Organisation ( UNWTO).
223. Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 was inaugurated in Gandhinagar, Gujarat to be held from 11th to 13th January 2015.
224. Vistara airline, a joint venture of TataSIA,
started its flight operation in India with first flight from Delhi to Mumbai.
225. Weightlifter Jimjang Deru of Arunachal Pradesh created national record in weightlifting by lifting 238 kilograms in 56 kilograms category
during 10th Youth National Weightlifting Championships in Haryana.
226. Wing Commander Puja Thakur became first lady officer to lead InterService
Guard of Honour with theme "
Nari Shakti".
227. World Bank Group released biannual
Global Economic Prospects (GEP) Report, 2015. Economic
growth of India estimated at 5.6 % in 2014, will improve to 6.4 % in 2015 and 7 % in 2016.
Global economy grew by 2.6 % in 2014 and is expected to grow by 3 % in 2015, 3.3 % in 2016 and 3.2 % in 2017.
USA has growth above 2.4 % in 2014, expected to grow at 3.2 % in 2015 and 3 % in 2016.
China’s growth is expected to come down to 7.1 % in 2015, 7 % in 2016 and 6.9 % in 2017.
228. World bank released a report named Heights: Social Inclusion and Sustainable Development in Himachal Pradesh to mark
significant growth over the past decades for Himachal Pradesh. highlights of the Report are Per
capita income in Himachal Pradesh is second highest in India despite 90 % of its residents live in rural areas. Education and share of
women in the workforce is also appreciable.
Himachal Pradesh is first in India to have banned use of plastic bags and has set heights in becoming free of defecation in open.
Poverty is onethird
the national average. Rural poverty decline four times to 85. % in 2011 from 36.8 % in 1993–94.
229. Yash Pal Singhal has been appointed as new Director General of Police (DGP) of Haryana.
230. Yes bank signed a $200 Million Loan Agreement with th Asian Development Bank for promoting financial inclusion in rural areas an
advancing loans to women self help groups..
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