GENERAL AWARENESS

( Date- Just before RRB PO Exam )

· IMPORT OF CRUDE OIL AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS - Saudi Arabia tops the list with 19.1% followed by Iraq 18.3, Venezuela 11.5, Iran 11.3, Nigeria 8, UAE 7.7 .

· Valuewise our import has come down from 155.43 billion $ to 73.92 billion $ in 2015-16.

· OPEC Organisation of petroleum exporting countries. Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela

· Highlights of monetary policy review dated 7^th December. 1) RBI cuts growth estimate from 7.6 to 7.1% 2) No changes in repo rate and other policy rates . Incremental CRR to be withdrawn from 10^th December.

· Reasons given by RBI to keep the rates unchanged. 1) demonetization will lower inflation in short term but its impact will be temporary. 2) Inflation target for March 17 is 4% +_ 2 and current inflation is around 5%. 3) OPEC decision to cut production of crude oil may increase rates in near future. 3) strengthening of dollar , increase in Fed rate etc. will impact our rupee value.

· Incremental CRR, which was introduced from 26^th Nov. freezing all deposits received by banks after 16 sept. 2016 will be released back to banks from 10^th December 2016. Thereafter banks will have option to deposit this money under reverse repo or Market stabilization scheme. Banks will be free to explore options to deploy this money as loan/credit by lowering interest rates.

· Market stabilization scheme - MSS (Market Stabilisation Scheme) securities are issued with the objective of providing the RBI with a stock of securities with which it can intervene in the market for managing liquidity. These securities are issued not to meet the government's expenditure. The MSS scheme was launched in April 2004.

· Looking to exceptional amount of liquidity brought in the banking system on account of demonetization, Govt. has permitted RBI to issue MSS securities worth 6 lakh crore. The earlier limit was only 30 thousand crore.

· Justice Jagdish singh Khehar appointed Chief justice of India succeeding Shri T S Thakur. First Sikh to become CJI.

· Prime minister of Italy Matteo Renzf resigns after a referendum.

· O paneerselvam took the oath of Chief minister of Tamilnadu after the death of J jailalitha .

· India lifts Asia cup in women’s cricket , sixth times in a row. Defeated Pakistan by 17 runs in Asia cup final in Bankok. Mithali raj was player of the match and series.

· Heart of Asia conference organized in Amritsar.

NPCI

NATIONAL PAYMENT CORPORATION OF INDIA

· Setup in 2008 and started functioning in April 2009. It is an umbrella organization for all retail payments system in India. The objective was to facilitate an affordable payment mechanism to benefit the common man across the country and help financial inclusion.

· Product and services

1) National Financial switch.- It is the interconnected network for interbank ATM transactions , on which IMPS and UPI transactions are also carried out.

2) Unified Payment Interface.

3) Immediate payment system.

4) *99# services on USSD platform.

5) National Automated clearing house NACH

6) Cheque truncation system.

7) Aadhaar enabled payment systems AEPS

8) Rupay

9) Bharat Bill Payment System.

· Electronic payment systems presently working in India. 1) RTGS 2) NEFT 3)CTS 4) IMPS 5) NACH 6)UPI 7) USSD 8) Debit/Credit cards at POS-Point if Sale. 9) PPI Prepaid instruments like prepaid cards, wallets etc. 10) Mobile banking.

· UPI – Improved version of IMPS. Person to person as well as person to merchant transactions. No need to share account no., Mobile no. , MMID or IFS Code with others. You need to set a nickname or unique virtual ID to your account and your account will then be identified through that nick name for money transfer. Virtual ID or nickname is directly linked to your bank account. It can not be liked to an e-wallet. Apart from virtual ID, money transfer through other means like Account no.+ IFSC, Mobile no.+mmid, Adhar no. will also be available in UPI.

GENERAL AWARENESS

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· Rebooting India (Penguin), by Nandan Nilekani , co-authored with Viral Shah.

India is 4^th largest user of cash in the world. In the period 2010-11, the RBI spent nearly Rs 24 billion on printing money, and an additional Rs 455 million on distributing that money nationwide. .

· The End of Money – by journalist David Wolman.

NO country in the world is fully cash less however Belgium has the highest proportion of cashless transactions in the world with 93 percent cashless transactions, followed by France -92 %, Canada 90, UK 89, Sweden-89, Australia 86, Netherlands 85, US 80, Germany 76, South Korea 70, INDIA- 40%

· No full stops in India - latest book by Mark tully former bureau chief of BBC India.

· Cashless methods in India . Cheques, IMPS, UPI(Unified Payment interface) , Mobile Banking, M-wallet, PPI(Pre Paid Instruments), EFT/NEFT, Debit card, Credit cards, RTGS.

· Earlier demonitisations - The first was when Rs1,000, Rs5,000, and Rs10,000 notes were taken out of circulation in January 1946(Before independence). All three notes were reintroduced in 1954. Then under the prime ministership of Morarji Desai The High Denomination Bank Notes (Demonetisation) Act, on Jan. 16, 1978, deemed the Rs1,000, Rs5,000 and Rs10,000 notes illegal for the second time.

· Prime minister laid the foundation stone of Goa Greenfield (new) international airport on 13.Nov 2016. Minister of civil aviation – P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of state civil aviation, Jayant sinha, Goa CM Laxmikant Parsekar.

· EASE OF DOING BUSINESS RANKING – INDIA and INDIAN STATES

· India's rank in the recently released global Doing Business rankings was a lowly 130th, just one rank up from the previous year's 'revised' ranking of 131st. Prime Minister Modi is keen to ensure that India finds a place in the top 50 countries within a year or two.

· Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have jointly topped the 2016 all-India State/Union Territory-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings, while last-year's topper Gujarat slipped to the third spot. The Bank, along with the Centre's Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) was involved in the process of reviewing the evidence submitted by states/UTs regarding implementation of reforms for the rankings.

· 14^th Nov. World Diabetes day. And Children’s day.

· Impact of demonetization of notes in India – 1) The withdrawal of Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes could bring down inflation as some money goes out of circulation, and pull down economic growth in the short term. 2) Bank deposits will increase (specially CASA), this will bring excess liquidity in the banking system and banks will be forced to bring down deposits as well as loan interest rates. 3) deflationary trend will help RBI to bring down Repo rate, we will head towards low interest economy. 4) Economic growth rate will come down in the short term 5) Some parts of the currency gets permanently immobilised as a result of demonetization means will never come back to the system. So RBI liability in respect of currency will come down. 6) Certain sector which had a role of black money like real estate, automobiles, jewellery etc. will be badly hit. 7) Tax compliance will improve, which will increase Govt’s revenue, hence govt. will have more money to expend. 8) counterfeit notes will be eliminated and terrorist activities will be severely hit. 9) It will pave the way for clean and fair elections. Role of black money in elections will be reduced significantly. 10) Big boost to cashless economy , digital payments, e-wallets and credit debit cards.

· Who has the authority to withdraw currency notes in India . Central govt. on the recommendation of Reserve bank of India can declare a currency or part of currency as not legal tender, under section 26(2) of RBI act. RBI can only recommend it. Public notice issued by RBI in leading news paper said “ Government of India vide their notification no. 2652 dated nov.8 2016 have with drawn the legal tender status of RS. 500 and 1000 denominations of bank notes of the mahatma Gandhi series issued by th Reserve Bank of India till Nov. 8 2016. Hence Authority rests with Govt. of India.

· Three main reasons cited for withdrawal of currency- 1) to tackle the menace of counterfeit currency 2) to nullify black money hoarded in cash. 3) To curb funding of terrorism through fake and black money.

· Features of 2000 and 500 new notes Mahatma Gandhi series - Mangalyaan on 2000 and red fort on 500 note. Color Magenta -2000 and stone grey -500. 7 angular bleed lines on 2000 and 5 angular bleed lines on 500 both sides. Swachcha bharat logo , Number small to bigger size. Security thread changing colors from green to blue when tilted.

· How American economy will affect India. – American economy has shown a revival trend for quite some time. Economic growth and activities has increased. Federal reserve is seriously contemplating interest rate increase (similar to repo rate in India) for quite some time. Under trump administration, public expenditure is expected to increase so more borrowing by the govt through bonds. Bonds yield has increased. More expenditure by govt means more money in the economy. This will increase economic activities and spur inflationary trend. Anticipating this, investors have already started withdrawing funds from emerging market countries including India . this outflow has brought the sensex down and rupee is weakening against dollar.

· What is bond yield. - A bond yield is the amount of return an investor realizes on a bond. A bond's current yield, also called "bond yield," is the interest it pays annually divided by the bond's price. When bonds prices in secondary market gets reduced either because of increase in interest rate in economy or possibility of increase in Govt. borrowing then bond yield increases . In America both these factors are at work.

· Currency in circulation in India. Currently Rs 17,54,000 crore worth of notes are in circulation according to the RBI’s database on the Indian economy. Of this Rs 500 notes constituted almost 45% of the currency in circulation while 39% of the notes were of the Rs 1,000 denomination. In value terms. Hence 86% of currency by value in India are of Rs 500 & Rs 1,000 denominations. According to the RBI press conference today, there are 16.5 billion ‘500-Rupee’notes and 6.7 billion ‘1000-rupee’ notes in circulation.

· S4A- Scheme for sustainable structuring of stressed asset. It is restructuring large ticket loans where the project is up and running. Here the lenders are required to separate a sustainable loan from an unsustainable loan. The bank would convert the unsustainable debt into equity or equity related instruments. What are the pre-conditions to be eligible for the scheme
The aggregate exposure of all lenders to the company should be more than Rs 500 crore.
The project should have commenced operations
An external consultant should endorse it as a viable project . How does RBI define sustainable debt?
Simply put, the portion of the loan that can be serviced through the existing cash flow is defined as sustainable debt. RBI has said that sustainable loan should be at least 50% or more of the unsustainable debt. The loan can be approved for S4A only if the Overseeing Committee endorses it.

· Prime minister Shri Narendra Modi visits japan . Prime minister of Japan Shinjo Abe. Highlights – 1) Civil nuclear agreement – India will get nuclear fuel and technology to start new civil nuclear energy projects. this deal makes India the first non-NPT signatory to ink a nuclear pact with Japan. India first conducted nuclear tests in 1974 which was code named 'Smiling Buddha'. A series of nuclear tests were conducted again in 1998 known as the Pokhran-II. The Indian PM, accompanied by Shinzo Abe, traveled to Kobe by the Shinkansen bullet train. The same technology will be deployed for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Railway.

GST . Union Govt proposes 4 GST slabs. The Union Govt has proposed a four-slab rate structure for the new indirect tax regime i.e. Goods & Services Tax (GST) ranging from 0 to 26 per cent. It was proposed at the meeting of the GST Council headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and included representatives from all states in New Delhi. The GST is proposed to be levied at 6% (lower rate), 12% (Standard 1 rate), 18% (Standard 2 rate) and 26% (Higher rates) on the goods and services. It will be 0% on host of goods and services, including food, health and education services, and 26% on luxury items, such as fast-moving consumer goods and consumer durables.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-second Amendment) Bill, 2016, for introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the country was accorded assent by the President on 8^th September, 2016, As per Article 279A of the amended Constitution, the GST Council will be a joint forum of the Centre and the States. This Council shall consist of the following members namely: -

a) Union Finance Minister... Chairperson

b) The Union Minister of State, in-charge of Revenue of finance... Member

c) The Minister In-charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State Government... Members.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister and has Minister of State in charge of revenue and state finance ministers as members.

Interestingly, every decision of the GST council needs to be taken with a three-fourth majority. While the central government’s vote will have a one-third weightage, the votes of all the state governments put together will have a two-third weightage, thus making a near-consensus between the centre and the states an imperative for any major decision. The GST will subsume most of the indirect taxes of the centre and the states including excise duty, service tax, value-added tax, entertainment tax, luxury tax and octroi.

· Typhoon Megi Hits Taiwan., BRICS to set up credit rating agency.

· India, Russia sign 16 agreements across diverse sectors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 17th India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit in Goa. 1. Agreement on cooperation in International Information Security.“2. MoU for expansion of bilateral trade and economic cooperation.“3. Shareholder agreement for establishing a Joint Venture to manufacture Ka-226T helicopter in India.“4. MoU for developing smart cities in Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.“5. MoU for setting up an investment fund of $1 billion by the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).”

· India, US Joint Military Training Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2016 concludes.

· India, Russia begin joint military exercise in Vladivostok. The 8th edition of the Indo-Russia joint military exercise ‘Indra 2016’ was flagged off in Vladivostok in Russia. Interestingly though, Russian troops arrived in Pakistan the same day for the first-ever Pakistan-Russia joint military exercise dubbed “Friendship-2016″.

· PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Shaurya Smarak in Bhopal.

· Nation world’s largest solar power plant in TN. Adani Green Energy (Tamil Nadu) Ltd, part of the Adani Group has dedicated to the nation the world’s largest solar power plant of 648 megawatts (MW), set up at Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.

· Irom Sharmila announces formation of political party named PRJA.Human rights activist Irom Sharmila announced the formation of her political party named Peoples Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA).

· Gurgaon officially renamed Gurugram. Telangana Govt creates 21 new districts 21+10 old.

· Delhi’s Race Course Road renamed as Lok Kalyan Marg.

· 8th BRICS Summit concludes in Goa. The eighth BRICS summit was held in Goa from 15 to16 October 2016. The summit concluded with adaptation of Goa Declaration. The two day summit was attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma. The theme for the summit was “Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions”. The ninth BRICS Summit will be hosted by China in 2017.

· Bob Dylan wins 2016 Nobel prize in literature. The 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. Dylan, 75, has won numerous awards, including twelve Grammys and one Academy Award.

· Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 has been awarded to Co-lombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his efforts to end his country’s 50-year civil war.

· Three win Nobel chemistry prize for molecular machines. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage, British born J Fraser Stoddart and Dutch scientist Bernard Feringa on 5th Oct won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing molecular machines.

· Thouless, Haldane & Kosterlitz win the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics. “for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.”

· Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi. The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi “for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy.”

· In the First, Bank deposits cross Rs 100 lakh crore. According to the data first time ever in September month of this year. With demand deposits crossing Rs10 lakh crore and time deposits crossing the Rs 90 lakh crore mark..

· Forex reserves touch record high of $372 billion.

· IMF revises India’s economic growth upwards to 7.6% for FY17 and 18.

· ISRO successfully launches 8 satellites into two different orbits. Among the eight satellites launched, three satellites were from India, three from Algeria and one each from Canada and United States.

· Woman wrestler Geeta Phogat appointed DSP in Haryana Police.

· Antonio Guterres appointed UN Secretary-GeneralPortugal’s former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres was on 13 October appointed as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations by the General Assembly. The 193 member states of the General Assembly adopted the resolution by acclamation, appointing 67-year-old Mr. Guterres as the ninth U.N. Secretary-General to take over from Ban Ki-moon, whose tenure will end on December 31, 2016. Mr. Guterres, who was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015, will assume his new role on January 1, 2017 for a five-year term that can be renewed by member states for an additional five years.

· Jim Yong Kim re-appointed as World Bank President. Jim Yong Kim has been re-appointed as President of World Bank for a second five-year term beginning 1 July 2017.

· Abu Dhabi Crown Prince to be Chief Guest on 2017 Republic Day. The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the chief guest for the 68th Republic Day celebrations on 26 January 2017. Earlier Chief guests of Republic Day parades: 2016- Francois Hollande (French President), 2015-Barack Obama (US President), 2014- Shinzo Abe (Japanese Prime Minister), 2013- Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (King of Bhutan), 2012- Yingluck Shinawatra (Then Prime Minister of Thailand), 2011- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (Then President of Indonesia). It should be noted France holds distinction of being the guest of honour for the maximum five times of Indian Republic Day parade followed by Bhutan (four times); Mauritius and Russia (three times each).

· World’s largest radio telescope built in China. China has built world’s largest radio telescope nicknamed Tianyan (Heavenly Eye” or “The Eye of Heaven) or the five-hundred-metre aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST).

· Book President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Vice President Mohd Hamid Ansari’s book titled “Citizen and Society”

· Neeti aayog index 2016- Agriculture marketing and farmer friendly reforms index . Maharashtra adjudged most farmer friendly state in the country as per neeti aayog index.

· HDFC RAISED 500 crore through MASALA Bonds. The masala bonds are instruments throudh Indian entities can raise funds by accessing overseas capital markets in rupee denominations.

· SBI offers loans at MCLR rates to new customers in the brand name of Hope loan.

· Banking data theft of ATM card was reported in India affecting nearly 32 lakhs customers of five leading banks SBI, AXIS,ICICI, HDFC and YES bank. Banks are either changing ATM cards or asking customer to change their PIN immediately.

· UDAN – Ude desh ka aam nagrik . Low cost flights for regional connectivity. Maximum price capped at 2500/-.

· RBI rates as per monetary policy review 4^th oct. Repo rate cut by .25%. Now REPO rate is 6.25% , Reverse repo -5.75, Bank rate and MSF 6.75 , CRR – 4%, SLR 20.75.

MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE – MEMBERS . The three are academics (Nominated by Govt. of India)— Chetan Ghate, associate professor at Indian Statistical Institute; Pami Dua, director, Delhi School of Economics; and Ravindra H Dholakia, professor of economics at Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. They will be joined by three Reserve Bank members, making up a total of six, with Governor Urjit Patel having a casting vote. The other two members are R Gandhi, deputy governor in charge of monetary policy, and executive director Michael Patra.

DIWALI HOLIDAYS NOTICE
ALL BATCHES WILL REMAIN CLOSED FROM 26th Oct 2016 to 1st Nov. 2016 on account of Diwali festival. HAPPY DIWALI
Dussera holiday notice
Evening batch including english session will remain closed on 11th Oct 2016.
Morning batch will remain closed on 12th Oct.2016.

Preference for RRBs in MP

Narmada Jhabua Gramin Bank

Bank of India

Indore

2	Central Madhya Pradesh Gramin bank	Central bank of India	Chhindwara	MP
3	Madhyanchal Gramin Bank	State Bank of India	Saugar	MP

15th Sept 2016 observed holiday being Ganesh visarjan day / Anant chaturdashi . These sessions will now be held on 17th Sept Saturday.

New batch announcement : 1st Sept.
IBPS CLERK Regular batches Morning 7 to 9 am and Evening 5 to 7 pm starting on 1st Sept 2016. Registration and batch allotment on 30th August, evening 5 to 7 pm at Bargad Aashram.

EXTRA SESSIONS CANCELLED
EXTRA SESSIONS SCHEDULED ON SATURDAY 20th Aug. AND SUNDAY21st Aug. STANDS CANCELLED ON ACCOUNT OF INCESSANT RAINS.

15th August will be Holiday, students please note.
18th August (Rakhee) will be a Holiday. instead extra classes on Saturday at the same class time.

IBPS PO Special afternoon batch starting 8th Aug, Monday 2 to 4 pm at bargad ashram C-44/8 Rishinagar Extension. batch Only for PO Applicants

LATEST GK UP TO 22 JUNE

· ISRO PSLV C-34 Rocket loaded record 20 satellites in to different orbits in one launch from sriharikota. 17 foreign satellites , Name of Indian satellite CARTOSAT-2C plus two small satellite prepared by Indian students.

· Russia has record of 33 sat in one launch and NASA has sent 29 in 2013.

· ISRO Chairman – A S Kirankumar .

· 6000 crore package for textile and apparel industry with labour reforms aimed at creating one crore jobs in the sector. . 8 hours / week overtime allowed. Fixed term employment allowed with employee like benefits.

· Fund of funds for Startups FFS approved for 10000 crore . Fund will be under SIDBI and will help those funds , which invest in startups.

· Mega spectrum sell to yield 5.66 lakh crore.

21^st June 2016 – International Yoga Day and World music day celebrated together. , 177 countries supported UN resolution for yoga day last year. date of June 21, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. 2016 Theme: “Connect the Youth”. Maharishi Patanjali is considered as the ‘father of Yoga’. He mentioned eight sutras named ashtang yoga.
Ajit jogi forms new regional party- Chhattisgarh Janata Congress (Jogi).

· Bibek Debroy panel suggests “ no separate railway budget “ needed, should be integrated in Financial Budget.

· Nikesh Arora, President and COO of Softbank group ( telecom and investment company of Japan) quits. Masayoshi son was founder and CEO of this company.

· Brexit :- 1) Brexit vote on 23^rd June 2) British MP Jo Cox murdered, She was EU camp supporter. 3) Conservative party prime minister David Cameroon support continuance in EU for economic reasons. 4) UK currency – Pound Sterling. (not accepted Euro as currency). 5) UK has four countries England, Scotland, wales and Northern Ireland. 6) UK joined EEC European economic community, which became European union later on , on 1 jan 1973.

· European Union – 28 member countries. Capital / Headquarters – Brussels , In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

· Documents valid as identity proof and address proof both. – Aadhar card, voter id, passport, NREGA job card, Driving license.

· Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, received a two-year ban for doping.

· Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

· NSG members meeting in SEOUL – south korea on 24^th. Total members – 48 Current chair is with Argentina.

· NPT – Nuclear Non proliferation Treaty.

· FDI Changes notified on 20 june 2016 Monday. –

Sector	Existing limit	Revised limit	Other conditions
Airlines	49% NRI -100%	100%	Foreign airlines even now can invest up to 49% only but remaining 51% can come from foreign investor or company not engaged in the business of Airlines.
Food retail Includes through e-commerce	Not allowed	100%	Can only sell food produced , processed and manufactured locally after taking permission from FIPB.
Single brand retail	100%	100%	30% local purchase norms relaxed for 3 years for all and for next 5 more years for specialized products , which can not be manufactured locally.
Defence – Manufacturing of small arms and ammunition.	100% - 49% automatic route , rest by Govt. approval	100% same	“State of the art technology “*, condition for govt. approval is replaced by modern technology .
Private security agencies	49%	74%
Pharma sector – in old companies also called brownfield investment	100% via approval route	100% -74% automatic route	It has been decided to permit up to 74 per cent FDI under automatic route in brownfield projects and approval route beyond that
Pharma sector – New companies / plants also called Greenfield projects.	100% via approval	100% full automatic route
DTH Services , cable networks , Mobile TV	100%	100%	No govt approval needed except in ownership changes.

Prohibited list

FDI continues to be prohibited in lottery, gambling, atomic energy, real estate investment trusts (ReIT), and railway operations.

State-of-the-art definition, the latest and most sophisticated or advanced stage of a technology, art, or science.

· World Super computers – China bags fastest supercomputer title – continuously for 7^th year.

Name of computer	Rank	Country	Speed
The Sunway TaihuLight	1	China	93000 trillion calculation / second. First time used Chinese processor
Tianhe-2	2	China	Last year’s winner, 33000 trillion/second, intel processor
Titan		USA

Top 5 supercomputers India 1) SAHASRA T (A3)merican CRAY series) IISC Banglore, 2) ADITYA (IBM) – Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology 3) CRAY XC-30 at TIFR 4) HP-Proliant IIT Delhi 5) PARAM Yuva-2 CDAC Pune. Their ranks in TOP 500 of the world in 2015 was 96, 119, 145, 166, 251.

· Small savings Post office deposits rates unchanged in its quarterly review in mid June. PPF continues with 8.1%. Normal PPF maturity period is 15 years but now can be withdrawn after 5 years if expenses are needed for higher education or medical emergency.

· Second route Delhi – Varanasi for Bullet train announced , to cover 782 km in 2 h 40 m via Lucknow. It will be extended up to kollata in future. First route is Mumbai Ahmedabad to be funded by Japan.

· India and Pakistan were accepted as full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) ON 10 July 2015. The Beijing-based SCO currently has China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as members.

· SCO meet scheduled on 23 june in Tashkent , capital of Uzbekistan . Prime minister Shri Narendra modi to attend. Pakistan will be represented by President Mamnoon Hussain. Chinese president Xi Zin ping , Russian president – Vladimir Putin .

· PNB logged highest loss of 5367 crore in last quarter of FY 16 followed by BOI, BOB ,Syndicate bank.

· 19 june Fathers day.

· Virginia Raggi (38) was elected as first female mayor of capital city Rome.

· 20 June – World Refugee day.

Niko Roseberg wins European Grand prix . First Position: Nico Rosberg (Germany) of Mercedes team. Second Position: Sebastian Vettel (Germany) of Ferrari team.
Australia has won the 2016 Champions Trophy title of Hockey by defeating India by 3-1 score.
State Bank of India (SBI) has launched IT Innovation Start-up Fund to support start-ups in the financial technology (fintech) space.
The Union Ministry of AYUSH Ministry has released a Yog Geet (Yoga song) for celebrating the second International Yoga Day on 21 June 2016. Selected through a nationwide competition song was written by shri Dheeraj Saraswat and composed by sumant ray. Selection committee chairman Dr H R Nagendra.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) created history by inducting 3 women fighter pilots for first time. These three women fighter pilots are Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chatuvedi and Mohana Singh.
India and South Korea have launched a platform ‘Korea Plus’ to promote and facilitate Korean Investments in India.
Microsoft is going to design mobile application for Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry’s SWAYAM platform. Under this platform ministry is going to launch 2000 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) for over three crore students in the year 2016.
Rajasva Gyan Sangam, a two-day Annual Conference of Senior Tax Administrators in New Delhi. Narendra Modi gave RAPID, five-point mantra to tax officials to reform and broaden the direct tax net base. RAPID means R for Revenue, A for Accountability, P for Probity, I for Information and D for Digitization.
Sunil Bharti Mittal has been elected chairman of the International Chambers of Commerce. ICC is the world’s largest business organisation that was founded in 1919. Headquarters: Paris, France.
Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway was named as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. The UN Women also known as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women nodal UN agency for promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. It became operational in January 2011.
Cabinet approves SBI associate banks and BMB merger with SBI. With this it will graduate to top 50 banks in the world. Business will increase to 37 lakh crore.
Fijian diplomat Peter Thomson has been elected as President of 71st session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was first and only Indian to serve as President of UNGA in 1953. She was also the first woman President of UNGA.
Renowned Hindi novelist and critique Mudrarakshas passed away due to old age related causes in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Original name was Subhash Chandra .
The World Blood Donor Day is being observed across the world on 14 June to raise the public awareness about the need for safe blood donation. 2016 host country is Netherlands .
Canada grand prix – winner lewis hemilton (Mercedes) second vettle of Ferrari .
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has announced four proposed names for the four new elements that were added in periodic table in January 2016. These new elements are Nihonium (Nh), Moscovium (Mc), Tennessine (Ts), and Oganesson (Og).
The markets regulator SEBI has put in place a stricter KYC norms and disclosure rules for Participatory Notes (P-Notes). P-Notes are offshore/overseas derivative instruments (ODIs) issued by registered foreign institutional investors (FII) to overseas investors.
Indian American author Akhil Sharma won the prestigious 2016 International Dublin Literary Award for his semi-autobiographical novel “Family Life.”
Saina Nehwal has won the 2016 Australian Open Super Series Badminton tournament title in women’s singles category. Hans-Kristian Vittinghus from Denmark won the Australian Open Badminton Super series title in the men’s singles category.
Distinguished journalist, editor and author Inder Malhotra passed away. He had served as a resident editor of The Times of India and The Statesman. he authored Indira Gandhi: A Personal and Political Biography.
India, Japan and United States (US) navies have kicked off 2016 MALABAR trilateral naval Exercise near South China Sea.
President Pranab Mukherjee had constituted the 21st Law Commission of India in September 2015. Retired Judge of the Supreme Court Justice B S Chauhan was appointed as its Chairman. The first commission was constituted in 1955 and since then various commissions were re-constituted every three years.
Champaran Satyagrah Express train has been introduced to mark 100 years of the historic Champaran Satyagraha (movement) launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917.
Google Inc and Tata Trusts have jointly launched ‘Internet Saathi’ program in Purulia district of West Bengal. The initiative has been launched as part of Google’s ‘Helping Women Get Online’ campaign, in order to create awareness about the benefits of Internet among women in rural India.
The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) has signed a MoU with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) for facilitating investment in India’s infrastructure. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund: It is India’s first 40,000-crore rupees sovereign wealth fund, aimed to attract investment in infrastructure sector development in commercially viable projects, both brownfield and greenfield including stalled projects.
GREEN BOND -Axis Bank has launched India’s first internationally-listed certified green bond to finance climate change solutions around the world at London Stock Exchange (LSE). The proceeds of the bond will be invested by Axis Bank in green energy, transportation and infrastructure projects. It will play important role in reinforcing India’s commitment to produce 175,000 MW of renewable power by 2022.
Russia has honoured UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with Order of Friendship Award.
India has surpassed Japan to become the world’s third-largest oil consumer. With demand of 4.1 million barrels a day (bpd), India is the third-largest consumer behindthe United States (19.39 million bpd) and China (11.96 million bpd).
The United States has recognised India as a major defence partner which will pave way to bring it closest US allies for defence related trade and technology transfer.
PM Narendra Modi became the fifth Indian Prime Minister to address a joint meeting of Congress, and the first since 2005. Earlier, Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi (July 13, 1985), P V Narasimha Rao (May 18, 1994), Atal Bihari Vajpayee (September 14, 2000) and Manmohan Singh (July 19, 2005) had addressed the joint meeting of the US Congress.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its second bi-monthly monetary policy review on 7^th June for year 2016-17 has maintained status quo in key policy interest rate. Key Rates are Policy Rates Repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF): unchanged at 6.50 per cent. Reverse repo rate under the LAF: unchanged at 6.0 per cent. Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate: 7.00 per cent. Reserve Ratios Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks: Unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liability (NDTL). Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): Unchanged at 21.25 per cent. Other forecast Growth forecast: pegged at 7.6% for the current fiscal. Inflation target: It was kept unchanged at 5% for January 2017 with upward bias.
Govt. decides to form a new battalion in the name of Maharana Pratap .
The Junior hockey World Cup would be held from 8th to 18th December 2016 in Lucknow India.
World Environment Day (WED) is observed on 5 June 2016 Theme: Go Wild for Life (Zero tolerance for the illegal trade in wildlife). Host country – Angola. To mark this day Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off Tiger Express from Safdarjung station, New Delhi. It is a semi-luxury tourist train launched with an aim to spread awareness among people on tiger conservation.
India and Qatar have signed seven bilateral agreements in various fields in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Qatar Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha. It was PM Narendra Modi’s second stop to Qatar after he had visited to Afghanistan as part of his five- nation tour which will also take him to Switzerland, US and Mexico.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani jointly inaugurated the Afghan-India Friendship Dam in Herat province in Western Afghanistan. Dam was earlier known as Salma Dam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with Amir Amanullah Khan Award, the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan.
FRENCH OPEN World Number One tennis player Novak Djokovic from Serbia has won the 2016 French Open title in the men’s singles category. In the final match, Djokovic defeated Britain’s Andy Murray by 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 score. It is his first French Open title and completed the career Grand Slam. It was Djokovic’s 12th major title and he became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slams at once. Garbine Muguruza (Spain) won the Women’s singles title of 2016 French Open. In the final she defeated Serena Williams (United States). Mixed doubles Leander Paes (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) won the Mixed doubles against Sania Mirza (India) and Ivan Dodig (Croatia) pair .
World boxing champion American Muhammad ali alias Casius clay passes away.
Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation has been nominated as a candidate to be a new member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for setting up the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) as a Public Limited Company under the Department of Posts. It will have 100% Government of India (GOI) equity and shall be established with total expenditure of 800 Crore rupees.
Some of functions of Payments Bank: (i) It can hold a maximum balance of 1 lakh rupees per customer. (ii) It can an issue ATM/debit cards but not credit cards (iii) Offer payments and remittance services (iv) Deal in simple financial products like insurance products and mutual fund units. (v) It cannot undertake lending service.
Rahul Johri took charge as first ever chief executive officer (CEO) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The appointment and creation of post of BCCI CEO was based on the lines of key recommendations of the three-member Justice RM Lodha Committee.
World No-Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed every year across the world on 31 May.
Legendary Oscar winning Indian music composer A R Rahman was awarded Japan’s Fukuoka prize for the year 2016.
Admiral Sunil Lanba (58) took charge as Chief of the Naval Staff. He will be 23rd chief of Indian Navy and 21st as an Indian.
Union Ministry of Railways and PEC University of Technology Punjab have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up of Kalpana Chawla Chair on Geospatial Technology for Indian Railways at the University.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) has won the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) beating Royal challengers Banglore at Chinnaswami stadium Banglore.
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was observed on 29 May 2016 to honour the work of UN peacekeepers.
Indian author Aditi Krishnakumar has won the prestigious 2016 Scholastic Asian Book Award. She has won the award for her 32,000-word manuscript titled Codex: The Lost Treasure Of The Indus.
The Union Ministry of Railways has launched Rail Humsafar Saptaah, a week-long initiative to highlight significant achievements made by Indian Railways in all spheres. The Rail Humsafar Saptaah starting on 26th May 2016 will conclude on 1st June 2016.
Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has decided to open its first branch in India at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. This announcement comes as part of MoU signed between IDB and India’s EXIM Bank during Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2016 .
Six new IITs will come up at: Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Dharwar (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Goa, Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir). ISM Dhanbad will also be given status of IIT.
The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has decided to launch ASMITA, a student tracking system programme. ASMITA is acronym for All School Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis and shall be launched under Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY). SAY aims to track the educational journey of school students from Class I to Class XII across the 15 lakhs private and government schools in the country.
The Union Ministry of Urban Development has shortlisted 13 cities from 13 States/UTs in the list of second batch of Smart Cities Mission. In the first batch of Smart Cities Mission, 20 smart cities were announced in January 2016.
Routes 2 Roots, a Delhi-based Non-profit organization (NGO), has been awarded prestigious Inter-cultural Innovation Award 2016. The award was bestowed upon the NGO for their unique Student Exchange Program, which allowed children in schools from India and Pakistan to connect with each other. The award was given by United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Renowned scientist S K Sharma was appointed the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

START UP INDIA , STAND UP INDIA INITIATIVES

Announced on 15 August , 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation from Red Fort.
Later on addressing the first conference of start-up entrepreneurs, Modi announced an action plan to boost such ventures. He announced a self-certification scheme in respect of nine labour and environment laws and said there will be no inspection during the first three years of launch of the venture. With 4,200 startups, India ranks 3rd globally.

1. Compliance regime based on self certification
The objective of compliance regime based on self certification is to reduce the regulatory burden on startups. This self-certification will apply to laws like payment of gratuity, contract labour, employees provident fund, water and air pollution acts.
2. Startup India hub
A startup India hub will be created as a single point of contact for the entire startup ecosystem to enable knowledge exchange and access to funding.
3. Simplifying the startup process
A startup will be to able to set up by just filling up a short form through a mobile app and online portal. A mobile app will be launched on April 1 through which startups can be registered in a day. There will also be a portal for clearances, approvals and registrations
4. Patent protection
The government is also working on a legal support for fast-tracking patent examination at lower costs. It will promote awareness and adoption of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) by startups and help them protect and commercialise IPRs. Panel of facilitators to provide legal support and assist in filing of patent application. 80 per cent rebate on filing patent applications by startups
5. Funds of funds with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore
In order to provide funding support to startups, the government will set up a fund with an initial corpus of Rs 2,500 crore and a total corpus of Rs 10,000 crore over four years. The fund would be managed by private professionals drawn from the industry while LIC will be a co-investor in the fund.
6. Credit Guarantee Fund
A National Credit Guarantee Trust Company is being envisaged with a budgetary allocation of Rs 500 crore per year for the next four years.
7. Exemption from Capital Gains Tax
Currently, investments by venture capital funds in startups are exempt from this law. Now, the same is being extended to investments made by incubators in startups.
8. Tax exemption for startups
Income tax exemption to startups announced for three years
9. Relaxed norms of public procurement for startups
10. Faster exits for startups.
STAND UP INDIA

· ‘Stand up India’ scheme was launched on 5^th April 2016 as part of the goverment's efforts to support entrepreneurship among women and SC & ST communities.

· Babu Jagjivan Ram made India very proud. Today on his birth anniversary 'Stand up India' is being launched.

· The scheme is intended to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Castes, Schedule Tribes and women and will involve loans ranging from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 1 crore.

· The logo of stand up India scheme is “ Stand up India – Karen prayas paayen vikas.

· As part of the launch event in Noida , he distributed 5,100 e-rickshaws under the Mudra Yojna Scheme. The e-rickshaws were received by cycle rickshaw owners as well as women and transgenders.

· The Stand Up India scheme is anchored by Department of Financial Services (DFS) to encourage greenfield enterprises by SC/ST and women entrepreneurs. The Stand Up India scheme is intended to facilitate at least two such projects per bank branch, on an average one for each category of entrepreneur. The expected date of reaching the target of at least 2.5 lakh approvals is 36 months from the launch of the Stand Up India scheme.

· The Stand Up India scheme provides for refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with an initial amount of Rs 10,000 crore.

· SBI opened its first branch dedicated to serving the needs of Startups in Bengaluru . First Private sector bank to launch an exclusive branch for startups is RBL bank (Formerly Ratnakar Bank Ltd.) in Koramangala on 19 april 2016.

MAN BOOKER PRIZE

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel, written in the English language, and published in the UK.

2012	Hilary Mantel	Bring Up the Bodies	Historical novel	United Kingdom
2013	Eleanor Catton	The Luminaries	Historical novel	New Zealand
2014	Richard Flanagan	The Narrow Road to the Deep North	Historical novel	Australia
2015	Marlon James	A Brief History of Seven Killings	Historical/experimental novel	Jamaica

Man Booker International Prize

The Man Booker International Prize is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize was announced in June 2004.^[1] Sponsored by the Man Group, from 2005 until 2015 the award was given every two years to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation.^[2] It rewarded one author's "continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage,"^[3] and was a recognition of the writer's body of work rather than any one title.^[2] The judges for the year compiled their own lists of authors, and submissions were not invited.^[2]

2011	Philip Roth		n/a	United States	English	American literature
2013	Lydia Davis		n/a	United States	English	American literature
2015	László Krasznahorkai			Hungary	Hungarian	Hungarian literature
2016	Han Kang	TheVegetarian	Deborah Smith	South Korea	Korean	Korean literature, South Korean literature

BANKING AND ECONOMY

New Debt structuring scheme – S4A - by RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines called Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A). The S4A envisages determination of sustainable debt level of a stressed borrower and bifurcate outstanding debt into sustainable debt and equity/quasi-equity instruments. It applies to borrowers with a finance of 500 crore and above. The resolution plan will be prepared by credible professional agencies in order to make sure that entire exercise is carried out in a prudent and transparent manner. Besides, an Overseeing Committee comprising of eminent experts will be set up by the Indian Banks Association (IBA) in consultation with the RBI.

Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has decided to open its first branch in India at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. This announcement comes as part of MoU signed between IDB and India’s EXIM Bank during Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2016. The IDB is a multilateral development financing institution based in in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Presently, it has 56 Islamic countries as its members.
State Bank of India (SBI) has been granted preliminary approval to operate Myanmar.
State Bank of India (SBI) has launched dedicated specialized branch for start-ups called ‘SBI InCube’ in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
History of SBI – starts with establishment of the Bank of Calcutta in Calcutta on 2 June 1806, which later redesignated as Bank of Bengal in 1809. Similarly two more banks were established as The Bank of Bombay (15 April 1840) and the Bank of Madras (1 July 1843). These three banks were later merged to form Imperial Bank of India on 27 January 1921. State Bank of India was constituted on 1 July 1955 by taking over Imperial bank of India . Later, the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act was passed in 1959, enabling the State Bank of India to take over eight former State-associated banks as its subsidiaries (later named Associates). State bank of Bikaner & Jaipur and other such banks.
Banking Ombudsman – ( For banking complaints )Currently 15 Ombudsmen in different states. All scheduled commercial banks , RRBs and Primary cooperative banks comes under it .Appointed under section 35 A of banking regulation act. Customer has to first approach concerned bank , if reply not received within 30 days or reply is not satisfactory then only he can file a complaint with Ombudsman. If not satisfied with decision of Ombudsman then he may appeal to deputy governor of RBI or he may file a legal suit in court of law.

· Priority Sector includes the following categories:

· (i) Agriculture
(ii) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(iii) Export Credit
(iv) Education (loan up to 10 lac)
(v) Housing (loan up to 20 lac and cost of house up to 25 lac) 28 and 35 for metro
(vi) Social Infrastructure
(vii) Renewable Energy
(viii) Others

Targets under Priority sector. – 40% of total loans , subtarget for agiculture is 18% of total loans. Foreign banks having less than 20 branches have to reach this target by 2020 while with more branches deadline is 2018.
Difference between BSBDA A/C and BSBDA-Small account . BSBDA account is zero balance permitted accounts with limited facilities but normal KYC requirements means identity proof as well as address proof needed. BSBDA- small accounts are with simplified KYC norms (with just a self attested photo) opened only for a temporary period till ID proof and address proof cards are not available at the time of opening the account. Account holder need to convert the small account to BSBDA normal account within 2 years. 12 months with a further extension of 12 months. These small accounts come with further restrictions in regard to transctions limit.

Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) has been defined by RBI vide its circular dated 10.08.2012. Its salient features are:

· There is no requirement of minimum balance.

· The services available include deposit and withdrawal of cash at bank branch as well as ATMs; receipt/credit of money through electronic payment channels or by means of collection/deposit of cheques.

· Maximum of 4 withdrawals a month including ATM withdrawal. No such limit for deposits.

· Facility of ATM card or ATM-cum-Debit card.

· These facilities are to be provided without any extra cost.

What are the conditions stipulated for accounts which are additionally to be treated as ‘BSBDA-Small Account’?
As notified in terms of Govt. of India notification dated December 16, 2010, BSBDA-Small Accounts would be subject to the following conditions:
i. Total credits in such accounts should not exceed one lakh rupees in a year.
ii. Maximum balance in the account should not exceed fifty thousand rupees at any time
iii. The total of debits by way of cash withdrawals and transfers will not exceed ten thousand rupees in a month
iv. Foreign remittances cannot be credited to Small Accounts without completing normal KYC formalities
v. Small accounts are valid for a period of 12 months initially which may be extended by another 12 months if the person provides proof of having applied for an Officially Valid Document.
vi. Small Accounts can only be opened at CBS linked branches of banks or at such branches where it is possible to manually monitor the fulfillments of the conditions

Bargad Aashram desk

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