Bargad Aashram desk: Monthwise GK summary

Gist from August 2014 megazines

India becomes no. 2 in textile exports. China tops the list.
GDP growth figures for the year 2013-14 released by Central Statistical Office , Ministry of statistics and program implementation. On 30^th May 2014. GDP growth at constant prices is 4.7% .
NABARD reduces refinance rate by 20 basis points to promote Agriculture finance by banks.
RBI simplify KYC norms . Either of permanent address or Local address proof will sufficient . If a person does not have a proof for local address , permanent address proof will be acceptable. A mere declaration for local proof will be sufficient.

SECOND BIMONTHLY MONETARY POLICY

Second Bi monthly monetary policy announced by RBI on 3^rd June 2014. SLR reduced by 50 basis point to 22.5% of total deposits. Repo rate unchanged at 8% , CRR 4%, Reverse Repo 7% , MSF and Bank rate 9%.
RBI decided to follow the recommendation of Dr. Urjit Patel Committee to consider retail inflation (Consumer price index) for policy rates determination. Retail Inflation target set by RBI is 8% by Jan. 2015 and 6% by Jan 2016.
For the year 2013-14 as a whole, India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed sharply to 1.7 per cent of GDP, primarily on account of a decline in gold imports. The ongoing shrinking of import demand. Robust inflows of portfolio investment, supported by foreign direct investment and external commercial borrowings, kept external financing conditions comfortable and helped add to reserves.
As a prudential measure, the eligibility limit for foreign exchange remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) had been reduced to US$ 75,000 last year. In view of the recent stability in the foreign exchange market, it has been decided to enhance the eligible limit to US$ 125,000 without end use restrictions except for prohibited foreign exchange transactions such as margin trading, lottery and the like.
Indian residents and NRIs are now allowed to carry a maximum of Rs.25000/- while leaving India. Earlier it was Rs.10000/- only.
As per Dr. Urjit Patel’s recommendations, it is decided to reduce the liquidity provided under the export credit refinance (ECR) facility from 50 per cent of eligible export credit outstanding to 32 per cent with immediate effect. Instead , introduced a special term repo facility of 0.25 per cent of NDTL to compensate fully for the reduction in access to liquidity under the ECR with immediate effect.
Continue to provide liquidity under 7-day and 14-day term repos of up to 0.75 per cent of NDTL of the banking system.
Current Limits of borrowing under Repo (0.25% ), Term Repo 7 and 14 days (0.75%), Special term repo for ECR(0.25%), MSF(1.0%) of bank’s NDTL Deposits. Only MSF is allowed from SLR securities limits. All other facilities require banks to have additional securities in stock, over and above SLR limits.
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FII & FDI – Definition. – As per committee on rationalizing definitions of FDI and FII, headed by Finance secretary Shri Arvind Mayaram. Govt. has accepted the committee’s report. Foreign investment of 10% and above in any listed company will be treated as FDI. As a special case an investment below 10% may also be treated as FDI but the investor will need to enhance his investment above 10% within one year. Any stake below 10% in a listed company will be treated as FPI /FII/QFI Foreign portfolio investment/ Foreign institutional investment / Qualified foreign investment. A foreign investment in an unlisted company may always be treated as FDI irrespective of any upper / lower limit.
On 20 Jun 2014 , Railway passenger fare hiked 14% , freight rates 6.5%
World bank finances Indian projects 1) 11 June 14 US$100 Million to Govt. of Himachal Pradesh for green growth and sustainable development project. 2) 30 may 14 US$ 100 Million to Govt. of India for TB care project. 3) 30 may 14 $121 million to Uttarakhand for watershed project. 4) 30 may 2014 $165 million to Maharashtra for water and sanitation program. 5) 29 may 14 $ 1006 million to Govt of India for sarva shiksha abhiyan.
GMR Infra, an infrastructure construction company, who was denied of an opportunity to build Airport in Maldives , after the change in political regime in that country, has won its arbitration case . The construction deal was around $511 million .
ONGC Videsh limited has signed an agreement with Russia’s largest oil and gas producer Rosneft to explore Hydrocarbon in Arctic region.
Flipcart has taken over Myntra (both Indian e-retailer companies) for $300m.
Delhi becomes first kerosene free city in India.
Kundankulam becomes first nuclear plant to generate 1000 mw power.
New Govt. constitutes SIT on black money stashed abroad.
Telangana becomes 29^th state of India on June 2 2014. Chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, The state comprises 10 districts including Hyderabad. Hyderabad will serve and joint capital of telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years.
Height of the Narmada dam to be raised by 17 meter, Central Government approves.
Gujrat’s Rani ki vav included in UNESCO heritage list.

Latest news

Vishal Sikka appointed CEO and Pravin rao COO of Infosys

FIFA Wolrd cup Football 2014.

After 64 years , Brazil is again hosting the FIFA world cup football. In 1950 when brazil last hosted the tournament, it was defeated by Uruguay.
Brazil and Argentina are two traditional rivals.
Brazil’s star player is Neymar and Argentina’s celebrated player is lionel messi. Christiano Ronaldo is another veteran from Portugal.
Inaugural match in sao paolo stadium between Brazil and Croatia and final match will be on 13^th July .
32 days festival , 32 teams and 64 matches.
Champions so far Brazil (5 times ) Itli(4) Germany (2) Argentina (2) Uruguay (2) France (1) Spain(1) England(1).
FIFA Fédération Internationale de Football Association Headquarters- Zurich , Switzerland. Founded 21 may 1904,

Motto		For the Game. For the World
Brazil 2014	Mascot Fuleco	A Brazilian three-banded armadillo wearing a white T-shirt reading, "Brasil 2014." The Brazilian three-banded armadillo is found only in Brazil and is classified as a vulnerable species, and the selection of Fuleco brings attention to Brazil's great biodiversity. The name Fuleco is a portmanteau of the words "Futebol" ("Football") and "Ecologia" ("Ecology").

New ARMY CHIEF designate– Lt. Gen. Dalbir singh suhag.

Presidential address in parliament on Modi government’s agenda.

1) Bringing back profit in farming through technology , innovation and infrastructure development. A national land use policy will be formulated.

2) Every state to have IIT, IIM.

3) Environment and development will go hand in hand.

4) Speedy clearance of infra projects .

5) Better coordination between centre and states.

6) Diamond quadrilateral of fast trains across India. More FDI in railways.

7) MNREGA to stress on creating community assets.

8) Scaling up of rurban infrastructure. Urban facilities in rural areas.

Arun Jaitley leader of the house in Rajya sabha.
RBI clarification on KYC norms. Any one of the address proof (Permanent or Local) is sufficient to open bank account. If permanent address proof is given, Local address proof may not be insisted upon. An undertaking for local address will suffice in such cases.
Public sector banks advised to sell their stakes in Non-core companies like ICRA,CARE , NSE,UTI, IL&FS,MCX, Stock holding corporation of India., CDSL and ARCIL to raise up to Rs.25000 crore to meet their capital refquiremnts.

Sumitra Mahajan elected Loksabha Speaker unopposed.
On 70^th D-Day Anniversary event (World war –II- 1944) was commemorated on the Omaha – Nomandy beaches of France , where the German’s Hitler forces landed to initiate world war II. All European leaders, US president Obama, British Queen , Russian president Putin, Ukraine newly elected president Petro poroshenko collectively paid tribute to the soldiers , who fought the Nazis out.

India second after china in textile exports.
Telangana , india’s 29^th state is born on 2^nd June 2014. TRS Chief Shri Chandra shekhar Rao took oath of office yesterday. It is first division of non hindi speaking lingual state .

Govt. is considering strict law against willful defaulters. Willful defaulter is a borrower who defaults on loan repayment to banks despite having capacity to pay . has diverted or siphoned off funds , has disposed offor removed movable/fixed assets given as security.

GK SUMMARY FROM JULY 2014 MEGAZINES

Gist from July 2014 megazines

· Rajiv Mathur , former IB chief appointed as Chief Information Commissioner of India in place of Sushma singh.

· New Chief ministers Orissa Naveen patnaik 4^th time

Sikkim Pawan chamling 5^th time

Bihar Jitan ram manjhi after resignation of Nitish kumar

Nagaland T R Zeliang after resignation of Neiphiu Rao

Gujrat Anandi ben patel after resignation of Narendra modi

Arunachal Pradesh Nabam Tuki 2^nd term

· Andhra’s 13 year old Malavath Purna became youngest female climber to mount everest .

· Netherland tops press freedom index 2014 , India on 78^th position.

· Brazil issues stamps to honour Indian cinema.

· SC bans jallikattu and bullock cart racing in tamilnadu.

· SC upholds constitutional validity of RTE act. Says article 21-A to provide free education to children between 6 to 14 years will apply to all schools, including private unaided schools.

· SC rules that no need to take permission from GOI to prosecute or investigate corruption charges on top bureaucrats.

· TRS ( Telangana rashtra samithi) wins telangana and TDP Telugu desham party wins Andhra Pradesh state assembly elections.

· India becomes third largest economy in terms of PPP Purchasing power parity after US and Japan .

· Singapore has replaced Mauritius as top source of FDI in India. In 2013-14 India attracted $5.98 bn in FDI from Singapore whereas through maritius it was $4.85 bn.

· Bhartiya mahila bank added to the 2^nd schedule of RBI . It will now start getting Liquidity adjustment facility overnight repo loans , long term bank rate loans and other facilities.

· RBI asked banks to make their ATMs diaabled friendly. From July all new ATMs will provide audible instructions and Braille key pads. In addition all ATMs should have Ramp facility to help physically handicapped people to access the ATMs.

· RBI to introduce ten rupee plastic notes on trial in 5 cities of India Shimla, Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur and Bhubneshwar.

· Nayak committee on governance of bank’s boards submitted its report on 12 may 2014.

*Given poor asset quality and low productivity, either privatize PSU banks or transform governance structure to make them efficient.

*Reduce government stake in PSU banks to less than 50 percent

*Remove dual structure of both Finance Ministry and RBI regulating PSU banks. Give all regulatory authority to RBI

*Improve quality of PSU bank board discussions; focus on key areas like business strategy, financial reports, risk, and compliance.

*The government should transfer its stake in PSU banks to a holding company termed Bank Investment Company

*Government should reduce its stake in BIC to under 50 percent and appoint a professional management for BIC

*For better accountability, BIC should be governed by The Companies Act 2013, and not the Bank Nationalisation Acts of 1970 and 1980

*Ownership functions to be transferred by BIC to the bank boards. Appointments of directors, CEO to be the responsibility of bank boards.

*Have uniform bank licensing regime across all broad-based banks, and niche licenses for banks with more narrowly defined businesses

*Allow mutual funds , pension funds, PE funds to hold 20 percent in private sector banks, without having to take RBI approval

*Allow promoter investors to hold up to 25 percent in private sector banks, against the 15 percent ceiling currently

*Ensure a minimum five-year tenure for bank Chairman and a minimum three year tenure for Executive Directors

*Private equity funds, including sovereign wealth funds, be permitted to take a controlling stake of upto 40 per cent in distressed banks

*Allow voting rights in proportion to the stake held

*Bank officers guilty of ever-greening loans (offering new loans to repay old ones) should be penalized financially

· RBI allows Minor above 10 years to open accounts independently and permit them the facilities like ATM, Cheque book , Internet banking , Mobile banking . No loan or overdraft is to be permitted to minor as any contract with minor is null and void as per law.

· President of India Pranab Mukherjee lauched Indian’s own payment gateway (Similar to foreign payment gateways VISA and Master card Both American companies) RuPay developed by NPCI National Payment Corporation of India. The RuPay will be more cost effective (cheap) to banks in comparision with VISA and Mastercard , however currently its acceptance range will be within India only.

· The planning commission’s task force on Waste to Energy (W2E) headed by K kasturirangan has submitted its report. It proposed a target of setting up 215 W2E plants by 2031 to generate 1075 MW of Power under PPP Model. Urban India generates 1,70,000 tonnes of waste every day of which only 19% is treated and rest goes to dump sites. It advises minimizing of waste by 5 Rs Reduce, Reuse, Recover, Recycle, and Remanufacture.

· Badminton – Thomas cup 2014 winner Japan defeating Malaysia. Uber cup 2014 China defeated Japan, both tournaments held in New Delhi.

· Snooker – man’s world championship 2014 winner british Mark Selby . Women’s world championship Winner Chitra Magimairaj

GK SUMMARY FROM JUNE 2014 MEGAZINES

Gist from June 2014 publications .

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a Colombian national ,Spanish language author and noble award winner of 1982 dies in maxico city. Famous works One hundred years of solitude, Love in the times of cholera, The Autumn of the patriarch.
Banglore born poet Vijay Sheshadri won Pulitzer prize 2014 for his poetry book “ 3 Sections”
India certified Polio free by WHO .
The country with most drug resistant TB parients is India.
World Tuberculosis day 24^th March .
The world’s fastest growing Vector borne disease is Dengue.
World health day – 7^th April .
Theme for this year’s health day is Vector borne diseases- Small bite , big threat.
India topped the global remittance list with $ 70 billion (in receiving of foreign remittances) and kerala topped in Indian states.
The chairman appointed by supreme court for BCCI –IPL7 session – Sunil Gavaskar. ( in place of N. srinivasan. Supreme court asked Mudgal committee to further investigate the IPL 2013 Spotfixing.
Deadline for Basel III full implementation extended by RBI from 31 March 2018 to 31 March 2019.
Winner of Deodhar cricket trophy is – West Zone .
Russia suspended from the G8 group of nations .
Joshna Chinappa (India) wins Richmon open squash championship
Ten days joint Air exercise between Frnace and India is – GARUDA -5
World heritage day. 18 April.
Chief Election commissioner – V S Sampath, Other two ECs are Nasim Zaidi and H S Bramha.
The new Indian Navy Chief is – Robinder kumar Dhowan.
New Finance secretary of India is Arvind Mayaram.
New chief Justice of India – Justice R.M. Lodha .
Two recent books on Dr. Manmohan singh are 1) Crusador or conspirator : Coalgate and other truths by PC Parekh 2) The Accidental Prime minister : Making and unmaking of Manmohan Singh. By Sanjay Baru.
State bank of India has in March 2014 sold its NPAs worth 3500 Crores to ARCIL Asset Reconstruction Company of India Limited.
45^th Dada Saheb Falke 2014 prize to Gulzar . real name Sampooran singh Kalra.
Miss India 2014 – Koyal Rana, Ist and IInd runner ups are Jhatalekha Melhotra and Gail da silva .
Winner of three Grand prix formula one race winner this year 2014 is Lewis Hamilton.(Mercedes). Last year’s winner Sabestian vettle (Red Bull) is not in good form this time.
ICC World cup T-20- 2014 winner is Sri Lanka defeating India. Women’s T-20 won by Australia defeating Pakistan.
61^st National Film Award – Best feature film- Ship of theseus, Best Hindi film –Jolly LLB, Best popular film – Bhag Milkha Bhag. Best Children’s Film – Kaphal Best director – Hansal Mehta (Shahid) Best actor – Rajkumar Rao(Shahid) Best Actress – Gitanjali Thapa (liar’s dice).
Miami open tennis –winner Men’s – Novak Djokovic defeating Rafael Nadal. Women’s Serena William defeating Li Na.
Manavjit singh sandhu bagged gold in world shooting championship.
Heena sidhu’s ranked as world no. 1 in 10 meter air pistol event by international shooting sports federation.
After 9 years , Anju Bobby George declared winner in world athletics final 2005 , as the earlier winner Russia’s Tatyana Kotava failed in dope test.
Nepal to hold 18 th SAARC summit on 14^th Nov. 2014 in Kathmandu. Last summit 17^th was held in Maldives in 2011. Eight member’s regional grouping established in 1985. India,Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Afganistan.
IMF agrees to a $ 14-18 billion bailout package for Ukraine to meet its debt payments, after the downfall of its president Viktor Yanukovych. Capturing of its western region province , Crimea by Russia .Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the largest country entirely within Europe. Capital: Kiev Currency: Ukrainian hryvnia. UN rejects merger of Crimea with Russia.
India , Bhutan and Nepal agreed to join hands on an initiative for Kanchenjunga trans-boundary landscape to address biodiversity conservation in the Himalayan region.
India Bhutan signed agreement on development of hydropower projects totaling 2102 MW.
CAG empowered to audit private telecom companies as they are using countries rare resources (spectrum). A supreme court judgement.
In another historic decision , Supreme Court recognized transgenders (Eunuch or Hijras) third sex. They should be included in OBC category and all facilities (healthcare, education and employment) should be equally available to them.
India world’s second in tea leaves production after only china who occupies the first place.
After Guwahati, Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) became the second north east capital to be connected through railways.
New WPI to have bigger basket. It was proposed by high powered committee that Wholesale price index should be broadbased by expanding the basket of food commodities . Total number of items in the new WPI is expected to be around 1200 as against 676 at present. Base year will be extended to 2009-10 from 2004-2005 at present. Data will be collected from more centers to make it more accurate.
Supreme Court lifts ban on iron ore mining in Goa but prescribes a limit of 20 million tones on annual production from these mines.
India is currently fourth largest steel maker. Exporting more than importing steel. Construction sector consumes 60% of the country’s total demand and automobile industry takes 15%.
Whatsapp founded by Ukraininan Jan Koum and American Brian Acton. Taken over by Face book in Feb 2014 for USD 19 Bn.
Sun Farma has acquired Ranbaxy lLaboratories from Daiichi-Sankyo Japan for $ 4 bn.
SEBI puts restrictions over FII/QFIs on purchase of securities having maturities less than one year, to encourage long term investment.
First bimonthly monetary policy 1^st april 2014 maintains the status quo(No change) in policy rates and reserve ratios. – Repo rate – 8% -Reverse repo 7% Bank rate and MSF 9% CRR 4% SLR 23%. Retail inflation target fixed at 8% by Jan 2015 and 6 % by 2016 . Basel III full implementation date extended from 31 mar 2018 to 31 mar 2019.
RBI advised banks not to charge penalties on their depositors for failing in keeping minimum balance in their deposit accounts . Instead banks may temporarily stop providing additional services and treat such accounts as basic savings accounts for default period.
RBI suggests reforms for public sector banks to Finance Ministry, recommends greater autonomy to banks and improved corporate governance.

1) Governance issue: Splitting chairman & managing directors’ post.

2) Corporate governance: RBI & govt to dissociate from selection of top management.

3) Public sector bank board: RBI & govt should withdraw from boards.

4) Auditors: CA director should not be a part of management committee.

5) Fixed period: Chief executives should be given 5-year terms.

6) Remuneration: Market-based remuneration, accompanied with stringer accountability.

7) Incentive structure: Incentives/bonuses should be paid over few years and not immediately.

8) HR issues: Need to reassess number of EDs/general managers in each bank.

9) HR appraisal policy: Performance linked remuneration.

10) Holding company: To begin with, such structure could be experimented with slimmer PSBs

Under the Banking Regulation act , the Govt. has to hold at least 51% stake in Public sector banks.
World bank president Jim Yong Kim announced to double the lending quota of middle income countries like Brazil, China, Indonesia , India and Mexico over the next ten years from USD 15 bn to 28 bn.
Government authorized RBI to issue debt instruments up to a ceiling of 50000 crore under Market Stabilisation scheme for 2014-15. MSS is generally used to absorb excessive liquidity created by FII Inward flow in the market.
SBI launched tab banking services (tablet ) wherein sales staff will visit the customers at their home and capture their details , photo , kyc documents on tablets, which being connected to banks central server will online generate their account number and can provide other services.
RBI will make an independent audit of corporate loan defaulters , where the loan amount exceeds 1000 crore. One more step to control increasing NPAs.
RBI plans to launch centralized bill payment system on the recommendation of GAG ( Giro based paymens advisory group) headed by IIT Bombay Professor Shri Umesh Bellur. It would be a centralized system that allows payment of utility bills (Electricity, telephone, cooking gas, cable, etc) education fees, insurance premiums, money transers any where and by any mode (cash, cheque or electronic mode). It is proposed to set up two nationwide organizations Bharat Bill payment services BBPS and Bharat bil payment operating units BBPOU . It will have its service points across India . The existing facilities through mobile payments, internet baking, ATM and other channels controlled by NPCI will continue independently.
RBI gave in principle approval for bank licenses to Infrastructure Development Finance Co. IDFC and microfinance lender Bandhan Finnacial services ltd. The request for India post for a bank license was referred to finance ministry for some clarifications. RBI is in favor to give a differentiated license (limited license ) of a payment bank only to Post bank, wherein it will be allowed to accept deposits and effect money transfer but will not be allowed to provide loan to public.

Gist of current affairs from December 2013 megazines

Kanwardeep singh elected President of Indian Hockey Federation.
Girish B. Pradhan appointed Chairman of CERC Central electricity Regulatory Authority.
Arundhati Bhattacharya appointed chairman of State Bank of India.
S. Varadrajan CMD of BPCL and B.Ashok CMD of Indian Oil Corporation.
Ranjan Mathai , ex Foreign Secretary of India appointed as Indian High commissioner in UK.
N.Srinivasan third time elected as president of BCCI. Board of control for cricket in India.
Combodia’s parliament elected Hun Sen as prime minister. He has been in power since 1985.
First National Yash chopra memorial award 2013 goes to legendary singer Lata mangeshkar.
Man Booker Prize 2013 – Eleanor catton for her novel “The Lumanaris” . The novel is the lengthiest (852 pages) ever and she is (28 years) youngest ever to win this prize.
Man booker prize has so far been confined to authors from commonwealth nations, but from next year 2014, the award will be opened for writers from all over the world, provided the book is in English language.
Indira Gandhi award for national integration 2012 is given Dr. M.S.Swaminathan , eminent scientist and is considered as the father of Green revolution.
Malala Yosufzai gets European Union’s Sakharov human rights award 2013.
Megan Young of Philippines becomes Miss world 2013.
Deutsche bank prize for Financial Economics 2013 given to Raghuram rajan , Governor,RBI.
Shanti swaroop Bhatnagar awards announced . Given in the field of Sciencce and technology in India. Dr. bhatnagar was eminent scientist and founder director of CSIR. Centre of Scientific and Indurstrial Research.
Fortune Top 50 business leaders list 2013. Four Indian ladies Chanda Kochar, ICICI, 4^th, Shikha sharma ,Axis bank, 32^nd , Chitra ramkrishna, National stock exchange , 17^th and Naina Lal Kidwai, HSBC, 42^nd were part of the list.
Ajit Agarkar retires from all forms of cricket.
Govt. of Canada announced honorary citizenship to Malala yusufzai. Earlier beneficiaries were Nelson Mandela and Aung San suu kyi of Myanmaar.
Lalu Prasad yadav convicted in fodder scam. Becomes second parliamentarian to loose his seat after conviction by the court. First such parliamentarian was Rashid Masud.
Supreme court , in its recent ruling , banned all those legislators who got 2 years or more jail term.
Ministry of Health and family welfare has appointed Rahul Dravid as the brand ambassador for its National tobacco control campaign.
Historian and author Ramchandra Guha wrote a book on the early years of Mahatma Gandhi titled “ Gandhi before India”. His other books are India after Indira, Patriots and partisans and makers of modern India.
Virat Kohli apponted brand ambassador of BSF.
Five new non-permanent members were elected by United nations security council. They are Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, of which Saudi Arabia has refused to accept the membership in protest against UN’s failure to resolve many issues like Syria , philistine and Nuclear non proliferation.
China surpassed USA in Oil import , becomes biggest oil importer.
G-4 nations (Brazil,Germany, Japan, India) group passed a resolution to expedite UNSC United Nations Security council reforms adding more countries in its permanent and permanent council, in order to bettter reflect today’s geopolitical realities.
14^th India – Russia annual summit.- summit was co-chaired by Dr. Manmohan singh and president of Russia Vladimir Putin. Mascow state institute of international relations, conferred an honorary doctorate to PM shri Manmohan singh.
Prime minister of Hungary, Victor orban visited India. Capital Budapest, MOU signed for sharing traditional Indian medicine system.
Bangla desh signed an extradition treaty with India to enable the handing over of suspects and convicted prisoners between the two countries.
Prime ministers 4 day visit to Brunei and Indonesia , to attend 11^th ASEAN- India summit and 8^th East asia summit. Highlights -1) Separate mission for ASEAN with a full time ambassador. 2)Free trade agreement with a target of 100 billion dollar trade by 2015.
Geo-Scientific research vessel RV Samudra Ratnakar (not a defence vehicle) dedicated to the nation.
Supreme court clarifies that reservation ceiling of 50% does not apply to 3% quota for disabled persons, hence is mandatory in all govt. jobs.
General election in five states. Chhatisgarh 11^th and 19^th Nov., MP 25 Nov., Rajasthan 1^st Dec, Delhi 4^th Dec, Mizoram 4^th Dec. , results on 8^th Dec.
Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan RUSA is a centrally sponsored scheme for reforming higher education system in states. 1) During 12^th plan period 80 new universities, 100 new colleges and 54 model degree colleges will be created. 2)Infrastructure grants would be given to 150 universities and 3500 colleges to improve facilities. 3) centre : state funding would be 90:10 for NE states, JK, Himachal Pradesh and uttarakhand and 65:35 for other states.
Telangana would be 29^th state with 10 districts and a common capital Hyderabad for 10 years.
Supreme court bench headed by Chief justice P. sadashivam held that right to reject is part of fundamental rights given by the constitution under article 19 and directed the Election commission to provide a None of the above option in electoral machines.
Special pincode allotted by department of posts to Supreme court 110 201.
Union ministry of tourism launched “777 days of incredible Himalayas” campaign to attract tourist and to promote mountaineering in Himalayan region.
Ministry of Minority affairs launched a program JIYO PARSI to reverse the declining trend of Parsi population in India. It also launched another skill development program learn and earn for all minorities.
The Good Road, a Gujrati film by Gyan Correa nominated as official entry to OSCAR in the best foreign film category.
RBI banned zero % interest rate scheme for purchase of consumer goods to protect consumer interest and to bring transparency in interest rate structure. RBI observed that interest component is often passed on to the consumers in the form of processing fees and other charges.
RBI relaxed trade credit norms to raise funds from abroad , allowing all type of companies to avail trade credit facility from overseas for import of capital goods, not exceeding 20 millionUS dollars for next 5 years. Earlier only infrastructure sector was allowed.
Financial inclusion committee announced under chairman ship of Dr. Nachiket Mor. 15 member committee to frame a clear and detailed vision for financial inclusion in India .
LPG portability scheme launched in 24 cities of India. Consumer can switch between the three companies operating in India.
Government appointed Arvind mayaram committee to define FDI and FII.
Government notified GAAR General anti avoidance rules to be effective from 1^st April 2016 to check tax avoidance by investors routing their funds through foreign countries as FII.
India is largest recipient of foreign remittances. World bank report “Migration and remittance flows “ revealed India emerging as the largest recipient of among developing economies.
Raghuram rajan panel submitted report on new criterion for measuring backwardness of the status and basis to identify them in special category . Odisha followed by Bihar are most backward states and Goa tops the list on the positive side.
Tata and Singapore airlines new venture named as Tata SIA airlines ltd. It will offer full fledged services in domestic and international arena, not be a low cost airline. Tata 51% and SIA 49%.
Wallmart and Bharat enterprises ended up their business ties.
Indian railways to set up country’s biggest forged wheel plant in Raibareli.
Macau open squash title 2013 won by deepika pallikal. First squash player to get Arjun award.
Aditya Mehta is snooker player , stood runner up in Indian open snooker title.
China open tennis 2013 Novac DJokovic defeats Rafael Nadal ,Sania mirza with Cara black wins doubles women title.
Duleep trophy cricket India won jointly by north and south zone.
Mumbai Indians wins the championship 20-20 defeating Rajasthan Royals.
ICC Cricket world cup 2015 , Canberra , Australia. Afganistan qualified to become 20 th team .
8^th Asia cup women’s Hockey tournament 2013 played in Kualalumpur Malayasia . Indian team settled for bronze. It lost to South Korea in semifinals
Global competitive report by WEF World economic forum 2013-14 , india’s rank slipped by one rank to 60^th . Switzerland tops.
World bank report on ease of doing business 2014 . India slipped to 134 from 131 in 2013 report.
Hollywood film based on the life of Julian Assange- The Fifth state
Recent Cyclone and typhoons India –Phailin Philippines –Haiyan China – Usagi , Andhra Pradesh India – Helen , Japan -Wipha
China is taking 3 million arable land on lease in UKRAINE.
World tourism day – 27^th sep.
World rabies day – 28^th sept.
World heart day – 29^th Sept.
International day of older person – 1^st OCT.
World post day -8^th oct
World mental health day – 10^th oct
International day of girl child- 11^th Oct.
International day for disaster reduction. -13 oct
World osteoporosis day- 20 oct
United Nations day 24^th Oct.
Next NATO summit 2014 in England.
India won the sultan of johor cup hockey under 21 in Malaysia.
Gambia decided to leave group of commonwealth nation.
The first Tamil chief minister of srilankan province is C V Wighneshwaran.
Two days summit of APEC Asia pacific economic cooperation held in Indonesia.
The person nominated by US president Barrack Obama to head the American central bank, Federal Reserve, in place of Ben S barnanke is Janet Yellen.
The retail chain run by Bharti group , which has recently separated from wallmart is Easyday.
HEAL is the name of Government campaign for Leprosy awareness. Full form is Hire, Educate, Accept, Leprosy-affected.
Indian badminton player facing the threat of lifetime ban from IBA- Jwala Gutta.
China issues staple visas to Indians living in arunachal Pradesh as china claims it as a part of his country.
The world biggest oil producer country is now US surpassing Saudi Arabia.
The first country in the world to have introduced Tobin tax is ITALY. It is a tax levied on foreign investments to avoid overheating of domestic economy.
New debt ceiling approved by US senate after a long period of shutdown is 17 trillion $.
Mahatma Gandhi pravasi suraksha yojana is a pension scheme launched by govt. of India for Indians workers in UAE. LIC and Bank of India appointed main service providers. Indians in the age group of 18 to 50 are eligible. Govt. will make a contribution for first 5 years
Finance ministry distributed the capital inclusion fund to public sector banks. Out of a total allocation of 14000 crores SBI gets 2000 crore and 1800 crore each to IDBI and Central Bank. After this banks can raise further capital from the market through QIP Qualified institutional placement , FOP Follow on Public offer .
In a first ever Term repo offer RBI infuses 19000 crore liquidity in the banking system. Under term repo of 7 or 14 days banks can borrow .25 % of net DTL in each tenor 7days and 14 days.
RBI dy.governor Shri KC Chakravorty revealed that only 40000 of 600000 villages are having bank braches in India.
Supreme court says that lower courts can not impose more than double the amount of bounced cheque, in lieu of imprisonment. There is a provision of 2years imprisonment or double the amount of cheque or both punishments.
New policy for foreign banks announced. Foreign banks will get near national treatment if they operate in India through WOS wholly owned subsidiary, means they set up a subsidiary banking company in India and get registered here. They need to follow all Indian banking norms like other domestic banks.
Instllments under reverse mortgage scheme will be tax free. Scheme is for senior citizens having no other income and mortgages their houses to banks to get a installment loan for their livelihood .
India post ties up with UAE’s post group company Wall street exchange for international electronic money transfer service. The product called “Instant cash”
Justice MB Shah commission has submitted its report on illegal mining across country.
K. Kasturirangan report on preservation of western ghats suggests prohibition of developmental activities in the area.
Railway introduces a concessional MST monthly season ticket “IZZAT” for workers of unorganized sector earning up to 1500/- per month and traveling up to 100 km daily to earn their livelihood.
India marginally improved from 65 to 63 position in Global hunger index 2013 prepared by IFPRI International Food Policy Research institute.
India –china signed Border defence cooperation agreement. Both PM Dr. Manmohan singh and Li Keqiang signed it.
Indian environmentalist Bunker Roy and Pakistan’s Malala were given this years Clinton Global Citizens awards.
Noble prizes announced.

Peace prize - Organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons.

Literature – Alice Munro of Canada

Physics - Peter Higgs and Francois Englert

Medicine - Rothman , Schekman and Sudhof

Chemistry – Karplus, levitt and Warshel

Economics – Fama, Hansen and shiller

I am malala : A girl who stood up for education and was shut by the Taliban book written by malala.
“One two eight three :1283” Book by PELE , the footballer.

Posted by Bharat Sharma@bargad aashram Ujjain(MP) at 10:16 PM

Gist of current affairs from November 2013 Megazines.

Australia’s new prime minister Tony Abott (Conservative party) sworn in on 18 sept. 2013, Defeating former PM Kevin Rudd (Labour party), who took over from Ms. Julia Gilard early this year.
Thomas batch (Germany) elected ninth president of International Olympic Committee, who replaced Jacques Rogge (Belgium).
Deepak Sadhu , first women Chief information commissioner in place of Satyanand Mishra.
Nishi vasudev will be first woman chief of any PSU - HPCL from Feb. 2014.
Indira Gandhi prize for peace, disarmament and development 2012 goes to Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Earlier she had also shred Nobel peace prize with Tawakkul kamran of yemen republic.
Malala Yusufzai was given international Children preace prize 2013.
National Sports award includes 1) Rajeev Gandhi Khel ratna award 2) Arjun awards 3) Dronacharya award 4) Dhyanchand award 5) Tenzing norgay national adventure award 6) Rahtriya khel protsahan puruskar 7) Maulana Abdul kalam azad trophy.
Nina Davulury- First Indian origin American to win Miss America award.
Pandit Ragunath panigrahi , famous Classical singer and Music director from Orissa passes away.
Bank of Beijing opened china’s first direct bank. Direct banking is kind of branch less banking , which provides all its products through internet, telephones and ATMs. By eliminating the costs associated with bank branches, direct banks can make significant savings which they may pass on to clients via higher interest rates or lower service charges. One of the world's first fully functional direct banks was First Direct, which launched in the United Kingdom on October 1, 1989. The initial success of internet banking services provided by traditional banks led to the development of internet-only banks or "virtual banks". Many such banks are functioning in US and European countries.
ASEAN defence ministers meet in Brunei on 29th august 2013. India is not a member of ASEAN. Association of South east asian nations. Members Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam then joined on 7 January 1984, Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN. Headquarter Indonesia Jakarta
G-20 summit 2013 held in Russia on 5-6 sept. Next summit in Brisbane in Nov. 2014. There is no headquarter of this summit. Every year chair moves to one of its member countries. It was decided to create a common database on tax related information of multinational companies, so that tax evasion can be controlled.
DTAA Double taxation avoidance agreement signed between India and Latvia.
India japan agreements – 1) Joint research initiatives in the field of Applied science. 2) cooperation in film and animation techniques 3) Currency SWAP agreement increased from 15 billion to 50 billion $ till Dec 2015. ( Signed during G-20 summit). Currency swap is an arrangement between two countries to accept each others currency for trading goods and services. This relieves them of their dependencies on dollar as mediating currency and help stabilize their own currencies.
Food security bill (not the ordinance, which had already been approved by the president and promulgated on 4^th July) now passed by Lok sabha(26 aug) and rajya sabha (2 sept) and finally signed by president on 10 sept. For details refer news diary dated 4^th (July).
Govt. sanctioned 158 EMRS Eklavya model residential schools for tribal students . objective of EMRS is to provide quality middle and high level education to ST students in remote areas.
Ahinsa Messenger program initiative of Ministry of women and child development to create awareness about violence against women and to assist the victimized women in getting justice. Amhinsa messengers will be appointed across country . program will be implemented through all anganwadi Kendra, all panchayati raj institution , sabla girls and poorna shakti kendras. National mission for empowerment of women will train these Ahinsa messengers.
India third largest internet user after china and US.
Land acquisition , rehabilitation and resettlement bill 2011 Passed. HIGHLIGHTS

1) Minimum 70% of the landowners consent for PPP projects and 80 % for Private sector projects will be required for land acquisition.

2) Compensation of around 4 times of market value in rural area and 2 times of the market value in Urban areas will be given to farmers/landowners.

3) Several other benefits like land for employment and residential purpose apart from compensation.

4) Wakf land will not be acquired.

5) In case the land acquired is not utilized for the stated purpose within time frame , it would be returned to owner or state land bank.

Maharashtra has passed Anti black magic and superstition bill after the murder of a social activist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune , who was fighting against superstitions and black magic practices.
India’s first quarter GDP dropped to 4.4% April to June 2013 because of poor performance of manufacturing and mining sector. Last year in the same period it was 5.4% .
First monetary policy review by Shri Raghuram rajan : repo rate increase by .25% to 7.5, MSF and Bank rate down by .75 % to 9.5% CRR-SLR remained unchanged , however daily maintenance limit of CRR was brought down from 99 to 95%
RBI liberalized norms for banks to open new branches, Banks can open branches in tier 1 centre (population above one lacs) without obtaining permission from RBI , if 25% branches are correspondingly opened in tier 5 and 6 centres in a particular year. At the same time tier 1 branches number should not exceed total branches opened in tier 2 to 6 areas.
TARC Tax Administration reform commission constituted on 26 august 2013 under the chairman ship of tax expert Parthsarathi Shome to review tax laws and suggest ways for a stable non adversarial tax administration. Seven member commission with a tenure of 18 months.
Tata group signed pact with Singapore airlines to form a new airline company in India. Tata 51% and SA 49% share.
Microsoft to buy Nokia in 5.44 billion Euro.
RBI introduced forex swap window to oil companies. Decided to meet entire daily dollar demand of oil companies like IOC, BPCL, HPCL to reduce pressure on foreign exchange market . This will substantially support the falling rupee against dollar.
RBI offered a concessional currency swap to banks for their FCNR foreign currency non resident deposits at 3% . Normally swaps available in open market charge around 7 % , which discourage the banks to take foreign currency deposits. This again is an step to boost inward flow of dollar in view of falling rupee. This facility will remain available till 30 november 2013.
Committee to revise and strengthen monetary policy framework by making it transparent and predictable ,under the chairmanship of Dr. Urjit Patel Dy. Governor.
PFRDA BILL 2011 passed. Highlights 1) 26% FDI allowed in pension fund management 2) PFRD Authority provided statutory status and powers. 3) The subscribers can choose fund manager as well as scheme packages to suit their needs. 4) Funds managers can partly invest in shares if pension beneficiary approves the risk plan.
Economic outlook 2013-14 . released by PMEAC Prime minister economic advisory council (Headed by C rangarajan) has lowered the growth forecase to 5.3% from 6.4 projected earlier.
Jubin Mehta , western classical composer , awarded Tagore prize for cultural harmony. Last year it was Late Ravi shankar who got this award.
RBI banned 0% interest financing schemes of banks .

Posted by Bharat Sharma@bargad aashram Ujjain(MP) at 7:11 AM

Gist of current affairs from October megazine

RBI Governor is appointed for 3 year term. D subbarao term was extended for 2 more year thereby allowing him to serve for 5 years.
Present RBI Governor is 23^rd incumbent to this office. He was Chief Economic Advisor to Finance ministry before this appointment. He also served IMF as Chief Economist.
Four Deputy Governors are Dr. Urjit Patel, K.C.Chakravorty, H.R.Khan and Anand Sinha. A deputy governor in RBI can be appointed for a maximum of 5 years or till the age of 62, which ever is earlier.
Rajiv Rishi – appointed as Central Bank of India CMD for years.
Arundhati Bhattacharya, First Women MD & CFO of SBI.
Hasan Rohani – New President of Iran
Robert Mugabe elected as president of Zimbabwe for seventh time since 1980 when Zimbabwe got its independence from Britain.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel ratna puraskar for 2013 to Ronjan Sodhi , sports shooting.
Arjun puraskar 2013 to Virat kohli, P.V.Sindhu, Kavita chahal(boxing),Gaganjit Bhullar –Golf Rajkumari rathore –shooting and others.
Saraswati samman 2013 for literature instituted by kk birla foundation
APJ Abdul Kalam autobiography – My journey: transforming dreams into action.
Russia granted asylum to Edward Snowden for one year.
US vice president Joe Biden visited India in July 2013
Registration of births and deaths (amemdment ) bill 2012 passed . makes it compulsory to register all marriages irrespective of religion.
Company bill 2012 replaces 57 year old companies act 1956 . 2 % of profit of companies to be allotted to CSR activities. Clarifies criminal liability of auditors.
NGT National Green tribunal banned illegal sand mining activities across India.
Handwoven Pashmina shawls is spaciality of Kashmir.
INS Sindhurakshak an strategic defence submarine vessel badly damaged in a fire incident.
India launched its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
RBI announced weekly sale of Government bonds/securites to absorb liquidity from the market to curb volatility in foreign exchange market.\
India signed 100 million dollar agreement with world bank for low income housing project to be managed by National Housing bank.
Import duty on gold and jewellery raised to 15 %.
Tax administration Reform Commission TARC set up to review tax administration and structure in India .
Rajeev Gandhi grammen vidhutikaran yojana (RGGVY) continued in 12^th year plan . launched in april 2005 90% contributed by Central Government and 10% by REC, which is the nodal agency. To be implemented by state government. Aims are – electrifying all villages , electricity to all rural households, free connection to BPL families.
SEBI’s deadline for meeting 25% public shareholding norm in private listed companies by jun 13 and 10 % for public sector undertaking by august 13 is over.
Disinvestment of 10% in Indian Oil Corporation approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Interest subvention of 3% on crop loans continued by Central Govermnet.
FDI in print media to increase from 26 to 49%
Reliance General Insurance launched crop insurance schemes.
P V Sindhu won bronze medal in world Badminton championship 2013.
14^th World championship in athletics were held in Moscow, Russia from 10-18 August 2013. Russia topped the tally with 7 gold. Jamaica’s Ussain Bolt became most successful athlete with eight gold and two silver in various world championships.
India beats Zimbabwe 5-0 in cricket ODI series on foreign soil.
Indian Badminton league . 14 aug to 31^st august 2013. No. of teams 6 , organizer Badminton association of India. Winner Hyderabad hotshot having Saina Nehwal on its side.
Ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation proposed to launch National Urban Livelihoods mission in 12^th plan period , which will replace Swarn Jayanti shahari Rojgar yojana.
Bhartiya Mahila Bank – Announced in Budget speech of 2013-14 by FM shri Chidambaram. Initial seed capital 1000 crores, First six branches proposed at Mumbai , Delhi, Kolkata , Chennai , Indore and Guwahati by 15 Oct. 2013 . 25 branches up to March 2014. HeadQuarter – Delhi. Chairman designate is Usha Anantsubramaniam. key objective of the Bank is focus on the banking needs of women and promote economic empowerment.
Jet Etihad deal – 24% stake purchased by Etihad airlines.
V.K.Shunglu committee to probe corruption charges in commonwealth games in India 2010.
Tears you apart campaign is launched by Ministry of health and family welfare against the use of Tobacco , specially smokeless eatable forms of it.
Islamic banking norms approved by RBI . Kerala state was permitted to open Non Banking financial institution on the principles of Islamic finance. ( Interest giving and taking on funds is not allowed in Islam). Cheraman Financial Services Limited (CFSL) will be floated by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation to function as a non-banking finance company (NBFC).
RBI measures to control Gold imports. 1) Authorised Gold importers like banks and gold trading agencies to ensure that 20% of imported lot should be made available for export in the form of jwellery . jewellery exports last year stood at around 70 tonnes. Authorised importers should sell their gold to only those entities , which are engaged in jewellery or other products. Govt has increased the import duty to 15% on gold and jewellery.
Govt. to provide a internet enabled mobile to every person of rural area who has completed 100 work days in MGNREGA.
Relaxation in Multibrand retail FDI norms. 1) 10 lacs population norms relaxed, stores can be opened in cities having population less than 10 lacs. 2) For local purchase of stocks limit for small industries increased from 5 crore to 10 crore. 3) 50% backend infrastructure compulsion will be only for one time investment up to 100 m $, further investments will be free from this norm. 4) 30% local sourcing norms will continue.
Tourism department new campaign 1) Clean India campaign at Tajmahal AGRA 2) Hunar se Rojgar tak , skill development program.
Telangana with 10 district will be 29^th state of India subject to approval by parliament. Central cabinet cleared it.
Ksheera Bhagya is scheme by Karnatak Govt. to provide school children 150 ml of milk three times a week.
Kumar mangalam Birla resigned from board of directors of RBI to avoid conflict of interest as Birla group has applied for opening a new bank.
Amjad ali Khan famous sarod player chosen for Rajiv Gandhi national sadbhavana award.
Sardar singh named as captain of hockey team India for asia cup 2013.
First cricketer to hit 400 sixes in international cricket – shahid afridi.
Aditya Mehta Indian snooker palyer won gold medal in the world games.

Posted by Bharat Sharma@bargad aashram Ujjain(MP) at 1:54 AM

Gist of current affairs from September 2013 Megazines.

Quatar’s Dahlan Jumman Al-Hamad elected new president of Asian athletics association defeating Suresh kalmadi of India.
Dr. T.C.A Raghavan next high commissioner of India to Pakistan.
Hemant Soren sworn in as ninth Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
NASSCOM , National Association of software companies gets new president R. Chandrashekhar.
Sujata Singh is next Foreign Secretary of India in place of Ranjan Matthai.
P sadashivam , new Chief Justice of India replacing Justice Altmas kabir.
IIFA awards- Best film – Barfi , Best actor Ranbir kapoor, best Actress Vidhya balan (Kahani).
Kerala chief minister gets UN public service award for his mass contact program .
Vandana Gandhi first Indian woman to receive Dubai Govt.’s Emirates woman award for her ISO certified British Orchard Nursery Chain in middle east.
Veteran actor Pran , winner of 2012 Dada sahib falke award , passed away.
Douglas anglebart , inventor of computer mouse .
The United Nations General assembly (193 member)constituted a new High Level Political Forum(HLPF) to replace the united nations commissions on Sustainable Development ( UNCSD). The decision is based on the recommendation of RIO+20’S outcome document of 2012 “UN conference on sustainable development , The future we want.” The forum will meet once in a year under the sponsorship of UNECOSOC Economic and social council.
Croatia joins European Union as 28^th member.
European Union signed a deal for 7 year budget 2014-20.
Iran agreed to take all oil payments from India in rupees, after US and western ban blocked all other payment routes. Rupee transactions to Iran are routed through UCo Bank in Kolkata , where Iranian oil companies have opened their accounts. India has not bought a single barrel of oil from Iran since April 2013 as insurance firms had refused to provide insurance cover to refiners processing Iranian oil.
India Srilanka and Maldives sign tripartite maritime security pact. India was represented by our National security advisor Shri Shivshankar menon.
Indian and Nepal agreed for making joint publicity of their tourist destinations and offering joint tour package to the tourists of other countries.
India Albania signed double taxation avoidance agreement.
MGPSY scheme for blue collar Indian workers in gulf. Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Surksha Yojana .a pension and life insurance scheme for Indian workers in Gulf Countries.
Visit of Britain prime minister David Cameron to India on 30 june 2013. UK will assist in development of Bangluru- Mumbai Economic Corridor.
Kundanklam Nuclear power plant commenced operations on 13 th July. Presently it started producing 400 mw power. Full capacity 1000 MW. In joint collaboration with Russia.
Airport authority of India will set up 51 low cost airports in tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India.
Bhiwani , mahendragarh (Hryana) and Bharatpur (Rajasthan) districts are included in NCR Delhi . National Capital Region.
Govt. lauched National Cyber Security Policy 2013. aimed to protect information and build capabilities to prevent cyber attacks.
Two new national universities decided to be setup in Raibareli (UP). 1.) Indira Gandhi National university for Women. And Rajeev Gandhi National Aviation University. In 2006 the Kaw committee had recommended setting up of National Aviation University
UNESCO (United nations education , scientific and cultural organization) grants world heritage status to Six forts of Rajastahan and mount fuji of japan in its World heritage committee metting at Phnom penh in Cambodia.
Rail link extended to Kashmir, Banihal (Jammu) to Qazigund (Kashmir) link inaugurated by Prime minister.
Himachal Pradesh became first smoke free state of the country. It achieved 85.42 % compliance under section 4 of Cigarettes and other Tobacco products act (COTPA)2003. The state had increased state taxes on bidi and cigarettes from 11 and 18 to 22 and 36 % to discourage this habit.

Rajasthan , Mukya mantri bijli bachat lamp yojana . Two CFL free to all village household and Urban BPL families.

Latest warship with guided missile technology “ INS TRIKAND” was inducted in the Indian Navy. This one is the last of the 6 warships ordered from Russia . Earlier ones are Talwar, Trishul, Tabar, Teg, and Tarkash.

Special Liquidity facility for Mutual Funds. RBI on 17 July 2013 opened additional liquidity facility of max 25000 crore to commercial banks to lend onwards to mutual funds, which are facing heavy redemption (withdrawals) due to liquidity tightening by RBI to control Rupee depreciation against dollar.

SEBI act was amended for providing powers to the market regulator to crack down on Ponzi Scheme.

What are Ponzi schemes - A fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned.

RBI announced measures to control Rupee fall with tightening of liquidity and increasing the cost of funds . 1) Increased Marginal Standing facility rates and Bank Rates from 8.25 to 10.25. 2) Planned a total sale of 12000 crore Govt. bonds. 3) The overall allocation of funds under the LAF will be limited to 1.0% of the Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) of the banking system, reckoned as Rs. 75,000 crore for this purpose.

RBI tightens control on foreign currency outflow from India.

1) Overseas investment limit of companies under automatic route brought down from 400% of net worth to 100% of net worth. Investment beyond this ceiling will require RBI permission.

2) For individuals , limit under Liberalised remittance scheme is brought down from 200000 $ to 75000 $.

3) Foreign currency inward deposits coming to Indian banks made exempt from CRR/SLR requirement.

3) Banks may offer higher interest rates to foreign currency deposits by one percent. It allowed banks to offer 400 basis point (4%) above LIBOR (London Inter bank offered rate) in place of 300 basis point ceiling earlier.

RBI imposed fines (penalty) on 22 private and public sector banks including SBI for violating KYC norms and their alleged involvement in Money laundering practices , exposed by a private web site magazine Cobrapost in a sting operation.

DGCA Director General of Civil Aviation office will be replaced with CAA Civil Aviation Authority. It will have full operational and financial autonomy and will meet the standards set by UN’s ICAO International civil aviation authority.

District Rural Development Agency DRDA dissolved. These were setup as independent societies in 1980 to oversee implementation of Rural Development ministry’s programs at district levels. V. Ramchandran committee recommended their dissolution.

Natural gas prices to be increased (nearly doubled) from April 2014. Govt. approved this on the basis of C. Rangarajan ‘s formula under whose chairmanship a committee was formed to recommend a Gas pricing formula.

India successfully launched its first navigational Satellite IRNSS-1A, Equivalent to US’s GPS system.

FDI allowed in various sectors in India : Updated up to Sept 2013 from Ministry’s website


SECTOR	TOTAL	AUTOMATIC	Govt. APPROVAL
Tea sector including tea plantations	100		100
Petroleum and natural gas refining	49	49
Exploration	100	100
Defence	26		26
Courier services	100	100
Telecom	100	49	Above 49
Single brand retail	100	49	Above 49
Multi brand retail	51		51
Asset Reconstruction company	100	49	Above 49
Commodity exchange	49	49
Credit information companies	74	74
Power Exchanges	49	49
Banking Private sector	74	49	Above 49
Public sector	20		20
NBFC	100	100
Pharmaceuticals Greenfield	100	100
Brownfield	100		100
E-Commerce activities	100	100
Cash and carry wholesale trading	100	100
Industrial parks	100	100
Aviation	49	49
Airport Greenfield	100	100
Brownfield	100	74	Above 74
Print media –newspaper magazine etc	26	26
DTH and Cable network	74	49	Above 49
FM Radio	26		26
Mining	100	100
FDI is prohibited in: (a)Lottery Business including Government /private lottery, online lotteries etc. (b)Gambling and Betting including casinos etc. (c)Chit funds (d)Nidhi company (e)Trading in Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) (f)Real Estate Business or Construction of Farm Houses (g)Manufacturing of Cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes, of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes (h)Activities / sectors not open to private sector investmente. eg.Atomic Energy and Railway Transport (other than Mass Rapid Transport Systems)

Wimbledon 2013

1) Andy Murray (England) Defeated Novak Djokovic to become first Briton in 77 years to win wimbledon . Fred perry was last britishman to win wimbledon in 1936.

2) Marion Bartoli of France won women’s single category defeating Sabine Lisicki of Germany.

Brazil won FIFA Confederation cup defeating SPAIN .
India to host 2016 T-20 and 2023 World cup in cricket.

Posted by Bharat Sharma@bargad aashram Ujjain(MP) at 11:48 AM

Gist of current affairs from August 2013 Megazines.

S.K.Roy new Chairman of LIC to replace Shri T.S.Vijayan , who will be new IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and development Authority) Chairman in place of J. Harinarayan.
Hasan Rouhani , new president of Iran .
Mallikarjun Kharge became Union minister of Railways. Prior to this he was Minister of Labour and Employment. Besides him 4 cabinet level and 4 state level minister also inducted . Sisram Ola (Labour and Emp), Oscar Fernandes (Road transport and highways), Girija vyas (Housing and Urban poverty) Dr. S.K.Rao (Textiles)
New CAG – ShashiKant Sharma , Comptroller and auditor general of India, succeeded Vinod Rai.
Indian Bank Association , re elected Shri K.R.Kamath as chairman for 2013-14.

· Indian Banks' Association (IBA), formed on 26 September, 1946 as a representative body of management of banks operating in India ,based in Mumbai.^[1] With an initial membership representing 22 banks in India in 1946, IBA currently represents 173 banking companies operating in India. IBA was formed for development, coordination and strengthening of Indian banking, and to assist the member banks in various ways including implementation of new systems and adoption of standards among the members.

Pakistan new prime minister – Nawaz Sharif
Palestine new PM – Rami Hamadallah.
Man Booker international prize for won by American writer Lydia Davis.
Singer Hariharan awarded Lata Mangeshkar samman in indore . Award instituted by MP Govt.
G-8 summit in Geneva (17-18 June) supported peaceful settlement of Syria conflict.
Bashar –al- asad is president of Syria , Capital- Damascus, Currency- Syrian pound.
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest.
World population prospects report released by UN predicts India to be most populous nation by 2028.
India offers $150 million loan to Myanmar for Special Economic Zone development.
Myanmar - President U. Thein Sein, capital Nay Pay Taw , currency Kyat.

· India's Look East policy represents its efforts to cultivate extensive economic and strategic relations with the nations of Southeast Asia in order to bolster its standing as a regional power and a counterweight to the strategic influence of the People's Republic of China. Initiated in 1991, marked a strategic shift in India’s perspective of the world. It was developed and enacted during the government of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and rigorously pursued by the successive administrations of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

President of Afganistan Hamid karzai visits India. Gets honorary doctorate from lovely professional university , Phagwara , Punjab. India is constructing Salma dam and new parliament bulding in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan capital Kabul, Currency – Afgani
India targets 80% literacy by 2017. Present literacy rate is 74%. Govt. is planning to implement it through its Saakshar Bharat programme (Operational in 372 districts covering nearly 1.5 lakh gram panchayat in 25 states) and panchayati raj institutions.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University set up in Bhopal..
FDI in Telecom increased from 74 to 100%. Out of which 49% will be under Automatic route.
Three Private banks Axis bank, HDFC bank and ICICI bank were penalized for violation of KYC norms and antimoney laundering guidelines.
Restriction on Cooperative banks, scheduled banks and NBFCs to grant loan against Gold coins.
RBI relaxed time line for starting banking business from one year to 18 months after getting license. New licensees will have to setup Non operative financial holding co. NOFHC and open its branches within 18 months.
160 years old Telegram services offered by BSNL discontinued permanently on 15 June 2013.
Limit of Foreign investment in Govt. securities enhanced from $25 billion to 30 billion to attract more foreign exchange
NSDA – National Skill Development Agency has been set up to meet the growing demand of skilled work force in both public and private sector. 12^th plan envisages 82 lakh skilled workforce to be create by 2017 and National policy on skill development aims at producing 500 million workforce by 2022. Existing three agencies like Prime minister’s council on skill development, NSD Coordination board and office of advisor to PM on skill development.
Extension of RBSY- Rashtriya swasthya bima yojana. Coverage extended to Rickshaw pullers, rag pickers, mine workers ,rickshaw drivers, sanitation workers , Street vendors,beedi workers, domestic workers , building and other construction workers, MGNREGA workers , who have completed 15days of work in the previous year. Scheme provides for health insurance cover for every BPL family of Rs. 30000/- per year. Center & states to contribute 75 and 25% respectively. Cashless facility is also available. Beneficiary has to contribute only 30/- per year, rest is given govt. Scheme started in 1 april 2008.
China developed fastest computer. A survey of top 500 computers revealed that China’s Supercomputer Tianhe-2 is the fastest super computer of the world. .
ICC Championship trophy. India defeated England in the finals of ODI Cricket tournament organized by International Cricket Council. Last India the trophy was jointly won by India and Srilanka.
French Open tennis tournament . Rafael Nadal (spain)(First to win French title 8 times) beats David ferrer of Spain . Women’s single final won by serena Williams (America) against Mario sharapova (Russia).
IPL-2013 year 6th, Mumbai Indian topped it for the first time defeating Chennai Super kings. So far Chennai held it twice while Rajasthan royals, deccan chargers and Kolkata knight riders won it once each.
Sudirman cup , Thirteenth World Badminton title - 2013 won by China defeating South korea.
England to host 2019 Cricket world cup tournament.
Asian athletic championship held in Pune.
Indian women Basketball team won gold in FIBA ASIA 3x3 basketball tournament 2013 in Doha, defeating Mongolia team.
Amitav Ghosh ‘s latest novel in the race of Warwick prize “ River of Smoke”
CTT Commodity transaction tax came into effect from 1^st July 2013.
India signed USD 255 Million loan agreement with World bank for AIDS control programme.
Confederation cup associated with Football.
Financial sector legislative reforms commission FSLRC , Chairman – Shri B.N.Srikrishna recommended to reduce the number of regulators in financial services like commodity, stock market, pension and insurance. Suggested a Unified Financial Authority for all non-banking financial services.
SBI to open 1200 branches in this fiscal year.
Roshni scheme for Naxal affected areas aims to skilling and placement of 50000 youth from 24 Naxal affected areas across 9 states.
Union cabinet approved Malayalam as the country’s 5Classical language after Tamil, Sanskrit. Kannad and telugu.
World bank urged to stop surveying and publishing of Doing business index. The latest index ranked Singapore on top and gave china and India a rank of 91 and 132 respectively . It is supposed to assess the legislative and regulatory environment’s impact on doing business in a specific country.
European inventor award 2013 to India born Ajay Bhatt led team working at Intel USA for inventing USB Universal Serial Bus technology in computer.
K. Srikanth , Badminton player , first Indian to win Thailand open .

Posted by Bharat Sharma@bargad aashram Ujjain(MP) at 6:59 AM

Gist of current affairs from July 2013 Megazines

· Siddharamaiyah of congress party became Chief minister of Karnataka.

· Takehiko Nakao (Japan) on 27 april appointed president of ADB Asian development Bank succeeding Haruhiko Kuroda., who was appointed as Governor of Bank of Japan.

· UN Public service award to MP for its initiative “Gramin Haat” It was started to strengthnening and empowering the women’s self help group.

· 12^th may , International Nurses day. The National Florence Nightingale award for Nursing professional were presented on this day.

· Whitley Award , also known as green oscar was given to Indian biologist Dr. Aparajita Datta in London for her efforts in conservation of a rare species in dense tropical forests of Arunachal Pradesh.

· Famous Dhrupad vocalist Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar passed away . Dhrupad is the oldest north Indian clsssical music form.

· IMF approved $1.3 billion loan for Cyprus to stabilize its financial sector. IMF loan is a part of a rescue package of 10 billion Euros (12.9 billion $) approved in March from Eurozone bailout fund. Cyprus is the fourth country since 2010 after Greece , Ireland and Portugal to get such bailouts.

· The largest Biogas plant was set up in Finland.

· IBSA India –Brazil and South Africa is a trilateral development initiative to promote south –souh cooperation and exchange. Recently IBSA Women’s forum meet was held which was represented by Mrs Krishna Teerath , Minister of women and child development from India.

· OBC creamy layer criterion raised to 6 lakh from 4.5 lakh earlier.

· Raguram rajan headed 6 member expert committee to review norms to measure backwardness of states The new criterion such as distance of the state from national economic averages, per capita income and other human development indicators will be considered.

· Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan .. Govt. has accorded a high priority to the sanitation sector. In 12^th plan an outlay of Rs. 34,377 crore has been provided for rural sanitation as against 6,540 crore in 11^th plan. The goal is to achive 100% access to sanitation for all rural households by 2022 under NBA .

· INFLATION INDEXED BONDS : IIB :As promised in the budget Govt. has decided to launch IIBs as instruments that will protect savings of poor and middle class from inflation and incentivise house hold sector to save in financial instruments rather than buy gold.

· NSE launched Debt trading platform . Retail investor will get the opportunity to enter in to debt segment in a reliable , liquid and transparent manner. Corporate bonds will be available to the public in secondary market.

· Economic review 2012-13 by PMEAC . Dr C. Rangarajan chairman . Highlights. 1) projected economic growth rate 6.4% 2) subsidy and CAD to be reduced. 3) Faster clearance to stalled infrastructure projects required. 4) projected CAD 4.7% against 5.1 of 12-13. 5) Gold import bill estimated at $45 billion and OIL at $125 billion.

· BSE launch Islamic Equity index comprising of companies which fulfill Islamic principals like bans on investing in alcohol , tobacco and gambling related activities.

· DBTL – Direct benefit transfer for LPG will be launched in 20 aadhaar covered districts from 1^st June 2013. 1) 9 subsidised cylinders every year 2) 2) consumer to link their bank account to adhaar and provide such account details to LPG dealer. 3) Subsidy will be paid in advance as soon as consumer makes a cylinder booking.

· New guidelines for Indira aawaas yojana for rural poor. 1) Allocation for each housing unit increased from 45000 to 75000 rupees. 2)building toilet has been made compulsory. 2) Manual scavengers and freed bonded labours will be given preference. 3) fund allocation will be made through state govt. . The changes were made after the Govt. agreement with Jan satyagraha representative in agra on 11^th Oct. 2012 , also known as Agra agreement on land reforms , signed by Minister for rural development , Shri Jairam Ramesh.

· National Rural Livelihood Mission. – (Aajeevika). Some important changes announced in the scheme 1) BPL Criterion relaxed 2) The participative identification of poor process PIP will be implemented .3) Women self help group will be strengthened.

· 10% Equity sale approved in coal India lt.. part of total disinvestment target of Rs. 40000 crore for this year.

· $325 billion export target set for this year 13-14.

· Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi ) got 24% stake in Jet airways.

· Walmart surpassed Exxon Mobil co. in profit figures. Walmart topped the Fortune magazine’s top 500 list with 469.2 billion revenue.

· David beckham , legendary footballer and former England captain announced retirement.

· Thomas cup(World men’s badminton) and Uber cup (world women’s badminton) . Final matches to be held in New Delhi.

Posted by Bharat Sharma@bargad aashram Ujjain(MP) at 3:13 AM

Bargad Aashram desk

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