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Showing posts with label Current Affairs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Current Affairs. Show all posts

Saturday 28 February 2015

UNION BUDGET 2015-16 HIGHLIGHTS

UNION BUDGET 2015-16 HIGHLIGHTS


Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 28th February 2015 presented the Union Budget for the year 2015-16. Being termed as 'make or break', this is Arun Jaitley and the NDA Government's first full year Budget. Here are the key highlights of the Budget.

Important Numbers to Note


1. Non-Plan expenditure: Rs 13,12,200 crore.

2. Plan expenditure: Rs Rs 4,65,277 crore.

3. Total expenditure: Rs 17,77,477 crore.

4. Gross Tax receipts: Rs 14,49,490 crore.

5. Devolution to the States: Rs 5,23,958 crore.

6. Share of Central Government: Rs 9,19,842 crore.

7. Non Tax Revenues: Rs 2,21,733 crore.

8. Fiscal deficit : 3.9% of GDP and Revenue Deficit: 2.8% of GDP

Economic Survey 2014-15 Highlights


Key Features of Union Budget 2015


1. Defer the applicability of GAAR by 2 years; effective from 1.04.2017

2. Wealth Tax to be abolished

3. 2% surcharge on those who have income of over Rs 1 Cr per annum

4. Benami Property Transaction bill to tackle black money transaction in real estate soon

5. PAN must for any sale exceeding Rs 1 lakh

6. High corporate tax with too many exceptions gives us worst of both worlds, we neither get revenues nor investments

7. Taxation is an instrument of socio-economic engineering

8. Corporate Tax to be reduced to 25% from 30%

9. GST expected to play transformative role by creating a common market; have already introduced bill for same

10. Aim to rationalize and cut exemptions in corporate tax

11. Govt. to get tough on Black Money

12. Direct Tax collection is going to be 14.49 lakh crore rupees

13. To avoid surprise in taxation policy

14. Corporate tax to be reduced by 5% over next four years

15. Policy of Make in India in Defence not only to cater our needs but also for export

16. Defence budget enhanced to Rs 2,46,727 crore

17. Special Assistance to Bihar and West Bengal

18. Rs 15,000 crore scheme to skill rural India

19. Poor students get fund aid through PM scheme

20. Renewable energy target will be increased to 1,75,000 MW

21. AIIMS to be set up in J&K, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Assam

22. IIT in Karnataka, IIMs in J&K and Andhra Pradesh

23. ISM Dhanabad will be upgraded to full IIT

24. Section 6 of FEMA to be amended

25. Public procurement law to be introduced

26. Public contracts resolution bill to be introduced

27. Rupay Debit Cards to be incentivised, to move towards paperless transactions

28. Regulatory reform law for infrastructure development

29. To launch National Skills Mission to boost jobs

30. Committee to be set up to plan the celebration of the 100th birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya

31. Govt. to do away with distinctions between FII and FDI and replace it with Composite Caps

32. Another 1,000 crores for Nirbhaya Fund

33. Corpus for maintenance of Global Heritage Sites at Goa, Gujarat, J&K, Mumbai, Punjab and Telangana

34. Environment friendly development process only

Here are the highlights of the Rail Budget 2015


35. Foreign investment in alternate investment funds

36. Govt. to introduce Gold Monetization Scheme, Sovereign Gold Bonds

37. EPF & ESI has hostage rather than client ; ESI should be made optional to employees

38. Visa on arrival for 150 countries in phases

39. FMC to be strengthened by merging with SEBI

40. To put in place bankruptcy code soon

41. Employees contribution to EPF should be optional

42. Indian Gold Coin with Ashok Chakra

43. 5 Ultra Mega power projects, of 4000 MW announced

44. Highest ever allocation for MGNREGA, by increasing it this year by 5,000 crore rupees

45. Internationally competitive Direct Tax regime to be put in place

46. Deepening of bond market to complement our world class equity; Public Debt Management agency towards this end

47. Ports in public sector will be encouraged to corporatize & become companies under Companies 
48. Plan an expert committee for Drafting Legislation for Regulatory mechanism

49. NBFCs with size of Rs 500 Cr and above to get parity in recoveries

50. Capex for state PSUs to be Rs 3.17 lakh crore

51. PM agri plans get Rs 3,000 crore extra allocation

52. Initial sum of Rs 150 Cr to create world class IT hub to take advantage of our competitiveness

53. Expert committee to examine need for multiple prior clearances for projects

54. PPP model has to be revised and revitalized

55. Rs 30,000 crore allocation for SC welfare schemes

56. Lending priority to be given to SC, ST in Mudra bank

57. Outlay upped by 24,000 Cr for rail, road

58. Capex for state PSUs to be Rs 3.17 lakh crore

59. Atal Innovation Mission to foster culture of research among India's and global brain

60. Investment in Infrastructure to go up by 70,000 crores in 2015-16 over 2014-15

61. Tax free Infrastructure bonds for projects in railways and roads

62. PM Surakhsha Bima Yojna to increase the access to insurance ; it will be linked with Jan Dhan 

63. Atal Pension Yojna to provide defined pension according to contribution

64. Divestment in loss making units

65. New scheme called Nayi Manzil to enable minority youth without school-leaving certificates to get the employment

66. Exhibition of Parsi culture

Here are the highlights of the Rail Budget 2015


67. Senior citizens welfare fund to subsidise the premium for elderly people

68. MUDRA bank to refinance micro finance institution under PMs MUDRA scheme

69. To utilize vast postal network for increasing access to institutional banking

70. To launch PM Surakhsha Bhīma Yojna, offering coverage of 2 lakh rupees for just premium of Rs 12 (Rs 1 per month)

71. Universal Social Security for all Indians

72. New scheme physical aid and assited

73. GST to be in place by April 01. 2016

74. Senior citizens welfare fund to subsidise the premium for elderly people

75. Proposes a Mudra Bank of corpus of 20000 crores to refinance the MFIs

76. To bring a Comprehensive Bankruptcy code for the ease of doing business by 2015-16

77. Committed to increase the access of people to formal financial system

78. Committed to bring a Universal social security system for all

79. Manufacturing Hub through Make in India program

80. Forex reserves at $340 billion

81. We need a well-targeted system of subsidies rather than to cut subsidies

82. Micro irrigation to get Rs 5300 crore

83. Electrification of villages by 2020

84. To continue with MNREGA

85. Agri credit target in 2015-16 increased to 8.5 lakh crore

86. National agri market to increase income of farmers



87. Well-targeted system of Subsidy delivery, cutting down of leakage

88. Need well targeted system to rationalise subsidies

89. LPG direct transfer subsidy to be expanded

90. Rural Infrastructure Development Fund to be at Rs 25000 Cr

91. Road map to achieve Fiscal Deficit of 3% of GDP in three years

92. Target of 3.9% in Fiscal Deficit 2015-16

93. Target of 3.5% in Fiscal Deficit 2016-17

94. Target of 3% in Fiscal Deficit 2017-18

95. Will finish the journey to 3% fiscal deficit in two years

96. Tax buoyancy is lower but still we will meet the promise of Fiscal deficit of 4.1% of GDP this 

97. Latest CPI 5.1% WPI negative

98. States to get 62% of the total resources

99. Rural and urban divide to be removed

100. A roof for each family in India by 2022- 75th Year of India's Independence

Here are the highlights of the Rail Budget 2015


Sector-wise Highlights of Union Budget 2015

Taxation

1. Abolition of Wealth Tax.

2. Additional 2% surcharge for the super-rich with income of over Rs. 1 crore.

3. Rate of corporate tax to be reduced to 25% over next four years.

4. Total exemption of up to Rs. 4,44,200 can be achieved.

5. 100% exemption for contribution to Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR.

6. Service tax increased to14 per cent.

Agriculture


1. Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.

2. Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.

3. Farmer’s credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore.

Infrastructure


1. Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.

2. Tax-free bonds for projects in rail road and irrigation

3. PPP model for infrastructure development to be revitalised and govt. to bear majority of the 



4. Rs. 150 crore allocated for Research & Development

5. NITI to be established and involvement of entrepreneurs, researchers to foster scientific innovations.

6. Govt. proposes to set up 5 ultra-mega power projects, each of 4000MW.

Education


1. AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.

2. IIT in Karnataka; Indian Institute of Mines in Dhanabad to be upgraded to IIT.

3. PG institute of Horticulture in Amritsar.

4. Kerala to have University of Disability Studies

5. Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.

6. IIM for Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.

Defence


1. Rs. 2,46,726 crore for Defence.

2. Focus on Make in India for quick manufacturing of Defence equipment.

Here are the highlights of the Rail Budget 2015

Welfare Schemes


1. 50,000 toilets constructed under Swachh Bahrat Abhiyan.

2. Two other programmes to be introduced- GST & JAM Trinity. GST will be implemented by April 2016.

3. MUDRA bank will refinance micro finance orgs. To encourage first generation SC/ST entrepreneurs.

4. Housing for all by 2020.

5. Upgradation 80,000 secondary schools.

6. DBT will be further be expanded from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.

7. For the Atal Pension Yojna, govt. will contribute 50% of the premium limited to Rs. 1000 a 

8. New scheme for physical aids and assisted living devices for people aged over 80.

9. Govt. to use Rs. 9000 crore unclaimed funds in PPF/EPF for Senior Citizens Fund.

10. Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA.

11. Govt. to create universal social security system for all Indians.

Renewable Energy


1. Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.

2. Renewable energy target for 2022: 100K MW in solar; 60K MW in wind; 10K MW in biomass and 5K MW in small hydro

Tourism


1. Development schemes for churches and convents in old Goa; Hampi, Elephanta caves, Forests of Rajasthan, Leh palace, Varanasi, Jallianwala Bagh, Qutb Shahi tombs at Hyderabad to be under the newtoursim scheme.

2. Visa on Arrival for 150 countries


Economic Survey 2014-15 Highlights

Economic Survey 2014-15 Highlights


Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today (27th February 2015) tabled the Economic Survey 2014-2015 in Lok Sabha, which outlines the broad direction of the Budget and the economic performance of the country. This survey, prepared by the finance ministry's chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, forecasts Indian economy is likely to grow above 8 percent in 2015-16. The Survey furt her said that economic growth for the financial year 2015-16 is likely to remain between 8.1 and 8.5 percent.

Economic Survey 2014-15 Highlights


Fiscal Deficit


 India must meet its medium-term fiscal deficit target of 3 per cent of GDP

 Government will adhere to fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2014/15

 Govt. should ensure expenditure control to reduce fiscal deficit

Growth


 2015/16 GDP growth seen at over 8 pct y/y

 Double digit economic growth trajectory now a possibility

 Economic growth at market prices seen between 8.1 - 8.5 per cent in 2015/16 on basis on new GDP calculation formula

Current Account Deficit


 Estimated to fall 1 pct of GDP in coming fiscal year

Inflation


 Inflation shows declining trend in 2014/15

 Inflation likely to be below central bank target by 0.5 - 1 per centage point

 Lower inflation opens up space for more monetary policy easing

 Govt and central bank need to conclude monetary framework pact to consolidate gains in inflation control

 CPI inflation in 2015/16 is likely to range between 5 - 5.5 per cent

Reforms


 There is scope for big bang reforms now.

 India can increase public investments and still hit its borrowing targets.

Fiscal Consolidation


 Govt. remains committed to fiscal consolidation.

 India can balance short-term imperative of boosting public investment to revitalize growth with fiscal discipline.

 Outlook for external financing is correspondingly favourable.

Subsidies


 Overhauling of subsidy regime would pave the way for expenditure rationalization

IT & ITeS Sector


 IT and ITeS sector including Business Process Management (BPM), continues to be one of the largest employers in the country

 Software products and services revenues for 2015-16 is projected to grow at 12-14 per cent.

 Government's "Make in India" mission has included IT and BPM among the 25 focus sectors

Tourism


 Increase in growth on both foreign tourist arrivals at 7.1 per cent and foreign exchange earnings at 6.6 per cent in the year 2014.

 Easing of the Indian tourism visa regime through the expansion of Tourist Visa on Arrival enabled by Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) will give a fillip to foreign tourist arrivals in the country.

Trade & Repair Services Sector


 Migration from traditional stores to modern retail continues, though the latter still accounts for only 8 per cent of the total market.

E-commerce Market


 Government proposes to include sufficient provisions for consumer safeguards in the ongoing amendments to the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Media & Entertainment Industry


 With 100 per cent FDI permitted in the Film Sector, India is emerging as the new favourite of international studios.

Thursday 26 February 2015

Here are the highlights of the Rail Budget 2015

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has presented the Narendra Modi-led BJP government's first full year Rail Budget on 26th February 2015. The Key Themes of the Budget were in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiatives - Swachch Bharat Mission, Make in India and Digital India.

Here are the highlights of the Rail Budget 2015

1. There is no increase in passenger rail fares.
2. No new trains announced.
3. Plan Outlay proposed Rs. 1,00,011 crore, increased by 52%
4. Allocation for passenger amenities up by 67%
5. Rs.8.5 lakh crore will be invested in Railways in next 5 years.
6. 'Operation 5 mins', wherein passengers travelling unreserved can purchase a ticket in 5 minutes.
7. Bio toilets and airplane-type vacuum toilets in trains.
8. Rs 1,000 Nirbhaya Fund, which was lying idle so far, will finally board a train to provide women's safety
9. Surveillance cameras in select coaches and ladies compartments for women's safety without compromising on privacy.
10. Rail tickets can now be booked 120 days in advance.
11. The speed of nine railway corridors will be increased to 160 and 200 kmph
12. 200 more stations to come under Adarsh Station scheme
13. In 400 stations Wi-Fi facility will be provided
14. Facility of online booking of wheelchair for senior citizens.
15. Satellite railway terminals in major cities.
16. Centrally managed Rail Display Network is expected to be introduced in over 2K stations over the next 2 years.
17. All India 24/7 helpline - 138 from March 2015; Toll free No.182 for security.
18. 917 road under-bridges and over-bridges to be constructed to replace 3,438 railway crossings; at a cost of Rs. 6,581 crore.
19. Four Railway Research Centres to start in four universities.
20. A mobile application to address complaints of people is also being developed
21. SMS alert services for passengers to inform them about arrival and departure of trains
22. The facility of e-ticketing to go paper less
23. 24 to 26 coaches in certain identified trains, more general class coaches, ladders to be replaced
24. Introduction of integrated ticketing will be done, a Defence travel system has been developed
to make travel easier
25. Satellite railway terminals in 10 major cities
26. Railways to become prime mover of Indian Economy, Five years action plan proposed
27. Thrust on measurable and sustainable improvement in passenger experience and to make Rail a safer means of travel
28. More General class coaches will be added in identified trains.
29. Train Protection Warning System and Train Collision Avoidance System to be installed on select routes
30. Investment 84% higher, 77 new projects covering 9,400 km of doubling/tripling/quadrupling works proposed
31. Cleanliness in Railways highest priority under Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat
32. A new department for keeping stations and trains clean under Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat Abhiyan



Tuesday 3 February 2015

GK Power Capsule – November 2014

  GK Power Capsule – November 2014



Dear Aspirants,
Most important current affairs news from the month of November 2014. So please read this GK Power Capsule carefully & prepare well to score good in upcoming exams.

  1. 9th G-20 Summit of major economies was held in Brisbane, Australia. The summit focused on promoting economic growth and set the target of boosting global growth by 2 percent in five years. The next summit will be hosted by Turkey in Antalya on 10 November 2015.
  2. 18th SAARC summit was held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
  3. 12th ASEAN-India Summit was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The summit was held on the sidelines of 25th ASEAN Summit. The Next ASEAN-India Summit will be held in Cambodia in 2015.
  4. 9th East Asia Summit was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The summit was held on the sidelines of the 25th ASEAN Summit.
  5. 83rd Interpol General Assembly was held at Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
  6. 25th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. Myanmar chaired the ASEAN summit for the first time.
  7. The International Buddhist Conference 2014 was held in Lumbini, Nepal.
  8. 7th Summit on the Global Agenda was held in UAE. The Summit on the Global Agenda for the year 2014 was organized by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Government of the United Arab Emirates and Government of Dubai.
  9. 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit was held in Beijing, China. The summit was held under the theme of Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership. The next APEC Summit will be held in Philippines in 2015.
  10. The World Economic Forum in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry hosted the India Economic Summit in New Delhi.
  11. 6th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) was held in New Delhi.
  12. India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) was held in New Delhi. The next session of the IRIGC-TEC will be held in Moscow in 2015.
  13. International Counter-Piracy Conference was held in Dubai.
  14. New Ministers –
  15. 1 Manohar Parrikar Defence Ministry
  16. 2 Suresh Prabhu Railways Ministry
  17. 3 Jagat Prakash Nadda Health Ministry
  18. 4 Ch. Birender Singh Rural Development
  19. 5 Bandaru Dattatreya Labour
  20. 6 Rajiv Pratap Rudy Skill Development
  21. 7 Dr. Mahesh Sharma Tourism
  22. Prasar Bharti announced to re-launch DD National with new tagline Doordarshan National – Desh Ka Apna Channel.
  23. Mithra Shakthi exercise: three week mock war drill between Special Forces of Indian and Sri Lankan Army.
  24. A Torpedo Recovery Vessel, TRV-72 of Indian Navy sank off the Visakhapatnam coast during a naval exercise.
  25. Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography “Playing It My Way” was released.
  26. Sutirtha Bhattacharya will be the new Chairman and Managing Director of Coal India Limited.
  27. Actor Farhan Akhtar was appointed as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia.
  28. Former Indian Police Service Officer K C Reddy was appointed as the member of United Nations probe panel on Gaza.
  29. Government appointed GS Sandhu as Chairman of National Chemical Weapon Convention.
  30. Anita Kapur (IRS) was appointed as the new chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
  31. The Italian physicist Fabiola Gianotti was appointed as first woman chief of CERN particle physics research centre.
  32. Rajiv Mehrishi took charge as Union Finance Secretary under the Union Ministry of Finance.
  33. Former Indian cricket captain Dilip Vengsarkar received the prestigious BCCI-instituted Colonel C K Nayudu Lifetime achievement award.
  34. Tamil superstar Rajinikanth was honoured with the centenary award for Indian Film Personality of the year 2014 at the 45th International Film Festival of India.
  35. Chintan, a non-government organisation was conferred the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award, 2014.
  36. Steel Authority of India Chairman CS Verma was conferred with the IIM- JRD Tata Award for Excellence in Corporate leadership in Metallurgical Industries for the year 2014.
  37. Veteran classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj was conferred with the Sumitra Charat Ram Award 2014 for Lifetime Achievement.
  38. Neha Gupta was awarded with the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize 2014.
  39. Radio Kashmir Jammu won prestigious Gandhian Philosophy and Public Service Broadcasting award 2014 for its programme Jeevan Rekha.
  40. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the 49th Jnanpith Award on eminent Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh.
  41. The Darjeeling Zoo or the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park was selected for the prestigious International Award the Earth Heroes Award 2014.
  42. The Hockey India chief Narinder Batra was awarded the prestigious President’s Award by the International Hockey Federation at Morocco.
  43. Former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh received the Japan’s top national award The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers 2014.
  44. The US President Barack Obama will be the Chief Guest at 66th India’s Republic Day celebrations 2015. He will be the first US President to attend the Republic Day Parade of India.
  45. Neel Mukherjee was in news because his book Lives of Others was shortlisted for Costa Book Awards.
  46. Union Government nominated Dr. Hasmukh Adhia as a Director on the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India.
  47. US Navy SEAL commando Robert O’Neill who shot Osama bin Laden at his Pakistan hideout in Abbottabad on 2 May 2011 revealed his identity.
  48. Indian-American Nikki Haley won second term as South Carolina Governor.
  49. Mallikarjun Kharge, a leader of Congress in Lok Sabha was inducted into the three-member Chief Information Commissioner Selection committee.
  50. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited to Fiji. He is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Pacific countries after Indira Gandhi who visited in 1981.
  51. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Australia as part of G-20 summit and bilateral summit with Australia. He became the first Indian Prime Minister to address the Australian Parliament.
  52. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited Israel to discuss bilateral issues including strengthening security ties and fight against terror.
  53. President Pranab Mukherjee visited Bhutan. During his visit, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Nalanda University.
  54. Oscar award winner Mike Nichols died.
  55. Legendary Kathak danseuse Sitara Devi died.
  56. Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Murli Deora died after a prolonged illness.
  57. Mathematician Alexander Grothendieck died in France.
  58. Baiji in Iraq was in news because Iraqi authorities claimed that Government forces have recaptured the strategic northern town of Baiji from Islamic State for Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
  59. Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted Jayapur village in Varanasi under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
  60. Anbar in Iraq was in news because of massacre of 322 people of Iraqi Al-Bu Nimr tribe by ISIS militant group.
  61. Child Rights and You (CRY) launched Project Unlearn with an aim to end child labour and encourage children to go to school on 14 November 2014 on eve of Children’s Day.
  62. Mumbai recorded 16.4 million internet users surpassing Delhi and Kolkata. Delhi recorded 12.15 million internet users and Kolkata recorded 6.27 million internet users.
  63. Akash surface-to-air missile was test fired by the Indian Air Force from Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore, Odisha. The missile is a medium range surface-to-air anti-aircraft defence system with a strike range of 25 km.
  64. 4th India-China Joint Training Exercise Hand-in- Hand 2014 began at Aundh Military Station in Pune, Maharashtra.
  65. Surface-to-surface nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile was test-fired from a naval ship off the Odisha coast with strike range of 350 kilometer.
  66. Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile was test fired at Chandipur, Odisha. Prithvi-II was developed indigenously which is nuclear capable and has a strike range of 350 km.
  67. India test fired nuclear-capable Agni-II strategic ballistic missile with a range of 2000 Km. It was conducted from Wheeler Island, Odisha.
  68. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated India International Trade Fair 2014 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Partner country of the trade fair is South Africa. Focus Country of the fair is Thailand while the focus state is Delhi.
  69. Deepak Gupta was appointed as chairman of Union Public Service Commission.
  70. Securities Exchange Board of India on announced to de-recognise Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) on the allegations of serious irregularities in its functioning.
  71. Railways, one of the biggest consumers of energy, is moving towards harnessing green power with a 26 MW windmill proposed to be built in Rajasthan.
  72. Klaus Iohannis won Romanian Presidential elections.
  73. Kerala and Goa have become first states in the country with every household having at least one bank account. In addition, Goa, Chandigarh, Puducherry and Lakshadweep and three districts of Gujarat- Porbandar, Mehasana, Gandhi Nagar, have also covered all households under PMJDY with at least one bank account.
  74. Ratan Tata has been appointed to the board of Interpol Foundation.
  75. Union Home Minister and Lucknow MP Rajnath Singh has adopted Beti village in the district under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojna.
  76. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared the decks for the Indian army’s proposal for 814 155mm/52 caliber mounted guns systems (MGS), at a cost of R15,750 crore ($2.55 billion).
  77. Additional Director R K Dutta will now head the CBI probe in the 2G spectrum scam after the Supreme Court directed the agency Chief Ranjit Sinha to recuse from the investigation.
  78. The work on the much-talked about Turkmenistan– Afghanistan–Pakistan–India pipeline (TAPI) would start in 2015. The steering committee meeting for the cross country pipeline was held at Ashgabat in Turkmenistan.
  79. Switzerland agreed to join the global framework that allows automatic exchange of tax information.
  80. Government re-launched Kisan Vikas Patra. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the KVP would help poor, gullible investors to channelize their savings towards a trusted government scheme instead of some Ponzi schemes. KVP would be a bearer instrument without name of the holder. KVP will be available in the denomination of R1,000, R5,000, R10,000 and R50,000. It has no upper ceiling for investment and can be encashed after a lock-in period of 30 months. Amount invested in KVP would be doubled in 100 months. The KVP certificates will be sold through post offices initially, but they will later on be made available to the investing public through designated branches of nationalised banks. However, there won’t be any tax benefit for investment in KVP.
  81. The G20 leaders committed to put in place a mechanism for automatic exchange of tax information between member countries by 2017.
  82. Indian Railways has identified toilets as one of the 17 special areas where 100 per cent FDI can bring about major investments. Earlier, the government had relaxed the FDI norms permitting 100 per cent investment in rail projects, such as high-speed trains, suburban service, dedicated freight corridors, freight and passenger terminals.
  83. Government fixed the subsidy for domestic LPG at Rs 40 per kg (or Rs 568 per cylinder of 14.2 kg) to be shared between government and public sector oil companies.
  84. Asia Pacific countries agreed to cooperate on the extradition of corrupt officials, enhance asset recovery efforts and establish an anti-corruption transparency network to share intelligence on graft. The network, called the APEC Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies (ACT-NET), is the first such network that members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group had worked to set up.
  85. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government is planning to bring down its stake in public sector banks to 52 per cent so as to meet Rs 3 lakh crore capital requirement.
  86. Arundhati Bhattacharya, the Chairperson of country’s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI), has been named as the most-powerful woman in business in India by Fortune Magazine. ICICI Bank’s Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank follow Bhattacharya at the second and the third place respectively.
  87. Prime Minister Narendra Modi re-constituted a high-level climate panel and dropped well known environmentalist Sunita Narain and top industry leader Ratan Tata from the council. TERI chairperson R K Pachauri, economist Nitin Desai and retired diplomat Chandrasekhar Das gupta were retained by Modi as nongovernment members.
  88. Japanese company Soft Bank, kick-starting its plans to put in about $10 billion in India announced investments in home-grown market place Snapdeal and popular mobile app for cab bookings Ola.
  89. Modi announced the operationalisation of the $100 million line of credit for Vietnam’s defence purchases.
  90. Union Tribal Welfare Minister Jual Oram launched the Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana (VKY), aimed at improving the infrastructure and human development indices of the tribal population.
  91. BSE is planning to make a foray into commodity exchange business, now dominated by Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and NCDEX.
  92. The governments of India and Russia have agreed that BrahMos missile will be exported to a list of mutually agreeable countries for defensive purposes.
  93. Union government submitted, in a sealed cover, a list of 627 Indians holding black money abroad in Supreme Court.
  94. Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Mozambique for cooperation in the field of oil and gas.
  95. The Reserve Bank of India has raised the limit for urban co-operative banks (UCBs) to sanction loan against gold collateral to Rs.2 lakh from Rs.1 lakh at present.
  96. Education Ministers and officials of eight SAARC countries have resolved to collaborate on increased use of information technology and improving the quality of education.
  97. Under pressure from India over the safety of United Nations Peacekeeping forces, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has set up a 14-member panel, including an Indian to review peacekeeping operations worldwide. The panel is headed by Jose Ramos-Horta.
  98. Vijay Laxman Kelkar has been appointed as Chairperson of the Finance Ministry’s think tank National Institute of Public Finance & Policy (NIPFP). He replaces the former Reserve Bank Governor C. Rangarajan.
  99. For the first time India and Russia have agreed on negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India & the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan & Russia.
  100. India will extend Visa on arrival facility to Russian businessmen at 18 airports in the country.
  101. The two-day conference on Asian elephants concluded in Guwahati with a resolve to establish a regional think tank with nodal officers from Indian, Bhutan and Myanmar.
  102. BJP legislator, Laxmikant Parsekar, was sworn in as the eleventh Chief Minister of Goa.
  103. Chinese President Xi Jinping on announced $40- billion fund to build mega Silk Road projects criss-crossing Asia.
  104. Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar has taken over as the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
  105. Gujarat has become the first State to make voting compulsory in local bodies.
  106. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a new Aadhaar-based digital life certificate for pensioners ‘Jeevan Pramaan’ that will allow self-certification and benefit over a crore pensioners in the country.
  107. The members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members have agreed to initiate the formation of a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific — a vision steered by China, which competes with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) initiative of the United States.
  108. India’s second mission to Mars could be launched between 2018 and 2020.
  109. E. Sreedharan has been appointed as one man committee by the Ministry of Railways to suggest a “proper system and procedure to ensure proper accountability and transparency” at the level of General Manager and other functionaries for taking all commercial decisions.
  110. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) cleared the long-pending proposal of HDFC Bank to hike foreign holding in the bank to 74 per cent.
  111. Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan was shortlisted for candidates for BRICS’ New Development Bank president.
  112. Mr. Modi said the PIO (Persons of Indian Origin) and OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) status would be merged ahead of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas to be held from January 7 in Ahmedabad.
  113. Japan’s economy unexpectedly slid into recession as housing and business investment declined following a sales tax hike, further clouding the outlook for the global economy.
  114. Twelve years after it was constituted, the Nanavati Commission of Enquiry probing the 2002 post-Godhra riots submitted its final report to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
  115. Forty years of pioneering work culminating in the successful launch of India’s first Mars orbiter this September has won the Indian Space Research Organisation the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014.
  116. India’s Pacific Ocean outreach gained traction with the announcement of a slew of lines of credit and development assistance totaling $ 80 million for Fiji and a visa-on-arrival for all the 14 island countries in the region during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.
  117. SEBI revamped the ‘Prohibition of Insider Trading’ regulations with more stringent measures, aligning its norms with international practices.
  118. INS Vikrant — the county’s first aircraft carrier — has finally faded away into history. The Centre said it was difficult to maintain the vessel. In March, the Indian Navy sold Vikrant to a Mumbai-based ship breaking company for Rs. 63 crore.
  119. The former Supreme Court judge Chandramauli Kumar Prasad has been selected to be the next Chairman of the Press Council of India.
  120. ING Vysya Bank decided to merge with Kotak Mahindra Bank, creating the fourth largest private sector bank in the country.
  121. India’s Mars mission Mangalyaan, developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has been listed among the 25 best innovations of 2014 by the Time magazine. “Nobody gets Mars right on the first try. The U.S. didn’t, Russia didn’t, the Europeans didn’t. But on September 24, India did,” the magazine said.


GK Power Capsule - October 2014

GK Power Capsule - October 2014


Most important current affairs news from the month of October 2014. So please read this GK Power Capsule carefully & prepare well to score good in upcoming exams:-
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  1. First-time legislator from BJP Manohar Lal Khattar, 61, is the 21st Chief Minister of Haryana.
  2. Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) candidate Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He is the first BJP candidate to become CM of Maharashtra.
  3. Rajiv Mehrishi took charge as Union Finance Secretary. He succeeded Arvind Mayaram.
  4. Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar was elected Vice-President of Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union in Macau.
  5. Surya Prakash was appointed as the Chairman of Prasar Bharti Board for a term of 3 years.
  6. The former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh was designated as the head of Future Earth Engagement Committee, a global research platform panel on sustainable development.
  7. Union Government appointed US-based economist Arvind Subramanian as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the Union Finance Ministry for three years.
  8. Vice President of Zambia Guy Scott was appointed as acting President by the Zambia government.
  9. Khaled Bahah was appointed as Prime Minister of Yemen.
  10. Aamir Khan was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in South Asia. Aamir Khan will focus on supporting child nutrition to end stunting across the region.
  11. Justice H L Dattu was sworn-in as the 42nd Chief Justice of India.
  12. Kalpana Morparia was appointed as first woman director of Hindustan Unilever Limited.
  13. Union Ministry of Civil Aviation approved the appointment of Cramer Ball as Chief Executive Officer of Jet Airways.
  14. President Pranab Mukherjee authorised Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as chief of Central Vigilance Commission until the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
  15. Continuing the effort to fight “persisting inflation” and inflationary pressures, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan maintained the policy rates at the current levels in 4th Monetary Policy. The RBI also retained the growth projection for the current fiscal at 5.5 per cent.
  16. Repo Rate 8% (Unchanged)
  17. Rev. Repo 7% (Unchanged)
  18. CRR 4% (Unchanged)
  19. SLR 22% (Unchanged)
  20. MSF 9% (Unchanged)
  21. Bank Rate 9% (Unchanged)
  22. Nobel Price 2014 Winners – The Nobel Prize for is granted by the Swedish Academy.
  23. (i) Chemistry - Eric Betzig, Stefan W Hell and William E. Moerner was awarded for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.
  24. (ii) Physics - Three Japanese-born researchers Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura was awarded for inventing efficient blue Light- Emitting Diodes (LED) lamps that worked as a bright and energy-saving white light source.
  25. (iii) Physiology or Medicine – John O´Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser was awarded for their discoveries of cells that constitute a GPS in the brain.
  26. (iv) Economics - French economist Jean Tirole was awarded for his analysis of market power and regulation.
  27. (v) Literature - French author Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize for literature.
  28. (vi) Peace - Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi was awarded the Nobel peace Prize for year 2014.
  29. Manjul Bhargava won the Fields Medal awards for the year2014. The Fields Medal is also known as the Nobel Prize of Mathematics.
  30. Kailash Satyarthi is an Indian children’s rights activist born in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh. His organization Bachpan Bachao Andolan has been active in the movement against child labour.
  31. Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani school student, education activist who is known for her activism for right to education for women.
  32. Malala Yousafzai won the 2014 World’s Children Prize after a global vote involving millions of children.
  33. Malala Yousafzai was conferred with the 2014 Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia.
  34. Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege Mukengere won the prestigious Sakharov human rights prize 2014.
  35. Australian author Richard Flanagan won Man Booker Prize for his wartime novel The Narrow
  36. Road to the Deep North. This was the first year that the Man Booker prize was open to all authors writing in English, regardless of nationality.
  37. All India National Unity Council honoured poet diplomat Abhay K with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award.
  38. Noted lyricist Sameer was honoured with the National Kishore Kumar Award for 2012-13.
  39. The UK government announced the inaugural Dadabhai Naoroji Awards to honour individuals who have worked to strengthen the UK-India relationship over the years.
  40. Dr. Raghuram Rajan, Governor of Reserve Bank of India was conferred with Euro money’s Central Bank Governor of the Year Award 2014 in Washington.
  41. Indian-origin Singaporean poet and writer KTM Iqbal was named for the 2014 Cultural Medallion, the highest cultural award of Singapore.
  42. An eminent Indian scientist Dr Sanjaya Rajaram received the World Food Prize 2014 for his scientific research that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production.
  43. Saiyid Hamid was conferred with Sir Ross Masood Lifetime Achievement Award 2014 for Excellence in Leadership, Education, community & Public Service.
  44. The President of India Pranab Mukherjee presented the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award 2014 to Dr Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai.
  45. Former New York Mayor and philanthropist billionaire Michael Rubens Bloomberg was granted an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in Britain.
  46. Anoop Jain won 2014 Waislitz Global Citizen Award.
  47. Shah Rukh Khan received Global Diversity Award 2014 at the Britain’s House of Commons.
  48. Google CEO Larry Page appointed Sundar Pichai as new Product Chief of Google.
  49. Alan Eustace, a senior Google vice-president broke the world altitude record for highest free-fall parachute jump from an altitude of 135908-feet. Eustace broke the world altitude record of parachute jump set by Austrian Felix Baumgartner.
  50. Five year old Indian boy Harshit Saumitra became the youngest person to reach the Everest Base Camp.
  51. Sadiq, a 10-year old terminally ill boy became Hyderabad Police Commissioner for a day.
  52. J Jayalalithaa, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu was found guilty in the disproportionate assets case by the Special Court in Bangalore. The Court pronounced a jail term of 4 years and fined 100 crore rupees to her in 18-year-old 66.65 crore rupees disproportionate assets case.
  53. Warren M Anderson, the former Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation who was blamed for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy died.
  54. South Africa’s football captain and goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa died after being shot.
  55. Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria was declared officially Ebola free.
  56. President Pranab Mukherjee became the first Indian head of state to visit Norway and first president to cross the Arctic Circle.
  57. ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan announced that the Indian space agency will launch GSLV Mark- III within next 45 days.
  58. India became the world’s fourth largest steel producer by delivering 62.41 Million Tonnes
  59. (MT) output from January 2014 to September 2014. India was preceded by China, Japan and the United States.
  60. 4th International Counter-Piracy Conference was held in Dubai. Theme of the Conference was Securing State Recovery: Sustaining Momentum at Sea, Confronting Instability Land.
  61. President Pranab Mukherjee released a commemorative postage stamp on Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Anagarika Dharmapala.
  62. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa flagged off Yal Devi Express from Palai after 25 years. The train will be extended to Jaffna. The India Railway Construction International has now completed the restoration of the railway lines from Palai to Jaffna.
  63. Tropical Storm Trudy struck Mexico.
  64. Hudhud is a cyclone which struck Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Hudhud name derives from the Hoopoe bird, a colorful bird found across Afro-Eurasia suggested by Oman.
  65. The Antares, an unmanned cargo rocket carrying supplies to the International Space Station exploded just seconds after the launch.
  66. The novel Half Girlfriend authored by Chetan Bhagat was released.
  67. Biography of Allama Muhammad Iqbal titled Iqbal: The Life of a Poet, Philosopher and Politician was released. The biography is written by Zafar Anjum, the editor of book.
  68. The book on Rajesh Khanna Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna was released. The book was written by Gautam Chintamani.
  69. A book titled Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar authored by writer-journalist Dilip D’Souza was released on 15 October 2014. The book has been published by Random House India and books forward has been written by Harsha Bhogle.
  70. The Vice President of India M Hamid Ansari released a book entitled Untold Story of the Indian Public Sector authored by Dr UD Choubey, the Director General of SCOPE (Standing Conference of Public Enterprises).
  71. A book titled A Man and A Motorcycle, How Hamid Karzai Came to Power written by Bette Dam was launched.
  72. Actor Naseeruddin Shah released his autobiography And then One Day: A Memoir.
  73. Rashtriya Ekta Diwas was observed to commemorate the 139th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The decision to observe 31 October as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Integration Day was taken by the Union Government.
  74. Union Government constituted Vishwanathan committee to provide Bankruptcy code for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
  75. NR Madhava Menon committee submitted its report. The committee was appointed by Supreme Court to frame guidelines to regulate expenditure and contents of advertisements paid out of tax payers’ money.
  76. Finance minister Arun Jaitley blamed high income tax refunds for the high fiscal deficit of the Centre that touched 83 per cent of the full year target in just six months.
  77. K V Chowdary was appointed by the Government as an Advisor to the Special Investigation Team that is probing black money cases. The SIT is headed by retired Supreme Court Judge M B Shah with Vice-Chairman Justice (retd) Arijit Pasayat.
  78. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said economic growth this fiscal could be in the range of 5.5% to 5.9%.
  79. Indian government has issued a set of austerity measures, including bans on first class air travel and hosting conferences in five star hotels, and a bar on reviving posts that have been vacant for more than a year, with the stated objective of cutting down non-plan spend by up to 10 per cent.
  80. Indian government relaxed rules for FDI in the construction sector by reducing minimum built-up area as well as capital requirement and easing the exit norms. Cabinet decided to reduce the minimum floor area to 20,000 sq mt from the earlier 50,000 sq mt. It also brought down the minimum capital requirement to USD 5 million from USD 10 million.
  81. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs raised the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat, the most important winter crop, by just 3.6%, or Rs. 50, to Rs.1450 per quintal.
  82. India ranked a dismal 142 among the 189 countries surveyed for the latest (2015) World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” report, down two places from its position last year. Singapore retained the top slot for the ninth year in a row.
  83. High leverage in the Indian corporate sector could prevent any meaningful recovery in asset quality at lenders over the next 12-18 months, Moody’s Investors Service said, maintaining its “negative” outlook on the country’s banking sector.
  84. The Centre placed list of around 627 names of Indians having accounts in foreign banks before Supreme Court in the black money case. The court left it on the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to carry out necessary investigation. A bench led by Chief Justice H L Dattu asked the SIT to verify the list given by the government and submit a status report by end of November.
  85. A US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) team would arrive next month to carry out a fresh audit of India’s aviation safety mechanism, which was downgraded almost a year ago.
  86. India has performed poorly in removing gender based disparities, ranking 114 out of 142 countries in World Economic Forum’s 2014 gender gap index.
  87. Telecom giant Softbank has pledged an investment of $10 billion (over Rs 60,000 crore) in India’s IT and communications space.
  88. Narendra Modi led government named three — Pradip Burman, formerly of Dabur group, Goa based mining firm Timblo Pvt Ltd and its five directors and Rajkot-based bullion trader Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhiya — against whom prosecution has been launched.
  89. A significant oil discovery has been made near Ahmedabad in the Cambay basin that may be the biggest on land find this year.
  90. In a complete U-turn from its earlier stand, the Home Ministry has come out in full support of the Aadhaar scheme saying it will facilitate “anytime, anywhere, anyhow” authentication to its beneficiaries.
  91. Clocking the slowest compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 6.9% in terms of gross  state domestic product (GSDP), Uttar Pradesh is the lowest among the traditional BIMARU states (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and UP) in this regard during the past nine years, that is, during 2004-05 and 2012-13, according to an Assocham study. “Bihar has ranked on top among the BIMARU states registering highest growth rate of 9.3% in GSDP during the aforesaid nine year period followed by Madhya Pradesh (8.8%) and Rajasthan (8.2%) even as India’s overall gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 8% during 2004-05 and 2012-13,” said a study titled ‘Analysis of BIMARU states’, conducted by Assocham.
  92. India has opted to buy Israel’s Spike anti-tank guided missile. India will buy at least 8,000 Spike missiles and more than 300 launchers in a deal worth 32 billion rupees ($525 million).
  93. The Narendra Modi led government is aiming to improve India’s ranking in ease of doing business index to 50th position in the next two years from the current 134th.
  94. Unfazed by China’s objections to development of border areas, Government announced setting up of 54 new border outposts and Rs 175 crore package for beefing up the infrastructure along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.
  95. The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to develop Allahabad as an integrated industrial township, on the lines of Noida and Greater Noida.
  96. Indian government has decided to create a fund starting with Rs 930 Cr to help Indian industry acquire cutting-edge technology in the capital goods sector and finance new production units of capital-intensive heavy equipment.
  97. The number of hungry people has declined in India with its score on the Global Hunger Index improving to 55th position in 2014 due to progress made in addressing underweight in children, says a report.
  98. Prime Minister unveiled half a dozen schemes including a unified web portal where employers can submit a single compliance report for 16 labour laws, a new labour inspection scheme, Unique Account Number facility for EPFO members, a new skill development and apprenticeship scheme and a revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
  99. Airports at Delhi and Mumbai would be developed as ‘seamless hubs’ by the 27-member airline grouping Star Alliance and work on it may start next year itself.
  100. State-owned Air India will get around Rs 3,000 crore more in the later part of this fiscal from the Government towards capital infusion.
  101. Government proposes to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1, 2016.
  102. India is poised to become a USD two trillion economy this year, while its GDP size would cross another milestone of USD three trillion after five years in 2019, according to IMF’s latest world economic outlook. India’s ranking would also improve to seventh largest economy in the world, while measured on “current prices” basis in US dollar, in 2019 from its tenth position currently.
  103. The government deferred the country-wide rollout of the National Food Security Act, 2013, by another six months, to the first week of April 2015, because of states’ inability to create requisite infrastructure and identify beneficiaries. Eleven states and Union Territories – Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and Chandigarh — have so far implemented the Act, some fully and others partially.
  104. The government is expediting the work to replace Wholesale Price Index (WPI), used for capturing price movements to decide on policy measures, with a more effective and comprehensive Producers Price Index (PPI) by the next fiscal.
  105. IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned that the global economy could be sinking into a prolonged period of “mediocre” growth which could endanger efforts to bring down unemployment worldwide.
  106. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to ensure “universal coverage” under Aadhaar by June 2015. The current Aadhaar enrolment is about 68 crore.
  107. Facebook plans to start testing its Internet carrying solar-powered drones in 2015, with the ultimate aim of getting two-thirds of the global population online.
  108. Canada has decided to sign a contract with Antrix, the Indian Space Research Organisation
  109. (ISRO)’s commercial arm, for the launch of its satellite. Canada announced that Antrix would be given the contract for the July 2015 launch of its M3M (Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Micro-Satellite) communications satellite.
  110. Ashraf Ghani’s government will sign a long delayed deal to allow some U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan into next year.
  111. In his maiden visit to India, after taking over as the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, announced that the company would offer commercial cloud services — Azure and Office 365 — in the country from local data centers.
  112. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed Rs.2.83 crore penalty on Super Cassettes Industries, known as ‘T-Series’, for unfair business practices with regard to licensing of Bollywood music to private FM radio stations.
  113. The country will have state-of-the-art virology diagnostic laboratories operational in 120 districts by 2015.
  114. The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has upheld the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s order against Angel Broking in case related to violations of stock broker norms and fraudulent dealings in shares of Sterling Green Woods.
  115. Kerala would become the first State to have high-speed Internet connecting all the panchayats in the State by March next year.
  116. Queen Elizabeth II has honoured campaigning actress Angelina Jolie in a Buckingham Palace ceremony.
  117. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), launched by China, with an authorized capital of $100 billion, is expected to be formally established by the end of 2015. Beijing headquartered has 21 nation members – Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
  118. Lawmakers in France, the world’s most nuclear-dependent country, voted to cut reliance on the energy source from more than 75 per cent to 50 per cent within a decade.
  119. Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a blueprint for the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) on Jayaprakash Narayan’s birth anniversary. The scheme encourages Members of Parliament from both Houses to identify and develop one village from their constituency as a model village by 2016, and two more by 2019, covering over 2,500 villages of the 6 lakh villages country-wide. Under SAGY, Lok Sabha MPs can select any village with a population of 3,000- 5,000 in plains and 1,000-3,000 in hilly areas in their constituencies besides their own village. MPs are expected to facilitate a village development plan, motivate villagers to take up activities and use the Rs.5-crore MPLAD fund.
  120. The Department of Telecom has set a target date of March 31, 2015, to implement the full mobile number portability.
  121. India bans the import of animal-tested cosmetics.
  122. A Supreme Court-appointed committee led by Chief Justice of India (retired) R.M. Lodha on the “catastrophic floods” in Jammu and Kashmir details the failures of the State government.
  123. SEBI imposed a ban on realty major DLF and its top executives from accessing the capital markets for three years, for suppressing information in its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus and for sham transactions.
  124. An inspector Shakti Devi with the Jammu and Kashmir Police has bagged the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014 instituted by the U.N. for her “exceptional achievements” while serving with the U.N. mission in Afghanistan.
  125. The BBC’s website was blocked in China, hours after a video of Hong Kong police beating and kicking a pro-democracy protester began circulating online.
  126. PSLV-C26 lobbed the 1,425 kg Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS-1C) satellite into its precise orbit. Mission was ISRO’s 27th consecutively successful PSLV flight.
  127. India’ first long-range sub-sonic cruise missile, Nirbhay (fearless), was test-fired for a range of over 1,000 km from the Integrated Test Range wheeler Island, Orissa.
  128. The Reserve Bank of India has signed a pact with the Central Bank of Kenya for exchange of information and supervisory cooperation.
  129. India received the most number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group of the U.N. Human Rights Council, winning a second consecutive two-year term at the world body. 162 of 190 countries voted for India. Three other countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh and Qatar were elected.
  130. The Central Government ordered merger of the scam-hit firm NSEL with its holding company Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL).
  131. U.K. engineering group Penspen has been awarded a contract to carry out a technical feasibility study for the proposed 1,820-km pipeline Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan- India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline.
  132. GSAT-16, the next national communications satellite, reached French Guiana this week and is on its way to the space port near Kourou ahead of an early December flight, European launch Service Company Arianespace has said. The 3,150-kg satellite is scheduled to be flown on an Ariane-5 launcher numbered Flight VA221.
  133. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider — a modern-day adaptation of Hamlet — won the People’s Choice Award in the Mondo Genre (world genre) at the ninth edition of the Rome Film Festival.
  134. P. Sainath (for his reporting in The Hindu), Al Jazeera English, USA Today and Global Post were among the winners of the World Media Summit (WMS) Global Awards for Excellence, 2014.