General Knowledge

1. Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s e-BRC project has won the 2013 eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation category. Award was given by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) in Vietnam. About e-BRC Project electronic Bank Realization Certificate (e-BRC) project was launched in June 2012 to electronically transmit foreign exchange realization details on exports from the respective banks to Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

2. India's Gaganjeet Bhullar has won the Indonesian Open Golf Tournament 2013.

3. Australia announced its support for India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the global cartel that controls the sale of nuclear
materials, including fuel and technology to ensure that civilian nuclear exports are not diverted for military purposes.

4. 1 Dec - World Aids Day.

5. 10 Dec - International Human Rights Day.

6. 11 Dec - International Mountain Day.

7. 14 Dec - National Energy Conservation Day.

8. 18 Dec - International Migrants Day.

9. 18-year old Indian-American teenager Saumil Bandyopadhyay won Ingenuity award for His Outstanding Research in Nanotechnology.

10. 2 Dec - International Day for Abolition of Slavery.

11. 20 Dec - International Human Solidarity Day.

12. 23 Dec - Indian Kisan Diwas (Farmer's Day).

13. 29th Junior National Athletics Championships were Organized in Bengalore. Kerala Emerged As the champion state with Tamilnadu at the second Spot.

14. 3 Dec - International Day of Disabled Persons (Differently Abled Persons).

15. 3rd BRICS International Competition Conference was held recently in New Delhi to discuss various issues and challenges in competition enforcement in BRICS countries.

16. 4 Dec - Indian NavyDay.

17. 5 Dec - International Volunteer Day. It has been observed as the same by united Nations since 1985.

18. 7 Dec - International Civil Aviation Day and Indian Armed Forces Flag Day.

19. 8th Asia Gas Partnership summit was held in New Delhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Inaugerated the Dabhol - Bengaluru Gas
Pipeline during This Summit.

20. 9 Dec - International Anti Corruption Day.

21. Birth of Cinema has been written by N Gopal Krishna. It was Inaugerated during 18th ICFFI (International Child Film Festival 0f India) in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

22. Gandhi Before India has been written by Ramachandra Guha.

23. Journalism Ethics and Responsibilities has been written by Seema Mustafa.

24. Mahi : The story of India's Most Successful Captain is the Biography of Indian Cricketer M S Dhoni and Has been written by Shantanu Guha.

25. My Brief History is the autobiography of Renowned Physicist Stephen Hawking.

26. The Light Within has been written by Sipra Das.

27. The Unbreakable is the Autobiography of M C Mary kom.

28. Tiger Fire has been written by Valmiki Thapar.

29. Wind Horse has been written by Kaushik Barua.

30. Legendary Indian Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has been named as UNICEF's First Brand Ambassador for South Asia and will work on Promoting Hygiene and Sanitation in the Region.

31. A Committee under the Chairmanship of N K Sodhi and Created by SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) submitted Its Report regarding Insider Traidng Norms in India and Suggested that Public Servants and Persons Holding Statutory Positions be banned from Trading while They are in Possession of Unpublished Price-Sensitive Information. Insider Trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (bonds, stock options) by Employees of Individuals who have access to Private information about the company. In various countries, insider trading is illegal because it is unfair to other investors who do not have  access to the information and are paying the company for trading on their Behalf.

32. A global report by the World Food Project (WFP) for 2013 on 169 countries has said that India has the largest school feeding programme in the world called Mid Day Meal, catering to over 11.4 Crore children. But it stands 12th among 35 lower-middle-income countries covering 79 per cent of its total number of school-going children

33. A new Draft Constitution has been Created for African Middle East Country Egypt by a 50 Member Panel after Military Ousted occured in the Country Recently.

34. Abdulla Yamneen is appointed as the New President of Maldives.

35. Ajeet Prakash Shah is the New Chief of the 20th Law Commission replacing D K Jain.

36. Aniruddha Chakravarty is the New chief of National Cadet Corps.

37. Anurag Jain is the New Chief of EXIM (Export Import) Bank of India.

38. Arvind Ranjan has been appointed as the Chief of The (Central Industrial Security Force).

39. Australia Gets Presidency of G 20 Summit to be held in 2014 In Brisbane city in Queensland state of Australia.

40. Australia's Jason Day has won the world Cup Golf Cup Tournament held in Melbourne, Australia.

41. Beautician Babli Gambhir has been honored byNational Outstanding Creative Adult Award 2013.

42. Beverages major Coca-Cola appointed Atul Singh as the Group president of Asia Region.

43. Bharatiya Janata Party won in Vidhan Sabha Elections in Chattisgarh. Raman singh to retain as Chief Minister for te Consecutive Third Term.

44. Bharatiya Janata Party won in Vidhan Sabha Elections in Delhi. However, Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party to become Chief Minister of Delhi for the First Time in collaboration with Congress.

45. Bharatiya Janata Party won in Vidhan Sabha Elections in Madhya Pradesh. Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan To remain as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

46. Bharatiya Janata Party won in Vidhan Sabha Elections in Rajasthan. Vasundhara Raje To become Chief Minister of Rajasthan for the second Time.

47. Burmese Human Rights Activist and Revolutionary Politician Aung San Suu Kyi has been honored by International Sakharov Award by European Union.

48. Chine Landed Its Moon Rover Chang'e 3 Carrying the Jade Rabbit Rover (Yutu) Successfully on Moon's Surface which was launched from Rocket Carrier Chang Zheng 3B.

49. Chitra Magimairaj won Bronze medal in World Snooker Championships in Latvia.

50. Committee Headed by Shantaram Niak for personnel, public grievances & law and justice submitted its report to both the Houses of Parliament, and demanded that the bill seeking to constitute Commission for judicial appointments be given a constitutional statusas soon as possible to bring Transparency and speed in appointments of Judicial Authorities. The Committee also demanded that the Right to Information act be amended to bring Political Parties out of the purview of RTI as they are not Public Authorities.

51. Congress won in Vidhan Sabha Elections in Mizoram. Lal Thanhawla to become Chief Minister of Mizoram.

52. Corruption Index Report issued by Germany's Transparency International - Denmark and New Zealand are the Least Corrupt Countries. India is at the 94th Place in total 177 Countries. Somalia is the Most Corrupt Country as per the Report.

53. D K Jain Resigned as Chief of 20th Law Commission and now has been appointed as the Chief of NCDRC (National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission).

54. DRDO Successfully Tested Surface to Surface Missile 'Prithvi' and Its Naval Version called 'Dhanush'.

55. Drohkal ka Pathik has been written by Rajesh Ranjan (Pappu Yadav).

55. Drohkal ka Pathik has been written by Rajesh Ranjan (Pappu Yadav).

56. European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a Satellite telescope called GAIA from Kourou in French Guiana by a Russian Soyuz- Fregat rocket. Its main aim is to create a Never Before Like 3D Map of Our Galaxy Milky Way.

57. Famous Agricultural Scientist William Dar has been Honored by Prestigious "Excellence in Agricultural Leadership Award". He is Director General of ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics).

58. Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has approved UK-based TESCO's proposal to enter the Indian multi-brand retail segment in joint venture with Tata Group company with an initial investment of USD 110 million (about Rs 680 crore).

59. Foreign VIP Visits to India -> South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Bying se Visited India for seventh India - South Korea Joint Ministerial Meet.Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop Visited India.Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Nabil Elaraby Visited India. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Zayes Al Nahyan Visited India. Japanese Emperor Akhito and His wife Michiko Visited India.

60. Formation of Telangana has been approved by Government. It will have 10 Districts. Rest of Andhra Pradesh will have 13 Districts and will be known as Seemandhra Pradesh.

61. Former Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai is appointed as the India's New Envoy to Britain.

62. Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen has been Honored by Mother Teresa Award for Social Welfare Works.

63. France awarded its highest civilian award 'Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur' to Anjali Gopalan for her work on transgenders and HIV positive patients.

64. Germany Beat France to win the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013 held in New Delhi.

65. Germany's F1 Racer from Red Bull Team, Sebestian Vettel has set up a Record by winning 8th Successive F1 Races. He also Equalized Michael Schumacher's Record of 13 Wins in an Year.

66. Goldman Sachs has issued a Report named Indian Economic Outlook and has expected Indian GDP to Grow at a rate of 4.3 % During 2013 - 14 & 5.5 % During 2014 - 15.

67. Government Approved a Free Trade Agreement in Trade and services with ASEAN for Boosting the Movement of Indian Professionals into the 10-Nations Grouping ASEAN. ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) is a political and economic organisation of ten countries in Southeast Asia, formed in 1967 it now has Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore Thailand, Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Its aims are accelerating economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, protection of regional peace and stability. FTA (Free Trade Area) Free-trade area is a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free-trade agreement (FTA) that eliminates tariffs, import quotas, and preferences on most goods and services traded between them. In Addition to FTA, If people are also free to move between the countries then it will be considered an open border. It is the second stage of Economic integration. Countries choose this kind of economic integration if their economic structures are complementary and Competitive.If the economic Structures are Competitive then it is likely that there will be no FTA between the Competing Countries.

68. Government Owned Broadcasting Company Doordarshan decided to Rename its DTH (Direct to Home) Satellite TV Service to
FREEDISH.

69. Government decided to refuse Meghalaya State Government's Demand for Introduction of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya saying that Indian Constitution does not Provide for Expanding the special Provision to New Areas. Inner Line Permit is an official travel document issued by the government of India to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected/restricted area for a limited period. It is obligatory for Indian citizens from outside those States to obtain permit for entering into the protected State. The document is an effort by the government to regulate movement to certain areas located near the international border of India. This is a security measure and it is applicable for the following States: Arunachal Pradesh — Issued by the secretary (political) of the government of Arunachal Pradesh. It is required for entering theIndian State of Arunachal Pradesh through any of the check gates across the inter-State border with Assam or Nagaland. Mizoram — Issued by the government of Mizoram. It is required for entering the Indian State of Mizoram through any of the check gates across the inter-State borders. Nagaland — It is mandatory for a mainland Indian citizen entering the State of Nagaland through any of the check gates across the inter-State borders.

70. Government has Instructed the states to mandate Insurance of Farmers' Crops Under NCIP (National Crops Insurance Programme).

71. Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi Inaugurated the 182 Metres Memorial of Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel named as ''Statue 0f Unity".

71. Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi Inaugurated the 182 Metres Memorial of Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel named as ''Statue 0f Unity".

72. H K Bhanwala has been appointed as the New Chief of NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture And Rural Developement).

73. Himachal Pradesh has become the second state after Haryana to introduce Centre's National Vocational Qualitative Framework (NVQF) Scheme. The scheme is being implemented by the All India Technical Education Council and the National Skill Development Council for setting up skill development councils to impart employment Skills In Youth.

74. IAF (Indian Air Force) Decommissioned Mig - 2 FL Fighter Aircrafts which were Included into IAF in 1963 and were very Influential in IAF Operations against Pakistan in Indo - Pak War of 1971 and made sure that India won over Pak.

75. ICC Awards 2013 - > Cricketer of The Year - Michael Clarke (Australia) Test Cricketer of The Year - Michael Clarke (Australia) One Day Cricketer of The Year - Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) Emerging Cricketer of The Year - Cheteswar Pujara (India) People's Choice Award - Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India)

76. India Beat Pakistan to win the Kabaddi World Cup 2013 as India's Fourth Consecutive Kabaddi world Cup victory.

77. India Win Female Kabaddi World Cup 2013 Hosted by India by beating New Zealand in Final.

78. India announced to contribute $1 Million to anti Chemical weapons Organization named Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Notes about OPCW OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) is the International organization aimed at controlling the use of chemical weapons across the world. It was honored by Nobel Prize for Peace in 2013 for its work in controlling use of Chemical weapons against general public in the Ongoing Syrian Civil War. OPCW's Headquarters is in The Hague, Netherlands with 190 Member Countries Currently.

79. India has been given charge to host FIFA Under - 17 Football world Cup.

80. India's 44th International Film Festival was Held in Panji, Goa. The list of awards given at IFFI 2013 is as follows: Golden Peacock Award: Beatriz’s War Best Director: Kaushik Ganguli Best Actor (Male): Alon Moni Aboutboul Best Actor (Female): Boczarska Magdalena Lifetime Achievement Award - Czech film director Jiri Menzel. Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year - Actress Waheeda Rehman

81. India's Army Chief Bikram Singh has been Honored by Legion of Merit, USA's Prestigious Defense Honor.

82. India's CAD (Current Acccount Deficit) has come down to 1.2% of GDP in Second Quarter of FY 2013 - 14 (July - September). It is Mainly due to decline in amount of Gold Imports as RBI has made it costlier to Import Gold after putting up an Import duty of 15% on Import of Gold. Note that CAD was as high as 5% in First Quarter of FY 2013 - 14 (Apr - June). Now after taking Average of Both Quarters as of now, the CAD has come down to 3.1% of GDP. Note that India's GDP Growth rate has also Improved Over the second Quarter to 4.8% in comparison to First Quarter's 4.4%. Now Average growth rate of India so far in FY 2013 - 14 has come up to 4.6%.

83. India's Cricketer Virat Kohli has become the Fastest in History to score 5000 runs in ODI.

84. India's Srishti Rana won Miss Asia Pacific World 2013 in Seoul, South Korea. The contest was started in 2011.

85. India's Third Largest IT Company WIPRO announced to stop Manufacturing of Computers.

86. Indian Actor Shahrukh Khan has been made Goodwill Ambassador By South Korea.

87. Indian Badminton Player P V Sindhu won the Macau Open Badminton Open Tournament in China.

88. Indian Chemistry Scientist and Bharat Ratna Awardee C N R Rao becomes first Indian Scientist to be Appointed as a Member in Chinese Academy of Science.

89. Indian Chess Player Mary N Gomes has won the International Female Grand Master Chess Tournament in Chennai (Tamilnadu).

90. Indian Coast Guard Commissioned a New Patrolling Vessel Ship called C - 404.

91. Indian Coast Guard Commissioned a New Patrolling Vessel Ship called ICGS Rajdhwaj.

92. Indian Cricketer M S Dhoni has won the ICC People's Choice Award for the Year 2013.

93. Indian Doctor Jaswinder S Bamrah has been honored by Asian Lite Professional Excellenxce Award in UK's Manchester City.

94. Indian Footballer Sunil Chettri has equalized Record of 43 International Goals of Former Indian Football Captain Baichung Bhatia.

95. Indian IT Company Wipro received 15th NCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Awards. NCPEDP stands for National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People.

96. Indian Origin Businessman Murli Kewalram Chanrai has been Honored by the Outstanding member of the South Asian Diaspora award By Singapore President Tonay Tan Keng Yam.

97. Indian Persons Recently Nominated at Key Posts in the US -> Indian American Kal Penn appointed at Key administration Post of the Member of President's Committee on the arts and Humanities. Vivek Murthy has been appointed for the Post of Surgeon General. Kshama Sawant has been elected to Prestigious Seattle City Council. Gargee Ghosh has been appointed as a Member of President Barack Obama's Global Development Council.

98. Indian Postal Department Issued a New Postal Ticket for INS Vikramaditya, The russian Built Aircraft Carrier Commissioned into the Indian Navy recently.

99. Indian Signed BIPPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement) for Promoting Mutual Investment Opportunities on the Occasion of UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Zayes Al Nahyan Visiting India.

100. Jordan Has been Nominated as Temporary Member of United Nations Security Council.

101. K K Birla Foundation's 23rd Bihari Award for Hindi/Rajasthani Literature has been Given to Famous Rajasthani Poet and Translator Chandra Prakash Deval for His Novel 'Hirna, Maun Sandh Van Charna'.

102. Kanwardeep Singh has been appointed as chief of Indian Hocket Federation.

103. Kulamani Biswal is the Newly appointed Director of NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation).

104. Lakshdweep tops in Annual Education Development Index 2012 - 13 while Chattisgarh is at the Bottom. Lakshadweep is followed by Puducherry (2nd), Tamil Nadu (3rd), Sikkim (4th) and Karnataka (5th).


105. Legendary Indian Cricketer Kapil Dev has been Honored by Col C K Naidu Lifetime Achievement Award 2013.

106. Maharashtra State Cabinet decided to form a sugar cane control board in the State After farmers’ organisations shown a violent agitation for the same.

107. Manil Suri has been Honored by Bad Sex in Fiction Award 2013 given by UK's Literary Review Magazine every year from 1993 Onwards.

108. Michelle Bachelet has been elected as New President of South American Country Chile for the seond Time.

109. Miss Earth 2013 Title has been won by Miss Venezuela Alyz Henrich in Phlipinnes. India's Sobhita Dhulipala won the Title of Miss Photogenic 2013 in the same Concert. Notes About Miss Earth Beauty Pageant Miss Earth is an annual international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness. It is an annual international beauty contest like Miss Universe and Miss World contests. The contest was started in 2001. Miss Earth winner is the spokesperson for the Miss Earth Foundation, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other environmental organizations. Traditionally, Miss Earth lives in Manila during her reign. There have been 13 Miss Earth contests so far since Its Inception. Venezuela and Brazil have won the Title most Times (2 each). India Has won it Once with Nicole Faria (2010). The current Miss Earth titleholder is Alyz Henrich from Venezuela who was crowned on December 7, 2013 Notes About Miss Universe Beauty Pageant Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest run by the Miss Universe Organization like the Miss Earth and Miss World contests. The contest was founded in 1952 and is now acquired by Donald Trump. There have been 63 Miss Universe contests so far since Its Inception. USA has won the Title most Times (8) Followed by Venezuela (7). India Has won it twice with Sushmita Sen (1994) & Lara Dutta (2000). Notes About Miss World Beauty Pageant Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951 and after his death in 2000, Morley's wife, Julia Morley, co-chairs the pageant. There have been 66 Miss World contests so far since Its Inception. Venezuela has won the Title most Times (6) Followed by India (5) & UK (5). India Has won it Five Times with Reita Faria (1966), Aishwarya Rai (1994), Diana Hayden (1997), Yukta Mookhey (1999) & Priyanka Chopra (2000). India's Reita Faria was the first Asian ever to win Miss World Title. Current Miss Universe is Megan Young (Phillipinnes) and she was crowned the same on Sep 28, 2013 in a Concert Organized in Bali, Indonesia.

110. Miss Indian USA 2013 Pageant has been won by Monica Gill. The Miss India USA is an annual pageant where young beauties of Indian origin from across several states in the US compete for The Miss India USA is an annual pageant where young beauties of Indian origin from across several states in the US compete for the grand Miss India Worldwide crown.

111. NALCO (National Aluminnium Company Limited) has been given the EEPC (Engineering Export Promotion Council, Eastern Region)’s Gold Trophy as Top Exporter in the Large Enterprise Category for its outstanding export performance during the year 2011-12.

112. Nagaland Famous Hornbill Festival was Inaugurated by Prez Pranab Mukherjee in Kohima (Capital of Nagaland).

113. National Tiger conservation Authority announced country's Fifth Tiger Reserve in Nagzira of Maharashtra State.

114. Nineteenth (19th) session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP 19) was held in Warsaw, Poland. UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

115. PMEAC (Prime Minsister's Economic Advisory Council) Led by C . Rangrajan has Predicted The GDP Growth Rate to stay at 5.3 % during the current Fiscal (FY 2013 - 14). Note that Indian Economy has grown at a Rate of 4.6 % in First Six Months so it needs to Grow at a rate of 6% in the Last Two Quarters of FY 2013 - 14 to meet the Expectations of PMEAC.

116. Pakistani Child Rights Activist Malala Yousafzai has been honored by United Nations Human Rights Award.

117. PepsiCo appointed D Shivakumar as its Chief for India region.

118. Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily Inaugurated Country's First Synthetic Rubber Plant in Panipat, Haryana.

119. President Pranab Mukherjee gave the Prestigious Indira Gandhi National Scheme Best University Award 2012 - 13 to Mangalore University.

120. Punjab State Government created a Committee for suggesting reforms in agricultural sector for sustainable growth in agriculture sector. The committee will be Headed by G S Kalkat.

121. Qatar Based Doha Bank has got Approval to Open Branches in India.

122. R Banumathi is the new chief justice of Jharkhand High Court.

123. Raheel Sharif is the new Chief of Pakistani Army.

124. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Decided to Enhance the currency Swap Agreement with Bank of Japan from Existing $15 Billion to $50 Billion. A currency swap is a foreign-exchange agreement between two institutions to exchange aspects (principal or interest payments) of a loan in one currency for equivalent aspects of an equal in net present value loan in another currency.

125. Russian Made INS Vikramaditya has been Inducted into the Indian Navy as its Second Aircraft Carrier along with INS Viraat.

126. S B Nayar has been appointed as the new Chief of IIFCL (India Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited).

127. SPMCIL (Security Printiung and Minting Corporation of India) has been Conferred the Enginneering Excellence Award 2013.

128. Satyanand Mishra is appointed as the Chief of Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX).

129. Senior IRS officer Parvinder Sohi Behuria has been appointed as Secretary General of National Human Rights Commission.

130. Siddharth Birla is the New Chief of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry).

131. South Africa's A B D Villiers has succeeded India's Virat Kohli to become ICC Rankings' No 1 Batsman in world.

132. South American Country Uruguay has Become The First Country To Legalize Marijuana Trade.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana (from the Mexican Spanish marihuana), is a preparation of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug and as medicine.

133. Spanish Tennis Player Rafael Nadal has been honored as the Best Athelete so far in Spain's History by Spanish Government.

134. Sports Accessories Maker

135. Star India has become New Sponsor of Indian Cricket Team.

136. Sumit Bose is Appointed as the New Finance Secretary of India.

137. Sushma Singh has been Appointed as the fifth Chief Information Commissioner of India.

138. Tassaduq Hussain is appointed as the new Chief Justice of Pakistan.

139. Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), has got Initial Operational Clearance (IOC II) From Defence Ministry. The aircraft is indigenously manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will be inducted into IAF squadrons shortly.

140. Ten regional political parties in the north-east resolved to form a new political front — the North-East Regional Political Front (NERPF) to work together for developmental activities in the Region.

141. Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra decided to Dissolve Country's Parliament in view of Heavy Protests against Government.

142. The 11th edition of MENOPE, the Middle East Natural & Organic Products Expo, was held in Dubai (UAE) with more global participation from 25 countries.

143. The 9th WTO (World Trade Organization) Ministerial Conference (MC9) was held in Indonesia.

144. The 27th Southeast Asian Games took place in Naypyidaw, capital of Myanmar. 11 Countries Participated in it and Thailand stayed at the top with Host Myanmar at the second spot in Medal Tally. the top with Host Myanmar at the second spot in Medal Tally.

145. Tripura bacame first state in country to intriduce PVC Electoral Photo Identity Card (PVC EPIC) as mandated by the Election Commission of India.

146. UK's Craig Reedie has been appointed as the Chief of WADA (World Anti Doping Agency).

147. USA's Famous Magazine Times has Honored Pope Francois as the Times Person of the Year.

148. Vandana Kumari has been appointed as the the new Secretary in Land Resources Department.

149. Xavier Bettel is the Newly elected Prime Minister of Western European Country Luxembourg.

150. Yemen has become the 160th Member of WTO (World Trade Organization).
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is based in Geneva, Switzerland and intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. It was started in 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement and replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was continuing in 1948. Search Current Affairs

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Civil Services Mentor January 2014

            Civil service examination is an examination that is implemented in various countries for admission to the civil service. It is a nationwide competitive examination and it is conducted in two phases. The success rate for this exam normally lies below 0.5%. 

Download Civil Services Mentor_January 2014              

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1. About

   • Each civil service profession has a different civil service exam. The exact exam questions differ for each department, but most exams will test students over reading comprehension, situational judgment and grammar. Some exams will also have math questions on them.

   How to Take the Exam

   • Applicants must send in an application to the proper government agency in order to take the exam. The applicant must then look at the schedule of upcoming civil service exam dates and times and sign up for one.

   Preparing for the Exam

   • Many books are available to help applicants prepare for the test. The books contain practice questions, as well as valuable information that might be tested over during the civil service exam.
     
     

     List of Civil Services

     Below is the list and descriptions of the list of services available through the civil service exams.
     
     
     

     All India Services
     • Indian Administrative Service
     • India Foreign Service
     • Indian Police Service
       
       Group A Services
     • Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service
     • Indian Audit and Accounts Service
     • Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise)
     • Indian Defence Accounts Service
     • Indian Revenue Service (I.T.)
     • Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Assistant Works Manager, Administration)
     • Indian Postal Service
     • Indian Civil Accounts Service
     • Indian Railway Traffic Service
     • Indian Railway Accounts Service
     • Indian Railway Personnel Service
     • Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force
     • Indian Defence Estates Service
     • Indian Information Service (Junior Grade)
     • Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' (Gr. III)
     • Indian Corporate Law Service
       
       Group - B Services
     • Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (Section Officer's Grade)
     • Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service
     • Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service
     • Pondicherry Civil Service
     • Pondicherry Police Service

     •  
     • Indian Forest Service
                  Indian Forest Service -A combined Preliminary examination will be held for Indian Forest Service and Indian Civil Services. The number of vacancies to be filled on the result of the examination of 2012 is expected to be approximately 1037. The number of vacancies may undergo change. Reservation will be made for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes. Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Physically Disabled Categories in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the Government

Download

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Civil Services Mentor February 2014

Civil service examination is an examination that is implemented in various countries for admission to the civil service. It is a nationwide competitive examination and it is conducted in two phases. The success rate for this exam normally lies below 0.5%. 

Download Civil Services Mentor February 2014              

Download      

                               

1. About

   • Each civil service profession has a different civil service exam. The exact exam questions differ for each department, but most exams will test students over reading comprehension, situational judgment and grammar. Some exams will also have math questions on them.

   How to Take the Exam

   • Applicants must send in an application to the proper government agency in order to take the exam. The applicant must then look at the schedule of upcoming civil service exam dates and times and sign up for one.

   Preparing for the Exam

   • Many books are available to help applicants prepare for the test. The books contain practice questions, as well as valuable information that might be tested over during the civil service exam.
     
     

     List of Civil Services

     Below is the list and descriptions of the list of services available through the civil service exams.
     
     
     

     All India Services
     • Indian Administrative Service
     • India Foreign Service
     • Indian Police Service
       
       Group A Services
     • Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service
     • Indian Audit and Accounts Service
     • Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise)
     • Indian Defence Accounts Service
     • Indian Revenue Service (I.T.)
     • Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Assistant Works Manager, Administration)
     • Indian Postal Service
     • Indian Civil Accounts Service
     • Indian Railway Traffic Service
     • Indian Railway Accounts Service
     • Indian Railway Personnel Service
     • Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force
     • Indian Defence Estates Service
     • Indian Information Service (Junior Grade)
     • Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' (Gr. III)
     • Indian Corporate Law Service
       
       Group - B Services
     • Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (Section Officer's Grade)
     • Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service
     • Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service
     • Pondicherry Civil Service
     • Pondicherry Police Service

     • Indian Forest Service
       Indian Forest Service -A combined Preliminary examination will be held for Indian Forest Service and Indian Civil Services. The number of vacancies to be filled on the result of the examination of 2012 is expected to be approximately 1037. The number of vacancies may undergo change. Reservation will be made for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes. Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Physically Disabled Categories in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the Government

Download

Read More

Civil Services Mentor December 2013

            Civil service examination is an examination that is implemented in various countries for admission to the civil service. It is a nationwide competitive examination and it is conducted in two phases. The success rate for this exam normally lies below 0.5%. 

Download Civil Services Mentor December 2013              

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1. About

   • Each civil service profession has a different civil service exam. The exact exam questions differ for each department, but most exams will test students over reading comprehension, situational judgment and grammar. Some exams will also have math questions on them.

   How to Take the Exam

   • Applicants must send in an application to the proper government agency in order to take the exam. The applicant must then look at the schedule of upcoming civil service exam dates and times and sign up for one.

   Preparing for the Exam

   • Many books are available to help applicants prepare for the test. The books contain practice questions, as well as valuable information that might be tested over during the civil service exam.
     
     

     List of Civil Services

     Below is the list and descriptions of the list of services available through the civil service exams.
     
     
     

     All India Services
     • Indian Administrative Service
     • India Foreign Service
     • Indian Police Service
       
       Group A Services
     • Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service
     • Indian Audit and Accounts Service
     • Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise)
     • Indian Defence Accounts Service
     • Indian Revenue Service (I.T.)
     • Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Assistant Works Manager, Administration)
     • Indian Postal Service
     • Indian Civil Accounts Service
     • Indian Railway Traffic Service
     • Indian Railway Accounts Service
     • Indian Railway Personnel Service
     • Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force
     • Indian Defence Estates Service
     • Indian Information Service (Junior Grade)
     • Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' (Gr. III)
     • Indian Corporate Law Service
       
       Group - B Services
     • Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (Section Officer's Grade)
     • Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service
     • Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service
     • Pondicherry Civil Service
     • Pondicherry Police Service

     • Indian Forest Service
       Indian Forest Service -A combined Preliminary examination will be held for Indian Forest Service and Indian Civil Services. The number of vacancies to be filled on the result of the examination of 2012 is expected to be approximately 1037. The number of vacancies may undergo change. Reservation will be made for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes. Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Physically Disabled Categories in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the Government

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Kerala SSLC Result 2014 Declared

Kerala SSLC 2014:-

Kerala Board of education each year conducts the Kerala SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) Exam 2014 in the month of March –April and this year also around 4 Lakh student appeared for the examination 2014 which was held from 10th to 22nd March 2014.Now After the Examination evolution of answer scripts had been finished on 12th April 2014 which were started by the 13,000 teachers who were appointed for the evolution process at 54 different locations across the state.

After the Kerala SSLC 2014 Examination, all the appeared students are now waiting for the declaration of Kerala SSLC 2014 Exam, as being their first Board and important exam of life , they put their hard work in the preparation and now waiting for the Kerala SSLC Result 2014, which will get declare at around 20th April 2014.

 

 

 ——-Select Examination—— Kerala SSLC Exam 2014 

Result Declared, Check Now

 

Enter Your Roll Number:

 

 

 

Steps to check Kerala SSLC Result 2014:-  http://keralaresults.nic.in/sslc14/sslc.htm

• Students first login to the official website (www.keralapareekshabhavan.in or keralaresults.nic.in)
• Click on the link with name “Kerala SSLC Result 2014”, as soon you click on it, a window will appear in front of your screen, asking about your registration details like Roll number and date of birth in order open your account.
• Enter the required details and click on submit button.

 

 

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BANK EXAM CAPSULE JUNE 2013 VOL:-3

101. A Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)-appointed panel headed by K. M. Chandrasekhar recommended merging of existing foreign institutional investors (FIIs), sub-accounts and qualified foreign investors (QFIs) into a new investor class, Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI).

102. The Union Cabinet cleared the Mental Health Care Bill, 2013 that makes access to mental health care a right of all persons. Such services should be affordable, of good quality and available without discrimination.

103. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that companies cannot patent parts of naturally-occurring human genes.

104. A German official says the country plans to create an €8 billion ($10.6 billion) emergency fund to pay for damage caused by recent flooding. The Elbe, the Danube and other rivers overflowed their banks
following persistent heavy rain, causing extensive damage over the past two weeks in southern and northeastern Germany.

105. Jet Airways (India) has appointed Australian national Gary Kenneth Toomey (58) as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

106. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its report, , reveal that Bangalore alone accounts for 24.4 per cent of cyber crimes booked under the IT Act among 53 ‘megacities’ across India.

107. The wholesale price index-based (WPI) inflation fell to 4.7 per cent in May.

108. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sanctioned a Rs.1,043-crore atomic research centre at Achuthapuram in Visakhapatnam to carry out research and monitor various activities relating to atomic energy usage. The research unit, the second such centre after Mumbai, will be established by the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

109. Chinese supercomputer reported to be fastest in the world. According to a survey results announced, Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, achieved processing speeds of 33.86 petaflops (1000 trillion calculations) per second on a benchmarking test. Its main rival, the U.S.-designed Titan, had achieved a performance of 17.59 petaflops per second.

110. If any unmarried couple of the right legal age “indulges in sexual gratification,” this will be considered a valid marriage and they could be termed “husband and wife,” the Madras High Court has ruled in a judgment.

111. AirAsia India appointed S. Ramadorai as its Chairman, a day after getting Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata as the chief advisor. AirAsia India is a joint venture of Air Asia, Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace with 49:30:21 holding.

112. Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas resigned over a corruption and spying scandal involving his top aide.

113. Iran’s newly-elected president Hassan Rouhani ruled out any halt to the nuclear activity that has drawn U.N. sanctions.

114. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its policy rates unchanged. The central bank decided to keep the cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at four per cent.

115. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reduced the ceiling level for national roaming tariffs from 1 July. While the telecom regulator ruled out fully free national roaming for the time being, it added that subscribers will be able to enjoy fully free roaming in lieu of a fixed payment to the service provider.

116. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is all set to recommend the creation of an ‘institutional buffer between corporate owners and newspaper management’ to the government.

117. To end criminalisation of politics, the Law Commission of India headed by Justice D.K. Jain, has sought the views of political parties and other stakeholders on whether a charge-sheeted person can be disqualified from contesting elections. It also wanted to know whether law should be amended to prevent a person from contesting in more than one constituency.

118. White House officials announced that Washington was open to direct talks with Taliban and the first meeting will soon be held in the group’s new office in Doha.

119. Committee headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram recommended easing of existing ceilings of FDI in a host of sectors such as defence, telecommunications, public sector banks and insurance, petroleum refining as well as single and multi-brand retail.

120. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar won confidence in Bihar Assembly.

121. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a financial assistance of Rs. 1,000 crore to Uttarakhand for disaster relief.

122. The European Commission imposed a fine of 146 million euro on nine pharma companies, including Ranbaxy Laboratories. Ranbaxy Laboratories has been fined euro 10.32 million (over Rs.80 crore).

123. The RBI-backed payment network, RuPay, which is widely seen as a domestic alternative to MasterCard and Visa, has been quietly rolled out for e-commerce use by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

124. Kyrgyz lawmakers have voted to shut down a key United States airbase despite Washington’s efforts to retain the facility beyond its forces drawdown in Afghanistan next year.

125. Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) will come into effect from July 1 with a levy of 0.01 per cent of the transactional value being applicable on the seller in futures trading of a host of items such as gold, sugar and edible oils. Apart from gold, other commodities such as silver, crude oil and base metals and processed farm items such as sugar, soya oil, mentha oil and guar gum will also come under CTT.

126. The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) announced that it had constituted a committee headed by K. Ratna Prabha to finalise modalities for a media campaign against indecent portrayal of women in mass media.

127. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a Food Ministry’s proposal to offload 105 lakh tonnes of food grains from Food Corporation of India stocks in the open market to contain retail prices.

128. Miroslava Nemcova will be next Prime Minister of the Czech RepublicMs.

129. Swiss bank announced that they had refused to reopen bank account probe into alleged corruption in the 1990s by current Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and his late wife Benazir Bhutto.

130. Indian infrastructure major GMR has sought a compensation of $1.4 billion from Maldives for the “wrongful termination” of its 25-year contract to develop and operate the Male International Airport.

131. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) decided to cap the duration of advertisements at 12 minutes per hour for broadcasters. The regulation, which will come into force from October 1, through a phased manner.

132. Reliance Capital, , said it had decided to suspend sale of gold in physical form, including supply of gold coins for sale through India Post, and also as an investment product, across all its businesses and subsidiaries.

133. In a fresh crackdown against ‘collective investment schemes’, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has asked Alchemist Infra Realty Ltd. to wind up all such activities and refund the money collected from public investors, which could be more than Rs.1,000 crore, within three months.

134. India has been put on a list of “high-risk” Asian and African countries whose citizens would be required to deposit £3,000 cash bond when they apply for a British visa. The money would be forfeited if they overstay.

135. The Fourth Strategic Dialogue co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid reviewed several issues ranging from the status of civil nuclear ties between the two countries through defence trade to education and cultural exchanges in New Delhi.

136. William D. Dar, director general of International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics, has been selected for the M.S. Swaminathan award for leadership in agriculture for 2013.

137. Pakistan’s government said it would put former military ruler Pervez Musharraf (69) on trial for treason, charges punishable by death or life imprisonment.

138. The Reserve Bank of India extended the deadline for introduction of additional security features for payment through debit and credit cards as banks and related entities had yet to put in place the requisite infrastructure.

139. An Mi-17 V5 helicopter of the Indian Air Force crashed killing at least nine people including crew members on board while on a rescue mission to Kedarnath in Gaurikund area.

140. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) extended till July 10 the deadline for consumers to submit the consumer application forms to multi-system and cable operators, indicating their choice of channels.
141. After a biography penned by his younger brother and Public Works Department Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav now plays the central character in a documentary, Aapatkal ke Mahanayak (Megastar of the Emergency).

142. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will leave for Bahrain to receive the United Nations global award for public service from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

143. The rupee continued its streak of hitting undesirable milestones and touched an all-time low
of 60.76 a dollar. But it closed lower than its previous record low of 59.98.

144. Kevin Rudd staged a comeback after he ousted Prime Minister Julia Gillard as head of Australia’s ruling Labor Party in a leadership ballot.

145. Karnataka has joined the 11 other States and Union Territories that have agreed to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

146. Three Indian projects will receive U.N. Public Service Awards this year. The projects are Mass Contact Programme of Kerala, Swavalamban of District Administration of Dhanbad in Jharkhand and Graamin Haat programme of Department of Cottage and Rural Industries in Madhya Pradesh.

147. Reliance Capital of Anil Dhirubai Ambani Group (ADAG) informed that it will be submitting an application for a banking licence with the Reserve Bank of India. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB) and Nippon Life Insurance, two leading financial institutions from Japan, propose to take between 4-5 per cent stake each in the new bank subject to necessary regulatory approvals. Religare Enterprises, for its part, has taken a strategic decision to apply for a banking licence.

148. Intel launched its fourth generation core processor.

149. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to India declined by 29 per cent to $26 billion in 2012 due to slow economic growth and high inflation, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said.

150. Manmohan Singh government approved a doubling of natural gas prices from the present $4.2 mbtu to $8.4 mbtu from April 1, 2014. While the Rangarajan panel had recommended revising domestic gas prices every month, the CCEA has opted for a quarterly revision.

151. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) pegged the current account deficit (CAD) at 4.8 per cent of the GDP in 2012-13 came as a big respite.

152. Tata Communications Payment Solutions Ltd. (TCPSL), a subsidiary of Tata Communications rolled out the first-ever white label Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) network under the brand Indicash. In this front, the company has tied up with Federal Bank, which has been designated as a sponsor bank to take care of cash operations, dispute resolutions and regulatory reporting. It will accept all domestic debit cards with the first five transactions a month being free, in line with RBI regulations for use of ‘Other Bank ATMs’.

153. Reliance Infra, which runs the Delhi Airport Metro line, has refused to operate it beyond June 30. DMRC will operate this project.

154. Indian armed forces are planning to spend around Rs 6 lakh crore to get hi-tech equipment such as robots for combat roles, precision-guided missiles and watch-dog satellites, according to a Defence Ministry document.

155. India's external debt rose by nearly 13 per cent to USD 390 billion in 2012-13, mainly due to rise in short-term trade credit and external commercial borrowings (ECBs) in the back of high current account deficit, the Reserve Bank said.

156. Wholesale inflation dropped for a fourth straight month in May to a more than three-year low of 4.70% from 4.89% in April on cheaper manufactured and fuel products, showed the data released by the industry ministry.

157. Retail inflation Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 9.31 per cent in May due to easing of prices of edible oil and protein-based items, even as vegetable prices inched up sharply.

158. State Bank of India (SBI) customers will have to pay Rs 60 per year for getting SMS alerts.

159. About three dozens entities, including billionaires like Aditya Birla Group, Tata Capital, Religare, Reliance Capital, are applying for bank licences, the deadline for which expires 1 July. This list include country's oldest financial institution IFCI, IDFC, India Infoline, Videocon Industries, SREI Infrastructure Finance etc, Bajaj Finance and the Department of Posts.

160. The Department of Post submitted application before the RBI for a licence to offer full-fledged banking services

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BANK EXAM CAPSULE JUNE 2013 VOL:-2

51. A Group of Ministers (GoM) approved a Bill which seeks to set up an independent regulatory authority for the coal sector to address contentious issues such as pricing, supply and quality. The Coal Regulatory Authority Bill will be moved to the Cabinet within ten days for its approval.

52. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) scaled down India’s growth estimate to 5.3 per cent for 2013 from 5.9 per cent.

53. The government announced the launch of the first tranche of inflation-indexed bonds (IIBs) worth Rs.1,000 crore on June 4 through auctions to wean away household savings from gold by providing an alternative avenue for hedging against the price spiral for a positive real return on investment.

54. Besides probing Chennai Super Kings’ Gurunath Meiyappan, the three-member Commission appointed by the BCCI will also investigate the role of India Cements, owner of Chennai Super Kings, and Jaipur IPL Pvt. Ltd, owner of Rajasthan Royals. The members of the Commission are Justice T. Jayarama Chouta and Justice R. Balasubramanian — both former Madras High Court judges — and BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale.

55. Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Thai counterpart Yingluck Shinawatra expressed the hope that the 3,200-km highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand would be ready by 2016.

56. India and Thailand have signed an Extradition Treaty.

57. India has retained the chairmanship of the Singapore-based intergovernmental organisation, International Rubber Study Group (IRSG).

58. The European Commission said it had asked EU member states to check imports of wheat from the U.S. which may be tainted with a genetically modified strain made by agrochemicals giant Monsanto.

59. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate slid to 4.8 per cent in the fourth quarter (January-March) on account of dismal performance by the three major sectors — agriculture, manufacturing and mining — to end the entire 2012-13 fiscal at the decade’s lowest expansion of five per cent.

60. The Karnataka government has banned the manufacture and sale of gutka, and paan masala containing tobacco or nicotine, with immediateeffect. Karnataka will now join 25 States and five Union Territories that have already imposed the ban.

61. The fiscal deficit for 2012-13 worked out lower at 4.89 per cent of the GDP, significantly below the revised estimate of 5.2 per cent.

62. N. Srinivasan ‘stepped aside’ temporarily as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India at an emergency working committee meeting. The former BCCI and ICC chief, Jagmohan Dalmiya, will be in charge of the Board’s ‘working group’.

63. Department of Atomic Energy and Nuclear Power Corporation of India left for France for a crucial meeting between European investors and French conglomerate Areva to gather funds for the 9900-MW Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra.

64. Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled that political parties come under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.

65. The Czech capital Prague was on high flood alert with businesses shut and transport coming to a halt after torrential rains left at least six people dead and forced thousands from their homes across central Europe.

66. More than 60 countries signed the landmark treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade and the United States announced it would sign soon.

67. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that it had decided to extend the validity period of the in-principle approval for setting up of the Non-Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) from one year to 18 months.
68. Indian pacer S. Sreesanth and his two former Rajasthan Royals teammates are among the 26 accused who have been slapped with stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) in the spot-fixing case.

69. The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to install 2,199 mobile towers in nine Left-Wing-Extremism-affected States at a cost of over Rs.3,000 crore.

70. India and Singapore have signed a new agreement to extend the use of training and exercise facilities in India by the Singapore Army for five years from August this year.

71. In a major decision taken , the Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the health insurance scheme — Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) — to over 88.57 lakh unorganised workers including rickshaw pullers, rag pickers, mine workers and auto/taxi drivers.

72. Union Cabinet cleared the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill. It will allow builders or developers to sell their projects only after they receive all statutory clearances. The Bill seeks to make it mandatory for developers to maintain a separate bank account for every project to ensure that money raised for a project is not diverted. Developers will be barred from collecting money from buyers before receiving all permits to start construction. All clearances will have to be submitted to the regulator and displayed online before construction begins. If a developer fails to comply with rules for the first time, he will attract a fine of up to 10 per cent of the project cost. A repeat offence
can land him in jail. Developers will be required to keep aside 70 per cent or less of the buyer’s funds in a separate account to ensure timely completion of projects. Buyers are entitled to full refund, with interest, in case of delay in the completion of projects.

73. The Obama administration imposed new sanctions on Iran and its nuclear programme, targeting the country’s currency rial and auto industry.

74. Two Congress Chief Ministers — Maharashtra’s Prithviraj Chavan and Karnataka’s K. Siddaramaiah — voiced their concerns over certain provisions of the anti-terror agency National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) at the Chief Ministers’ conference on internal security held in New Delhi.

75. R.N. Sawani, a former police officer appointed to probe charges of spot-fixing in the IPL, submitted his report to the BCCI.

76. Tomas Brunegård is the new president of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.

77. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna urged the Centre to review the recent notification declaring the 100 km stretch from Gomukh to Uttarkashi as an eco-sensitive zone.

78. Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered probe into alleged cartelisation in the sugar industry for quoting prices in the tenders for supply of ethanol to oil marketing companies. The probe has been initiated against three trade associations, three oil marketing companies and 17 sugar mills.

79. Government hiked the import duty on gold to 8 per cent, up by 2 percentage points, in a bid to rein in demand.

80. Centre has decided to help all Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected States to raise ‘Greyhounds,’ after the Andhra Pradesh model of an elite police commando force. The States that would raise the ‘Greyhounds’ are Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

81. The United States exempted India and eight other countries from having to adhere to its sanctions on importing oil from Iran, noting that these nations had significantly reduced their dependence on Iranian oil in the last six months.

82. Foreign retailers entering India’s multi-brand segment will not be allowed to franchise their stores, and will have to put 50 per cent of their investments in back-end infrastructure specifically for the chain they are setting up.

83. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set in motion the development of the mega Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (ADKIC) project. Set on the model of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), the ADKIC will boost industrial development along the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) that connects Ludhiana in Punjab with Dankuni near Kolkata.

84. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has described as “chilling” the Indian government’s Central Monitoring System (CMS), tasked with monitoring all forms of communication on the phone and the Internet in the country.

85. The Union government has brought mine workers, sanitation workers, autorickshaw drivers, taxi drivers and rickshaw pullers within the ambit of the Rashtriya Swastya Bima Yojna. The scheme provides smart-card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000 an year to below poverty line families with five members. Initially, it covered street vendors, beedi workers, domestic workers, building and other construction workers and workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme who worked more than 15 days in the previous financial year.

86. Reliance Jio Infocomm, a part of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) entered into a definitive agreement with Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) for sharing the latter’s nationwide telecom tower infrastructure. RIL and RCom said the aggregate value of this
arrangement was over Rs.12,000 crore during the lifetime of the agreement.

87. The government constituted the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) for coordinating and harmonising the skill development efforts of the Centre and the private sector to achieve the skill targets of the XII Plan and beyond.

88. SEBI has put in place a colour coding system in Mutual fund from 1 July. The schemes will be classified into three colours, each denoting a different level of risk. Blue will signify the lowest risk; Yellow will stand for schemes that bear a moderate level of risk; brown colour will imply that the fund carries a high degree of risk.

89. Bharatiya Janata Party appointed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party’s face for the 2014 general election. Mr. Modi has been appointed Chairman of the National Election Campaign Committee.
90. Government will set up multi-agency body — National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) — that would carry out real-time assessment of cyber security threats and generate actionable reports/alerts for proactive actions by law enforcement agencies.

91. The Reserve Bank of India imposed a fine of Rs.5 crore on Axis Bank, Rs.4.5 crore on HDFC Bank and Rs.1 crore on ICICI Bank for having broken Know Your Customer norms and anti-money laundering guidelines. Online portal Cobrapost exposed the violations.

92. From July 1, you will be able to book your train ticket through your mobile phone at a cost of Rs. 6. IRCTC has developed a software, providing two options of using the mobile phone to book tickets. The SMS process or the menu-based USSD (Unstructured supplementary data) can be used to book tickets at the designated number 139.

93. India ranks low at 141in this year’s Global Peace Index (GPI) that measured peace in 162 countries.

94. The first project of cashless treatment for those injured in road accidents will be launched on the Delhi-Gurgaon-Jaipur national highway on July 1. Treatment will be provided for at least two days at the 51 notified hospitals. The government will bear the cost for a maximum of Rs. 30,000 per victim at Central Government Health Scheme rates.

95. President Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation stone of ‘Nirbhaya Bhawan,’ the headquarters of the National Commission for Women, at a function organised at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

96. China launched its fifth manned space mission with three astronauts in space over 15 days. The Shenzhou-10 spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Centre in northwestern Gansu province. This mission will be the longest yet for the country’s rapidly advancing space programme, and is seen as a crucial step in plans to build a space station by 2020.

97. From July 15, one of India’s oldest communication services — the telegram — will become history. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd will close telegraphic service.

98. West Bengal has achieved the dubious distinction of having the highest incidence of crime against women for the second year running in 2012 according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

99. World’s oldest person in recorded history — 116-year-old Jiroemon Kimura — died of natural causes early in his hometown in western Japan.

100. Fitch Ratings revised India’s sovereign credit outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ and affirmed the ‘BBB-’ rating assigned earlier.

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BANK EXAM CAPSULE JUNE 2013 VOL:-1

1. New Cabinet Ministers:- Mr. Oscar Fernandes - Road and Highways Minister, Ms. Girija Vyas - New Housing, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation Minister. Mr. K.S. Rao - New Textiles Minister, Mr. SiS Ram Ola – New Labour and Employment Minister. Ministers of state:- EMS Natchiyappan takes oath as MoS commerce and industry, J D Seelam becomes MoS finance, Manikrao Gavit gets social justice and empowerment, Santosh Chowdhury gets health & family welfare.

2. VK Duggal, the former Union Home Secretary on 21 June 2013 was appointed as the nodal officer for relief and rescue operations in the rain-ravaged Uttrakhand by the Union Government of India.

3. The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) announced that K R Kamath, the chairman and managing director of Punjab National Bank (PNB) was re-elected as the Chairman of IBA for 2013-14 tenure. IBA also elected Aditya Puri, managing director and CEO of HDFC Bank, as its Deputy Chairman. Along with this, the Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), Pratip Chaudhuri was elected as the Honorary Secretary.

4. Susan Elizabeth Rice, the American ambassador to the United Nations was appointed as the National Security Adviser of US President Barack Obama.

5. Nawaz Sharif on 5 June 2013 took oath to the office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan for his third term. Nawaz Sharif party PML-N made a landslide victory in the General Elections conducted in May 2013 by receiving 244 votes in favour of the 342 seat Parliament.

6. The President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas named Rami Hamdallah as his new Prime Minister.

7. Infosys appointed N R Narayana Murthy as executive chairman of the Board. Narayan Murthy was appointed as the chairman for the second time.

8. Anish Kapoor, the Indian-origin sculptor was honoured with Knighthood, which is the highest honour of Britain. He was honoured for Visual Arts services.

9. Indian street food vendors Ashok Sah and Vijay Chaudhary won the critics award at the World Street Food Congress in Singapore.

10. Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA), an NGO in Uttarakhand on 6 June 2013 bagged a French award for its contribution to protection of human rights.

11. Oprah Winfrey was named the most powerful celebrity on 26 June 2013 by Forbes.

12. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in prisons and a lifetime ban on holding public office by a lower court of Milan as he was found guilty of soliciting sex from a minor and abusing his powers to cover up his actions.

13. Barack Obama, the US President on 21 June 2013 nominated James Comey as the next FBI (Federal
Bureau of Investigation) Director.

14. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India on 17 June 2013 took oath as the member of Rajya
Sabha. He was elected to Rajya Sabha for the fifth consecutive term from Assam.

15. Hassan Rohani, the moderate cleric of Combatant Clergy Association party won the presidential election
in Iran. He would succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He defeated Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf of Islamic Society of Engineers party.

16. John William Ashe, the ambassador to the United Nations for Antigua and Barbuda in the month of
June 2013 selected as the President of UN General Assembly for its 68th session.

17. Raghav Joneja became the youngest Indian to scale the Mount Everest on 21 May 2013 . Climbing at the age of 15 years and seven months Raghav Joneja broke the record set by Nameirakpam Chingkheinganba of Manipur's, who climed the everest at the age 16 years seven months and 11 days.

18. The Secretary of State of the United States, John Kerry completed his India visit on 25 June 2013.

19. Salman Khurshid, the Union External Affairs Minister was on a two-day visit to Iraq from 19 to 20 June
2013.

20. The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, visited Japan on 27-30 May 2013 for the Annual Summit of the Prime Ministers.

21. 92 years old Veteran CPI leader Satya Pal Dang passed away in Amritsar on 15 June 2013.

22. Vidya Charan Shukla, a former Union Minister and Congress veteran from Chhattisgarh, died on 11 June 2013 of multiple organ failure.

23. Scottish author Iain Banks, who is best known for his novels The Wasp Factory and The Crow Road, died of Cancer on 9 June 2013 at the age of 59.

24. Jiah Khan, the 25-year old Bollywood actress died on 3 June 2013 at her Juhu residence in Mumbai. She allegedly committed suicide. Jiah Khan’s real name was Nafisa Khan.

25. CP Joshi and Ajay Maken on 15 June 2013 resigned from Union Cabinet of India. Before resignation, CP Joshi was handling the portfolio of Union Ministry of Railways as well as Transport and Highways Ministry and Ajay Maken was handling the portfolio of Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry.

26. BJP veteran politician Lal Krishna Advani on 10 June 2013 resigned from all top positions of the party
namely Parliamentary Board, National Executive and Election Committee. The decision of the party veteran came a day after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was selected to head party’s election campaign at Goa on 9 June 2013 in the BJP national executive meet.

27. Rajeev Shukla resigned as Chairman of IPL in the wake of the raging spot-fixing scandal.

28. The Union ministry of Information and Broadcasting constituted a committee headed by JS Mathur to
review the rate revision of the newspaper advertisements.

29. Union Ministry of Women and Child Development constituted a panel to examine aspects related
indecent portrayal of women in mass media. K Ratnaprabha was appointed as the head of the constituted panel.

30. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 29 May 2013 constituted a three-man inquiry
commission to probe the allegations against Gurunath Meiyappan and the three Rajasthan Royals players, who were arrested on charges of betting in the IPL-6 matches.

31. Six Forts of Rajasthan included in the list of World Heritage Site of UNESCO and won international
recognition on 21 June 2013 in the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The six majestic forts include Amber (Jaipur), Kumbhalgarh, Chittorgarh, Jaisalmer, Ranthambhore (Sawai Madhopur) and Gagaron (Jhalawar).

32. Indo-Russian INDRA 2013 military exercise is scheduled to take place in October 2013 at Mahajan field firing range of Rajasthan in India.

33. Indian Air Force received its first of the ten Boeing C-17 Globemaster III Aircraftfrom United States. The first C-17 Globemaster landed at Hindan Airbase in India.

34. The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Vijay Bahuguna announced that the Kedarnath shrine situated in the Himalayan ranges will remain shut down for a minimum period of one year, following devastation because of early Monsoon rains.

35. The Chief Minister of Kerala announced that the 29th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (India chapter) scheduled for 8 November 2013 and 9 November 2013 will be hosted by Kochi, Kerala.

36. The highest Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of India will be set-up at Nyoma, Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir at an altitude of about 14000 feet.

37. India and United Kingdom in the third week of June 2013 decided to develop the Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor project in close association with private companies from Britain.

38. The Union Health Ministry on 20 June 2013 launched the ambitious schemes called Free Drug Service and Free Diagnostics Service for providing free generic drugs at government health care centres. The schemes were launched under the National Health Mission.

39. The UN report titled World Population Prospects was released on 13 June 2013, forecasted that India will be the most populous country of the world by 2028 leaving behind China.

40. As per the latest figures from Eurostat, in the Month of May 2013, the Unemployment rate rose up to 12.2pc in April 2013 from 12.1pc in March. It was estimated as per the statistics office that 19.4m people in the eurozone were unemployed in April 2013. The highest increase in the Unemployment was registered in Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Portugal.

41. Thirty ninth G8 Summit was held at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland from 17 May - 18 June 2013. The two day summit was presided over by the David Cameron, the Prime Minister of United Kingdom.

42. India will be joining some nations in the quest for a better understanding of moonquakes as plans are afoot to send a seismometer on board the landing instrument of Chandrayaan-2 scheduled to be launched in 2014/15.

43. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed hope that the much-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime would be in place after the 2014 general election.

44. State Bank Group Chairman Pratip Choudhari has said that the procedures for the merger of one of the associate banks with the State Bank of India (SBI) will be set rolling in the second quarter of this financial year.

45. In the latest twist to the cyber-war between China and the U.S., a high-level defence groups accused Beijing of hacking into U.S. system and stealing designs of advanced weapons described as the “the backbone of the Pentagon’s regional missile defence for Asia, Europe and the Persian Gulf”.

46. Moody’s upgraded its outlook of the U.S. banking system for the first time since 2008, citing improving U.S. economic conditions that more than make up for the challenges of low interest rates. Moody’s raised its outlook on the U.S. banking system to ‘stable’ from ‘negative,’.

47. Kerala will host 35th National Games, which is now likely to be held between January 31 and February 13 next year.

48. Aruna Roy has decided not to continue in the National Advisory Council after her term expires.

49. India and Japan have decided to co-finance a joint feasibility study on a high-speed railway line on the Mumbai-Ahmadabad route.

50. Wal-Mart has been hit with $110 million in U.S. federal and State fines after pleading guilty to criminal charges of mishandling hazardous waste and pesticides at its retail stores.

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BANK EXAM CAPSULE DEC 2013 VOL:-3

101. China for the first time landed a rover on the Moon. A lunar probe carrying the “Jade Rabbit” or Yu Tu rover landed in the Bay of Rainbows, or Sinus Iridum, on the Moon’s surface, 12 days after the Chang’e-3 probe — the country’s third major lunar mission — blasted off from southwestern China.

102. Prince Harry has become the first British royal to reach the South Pole after a three-week charity trek with injured military veterans from Britain, the U.S., Canada and Australia.

103. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram pitched for limiting the Reserve Bank of India’s mandate to monetary policy formulation and banking regulation. Mr. Chidambaram told that Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), headed by Justice B. N. Srikrishna, has made similar recommendations.

104. India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves jumped by $4.40 billion to $295.70 billion for the week ended December 6.

105. Narendra Modi launched a ‘Run for Unity’ in central Gujarat. The run is aimed to drum up support for the Gujarat Chief Minister’s mega-project for the Statue of Unity, a monument of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The run marked the 63rd death anniversary of Sardar Patel.

106. Started in 2008, bitcoin is the most prominent amongst a group of digital currencies — money that exists in the form of computer code —that do not have a central issuing authority. These virtual currencies are stored in electronic wallets and can be traded on online exchanges and converted into cash. Indian version of Bitcoin is Laxmicoin.

107. British company Tesco, the world’s third largest retailer, applied for permission to acquire a 50-per-cent stake for $110 million in Tata Group’s Trent, the company that operates the Star Bazaar hypermarket chain. The FDI policy permits a maximum of 51-per cent stake in an Indian multi-brand retailing company.

108. The Reserve Bank of India outlined a corrective action plan to minimise rising non-performing assets (NPAs). RBI said it would set up a Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) to collect, store, and disseminate credit data to lenders. The RBI said that before a loan account turns into an NPA, banks should identify it in a new sub-asset category, ‘Special Mention Accounts’ (SMA). Within the SMA category, there should be three sub-categories: SMA-NF non-financial (NF) signals of incipient stress; SMA-1 principal or interest payment overdue between 31-60 days; SMA-2 principal or interest payment overdue between 61-90 days. Banks will be required to report, among others, the SMA status of the borrower to the CRILC.

109. Over half of India’s working population in 2011-12 was under the $2-per-day poverty line, new research has found. Researched and prepared by the Delhi-based Institute for Human Development (IHD), the India Labour and Employment Report

2014 was released by the Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.

110. Employees of the major scheduled banks went on a day’s strike pressing for wage revision, due from November 1, 2012.

111. Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare ended his nine-day fast as the Lok Sabha passed the Lokpal Bill.

112. Reserve Bank of India kept the indicative policy rates (repo) and cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged.

113. Virtual currency Bitcoin crashed in China, falling almost 50 per cent after the country's biggest trading platform BTC China banned deposits in yuan, following new restrictions imposed by the People’s Bank of China.

114. India and Japan tripled the limit for the currency swap arrangement to $50 billion.

115. The Election Commission recognised the Aam Aadmi Party as a state party after the party fulfilled the eligibility conditions set by the EC for granting the status. According to EC rules, to get the EC’s recognition as a “State party”, all the candidates set up by the party together should get a minimum of eight per cent of the valid votes polled in the entire State or secure a minimum of six per cent of the total votes polled. The party should also win one Assembly seat for every 25 seats in that State.

116. The Union Cabinet approved a proposal for the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences to take over the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), Thiruvananthapuram.

117. Pakistan appointed career diplomat Abdul Basit as its new High Commissioner to India.

118. The Cabinet approved a free trade agreement (FTA) in trade and services with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). The Cabinet approved the Agreement on Trade Goods under the CECA with the Asean in July 2009.

119. Nationwide protests in Bangladesh continued against Pakistan’s criticism of the hanging of Jamaat leader Quader Mollah.

120. The Pakistan Air Force rolled out its indigenously built 50th JF-17 Thunder aircraft which has a top speed of Mach 1.6 and is dubbed as the backbone of the country’s air defence. China is collaborating with Pakistan on a number of projects including Gwadar Port, Chashma Power Project, Karakoram Highway, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and more recently the Karachi Civil Nuclear Power Plant.

121. US Fed reserve decided to cut its monthly bond purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion starting in January.

122. The Union Cabinet gave its approval to allow Coal India Ltd. (CIL) to carry out exploration of coal bed methane (CBM) gas in its existing mines.

123. The first tranche of inflation indexed savings bonds will be launched on 23 December. It is open for subscription between December 23 and 31. The
minimum limit for investment is Rs.5,000 and the maximum is Rs.5 lakh per applicant per annum. The interest rate would be linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The rate would comprise two parts — fixed rate (1.5 per cent per annum) and inflation rate based on CPI.

124. Standard & Poor’s cut its long-term credit rating on the European Union to AA-plus from AAA.

125. India’s Parliamentarians are one of the best paid legislators across the world but they lag behind when it comes to performing legislative business, says the National Social Watch’s “Citizens’ Report on Governance and Development 2013.”

126. A 75-year-old man, who became the first person this week to receive an artificial heart developed by French biomedical firm Carmat, was progressing well, according to doctors.

127. Nuclear weapons capable Agni-III surface-to-surface ballistic missile was test-fired for its full range of a little over 3,000 km from the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.

128. More than 10 lakh employees of the nationalised, private and foreign banks will strike work on January 20 and 21. Besides demanding a salary increase, the employees protest the reduction in the staff strength; denial of their say in fixing of salaries; and outsourcing.

129. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) of the Ministry of Defence gave the go-ahead for four major acquisitions worth nearly Rs. 16,000 crore for the Indian Navy and the Army. The approved shopping list includes two deep-sea rescue vessels, an indigenous anti-submarine craft programme, more Israeli Barak missiles and 41 advanced light helicopters.

130. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed Rs.1 crore fine on Abu Dhabi-based Etihad for non-disclosure of full information in the course of seeking approval for its purchase of 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways.

131. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in association with Monster.com, has launched a job portal ciispecialabilityjobs.in.

132. The Finance Ministry has asked all public sector banks to switch to the broker model from the
existing corporate agency structure for distribution of products.

133. National Sample Survey found over 46 per cent of households in rural India and 77 per cent of households in urban India had drinking water sources within their premises. One-eighth of India’s urban population lives in a slum. Maharashtra accounted for 23 per cent of the total slum population according to the NSSO, followed by Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

134. The Reserve Bank of India warned the public against the use of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, pointing out that users expose themselves to potential financial, legal and security related risks. The creation, trading or usage of virtual currencies including Bitcoins are not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority.

135. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) — number of women who die of pregnancy-related causes per 1,00,000 live births — came down to 178. While Kerala has the lowest MMR at 66, Assam tops the list in absolute numbers with 328.

136. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi gained crucial legal relief when a city court rejected the petition of Zakia Jafri against the closure report of the Special Investigation Team giving him a clean chit in a case relating to the 2002 communal riots.

137. Tech major Microsoft launched ‘Guardian,’ a new safety application (app), that enables friends and family of Windows Phone users to track them in real time.

138. Union Bank of India appointed Arun Tiwari as its new Chairman and Managing Director. Mr. Tiwari was earlier working with Allahabad Bank as Executive Director.

139. India will beat Japan to grab the position of the world's third largest economy in 2028, according to an influential British think-tank, that also forecast China to overtake the US for the top position.

140. As many as 60 per cent rural households do not have access to toilet facility.

141. Ratings agency CRISIL said government will overshoot its 4.8 per cent fiscal deficit target by 0.40 per cent this fiscal.

142. Domestic cooking gas consumers in Delhi and Mumbai will get cash subsidy for buying cooking gas refils as the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) Scheme will be extended to 105 more districts. The scheme has been rolled out in 184 districts. The scheme was launched in 20 districts on June 1.

143. United Nations has lowered India's economic growth forecast for 2013 to 4.8 per cent.

144. Bitcoin has been acknowledged as a "legitimate currency" by the US lawmakers, which has resulted in value of the virtual currency shooting up to $1,000. The lawmakers and central bank in European Union have adopted a wait and watch policy, so has the RBI. In Germany, it is considered a private currency, while in China, it is considered a virtual commodity and transactions are taxed as such. In Switzerland, it is treated as a foreign currency and Canada already taxes gains on trade in bitcoins.

145. India was ranked the fifth largest exporter of black money between 2002-2011 with over USD 343 billion sent abroad.

146. India has secured 69th position in the global energy architecture performance index report released by World Economic Forum.

147. Asian Development Bank said India is likely to record 4.7 per cent growth in current fiscal which will improve to 5.7 per cent next year.

148. RBI said India's economy would grow about 5 per cent in this financial year while the current account deficit would be below 3 per cent of GDP.

149. India has been ranked 98th in the Forbes list of world's best countries for doing business that has cited poverty, corruption and discrimination against girls among the challenges facing the country. Ireland topped the list.

150. India will become the largest single source of global oil demand growth after 2020, the International Energy Agency said.

151. India was ranked among the world's highly corrupt nations at the 94th spot in a global list topped by Denmark and New Zealand as the cleanest, while Somalia emerged as the most corrupt.

152. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked people not to fall prey to rumours circulating that banks would not accept banknotes with scribbling from January 1, 2014.

153. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to sanction loans of up to Rs 1 lakh against pledge of gold ornaments and jewellery.

154. Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be generated through complex computer software systems with solutions shared on a network, although the process is complex and such 'mining' can be done only on very powerful servers. Hardly three years into existence, bitcoin has already become the world's most expensive currency and its per unit value soared past USD 1,000 level or about Rs 63,000 recently.

155. The World Bank’s investment arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC), is planning to launch IFC Asia Fund with a target size of $1-1.5 billion. The fund will mobilise additional capital for co-investment in emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

156. Nepal and India have agreed in principle to allow circulation of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 denomination Indian bank notes within Nepalese territory, ending a ban in place for over a decade.

157. India Post has drawn up an ambitious Rs 4,900-crore plan to swamp the country with 2,800 automated teller machines (ATMs) in major centres and handheld micro-ATMs in 1.3 lakh rural branches by 2015.

158. RBI said, "It is advised that a credit card account will be treated as non-performing asset if the minimum amount due is not paid fully within 90 days from the next statement date".

159. People using Bitcoins are on their own when it comes to losses, the European Union’s banking
watchdog said in a formal warning to consumers on the risks of using unregulated online currencies.

160. Top 30 loan defaulters of public sector banks (PSBs) account for more than one-third of total gross non-performing assets of state-run lenders.

161. State Bank of India is stepping up investments in technology as a way to bring down the cost it incurs in opening and operating accounts in rural and semi-urban areas as part of its financial inclusion efforts

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