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
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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