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Contents
Business Awareness ................................................................................................................................ 2
Personalities ........................................................................................................................................ 2
Business Appointments - India .................................................................................................. 2
Key positions held – World Forums ........................................................................................... 3
Business Awards ................................................................................................................................. 5
Global Rankings ................................................................................................................................... 6
Business News ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Mergers, Acquisitions, Investments........................................................................................... 7
New Launches/Initiatives ......................................................................................................... 10
Systems/Apps........................................................................................................................... 11
General Awareness ............................................................................................................................... 13
Personalities ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Appointments .......................................................................................................................... 13
Key positions held .................................................................................................................... 14
Deaths ...................................................................................................................................... 16
People in News ........................................................................................................................ 18
Book Releases & Authors .................................................................................................................. 19
Sports ................................................................................................................................................ 19
Awards .............................................................................................................................................. 22
Honours ............................................................................................................................................. 29
Government Schemes ....................................................................................................................... 30
Aerospace/Defence .......................................................................................................................... 35
Military & Naval Exercises ................................................................................................................. 38
Government News ............................................................................................................................ 39
India s Global Rankings ..................................................................................................................... 43
International News ........................................................................................................................... 46
International Appointments .................................................................................................... 51
Important Days ................................................................................................................................. 52
2
Business Awareness
Personalities
Business Appointments - India
Position Personality
MD,Facebook Sandeep Bhushan
President & MD,General Motors
India
Sanjiv Gupta
Chairman,Infosys Nandan Nilekani
CMD,Hindustan Copper Limited Santosh Sharma
MD & CEO, Bank of India Dinabandhu Mohapatra
Director, Twitter India Taranjeet Singh
MD & CEO, Indian Overseas Bank R Subramaniakumar
MD & CEO, Union Bank of India Rajkiran Rai G
MD & CEO, Punjab National Bank Sunil Mehta
Head, Nokia India Sanjay Malik
Partner & CEO, KPMG India Sameer Chadha
CEO & MD, MCX Mrugank Paranjape
CEO, NSE Vikram Limaye
Chairman, BSE Dhirendra Swarup
MD, SBI Dinesh Kumar Khara
Chairman, Central Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT)
Sushil Chandra
CEO & MD, Larsen & Turbo Ltd S.N. Subrahmanyan
Chairman, Tata Sons N Chandrasekaran
Key Corporate Positions
Entity Personality
MD & CEO,PNB MetLife Ashish Kumar Shrivastava
MD & CEO,Voltas Pradeep Bakshi
CMD, SIDBI Mohammad Mustafa
MD & CEO, Union Bank of India Rajkiran Rai G
Chairman,SBI Rajnish Kumar
MD &CEO,ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar
MD,HDFC Bank Aditya Puri
MD & CEO,Yes Bank Rana Kapoor
CEO,Standard Chartered India Zarin Daruwala
CMD,Exim Bank Yaduvendra Mathur
3
Governor,RBI Urjit Patel
MD & CEO,IDFC Bank Sunil Kakar
COO, ITC Limited Sanjiv Puri
President, Microsoft India Anant Maheshwari
CEO, Wipro Abidali Neemuchwala
CEO, AirAsia India Amar Abrol
MD, Facebook India Umang Bedi
MD, Mondelez India Deepak Iyer
Key positions held – World Forums
Organization
(Established in)
HQ Headed by 2017 convention
United Nations
(1945)
New York Secretary General
– Antonio Guterres
Multiple conventions
UN General
Assembly
New York President –Miroslov Lajcak
72nd
session,
(September 2017)
International Court
of Justice (1945)
Netherlands Ronny Abraham ---
World Bank (1945)
Washington
D.C
President - Jim
Yong Kim
---
IMF (1945) Washington
D.C
MD - Christine
Lagarde
---
UNESCO (1945) Paris, France Director-General -
Audrey Azoulay
Multiple Conventions
UNCTAD (1964) Geneva,
Switzerland
Secretary General
– Mukhisa Kituyi
---
World Economic
Forum (1971)
Geneva,
Switzerland
Executive
Chairman –Klaus
Schwab
Davos, Switzerland
(January 2017)
Commonwealth of
Nations (1949)
London, UK Secretary General
– Patricia Scotland
__
World Intellectual
Property
Organization (1967)
Geneva,
Switzerland
Director-General –Francis Gurry
__
New Development
Bank (2015)
Shanghai,
China
K V Kamath
BRICS (2009) Shanghai,
China
---- Xiamen,China
(September 2017)
4
BIMSTEC (1997) Dhaka,
Bangladesh
Secretary General
– Sumith
Nakandala (Sri
Lanka)
Kathmandu,Nepal
(August 2017)
WHO (1948) Geneva,
Switzerland
Director General –Dr Tedros
Adhanom
Ghebreyesus
ASEAN Summit
(1967)
Jakarta,
Indonesia
Secretary General
– Le Luong Minh
30th
summit, Manila
(April 2017)
31st
summit,
Philippines
(Planned in Nov 2017)
UNICEF (1946) New York Exec Director -
Anthony (Tony)
Lake
Global
Innovation Summit –
Jordan (May 2017)
OPEC (1960) Vienna,
Austria
Secretary General
–Mohammed
Sanusi Barkindo
(Nigeria)
NATO (1949) Brussels Secretary General
– Jens Stoltenberg
Belgium (May 2017)
SAARC (1985) Kathmandu Secretary General
–Amjad Hussain B.
Sial (Pakistan)
---
NAM (1961) Jakarta Secretary General
– Nicolás Maduro
---
G7/G8 (1976) ---- ---- 43rd
summit, Italy
(May 2017)
G20 (1999) Mexico Xi Jinping 12th
summit, Germany
(July 2017)
SCO (2001) Beijing Secretary General
– Rashid Olimov
Kazakhstan
(June 2017)
International
Maritime
Organization (1948)
London, UK Secretary General
– Ki Tack Lim
(South Korea)
71st
Session, London
(July 2017)
International
Labour
Organization (1919)
Geneva,
Switzerland
Director General –
Guy Ryder (UK)
106th
Session,Switzerland
(June 2017)
5
Asia-Pacific
Economic
Cooperation (APEC)
Forum (1989)
Singapore Executive Director
– Alan Bollard
25th
summit to be held
in Vietnam (November
2017)
Business Awards
Business Awards Awardees Achievement
Forbes India
Leadership Awards
2017
Entrepreneur for the Year
To be held
Best CEO – Private sector
Best CEO – Public sector
Outstanding Startup for the year
NextGen Entrepreneur for the
year
Lifetime Achievement
Golden Peacock Awards Awardees Sector
Global Awards for
Excellence in Business
Excellence 2017
eClerx Services Limited BPO
UltraTech Cement Limited,
Aditya Cement Works
Cement
Triveni Engineering &
Industries Limited
Chemical
(Distillery)
Capgemini Technology
Services India Limited
Consultancy
The New India Assurance
Company Limited
Insurance
DHL Express (India) Pvt Ltd Logistics
World Security, Dubai Security Services
GMR Hyderabad International
Airport Limited
Transportation
(Aviation)
Lifetime Achievement
Award for Business &
Social Inclusiveness 2017
Dr. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor Group Chairman
Al Habtoor Group
Business Leadership
Award 2017
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem Group Chairman
and CEO, DP World
Other Awards Awardees Details
6
Niryat Shree (Exporters)
2017
To be announced
Offered by Federation
of Indian Export
Organisations (FIEO) Niryat Bandh (Export
promotion Councils &
Banks) 2017
To be announced
CNBC s 16th
Asia Business
Leader Awards
To be held in November
2017 (China)
---
Global Rankings
Forbes Rankings 2017 Personality Role (Rank)
World s most powerful
women
To be announced To be announced
Forbes List of world s
100 most powerful
women – Indian names
To be announced To be announced
Forbes Asia 50 Power
Businesswomen list –
Top 2 positions
To be announced To be announced
Forbes 2017India Richest
List
Mukesh Ambani Reliance Industries
Lakshmi Mittal Mittal Steel
Azim Premji Wipro
Dilip Sanghvi Sun Pharma
Shiv Nadar HCL
Forbes 2017 list of the
World s highest paid
celebrities (Indians)
Shahrukh Khan(Rank
8),Salman Khan(Rank 9),
Akshay
Kumar(Rank10),Priyanka
Chopra
(Rank 8 among Highest
paid TV actress )
Actors
Forbes 2017 list of the
World s highest paid TV
celebrities (Indians)
Priyanka Chopra(8) Actors
Forbes 2017World s
Most Powerful People
To be announced To be announced
Companies/Entities Details
Fortune 500 list (2016 Public Sector - IOC (161), SBI (232), BP (358), HP
7
revenues) –7 Indian
companies
(367)
Private Sector – Reliance Industries (215), Tata
Motors (226), Rajesh Exports (423)
Forbes 2017 ranking of
The World s Most
Innovative Companies
Ranks 1-5
1.Salesforce.com
2.Tesla
3.Amazon.com
4.Shanghai RAAS
Blood Products
5.Netflix
Ranks 6-10
6.Incyte
7.Hindustan Unilever
8.Asian Paints
9.Naver
10.Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals
Forbes best countries for
business 2017
Ranks 1-5 Ranks 6-10
To be announced
TIME Magazine
Rankings
Person Profile
TIME Magazine s Person
of the Year 2017
To be announced To be announced
TIME Magazine s 2017
list of world s most
influential people –
Indian entries
Name Category Profile
Narendra Modi Leaders PM of India
(Politician)
Vijay Shekhar
Sharma
Titan Paytm founder
Business News
Mergers, Acquisitions, Investments
News Narration
MCX launches India s first
commodity options in Gold
The options product is unique and the first of its
kind, giving buyers the right to buy or sell the
underlying asset, but no obligation, at a specified
price at the expiry. MCX has currently launched a
Gold Option contract, keeping Gold (1 Kg) futures
as the underlying asset
SBI ties up with Escorts to
finance farmers for
purchase of tractors
The aim of the tie-up with Escorts is to promote,
market and make accessible, organised finance
facility, with superior features at competitive
interest rates to farmers across country, who wish
to purchase Powertrac and Farmtrac tractors
manufactured by Escorts
8
Mahindra to empower
women farmers with
ergonomic tools
Mahindra & Mahindrahas launched a programme,
Prerna to empower women working in the
agriculture sector by promoting efficient and
ergonomic farm tools and equipment
SBI launched India s first
bond index series at
London Stock Exchange
The FTSE SBI Bond Index Series, launched by
India s largest commercial bank along with global
index and data provider FTSE Russell, is positioned
as a first-of-its-kind transparent benchmark for
investors in international markets to analyse
India s government bond market
Star India Wins IPL Media
Rights
Star India acquired digital as well as media rights
for Indian Premier League for a term of five years
2018-2023 with a bid of Rs. 16,347.50 crore
Tribes India products to be
sold on Amazon
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development
Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) has inked
MoU with e-commerce giant Amazon for selling
tribal products. The aim is to promote tribal
handicrafts like handloom products, cane and
bamboo products, tribal jewellery, Dhokra craft,
tribal weaves and embroidery, tribal paintings etc.
TRIFED already has tied-up with Snapdeal
PNB, BSNL join hands for
mobile wallet Speedpay
rollout
Punjab National Bank and state-run firm BSNL
teamed up to roll out open mobile wallet
Speedpay across 10 states in the country.
Speedway wallet will operate like any other
mobile wallet for paying bills, recharging phone
besides its users will be able to deposit and
withdraw money from authorised retail outlets
Fincare Small Finance Bank
starts operations with 25
branches in 4 states
Previously known as Disha Microfin Limited),
Fincare started banking operations with 25
operational branches across Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
L&T bags Rs 3375-crore
Mauritius metro order
The project comprises of a 26-kilometer route,
which will connect Curepipe to Immigration
Square in Port Louis
Facebook launches
YouTube competitor called
Watch
A new video programming platform Watch for
creators and publishers. Watch is expected to
compete with Google-owned YouTube
The Cabinet Committee on HPCL will continue as PSU after the acquisition.
9
Economic Affairs (CCEA)
approves selling 51% stake
in HPCL to ONGC
HPCL will add 23.8 million tonnes of annual oil
refining capacity to ONGC s portfolio, making it
the third-largest refiner in the country after IOC &
Reliance Industries
AIIB Approves $150 million
for India Infrastructure
Fund
China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB) has approved $150 million equity
investment loan to the India Infrastructure Fund.
This loan will be the bank s first equity
investment to fund private projects
Paytm launches payments
bank
Paytm has rolled out Payments Bank operations
by launching first physical branch in Noida
Amul signs MoU with ISRO GCMMF, marketer of Amul brand has signed an
MoU with ISRO for fodder acreage assessment
using satellite observation and space technology
BSNL signs MoU with
Facebook & MobiKwik
BSNL has inked agreements with Facebook &
MobiKwik in order to popularize value added
services among customers
Siemens, TCS tie-up for
industrial IoT services
TCS & Siemens announced collaboration around
Internet of Things (IoT) innovation. This will
enable customers to benefit from data insights &
services based on MindSphere, a cloud-based,
open IoT operating system from Siemens
JK Tyre ties up with Suzuki
to create new
opportunities
After playing a pioneering role in identifying &
nurturing India s top racers for over two decades,
JK Tyre wants to churn out world-class bike racers.
It will introduce a two-wheeler racing series,
which will give an opportunity to every aspiring
biker to showcase skills & fulfil dream of
becoming a champion
World Bank clears $250
million loan for Skill India
mission
The World Bank has cleared a $250 million loan
for making Indian youth more employable
through reskilling. Under the programme, adults
in 15-59 years of age, underemployed or
unemployed, will get the skill training. The
programme will benefit approximately 15,000
trainers and 3,000 assessors
Thales and Reliance
Defence Limited Joint
Venture
Thales and Reliance Defence Limited announced
in June 2017 their decision to form a joint venture
(JV) to execute part of the offset obligations for
10
the 36 Rafale fighter jets India has contracted
from France
TeamLease To Buy 30%
Stake In Job Portal
Freshersworld.com
Staffing services firm TeamLease Services will
acquire a 30% stake in job portal
Freshersworld.com at an enterprise valuation
of Rs. 18 crore, a move that will accelerate its
hiring strategy
Fairfax sells 12% in ICICI
Lombard to Warburg for Rs
2,473 cr
ICICI Lombard General Insurance said its foreign
partner Canada-based Fairfax has offloaded part
stake of 12.18 per cent to a clutch of investors,
including Warburg Pincus, for Rs 2,473 crore.
New Launches/Initiatives
News Narration
Government launches
website ofCIPAM
The official website of Cell for IPR Promotion and
Management (CIPAM) of Department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will
provide updates on upcoming events, including
awareness and sensitization programs and
provide information related to IPR
Government launches
Intensified Mission
Indradhanush
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
has launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush
(IMI) to accelerate full immunization coverage to
more than 90% by December 2018
Government aims to reach each and every child
under two years of age and all those pregnant
women who have been left uncovered under the
routine immunisation programme
CARA launches monthly
Jan Sampark Program
to facilitate adoption
The first of its kind programme was held in New
Delhi by Central Adoption Resource Authority
(CARA) of the Ministry of Women & Child
Development
This program is launched to enable the public to
have interaction with its officials and staff for
seeking information related to Adoption as well
as flagging their concerns
Government launches
PENCIL Portal
The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment
launched Platform for Effective Enforcement for
No Child Labour (PENCIL) Portal at National
11
Conference on Child Labour
This portal is an electronic platform that aims at
involving Centre, State, District, Governments,
civil society and general public in achieving the
target of child labour free society
HRD ministry launches
DIKSHA Portal for
teachers
DIKSHA portal will provide digital platform to
teachers to make their operations more digital
DIKSHA is built considering the whole life cycle of
teacher beginning from the time when they enrol
in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to the time
they retire as teachers
Union Government
launches National Sports
Talent Search Portal
A sports talent search portal was launched by
Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to
trace& provide essential directions to young
talent who wish to seriously pursue sports
Scania launches new gen
U-BODY tipper for
mining operations in
India
Scania, the Swedish company and a leading
manufacturer of commercial vehicles and
engines, has designed the new tipper to increase
productivity in country s mining sector
It has designed for Indian conditions, which
brings down the Total Operating Economy
NSDC, Google India
launch mobile app
development
programme
The National Skill Development Corporation
(NSDC) and Google India have launched Android
Skill Development programme to improve mobile
developer ecosystem in the country.
The programme aims to impart mobile
development training on the android OS and web
platform and also improve the quality of mobile
app development ecosystem in India.
Maharashtra
Government launches
two online portals
MahaDBT, MahaVASTU
Maharashtra Government has launched two
online portals MahaDBT and MahaVASTU to
streamline the process of direct benefit transfer
(DBT) and to bring in more transparency in
construction sector
Maharashtra became first state in the country to
launch such a system that will provide direct
benefits with Aadhaar authentication
Systems/Apps
Name Launching Narration
12
Entity
Divyang
Sarathi
Union
Government
The mobile app aims to empower
Divyangjans (people with disabilities) by
providing them easier and convenient access to
information pertaining to schemes,
scholarships, statutes, institutional support
systems, jobs and other crucial information
FoSCoRIS FSSAI System will help in verifying compliance of food
safety and hygiene standards by food
businesses as per the government norms &will
bring together all key stakeholders including
food businesses, food safety officers,
designated officers, state food safety
commissioners
MyFASTag &
FASTag
NHAI These apps were launched to facilitate the
availability of FASTags for Electronic Toll
Collection
Humraaz Indian Army The app has been launched through which
serving soldiers can track details like postings
and promotions. The app will also enable
soldiers to view their monthly salary slips, Form
16 and also download them
Rail SAARTHI Indian
Railway
Launched by Railway minister Suresh Prabhu in
July 2017, the app was made to cater to various
passenger requirements, including ticket
booking, inquiry, on-board cleaning and
ordering meal on a single platform
mAadhaar app UIDAI The app allows users to carry unique Aadhaar
information including name, date of birth,
gender, address, and the linked photograph, on
smart phones. The app also allows users to lock
or unlock biometrics data
e-RaKAM
Portal
Union
Government
The portal provides a platform for farmers to
sell agricultural produce. E-RaKAM is a first of
its kind initiative that leverages technology to
connect farmers from the smallest villages to
the biggest markets of the world
13
General Awareness
Personalities
Appointments
President of India Narration
Ram Nath Kovind
sworn in as
14th
President of
India
The Ex-Governor of Bihar & Rajya Sabha MP was
administered oath to the office. Before entering
politics, he was a lawyer for 16 years & practiced in the
Delhi High Court & the Supreme Court
Vice-President of India Narration
M Venkaiah Naidu
sworn in as 13th
Vice-
President of India
Former Union Minister sworn in as 13th
Vice President
of India. He took charge as the Chairman of Rajya
Sabha
(a) Chief Ministers Personality
Nagaland TR Zeliang sworn in as 19th
Chief Minister of Nagaland
Bihar Nitish Kumar resigned & got re-elected, with BJP support
(b) Governor/Lieutenant Gov Personality
Arunachal Pradesh BD Mishra
Assam Jagdish Mukhi
Andaman & Nicobar Islands DK Joshi
Bihar Satya pal Malik
Meghalaya Ganga Prasad
Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit
(c) Sports Personality
Coach of Indian cricket team Ravi Shastri (Ex-coach Anil Kumble resigned)
Coach of Indian U-19 cricket
team
Rahul Dravid (Re-appointment)
Coach of Indian men s hockey
team
Sjoerd Marijne (Ex-coach Roelant Oltmans was
ousted)
(d) Others Personality
Attorney General of India K K Venugopal (Replaced Mukul Rohatgi)
Chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti (Replaced Nasim Zaidi)
14
(e) Union Cabinet portfolio Personality
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman(First woman with full time
responsibility)
Information & Broadcasting Smriti Irani (Additional charge, post M.Venkaiah
Naidu resigned)
Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal(Replaced Suresh Prabhu). Additional
charge of coal ministry
(f) Government Personality
MD& CEO, Indian Post
Payment Bank
Suresh Sethi
CMD, Air India Rajiv Bansal (Replaced Ashwani Lohani)
Chairman, Railway Board Ashwani Lohani
Chairman, Economic
Advisory Committee
Bibek Debroy
Chairman, GSTN Ajay Bhushan Pandey
Comptroller & Auditor
General of India
Rajiv Mehrishi
CEO,IGCAR U. Kamachi Mudali
Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra
Key positions held
Government/Defence Personality
Governor, RBI Urjit Patel
Special Director,CBI Rakesh Asthana
RBI Deputy Governors NS Vishwanathan
Viral Acharya
Bibhu Prasad Kanungo
S S Mundra
Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa
Chairperson,NACWC Inder Jit Singh
Chairman, Press Trust of India Vivek Goenka
Chairman (Part time), UIDAI J Satyanarayana
CEO, UIDAI Ajay Bhushan Pandey
Central Administrative
Tribunal (CAT)
Justice Permod Kohli
15
NITI Aayog Chairperson- Shri Narendra Modi
CEO-Amitabh Kant
Vice Chairman –Rajiv Kumar
Chief Economic adviser to the
government
Arvind Subramanian
National Human Rights
Commission of India
Justice H.L. Dattu
Chief Information
Commissioner
Radha Krishna Mathur
National Security advisor to
the Prime Minister
Ajit Doval
Chief, RAW Anil Dhasmana
Chief, Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain
Director-General, CRPF Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar
Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Bipin Rawat
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa
Chief Economic advisor to the
government
Arvind Subramanian
Chairman, 7th
pay
commission
Justice A K Mathur
Chairman, 14th
Finance
Commission
Y V Reddy
Minister of Commerce &
Industries
Suresh Prabhu
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia
Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg
Cabinet Secretary of India Pradeep Kumar Sinha
Chairman, SEBI chief Ajay Tyagi
CII President- Shobana Kamineni
Director General-Chandrajit Baneer
NASSCOM President – R. Chandrasekhar
Chairman – Raman roy
President, ASSOCHAM Sandeep Jajodia
President, FICCI Pankaj Patel
Science Related Bodies
(Establishment year)
Name
TIFR (1945) Sandip Trivedi
16
BARC (1954) Director – K N Vyas
Atomic Energy Commission of India Chairman – Sekhar Basu
ISRO (1969) A S Kirankumar
DRDO (1958) Director General –S Christopher
National Green Tribunal (2010) Justice Swatanter Kumar
Deaths
Name Narration
Girija Devi Eminent singer & winner of all Padma awards was
considered as the Queen of Thumri
Hugh Hefner The founder & chief creative officer of Iconic magazine
Playboy , passed away in Los Angeles
Tom Alter Veteran theatre, television and film actor was a recipient
of Padma Shri award for his contribution in the field of arts
& cinema
Arjan Singh The Indian Air Force Marshal served as Chief of Air Staff,
was the he first and only officer of the Indian Air Force to
be promoted to five-star rank as Marshal. He was also
recipient of Padma Vibhushan award
Gauri Lankesh Noted Journalist &editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike,
a Kannada weekly was shot dead
Ahmed Khan India s oldest football Olympian, participated in 1948 &
1952 Summer Olympics
Ex-Manipur CM
Rishang Keishing
A freedom fighter and member of India s first parliament
(1952-57) served as the Chief Minister of Manipur from
1980 -1988 & 1994-1997
S Paul The veteran photographer who was described as The
Henry Cartier-Bresson of India by B&W Magazine of US,
died in New Delhi
Stephen
Wooldridge
The Australian racing cyclist was a former Olympic Gold
Medallists & four time World Champion
Yisrael Kristal Polish-Israeli super centenarian and Holocaust survivor,
world s oldest living man, died at the age of 113
Pushpa Mittra
Bhargava
An Indian scientist, writer, and administrator founded the
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, a federally
funded research institute, in Hyderabad
U R Rao Former ISRO Chairman & Internationally renowned space
scientist passed away in Bengaluru in July 2017
17
Prof. Yash Pal Globally renowned physicist, academic and higher
education reformer, passed away in Noida in July 2017. He
was known for contributions to the study of cosmic rays,
as well as for being an institution-builder. He was also one
of the leading science communicators in India
H. Sayeeduddin
Dagar
An Indian classical vocalist belonged toDhrupad tradition,
the oldest existing form of north Indian (Hindustani)
classical music
Chester Bennington An American singer & songwriter, also famous for being
the front man for the rock band Linkin Park was found
dead at his Apartment
Joseph Rago Former Pulitzer prize winner & well known American
political writer was famous for his work at The Wall Street
Journal
Bhishmraj Bam,
sports psychology
expert
He hadprovided guidance to sportspersons in several
fields, including the cricketer Rahul Dravid& badminton
player Aparna Popat. He also wrote for newspapers on
sports psychology & had penned books on the subject
Justice Leila Seth She was the first woman judge of Delhi High Court and first
woman Chief Justice of a high court (Himachal Pradesh)
KPS Gill An IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre of the 1958
batch was known as a super cop and was credited with
rooting out militancy in Punjab
Chandraswami The spiritual leader was closely linked to former prime
ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chandra Shekhar
Manuel Noriega He ruled Panama from 1983-89 and spied for the Central
Intelligence Agency CIA
Roger Moore The British actor played the much famed secret agent
James Bond in seven films
Ueli Steck Famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck was killed in a
mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal
C Narayana He was a renowned Telugu poet, writer & Jnanpith
awardee
P. N. Bhagwati Former Supreme Court Judge & Chief Justice of Gujarat
introduced concepts of Public Interest Litigation(PIL)
Deshbandu Das
Gupta
Founder & Chairman of Lupin limited, a multinational
pharmaceutical company was the recipient of the E&Y
Entrepreneur of the Year 2011 – Visionary Leader award
18
People in News
Name Narration
David Miller He scored fastest century in T20 International with the score of
101*(36 balls). He achieved this frat in 35 balls against
Bangladesh
Virat Kohli He is the only Indian athlete to feature in Forbes top 10
valuable athletes list standing at 7th
position. He also became
the fastest player to score 9000 runs in ODI
Gitanjali Rao Indian-American girl won the 2017 Discovery Education 3M
Young Scientist Challenge for inventing a quick, low-cost test to
detect lead-contaminated water
Anupam Kher He was appointed new chairman of FTII, Pune.He succeeded
Gajendra Chauhan whose tenure ended in Mar 2017
Peggy Whitson Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth, wrapping up a
record-breaking flight that catapulted her to first place for U.S.
space endurance.Whitson s 665 days off the planet 288 days
on this mission alone exceeds that of any other American and
any other woman worldwide
Jagmeet Singh A lawyer by profession, he became first Sikh politician to lead
Canada s major New Democratic Party, thus becoming the first
non-white politician to lead a major political party in Canada
Mahendra Singh
Dhoni
Former Indian Cricket team Captain created history by
becoming first ever wicket keeper to do 100 stumpings in ODI
Amritpal Singh The captain of the Indian basketball team scripted history by
becoming the first Indian-born player to be picked up by an
Australian NBL team
Tahir Mahmood The eminent jurist wasawarded with the prestigious N R
Madhava Menon Best Law Teacher Award 2017 for his
distinguished services to legal education and legal profession
on the occasion of Law Teachers Day celebrations
Gurmeet Ram
Rahim Singh
Dera Sacha Sauda chiefhas been jailed for 20-years by a special
CBI court. The sentence was delivered by special CBI Judge
Jagdeep Singh
Wayne Rooney Former Captain of England Football team retired
Ashish Bagga CEO of India Today Group, which runs news channels India
Today and Aaj Tak, stepped down from his position
Milkha Singh The legendary athlete has been appointed as the Goodwill
Ambassador of WHO for physical activity in the South-East Asia
Region (SEAR)
19
Prasoon Joshi Appointed as the Chairman of Central Board of Film
Certification (CBFC). He replaced Pahlaj Nihalani (who was
expelled from his duties)
Preet Kaur Gill Britain s first woman Sikh MP was elected to Home Affairs
Select Committee in the UK Parliament
Book Releases & Authors
Author Book
Ram Kamal Mukherjee Beyond the dream girl
Maria Sharapova Unstoppable: My Life So Far
Satya Nadella Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft s Soul
and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone
Anita Shirodkar Aryavir
Amish Tripathi Sita – Warrior of Mithila
Durjoy Dutta The Boy who Loved
Jairam Ramesh Indira Gandhi: A life in Nature
Surya Prakash The Emergency-Indian Democracy s Darkest Hour
M S Swaminathan The World Without Hunger
Sports
Individual Sports
Football Location Highlights
Confederation
Cup 2017
Russia Germany won first ever Confederation Cup by
defeating Copa America Champion Chile by 1-0
goals in the final match held at St.Petersburg,
Russia
2017 UEFA
Super Cup
football
tournament
Macedonia Real Madrid has won the 2017 UEFA Super Cup
football tournament by defeating Manchester
United in the final by 2-1 at the Philip II Arena in
Skopje, Macedonia, on August 8, 2017
2017 FIFA U-17
World Cup
Kolkata England won the tournament by defeating Spain
in the finals at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati
Krirangan/Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, West
Bengal with 5-2 goals
20
Hockey Location Highlights
ASHF Men s
Hockey Asia Cup
2017
Dhaka India defeated Malaysia in the finals with the
score of 2-1 to clinch the gold
Kabaddi Location Highlights
2017 Pro
Kabaddi League
season
Multiple
venues in
India
Patna Pirates won their consecutive third title by
defeating Gujarat Fortune giants in the finals
Tennis Location Highlights
Wimbledon
Championship 2017
Men s Single
London
Roger Federer won his 8th
Wimbledon
championship by defeating Marin Cilic in the
finals
Women s Single Gabrine Muguruz won her first ever
Wimbledon championship by defeating
Venus Williams in the finals
Mixed Doubles Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis, defeated
Henri Kontinen and Heather Watson in the
finals
French open 2017
Men s Single
Paris
Rafael Nadal won his 10th
French open title
defeating Stan Wawrinka in the finals
Women s Single Jeļena Ostapenko won the title, defeating Simona Halep in the finals
Mixed Doubles Rohan Bopanna clinched his maiden Grand
Slam title when he won French Open mixed
doubles final with Canada s Gabriela
Dabrowski
Rogers Cup 2017
Men s Single
Montreal Alexander Zverev won the title by defeating
Roger Federer in the final, 6–3, 6–4.
Women s Single Elina Svitolina won the title by defeating
Caroline Wozniacki in the final, 6–4, 6–0.
US Open 2017
Men s Single
New York Rafael Nadal won his 16th
Grand Slam title
and 3rd
US Open title, defeating first time
Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson, 6–3, 6–3,
6–4.
21
Women s Single Sloane Stephens won her first Grand Slam
title, defeating Madison Keys in the final, 6–3, 6–0
Mixed Doubles Martina Hingis and Jamie Murray won their
second consecutive Grand Slam mixed
doubles title, defeating Chan Hao-ching and
Michael Venus in the final, 6–1, 4–6, [10–8]
Cricket Location Highlights
Champions Trophy
2017
London Pakistan defeated India in the finals of ICC
Champions Trophy 2017 to clinch their
maiden champions trophy
ICC Women s World
Cup 2017
London England defeated India in the finals to win
their 4th
World Cup by 9 runs
Squash Location Winners
Victorian Open
Squash
Championship, 2017
Melbourne Harinder Pal Sandhu defeated Australia s
Rex Hedrick in the finals of Victorian Open
Squash Championship 2017
South Australian
Open Squash Title,
2017
Harinder Pal Sandhu defeated Rhys Dowling
of Australia in finals to win South Australian
Open Squash Title 2017
Badminton Location Winners
US Open Grand Prix California H S Prannoy won the 2017 US Open Grand
Prix Gold badminton tournament title. He
defeated his compatriot Parupalli Kashyap
21-15, 20-22, 21-12
BWF World
Championship 2017
Glasgow Japan s Nozomi Okuhara defeated PV
Sindhu in the finals 19-21, 22-20, 20-22
score. Saina Nehwal clinched bronze medal
French Open
Badminton 2017
Paris K Srikanth defeatedJapan s Kenta Nishimoto
21-14, 21-13 score
Denmark Open
Badminton 2017
Odense K Srikanth defeated South Korea s Lee
Hyun-il21-10,21-5 in finals
Australian Open
Badminton 2017
Sydney K Srikanth defeated China s Chen Long 22-
20,21-16
22
Indonesia Open
Badminton 2017
Jakarta K Srikanth defeated Japan s Kazumasa Sakai
21-11,21-19
Shooting Location Winners
7th
Asian
Championship
Shotgun
Kazakhstan Mairaj Ahmad Khan & Rashmmi Rathore
won a gold medal in the skeet mixed team
event in Astana, Kazakhstan
Formula One Winner
2017 Spanish Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton 2017 Belgian Grand Prix
2017 Italian Grand Prix
Upcoming events Location
10th
World Games 2017 Poland
18th
Asian Games 2018 Indonesia
21st
FIFA World cup 2018 Russia
37th
Men s Hockey Champions
Trophy 2018
Netherlands
13th
South Asian Federation
Games 2018
Kathmandu
46th
Copa America 2019 Brazil
37th
National Games 2019 Andhra Pradesh
12th
Cricket World Cup 2019 England & Wales
ICC T20 cricket world cup 2020 Australia
Summer Olympics 2020 Tokyo
Summer Olympics 2024 Paris
Awards
Movies/Music
International Personality Achievement
59 th
Grammy Awards
2017
Adele, the British
star
Won five awards, including
Record, Album & Song of the
year
Sandeep Das, Indian
table player
Sing Me Home , an album
having contribution from
Sandeep won the Best World
23
Music Album
89th
Academy awards
2017
La La Land Received 14 nominations & 6
awards, including – Best
Director – Damien Chazelle Best
Actress – Emma Stone
Moonlight Received 6 nominations & won
3 awards, including Best
Movie award
Casey Affleck Best Actor
70th
Cannes Film
Festival, 2017
Swedish film, The
Square directed by
Ruben Ostlund
Won Palme d Or (The highest
prize at the Cannes Film
Festival)
49th
International Film
Festival of India 2017
To be announced
Beauty Pageants Winner Achievement
Miss Universe 2017 To be announced
Miss World 2017
Miss India World 2017
Mister World 2017
Movie Awards Awardees Achievement
18th
IIFA
awards2017, New
York
Shahid Kapoor Best Actor (Udta Punjab)
Alia Bhatt Best Actress (Udta Punjab)
Neerja Best Film
11th
Asia Pacific
Screen Awards 2017
To be held in November
2017
Dada Saheb Phalke
Award 2017
To be announced
64th
Filmfare Awards
2018, Mumbai
Popular category
Best Actor To be announced
Best Actress
Best Film
Best Director
Critics Awards
Best Actor To be announced
24
Best Actress
Best Movie
66th
National Film
Awards, 2018
Category Awardee
Best Film To be announced
Best Actor
Theatre Award Awardee Achievement
Kalidas Samman
2018
To be announced To be announced
Sports Awards
(Inception Yr)
Awardees Sport
Arjuna Awards (1961) 17 awardees Key names
Cheteshwar Pujara – Cricket
Harmanpreet Kaur – Cricket
SSP Chawrasia – Golf
V.J. Surekha-Archery
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
(1991)
2 Athletes Key names
Sardar Singh–Hockey
Devendra Jhajharia–Javelin Throw
Dronacharya Award
(1985)
2 coaches Sanjoy Chakraverthy –Shooting
Roshan Lal- Wrestling
Dhyan Chand Lifetime
Achievement Award
Sumrai Tete She is a member of the India
women s national field hockey
team
Best player in Europe by
UEFA for 2016/17
Christiano
Ronaldo
Ronaldo picked up the trophy for
the second consecutive season
and third time in total, having also
received the accolade in 2013-14
Player of the Year – World
Soccer Awards 2017
Christiano
Ronaldo
He won the best soccer player in
the world for the second year
running at FIFA s award ceremony
Ballon d Or award 2017 To be
announced
IAAF World Athlete of the
Year award 2017
To be
announced
25
BBC Sports Personality of
the Year 2017
To be
announced
ICC Cricketer of the Year
& Test Cricketer of the
Year
To be
announced
C K Naidu lifetime
achievement award 2017
To be
announced
BCCI Lifetime
Achievement Award for
Women 2017
To be
announced
BCCI Polly Umrigar Award
2017
To be
announced
Times of India Sports
Awards 2018
To be
announced
General Awards Awardees Achievement
2017 Green Platinum
Award
ISKCON s
Govardhan Eco
Village
The Village, set up by the
International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON) in Wada
taluka of Palghar district,
Maharashtra has won the Green
Platinum Award.The village is a
farm community and retreat centre
spread over a scenic landscape
2017 Von Hippel Award Prof. C.N.Rao Eminent Scientist & Bharat Ratna
Awardee, will receivethe highest
international prize in materials
research in November 2017. He is
the first Indian & Asian to receive
this award
Plus Alliaz Prize Narayana
Murthy &
Veena
Sahajwalla
Infosys co-founder N R Narayana
Murthy and Mumbai-born scientist
Veena Sahajwalla have been
conferred the PluS Alliance Prize – a
prestigious honour that recognises
Research Innovation, Education
Innovation, Global Leadership and
Global Innovation
26
13th
IDRBT Banking
Technology Excellence
Awards 2016-17
Karnataka
Bank
Karnataka Bank has bagged the
Best bank award among small
banks for use of technology for
financial inclusion
CIINational Award for
Excellence in Energy
Management
Hyderabad
International
Airport
Hyderabad International Airport Ltd
has bagged the National Award for
Excellence in Energy Management
at a conference hosted by CII
44th
Tyler Prize for
environmental
achievement 2017
Jose Sarukhan Mexican ecologist Professor José
Sarukhán, who built a government
department to exclusively track the
country s rainforests and protect
their biodiversity
World Food prize 2017
(Dubbed Nobel Prize
for food and
agriculture)
Dr. Akinwumi
Adesina
Innovator in funding and financing
of African agriculture
Anna Politkovskaya
Award 2017
Gauri Lankesh
(Posthumous)
Late Kannada journalist was
awarded prestigious Reach All
Women in WAR (RAW in WAR)
Anna Politkovskaya Award. She will
share this award with Gulalai
Ismail, a Pakistani peace activist
Ramon Magsaysay
awards 2017
Given to Asians
achieving excellence in
their respective fields
To be
announced
Rajiv Gandhi National
Sadbhavana Award
2017
To be
announced
International Prize in
Statistics 2017
To be
announced
International Children s
Peace Prize 2017
To be
announced
Civilian Gallantry Awardees Achievement
27
Awards2018
Ashok Chakra To be announced
Kirti Chakra To be announced
Shaurya Chakra To be announced
Literature
(Inception year)
Awardees Piece of work
The Man Booker
Prize 2017
George Saunders Lincoln in the Bardo written by
American author
The Man Booker
International 2017
David Grossman A Horse walks into a bar written
by Israel author, translated in
English by Jessica Cohen
Mathrubhumi
Literary Award 2017
MK Sanu Well-knowncritic, biographer and
orator, has been chosen for the
Mathrubhumi Literary Award for
2017 in recognition of his rich
contribution to the Malayalam
literature
Commonwealth
short story prize
2017
Ingrid Persuad Ingrid Persuad from Trinidad &
Tobago won award for her shot
story Sweet Sop
Vyas Samman 2017,
conferred in 2018
Rishabh Jain For his autobiography aadhe
adhure , 18 year old boy
youngest recipient of VYAS
SAMMAN, honoured by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
Scholastic Asian
Book Award 2017
To be announced
FT business book
award 2017
To be announced
53nd
Jnanpith Award
2017 (1962)
To be announced
Saraswati Samman,
2018
To be announced
Fellows of Nature
(FON) South Asia
To be announced
28
Short Story Award in
Nature writing
Sahitya Akademi
Awards 2017
To be announced
Pulitzer Awards 2017
Journalism Awardees
Public Service New York Daily News and ProPublica
Breaking News Reporting Staff of East Bay Times, Oakland, CA
National Reporting David A. Fahrenthold of The
Washington Post
Letters, Drama, Music Awardees
Fiction The Underground Railroad, by Colson
Whitehead (Doubleday)
Drama Sweat, by Lynn Nottage
History Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison
Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, by
Heather Ann Thompson (Pantheon)
Journalism Awardee Achievement
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano
World Press Freedom
Prize 2017, Helsinki
Dawit Isaak Dawit, an imprisoned Eritrean-
Swedish journalist is bestowed
with this prestigious award in
recognition of his courage,
resistance and commitment to
freedom of expression
International Press
Freedom Award
2017(Since 1991, from
Committee to Protect
Journalists, an NGO
To be held in
November 2017
Nobel Prizes 2017
Subject Winners
Physics Rainer Weiss,Barry Barish & Kip Thorne(for their
contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation
of gravitational waves)
29
Chemistry Jacques Dubochet,Joachim Frank&Richard
Henderson(for developing cryo-electron microscopy for
the high-resolution structure determination of
biomolecules in solution)
Physiology/Medicine Michael W. Young, Michael Rosbash, Jeffrey C. Hall(for
their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling
the circadian rhythm)
Literature Kazuo Ishiguro
Peace ICAN-International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear
Weapons(for its work to draw attention to the
catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of
nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to
achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.)
Economics Richard Thaler(for his work to draw attention to the
catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of
nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to
achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.)
Alternative Nobel Prize 2017
Subject Winners
The Right Livelihood
Award
Yetnebersh Nigussie(for her inspiring work promoting
the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities
allowing them to realise their full potential and
changing mind-sets in our societies)
Civilian Awards 2018 Awardees Field
Padma Shri To be announced
Padma Bhushan M.S.Dhoni&P V Sindhu Cricket
Padma Vibhushan
Bharat Ratna
Honours
Personality Honour
Sharmila Tagore Veteran actor was honoured with 2017 Lifetime
Achievement Award by PHD Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (PHDCCI) for her contribution in the field
of cinema
Mithila Raj Indian Women s Cricket team skipper was named as
one of the most influential women in India by BBC in
30
the list of BBC s 100 Women list
Ashwani Kumar Former Union Minister was conferred with the Japan s
imperial decoration Order of the Rising Sun award
for his contribution to fostering Japan-India ties
LK Advani Lifetime achievement Award by Lokmat Media group
for his contributions as a Parliamentarian in Lok Sabha
Ahmadabad is the first
Indian city to get
UNESCO World
Heritage site status
The 600 year old city has now joined the ranks of
Paris, Vienna, Cairo, Brussels, Rome and Edinburgh
and put India on the world heritage city map
Government Schemes
Name Narration
CCEA approves
SANKALP & STRIVE
Schemes to boost Skill
India Mission
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
approved two World Bank supported schemes Skills
Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood
Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for
Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) to boost Skill
India Mission
Pradhan Mantri Sahaj
Bijli Har Ghar Yojana
– Saubhagya revived
byMinistry of Power
The Prime Minister has launched a new scheme to
ensure electrification of all willing households in the
country in rural as well as urban areas.The total
outlay of the project is Rs. 16, 320 crore while the
Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is Rs. 12,320 crore.
The outlay for the rural households is Rs. 14,025 crore
while the GBS is Rs. 10,587 crore
Pradhan Mantri LPG
Panchayat scheme
Led by The Ministry of
Petroleum and
Natural Gas
The scheme was launched by Union Petroleum and
Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in
Gujarat.The LPG Panchayat scheme aims at spreading
awareness among LPG users about how to properly
use clean fuel and its benefits
AMRUT (Atal Mission
for Rejuvenation and
Urban
Transformation)
Led By Ministry of
Urban Development
Providing basic services, including water supply,
sewerage, urban transport & building of amenities in
cities to improve quality of life. Development of
100 smart cities across the country by 2020.
20 cities were selected in 1st
round, 13 in 2nd
round
31
HRIDAY (Heritage City
Development and
Augmentation Yojana)
Led by Ministry of
Urban Development
With a duration of 27 months (completed in March
2017) and an outlay of Rs 500 Crores, the scheme was
implemented in 12 cities
Intent is to preserve & revitalise soul of heritage cities
to reflect their unique character by encouraging
aesthetically appealing, accessible, informative &
secured environment
PMAY (Pradhan
Mantri Awas Yojana)
Led byMinistry of
Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation
Housing for all by 2022 in three phases. Target groups
are women, SC, ST, economically weaker sections
(EWS). Interest subsidy of 6.5% on housing loans
availed up to a tenure of 15 years will be provided to
EWS/LIG categories
Central assistance at the rate of Rs.1.5 lakh per house
for EWS category will be provided under the
Affordable Housing in Partnership
PMUY (Pradhan
Mantri Ujjwala
Yojana)
Led by Ministry of
Petroleum & Natural
Gas
Replacing the unclean cooking fuels mostly used in
the rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG
(Tagline – Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan )
Targets 5 Crore LPG connections to be distributed to
BPL households over 3 yrs
Pradhan Mantri Fasal
Bima Yojna (Crop
insurance)
Led by Ministry of
Agriculture & Farmers
Welfare (MoA&FW)
Replaced existing National Agricultural Insurance
Scheme (NAIS) and Modified NAIS (MNIAS)
Farmers will have to pay a uniform premium of 2% for
kharif crops, 1.5%for rabi crops, 5% for annual
commercial and horticultural crops
The remaining share of the premium will continue to
be borne equally by the Centre & respective state
governments
PMKSY (Pradhan
Mantri Krishi Sinchai
Yojana)
Led by Ministry of
Agriculture & Farmers
Welfare
National mission to improve farm productivity and
ensure better utilization of the resources in the
country. Rs 500 billion (US$7.4 billion) in a time span
of five years have been allocated to this scheme
Sagarmala Project
Transforming existing ports into modern world class
ports
32
Led by Ministry of
Shipping
Integrating port development, the Industrial clusters
& hinterland and efficient evacuation systems
through road, rail, inland and coastal waterways
Namami Gange –
National Mission for
Clean Ganga
Led by Ministry of
water resources
231 projects have been launched under Namami
Gange programme. The idea is to maintain minimum
ecological flows in the river Ganga with the aim of
ensuring water quality and environmentally
sustainable development
Skill India
Led by Ministry of Skill
Development and
Entrepreneurship
Aim to train 40 crore Indians in different skills by 2022
It includes various initiatives like National Skill
Development Mission, National Policy for Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015, Pradhan
Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and the Skill
Loan scheme
PMKVY (Pradhan
Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana)
Led by Ministry of Skill
Development and
Entrepreneurship
Encourage aptitude towards employable skills &
increase working efficiency of probable & existing
daily wage earners, with monetary awards &
providing them quality training
Average award amount per person has been kept
as ₹8,000 (US$120)
In the initial year, a target to distribute Rs 15
billion (US$220 million) has been laid down
Deen Dayal Upadhyay
Grameen Kaushalya
Yojana
Led by Ministry of
Rural Development
Aims to target youth, under age group of 15–35
years. A corpus of Rs 1,500 crore is aimed at
enhancing employability of rural youth
Under this programme, disbursements would be
made through a digital voucher directly into the
beneficiary s bank account as part of the
government s skill development initiative
PMGKY (Pradhan
Mantri Garib Kalyan
Yojana)
Unaccounted income attracts almost 50% effective
tax. Person will be compelled to pay 25% of declared
amount into PMGKY & the deposit will be blocked for
four years
PMYY (Pradhan
Mantri Yuva Yojana)
for entrepreneurs
Led by Ministry of Skill
Scheme will span over 5 years (2016-17 to 2020-21)
with a project cost of 500 crores
It will provide entrepreneurship education and
training to over 7 lakh students in 5 years through
3,050 institutes (Include higher learning schools, ITIs,
33
Development &
Entrepreneurship
(MSDE)
schools and entrepreneurship development centres)
UDAY (Ujwal Discom
Assurance Yojana)
Led by Ministry of
Power
Financial turnaround and revival package for
electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs)
It aims to improve operational efficiencies, reduce
cost of power & interest cost for discoms & enforce
financial discipline on them through alignment with
state finances
SFURTI (Scheme of
Fund for Regeneration
of Traditional
Industries)
Led by Ministry of
Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises
The Scheme envisages need-based assistance for
replacement of production equipment, setting up of
common facility centres (CFC), product development,
quality improvement, improved marketing, training
and capacity building
PRASAD (Pilgrimage
Rejuvenation and
Spiritual
Augmentation Drive)
Led by Ministry of
Tourism
Religious destinations that have potential to be show-
cased as world-class tourism products are identified &
infrastructure is developed. In the initial phase, 12
cities have been identified
Overall development of temple town, new job
creation, world-class infrastructure facilities,
promotion of local arts, cuisine and handicrafts form
part of the approved project
Swadesh Darshan
Led by Ministry of
Tourism
Theme based tourism circuits (e.g. Religion, culture,
ethnicity, niche etc) are identified for infrastructure
development across the country
JIGYASA
Led by CSIR
A student- scientist connect programme has
been launched by the government in New Delhi.
The programme would be implemented by
the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,
in collaboration with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangatha
The main focus of the programme is to connect
school students and scientists as well as to extend
student s classroom learning to a very well-
planned research laboratory based learning
UDAN RCS RCS phase-1 started with operationalisation of 128
34
new regional routes by the Airports Authority of
India from 70 airports, including 27 currently
served major airports in big cities, 31 unserved
and 12 under-served regional airports in the
smaller regional cities, with various new flights
routes progressively commenced on 27 April 2017
The bids from the airlines for second phase of RCS
routes closed in June 2017 and phase-2 new
flights routes commenced from August 2017
Pradhan Mantri Vaya
Vandana Yojana
The Union Finance Ministry has launched Pradhan
Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a pension
scheme exclusively for senior citizens aged 60
years and above
Under this scheme, senior citizens will get a
guaranteed interest of 8% for 10 years depending
upon the investment made by them
Sagar Vani An integrated information dissemination system
will serve the coastal community, especially the
fishermen community with the advisories and
alerts towards their livelihood as well as their
safety at Sea
It has been developed by ESSO-Indian National
Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)
through the Industry M/s. Gaian Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
AGEY The Government of India will soon launch a new
sub-scheme named Aajeevika Grameen Express
Yojana (AGEY) as part of the Deendayal
Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods
Mission (DAY-NRLM).
This will help to provide safe, affordable and
community monitored rural transport services to
connect remote villages with key services and
amenities (such as access to markets, education
and health) for the overall economic development
of backward rural areas
Swasth Bachche,
Swasth Bharat
Programme was launched by Union HRD Minister
Prakash Javdekar in Kochi, Kerala
The programme is an initiative of Kendriya
Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to prepare a physical
35
Health and Fitness Profile Card for more than 12
lakhs of Kendriya Vidyalaya students.
UJALA Energy Efficiency Services Limited ( EESL) , under
Ministry of Power, Government of India has
launched UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable
Lighting for All) Scheme in the State of Melaka,
Malaysia
Under this scheme, each household in Melaka will
get 10 high quality 9-watt LED bulbs at a cost of
only RM 10, which is a special price and is almost
half of what in begin offered in the market. The
distribution of these LED bulbs will take place from
28 numbers of Japerun in the region.
Aerospace/Defence
News Narration
ISRO s Mars Orbiter
Mission completed 3
years in orbit
Mangalyaan completed 3 years in Martian orbit.
It has outlived original lifespan and is still in good
health and continues to work as expected
CSIR s artificial leaf
creates fuel from
sunlight, water
Scientists have developed an artificial leaf that
absorbs sunlight to generate hydrogen fuel from
water, an advance that may provide clean energy
for powering eco-friendly cars in the future
The ultra-thin wireless device mimics plant leaves
to produce energy using water and sunlight
Indian navy gets INS
Kalvari, its first
conventional
submarine in 17 years
(Aerospace/Defence)
The boat is the first of six in a variant on the
Scorpène class of submarines that India is buying
from France under an agreement reached back in
2005
The delivery of INS Kalvari (tiger shark), the first
of the six French diesel-electric Scorpene
submarines being built under the Rs 23,652 crore
Project-75 at Mazgaon Docks in Mumbai
India s first private
missile production
facility unveiled in
Hyderabad
Missile sub-systems manufacturing facility,
Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) plant
was inaugurated at the Hardware Park in
Rangareddy district near Hyderabad
Navika Sagar India s first all-women crew circumnavigation
36
Parikrama: India s first
all-women
circumnavigation
expedition flagged-off
expedition was flagged off by Defence Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman in Goa
The crew belongs to Indian Navy and is sailing
Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Tarini (INSV Tarini)
Indian Navy s second
LCU Mark IV L52 ship
commissioned at Port
Blair
Lieutenant Governor, Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, commissioned IN LCU L52 into the Indian
Navy at Port Blair
IN LCU L52 is the second Landing Craft Utility
(LCU) Mk-IV class to be inducted into the Indian
Navy. The ship has been indigenously designed
and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and
Engineers, Kolkata
Coast Guard inducts
new ship Shaurya
Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Shaurya was
commission in Vasco, Goa
ICGS Shaurya is an offshore patrol vessel designed
and built indigenously by Goa
It is fifth of a series of six OPVs designed in-house
and built by GSL. It is 105-metre long and capable
of cruising at a speed of 23 knots.
ISRO, NASA working
towards completion of
NISAR mission by 2021
The satellite will be the first radar imaging
satellite to use dual frequency and it is planned to
be used for remote sensing purposes, to observe
and understand natural processes of the Earth
It will be the world s most expensive earth-
imaging satellite till date, costing around $1.5 bn
L&T launches OPV
Vikram for Indian
Coast Guard
(Move to aerospace &
defence)
It is country s first-ever such defence vessel to be
built in a private shipyard
Its entire design and construction processes have
undergone dual certification from American
Bureau of Shipping and Indian Registrar of
Shipping & Indian Registrar of Shipping
DRDO successfully test
fires anti-tank missile in
Rajasthan
The Nag missile is a third generation fire and
forget anti-tank missile. The test was conducted
by Scientists of the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Missile
Complex at Hyderabad, Defence Laboratory at
Jodhpur, High Energy Materials Research
Laboratory (HEMRL) & Armament Research and
Development Establishment (ARDE) at Pune
37
Prithvi-II Missile Test
Fired Successfully by
the Strategic Forces
Command (SFC) of the
Indian Army
The land version of the short range surface–to–surface ballistic missile Prithvi-II was successfully
test-fired from a defence base off Odisha coast
The trial of the surface-to-surface missile, which
has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from
a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the
Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur
Launch of navigation
satellite IRNSS-1H
unsuccessful
The launch of IRSO s eight navigation satellite
IRNSS-1H onboard of PSLV-C39 from Sriharikota,
Andhra Pradesh was unsuccessful
The heat shield did not separate as a result of
which satellite did not complete the 4th
stage
Indian Navy s second
LCU Mark IV L52 ship
launched by GRSE
Second LCU (landing craft utility) Mark IV L52 ship
built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers
Limited (GRSE), Kolkata, was formally launched in
Kolkata, West Bengal
Munta, Country s first
unmanned tank, rolled
out from the Chennai
lab
DRDO has developed an unmanned, remotely
operated tank which has three variants –
surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance
in areas with nuclear and bio threats
NASA Successfully
Launches Latest
Communications
Satellite
NASA s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M
(TDRS-M), which is the third and final in a series
of next generation communications satellites, has
successfully been placed into orbit following
separation from an United Launch Alliance (ULA)
Atlas V rocket
GSAT -17 satellite
launched
GSAT-17 was inducted into the INSAT/GSAT
system from Kourou, French Guiana by Ariane-5
VA-238. Weighing 3477 kg at lift-off, GSAT-17
carries Payloads in Normal C-band, Extended C-
band and S-band to provide various
communication services
GSLV Mark-III, India s
heaviest rocket carried
GSAT-19 satellite
India launched its heaviest and most powerful
indigenous rocket, GSLV Mark III Leaps in
technology was launched from Satish Dhawan
Space Center, Sriharikota
ISRO to develop full-
fledged hyperspectral
imaging satellite
A full-fledged niche Earth observation (EO)
satellite called the Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite
(HySIS) is planned for launch
38
The HySIS satellite has critical chip called an
optical imaging detector array indigenously
developed by ISRO. Its launch will allow ISRO to
enter the domain of operational hyperspectral
imaging from earth orbit
Military & Naval Exercises
Exercise Narration
Mitra Shakti 2017: India-Sri
Lanka Joint Military
Exercise held in Pune
The two weeks exercise (13 – 25 October) is
based on Counter Terrorist Operations (CTO)
and Infantry companies from both countries
participated
The aim of joint training was to exchange best
of military practices of two countries and
build strong military-to-military (M2M)
relation between two armies
INS Satpura, Kadmatt
participated in passage
Exercise in Japan
Indian Naval Ships Satpura and Kadmatt
participated in Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with
Japanese Marine Self Defence Force (JMSDF)
held at Sasebo, Japan
These ships participated in the exercise in
pursuance of India s Act East Policy and
demonstration of India s commitment to
peace and stability in Indo-Pacific region
INS Tarasa commissioned
into Indian Navy
INS Tarasa (T94), the fourth and last ship in
series of Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC)
was commissioned into Indian Navy at Naval
Dockyard, Mumbai
It is an improved variant of Car Nicobar-class
high-speed offshore patrol vessels (OPVs)
built indigenously by Kolkata based Garden
Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE),
for the Indian Navy
SLINEX: A joint naval
Exercise between India &
Sri Lanka
Indian Navy and Sri Lankan Navy began the
2017 Sri Lanka-India Exercise (SLINEX) at
Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh on 7
September. It will conclude on 14 September
SLINEX 17 aims at reinforce strong
39
neighbourly ties between both countries
underscored by extensive maritime
interaction and improved understanding
MALABAR Trilateral Naval
Exercise involved the US,
Japan & India
The 2017 Malabar exercise featured 95
aircraft, 16 ships and two submarines & was
conducted in Bay of Bengal
India-Thailand military
exercise – Maitree 2017
Conducted in Himachal Pradesh, its purpose
was to acquaint both contingents with each
other s operating procedures in the backdrop
of counter insurgency/ counter terrorism
environment
India-Nepal military
exercise – Surya Kiran 2017
11th
edition of joint military exercise Surya
Kiran 2017 between India and Nepal was
held in Uttarakhand
Two-week long battalion level joint exercise
focussed on skills required for natural disaster
management, counter-insurgency and jungle
warfare
India-Russia military
exercise – Indra
India will hold a major military exercise with
Russia later this year which is likely to be a tri-
service war game with participation of navy,
air force and army in October 2017
India-Oman military
exercise – Al-Nagah II 2017
Second edition of the joint exercise between
the Indian and Oman Armies commenced in
May 2017 with the Opening Ceremony at
Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh
Government News
Entity Action
First International
Conference on Consumer
Protection held in New Delhi
The first ever conference was held in Delhi on
empowering consumers in new markets for
South, South East and East Asian Countries
The theme of the conference was
Empowering Consumers in New Markets
Indian Railway s first set of
solar plants of 5 MW
capacity launched
The project was launched as part of Union
Government s ambitious National Solar
Mission in which Indian Railways plans to
commission 1000 MWp solar plants across its
40
network
The first set of solar plant will generate 76.5
lakh units of solar power cumulatively per
year and will meet about 30% of energy
requirement of these stations
Scientists discover India's
oldest fossil of a Jurassic sea
monster
Geologists for the first time have discovered
152 million-year-old fossil of Ichthyosaur, an
extinct marine reptile in in Kutch desert
region of Gujarat
The specimen belongs to Ophthalmosauridae
family of ichthyosaurs that lived in oceans
between 165 and 90 million years ago
World s largest combustion
research centre inaugurated
at IIT Madras
National Centre for Combustion Research
and Development (NCCRD) was inaugurated
by NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat in
Chennai
It is world s largest combustion research
centre and one of best diagnostic centres in
the country to understand combustion
Government launches
Pradhan Mantri Gramin
Digital Saksharta Abhiyan in
Gujarat
PMGDISHA is expected to make 6 crore rural
households digitally literate by March 2019,
making it one of the largest digital literacy
programmes in the world
India s first Sewage
Treatment Plant under
Hybrid Annuity Mode to
come up in Haridwar and
Varanasi
The agreement is a major step forward in
realizing dream of Nirmal Ganga as it is first
time ever in India that Hybrid Annuity-based
Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode is
being applied in sewerage sector
44th
Indian Handicrafts and
Gifts-Delhi Fair inaugurated
in New Delhi
It was organised by Export Promotion Council
for Handicrafts (EPCH) and was inaugurated
by Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani
More than 100 countries including US, UK,
Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Argentina,
Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan
and Korea participated in the fair
Government launches
Sampoorna Bima Gram
Yojana
The intent is to expand the coverage of Postal
Life Insurance & to provide affordable life
insurance services to people, particularly
those living in rural areas
41
First electric bus service in
India has been launched in
Himachal Pradesh
First in the world at an altitude of 13,000
feet, the electric bus service will ply between
Manali and Rohtang and there will be 10
electric buses in fleet
India s first advanced
Homoeopathy Virology lab
inaugurated in Kolkata
The laboratory has been established to
develop new drugs and technologies in
homoeopathy to combat emerging
challenges of viral diseases
The laboratory is the only one in India for
conducting basic and fundamental research
in Homoeopathy for viral diseases like
influenza, Japanese encephalitis, dengue,
chikungunya and swine flu
Government launches online
facility to resolve foreign
trade issues
Government has set up an online service
facility Contact@DGFT for resolution of
their matters
This online service facility can be used by
importers and exporters to resolve all foreign
trade-related issues
Traders can raise all matters related to the
directorate or other agencies of the Centre
and States through this facility, which is
activated at the DGFT website
India s first Hyperloop to
connect Amrawati and
Vijaywada
The proposed metro project from Vijaywada,
the Andhra Pradesh government joined
hands with US-based Hyperloop
Transportation Technologies (HTT) to
introduce the futuristic Hyperloop
transportation system in the state capital
region, Amravati
Hyperloop is two-to-three times faster than
fastest high-speed rail &claimed to be faster
mode than commercial air travel
India imposes duty on
Chinese flat steel for five
years
Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and
Allied Duties (DGAD) has announced
countervailing duty (CVD) for a period of five
years on certain Chinese flat steel products.
The Union Finance Ministry has imposed
18.95% countervailing duty (CVD) on certain
42
Chinese flat steel products for period of five
years to protect domestic players from cheap
subsidised imports
Google, NSDC launch
programme to improve
Mobile Developer Ecosystem
The programme is aimed at imparting mobile
development training on the Android and
Web platform and improving the quality of
mobile app development ecosystem in India
ICEX launches world s first
diamond futures contracts
with a hedging tool
The Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) has
received approval from market regulator SEBI
to commence trading with diamond futures
contracts
India s first Videsh Bhavan
inaugurated in Mumbai by
Union Government
Country s first Videsh Bhavan, assimilating all
Regional Passport Offices and allied
departments under a single roof, atMumbai
Five year anti-dumping duty
on sodium nitrite imports
from China
The Finance Ministry has imposed a five year
anti-dumping duty on Sodium Nitrite imports
from China. It was imposed based on
recommendations of Directorate General of
Antidumping and Allied Duties (DGAD)
Odisha government and
launches SheMeansBusiness
program
A program to train women entrepreneurs
was launched by CM Naveen Pattanaik
Under this initiative, 25, 000 women
entrepreneurs and self-help group (SHG)
members from the state will be given training
on digital marketing skills within by 2018 end
Centre notifies new Rs.200 &
Rs. 50 notes
The Union Finance Ministry, on the
recommendations of the Central Board of
Directors of RBI has notified currency notes
of Rs.200& 50
Government launches
Swachh Survekshan Gramin
2017
The Union Ministry of Drinking Water and
Sanitation has released Swachh Survekshan
Gramin 2017, third party survey report to
assess the progress Swach Bharat Mission in
rural India
The survey was undertaken by the Quality
Council of India (QCI) between May and June
2017 to take into account status of rural
sanitation in all States & Uts
Government launches Union Environment, Forest and Climate
43
nationwide campaign Gaj
Yatra to protect elephants
Change Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan,
launched Gaj Yatra , a nationwide campaign
to protect elephants on World Elephant Day
The campaign is planned to cover 12
elephant range states
Odisha government and
Facebook launches
SheMeansBusiness
programme
The programme was launched to train
women entrepreneurs in the state
It was launched in partnership between
Odisha s MSME (micro, small and medium
enterprises) department and Project Mission
Shakti
FSSAI bans stapler pins in tea
bags from January 2018
The FSSAI order directs concerned food
business operators to discontinue the
manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and
import of stapled tea bags by 1 January 2018
NITI Aayog clears six
proposals for high-tech
public transport
High-tech mass rapid transportation
technologies such as metrino, hyperloop, pod
taxis, stadler buses, hybrid buses and freight
rail road has been included
Government to launch
Aajeevika Grameen Express
Yojana
The Union Ministry of Rural Development will
launch Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana
(AGEY), a sub-scheme under Deendayal
Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural
Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)
Raipur Airport ranked first in
Customer Satisfaction Index
Survey
Raipur s Swami Vivekananda Airport was
ranked first in Customer Satisfaction Index
(CSI) Survey among 49 airports in the
country. It has achieved 4.84 score on a five
point scale index
Reliance Defence launches
first two Navy ships Shachi
and Shruti at Pipavav,
Gujarat
These Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPV)
are the first warships to be launched by a
private sector shipyard in India.
These ships are part of a five-ships being
constructed for the Indian Navy under the P-
21 project
India s Global Rankings
Rating/Index Released by India s Ranking
The Yearbook (World s United Nations 6 in 2015 (9 in 2014)
44
10 largest
manufacturing
countries)
Industrial
Development
Organization
Global Innovation Index
2017
WIPO, Cornell
Universityand INSEAD
India s rank 60(66 in 2016)
Rank 1 – Switzerland
Ease of Doing Business
ranking 2017
World Bank 130 (131 in 2016)
Rank 1- New Zealand
Global Gender Gap
Index 2016
World Economic
Forum
87 (108 in 2015)
Rank 1 – Iceland
World Economic
Freedom Index 2017
Centre for Civil
Society, a public policy
think tank along with
Canada s Fraser
Institute
143/186 countries
Rank 1 – Hong Kong
Travel & Tourism
competitiveness Index
2017
World Economic
Forum
40/136 in 2017 (52 in 2015)
(Is a biennial report)
Rank 1 – Spain
Global Competitiveness
Index2017-18
World Economic
Forum
40 (39 in 2016-17)
Rank 1 – Switzerland
Human Capital Index
2016
World Economic
Forum
105/130 (100/124 in 2015)
Global Talent
Competitiveness Index
2017
INSEAD Business
School, Adecco Group
& Human Capital
Leadership Institute of
Singapore
92/118 countries
World Digital
Competitiveness Index
2017
The IMD Digital 51/63countries
Rank 1- Singapore
A T Kearney Global
Retail Development
Index (GRDI) 2017
GRDI India acquired the top
position among 30
developing countries.
China stood at second
place, followed by Malaysia,
Turkey, UAE and Vietnam
Corruption Perception
Index 2016
Transparency
International
79/176 countries (76 in
2016)
Rank 1 – Denmark
Human Development United Nations 131/188
45
Index 2017 Development
Programme
Rank 1 – Norway
World Investment
Report 2017
United Nations CTAD India ranks 9th
in FDI inflows
World Disaster Risk
Index 2016
United Nations
University Institute for
Environment and
Human Security (UNU-
EHS)
77 (78 in 2015)
World Press Freedom
Index 2017
Reporters Without
Borders (NGO)
136 (133 in 2016)
Rank 1 – Finland
Global Peace Index
2017
Institute for
Economics and Piece
(IEP)
137 (141 in 2016)
Rank 1 – Iceland
Global Hunger Index
2017
International Food
Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI)
100/119 countries (97/118
in 2016)
Rank 1 – Argentina
World s most valuable
nation list 2017
Valuable Nation
Brands
8/100 countries
Rank 1-USA
Climate Change
Performance Index
2017
Germanwatch, an
independent German
NGO and Climate
Action Network,
Europe
20 (58 countries accounting
for 90% of global CO2
emission)
ICT Development Index
(IDI)2016
United
Nations International
Telecommunication
Union
138 (135 in 2015) Rank 1-
South Korea
Global Youth
Development Index
2016
Commonwealth
Secretariat
133 (Newly introduced
index) Rank 1- Germany
Global Terrorism Index
(GTI 2016) – Countries
Most Hit by Terror
Institute for
Economics & Peace, a
Sydney-based think-
tank
8 (India experienced 7% of
all terrorist attacks around
the world)
World Power Language
Index 2016 (PLI)
World Economic
Forum
Hindi ranked 10th
(Top 5 –
English, Mandarin, French,
Spanish, Arabic)
46
2017 Inclusive Growth
& Development Index
World Economic
Forum
60/79 developing nations
Global e-Waste
production ranking
Assocham-KPMG joint
study
India is fifth largest e-waste
producer (100 crore+
mobile phones in
circulation, 25% end up in e-
waste per annum)
Global Energy
Architecture
Performance Index
(EAPI) 2017
World Economic
Forum & Accenture
strategy
87 /127 countries (90 in
2016)
Rank 1 – Switzerland
World Happiness
Report 2017
UN Sustainable
Development
Solutions Network
122/155
Rank 1 – Norway
Sustainable
Development Goals
Index 2017
Sustainable
Development
Solutions Network
(SDSN) and the
Bertelsmann Stiftung
116/157 nations
Rank 1- Sweden
Global Cyber security
Index(GCI) 2017
UN
telecommunications
agency International
Telecommunication
Union (ITU)
23/165
Rank 1- Singapore
Global Retirement
Index 2017
Natixis Global 43/43
Rank 1-Norway
International News
News Narration
World s fastest, shortest
laser pulse created
Scientists from ETH Zurich in Switzerland have
successfully created the world s shortest X-ray
laser pulse with duration of just 43
attoseconds ( × −18 of a second).
The laser pulse is the shortest controlled
event that has ever been created by humans
China launches world s first
hybrid electric tram
powered by hydrogen fuel
cells
It was launched in China s Tangshan city,
north China s Hebei Province to give big boost
to green energy in public transport.
The tram, having three carriages with 66 seats
47
and can run for 40 kilometres at a maximum
speed of 70 kilometres per hour after being
refilled with 12 kilograms of hydrogen.
Catalonia wants
independence from Spain
The Catalonia region is planning to declare
independence from this country, because of
its own cultural identity
About 90% of the 2.3 million people who cast
votes chose independence, Catalan officials
said of the disputed referendum.
However, fewer than half of eligible voters
participated due to which Spanish
government said he referendum was illegal
and part of a strategy to impose
independence that few want and is good for
nobody
USA & Israel withdrew
from UNESCO, both
accusing it for anti-Israel
bias
USA & Israel quitted UN s culture and
education body, in a move that underlined
Washington s drift away from international
institutions.
Russia launches Sibir ,
world s biggest and most
powerful nuclear
icebreaker ship
World s largest nuclear-powered icebreaker
ship built under Project 22220 into the water
at the Baltic Shipyard in St Petersburg
Sibir is second of three icebreakers of new
class of biggest nuclear powered icebreakers
ever constructed
Japan launches fourth
Michibiki satellite for hi-
tech GPS
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
successfully launched Michibiki-4 satellite
(QZSS-4) onboard of H-IIA rocket from
Tanegashima Space Centre
The H-IIA rocket is Japanese large-scale launch
vehicle. It was manufactured by Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries. The vehicle stands 53
meters tall and generates 1.7 million pounds-
force (7,628 kilonewtons) of thrust at liftoff
Scientists create world s
first molecular robot
Scientists at The University of Manchester
have created the world s first molecular
robot that is capable of performing basic
tasks including building other molecules
The tiny robots, which are a millionth of a
48
millimetre in size, can be programmed to
move and build molecular cargo, using a tiny
robotic arm
World s largest aircraft
successfully passes first
engine tests
The world s largest airplane, which has been
designed to serve as a launching platform for
sending rockets into low-Earth orbit, has
successfully completed its initial engine tests
The plane weighs about 227,000 kg and has
the biggest wingspan ever built, measuring
118 m from one end to the other
India and the US renew
commitment for Joint
Collaboration on Health
Both countries renewed their commitment to
collaborate in the healthcare sector at the
second India-US Health Dialogue that was
held on 26-27 September 2017 in New Delhi
The two-day event saw several experts
deliberate on issues of bilateral importance
including communicable and non-
communicable diseases, low-cost innovations,
food and drug regulations, traditional
medicine and access to medicines
New US travel ban includes
N Korea, Venezuela, Chad
among 8 countries
The US presidentissued a new travel ban that
includes North Korea, Venezuela and Chad in
the list of eight countries
The new order expands to countries beyond
just Muslim-majority ones
UNSC unanimously adopts
new sanctions against
North Korea
The UN Security Council has unanimously
ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea,
imposing a ban on the country s textile
exports and a ceiling on the country s imports
of crude oil
The ban came after its nuclear test on
September 3 in violation of previous Security
Council resolutions
Lakshadweep island Parali
–I has vanished
One of the uninhabited islands that is a part
of Lakshadweep has vanished due to coastal
erosion and another four such territories in
the sea are shrinking fast, claims a new study
Parali I island, part of Bangaram atoll, which
had an area of 0.032 sq.km in 1968 has been
49
completely eroded, resulting in its inundation
IAU named two Pluto
mountains after Tenzing
Norgay & Edmund Hillary
The International Astronomical Union (IAU)
has named two mountain ranges on icy dwarf
planet Pluto as Tenzing Montes& Hillary
Montes after the first mountaineers to reach
Mount Everest peak
London retains top rank in
2017 Global Financial
Centres Index (GFCI)
The survey was conducted by Z/Yen Partners
and the China Development Institute (CDI)
among 92 financial centres worldwide
India s financial capital Mumbai was ranked at
60th
position, up by three positions compared
to previous edition
Kazakhstan opens IAEA
Low Enriched Uranium
Bank
President Nursultan Nazarbayev inaugurated
the International Atomic Energy Agency s Low
Enriched Uranium Bank in the Kazakh city of
Oskemen
The bank is owned and managed by IAEA. It
will be the first of its kind LEU bank not to be
under control of any individual country
China launches first ever
cyber court in e-commerce
hub
The cyber court will specialize in handling
internet-related cases in the e-commerce hub
of Hangzhou, amid a spike in the number of
online disputes
Qatar to offer permanent
residency to some non-
citizens
The energy-rich Qatar becomes first Gulf Arab
state to make permanent residency available
to some non-citizens
Moreover it will be also granted to people
who offered valuable services to the country
and those with special skills
Scientists discover the
largest volcanic region on
Earth, and it s under
Antarctica
The newly discovered volcanoes range in
height from 100 to 3,850 metres
All of them are covered in thick layers of ice.
These active peaks are concentrated in a
region known as the west Antarctic rift
system, which stretches 3,500 km from
Antarctica s Ross ice shelf to the Antarctic
peninsula
India and US to co-host
Global Entrepreneurship
India and US are going to co-host the Global
Entrepreneurship Summit at Hyderabad,
50
Summit Telangana from 28-30 Nov 2017
American delegation will be led by US
President Donald Trump s daughter Ivanka
Trump
The Summit will serve as a unique opportunity
for bringing together entrepreneurs and start-
ups with global leaders
India-ASEAN Youth Summit
in Bhopal
A five-day India-ASEAN Youth Summit
commemorated 25th
anniversary of
Association of Southeast Asian Nations – India
dialogue partnership
The event is organised by the Ministry of
External Affairs, India Foundation and the
state government jointly on the
commemorative year s theme Shared Values,
Common Destiny
Japan s men-only island
tagged as UNESCO World
Heritage site
A men-only island in Japan where women are
banned & male visitors must bathe naked in
the sea before visiting its shrine
India contributed
additional $1 million to
India- UN Development
Partnership fund
The fund was set up in June 2017 as a
partnership between India & UN Office for
South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)
12th
G-20 Summit held in
Hamburg City, Germany
The main agenda of the summit was to discuss
topics of Trade, Sustainable development, More
Inclusive growth, Indian-Norwegian, Women s
economic empowerment, European migrant
crisis & refugees, Counter Terrorism & National
security
122 countries adopt global
treaty banning nuclear
weapons
A global treaty banning nuclear weapons was
adopted at the UN on July 7,2017, despite
opposition from the US, Britain, France and other
nuclear powers that boycotted negotiations
India, Israel expand
cooperation from defence
to science, agriculture and
technology
Countries signed agreements on science,
agriculture & technology as part of the PM s visit.
The countries plan to create a bilateral
technology innovation fund worth $40 million
North Korea claims
successful test of the
Hwasong-14 was test fired into waters near Sea
of Japan. The claim was confirmed by US
51
maiden intercontinental
ballistic missile (ICBM)
Carrie Lam Sworn first
female Chief Executive of
Hong Kong
Carrie Lam was sworn in as the first female Chief
Executive (CE) of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR), an autonomous
territory of China on the Pearl River Delta
Cambridge university
scientists developed super-
flexible and strong artificial
silk
Artificial silk is composed almost entirely of
water & may be used to make eco-friendly
textiles and sensors. The fibres are spun from
a soupy material called a hydrogel, which is
98% water
Remaining 2% is made of silica and cellulose,
both naturally available materials, held
together in a network by barrel-shaped
molecular handcuffs known as cucurbiturils
Indian Scientists discover
Saraswati , a super cluster
of galaxies
The supercluster is located around four billion
light years away from Earth & is a group of
clusters of galaxies
Super clusters are the largest structures of
stars, planets and other heavenly bodies in
the universe
Hottest planet in the
universe found KELT-9b
Scientists have discovered the hottest known
exoplanet, designated KELT-9b which is
warmer than most stars in the universe
The planet s day-side temperature is 4,326
degree Celsius and is only 926 degree Celsius
cooler than the Sun
Cambridge University
Scientists discover the
smallest star in the
universe
The star named EBLM J0555-57Ab is located
about 600 light years away. It is slightly larger
than Saturn in size. It may have Earth-sized
planets with liquid water in its orbit
NASA developing first
asteroid deflection mission
The first-ever mission will deflect a near-Earth
asteroid, and help test the systems that will allow
mankind to protect the planet from potential
cosmic body impacts in the future
International Appointments
Personality Narration
52
Sunny Verghese He has been appointed as the new chairman of World
Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Audrey Azoulay She was elected as new Director General of UNESCO. She will
succeed outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of
Bulgaria.With this, she became first Jewish Director of
UNESCO.
Soumya
Swaminathan
She has been appointed as Deputy Director General of WHO.
She will replace Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah from Ghana
Nisha Biswal Former US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central
Asia has been appointed president of the US-India Business
Council (USIBC), a forum of US businesses under the US
Chamber of Commerce.
Dara
Khosrowshahi
Appointed as CEO of Uber Technologies Inc (Replaced
Travis Kalanick)
S. Aparna An IAS officer from Gujarat cadre has been appointed as
Executive Director, World Bank to represent the constituency
of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka for three years.
Shahid Khaqan
Abbasi
Pakistan s petroleum minister was elected as 18th Prime
Minister of Pakistan. He succeeded Nawaz Sharif who was
disqualified by the Supreme Court over the Panama Papers
scandal
Emmanuel
Macron
Elected as the youngest president in French history after a
landslide victory over the far-right Marine Le Pen
Moon Jae-in From the Democratic Party of Korea won the elections to
become the 19th
President of South Korea
Lenin Moreno Sworn in as Ecuador's President following a tight electoral race
Dr Tedros
Adhanom
Ghebreyesus
Appointed as the new Director-General of World Health
Organization (WHO) for a five-year term
Ovais Sarmad Appointed as the Deputy Executive Secretary of United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Leo Varadkar Indian origin Varadkar elected as PM of Ireland
Important Days
Global Days
Description Date About it
World Cancer Day 4 February 2017 Theme – We can. I can, to
53
explore how everyone – together and
individually – can do their part to reduce
global burden of cancer
International Mother
Language Day
21 February 2017 Theme – Towards Sustainable
Futures through Multilingual Education
World Wildlife Day 3 March 2017 Theme – Listen to the young
voices . A sub-theme – The future of
elephants is in our hands
International
Women s Day
8 March 2017 Theme – Be Bold for Change
PI Day
14 March 3,1,4 are significant digits of PI, i.e.
3.14), so 14/03, i.e. 14 March
World Consumer
Rights Day
15 March The day is observed to pay solidarity
with the international consumer
movement and give more attention to
promote basic rights of consumers
2017 Theme – Building a Digital World
Consumers can Trust
International Day of
Happiness
20 March The International Day of Happiness
( Happiness Day ) was founded by UN
adviser Jayme Illien on June 28, 2012
2017 Theme – 10 steps to happiness
World Water Day 22 March The day focuses attention on the
importance of fresh water & advocates
for the sustainable management of fresh
water resources
2017 Theme – Wastewater
World
Meteorological Day
23 March It marks establishment of World
Meteorological Organization
2017 Theme – Understanding Clouds
World Tuberculosis
Day
24 March WHO has placed special focus on uniting
efforts to Leave no one behind
including actions to address stigma,
discrimination, marginalization and
overcome barriers to access care
54
2017 Theme – Unite to End TB
World Health Day 7 April 2017 Theme – Depression: Let s Talk
World Earth Day 22 April 2017 Theme – Environmental and
Climate Literacy
English Language
Day/World Book Day
23 April Birth anniversary of William
Shakespeare
2017 Theme – Towards Sustainable
Futures through Multilingual Education
World Malaria Day 25 April 2017 Theme – A push for prevention
World Intellectual
Property Day
26 April 2017 Theme – Innovation – Improving
Lives
World Press
Freedom Day
3 May 2017 Theme – Critical Minds for Critical
Times: Media s role in advancing
peaceful, just and inclusive societies
World Information
Society Day
17 May Marks foundation of International
Telecommunication Union on 17 May
1865
No Tobacco Day 31 May 2017 Theme – Tobacco – a threat to
development
World Milk Day 1 June The day is intended to provide an
opportunity to bring attention to
activities that are connected with the
dairy sector. In India,
The International
Day of Innocent
Children Victims of
Aggression
4 June The day acknowledges the pain suffered
by children throughout the world who
are the victims of physical, mental and
emotional abuse
World Environment
Day
5 June 2017 Theme – Connecting People to
Nature – in the city & on the land, from
the poles to the equator
World Oceans Day 8 June 2017 Theme – Our Oceans, Our Future
World Day Against
Child Labour
12 June 2017 Theme – In conflicts and
disasters, protect children from child
labour .
International Yoga
Day/World
Hydrography Day
21 June 21 June – The longest day of the year in
the Northern Hemisphere
2017 Theme: Mapping our seas, oceans
55
and waterways – more important than
ever
World Population
Day
11 July World s population reached almost five
billion people on 11 July 1987
2017 Theme – Family Planning:
Empowering People, Developing
Nations
World Youth Skills
Day
15 July 2017 Theme – Skills Development to
Improve Youth Employment
International Youth
Day
12 August 2017 Theme – Youth Building Peace.
World Humanitarian
Day
19 August ----
International Literacy
Day
8 September 2017 Theme- Literacy in a digital world
International Day of
Peace
21 September 2017 Theme – Together for Peace:
Respect, Safety and Dignity for All.
World Tourism Day 27 September 2017 Theme – Sustainable Tourism –a
Tool for Development
World Teachers Day 5 October ----
World Sight Day 13 October 2017 Theme – Make Vision Count
World Standard day 14 October 2017 Theme- Standards make cities
smarter
World Student Day 15 October ----
World Food Day 16 October 2017 Theme- Change the future of
migration. Invest in food security and
rural development.
World Anaesthesia
Day
16 October
World Statistics Day 20 October ----
United Nations Day 24 October 2017 Theme- Freedom First
Universal Children s
Day
21 November 2017 Theme – Families
,Education&well-being
World AIDS Day 1 December -----
World Computer
Literacy Day
2 December -----
56
Human Rights Day 10 December -----
Indian Days
Day Date Narration
Pravasi Bharatiya
Divas
9 January ----
National Science Day 28 February Marks discovery of Raman Effect.
2017 theme - "Science and
Technology for Specially Abled
Persons
National Maritime Day 5 April On this day in 1919, navigation history
was created when SS Loyalty, the first
ship of The Scindia Steam Navigation
Company Ltd., journeyed to the UK
National Civil Services
Day
21 April All officers of Central and State
Governments are honoured for
excellence in public administration by
the Prime Minister. The 'Prime
Minister Award for Excellence in
Public Administration' is presented
National Statistics Day
29 June Birth anniversary of Prof. Prasanta
Chandra Mahalanobis, an Indian
scientist and applied statistician
National Doctors Day
(India)
1 July Birth anniversary of Dr Bidhan
Chandra Roy, the legendary physician
National Handloom
Day
7 August Union Minister of State, Textiles,
Shri Ajay Tamta celebrated this at
Guwahati
Hathkargha Samvardhan Sahayata
Scheme under which Government
of India assists weavers by bearing
90% of the cost of new looms
National Sports Day 29 August Birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand, the
Olympic Gold medallist hockey player
by organizing friendly hockey matches
in New Delhi
National Hindi Divas 14 September On this day in 1949, the Constituent
Assembly of India had adopted Hindi
written in Devanagari script as
57
the official language of the Republic of
India
Engineer s Day (India) 15 September Birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna
Visvesvaraya. He is known as India's
greatest engineer of all times
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas 31 October Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity
Day) was introduced by the
Government of India and inaugurated
by Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in 2014 for celebrating Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel.
National Education
Day
11 November Birth anniversary of Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad, the first education
minister of independent India
National Constitution
Day, National Milk
Day
26 November Birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese
Kurien, Father of the White
Revolution
National Mathematics
Day
22 December Birth anniversary of the Indian
mathematical genius Srinivasa
Ramanujan
