GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 1

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GYANM – December 2012

General Awareness

Year: 2012 Vol. 1 Issue 9

CONTENTS

TOPICS PAGE NO.

National News 1

News from States 7

Govt Initiatives 9

Economic Indicators 16

Economy 19

Banking 26

Defence 35

Science & Technology 37

International News 39

Persons in News 43

Appointments 45

Awards & Honours 46

Books & Authors 48

Obituary 49

Places in News 50

Sports World 51

Abbreviations 54

1000 Latest GK Bytes 57

FIGURES TO REMEMBER

REPO RATE (17-04-2012)

8.00%

REVERSE REPO RATE 7.00%

MARGINAL STANDING FACILITY RATE

9.00%

STATUTORY LIQUIDITY RATIO 23%

CASH RESERVE RATIO 4.25%

BANK RATE 9.00%

BASE RATE (of various banks) 10-10.75%

INDIA’S RANK IN

Economic Freedom 2012 111th h

Global Competitiveness Index 59th

Corruption Perception Index 87th

Global Hunger Index 2010 67th

Food Security 66th

Human Development Index 134th

Global Business Confidence Index 2nd

ICT Performance Index 69th

India’s Rank in IMF 8th

NATIONAL NEWS

OCTOBER 2012

INDIA 5TH IN GROWING BUSINESS The Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index indicates that India is the fifth best country in the world for dynamic growing businesses. According to the index, India is ahead of Singapore, and Russia and only four countries -

Argentina, China, Uruguay and Chile are ahead of India.

DELHI 10TH IN SHOPPER’s LIST

INDIA PREFERRED INVESTMENT CHOICE In a survey conducted by the consulting firm BDO Global Market Opportunity Index 2012, India ranked fourth in the top five investment destinations in the world, primarily on account of its large market size and high customer potential. The survey covered more than 1,000 senior finance officers spread across 14 countries.

INDIA TOP EXPORTER OF RICE

BIODIVERSITY MEET HELD AT HYDERABAD 11th Conference of the parties (COP-11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in Hyderabad to discuss various issues related to conserving the bio resources of the world and to achieve consensus among 170 member countries on the issues related to climate change and mobilization of financial resources. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh announced USD 50 million grant to strengthen the institutional mechanism for biodiversity conservation in the country.

WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the variety of all species on earth. It is the different plants, animals and micro-organisms, their genes, and the terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems of which they are a part. Biodiversity is both essential for our existence and intrinsically valuable in its own right. Biodiversity is the life support system of our planet- we depend on it for the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. Wetlands filter pollutants from water, trees and plants reduce global warming by absorbing carbon, and bacteria and fungi break down organic material and fertilize the soil. We need to conserve biodiversity as our lives depend on it!

Delhi ranks as 10th most attractive city for international travel shoppers in the Asia-Pacific region, a report says. In the Globe Shopper Index, published by Global Blue, Delhi is behind Seoul and ahead of Manila, while Bangalore ranked fourteenth and Mumbai sixteenth.

India has the emerged as the world's largest rice exporter in 2012 beating its Asian counterpart Thailand with shipment of 9.75 million tonnes, according to US Deptt of Agriculture’s latest report. Vietnam shipped 7 million tonnes to claim second position, followed by Thailand (6.5 million tonnes).

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 2

BERNANKE VISITS INDIA, MEETS SUBBARAO US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S Bernanke visited India to discuss global

economic situation, monetary policies and some banking issues of mutual interest with RBI Governor D Subbarao and other top officials.

PM RESHUFFLES THE UNION CABINET Seven Cabinet Ministers, two Ministers of State with Independent Charge and 13 Ministers of State were inducted in the Council of Ministers in reshuffle done by Prime Minister on Oct 28.

PORTFOLIO UPGRADED

Salman Khurshid External Affairs

Pawan Kumar Bansal Railways

Kamal Nath Parliamentary Affairs; Urban

Development

M Veerappa Moily Petroleum & Natural Gas

Kumari Selja Social Justice

MINISTERS PROMOTED

M.M. Pallam Raju Human Resource Development

Ajay Maken Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation

Ashwani Kumar Law & Justice

Dinesh J. Patel Mines

Harish Rawat Water Resources

Jyotiraditya Scindia Power*

Sachin Pilot Corporate Affairs*

Jitendra Singh Youth Affairs and Sports *

K.H. Muniappa Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises

Bharatsinh Solanki Drinking water & Sanitation*

* Ministers of State with independent charge

NEW MINISTERS

K. Rahman Khan Minority Affairs

Chandresh Katoch Culture

Manish Tewari Information & Broadcasting*

K. Chiranjeevi Tourism*

NEW MINISTERS OF STATE

Shashi Tharoor HRD

Tariq Anwar Agriculture

Deepa Dasmunsi Urban Development

Kodikunnil Suresh Labour

K.J. Surya Prakash Reddy Railways

Ranee Narah Tribal Affairs

Adhir Ranjan Chaudhury Railways

A.H. Khan Chaudhury Health

S. Sathyanarayana Road Transport

Ninong Ering Minority Affairs

Porika Balram Naik Social Justice

Kruparani Killi Communication & IT

Lalchand Kataria Defence

SHAH GROUP PROPOSES ‘PRIVACY LAW’ A government-appointed expert group under chairmanship of A P Shah has recommended setting up of a regulatory

framework comprising of Privacy Commissioners at the Centre and regional levels to deal with privacy issues and mandatory destruction of records of telephone conversations after a specified period. The group has suggested a comprehensive legislation to protect individuals against misuse of information collected through telephone tapping, videography or any other method.

5 PACTS SIGNED WITH SPAIN India and Spain signed five pacts, including a protocol for amending the over 19-year-old double taxation avoidance pact to check tax evasion. The two countries also signed a defence cooperation pact.

BAN LIFTED FROM TOURISM IN TIGER PARKS The Supreme Court has lifted the ban imposed by it earlier on tourist activities in core areas of tiger reserve forests, in view of the comprehensive guidelines issued by the National Tourism Conservation Authority [NTCA] under the Wildlife Act for tourism in and around tiger reserves.

AWARD FOR PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE The Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR), Kerala, has won the coveted U.N.-India Biodiversity Governance award instituted by the Government of India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the best managed

protected area of the country.

4000 CRORE FOR JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS Union Cabinet has approved Rs 4,000 crores proposal for multipronged strategy for the prevention and control of Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome. The scheme will be implemented in 60 priority districts for a period of 5 years from this year.

217 MN INDIANS ARE ‘HUNGRY’ ‘The State of Food Insecurity in the World’, an annual report brought out jointly by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural

Development and the World Food Programme has revised the number of hungry people in world in 2010-12 downwards to 870 million, from 1 billion declared earlier. India remains home to the largest number of undernourished people in the world: 217 million (17.5%) as of 2012.

‘GREEN KUMBH YATRA’ FROM HYDERABAD The world’s first Green Kumbh Yatra was launched from the COP-11 conference venue in Hyderabad on Oct. 14. The yatra will culminate at Allahabad, the site of the Maha Kumbh Mela, in January 2013. The United Nation’s Convention on Biodiversity secretariat will officially take part in the yatra. Aimed at mobilising masses and bringing

awareness, the yatra is an environmental pilgrimage on foot and non-motorised vehicles traversing 1,125 kilometres through villages. After Allahabad, the yatra will continue across the continent and reach South Korea for COP-12 in 2014.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 3

INDIA APPROVES NAGOYA PROTOCOL The Central government has approved the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on October 4. The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefits Sharing (ABS) is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. The Nagoya Protocol on ABS was adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.

FIRST MUSEUM ON INDIAN CINEMA The first-ever museum of Indian cinema will come up in Mumbai in 2013, to mark the occasion of Indian cinema completing its 100 years, having started its journey with the screening of Raja Harishchandra in 1913. The National Museum of Indian Cinema will be set up in the premises of the Films Division.

HOMAGE TO 1962 CHINA WAR MARTYRS For the first time, the country’s defence establishment led by Union Defence Minister A. K. Antony paid homage to those who fought the 1962 war with China and sacrificed their lives. The Minister and the three Service Chiefs, laid wreaths at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate, New Delhi. More than 3,000 Indian soldiers laid down their lives during the war.

Julia Gillard, Australian Prime Minister visits India.

Juan Carlos I: King of Spain visits India.

Anatoly Serdyukov: Russian Defense Minister visits India.

Kolkata International Film Festival to be held at Kolkata from November 10.

India and New Zealand signed five Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in different fields of education.

South Asian Film Festival held in Goa from 25th-28th October, for films from SAARC nations.

‘Viswa Malayalee Mahotsavam’ held at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

SEPTEMBER 2012

INDIA RANKS 111TH IN ECONOMIC FREEDOM India ranks very low at 111th position in terms of economic freedom, behind countries like China, Nepal and Bangladesh,

a global study has claimed in a worldwide index of 144 nations. The annual ranking, titled 'Economic Freedom of the World: 2012', is topped by Hong Kong, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland and Australia in the top-five. The index by Canada-based Fraser Institute, measure the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries support economic freedom.

INDIA RANKED 59TH IN COMPETITIVENESS India's ranking declined by three places to 59th position in the Global Competitiveness Index 2012-2013, compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF). India trails behind Brazil and South Africa by some 10 places and lags behind China by a margin of 30 positions. The global list was topped by Switzerland for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Singapore and Finland. The report noted that India's infrastructure is largely insufficient and ill-adapted to the needs of the economy. Moreover, the country also faces problem areas such as corruption and bureaucracy.

S C RULES AGAINST AUCTION METHOD Supreme Court has ruled that auction cannot be the only method for allocating natural resources. It said, profit

maximisation cannot be the only basis for allocating natural resources. The court ruled that policy of auction has not got constitutional mandate. The apex court said that its 2G verdict was confined to allocation of spectrum and has not laid down any rule for other resources. It said, allocation of natural resources is a policy decision which should be backed by social and welfare measures.

GAAR MAY BE POSTPONED BY 3 YEARS The expert committee on GAAR (the General Anti-Avoidance Rules), headed by Parthasarathi Shome to address the concerns of foreign and domestic investors, has

recommended postponement of the controversial tax provision by three years and abolition of capital gains tax on transfer of securities.

INDIA GRANTS $10 MN TO PALESTINE India has agreed to extend development assistance of 10 million US dollars to Palestine and to support its bid for a full United Nations membership. Both countries also signed three pacts to enhance bilateral cooperation.

INDIA RANKS 66TH IN FOOD SECURITY A new global food security index shows India as a protein-deficient country and ranks it at 66th position among 105 nations surveyed. India ranked even below Sri Lanka (62).

BURUNDI PRESIDENT VISITS INDIA India and Burundi signed three MOUs for cooperation on in the fields of Education, Health and Medicine and Rural Development. The MOUs were signed by the visiting President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza.

KISHENGANGA PROJECT IN ICJ India and Pakistan have concluded their arguments before International Court of Justice in the dispute over the 330-MW hydro-electric project on Kishenganga, a tributary of the Jhelum, near Bandipur in Jammu & Kashmir.

INDIA TO HELP IN TIPAIMUKH PROJECT India has offered Bangladesh a stake in the Rs.15,000-crore Tipaimukh hydroelectric project on the Barak river in Manipur. Located about 210 km upstream of Bangladesh, the project has become controversial ever since Dhaka raised issues about lean period water discharges and impact on downstream agriculture, fisheries and environment.

$106 MN W B AID FOR NUTRITION The World Bank today approved a $106 million (about Rs 583 crore) credit to the government of India to improve the nutritional outcomes for children less than six years of

age. India has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world. One-third of the children are born with low birth-weight, 43 per cent of children under five are underweight, 48 per cent are stunted, 20 per cent are wasted, 70 per cent are anemic, and 57 per cent are vitamin A deficient.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 4

‘BARFI’ – INDIA’s ENTRY FOR OSCARS Ranbir Kapoor starrer 'Barfi!', a love story of a deaf and mute boy set in the fairy-tale world of 1970s Darjeeling, has been

nominated as Indian's entry to the Oscars next year in the foreign film category. The film has been directed by Anurag Basu.

TEXTILE PACT WITH ISRAEL India and Israel have signed pacts to boost the textiles business against the backdrop of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) being finalised between two nations as they celebrate 20 years of diplomatic relations.

India has announced a contribution of ten billion US dollars to International Monitory Fund.

Ninth World Hindi Conference [WHC] held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 22-24 September, 2012.

Second International Buddhist Conclave held at Varanasi on September 29.

AUGUST 2012

COALGATE SCAM DISRUPTS PARLIAMENT Reacting to the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on coal block allocations (coalgate scam), BJP disrupted Parliament demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who held the Coal portfolio when alleged irregularities took place. The CAG report has estimated a loss of Rs 1.86-lakh crore due to coal block allocations

without auction from 2005 to 2009.

67% INDIA DEFECATES IN OPEN According to a statement by Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Jairam Ramesh in Parliament, people of 67 per cent households in rural India defecate in the open and several states "fudge" data on building of toilets. If states were to be believed, 60 per cent households in rural India have already been provided toilets but according to 2011 Census over 33 per cent have the facility.

INDIA DONATES RICE TO YEMEN In response to an appeal made by the United Nations to the

international community to extend humanitarian assistance to Yemen, India has extended food assistance in the form of around 2,500 metric tonnes of rice valued at around $ 2 million.

SC UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF KASAB The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab,

saying that waging war against the country was the primary and foremost offence committed by the Pakistani terrorist. The Court rejected his contention that he was not given a free and fair trial in the case.

WHO IS KASAB? Kasab, along with nine other Pakistani terrorists had landed in south Mumbai on November 26, 2008 night after travelling from Karachi by sea and had gone on a shooting spree at various city landmarks, in which 166 people were killed. While Kasab was captured alive, the other terrorists in his group were killed by security forces during the counter-terror operations.

MEET ON CHAHBAHAR PORT India, Iran and Afghanistan held a trilateral meet to discuss ways to commercially exploit the Chahbahar port in Iran. Located in South East Iran, Chahbahar port offers tremendous opportunities for trade and commerce for India in Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan, which blocks the country's land routes.

INDIA FACES DROUGHT Monsoon rains will not be enough to save the country from its first drought in three years, says Indian Meteorological Department as it forecasted that the El Nino weather pattern should reduce rains again in the second half of the June to September season. Monsoon rains are considered deficient -

a drought in layman's terms - if they fall below 90 per cent of a 50-year average.

WHAT IS EL NINO El Nino is a regularly occurring climatic feature. Every two to five years, El Nino reappears and lasts for several months or even a few years. El Nino takes place when warmer than usual sea water exists off the coast of South America. El Nino causes climate effects around the world. El Nino increases average ocean surface water temperature in the region. This mass of warm water is what causes climatic change around the world. WHAT IS LA NIÑA During a period of La Niña, the sea surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean will be lower than normal by 3–5 °C. The name La Niña originates from Spanish, meaning "the girl," analogous to El Niño meaning "the boy."

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GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 5

INDIA TV FEST IN GOA IN NOV Buoyed by the robust growth in the television industry and with the advent of digitisation, Indian Broadcasting

Foundation (IBF) is set to organise an Indian Television Fest in Goa in November.

YAMUNA EXPRESSWAY OPENED FOR TRAFFIC The 165.5 km-long Noida-Agra Yamuna Expressway was inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh on 9th August.

India and Monaco have signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA)

Railways have started a double-decker air-conditioned train from Sarai Rohilla, New Delhi to Jaipur.

JULY 2012

Mr. MUKHERJEE ELECTED 13TH PRESIDENT Mr Pranab Mukherjee, one of the most experienced administrators, was declared elected as India’s thirteenth President. He defeated the former Speaker and opposition candidate, Mr P. A. Sangma.

COINS ON 60 YEARS OF PARLIAMENT To commemorate the occasion of 60 years of Indian Parliament, the Reserve Bank will introduce Rs 5 and 10 denomination coins having the image of the Parliament House.

India has signed a new tax treaty with Norway that allows exchange of banking-related information for taxation purposes.

India signs Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Indonesia.

International Cooperative Conference held at New Delhi on July 4, 2012.

The Western Ghats of India have been included in the coveted list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

JUNE 2012

INDIA IN TOP 10 WEALTHY COUNTRIES According to Datamonitor's 2012 Global Wealth Market Report, India is expected to experience explosive growth, and is anticipated to jump to sixth place by the end of 2012 in the world order of wealth markets. The top 10 wealth markets, in terms of dollar millionaire holdings at the end of 2011, in descending order, are the US, Japan, China, the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Brazil, and India.

INDIA HAS 162K MILLIONAIRE HOUSEHOLDS In 2011, nearly 28,000 Indian households crossed the threshold to become millionaires ($1 million or Rs 5.5 crore at current prices) according to the Global Wealth Report 2012 of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). With 1.62 lakh millionaire households (1.34 lakh in 2010), India is still at 13th place in the global ranking.

INDIA TO RANK 8TH IN IMF India is set to become the eighth largest shareholder in the IMF after quota reforms which are likely to be finalised at the multilateral agency’s Annual Meeting at Tokyo in October. India’s share at IMF is set to rise to 2.75 per cent from 2.44 per cent at present (11th position)

69TH NSSO TO START IN JULY The 69th round of the National Sample Survey Organization's (NSSO) enumeration of socio-economic indicators will start in

July, 2012. For the first time entire India, including Jammu and Kashmir will be covered. The survey will examine a range of indicators like size and state of houses, drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and slums.

$10 BN INDIAN HELP FOR GREECE India announced 10 bn USD contributions to the IMF's additional 430 bn USD financial firewall to help the debt-wracked 17-nation eurozone so that the faltering world economy is protected against the spread of any financial contagion.

DELHI INVESTMENT SUMMIT ON AFGHANISTAN India organised the Delhi Investment Summit on Afghanistan, with the support of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Afghanistan. The objective of the Summit is to attract foreign investment into Afghanistan in the light of new opportunities opening up in various sectors in that country.

FIRST INDIAN UNIVERSITY BRANCH IN CHINA The Karnataka-based private university - Manipal University is in talks with Tianjin University and Shanghai's Tongji University, to set up what would be China's first all-English educational institution that will provide training in Information Technology (IT) and in the sciences.

RISING SEA LEVELS THREATEN MUMBAI The tranquil stretches of emerald green backwaters in Mumbai and Kerala are among several locales in the western and eastern coasts facing threat from the rising sea level due to climate change. Deltas of the Ganga, Krishna, Godavari, Cauvery and Mahanadi on the east coast may also be threatened along with irrigated land and adjoining settlements, according to a Government report.

WB AND CII TO SAVE TIGER In a bid to actively involve the private sector in the global effort to protect tiger, the World Bank and CII have teamed up to establish 'India Wildlife Business Council' that would promote the conservation of the endangered tiger species.

RED LIST FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES The Red list of threatened species, prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has listed 132 species of plants and animals as Critically Endangered, the most threatened category, from India. Plants seemed to be the most threatened life form, with 60 species being listed as Critically Endangered.

INDIANS HOLD 12740 Cr IN SWISS BANKS According to the latest data published by the Swiss National Bank, Switzerland, the quantum of money held by Indians in Swiss banks stood at 2.18 billion Swiss francs (about Rs.

12,740 crore) at the end of 2011, having risen for the first time in the past five years. ‘INNOVATION ZONE’ FOR TELECOM INNOVATION Startup Village, said to be the first telecom incubator in the country, has tied up with Research in Motion (RIM),

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 6

manufacturers of Blackberry. RIM has set up an ‘innovation zone' called Rubus Labs, at the Kinfra Hi-tech park, Kalamasserry, near here, to showcase telecom innovations,

with a view to motivating technology entrepreneurs.

DELHI, MUMBAI TO GET MISSILE COVER DRDO has selected Delhi and Mumbai as the first two metros to be covered under Ballistic Missile Defence system to provide a cover from the incoming enemy missiles. To ensure maximum protection against air-borne threats, DRDO will put a mix of counter-attack missiles which will be able to shoot down enemy missiles with the range of up to 2,000 km.

BUFFER ZONE FOR JARAWA TRIBALS Government has approved a buffer zone in the 5 km radius around the Jarawa tribal settlements in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and provides for imprisonment up to seven years for those violating government norms for this area, to avoid their exploitation by photographers.

The first Bi-lateral maritime exercise between India and Japan 'JIMEX 12' (Japan India Maritime Exercise) commenced on 09 June, off Tokyo.

The 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) will be held from 7 to 9 January, 2013 in Cochin. It is celebrated on January 9th every year to commemorate the day of return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa in 1915.

The annual World Economic Summit on India will be held in Gurgaon, Haryana in Nov. 2012.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh visited Mexico and Brazil to participate in the G-20 Summit at Los Cabos and to attend the Rio + 20 conference on Sustainable Development at Rio de Janeiro, respectively.

MAY 2012

PM VISITS MYANMAR AFTER 25 YEARS

Indian P M met Myanmar President Thein Sein at Naypiedaw, Capital of Myanmar, after a gap of 25 years. India extended a USD 500 million line of credit as part of 12 agreements on sectors like trade and energy signed with Myanmar, which vowed that its territory will not be allowed to be used by terrorists to target India.

India and Myanmar have announced to launch a trans-border bus service from Imphal to Mandalay.

India would repair and upgrade the Tamu- Kalewa Friendship Road between Manipur and Myanmar.

INDIA RANKS 46TH IN GLOBAL TRADE As per a World Bank survey, India now ranks 46th in global trade logistics performance, whose top five slot are occupied by Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, Germany and Netherlands in the list of 155 countries.

INTERLOCUTERS PRESENT REPORT ON J A& K Centre's interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir have favoured setting up a Constitutional Committee to review all Central Acts and Articles of the Constitution of India to extended to

the state after 1952.The report of the interlocutors Dileep Padgaonkar (Head), Radha Kumar and M M Ansari ruled out a return to the pre-1953 position.

It also said the state assembly will submit three names to the President for the post of Governor who will be appointed by the President. It also suggested that there should be no change in Article 356 and if the state government is dismissed, elections should be held within three months.

DTAA SIGNED WITH MALAYSIA India and Malaysia today signed a double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with a view to boosting bilateral trade and facilitating exchange of tax information.

INDIA RANKS 5TH IN CYBER CRIME India is ranked fifth in the worldwide ranking of countries affected by cyber crime, claims a report by the Security and Defence Agenda (SDA) and McAfee.

PER CAPITA DEBT CROSSES Rs 33,000 According to finance ministry data, the per capita debt in India was estimated at nearly Rs 33,000 at the end of March 2012. Internal debt is mainly on account of government borrowings, either from the market or even from individuals in the form of small savings schemes such as the National Savings Certificate or Public Provident Fund.

INDIA TOPS IN PRE TERM BIRTH DEATHS According to a report published recently, India has the highest number of deaths due to premature births, and ranks 36th in the list of pre-term births globally. The ranking included 199 countries. Of the 27 million babies born in India annually (2010 figure), 3.6 million are born prematurely, of which 303,600 don't survive due to complications.

INDIA 75TH IN ‘MOTHER’s INDEX’

India has performed poorly on the mother and child front with its rank on the Mother's Index dropping to 76 in the list of 80 “less developed countries'' category as against 75th position in 2011. The Mother's Index is based on a number of criteria such as lifetime risk of

maternal death, per cent of births attended by skilled health personnel and other risk factors related to maternity. Norway tops the Index.

FOREIGN HELP FOR BLACK TIGER SHRIMP The government is planning to rope in global companies for the revival of Black Tiger shrimp farming in the country. This variety, also known as giant tiger prawns, is the most popular item in the Asian, European, and American markets.

JCC MEET WITH BANGLADESH A host of strategic bilateral issues, including extradition treaty, Teesta water treaty and boundary implementation agreement were discussed in the first Indo-Bangla Joint Consultative Commission meeting held at New Delhi.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 7

INDIA TO HOST E-9 MINISTERIAL MEETING India will host the ninth E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting in New Delhi later in 2012 and assume the chair of the E-9

Secretariat from 2012-2014. Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan are the nine most highly-populated countries of the South (E-9). India Post celebrates 25 years of its premium

service Speed Post.

India has become the largest importer of arms during 2007-11 accounting for 10 per cent of global arms import as compared to Chinese share of 5 per cent.

The Supreme Court has struck down the government's policy of giving subsidies to Haj pilgrims and directed that it be progressively eliminated within a period of 10 years.

APRIL 2012

PARLIAMENT TURNS 60 ON MAY 13 Indian Parliament’s first sitting was held on May 13, 1952 and was marked by the address of the first Indian President Rajendra Prasad to the Houses. The same day, the first PM Jawaharlal Nehru took oath.

SACHIN, REKHA JOIN RAJYA SABHA Sachin Tendulkar, Rekha and Anu Aga, former chairperson of Thermax Industries, a social worker and a member of the

National Advisory Council, have been nominated to Rajya Sabha under Article 80 of the Constitution, which allows the President to nominate to the Rajya Sabha 12 members having special knowledge of, or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service.

‘TEA’ – NATIONAL DRINK OF INDIA Govt proposes to declare Tea as national drink by April 17 next year to coincide with the 212th birth anniversary of the first Assamese tea planter and Sepoy Mutiny leader -Maniram Dewan.

Two day World IT Forum Meet held in New Delhi

The President visits Seychelles from April 30 to May 1 and South Africa from May 1 to May 7.

A commemorative stamp released on former President of India R. Venkataraman as a part of his centenary celebrations.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visits India and received an honorary doctorate degree from Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi.

NEWS FROM STATES OCTOBER 2012

GOA TO ASSIST POOR WOMEN Goa government has launched Grih Adhar scheme to provide Rs 1,000 per month to those women whose gross family income is less than Rs 3 lakh. The scheme will cover married women, divorcees and widows.

ELECTIONS IN GUJARAT AND HP Election Commission has announced that assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on 13th and 17th December while polls in Himachal Pradesh will take place on 4th November. Counting of votes for both States will be held on December 20.

The West Bengal Govt has decided to provide 8 kg of free foodgrains every month to members of the Toto community, one of the country’s oldest tribes, which is facing extinction.

Maharashtra government is planning to set up Spanish language departments in its universities.

The humble house sparrow has been notified as the State bird of Delhi

Jackei Shroff appointed brand ambassador of “Beti Bachao Abhiyan” launched by Bihar government against female foeticide.

SEPTEMBER 2012

DELHI BANS USE FO PLASTIC BAGS In a major environment-friendly initiative, the Delhi government has decided to impose a blanket ban on manufacture, sale, storage and use of plastic bags in the national capital. Under the ban, use of plastic cover/pouch to pack magazines, invitation cards, greeting cards will also be prohibited.

SOLAR SALT FARM IN GUJARAT A model solar farm will be established in Gujarat based on the internationally patented technology of the Central Salt Marine & Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI) to manufacture export-grade 99 per cent NaCl (Sodium Chloride) purity salt. Gujarat produces 73% of India’s salt production.

Arunachal Pradesh has launched Rashtriya Aarogya Nidhi scheme to provide financial assistance upto 1.5 lakh rupees to BPL patients suffering from life threatening diseases in the form of one time grant.

Tamilnadu Assembly celebrates its Diamond Jubilee on October 29 when it completes 60 years of its establishment.

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AUGUST 2012

KEROSENE FREE DELHI Delhi Government has launched a scheme to end the use of kerosene as household fuel, as often it does not reach the intended beneficiaries. Over 3.5 lakh BPL and poor families will get free LPG cylinders and gas stoves under this scheme.

Punjab has bagged the top position in country in the field of dairy farming with the production of 95.4 lakh MT milk annually

West Bengal Assembly is celebrating its Platinum Jubilee.

Germany agrees to give Rs 365 crore loan to develop urban infrastructure in Odisha.

JULY 2012

RIGHT TO SERVICE IN KERALA The govt in Kerala has passed the Kerala State Right to Service Bill, 2012, entitling the citizens to assert their right to all the services that each government department is supposed to provide them.

BIHAR GROWTH SHINES AT 16.71% Amid economic slowdown, Bihar economy grew at a rate of 16.71 per cent in comparison to its performance in the previous fiscal.

The Rajasthan government has decided to ban the production, storage, distribution and sale of gutkha in State.

About 18 lakh laptops and 26 lakh computer tablets will be distributed to students who passed out of classes 10 and 12 in Uttar Pradesh, during the current academic session.

Govt has cleared the Rs.5,128-crore Kochi Metro Rail project for Kerala state.

JUNE 2012

RIVER – LAKE LINKING PROJECT IN MP Madhya Pradesh has launched the country's first ever river-lake linking project in the water-scarce Bundelkhand region. The Harpura irrigation and river-lake link project will link the perennial Jamni River to the nearby lakes and water bodies built during the Chandel era, providing irrigation to an additional 1,980 hectares of land.

DELHI INDIA’S MOST COMPETITIVE CITY Delhi has been named the most competitive city in India, securing 68th rank in the list of 120 of the world’s major cities compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research report by Citi. Mumbai ranked 70th in the index, followed by Bangalore, India’s Silicon Valley, at 79th rank, Pune at 97, Chennai at 105 and Kolkata at 106.

LAND RECORDS THROUGH SATELLITE Village Kurbanpur of district Ambala, Haryana, has become the first village of the country to make available the fully computerized land records of all its farmers through satellite.

BUDDHIST CENTRE IN AR. PRADESH Arunachal Pradesh has got its first full-fledged Buddhist

centre - The Central Institute of Himalayan Culture Studies at Dahung in West Kameng district. The other three centers are in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

GUJARAT TO DEVELOP COASTAL TOURISM Planning Commission has approved Rs 1,200-crore for the Gujarat Government’s plan to boost coastal tourism project which includes developing 10 beaches on the 1,600 km coastline area of Gujarat, longest amongst Indian states.

GUWAHATI TO BE HEALTHCARE HUB The Assam government is aiming to turn Guwahati into a regional hub for healthcare catering to patients not only from

the North-East but also from neighbouring countries of Bhutan and Bangladesh.

NO FEE FROM GIRLS IN UP The Uttar Pradesh government has waived off tuition fees for girl students of all sections of the society from Class IX to XII in all government, aided and non-aided recognised schools of UP Board.

KERALA TO BE FULLY DIGITAL Kerala govt plans to promote the e-governance platform to become the first fully digital State by March, 2013. Every citizen would be given an e-mail ID based on the UID Aadhaar. All government transactions and applications would be handled through e-mail.

KERALA – ‘NIRMAL’ STATE Very soon, Kerala will be declared ‘Nirmal’ state, i.e. - open defecation free state. Among the small states, Sikkim has already achieved the ‘Nirmal’ status.

Maharashtra is one of the highest users of tobacco in the country with 43 per cent adult males and 19 per cent adult females addicted to it.

Karnataka Legislative Assembly celebrates 60th anniversary of its establishment.

The Tripura Govt has decided to allow its male employees a 7 days paternity leave.

It is very important to attain coaching for competitive exams as the syllabus is vast and with effective coaching, it becomes easier for a student to achieve the desired results. I am thankful to

Gyanm for their perpetual support.

VIJAY PAUL (SSC TIER – II)

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 9

MAY 2012

KARNATAKA TOPS IN FISH PRODUCTION Karnataka has emerged as the leading coastal state with highest growth of fish production. With about five lakh tonnes of annual fish production, Karnataka accounts for almost six per cent of overall fish production in India which is currently estimated at about 91 lakh tonnes

KERALA BANS GUTKA/ TOBACCO PRODUCTS The Congress-led UDF Government in Kerala has banned manufacture and sale of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco in the state

with immediate effect. Kerala is the second state to ban the use of gutka and pan masala after Madhya Pradesh.

MAHA TO WAIVE WEAVER LOANS Maharashtra Government has announced waiving off loans to the tune of Rs 50,000 borrowed by the weavers and handloom workers till March 31, 2010.

NEW HEALTH SCHEME IN MP In Madhya Pradesh, a consolidated scheme has been introduced to provide health services in all 52 thousand villages of the state. Sampoorna Swasthya Sabke Liye scheme contains all the health scheme of the central and

state government. Under this Scheme, the smallest unit Gram Arogya Kendra will be work at village level.

The Uttar Pradesh Government has decided to give Rs 1,000 per month as unemployment allowance to the youth between 30 and 40 years of age.

The Uttarkhand Government has decided to give allowance to the unemployed educated youth.

Karnataka has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mizuho Corporate Bank of Japan for mutual co-operation and investment promotion.

Zila Parishad of distict Kurukshetra, Haryana has won the National Panchayati Raj Award for successfully implementing all Central Government schemes.

High Altitude Cloud Physics Laboratory opened at Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra)

APRIL 2012

HP TO BECOME CARBON NEUTRAL STATE World Bank has agreed to provide a $200 million loan to the State in order to enable it become the country's first ‘carbon-neutral State' by 2020.

Country’s first Radio frequency identification, RFID, Technology Based Electronic Toll Plaza started at Chandimandir, Panchkula, Haryana, on Zirakpur – Parwanoo Highway.

Assam launched the biggest river cruise of the country, MV Mahabahu in Guwahati

Assam celebrates Platinum Jubilee (75 years) of its Legislative Assembly

Assam and West Bengal have announced to start a State TV news channel for presenting the official side of developments.

Around 5,200 French nationals from Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam exercised their franchise in the first round of the French Presidential elections.

Patna to get Asia’s first Dolphin Research Centre.

GOVT INITIATIVES

OCTOBER 2012

PM LAUNCHES ‘AADHAAR’ BASED SERVICES The much awaited Aadhaar

enabled system for direct cash transfer to beneficiaries under social schemes such as MNREGA and pension was launched on Oct. 20, on second anniversary of Aadhaar project by Prime Minister at Dudu, district Jaipur, Rajasthan. The payment mechanism is aimed at checking corruption and pilferage in the social sector schemes that seek to promote financial inclusion. In the last two years, the UIDAI has generated over 20 crore Aadhaar numbers.

NATIONAL POLICY ON ELECTRONICS 2012 The Cabinet has cleared the National Policy on Electronics 2012, which aims to make the domestic electronic hardware manufacturing segment a $400-billion industry by 2020, involving investment of about $100 billion and employment to around 28 million people at various levels.

NEW ‘LAND BILL’ CLEARED The Group of Ministers has cleared the controversial land bill, ‘The Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Transparency in Land Acquisition' Bill, suggesting that the consent of 66% of the affected people would be required for acquisition of land for private and PPP projects, instead of 80% proposed earlier.

NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE BOARD The Union Cabinet has approved setting up of a National Automotive Board (NAB), a body that would act as a facilitator between the government and the automobile industry, and promote R&D activities in the sector.

HARSHER PENALTY FOR PORN MMS The Cabinet has approved amendments to the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 as per which sending a pornographic multimedia message and emails may land you in jail for up to three years. It may also attract a fine between Rs.50,000 and Rs.100,000 for first conviction. A second conviction will invite an imprisonment of not less than two years, but which may extend to seven years, and a fine between Rs.100,000 and Rs.500,000.

GOVT TO LAUNCH DATA PORTAL All public data will now be freely available at the click of a mouse with the launch of a national data portal next month. Government portal data.gov.in, that will be used to share

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 10

official data with the public, is set to be fully functional soon. The framework will be provided by National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP).

‘NIRMAL BHARAT YATRA’ LAUNCHED Govt. has launched a 2000 kms ‘Nirmal Bharat Yatra’ from October 3 from the Gandhi Ashram located in Sevagram in Wardha (Maharashtra) to promote the message of making the country open defecation-free and ensuring proper sanitation in rural areas. Actor Vidya Balan has been made the brand ambassador of the campaign which will end on November 17 in Bettiah, Bihar.

GOVT APPROVES COMPUTERISATION OF PDS The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the first phase of the end-to-end computerization of Targeted Public Distribution System. This will kickstart the process of integration of Aadhar number into the PDS system, which will improve targeting of the subsidized grains and reduce leakages. The digitization of records of beneficiaries will help in weeding out fake ration cards and better targeting of subsidies.

49% FDI IN PENSION/INSURANCE Signaling the government's intent to continue with reforms to boost economic growth and investor sentiment, the Union Cabinet has approved bill allowing 49% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in insurance and pension funds. The two proposals have evoked wide spread protest from various political parties. Two other less contentious economic legislations —one modernising the Companies Act and

another, the Forward Contracts Bill, empowering the regulator of commodities markets were also approved by the cabinet.

A high-power National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers has been constituted under Chairmanship of the Prime Minister to reduce corruption at the grass root level.

SEPTEMBER 2012

MANY 'RIDERS’ IN MULTI-BRAND RETAIL

The 51% FDI in multi-brand retail notification has set a number of conditions aimed at securing the interest of common man. Major stipulations include:

A minimum investment of $100 million, 50 per cent of which should be invested in back-end infrastructure.

30 per cent of the products must be procured from small scale industries which have a total investment in plant and machinery not exceeding $1 million.

Fresh agricultural produce, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains, pulses, fresh poultry, fishery and meat products, may be unbranded.

Retail chains will be allowed only in cities with a population of more than 10 lakh as per 2011 Census.

State governments/Union Territories (UTs) would be free to take their own decisions in regard to implementation of the policy.

GOVT OPENS DOORS TO FDI To fight out the allegation of the “policy paralysis,” the government unleashed big-ticket reforms in the FDI sector to attract foreign investment to heal ailing economy. Main

proposals approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs included:

allowing 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail,

100 per cent FDI in single brand retail

49 per cent FDI in civil aviation to help domestic carriers

to allow 49 per cent FDI in two power exchanges

Increase the limit from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in the broadcasting sector.

100 per cent FDI in single brand retail would be notified soon.

The Cabinet also announced disinvestment of its equity in four public sector companies to raise Rs. 15,000

crore.

PMO PUSHES FOR REFORMS The Prime Minister's Office has drawn up a list of reforms that can be implemented by the executive and will have the effect of unlocking investments and removing hurdles for expansion of projects. These include setting up a railway tariff authority, nudging RBI to issue new bank licences, putting in place a new policy for pricing of natural gas, and ensuring faster clearances for private sector oil and gas producers like Cairn and RIL

DIRECT SUBSIDY FOR KEROSENE To check the black marketing of cheap kerosene sold through the Public Distribution System, Government has decided to deposit subsidy on the fuel directly in the bank accounts of intended beneficiaries. Under the new scheme, ration card holders would get kerosene at market rates from PDS shops. The new scheme is being implemented in Maharashtra state.

ONLY 6 SUBSIDISED LPG CYLIDERS The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided to restrict the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders to six for each household annually to reduce losses of oil marketing companies. During the fiscal, even after this measure, the companies are estimated to lose above Rs 32,000 crore on domestic LPG.

‘SAKSHAM’ TO FOCUS ON ADOLESCENT BOYS The Centre has decided to launch a scheme to empower adolescent boys by educating them on gender sensitivity and moral behaviour. Launched by the Ministry of Women and

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 11

Child Development, the scheme known as Saksham aims to target young boys in the age group 10-18 years for their holistic development by giving lessons in gender sensitivity

and inculcating in them respect for women.

TRC MUST FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS India has made it mandatory for all foreign investors to furnish a tax residency certificate of their home country to claim benefits under the double taxation avoidance agreement. This will make the process of claiming tax credit easier for foreigners by removing the arbitrariness in the earlier regime.

I T POLICY ANNOUNCED The government has approved the National Policy on Information Technology, which aims to make at least one individual in every household e-literate among other objectives. The industry’s goal is to reach USD 100 billion turnover and USD 200 billion of exports by 2020.

MILLETS IN MID DAY MEAL SCHEME The Centre has asked states to introduce millets in mid-day meal schemes in schools to boost demand for the nutritious grain. The mid-day meal, which is the largest government school feeding programme, has a food grain requirement of 28.50 lakh tonnes in 2012-13, which includes 23.8 lakh tonnes of rice and 4.7 lakh tonnes of wheat.

NREGA FOR 150 DAYS IN DROUGHT AREAS To offer some relief to farmers in drought-affected states, a ministerial panel has decided to increase the number of guaranteed work days under MGNREGA to 150 days (only in drought affected areas) and cut interest rates on crop loans to 7 per cent for one year in such areas.

COMMITTEE TO IMPROVE PANCHAYATS Govt has set up a committee under chairmanship of Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar to examine how panchayats can be leveraged for more efficient delivery of public goods and services. The committee will also suggest ways to encourage States to devolve the three Fs — funds, functions and functionaries — to panchayats.

BILL PASSED TO CURB SEXUAL HARASSMENT The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Bill, 2010, that seeks to protect women, including domestic workers, from sexual harassment at workplace, has been passed in the Lok Sabha. Sexual harassment includes any unwelcome act or behaviour such as physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours or making sexually coloured remarks or showing pornography.

340 LAKH TO BE COVERED UNDER RSBY The government will cover three crore 40 lakh

families under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana during the current financial year. The government has launched the scheme to provide smart card based cashless health insurance cover of 30 thousand per annum on a family floater basis to BPL families in the unorganised sector.

NEW RADIATION NORMS FOR MOBILE TOWERS New norms for mobile towers, in which the Electromagnetic Frequency (EMF) exposure limit from Base Station Emission is lowered to one-tenth of the existing level, became effective from Sep. 1, 2012. Non-compliance of EMF standards will attract a penalty of Rs 5 lakh per tower.

The government has made electronic payment of customs duty mandatory in order to further reduce transaction cost of the importers.

The govt is negotiating with the World Bank to set up a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Institute in the country.

AUGUST 2012

COMMITTEE FOR BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT Government has set up a committee, headed by former Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman M. Damodaran to suggest ways to improve the climate for doing business in the country as figures showed foreign direct investment in India has come down by 78 percent in June, 2012.

RAJIV HOUSING LOAN SCHEME Govt plans to launch the Rajiv Housing Loan Scheme to provide financial assistance to urban poor for house construction. Under this scheme, people belonging to the economically weaker sections would be given relief on interest for housing loans of less than Rs 5 lakh.

COMPLETE BAN ON CHILD LABOUR The government has cleared a proposal to put a complete ban on employment of children up to the age of 14 both in hazardous and non-hazardous work by amending the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. As per the provision of the proposed law, a person found guilty of giving employment to children would be liable to a maximum three years imprisonment or fine up to a maximum of 50,000 rupees.

CAREER COUNSELLING

AT GYANM

COLLEGE OF COMPETITIONS

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 12

PAK ALLOWED FDI IN INDIA The Reserve Bank has notified that a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in that country may, with the prior

approval of the Government of India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board, purchase shares and convertible debentures of an Indian company under the Foreign Direct Investment Scheme. FDI is, however, not permitted in sectors/activities pertaining to defence, space and atomic energy and sectors/activities prohibited for foreign investment.

INDIA CHINA SET UP TRADE GROUP India and China have agreed to set up a joint working group to resolve the bilateral trade concerns and strengthen economic cooperation. India raised its concerns over widening trade deficit with China while China expressed its worries on visa rules and duty hike on power equipment imports by India.

BILL TO ABOLISH INSANITARY LATRINES The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012, aims to get rid of insanitary latrines within nine months of its notification. An insanitary latrine is defined as a toilet where excreta is cleaned or manually handled before complete decomposition. Employing or hiring people for cleaning septic tanks and sewers within one year of the notification of the Act can attract imprisonment up to two years and a fine of Rs. 2 lakh for the first violation. Subsequent instances will attract imprisonment up to five years and a fine of Rs. 5 lakh.

BILL TO ENLARGE ‘TERRORIST ACT’ The Union Cabinet has approved amendments in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by including unlawful financial activities like money laundering, terror financing and circulation of fake Indian currency in the definition of “terrorist act.” The Bill also enhances the period - from two to five years - for which an association involved in terrorist acts, including terror financing, will be declared unlawful. The bill now will be placed before Parliament for approval.

GOVT HIKES STAKE IN IFCI The Union Cabinet has approved the conversion of OCDs (optionally convertible debentures) worth Rs. 923 crore held by the government in The Industrial Finance Corporation of

India (IFCI) into equity, increasing govt stake in IFCI to 55.57 per cent.

JULY 2012

PRODUCER PRICE INDEX FROM RBI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D. Subbarao has proposed a Producer Price Index (PPI), which would measure the average change over time in the sale prices of domestic goods and services. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) does not capture the price movement of services. Also, it is a hybrid of consumer and producer price quotes. In contrast, PPI measures price changes from the perspective of the seller. Sellers’ and purchasers’ prices differ due to government subsidies, sales and excise taxes, and distribution costs.

FOOD BILL TO COVER 70% The government has decided to expand the scope of Food Security Bill to cover about 70 per cent of the country's

population under the ambitious programme to provide them legal right to highly subsidised foodgrains. Under the changes being proposed, each beneficiary would be entitled

to get five kg foodgrains per month (rice at Rs 3; wheat at Rs 2 and millets at Rs 1 per kg) from ration shops.

NATIONAL POLICY FOR CHILDREN REVISED The Women and Child Development ministry has revised the National Policy for Children for the first time since it was adopted in 1974. Some of the key priorities listed in the draft are making survival, health, nutrition, development, education, protection as basic rights of every child. As per the policy draft, every child has a right to be safeguarded against hunger, deprivation and malnutrition and the State would commit to securing this right through access, provision and promotion of required services and supports for holistic nurturing.

COLD WAVE/FROST ARE NATURAL CALAMITY Damage to crops due to cold wave and frost would now be eligible for central and state assistance following the government's decision to consider such weather condition as natural calamity. At present, cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst and pest attack are treated as natural calamities and are eligible for relief under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

COMMITTEE TO REVIEW TAXATION Govt has constituted a Committee to Review Taxation of Development Centres and the IT Sector. The Committee will engage in consultations with stakeholders and related government departments to finalise the Safe Harbour provisions announced in Budget 2010 sector-by-sector. It will also suggest the approach to taxation of Development Centres.

WHAT IS A DEVELOPMENT CENTER Many MNCs carry out activities such as product development, analytical work, software development, etc. through captive entities in India. These are popularly called Development Centres. Over 750 MNCs have such centres at over 1100 locations in India. These Centres provide high quality jobs to our scientists, and indeed make India a global hub for such Knowledge Centres.

NEW BOARD FOR OIL&GAS PROJECTS The government has decided to set up a Project Clearance Board for speedy one time clearances to oil and gas projects. This will include security aspects. It is to be set up on the lines of Foreign Investment Promotion Board-FIPB. NO SERVICE TAX ON REMITTANCES The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), has clarified that remittances from abroad would not attract service tax. “As the amount of remittance comprises money, the activity does not comprise a ‘service’ and thus not subjected to service tax,” it said.

FRP FOR SUGARCANE – Rs 170/QTL The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) has increased the statutory minimum price for sugarcane by 17.25% to compensate farmers for rising cultivation costs.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 13

Sugar mills will have to pay farmers at least Rs 170 per quintal as the fair and remunerative price (FRP) for cane in the new season starting October 1, up from Rs 145/quintal in

the current season.

JUNE 2012

IDENTIFY BPL TRIBAL FAMILIES: RAMESH Rural Development Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh has directed Chief Ministers of all the states to ensure that all efforts should be made to identify the BPL tribal families and make them eligible for the Indira Awaas Yojana and the National Social Assistance Programme.

CAs TO AUDIT NREGA ACCOUNTS Chartered Accountants will begin certification of accounts under MGNREGA scheme at randomly selected village

panchayats from April 2013. Every year, 20 per cent of the village panchayats in the country will be randomly selected for CA certification.

MORE EXEMPTIONS FROM SERVICE TAX The government has decided to exempt 14 more services from payment of service tax by July 1. Advocates with a turnover of up to Rs 10 lakhs, companies engaged in construction of metro projects, law firms, and entities providing public conveniences will not have to pay 12 per cent service tax.

ENHANCED SERVICE TAX FROM JULY 1 From July 1, all services except those in the negative list will be taxed, as was decided in the 2012-13 budget proposals. The Budget also hiked the service tax rate by two per cent to 12 per cent. Services like metered taxis, auto rickshaws, betting, gambling, lottery, entry to amusement parks, transport of goods or passengers and electricity distribution by discoms have been kept in the negative list. Other important services which will not attract the tax include funeral, burial, mutate services and transport of deceased. Govt defines service as "any activity carried out by a person for consideration".

EXPORT OF MILK POWDER ALLOWED The government has lifted ban on exports of skimmed milk powder (SMP) to improve finances of dairy firms and help milk producers. However ban continues on exports of milk and cream, concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter, including whole milk powder, dairy whitener and infant milk foods.

Rs 1,100 Cr FOR NATGRID The govt has approved Rs.1,100 crore for purchase of hi-tech equipment for the National Intelligence Grid - NATGRID that will pool information from 21 categories of database. The NATGRID was conceptualised after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to facilitate robust information sharing by 11 security and law enforcement agencies.

CLEAN INDIA CAMPAIGN Govt has launched Clean India Campaign from Qutab Minar in New Delhi. The project aims to sensitize young people about environment cleanliness. Under the project, all issues including providing drinking water facilities, renovation of

toilets, proper signages in and around the premises of the heritage site, are taken care of.

DRDO TO BUILD BIO TOILETS Rural Development Ministry has announced that they would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the DRDO, Ministry of Defence for installation of bio-toilets in 1000 gram panchayats across the country. The project will cost Rs 400crores.

GOVT FUNDS FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Union Rural Development Ministry has announced that each Panchayat in the country will get twenty lakh rupees for solid waste management. For setting up of solid waste management systems, central funding will be 70 per cent and the remaining 30 per cent will have to be borne by the States.

Rs. 10,000 FOR HOUSEHOLD LATRINES In a bid to banish the spectre of open defecation within a decade, the government has increased its spending on toilets for rural areas, hiking the amount to be spent for a household latrine from the existing Rs.4,600 to Rs.10,000 under Total Sanitation Campaign — now renamed as the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA). Under the revised scheme, toilets will be built using Rs.3,200 from the Centre and Rs.1,400 from the State government. The homeowner will contribute Rs.900, while the remaining Rs.4,500 will be leveraged through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

RS 36,000 CRORE FOR SANITATION Seeking to give a big boost to sanitation in rural areas, Planning Commission has allocated a sum of Rs 36,000 crores for improving sanitation in rural areas during the 12th Five Year Plan, up from Rs 7800 Crore in the previous Plan.

RLY TO OFFER CONCESSION TO PATIENTS Railways has decided to grant 50 per cent concession in train fares to patients suffering from aplastic anaemia and sickle cell anaemia for their onward and return journey when they go for treatment or periodical check-up to recognised hospitals.

DEPTT FOR DISABILITY AFFAIRS The government has created a separate department of “Disability Affairs,” which was earlier part of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, to cater to the needs of an estimated 2.1-crore-strong disabled population of the country.

Gyanm is like second home to me where I used to spend whole day and study for hours. The teachers are cooperative and cleared all my doubts. Mock tests are conducted in an environment which is next to the real exam. Overall I would like to thank the Gyanm team for their efforts.

JAVED KHAN (SSC TIER – II, AAI, RAILTEL, SAIL)

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 14

TWO NEW MEGA PORTS Govt has decided to set up two major new ports in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh as part of a maritime agenda

that includes a ramp up of port infrastructure by 2020.

INDUSTRY PROMOTION BOARD SET UP Government has set up a high-level Manufacturing Industry promotion Board (MIPB) under Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to boost manufacturing sector.

HEALTH INSURANCE UP TO 65 YEARS IRDA has proposed to make it mandatory for health insurers to provide policy cover to people up to 65 years and settle all claims within a month.

TRACKING SYSTEM FOR MEGA PROJECTS Prime Minister has approved setting up of an Investment Tracking System to ensure speedy implementation of mega projects envisaging outlay of over Rs 1,000 crore. The step has been taken in view of declining growth rate and need to arrest economic slowdown. While implementation of public sector projects of over Rs 1,000 crore will be tracked by the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council, those in the private sector would be monitored by the Department of Financial Services in the Ministry of Finance.

NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY 2012 ANNOUNCED The Cabinet has approved the National Telecom Policy-2012 that proposes to abolish roaming charges on mobile phones and allow users to retain the same number across the country.

THE THRUST AREAS OF NTP 2012 1. Rural Teledensity – To improve rural teledensity from

the current level of around 39 to 70 by the year 2017 and 100 by the year 2020

2. Broadband – “’Broadband For All” at a minimum

download speed of 2 Mbps 3. Domestic Manufacturing - Making India a global hub 4. Convergence of Network, Services and Devices 5. Liberalization of Spectrum - any Service in any

Technology 6. Simplification of Licensing regime - Unified

Licensing, delinking of Spectrum from License, Online real time submission and processing

7. Consumer Focus - Achieve One Nation – Full Mobile Number Portability and work towards One Nation – Free Roaming

8. Resale of Services 9. VOIP – Voice over Internet Protocol 10. Cloud Computing – Next Generation Network including

IPV6

Govt has extended the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) to domestic workers.

India and Bahrain have signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement.

MAY 2012

CENTENARY AWARD FOR FILMS To celebrate the 100th year of Indian cinema, the I&B ministry has instituted a Centenary Award (of Rs 10 lakh) which will be given to a path-breaking Indian or International film every year at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

ISEET TO REPLACE IIT-JEE/AIEEE From 2013, aspiring candidates for IITs and other central institutes like NITs and IIITs will have to sit under new a format of entrance test which will also take plus two board results into consideration. The new exam - ISEET (Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test) will replace the IIT-JEE and AIEEE. For admission to all the centrally funded institutes, there would be 40 percentage weightage for

performance in Class XII (after normalisation of marks), 30 per cent weightage to performance in main and 30 per cent in the advanced test.

'ONE MP - ONE IDEA' SCHEME UNDER MPLAD The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has announced a new scheme 'One MP - One Idea' under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). An 'One MP - One Idea' Competition will be held in each Lok Sabha constituency annually to select the three best innovative ideas received from the local people regarding developmental projects in the constituency.

COMMITTEE TO REVIEW POVERTY LINE The government has set up a technical panel to review the Tendulkar Committee methodology for deciding the poverty line for which it has been facing increasing criticism in recent months. The technical group panel headed by the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman Dr. C. Rangarajan will "revisit the methodology for estimation of the poverty and identification of the poor. Based on the methodologies suggested by Tendulkar Committee those who consume more than Rs.28.65 per daily in cities and Rs.22.42 in rural areas were not poor.

PF INTEREST RATE REVISED TO 8.8% The government has increased interest rates on General Provident Fund, GPF, State Provident Funds and Special Deposit Scheme, SDS, for the current financial year to 8.8 per cent. The rates were currently at 8.6 per cent.

MANDATORY RURAL POSTING FOR MBBS Government has decided to make one year rural posting compulsory for doctors and include it in the MBBS course curriculum. Doctors will be attached with the Health Ministry’s flagship programme ‘National Rural Health Mission’ during the year-long rural posting which will also help improve health care services in villages.

GOVT GRANTS WOMEN SHARE IN PROPERTY The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, approved by the

cabinet, will give the woman, in case of divorce, half a share in her husband's residential property, regardless of whether the property was acquired before or during the marriage. This is the first time that the woman's share in marital property has been made part of the marriage legislation.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 15

415 LAWS REPEALED The Govt has repealed 415 obsolete and redundant laws and 17 Acts were in various stages of being withdrawn and

another nine Acts were under examination for repeal or amendment. Law Minister Salman Khurshid said 1382 laws had been identified redundant by a special commission set up by the government.

RAILWAYS TO LAUNCH ‘SIMRAN’ All trains, including Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto, will be monitored by a satellite-based navigation system ‘Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation’ (SIMRAN) by next year as part of the Railways' effort to provide accuracy about their movement. (Indian railways have now introduced are new application “Rail Radar” enables the commuters to know the location of a train on a map and visualize the running-train network on Google maps. The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the information technology (IT) arm of the Indian Railways has developed the application.)

MORE SERVICES UNDER MGNREGA The Centre will include a number of additional activities in the work schedule of its flagship programme MGNREGS to boost the performance of the scheme. The new list has 30 different categories of work related to agriculture, rural sanitation, drinking water, watersheds, fisheries and livestock.

TCS ON GOLD PURCHASES ABOVE 2LAKH According to the Finance Bill, it is now mandatory for the seller of jewellery to collect tax at the rate of 1% from the sale amount from the buyer for all cash transaction exceeding Rs 500,000 and deposit it with the Government. (Earlier the limit proposed was 2 lac only).

NOTIFICATION OF TB MANDATORY The Centre has declared Tuberculosis, TB as a mandatory notifiable disease with immediate effect. Notification of TB cases by all healthcare providers will help patients better access to quality diagnosis and treatment.

TAX REBATE TO PE FUNDS The government has decided to cut the long-term capital gain tax on investments made by private equity funds (PE Funds) into shares of unlisted companies, from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, to bring them at par with FIIs, which are taxed at 10%.

1000 ATMs BY INDIA POST The Department of Post plans to set up 1000 ATMs at post offices and convert them into banks for taking core banking to unbanked population using the vast postal network. There are 154,688 post offices in the country, the largest postal network in the world. Of these 25,154 are departmental post offices and the rest Gramin Dak Sewak (GDS) managed post offices which are predominantly in the

rural areas.

RIGHT TO MARITAL PROPERTY ACT A panel set up by the Planning Commission has recommended enactment of a comprehensive Right to Marital Property Act, applicable to all communities, which

should treat all movable and immovable assets of a married couple or a couple living together as joint property and which can be divided at the time of separation/desertion,

regardless of who has bought the property, the minister said.

SEPARATE ACT FOR SIKH MARRIAGES Parliament has passed an act enabling registration of marriages of Sikhs under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 meeting a long-standing demand of the community for a separate provision for them instead of being included under the Hindu Marriage Act. The Anand Act, enacted in 1909, had no provision for registration of marriage which continued to be registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE INDEX The Corporate Affairs Ministry plans to bring out a Business Confidence Index (BCI), which would be an indicator of optimism of business managers in the country. The index would help measure the business sector’s perception based on political and economic situation. This would enable to bring out the right pulse and vibrancy in the economy.

RLYS TO PLANT 1CRORE SAPLINGS The Railways has fixed a target of planting one crore saplings on its land in the current financial year. In the last three years, about two crore and sixty-one lakh saplings were planted. This drive is part of the Railways' commitment to improve the environment as also to safeguard its land from unauthorized occupation.

PLIF FOR INDIAN WORKERS ABROAD The government is promoting a new Pension and Life Insurance Fund (PLIF) scheme in a bid to provide financial security to poor Indians working abroad. PILF is for Indian workers aged between 18 and 50 who have a work permit or employment contract and whose passports carry the 'Emigration Clearance Required' stamp.

7 YR JAIL FOR HITTING CHILDREN The government has put its foot down against corporal punishment and ragging and is proposing changes in the law that would send offenders to up to seven years in jail. To protect children in educational institutions, the government has for the first time defined corporal punishment

and ragging in the proposed changes to the Juvenile Justice Act, which is being renamed as the Child Justice (Care, Protection and Rehabilitation of Children) Act.

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The government has increased interest rates on Special Deposit Scheme (SDS) and State Provident Funds for the year 2012-13 to 8.8 per cent from 8.6 per cent at present. The new rate will be applicable from April, 1, 2012.

Government has decided to set up a call centre with a portal for receiving RTI applications.

Lok Sabha has approved a bill to establish separate High Courts for Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura.

Railways has increased the distance that could be covered under the ‘Izzat' monthly season ticket scheme from 100 kms to 150 kms.

Government has decided to complete the digitalisation in the cable TV sector in a phased manner. It has been decided to completely change over from analog to digital services by December 2014.

APRIL 2012

Rs 23000CR FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT With an aim to effectively manage disasters, the Government has allotted Rs 23,000 crore for developing disaster management infrastructure at the state, district and panchayat levels across the country.

$1BN SWF FOR IMPORTING FERTILSERS Amid depleting resources and rising global prices of soil nutrients, the Fertiliser Ministry has proposed a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) of $ 1 billion to acquire such assets abroad. India imports about 6 million tonne each of potash

and urea and 7 million tonnes of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) every year.

NEW REGULATIONS FOR MOBILE BANKING The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, TRAI, has issued the new regulations for mobile banking asking mobile companies to enable the banks to complete a transaction within ten seconds.

MANDATORY E RETURNS FOR OVER RS 10 LAKH Government has made it mandatory for individuals with income of over Rs 10 lakh to file their tax returns for 2011-12 electronically.

NEW BILL FOR GOVT PURCHASES The Union Cabinet has approved the Public Procurement Bill that seeks to regulate government purchases of above Rs 50 lakh through a transparent bidding process.

CHAUDHURI COMMITTEE TO REVISE WPI Government has set up a committee headed by Saumitra Chaudhuri to revise the WPI to take into account structural changes in the economy since 2004-05 and present a better picture of price situation.

GOVT TO SET UP 10 SPICE PARKS The government will set up 10 spice parks across the most strategic locations in the country by the end of this year to promote export of spices. Three such parks have already been set up.

GREEN CHANNEL PAYMENT BY GOVT In a unique move to usher in green banking and enhance transparency and accountability in public dealings of the

Central Government, wef April 1, 2012, all payments above Rs. 25,000 will be credited directly to the bank accounts of payees.

The government plans to raise India's share in the global foreign direct investment (FDI) to 5 per cent by 2017 by streamlining policies for attracting investments.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

OCTOBER 2012

WB LOWERS GROWTH RATE TO 6% The World Bank lowered India's growth projection for the current fiscal to 6% from 6.9% estimated in June this year, and warned that the possibilities of a worse performance are high. The bank said that the country will face a significant slowdown from the recovery it made between 2009 and 2011 owing to global uncertainties playing havoc with current account, low business confidence caused by lack of policy initiatives and ballooning fiscal imbalances.

FITCH LOWERS GROWTH RATE TO 6% International ratings firm Fitch lowered India’s growth projection for the current fiscal to 6 per cent from 6.5 per cent estimated earlier citing challenging economic outlook. Firm said the high fiscal deficit left little room for government for fiscal easing and increasing spending. Further, weak investments were affecting supply capacity and thereby pointing towards weaker growth outlook.

UN ESACP PEGS GROWTH AT 5.9% The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said India’s growth has been slowing down since 2011, mainly on account of "severe" monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of India. "India is projected to grow at 5.9 per cent in 2012-13 compared with 6.5 per cent in 2011-12," UN ESCAP said in the report titled 'South and South-West Asia Development

Report 2012-13'.

ADB SLASHES GROWTH RATE TO 5.6% The Asian Development Bank has slashed its growth forecast for India to 5.6% for current fiscal compared to 7% reported earlier, citing sluggish global demand and low agricultural production due to weak monsoon. Recently, India has suffered downward growth revisions from all quarters with a majority of private analysts revising the growth in the range of 5.5%.

TRADE DEFICIT AT 11 MONTHS HIGH India's exports contracted for the fifth straight month in September while imports rose marginally, pushing up the trade deficit to an 11-month high of $18.1 billion. Exports contracted 10.8% from a year ago to $23.7 billion, while imports rose 5.1% to $41.8 billion on a 31% rise in oil imports to $14.1 billion.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 17

INDUSTRIAL GROWTH SLOWS DOWN TO 2.7% Industrial growth slowed to 2.7 per cent in August due to poor show by the manufacturing sector and contraction in

capital goods output. Industrial output in the April-August period this fiscal was 0.4 per cent, down from 5.6 per cent in the same period in 2011-12. The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, grew at slow rate of 2.9 per cent in August, as against 3.9 per cent in the same month last year.

CORE SECTOR GROWTH SHRINKS TO 2.1% In a further confirmation of the continued sluggishness in the economy, the growth rate of the eight core sector industries decelerated to 2.1 per cent in August from 3.8 per cent in the same month a year ago, mainly owing to contraction in output of crude oil, natural gas, fertilizers and cement. The data revealed that the cumulative growth rate of the core sector during the April-August period this fiscal also declined to 2.8 per cent from a comparatively healthier 5.5 per cent expansion achieved in the like five months of 2011-12.

SEPTEMBER 2012

Q1 GDP VALUED AT Rs 21.79 TRILLION As per latest data from CSO, India’s GDP at factor cost at current prices in first quarter of 2012-13, is estimated at Rs 21,78,778 crore, as against Rs 19,19,286 crore in Q1, 2011-12, showing an increase of 13.5 per cent. The economic activities which registered significant growth in Q1 of 2012-13 over Q1 of 2011-12 are 'construction' at 10.9 per cent, 'financing, insurance, real estate and business services' at 10.8 per cent and 'community, social and personal services' at 7.9 per cent.

IMF CUTS GROWTH RATE TO 6.1% In its latest World Economic Outlook projections, the IMF has cut its 2012 growth estimate for the Indian economy by 0.7 percentage points to 6.1 per cent. In 2010, the Indian economy grew by 10.8 per cent, according to the IMF data. In 2011, this slowed to 7.1 per cent.

S&P CUTS INDIA’s GROWTH PROJECTION Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has slashed India's growth forecast for the current fiscal by a percentage point to 5.5 per cent from 6.5 per cent, in line with the April-June quarter growth of 5.5 per cent. S&P also cut China's growth to 7.5 per cent from 8 per cent for 2012 calendar. Agency has slammed the country for its policy and infrastructure that have slowed down investments.

5.5% GROWTH IS NOT BAD – KPMG According to world’s leading audit company KPMG, India's GDP growth at 5.5% is better than many countries in

the current environment of global economic slowdown. World's largest economy, the US, grew at 1.5 per cent in 2011 (versus 3.1 per cent in 2010) while, Germany's GDP grew at 3 per cent (3.7 per cent in 2010)

STANCHART CUTS GROWTH RATE TO 5.4% Standard Chartered Bank has cut India's economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 5.4 per cent from 6.2 per cent, citing slowing consumer spending and a slack in pickup in investment activity in the fiscal first half.

GROWTH FORECAST DOWN TO 5.1% Leading international rating agency Morgan Stanley has cut India's economic growth forecast to 5.1 per cent citing a combination of weak external demand, low private investment and poor government finances. It also reduced its estimate of GDP growth for 2013/14 to 6.1 per cent from 6.6 per cent.

TARGET FOR 12TH FYP LOWERED TO 8.2%

In view of fragile economic recovery, Plan panel has decided to lower annual average economic growth rate to 8.2 per cent in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) from 9 per cent envisaged earlier. Once, the full Planning

Commission approves the growth target, it would be vetted

by the Union Cabinet and then it would be placed before the country's apex decision making body National Development Council (NDC) for final approval. The NDC is headed by the Prime Minister with all chief ministers and union cabinet ministers on board. It is the final authority to finalise the five-year policy document.

Q1 FISCAL DEFICIT OVER 51% Fiscal deficit during April-July reached 51 per cent of the budgetary estimate of Rs 5.13 lakh crore, raising fears of the government breaching its fiscal deficit target of 5.1 per cent of GDP for the current year. This shows that the slowing growth is taking its toll on revenues while government was unable to control its expenditure. This will also discourage the Reserve Bank from easing monetary policy and give the rating agencies reason to carry out their threat of downgrading India's sovereign rating to junk grade.

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AUGUST 2012

PM PROJECTS GROWTH OF OVER 6.5% Prime Minister has projected India’s economic growth in the current fiscal to be a little higher than 6.5 per cent achieved a year ago. The 6.5 per cent GDP growth in 2011-12 was the lowest in nine years. The government’s original GDP projection for 2012-13 was 7.6 per cent. PM’s views are in contrast to view of major private forecasters including Citi, CLSA, Crisil and Moody’s who trimmed their forecast to as low as 5.5 per cent citing inaction on the policy front as one of the reasons for slowdown in economic activities.

PLG COMM PROJECTS 6% GROWTH While RBI has projected economic growth of 6.5 per cent, the PMEAC Chairman C. Rangarajan expects it to be higher than 6.5 per cent, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman

Montek Singh Ahluwalia feels that country should brace up for lower GDP growth of close to six per cent this fiscal as the deficient monsoon could pull down overall economic growth. In 2011-12, the economy grew at 6.5 per cent.

CRISIL CUTS GROWTH RATE TO 5.5% CRISIL has cut India's real GDP growth forecast for 2012-13 to 5.5% from its June estimate of 6.5%. The forecast has been scaled down, in view of deficient rainfall and deterioration in the Eurozone growth outlook.

ODI TAKES A DIP IN JULY Latest RBI data shows that overseas direct investment by Indian companies declined to $1.24 billion in July from $3.53

billion a month earlier. As many as 459 deals took place last month involving Indian firms, leading to an overseas equity investment of $436.14 million as compared to $341.71 million in June.

SURGE IN RURAL EXPENDITURE As per provisional data released by India's statistics office, monthly per capita rural consumption rose 18% in real terms in 2011-12 to Rs 707.24 (2004-05 prices) from Rs 599.06 in drought hit 2009-10. This has led to increase in rural consumption. In the same period, urban consumption rose 13.3% to Rs 1,359.75 from Rs 1,200, explaining the narrowing of the rural-urban divide.

POOREST LIVING AT BELOW Rs 17PER DAY As per the National Sample Survey Organisation's (NSSO) 68th round of survey on household consumer expenditure for the period July 2011 to June 2012, the poorest 10 per cent of India's rural population had an average monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) of Rs 503.49 per month(Rs 17 a day). Their urban counterparts are only slightly better with daily per capita expenditure of Rs 23.40, with average MPCE of Rs 702.26.

EMPLOYMENT TAKES A HIT According to the RBI's macro economic and monetary development report, the fourth quarter of FY 2012 recorded the lowest employment creation in two years. The rate of employment slowed from 0.98 million in 2010-11 to 0.08 million in the fourth quarter of 2011-12. Sectors that have been worst hit is the IT/BPO sector, were the employment declined from 0.670 million in 2010-2011 to 0.104 million.

JULY 2012

INDIA’s GDP TO CROSS $ 5 TRILLION Business information and knowledge provider Dun & Bradstreet in its publication, India 2020 - economy outlook, has forecasted that India's GDP will cross the US$ 5 trillion mark by 2020 despite the economy slowdown.

FOOD PRODUCTION CROSSES 257 MN The government has pegged the country's total foodgrains production at an all-time high of more than 257 million tonnes, for the 2011-12 crop year. The massive growth was on account of implementation of several schemes including 'Bringing Green Revolution in Eastern region' in the 11th Five year plan (2007-12).

Crop Production in 2011-12 (million tonnes)

Rice 104.32

Wheat 93.90

Pulses 17.21

JUNE 2012

GDP GROWTH RATE SINKS TO 6.5% The country’s economic growth rate for 2011-12 slipped to 6.5% as compared to 8.54% for the year 2010-11. The growth has been hit

hard by global woes and domestic problems. For the quarter ending 31 March, 2012 GDP growth rate was 5.3 per cent as compared to a robust 9.2 per cent expansion in the same quarter of the previous year. The main culprit has been the manufacturing sector which, along with the farm segment, fared poorly.

UN LOWERS GROWTH RATE FOR INDIA

The United Nations (UN) has sharply lowered its growth forecast for India for the year 2012 to 6.7% from an earlier estimate of 7.7% citing weakening domestic demand particularly in private investment due to aggressive monetary tightening and standstill in policy decisions as the major reasons.

INDIA FACING STAGFLATION – MOODY’s Global financial services firm Moody's has stated that Indian economy is facing stagflation, where growth is slow and inflation high, and cautioned that the Reserve Bank cannot be too aggressive in cutting interest rates. Wholesale price-based inflation ticking up to 7.5 per cent year-on-year in May due to supply-side factors, can add to the problems at the RBI.

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SAVINGS EXPECTED TO RISE A high-powered working group led by Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Subir Gokarn has projected that

country's savings rate may rise to around 38-39% of GDP by the end of 12th Five Year Plan if economic growth returns to 8% level. The savings rate was 33.3% at the end of March 2012.

EXPORTS TARGET SET AT $360 BN The govt has unveiled a 7-point strategy to boost exports which include extension of 2% interest subvention scheme for exporters by one year till 31st March 2013. The seven-pillars would also include efforts to increase exports from the north-east region and provide incentive for manufacturing of green goods. Govt plans to achieve 20 per cent increase in exports to $360 billion in the current fiscal from $303 billion during 2011-12.

FISCAL DEFICIT RUNS TO 5.76% The government's fiscal deficit during 2011-12 worked out to be 5.76 per cent of GDP, lower than 5.9 per cent projected in the revised estimates in the Budget, against the original target of 4.6 % of GDP. Fiscal deficit, the difference between the government's total receipts and expenditure, stood at Rs.5,09,731 crore in 2011-12, as per provisional data released by Controller General of Accounts (CGA

As per FAO data, world output of rice rose by 2.6 per cent to all-time high of 480.1 million tonnes in 2011,

Prime Minister has set an investment target of Rs 2 lakh crore for core sector projects in the current fiscal in a bid to revert back to 9 per cent economic growth.

MAY 2012

RECORD FDI IN 2011-12 Undeterred by a slowdown in growth, India's foreign direct investment flow touched a record $50 billion in 2011-12, the highest since investments were opened up in 1996. With an eight-fold increase, India attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) of $ 8.1 billion in March, the highest ever monthly inflows. British energy major BP's investment of $8.9 billion into India in March 2012 as part of its deal with Reliance Industries earlier this year, played a significant role in

helping the country reach the record investment figure.

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The government has prepared a Strategy Paper for doubling India's merchandise exports to 500 Billion US dollars by 2013-14.

Govt has fixed four percent growth rate for agriculture during the 12th Five Year Plan.

APRIL 2012

S&P DOWNGRADES INDIA In a wake-up call to the government to put its act together on the macroeconomic front, global rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has scaled down India's credit rating outlook from ‘stable' (BBB+) to ‘negative' (BBB-) with a warning of a downgrade if there is no improvement in the fiscal situation and political climate. The S&P also lowered the rating outlook of the country's 10 top banks.

WHAT DOES RATINGS SIGNIFY Outlook indicates potential direction of ratings in short to medium term, typically six months to two years. Stable outlook means that the ratings are not going to change. Negative outlook indicates that the ratings might be downgraded, while positive outlook means that the ratings may be upgraded. Ratings agencies also give developing or evolving outlook, which indicate that the ratings might be lowered or upgraded.

CRISIL RELEASES NEW INDEX – ‘CCII’ Rating agency Crisil has released a new monthly inflation index - the Crisil Core Inflation Indicator (CCII), derived

from the existng Wholesale Price Index (WPI), in a bid to capture demand-side pressures on prices.

IT exports from India totalled about $69.7 billion during financial year 2011-12, constituting roughly 23% of total exports.

ECONOMY

OCTOBER 2012

12TH FIVE YEAR PLAN APPROVED The govt has approved the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) document that seeks to achieve annual average economic growth rate of 8.2 percent. Now it will be put up before the National Development Council (NDC) for approval. The projected average rate of gross capital formation in the 12th Plan is 37 per cent of GDP. The projected gross domestic savings rate is 34.2 per cent of GDP.

KELKAR COMMITTEE SUBMITS ITS REPORT The Vijay Kelkar Committee on Fiscal Consolidation has recommended four pillars under which the government can lower its fiscal deficit to 5.2% of GDP in FY13, and further to 4.6% and 3.9% in FY14 and FY15, respectively.

Improve Tax measures and administration: penalize non-compliance on tax payments, review commodities that attract excise tax duty of 6% or lower and prune the negative list on services tax.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 20

Increase disinvestment proceeds and consider monetizing govt’s land resources.

Cut subsidies on diesel, LPG cylinder and kerosene.

Economise on Plan Expenditure: The increase should not be more than 15% and 18% year on year (y-o-y) in FY14 and FY15 respectively.

FM PRESENTS 5 YR FISCAL ROADMAP Finance Minister presented a five-year plan on Oct. 29 to repair government finances that targets a sustainable fiscal

deficit of 3% of GDP by 2016-17 and promises to keep the fiscal slippage this year to the minimal. Picture below explains the plan:

FIVE YEAR FISCAL ROADMAP

KELKAR FOR FULL REVIEW OF DTC The Vijay Kelkar Committee has recommended a comprehensive review of the Direct Taxes Code Bill and bringing in more services in the tax net. The Committee also recommended amendment to the law to make quoting PAN or the UID mandatory in all electronic transactions including bank accounts, fixed deposits with banks, salary payments and immovable property transactions, irrespective of the amount or level of transaction to minimize income leakages.

FOODGRAIN STORAGE CAPACITY TO GO UP The country's total covered storage capacity for foodgrains is likely to increase to about 71 million tonnes in the next two years on the back of construction of godowns in 19 states by FCI. In addition, the Food Ministry has approved

construction of modern silos with a total capacity of 2 million tonnes, which will commence in the next two years. The country has been facing huge problem of foodgrain storage in the past few years on account of record production of foodgrains.

14TH FINANCE COMMISSION APPROVED The Union Cabinet has approved constitution of the 14th Finance Commission. Former Reserve Bank Governor Y V Reddy is tipped to be appointed as chairman thereof. The finance commission suggests formula for sharing of tax proceeds between Centre and states. The Commission will lay down principles governing the grants-in-aid to states and other local bodies for five-year period beginning April 1, 2015. The 13th Finance Commission was headed by former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar.

ECONOMIC PACKAGE FOR BACKWARD REGIONS

The government has approved a Rs 3,150 crore package for development of backward regions in Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), which was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), Rs 1,500 crore will provided to Bihar as Special Plan Assistance.

DISINVESTMENT APPROVED IN NDMC

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 21

The government has approved 10 per cent stake sale in the iron ore mining major NMDC (National Mineral Development Corporation) that could fetch over Rs 7,000 crore.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has cleared sale of about 39 crore equity of NMDC of face value of Rs 1 each through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route. At present, the government holds 90 per cent stake in the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).

TIME EXTENDED FOR XBRL The Corporate Affairs Ministry has extended the deadline for companies for making filings in the new reporting format, XBRL, to December 15, as per International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). XBRL or eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), that replaces PDF format, is expected to bring in more transparency when it comes to furnishing of financial statements by the companies.

SINGLE STATEMENT FOR ALL INVESTMENTS SEBI proposes to bring more classes of financial instruments, including insurance policies, bank fixed deposits and post office deposits under the ambit of asset categories that can be held in demat or electronic form. The proposed move is expected to make it simpler to maintain and safe-keep various kinds of financial instruments, as the risks like loss and theft get minimised in demat form, as compared to the physical paper form. Further, it will enable the investor to view all his investments in a single statement.

SMS SERVICE FROM BSE AND NSE To enhance transparency in Stock market tradings, the Bombay Stock Exchange has decided to provide SMS of transaction details to mobile phones and Email accounts of investors. The move, a first of its kind in the country, is aimed at checking unauthorised stock market trades through investor accounts. The National Stock Exchange, Nifty's SMS service has also been started from the 15th Oct.

AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN EXPORTS The President gave away 46 Niryat Shree Awards to exporters for their excellent performance and 6 Niryat Bandhu Awards to Export Promotion Councils and Banks for their support to the exporting community.

SEBI APPROVES ELECTRONIC IPO The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has decided to introduce electronic IPOs from January 1, 2013.

The facility to submit the application forms would be available in more than 1000 locations which are part of the nationwide broker network of the stock exchanges. In the first phase, around 400 broker centres would be covered by January 1, 2013 and the remaining centres would be covered by March 1, 2013.

UNIFIED FINANCIAL AGENCY SOUGHT The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission, headed by former Justice B. N. Srikrishna, has suggested that key regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) should be merged into a Unified Financial Agency (UFA). FSLRC was set up to recast the financial sector legislations in tune with the contemporary requirements of the sector. At present, there are over 60 Acts and multiple rules and regulations that govern the financial sector.

PAREKH FOR 100% FDI IN TELECOM The high-level committee on financing of infrastructure, headed by HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, has recommended for 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector. The limit at present is 74 percent. The panel also suggested raising prices of natural gas, electricity and rail fares.

SEBI approves MCX Stock Exchange Ltd (MCX-SX) to deal in shares and related instruments

SEPTEMBER 2012

LIC LAUNCHES ‘JEEVAN DEEP’ Life Insurance Corporation of India has launched a micro insurance product, Jeevan Deep. This product, which commemorates the Corporation’s 56th anniversary, is its third after Jeevan Madhu and Jeevan Mangal, targeted at the economically weaker section. Under the scheme, the minimum sum assured is Rs 5,000 and the maximum is Rs

30,000.

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NSE LAUNCHES ‘EMERGE’ Top stock exchange NSE has launched operations of its new trading platform for SMEs, ‘Emerge’, in Delhi. The platform

would help in developing the eco- system and provide the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) a much-needed avenue to raise capital from the equity market.

IRDA REVISES IPO GUIDELINES Insurance regulator, IRDA, has come out with draft regulations for general insurance companies to raise capital through public issue of shares. The draft regulations stipulate that a company can come out with a public issue only on completion of 10 years from the date of commencement of business, or such other period as may be specified by the Central Government.

INVESTMENT TRACKING SYSTEM FOR MEGA

PROJECTS The Government has set up an Investment Tracking System for Projects with an investment of Rs.1000 crore and above. The purpose of this mechanism is to periodically monitor implementation of projects and identify systemic issues and attempt to have these resolved. Under this system, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) will track all such Public Sector Projects and the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance will monitor these projects in private sector. Large uranium deposits have been discovered at Rohil in Rajasthan’s Sikar district.

AUGUST 2012

CONVERSION OF IDRs ALLOWED Financial regulators RBI and SEBI have allowed partial flexibility in conversion of Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs) into equity shares by investors, while capping the funds to be raised through IDRs at USD 5 billion. The move is expected to help in attracting foreign entities to list their IDRs on domestic bourses.

DIP IN INVESTMENT IN NEW PROJECTS According to the Annual Report of the Reserve Bank released recently, the deceleration in growth of economy that began in the past fiscal when GDP growth had slipped to a nine-year low of 6.5 percent and continuing in this fiscal, has been primarily led by a near 50 percent dip in new investments in large projects. Total fixed investment by large firms in new projects, which were sanctioned financial assistance during FY12, dropped by a whopping 46 percent to about Rs 2.1 trillion from Rs 3.9 trillion a year ago.

DAHEJ SEZ FIGURES IN TOP 50 IN WORLD Dahej Special Economic Zone (SEZ) near Bharauch, Gujarat, has figured among the top 50 Global Free Zones of the Future in a study conducted by FDI Magazine that has surveyed 600 free zones across 120 countries. Dahej is the only Indian free zone included in the list. Dahej SEZ exported goods worth Rs 865 crore in 2011-12 and is expected to cross Rs 1,200 crore in current year.

WALT DISNEY TO INVEST 1000 CRORE The government has cleared entertainment major Walt Disney's FDI proposal of Rs 1,000 crore to expand its

operations in India. Besides, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) cleared nine other FDI proposals amounting to about Rs 260 crore.

NEW SEBI RULES FOR MFs AND IPOs According to new Sebi rules for MFs and IPOs, Investments in mutual funds will become more expensive, but retail investors will be assured of a minimum number of shares in initial public offers. It has also recommended that tax benefits should be allowed to equity MF investors under the proposed Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS). Other proposals include:

Service tax should be charged to ultimate investor, not to the asset management company (AMC) as is the practice at present.

Retail investors in IPOs should be assured a minimum lot of shares.

There should be a cap of 25 percent of IPO size to the funds for general corporate purposes. Currently, there is no such cap.

The minimum application limit in IPOs has also been raised from Rs 5,000-7,000 to Rs 10,000-15,000.

IFRS IMPLEMENTATION BY APRIL 1, 2013 Govt plans to implement internationally accepted reporting rules, IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), from April 1 next year. This will be done even if the proposed new direct taxes code is not ushered in by that date.

INFOSYS IS INDIA POST TECHNOLOGY PARTNER India Post has chosen Infosys as its technology and consulting partner to integrate its delivery of financial products across its network of 1.5 lakh post offices in the country.

ECB NORMS FOR HOUSING RELAXED India has eased overseas borrowing rules to allow easier access to cheap dollar funds to housing finance companies such as HDFC, small industry financier SIDBI and permitted non-resident entities to provide rating enhancement facility Overseas debt costs between 6% and 8% compared with 11-13% for domestic debt, making it an attractive option for

companies that have intensive import requirement to Indian borrower.

DIRECT E-PAYMENT FOR NREGA WORKERS Workers under the MNREGA across the country would soon get their payments directly, a step taken by the Government to weed out corruption in the ambitious rural job guarantee scheme. Rural Development Ministry along with Finance Ministry

and UIDAI have decided to seed in the Aadhaar numbers of MNREGA workers in NREGASoft and to achieve complete 'e-Disbursement' for MNREGA workers in 46 districts. Banking correspondents equipped with Aadhaar-enabled micro ATMs will visit the doorsteps of MNREGA wage earners to distribute their payments.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 23

INDIA TO IMPORT COTTON Textile mills have started importing cotton and are likely to purchase 2 million bales in 2011-12 marketing year ending

next month, as excess exports have led to shortage of the fibre in the domestic market. India, the world's second largest cotton grower, has exported about 12.5 million bales (of 170 kg each) in 2011-12 marketing year (October-September) so far.

2G SPECTRUM PRICE FIXED The Union Cabinet has fixed a reserve (minimum) price of Rs. 14,000 crore for 5 MHz of pan-India 2G spectrum in the 1800-MHz GSM band for auctioning spectrum to be vacated by companies whose 122 licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court on February 2, 2012. The reserve price for 5 MHz of CDMA spectrum has been put at Rs. 18,200 crore,

1.3 times the price of GSM spectrum. The Supreme Court had directed the Government of India to complete the auction by the end of August. Now, said deadline has been extended to January, 2013.

AND NOW A ‘NO FRILL’ DEMAT A/C The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has asked all depository participants (DPs) to make available a Basic Services Demat Account (BSDA) with limited services and reduced costs for retail individual investors if the value of securities held in the demat account does not exceed Rs.2 lakh at any point of time. “An individual can have only one BSDA in his/her name across all depositories. The annual maintenance charges (AMC) structure for BSDA would be on a slab basis. If the value of holding is up to Rs.50,000, there will be nil AMC and for Rs.50,001-200,000, the AMC will be up to Rs.100.

JULY 2012

‘MOBILE REMITTANCE SCHEME’ FROM INDIA

POST Postal Department is launching an instant money remittance scheme, ‘mobile remittance scheme’, in tie-up with the BSNL infrastructure by next month. In the first phase the scheme will be implemented in selected states like Kerala, Bihar, New Delhi and Punjab

DISINVESTMENT IN SAIL The government has approved the sale of 10.82 per cent of its stake in Steel Authority of India (SAIL), which may fetch the exchequer over Rs 4,000 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), headed by Prime Minister cleared SAIL public offer.

Gyanm course material is everything in its self. All the minute detail are given in the material. Moreover, the mentors who teach the subjects are the best in them. I wish all the best to Gyanm for its prosperity.

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QFIs CAN INVEST UPTO $ ONE BILLION The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on Wednesday, issued guidelines allowing overseas individual

investors to invest up to $1 billion in corporate bonds and debt schemes of mutual funds without any lock-in period. QFIs or overseas individual investors are permitted to invest in corporate debt securities without any lock-in or residual maturity clause and mutual fund debt schemes subject to a total overall ceiling of $1 billion.

SWIFT TO OPEN JOINT CO IN INDIA Belgium-based financial transaction SMS provider SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunications) is working on a partnership with eight leading Indian banks to form a joint company by 2012-end to expand its footprint in banking and financial sector of India.

IOC, RIL IN FORTUNE TOP 100 Eight Indian companies figure in the list of world’s 500 largest companies compiled by Fortune magazine. Indian Oil has cornered the 83rd spot and Reliance Industries (99) is the first Indian private firm to make into the top 100 list. The other Indian companies in the list are: Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, ONGC and State Bank of India.

ONLINE TRADING IN G-SECS The Reserve Bank has introduced Internet-based platform for trading of government securities in secondary market for gilt account holders. The web-based NDS-OM (Negotiated Dealing System-Order Matching) system module will facilitate

buying and selling of government bonds or securities online to the gilt account holders (GAH).

WHAT ARE GILTS Gilt-edged securities are bonds issued by national governments. The term is of British origin, and originally referred to the debt securities issued by the Bank of England, which had a gilt (or gilded) edge. Hence, they are known as gilt-edged securities, or gilts for short. Today the term is used in the United Kingdom as well as some Commonwealth nations, such as South Africa and India.

The government has extended by one year the one per cent interest subvention scheme on housing loans of up to Rs 15 lakh, provided the cost of the house does not exceed Rs 25 lakh.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has made e-filing of income-tax returns mandatory for all assessees whose annual earnings exceeded Rs. 10 lakh during the fiscal 2011-12.

JUNE 2012

REVIEW OF MONETARY POLICY RBI conducted its first Mid-Quarter Monetary Policy Review on 18th June 2012. Following are the highlights of the review:

No change in key policy rates as inflationary pressures are still high

Export refinance limit raised to release extra Rs 30,000 crore in the market

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 24

Global economic conditions have further deteriorated since April, 2012

Domestic economic situation raises several concerns as

several factors besides high interest rates are more responsible for slowdown

FII LIMIT RAISED TO $ 20 BILLION To arrest the rupee slide, RBI has increased FII limit in govt bonds to USD 20 billion. Long term investors like Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), multilateral agencies, endowment funds, insurance funds, pension funds and foreign central banks would be allowed to invest in government debts up to USD 20 billion. On the other hand Indian companies in manufacturing and infrastructure sector have been allowed external commercial borrowings up to USD 10 billion for refinancing rupee loan.

SEBI MAKES E-VOTING MANDATORY The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made electronic voting mandatory for top 500listed companies — in respect of the matters which are to be decided by postal ballot. This would help shareholders participate in decision-making without being physically present in the meetings.

WB FOR WIDER PF NETWORK The World Bank has urged India to make provident fund membership compulsory for all formal sector staff and urgently raise the 6,500 wage ceiling for mandatory PF contributions. The Bank has also advised to reduce the threshold for bringing firms under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) net from 20 staff to 10.

RELIEF FOR ORPHAN INSURANCE POLICIES Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has asked the insurance companies to allot the lapsed ‘orphan' life insurance policies to other individual insurance agents with valid license for rendering effective service to the policyholders. ‘Orphan' policies refer to the policies booked by an insurance agent whose services are subsequently terminated, removed or deleted from the rolls of the insurer, rendering the policies orphan.

MORE CUSTOM FREE ITEMS FROM CHINA The Centre has allowed five additional items - readymade garments, shoes, quilts & blankets, carpets and local herbal

medicines to the list of goods exempted from customs duty for import through border trade with China from Nathula in Sikkim after six years.

MSP HIKED In view of rising input costs, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has announced Rs 170 per quintal hike in support price of paddy to farmers at Rs 1,250 for the 2012-13 crop year (July-June). Prices for other major crops have been fixed as under:

Crop Rs. / Quintal

Urad 4300

Soyabeen 2200

Sunflower 3700

Maize and Bajra 1175

WHAT IS MSP To ensure remunerative return to the farmers, government announces minimum support price for various agriculture products. These agriculture products are procured by government through Food Corporation of India and various state organizations at the MSP.

‘SMART WOMEN’ FROM HDFC LIFE

Private insurer HDFC Life has launched the country’s first ever women-centric plan “Smart Woman”. The plan gives women in age group of 18-45, a unique platform to meet their financial goals apart from offering them specific benefits in their critical life stage. Pregnancy-related complications, cancer of the female organs and death of a spouse are covered under this plan.

INFLATION EXPECTATION SURVEY BY RBI The Reserve Bank has launched the 28th round of its annual inflation expectation survey on June, 1. The survey will help the central bank with monetary policy formation. The survey, based on individual consumption patterns, will be conducted across 4000 households spread over 12 cities.

SEBI MAY CLOSE DEFUNCT STOCK EXCHANGES According to a recent directive of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the defunct stock exchanges and those which are not able to maintain a turnover of Rs.1,000 crore will have to close shop within two years. Failure to do so may invite compulsory derecognition from SEBI.

157 HYDRO POWER PROJECTS IN NE Even as anti-mega dam groups and organisations in Assam have intensified their agitation, demanding a halt to the ongoing 2,000-MW Lower Subonsiri hydroelectric project of NHPC Limited at Gerukamukh on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, the Union government has decided to go ahead with 157 hydro power schemes with an installed capacity of 57,672 MW in the North-East, including Sikkim, for meeting the shortfall in the country's power generation.

RELIANCE TO INVEST Rs1 TRLN Reliance Industries has announced investment of Rs 100,000

crore in next 4-5 years in core businesses of petrochem and oil and gas as well as in new sectors of retail and telecom, to double its operating profits.

The govt has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports

of plain gypsum plaster boards from China, Thailand, Indonesia and the UAE.

The Competition Commission of India has imposed more than six thousand crore rupees as penalty on 11 Cement Companies for price cartelisation.

India has set a bilateral trade target of $15 billion with Brazil by 2015 and sought its investments support in the infrastructure sector.

India has committed a $100-million line of credit to Nigeria for upgrading its power sector

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 25

MAY 2012

$ 6.25 BILLION ADB LOAN TO INDIA The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide assistance of USD 6.25 billion to India over three years for various projects, including those in the energy and education sectors. The lending is to “support inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth".

RECORD WHEAT PROCUREMENT Helped by bumper production, wheat “procurement” in the country has grown to a record 32.6 million tonnes (mt) this year so far and is expected to grow further as states like Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh still seeing daily crop arrival of up to 150,000 tonnes. Punjab and Haryana, known as food bowls of the country, have contributed record 12.8 mt and 8.6 mt of the grain respectively this year.

SWISS BANK DEPOSITS BELOW 10K Cr According to a white paper tabled in the LS on May 21, total deposits of Indians in Swiss banks declined by more than Rs 14,000 crore during the 2006-10 period. The deposits stood at Rs 9,295 crore at the end of 2010 compared to Rs 23,373 crore in 2006.

INDIA SIGNS GSPA FOR TAPI GAS Union Cabinet has signed the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) for buying gas from Turkmenistan through the $7.6 billion Turkmenistan-Aghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline. The 1,735 kilometres pipeline will run

from the Turkmenistan gas fields (Dauletabad gas field) through Afghanistan and Pakistan to Fazilka in Punjab, India.

ROUTE ‘RESS’ THROGH MFs-SEBI Sebi has asked the government to route tax-saving Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RESS) through mutual funds. Sebi feels that first time investors may not have adequate information about the stock market and so they should enter the market through institutional investors like mutual funds.

RAJIV GANDHI EQUITY SAVINGS SCHEME This is the first-ever tax benefit scheme announced by the government to encourage retail investors participation in the equity market. By offering this scheme, the government aims at channelising household savings into stock markets. Under the scheme the government had announced 50 percent tax deduction to retail investors with annual income of less than Rs 10 lakh for investment up to Rs 50,000 in a year with a lock-in period of three years. A retail investor can avail the scheme only once in a life time.

$ 2 BN CURRENCY SWAP FOR SAARC Reserve Bank of India will offer Swap Arrangement of two billion dollars both in foreign currency and Indian currency to SAARC nations. The swap will be offered in US dollar, Euro or Indian Rupee against the domestic currency or domestic currency denominated government securities of the requesting country.

$ 2 BILLION LOAN FOR RIL Reliance Industries (RIL) has signed a $ 2 billion (Rs 10800 crore) loan with nine banks covered by Euler Hermes

Deutschland AG. (Euler Hermes) on May 7 at Berlin, Germany. The loan will be primarily used to finance goods and services procured from German suppliers as part of RIL's

petrochemicals expansion projects at Jamnagar, Hazira, Silvassa and Dahej in India.

RISE IN GHG EMISSIONS LEVELS India’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose 4.2 per cent to 1.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent compared with 1994 levels. The energy sector accounted for 67.4 per cent of total GHG emissions, followed by agriculture at 23.3 per cent, industrial processes at 6 per cent and waste sector 3.4 per cent.

INDO RUSSIAN TRADE HOUSE The first Russian-Indian trade house has been opened in

Mumbai. This will be followed by the opening of the similar center in Moscow also. The project aims at promoting trade and investment between two countries.

4 G SERVICES LAUNCHED AT KOLKATA Telecom major Bharti Airtel became the first player India to launch the 4G services, at Kolkata. A successor to the 3G and 2G families, 4G is expected to be five times quicker than 3G services. It would offer services such as high-definition mobile TV and video conference on mobile.

The Government has decided to allow export of one million tonnes of Sugar.

Govt has decided to cut crude oil import from Iran by 11 per cent to 15.5 million tonnes in 2011—12.

India has decided to convert 200 million US Dollars as grant to Bangladesh, out of the One billion US Dollar credit being provided by India to Bangladesh.

APRIL 2012

DTC IMPLEMENTATION BY APRIL 1, 2013 India will implement the direct tax code (DTC) from April 1, 2013, Finance Secretary R.S. Gujral told a television channel. The code, which will replace existing Indian Income Tax Act 1961, intends to cut tax rates, bring more people and companies under the tax net, phase out profit-linked exemptions for companies and replace them with

investment-linked incentives.

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GST EXPECTED BY APRIL 1, 2013 The much-awaited unified Goods and Services Tax (GST) is likely to come into effect from April 1, 2013.

7 PROJECTS SPONSORED BY WORLD BANK World Bank is supporting seven projects, worth about Rs 22,426 crore, across the country to improve delivery in centrally-funded schemes. The projects include:

Project Name (Rs. in crore)

National Rural Livelihoods Project 5,106

PMGSY Rural Roads Project 7,826

Vocational Training India Project 1,492

Technical Engineering Education Quality Improvement Project

1,487

Secondary Education Project 2,579

Third National HIV/AIDS Control Project 1,357

National Vector Borne Disease Control and Polio Eradication

2,579

OVER 48% FARMERS UNDER DEBT According to a National Sample Survey Organisation report on indebtedness of farmer households, of the 89.35 million farmer households, 43.42 million households are under debt. Source wise, banks (36%) have largest share, followed by moneylenders (26%) and co-operative societies (20%).

NO TAX ON P-NOTES Holders of participatory notes, or P-notes, will have no tax liability now and a clarification on these notes will be issued in due course by the Finance Minister.

What are participatory notes? Participatory notes are offshore derivative instruments issued by foreign institutional investors with Indian shares as underlying to other overseas investors. These are issued by foreign portfolio investors registered with the SEBI to investors overseas and they offer the buyer anonymity. Why are they used? These instruments aid investors who do not want to register with Sebi and reveal their identities to take positions in the Indian market.

The World Bank has sanctioned 32 crore rupees for Rural Electrification at Sagar Island in Sunderbans of West Bengal.

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BANKING

OCTOBER 2012

CRR CUT DOWN TO 4.5% Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slashed the CRR by 25 bps to 4.25% but kept the other key policy rates unchanged in its Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2012-13 on Oct. 30. The CRR cut is meant to inject Rs 17500 crore into the banking system. The FY13 growth forecast has been cut to 5.8% from 6.5%. The bank sees a reasonable likelihood of easing in the fourth quarter of the current financial year.

MORE PROVISONING FOR RESTRUCTURED A/Cs RBI has raised the provisioning norms for restructured standard accounts (bad loans that have been converted to normal by restructuring their repayment schedules) from 2% to 2.75% and also hinted that banks that do not comply with rules related to bad loans will face penalties from the regulator.

BANKS DIRECTED TO SHARE CREDIT INFO The Reserve Bank of India has directed banks to share information on credit exposure among them. Banks failing to adhere to this directive would be viewed seriously by the RBI and banks would be liable to action, including imposition of penalty.

2% SUBVENTION ON BANK CROP LOANS The Reserve Bank has advised that all public sector banks will get an interest subsidy (subvention) of 2 per cent per annum against short term production loan (crop loan) up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers during the year 2012-13. This subvention will be available on the condition that banks do not charge more than 7% interest on short-term production credit up to Rs 3 lakh.

SBI OPENS BRANCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA India's largest bank SBI has opened two new branches in South Africa to tap business opportunities being provided by growing trade between the two countries. The branches have been opened in Chatsworth and Laudium (Pretoria), South Africa.

PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING NORMS REVISED The Reserve Bank of India has revised the definition of priority sector to include corporates and firms engaged in agriculture and allied activities in direct finance to agriculture, up to a limit of Rs 2 crore. Further, RBI has also

raised the priority-sector lending limit for medium and small enterprises in the service sector to Rs 2 crore from Rs 1 crore. The per unit housing cost limit for housing projects for construction of homes exclusively for weaker section has been raised from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per unit.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 27

10 RUPEE NOTE MAY BECOME HISTORY RBI plans to replace the Rs 10 note completely with coins, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants to replace the Rs 10

note with coins, like the Re 1 and Rs 2 notes in the 1990s and the Rs 5 note more recently. The RBI's preference for coins has to do with the cost of production and life span of a note.

BANK NPAs TO CROSS Rs.2 TRILLION According to industry body Assocham, the net non-performing assets (NPAs) of the banking sector are expected to cross Rs 2 lakh crore by the end of March 2013, from Rs 1.57 lakh crore in June, 2012, mainly due to slowdown in the economy. It said that existing exposure of banks to poor performing sectors like power; aviation, highways, micro-finance institutions, ports and telecommunication have lead to high levels of stress assets. Apart from this, growing slackness in performance of SMEs and agriculture sector are signs enough to show that banks' NPAs are bound to rise, it added.

HDFC ROPES IN IOC- KSKs AS BC HDFC Bank has announced a tie-up with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. as per which its rural petrol pump outlets- Kisan Seva Kendras (KSKs) will act as the Bank's Business Correspondents (BCs) to make modern banking services available to the people residing in semi-urban and rural India.

The RBI sets up Financial Inclusion Advisory Committee headed by its Deputy Governor K. C. Chakrabarty to push up efforts to promote financial inclusion.

SEPTEMBER 2012

BANKS NEED 5 LAC CR FOR CAPITAL The Reserve Bank of India has estimated that the Indian banks will require an additional capital of Rs 5 lakh crore to meet the new global banking norms, Basel III. Out of this, Rs 1,75,000 crore will be core capital (tier-I) and Rs. 3,75,000 in non equity capital (tier-II). The government, which owns 70 per cent of the banking system, will have to pump in Rs 90,000 crore equity to retain its shareholding in

the Public Sector Banks (PSBs). The new norms are to be implemented from January 1, 2013 in a phased manner and should be in place by banks by March 2018.

STANDARDISATION OF CHEQUES The Reserve Bank has directed all banks to issue cheques with uniform features conforming to Cheque Truncation

System (CTS) 2010 standard by end September. The homogeneity in security features act as deterrent against frauds and the fixed field placement specifications facilitate straight-through-processing at drawee banks' end through the use of optical or image character recognition technology.

ATMs DROP ‘CASH RETRACTION SYSTEM’ Reserve Bank has agreed to National Payments Corporation of India's proposal for removing the ‘cash retraction system’ from all ATMs to deal with the increasing number of fraudulent claims about non-receipt of cash. Accordingly, the banks have done away with this

system in all the ATMs. This system enables the ATM to take back the currency if it is not removed within a certain time.

‘NO’ FEE FOR NEFT UP TO Rs. 1 LAKH To promote cashless transactions, the Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks to take steps to reduce the fee to zero for electronic transfer of funds up to Rs one lakh. Currently, most banks charge a maximum fee of Rs 5 per transfer of funds up to Rs 1 lakh from one account to another through National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system.

3 TIER SYSTEM FOR EDUCATION LOANS The Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks to put in place a three-tier grievance redressal mechanism to sort out problems being faced by students in obtaining education loans. Applicants should be advised of the mechanism — at the branch, zonal office and head-office levels — at the time of submission of loan application. Besides, the banks should introduce a system of review by the next higher authority where application for education loan is rejected.

CONSOLIDATION OF RRBs The Finance Ministry is considering a proposal to further consolidate the number of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to 55 for improving their efficiency and to better serve the rural economy. There are 82 RRBs sponsored by various public sector banks across the country with a network of about 16,000 branches.

BANKS ALLOWED TO USE ‘SMERA’ RATINGS The Reserve Bank has advised that banks may use ratings of SME Rating Agency of India (SMERA), in addition to grades provided by other agencies, to assign risks to loans for the purpose of computing capital adequacy requirements. Currently, five rating agencies CARE, CRISIL, FITCH India, ICRA and Brickwork are authorised by the RBI to provide risk weight to loans.

SBI TO INCREASE PoS TERMINALS State Bank of India is targeting to massively increase its point of sale (PoS) terminals to one lakh by next March from the current 18,500. Private sector Axis Bank is the market leader in the merchant acquisition business with nearly 2.30 lakh PoS terminals.

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GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 28

SIDBI LAUNCHES ‘SMALLB.IN’ The Finance Ministry, in association with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), has launched an online

portal ‘smallB.in’ to support the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. To begin with, the Ministry will work in tandem with four banks — Dena Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Corporation Bank and Indian Bank — to extend credit to MSMEs and prospective entrepreneurs. This initiative will be extended to a cluster of 110 specialised branches across the country,

SBI TO ADD 1200 BRANCHES The State Bank of India plans to add 1,200 branches this fiscal. The bank had added 645 branches in fiscal 2011-12. SBI has a network of 14,127 branches (as at the end of the June 2012). Its nearest public sector competitor, Punjab National bank has 5,697 branches while its nearest private sector competitor ICICI Bank has around 2,755 branches.

AXIS BANK TO WAIVE EMIs Axis Bank has launched a home loan product with a built-in equated monthly installment waiver scheme. The bank has decided to waive off the last 12 EMIs of customers with good credit history and pays his EMI on time.

The Finance Ministry has declined permission to Iran's Parsian Bank to open a branch in India apparently due to security concerns and threat of money laundering.

Reserve Bank has permitted Indians to invest in Pakistan to promote bilateral trade and investment.

Nabard to offer free SMS-based weather and crop advisory services to over 50,000 farmers in 10 districts in Maharashtra on a pilot project.

AUGUST 2012

FM DEMANDS ‘MORE’ FROM BANKS Mr. P Chidambaram, Finance Minister has directed public sector banks to cut interest rates and provide cheaper credit at lower EMIs so as to induce spending on durable goods to promote manufacturing growth. Other important directives included:

Reschedule the short-term loans in to long-term for farmers in drought-affected States, in view of the deficient monsoon

Revise the sanction norms of education loans to ensure that eligible students are not turned back.

Double the number of ATMs in two years from the current 63,000 and also provide the facility of cash acceptance.

KCC NORMS RELAXED The Reserve Bank has relaxed the repayment norms for Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) to help over 10 crore farmers tide over the difficult financial situation due to deficient

monsoon. RBI has removed the clause pertaining to mandatory repayment of loans by card holders within a year and gave freedom to banks to fix the repayment period as per the anticipated harvesting and marketing period for the crops for which a loan has been granted.

RRBs ALLOWED BRANCHES IN TIER –II CITIES The Reserve Bank has allowed regional rural banks (RRBs) to open branches in Tier-II cities (with population of 50,000 to

99,999 as per census 2001) without taking its prior permission.

FOCUS ON 'URBAN FINANCIAL INCLUSION' The government has asked banks to focus on 'Urban Financial Inclusion' to ensure at least one bank account per family among poor in cities. The 'Urban Financial Inclusion' campaign would cover urban poor, slum dwellers and inhabitants of urban/metro villages. As per 2011 census, about 58.7 per cent households had reported availing of banking facilities.

BANKS TO OPEN ONE A/C PER FAMILY The government has asked public sector banks to ensure one account per family to facilitate direct transfer of subsidy under 32 central schemes. Banks should use the latest voter list as a reference for verifying that every household has a bank account. As per 2011 census, out of total around 25 crore households, only about 58.7 per cent households had reported availing of banking facilities.

RBI INTRODUCES NEW ‘BASIC’ ACCOUNT The RBI has asked banks to drop the ‘no-frills’ tag from the basic saving accounts as the nomenclature has become a stigma. It has asked banks to provide the zero balance facility in the basic banking accounts along with ATM-cum-debit cards without any extra charge. The central bank had introduced ‘no-frills’ accounts in 2005 to provide basic banking facilities to poor and promote financial inclusion. The Reserve Bank has asked banks to convert the existing ‘no-frills’ accounts into ‘Basic savings bank deposit accounts’.

FD RULES REVISED The RBI has asked all banks to modify Fixed Deposit (FD) account opening forms to allow pre-mature withdrawal of FD, without any penalty, on death of one of the joint account holders. Under the modified norms, it would be easier for the surviving joint account holders of FD with 'either or survivor' or 'former or survivor' mandate to go in for premature withdrawal of FD in the event of death of the other.

PAK TO OPEN BANKS IN INDIA Pakistan's central bank has allowed two banks –the National Bank of Pakistan and the United Bank Ltd to open branches in India as part of efforts to normalise economic and trade relations between the two countries. State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of India (BoI) are the two Indian banks that have been allowed to operate in Pakistan.

BANKS TO ISSUE ‘MULTI-CITY’ CHEQUES With a view to improving customer services and speeding up fund transfer, the Reserve Bank has asked all CBS (core banking solutions)-enabled banks to issue 'payable at par'/'multi-city' cheques only to all eligible customers and not to collect any clearing charges on them. A 'payable at par' or 'multi-city' cheque of a bank can be cleared by any branch of the same bank in the country.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 29

PENALTY FOR DELAY IN LOCAL COLLECTION The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to reframe their Cheque Collection Policies (CCPs) to include compensation

payable for the delayed period in the case of collection of local cheques or else they should pay compensation at savings bank interest rate for the period of delay. In case of local cheques, banks should permit usage of the shadow credit afforded to the customers' account immediately after closure of relative return clearing and in any case, withdrawal has to be allowed on the same day or maximum within an hour of the commencement of business on the next working day, subject to usual safeguards.

PRODUCERS ORGANISATION DEV FUND The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has created a Producers Organisation Development Fund to comprehensively support producer organisations

across the country. The fund will give support for capacity building by these organisations.

ALL WOMEN BANK IN KARNATAKA Karnataka has decided to establish three all-woman banks in Mangalore, Shimoga and Raichur. They would be run by female employees and only women customers would be entertained.

‘CLICK 2 CARD’ FROM SBI CARDS Credit card issuer SBI Cards has launched its online application service Click2Card, allowing customers to apply online for issuance of a credit card by simply entering their details on a secure web interface.

IDBI LAUNCHES FLOATING RATE FD IDBI Bank has launched a floating interest rate retail term deposit (FRTD). The rate of interest on the FRTD will move in tandem with a reference rate, which is the average yield at the 364-Days Treasury Bills auctions undertaken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during the preceding three months.

OVER 2481 CRORE IN ‘UNCLAIMED DEPOSITS’ As per recent RBI data, over Rs. 2481 crores was lying in 1,12,49,844 unclaimed deposits accounts(a/cs which had not been operated upon for 10 years), with 85 nationalised, public sector, private sector, foreign and other banks operating in the country as on December 31, 2011.

SBI CHIEF AGAINST KEEPING CRR State Bank of India Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri has made a strong pitch for the abolition of cash reserve ratio (CRR), saying that keeping these funds with the Reserve Bank without any interest was costing the banking system about Rs 21,000 crore. RBI should either do away with CRR or compensate the banks for the losses incurred as the banking system was not earning any interest on it. Banks are required to keep cash equal to 4.50 per cent of their deposits with RBI. However, Dr. K.C. Chakrabarty, Dy. Governor, RBI snubbed Chaudhuri for his remarks telling him that he has to find "some other place" if he could not work as per the

central bank's regulatory environment.

COMMITTEE TO REVIEW COOP CREDIT The Reserve Bank of India has decided to constitute a committee to review the existing short term cooperative credit structure (STCCS). The terms of reference of the

committee among other thing will include suggesting appropriate mechanism for consolidation by way of amalgamation, merger, takeover, liquidation and

delayering. The committee will be headed by NABARD Chairman Prakash Bakshi.

FOREX EARNINGS NORMS RELAXED The Reserve Bank has allowed corporates and exporters to keep their entire forex earnings in the respective foreign currency for a limited period. As per the existing provision, 50 per cent of Exporters Earning in Foreign Currency (EEFC) are required to be converted into rupee. Compulsory conversion of a portion of foreign exchange into rupee was enforced to deal with sharp volatility of in the forex market since March this year.

16,000 CRORE DIVIDEND FROM RBI The Reserve Bank of India has approved transfer of 160.1 billion rupees ($2.9 billion) dividend or surplus profit to the government for the accounting year ended June 30. The RBI follows a July-to-June accounting year. In the previous year, it paid a dividend of 150.09 billion rupees.

RBI FIXES NEW ‘ITE’ NORMS The Reserve Bank of India has issued draft guidelines prescribing quantitative limits for banks’ financial intra-group transaction and exposures (ITEs) and prudential measures for the non-financial ITEs. The guidelines are to ensure that banks engage in the ITEs in a safe and sound manner in order to contain the concentration and contagion risk arising out of ITEs.

JULY 2012

RBI CUTS SLR TO 23 PER CENT Announcing its first quarterly review of the monetary policy, RBI decided to give priority to control the inflation and so made no changes in its key policy rates – Repo rate and CRR. However, to give some relief to bankers in terms of enhanced liquidity, it relaxed the Statutory Liquidity Ratio by 100 basis points to 23 per cent, wef fortnight beginning August 11, 2012. Not foreseeing any improvement in the economic scenario in the domestic and global markets in the immediate future, it has lowered the growth projections for

Indian economy for 2012-13 from 7.3 to 6.5 per cent. The overall stance of monetary policy is intended to:

contain inflation and anchor inflation expectations;

support a sustainable growth path over the medium-term; and

continue to provide liquidity to facilitate credit availability to productive sectors.

PRIORITY SECTOR GUIDELINES REVISED

(BASED ON M.V. NAIR COMMITTEE REPORT) The following important activities, among others, form part of priority sector lending as per the revised guidelines:

All loans to Micro and Small manufacturing enterprises. Loans up to Rs.1 crore to Service enterprises.

Housing Loans upto Rs. 25 lakh in metropolitan centres of population above `10 lakh and Rs.15 lakh at other centres.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 30

Education Loans upto Rs.10 lakh in India and Rs. 20 lakh abroad.

Loans for housing projects exclusively for economically weaker sections and low income groups, provided the cost does not exceed Rs.5 lakh per dwelling unit.

Overdrafts upto Rs.50000/- in No-Frills account.

Loans to individuals other than farmers upto Rs.50000/- to prepay their debt to non- institutional lenders.

WHAT ARE PRIORITY SECTOR ADVANCES: The priority sectors are broadly taken as those sectors of the economy which, if not designated as priority sectors, may not get timely and adequate credit. Typically these are small value loans to farmers for agriculture and allied activities, micro and small enterprises, poor people for housing, students for education and other low income groups and weaker section. Banks are required to allocate 40% of their total loans to priority sector.

HIGHER PSL TARGETS FOR FOREIGN BANKS Foreign banks having 20 or more branches in the country will be brought on par with domestic banks for priority sector targets in a phased manner over a maximum period of 5 years starting April 1, 2013 while foreign banks with less than 20 branches will have no sub targets within the overall priority sector lending target of 32 per cent.

COMMITTEE FOR BANK RECOVERY The rise in bad loans has prompted the government to mandate a committee headed by Sh. P L Gairola, the former head of Dena Bank to suggest measures to ensure faster recovery of such assets. The move is aimed at optimising capital, which is locked up in the form of loss assets in the books of banks.

RBI PERMITS FACTORING NBFC The Reserve Bank of India has introduced a new category of NBFCs, Non-Banking Financial Company-Factors and stipulated that every company seeking registration as NBFC-Factors would have a minimum net-owned fund (NOF) of Rs.5 crore. Factoring is a financial transaction where a business entity, usually a manufacturer, sells its receivables to a third-party, called a ‘factor’ at discounted prices.

MOBILE BANKING JUMPS FIVE FOLD According to the RBI, banking through mobiles increased five-fold to Rs 1,140.6 crore between January and May compared with the same period a year ago.

MINISTRY BANS TAKEOVER OF LOANS The Finance Ministry has banned public sector banks from taking over loan accounts from those banks where their current chairman and managing director (CMD) or executive director (ED) had worked earlier. Ministry is of the view that poaching loans from another bank may result in unhealthy practices and may also result in bad loans.

NEFT CHARGES SLASHED Reserve Bank has slashed charges for electronic transfer of funds (NEFT) for amounts of upto Rs 10,000 to a maximum of Rs.2.50, from August 1, 2012. As per the existing fee

structure, electronic transfer of fund up to Rs 1 lakh attracts a maximum charge of Rs 5 per transaction. The move is aimed at promoting cashless transactions.

GOVT SETS LIMIT FOR BULK DEPOSITS The government has directed banks to cap bulk deposits and ‘certificates of deposit’ at a combined 15% of all deposits. The finance ministry said banks cannot raise more than 25% of their year-end bulk deposit base in the final quarter of the fiscal year. The government has defined bulk deposits as deposits accepted at rates above card rates, irrespective of the amount.

HIGHER CAPITAL MOOTED FOR NEW BANKS Responding to the RBI’s draft guidelines for ‘licensing of new banks in the private sector’, Banks and institutions have suggested to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the minimum capital required for the proposed non-operative holding company (NOHC) of new banks in the private sector should be Rs. 1,000 crore instead of Rs. 500 crore.

RBI CAPS MDR TO 1% The Reserve Bank of India has decided to cap Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) for transactions undertaken with debit cards to “not exceeding 0.75 percentage point of the transaction amount up to Rs.2,000 and not exceeding one percentage point for transactions above Rs.2,000”, with effect from July 1. Till now, MDR for debit and credit cards has been similar in India.

JUNE 2012

RBI ENHANCES ECR TO 50% The Reserve Bank has decided to enhance the Export Credit Refinance (ECR) limit to 50 percent of the outstanding rupee export credit for banks, from 15 percent at present, with a view to inject Rs. 30,000 crore into the banking system.

RBI ALLOWS WHITE LABEL ATMs Reserve Bank of India has decided to allow non-bank entities with minimum net worth of Rs 100 crore to operate ATMs, essentially a banks' domain till date. The ATMs called ‘White Label ATM’ will be set up under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007. The ATMs licensed to banks but serviced and managed by third party are called ‘Brown Label ATM’.

ONE ACCOUNT PER FAMILY The Finance Ministry has asked banks to ensure that at least one person per family across the country has a bank account by the end of this year. As per the 2011 Census, 40 per cent of the families are not in the banking system. Bank account for every family will help the Government and its agencies to use it for electronic fund transfer of wages, salaries directly into the account to reduce leakages.

PENSION ACCOUNT TARGET FOR PSBs Finance Ministry has directed that every rural and urban branch of Public Sector Banks will have to generate 150 and 50 subscriptions, respectively, every year for the New Pension Scheme called ‘Swavalamban’. This is to ensure that the NPS is available to all citizens in the unorganised sector and the economically disadvantaged sections of society.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 31

THREE SMS TO DEFAULTERS As per new guidelines from Finance Ministry, three SMS and a phone call is all a loan defaulter would now get by way of a

warning before a bank sends recovery agents to his house. Guidelines have been issued to speed up the recovery of bank loans.

2% INTEREST SUBVENTION – EXPORT CREDIT The RBI has extended the 2 per cent interest subvention scheme by another year, up to March 31, 2013, on rupee export credit to the labour-oriented and small scale sectors to cushion them from slowdown in U.S. and European markets. Exporters of handicrafts, handlooms, readymade garments, processed agriculture products and carpets will be eligible for interest subvention.

BANK LOANS: BAD FOR ONE- BAD FOR ALL According to recent guidelines issued by the finance ministry, failure to repay loan of one bank could result in an account being classified as a bad loan by all banks. This rule will prevent the companies to seek concession from another bank by skipping payment to another bank.

PAY FEE THROUGH PRE PAID CARDS RBI has allowed payment of school and college fees and taxes through pre-paid payment cards, besides buying rail and air tickets, within the prescribed limit of Rs 10,000. The pre-paid cards are mainly issued by banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) on payment of specified amount and are used for purchasing goods and services from limited outlets.

MORTGAGE GUARANTEE COMPANY BY NHB Housing finance regulator, National Housing Bank, has received nod from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to float its mortgage guarantee company. International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) will partner NHB in forming the mortgage guarantee company. A mortgage guarantee company provides credit guarantee to housing finance companies and banks on behalf of home loan borrowers.

NO FORECLOSURE CHARGES ON HOME LOANS The RBI has directed banks not to levy charges for foreclosure / prepayment of home loans with floating interest rate. This will lead to reduction in the discrimination between existing and new borrowers, and increased competition among banks will result in finer pricing of the home loans. Further, foreclosure charges are seen as a restrictive practice deterring the borrowers from switching over to cheaper available source

NRIs CAN SEND 30 REMITTANCES The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted NRIs to send remittances more frequently. Resident Indians are now allowed to receive as many as 30 remittances from NRI friends and relatives during a year as against 12 earlier.

FINO BECOMES BC FOR CHHATTISGARH FINO (Financial Information Network and Operations), has won the State Bank of India tender to become the common Banking Correspondent company for all public sector banks

operating in Chhattisgarh, after bidding 0.19%. In other words, the company will be paid 0.19% of the value of the transactions handled by it.

GOVT TO INFUSE CAPITAL IN RRBs The government has approved Rs 632 crore capital infusions in cash-starved regional rural banks (RRBs) to improve their capital adequacy and lending capacity to the agriculture sector. The capital of RRBs is shared by centre, states and the sponsor bank in the ratio of 50, 15 and 35 per cent respectively. Hence, in essence, these 16 RRBs would get Rs 1,264 crore of fresh capital if all stakeholders contribute in proportion to their shares for recapitalisation. India's first "talking" ATM for visually impaired has been installed by Union Bank of India at Ahmadabad.

Chinatrust Commercial Bank, the only Taiwanese bank operating in India, will be opening its second branch in India at Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, the first being at New Delhi.

RBI has advised that Banks cannot give additional interest rate benefit of one per cent per annum to their own staff on deposits under FCNR (B), NRE and NRO accounts.

RBI to issue soon currency notes of Rs 20 denomination with the new rupee symbol.

The govt has decided to extend pension to regional rural bank (RRB) staff at a par with the existing scheme available in the banking industry.

The fourth largest bank of USA, Wells Fargo has decided to shift a large number of its jobs to India, as part of its plan to trim costs.

MAY 2012

MORGAN STANLEY GETS BANKING LICENSE Leading US bank Morgan Stanley has received an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a banking license. The licence would enable Morgan Stanley to expand its offerings to wealth management, corporate banking and foreign exchange from its current services such as advising clients on takeovers.

RBI ISSUES BASEL III GUIDELINES The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued the final guidelines for implementation of Basel III capital regulation in India, which would be effective from January 1, 2013, in a phased manner, to be fully implemented by March 31, 2018.

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GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 32

Banks have to maintain Tier I capital, or core capital, of at least 7 per cent of their risk weighted assets on an ongoing basis, as against 6 per cent at present. The total capital

ratio, including Tier I and Tier II, must be at least 9 per cent, unchanged from the current requirement. Banks also have to build up capital buffers, called Capital Conservation Buffer, which can be drawn down during a stressed period. This buffer will be in addition to the minimum total capital requirement of 8 per cent. In addition, the RBI has also recommended a countercyclical capital buffer, the purpose of which is to protect the banking sector from periods of excess aggregate credit growth.

WHAT ARE BASEL GUIDELINES Basel is the name of a place in Switzerland where headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements is located. It is an intergovernmental body which coordinates regulations in the fields of financial services to promote international financial stability. It issues guidelines to regulate the banking business world over. It has a Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) which is known for the Capital Adequacy Norms issued by it in 1988, as per which banks are required to maintain a capital adequacy ratio of not less than 8 per cent of their risk weighted assets. In 2004, it issued Basel II guidelines comprising of three pillars. In 2010, it issued the present Basel III guidelines.

RBI CAUTIONS BANKS ON LENDING TO NBFCs The Reserve Bank of India has set a deadline of six months for banks to reduce their exposure to such non-banking finance companies or NBFCs which have half of their total

financial assets in gold loans, from 10% of their capital funds to 7.5%.

AXIS BANK JOINS HANDS WITH AIRTEL Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank have established a partnership to introduce mobile banking and payment services in India.

RBI REVISES COLLECTION CHARGES In a relief to customers, the Reserve Bank has asked the banks to fix a uniform fee for collection of cheques of over Rs 1 lakh, instead of levying it as a percentage of the value of the instrument.

BANKS TO VERIFY Rs100 & ABOVE NOTES RBI has directed banks to ensure that cash receipts in the denominations of Rs 100 and above should not be put into re-circulation without the notes being machine processed for authenticity. All bank branches with average daily cash receipt of Rs 50 lakh and above, within a definite time frame.

SMART NEW KCC CARD Revising the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked the banks to issue smart card-cum-debit-card to farmers for hassel-free transactions. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will design the card of the KCC to be adopted by all the banks with their branding.

GOVT TO TAKEOVER NHB FROM RBI To enable RBI to focus on its supervisory function and avoid clash between its regulatory and ownership roles, govt has decided to transfer shareholding of RBI the country's central bank in the National Housing Bank to the Centre.

TAX RELIEF TO FOREIGN BANKS Govt has decided to exempt foreign banks from paying tax for setting up local units as it looks to ring-fence such units

against external economic shocks. Existing laws require overseas banks to pay up to 30 percent of the market value of their assets as capital gains and stamp duty while converting branches to a new entity.

RBI TO REGULATE MFIs Union cabinet has approved a bill aimed to bring microlenders under the RBI’s control. The bill proposes to make it mandatory for micro-finance institutions (MFIs) to be registered with RBI and to have minimum net-owned funds of 5 lakh rupees. The maximum interest that the Micro Finance institutions can charge is 26%. This bill is sequel to the Y.H.Malegam committee report on MFIs.

INTEREST ON EXPORTS DEREGULATED With a view to increasing the availability of funds to exporters, RBI has decided to allow banks to determine their interest rates on export credit in foreign currency with effect from May 5, 2012.

NEW NORMS FOR PREMATURE FD PAYMENTS The Reserve Bank of India has removed restrictions imposed on banks which earlier prevented lenders from levying penalty on customers for foreclosure of some term deposits. Banks are now free to formulate their own interest rate policies on foreclosure of term deposits for better asset-liability management.

INTEREST RAISED ON FCNR (B) DEPOSITS To attract inflows in view of falling rupee, the Reserve Bank has raised the interest rate ceiling on NRI deposits in foreign currencies by up to 3 per cent. Interest rate ceiling on Foreign Currency Non-Resident FCNR (Bank) deposits of banks has been raised from 125 basis points (bps) (1.25 per cent) above the corresponding LIBOR or rates to 200 bps for maturity period of 1 year to less than 3 years, and to 300 bps for maturity period of 3 to 5 years.

NRI A/C RULES RELAXED The Reserve Bank allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to transfer funds from non-resident ordinary (NRO) account to Non-Resident External (NRE) account subject to a ceiling of $1 million in a financial year. While, an NRE account is for depositing income from abroad, NRO account is mainly for putting Indian incomes. In case of NRE account, only NRIs can become joint account holders but for NRO account, both resident and non-resident can become joint account holders.

NRI INFLOWS JUMP 3 TIMES Monies that NRIs deposited into Indian banks trebled to a record $11 billion in 2011-12.

Interest rates that NRIs earn on rupee deposits were freed in December. In the previous five years, inflows of NRI money averaged $2.9 billion.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 33

SBI plans to float a $1-billion (Rs 5,500 crore) debt bond issue by August to raise funds for its expansion plans.

The Reserve Bank is holding gold reserves of 557.75 tonne valued at USD 27.02 billion, accounting for 9.2 per cent of foreign exchange reserves.

The RBI has ordered exporters to convert half of their foreign exchange earnings kept in bank accounts into Indian rupee to prop up the falling value of rupee.

There are 93,659 branches of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) functioning in the country as on 31st March, 2012, out of which 34,671 branches are in rural areas and 24,133 are in semi-urban areas, which together constitute about 63% of the total bank branches.

State Bank of India has become largest provider of housing loans crossing a record Rs.one lakh crore mark covering 20 lakh families.

SBI plans to merge its two subsidiaries, namely, Satate Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Patiala with itself by the end of this year.

South Korea-based Woori Bank, a part of Woori Financial Group, has launched its first branch in India at Chennai.

APRIL 2012

ANNUAL POLICY STATEMENT FROM RBI RBI announced its annual Monetary and Credit Policy for the year 2012-13. Following are some major points

of the policy.

Repo Rate Down To 8%: The RBI has cut key

policy rates for the first time in 3 years on April 17. The repo rate (the rate at which the RBI lends money to banks) was cut by 50 basis points from 8.50 per cent to 8.00 per cent. Consequently, reverse repo rate (normally fixed at a spread of 100 basis points below the repo rate) is now 7.0 per cent.

The Marginal Standing Facility rate, which has a spread of 100 basis points above the repo rate, is now at 9.0 per cent. Banks have been given some relief on the liquidity front. The RBI has decided to raise the borrowing limit of scheduled commercial banks under the marginal standing facility (MSF) from one per cent to two per cent of their net demand and time liabilities.

Bank Rate also stands revised to 9%. The move to cut rates comes in the backdrop of a slowdown in growth which decelerated to 6.1 per cent in the third

quarter of last year. Headline WPI inflation had moderated to below 7 per cent by end March although there are fears that it will flare up again. The RBI has, therefore, played it safe by projecting an inflation target of 6.5 per cent by March 2013.

Its GDP projection for 2012-13 is 7.3 per cent.

MICR & IFSC CODE MADE MANDATORY The Reserve Bank has made it mandatory for all banks to print the MICR and IFSC code on the passbook and statement of account of customers. MICR code is necessary for all electronic clearing services (ECS) transactions. IFSC code is a pre-requisite for national electronic funds transfer (NEFT) and real time gross settlement (RTGS) transactions.

INDO PAK BANK BRANCHES India and Pakistan have agreed to allow banks from both sides to open branches in each other's territory amid a renewed attempt at reviving relations. The two central banks - Reserve Bank of India and State Bank of Pakistan will invite applications from interested commercial banks.

LOAN LIMIT RAISED FOR HSG AGENCIES RBI has decided to increase the limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh for the bank loans extended to non-governmental agencies, approved by NHB for their refinance, for on-lending for the purpose of construction or reconstruction of

individual dwelling units or for slum clearance and rehabilitation of slum dwellers.

ACCOUNT TRANSFERABILITY MADE EASY The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has made it mandatory for banks to allow transfer of accounts from one branch to another without insisting on opening a fresh account or making the customer undergo the full know your customer process again. Earlier, since the account holder's information was maintained with parent branch, banks used to insist that customers go through the account opening procedure all over again when they shifted to a different location.

UCIC FOR BANK CUSTOMERS RBI has asked banks to allot a Unique Customer Identification Code (UCIC) to existing individual customers by end-April, 2013. The unique number will help identify a single customer for various services in a bank.

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GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 34

RBI APPROVES BRICKWORK RATINGS The Reserve Bank has approved Brickwork Ratings as an eligible Credit Rating Agency (CRA) for bank loans/facilities.

With this approval from the RBI, Brickwork has become a full service rating agency in the country.

ADVERTISING ALLOWED ON ATMs

The Finance Ministry has allowed banks to advertise either their own products and services or those of broking firms, mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds on the ATM screen. As per National Payment Corporation of India's data, the 77 banks that are connected to its National Financial

Switch collectively had a network of 91,324 ATMs.

RRB/ COOP BANKS ALLOWED EFT To popularise electronic transfer of funds, the Reserve Bank has allowed regional rural banks (RRBs) and cooperative banks to participate in the centralised payment systems. With this, all the banks can now transfer funds electronically through real time gross settlement system (RTGS) and national electronic funds transfer (NEFT).

24X7 BANKING BY PNB Punjab National Bank has decided to set up 'E-Lobby’ branches to provide 24x7 services to the customers. These branches will have one ATM, cash deposit kiosk, pass book

printing terminal, cheque deposit machine and two Internet banking terminals.

CONSORTIUM LENDING ABOVE 150 CR The finance ministry has asked state-run banks to adopt a consortium lending approach for loans above 150 crore. The consortium lending approach has a common agreement for a group of banks, in which a lead bank assesses borrowers' funding requirements, sets common terms and conditions and disseminates information about borrower's performance to other lenders. However, the government has exempted six large state-run banks – SBI, PNB, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda - from

mandatorily adopting this approach.

NPCI LAUNCHES RUPAY CARD After years of preparation and soft launch, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) commercially launched RuPay Card on March 26, with major banks such as SBI, BoB, UBI, BoI, Corporation Bank and Axis Bank launching their domestic debit cards on the RuPay platform. This makes the country second after China to have an indigenous electronic payment card. Adoption of the RuPay Card will help banks save Rs 250-300 crore annually as NPCI charges are cheaper by up to 40 per cent than what banks pay to foreign cards like Visa and Master Card.

ICICI BANK, HDFC BANK TO LOOSE FOREIGN

BANK STATUS Private sector banks, such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, which have majority foreign holding will not be

considered foreign banks under a compromise solution thrashed out between the Reserve Bank of India and the government. A policy revamp in 2009 had said that any

company with more than 50% overseas investment would be considered foreign-owned. As per this rule, many private banks such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, ING Vysya, Development Credit Bank, Federal Bank, IndusInd Bank and YES Bank became foreign banks under the FDI policy.

BANKS TO POPULARISE EFTs Finance ministry has advised banks to popularise electronic funds transfers to reduce usage of cheques and bank drafts that are prone to fraud, assuring them that electronic transfer of funds will have same legal protection as the traditional banking Instruments.

1000 ATMs BY DEPTT OF POSTS The Department of Post (DoP) is planning to set up 1,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) across six states --Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu -- under its ongoing modernisation plan. The department will computerise all its 1.55 lakh post offices across the country by 2013 with over 24,000 department post offices already computerised by March.

CHEQUES VALIDITY CUT TO 3 MONTHS

From first April, Banks will stop honouring cheques and drafts if they are not presented within three months of the

date of issue as against six months earlier. The RBI directive is in view of complaints that some persons were taking undue advantage of the six-month validity period and circulating these instruments like cash.

FirstRand Bank (of South Africa) has started its retail and commercial banking operations in India.

The Union Cabinet has allowed private banks to raise voting rights to 26%, from 10% at present, irrespective of their share holding pattern.

State Bank of India has launched the ‘State Bank Virtual' card, an electronic debit card for e-commerce that can be created by a customer using the bank's Internet Banking facility.

Reserve Bank has asked banks not to levy any foreclosure charges or pre-payment penalties on home loans on a floating interest rate basis

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 35

DEFENCE

OCTOBER 2012

Rs 8000 CRORE APPROVED FOR MISSILES Govt has cleared proposals of over Rs. 8,000 crore for procuring around 10,000 ‘Invar’ missiles from Russia for the Army’s T-90 tanks and over 200 air-launched versions of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles for the IAF.

INDIA FIRES PRITHVI - II India has successfully test-fired its nuclear- capable surface to surface Prithvi-II ballistic missile with a strike range of 350 km from a test range near Balasore in Odisha.

‘DHANUSH’ TESTED SUCCESSFULLY India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable ballistic missile Dhanush on Oct. 5, from the naval ship INS Subhadra in the Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast. With a pay-load capacity of 500 kg, Dhanush is a naval version of the nuclear-capable ballistic missile Prithvi. It is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads and can strike targets in the range of 350 kms.

Indian Air Force celebrated its 80th anniversary on 8th October.

SEP-AUG 2012

India successfully test-fired Agni-III, a surface-to-surface ballistic missile having a strike range of over 3,000 km, from Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast.

LAKSHYA – I TESTED The pilotless target aircraft Lakshya-1 was successfully test-flown from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, near Balasore, Odisha.

‘SAMUDRA PAHEREDAR’ FOR COAST GUARD The Indian Coast Guard has commissioned the Samudra Paheredar, the indigenously built pollution control vessel, specially designed to mitigate any marine oil spill. The ship also has infrared surveillance system which can detect any oil spill even of minor nature, and thereafter dissolve or disintegrate oil. It could also carry out tasks such as surveillance, interception, search and rescue and medical evacuation.

PRITHVI – II TESTED SUCCESSFULLY India test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable 'Prithvi-II' ballistic missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, off Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army. It has the capability to carry 500 kg of warheads with a strike range of 350 km.

AGNI II TEST FIRED SUCCESSFULLY India successfully test-fired Agni-II, its nuclear capable Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) with a strike range of 2000 km, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast.

ARMY TEST FIRES AGNI-I MISSILE India has successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Agni-I ballistic missile, with a strike range of

700 km, as part of the Army’s user trial from a test range at Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. The surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile launcher. NAVY GETS INS SAHYADRI INS 'Sahyadri', a stealth warship armed with an array of missiles, commissioned by Indian Navy's for enhancing its anti-submarine capabilities. It is the last of the Shivalik Class Project-17 warships, after INS Shivalik and Satpura.

India test-fired its nuclear-capable strategic missile Agni-IV with a strike range of about 4000 km

The Defence Ministry has cleared a proposal to procure 56 transport aircraft, at an estimated price of Rs. 12,000 crore, for the Air Force to replace the ageing Avro planes.

India test-fired the 290-km BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the integrated test range at Chandipur off the Odisha coast.

The Air Force will acquire 75 Swiss-made Pilatus PC-7 basic trainer aircraft to replace the ageing Kiran aircraft at a cost of over Rs.2900 crore.

JUNE 2012

INS VINDHYAGIRI (F-42), the sixth and the last of the Nilgiri class of frigates, which was damaged in an accident last year, has been decommissioned by Indian Navy.

DEDICATED SATELLITE FOR NAVY The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has built a dedicated satellite GSAT-7 for the Navy which will be launched in a few months by an Ariane-5 rocket from the Kourou Island in French Guiana. The Navy will use it to communicate with its submarines, frigates, destroyers and aircraft from its centres on the shore.

Russia has completed the refitting of the INS Sindhurakshak, the Indian Navy’s Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine.

INS Vikramaditya, newly refurbished aircraft carrier, converted from the erstwhile Soviet war ship Gorshkov, took to the sea for the first time on 8th June from the Sevmash shipyard in Russia.

MAY 2012

AKASH TEST FIRED SUCCESSFULLY India test-fired two indigenously developed surface-to-air

anti-aircraft 'Akash' missiles from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore, Odisha. The double test-fire came after trials of the missile, with a range of 25 km and capable of carrying a warhead of 60 kg to neutralise aerial targets, on 24th and 26th May.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 36

NAVY STARTS INS DWEEPRAKSHAK As part of its efforts to augment the security of the strategically significant Lakshadweep archipelago, the Navy

commissioned a full-scale naval base, INS Dweeprakshak, at Kavaratti on April 30.

ULTRA-LIGHT HOWITZERS FOR ARMY Defence Ministry has cleared a Rs. 3,000-crore proposal to buy 145 ultra-light howitzer (ULH) M777 BAE Systems guns from USA. They can be “air-dropped” in a high-altitude position by a chopper in inaccessible areas. The guns can be deployed in high-altitude areas in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

AKASH MISSILE TEST FIRED India test fired successfully its indigenously-developed surface-to- air Akash missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore, Odisha. It will boost its air defence shield and re-validate operational efficacy of India. The missile has a strike range of 25 km with a warhead of 60 kgs.

APRIL 2012

“SHOORVEER” EXERCISE IN THAR DESERT The first week of May will witness one of the biggest-ever war games of the Army in the Thar Desert. The forces are gearing up

for Shoorveer — a war game and military training exercise to be held in the districts of Hanumangarh,

Sri Ganganagar and Bikaner in Rajasthan. The exercise will see the deployment of more than 200 tanks and over 60,000 troops in the border State. Shoorveer comes close on the heels of the Army's Vijayee Bhava exercise in Suratgarh and Sudarshan Shakti in Barmer district.

LCA TESTED FOR NAVY The indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft Tejas - NP1 made its maiden flight on April 27 in Bangalore. With this India has crossed a major milestone in Design, Development, Manufacturing and Testing of a “four plus” generation Carrier Borne Fly-by-Wire STOBAR (Short take-off but arrested

recovery) aircraft.

AGNI-V TEST FIRED SUCCESSFULLY India took a giant leap in fortifying its strategic capability by successfully test-firing its nuclear capable Agni-V Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) with a strike range of 5,000 km, bringing China and the neighbouring region under its cover.

The surface-to-surface missile was launched from a mobile platform from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast. The sophisticated missile can carry a nuclear warhead of more than

one tonne. With this, India joined the elite missile club of the US, Russia, France and China.

INS CHAKRA JOINS INDIAN NAVY

The nuclear-powered attack submarine INS Chakra, with lethal "hunter-killer'' and intelligence-gathering capabilities'', was formally inducted into Indian Navy on a 10-year lease from Russia at a cost of around $1 billion on April 4. It is a Akula-II class- K-152 Nerpa sub marine. With this India has become 6th country in world to have nuclear sub marine, the other 5 being USA, UK, Russia, China and France.

NAVY INDUCTS INS TEG To give a boost to its naval warfare capability, India inducted a new warship into its fleet, INS Teg. It is the first of three guided missile stealth frigates of the modified INS Talwar-

class that India commissioned in Russian shipyard Yantar. INS Teg will be followed by induction of INS Tarkash and INS Trikand in the next one year or so.

‘MALABAR’ - JOINT OPERATION WITH US NAVY The Annual India - US Bilateral Naval exercise “Malabar” was held in the Bay of Bengal in second week of April. Frontline units from the navies of the two countries took part in the 10 day exercise. Phase I of the at-sea training was conducted in the vicinity of Chennai while Phase II was conducted in the Bay of Bengal and west of the Nicobar Islands.

PINAKA TEST FIRED SUCCESSFULY India's multi barrel rocket launcher weapon system 'Pinaka' which can neutralise a large area with a rapid salvo of rockets was once again successfully test fired at Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE) at Chandipur about 15 km from Balasore, Odisha. With a strike range of 40 km, 'Pinaka' could fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds.

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

OCTOBER 2012

‘GAGAN’ TO BE OPERATIONAL BY JULY, 2013 The GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan) system is a part of the modernisation plan for air traffic management and communication-navigation-surveillance system as mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Its functioning will be facilitated by the communications satellite GSAT-10 launched recently. Gagan will be made operational by June - July 2013.

GSAT – 10 LAUNCHED BY ARIANE-5 India has launched its heaviest ever satellite - the GSAT-10, on board Ariane-5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana. The satellite will be controlled from the Master Control Facility (MCF) of ISRO in Hassan in Karnataka.

AUSTRALIA SETS UP HUGE RADIO TELESCOPE Australia has set up a colossal radio telescope that will allow astronomers to detect distant galaxies and explore the depths of the universe with unprecedented precision. The Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope, at the remote Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Western Australian desert, is made up of 36 antennas, each 12 meters in diameter.

RAILRADAR: A new online application launched by the Railways, where one can find the exact location of 6,500 trains on a Google map on a real-time basis.

Microsoft has launched its latest computer operating system ‘Windows 8’ in 37 languages in 140 worldwide markets.

SEPTEMBER 2012

‘GISAT’ – AN EYE IN THE SKY Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad is developing a satellite called the Geo-Imaging Satellite or GISAT that will keep an eye on the country to alert authorities of trouble spots, natural disasters, floods and forest fires within, say, five minutes of the event. More importantly it will also keep a watch over our sensitive borders, from a height of 36,000 kilometers. GISAT will be fixed in a geo-stationary orbit, always looking over the same region, synchronised to the Earth's 24-hour rotation.

100TH SATELLITE FROM ISRO ISRO launched its 100th satellite on 9th September when the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C21 (PSLV-C21) blasted off from Sriharikota. It carried two satellites - French earth observation satellite SPOT 6 along with a micro-satellite Proiteres from Japan into a 635-km polar orbit. With a weight of 712 kg, SPOT 6 is the heaviest satellite to be launched by PSLV for an international customer. First satellite from ISRO was ‘Aryabhatta’ launched in 1975 by a Russian rocket.

AUGUST– JULY 2012

‘CURIOSITY’ LANDS ON MARS National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States opened a new chapter in the history of interplanetary explor-ation on 6th August when its $2.5 billion nuclear-powered robot, Curiosity, beamed back pictures from

the surface of Mars. The one-tonne mobile lab is the largest rover ever sent to Mars, and its high-speed landing was the most daring to date, using a rocket-powered sky crane to

lower the six-wheeled vehicle gently to the red planet’s surface.

SCIENTIST DISCOVER ‘GOD PARTICLE’

In a 'quantum' leap in physics, scientists have claimed to have spotted a sub-atomic particle "consistent" with the Higgs boson or 'God particle', believed to be a crucial building block that led to the formation of the universe. Scientists at CERN (European Centre for Nuclear Research), Switzerland, made the historic announcement, in a major milestone in the 50-year search for the elusive Higgs that is believed to have been responsible for lending mass to the particles that eventually formed the stars and the planets after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago.

ENJOY ULTRA HIGH DEFINITION TV The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has

finalised standards that promise to revolutionise television viewing with ‘ultra high-definition’ pictures of stupendous clarity and size in the coming years. At present, the HDTV, which has been replacing standard definition TV comes in two formats — 1280 x 720 pixels and 1920 x 1080 pixels, the latter being often called ‘full HD’. In contrast UHDTV picture sizes will be of the order of up to 32 mega pixels in size (7680 x 4320 pixels).

APPLE LAUNCHES MOUNTAIN LION Apple has launched the next generation of its operating system for its Mac range of personal computers. Called OS X Mountain Lion, the new OS is fully integrated with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, bringing to its desktops (iMac) and notebooks (Macbooks) some salient features of its iOS mobile operating system.

NEW PLANET DISCOVERED Astronomers have claimed to have discovered a planet that may be capable of supporting human life. The planet is 22 light years away and is formally known as Gliese 581g, an Australian daily has reported. A study by astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington shows that the planet is twice the size of earth.

ASTROSAT – FIRST ASTRONOMY SATELLITE India will launch Astrosat, the astronomy satellite in polar circular orbit in 2013, to study the Universe at multi-wavelengths for the first time. The 1.6-tonne satellite will be launched from the Sriharikota spaceport off the Bay of Bengal coasts in Andhra Pradesh, onboard a 300-tonne rocket with five scientific instruments to study at multiple

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 38

wavelengths. The instruments include a soft X-ray telescope, an ultraviolet imaging telescope, an imager and a sky scanning monitor.

NEW MOON TO PLUTO DISCOVERED US astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a fifth and tiniest moon yet orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The newly discovered moon, provisionally named S/2012 (134340) 1 until it gets a proper name, could help reveal more on how the Pluto system came into existence and evolved ever since.

ISRO HOLDS COSPAR AT MYSORE ISRO hosted the 39th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) with the theme 'Space - for the benefit of Mankind' at Infosys Campus, Mysore during 14th-22nd July. More than 2,500 scientists and students from 75 countries will witness presentations on over 3600 scientific papers, posters and reports.

JUNE 2012

MICROSOFT LAUNCHES ‘SURFACE’ The technology firm Microsoft has unveiled its own tablet computer – ‘Surface’ to compete against Apple's hugely successful iPad. The touch screen computer has been designed to operate as a Personal Computer with other attachable keyboard cover and as a TV viewing platform.

BIGGEST OPTICAL TELESCOPE IN CHILE The European Southern Observatory has decided to set up

the European Extremely Large Telescope, the E-ELT in Chile. The 1.35-billion dollars scheme entails building a telescope with a massive light-catching mirror 39.3 metres wide, several times the size of the biggest optical telescopes today

SOLAR POWERED AIRCRAFT Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard has flown his way into the record books by completing the world's first intercontinental flight in a giant solar-powered plane – Solar Impulse. Mr. Piccard completed a 19 hours flight, covering 830 kilometers from Madrid, Spain to Rabat, Morocco in an experimental carbon-fiber aircraft, powered by solar cells.

MAY 2012

SPACE-X ‘DRAGON’ JOINS SPACE STATION SpaceX of USA became the first private commercial outfit to dock its own cargo capsule at the International Space Station, marking a new era for private

spaceflight. The California-based SpaceX is owned by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk. With no humans on board, the capsule delivered about a half tonne of supplies and science equipments for the ISS.

IPv6 – THE NEW INTERNET PROTOCOL A number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), hardware makers and websites, including a few from India, will start

running IPv6, a new generation Internet protocol, permanently from June 6. It is part of a global effort to move away from the IPv4 regime that now rules the cyberspace.

DEEP SEA DRILLING RECORD A Japanese deep-sea drilling probe has set a world record for depth, reaching 25,400 feet below the sea surface. The probe named Chikyu, operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, was digging the seabed off Japan's northern coast to take fault samples and study last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

APRIL 2012

RISAT – 1 CREATES HISTORY Country's first indigenous all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), whose images will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, was launched successfully on April 26 on board the PSLV-C19 from in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, about 90 kilometres north of Chennai. The 1,858 kg spacecraft is country’s heaviest ever launched satellite and is capable of taking images in total cloud conditions also.

GSAT – 11 TO BE LAUNCHED BY 2014 ISRO plans to launch its biggest ever spacecraft, the 5,000-kg GSAT-11, by 2014. The advanced commu-nication satellite, GSAT-11, will be double the capacity and size of the present buses, and will be built over the next two years. GSAT-11 will have 32 transponders in the Ka and Ku bands.

‘SYNRIAM’ LAUNCHED TO FIGHT MALARIA India launched its first indigenously manufactured anti-malaria new-age drug Synriam. The drug, produced by Ranbaxy Laboratories, has been formally introduced for marketing. Malaria claims half a million lives every year globally and India contributes to 77 per cent of the 2.5 million cases reported annually from South East Asia.

WORLD’S LARGEST TELESCOPE AT LADDAKH To find out more about the secrets of universe, the world's largest telescope at the highest altitude is being established at at Hanle, Ladakh by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Called MACE (Major Atmospheric Cerenkov Experiment) Telescope, the 21-meter instrument would enable the study of high energy cosmic gamma-ray sources in the hitherto unexplored energy range of 20 to 100 GeV (giga electron volt) and beyond five Tev (tera electron volt).

NETRA TO COMBAT NAXALITES Netra is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), a camera in the sky, used by the security forces in the Naxalite areas of

Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. The 'Netra' plane that weighs just one-and-a-half kilos uses four propellers to remain airborne. It has high-resolution cameras and state-of-the-art thermal sensors.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 39

INTERNATIONAL

OCTOBER 2012

SRI LANKA QUIZZED ON HUMAN RIGHTS Ninety nine countries have posed questions to Sri Lanka on the country’s Human Rights record that will be reviewed at United Nations Human Rights Commission headquarters in Geneva. It is reported that US, UK and Canada have submitted tough questions relating to investigations of war crimes, resettlement of displaced people and progress on political settlement including elections to the Northern Province in Sri Lanka.

GOOGLE LAUNCHES TABLET ‘NEXUS 10’ Google has unveiled a large-format tablet computer ‘Nexus

10’ to compete against the original iPad as part of a revamped line of its Nexus devices. It will be "the highest resolution tablet on the planet" and would offer settings for multiple user accounts, claimed Google.

JAPAN LAUNCHES MICRO SATELLITE ‘NIWAKA’ A palm-sized Japanese satellite in orbit around Earth will flash a Morse code message that will be visible around the world from next month. Researchers hope the satellite; measuring 10 centimeters (four inches) cubed and launched from the International Space Station will become the first orbiter to transmit an LED message across the night sky.

RUSSIAN ARMY TO STAY IN TAJIKISTAN Russia and Tajikistan have signed an agreement allowing Russian troops to stay at a military base in Tajikistan until 2042. In return, Russia will admit more Tajik labourers to boost financial health of Tajikistan.

BANGLADESH HONOURS 52 INDIANS Bangladesh has honoured foreign friends who contributed to achieve the nation’s independence from Pakistan in 1971. Of the 61 recipients of the award in the third phase, 52 are from India and the rest are from Nepal, the United States, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Australia, Sweden, and Italy.

‘BOND-007’ CELEBRATES 50 YEARS James Bond – 007, the suave British spy on the silver screen celebrated 50 years of its creation on October, 5. Bond appeared in a film for the first time in the now classic Dr. No , released on October 5, 1962, introducing himself with the immortal line, ‘The name’s Bond... James Bond’. Skyfall, the 23rd and latest Bond film, was released on October 23.

Rs. 7800CR LOAN FROM JAPAN The government has signed a loan agreement of Rs 7,802.17 crore with Japan to fund four projects related to

infrastructure and water. Japan has committed loan of Rs 313.62 crore for campus development project of IIT, Hyderabad, Rs 3,572.73 crore for Tamil Nadu transmission system improvement project, Rs 2,211.52 crore for Rajasthan rural water supply and fluorosis mitigation project (Nagpur) and Rs 1,704.30 crore to fund Delhi water supply management project.

Australia proposes to teach Hindi in its schools.

Hurricane ‘Sandy’ lashes NE USA, causing widespread devastation around New York, affecting over 5 crore people.

Lahore city officials have decided to rename the Shadman Chowk in Lahore after the heroic Indian revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, on his 105th birth day.

SEPTEMBER 2012

JAPAN TO QUIT NUCLEAR POWER Japan has unveiled a plan to phase out nuclear power by 2030, in a major policy shift after last year's Fukushima disaster. Under proposals put forward by a government panel, the reactors would be shut down completely by the year 2040. Before the Fukushima disaster, nuclear power supplied about a third of Japan's energy needs.

ANTI JAPAN PROTESTS IN CHINA Tension between Tokyo and Beijing on the issue of disputed island in east China sea has lead to wide spread anti japan protests taking place in China. The protests started after Japan said it had agreed a deal to buy a chain of disputed islands in East China Sea from their private Japanese owner. China has maintained its sovereignty over the islands which are also claimed by Taiwan.

PAK TEST FIRES BABUR (HATF-VII) Pakistan has successfully test-fired its cruise missile - the Babur (Hatf-VII) that can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads over a range of 700 km.

INDIAN STUDENTS MAY BE DEPORTED Up to 500 foreign students of the crisis-hit London Metropolitan University (LMU) could be deported after the UK Border Agency (UKBA) reportedly determined that they had no legal right to stay in Britain because of problems with their visas. Govt recently revoked the license of LMU.

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A weeklong film festival to mark 100 years of Indian Cinema was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

China launches its first aircraft carrier - Liaoning

The fifth meeting of the SAARC Home Ministers held in Male, Maldives.

AUGUST 2012

IRAN TO SUPPLY OIL IN INSURED TANKERS Faced with problems of its customers not being able to import oil due to lack of adequate insurance for ships, National Iranian Oil Company has offered India and other countries the use of fully insured Iranian vessels. Almost all international insurance companies have stopped insuring oil tankers coming from Iran due to recent sanctions imposed by USA and its European allies on Iran.

CHINA TESTS ICBM – DONFENG-41 China has announced testing of a new generation of inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), Dongfeng-41, with a strike range of 14,000 km and capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads.

16TH NAM SUMMIT HELD AT TEHRAN 16th summit of Non Aligned Movement nations was held at Tehran, Iran. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attended the summit. The relevance of NAM is evident in the gathering of the member nations, who have defied a unipolar world order

and the hegemony of the West and its allies to come together in Iran, despite the sanctions and the threats being issued on a regular basis by Washington and Tel Aviv.

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries consider themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2012, the movement has 120 members and 17 observer countries. The organization was founded in Belgrade in 1961, and was largely the brainchild of Yugoslavia's president, Josip Broz Tito; India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru; Egypt's second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser; Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah; and Indonesia's first president, Sukarno. All five leaders were prominent advocates of a middle course for states in the Developing World between the Western and Eastern blocs in the Cold War.

APPLE WINS CASE AGAINST SAMSUNG In a massive victory in its patent case against Samsung, technology giant Apple has won more than 1 billion dollars after a California jury held that the South Korean firm violated a series of Apple’s patents pertaining to software and design of mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

CONTEMPT NOTICE TO PAK PM For the second time this year, contempt of court proceedings were initiated against a Pakistan Premier by the Supreme Court when current PM Raja Parvez Ashraf was asked to appear before it on August 27 and show cause why he should not be held in contempt of the court for refusing to write to the Swiss authorities asking them to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

FOOD ASSISTANCE TO NORTH KOREA According to a UN report, North Korea needs immediate food assistance after heavy rains killed scores of people and

submerged vast swaths of farmland.

Saudi Arabia is planning to build a city exclusively for women to encourage career oriented females within its strict Sharia law.

JULY 2012

S KOREA TO MINE IN INDIAN OCEAN South Korea has announced that it has secured exclusive rights to explore and develop a deep sea mine in the resource-rich Indian Ocean that can produce over USD 300 million worth of minerals like gold, silver and copper per year. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) last week unanimously agreed to recognise South Korea's rights to the

offshore mine that lies across an area of 10,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean.

ADB TO TRADE IN RUPEE ALSO The Asian Development Bank has approved the inclusion of Rupee and Renminbi in their Trade Finance Programme, which so far had the dollar, euro and yen currencies only. Now ADB will finance regional trade in Indian rupee and Chinese Renminbi also.

THE WORLD POPULATION DAY The World Population Day was celebrated on July 11. The

theme for this year is ‘Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services’.

World Population Day is an annual event, observed on July 11 every year, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. It was inspired by the public interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, approximately the date on which the world's population reached five billion people.

SIX NATION MEET ON IRAN IN ISTANBUL Six major world powers - US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China held technical expert level talks with Iran in Istanbul in July 2012. The meeting is aimed at seeking clarifications from Iran on the proposals made by the six major world powers to Iran at Moscow round of talks. Iran says its rights of uranium enrichment are non negotiable and its nuclear program is for peaceful civilian purposes. Western nations allege Iran is trying to develop atom bomb under the cover of its nuclear program.

$16 BN AID FOR AFGHANISTAN About 70 countries pledged $16 billion in a donors’ conference held at Tokyo for urgently needed development aid for Afghanistan over the next four years, when most foreign troops will leave the country.

IT giant Microsoft has reported a loss of $492 million in the June quarter, for the first time in nearly three decades, primarily due to lower online advertising business.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 41

JUNE 2012

APPLE-I SOLD FOR $374,000 A rare surviving first model of the Apple computer — a stripped down, clunky device that bears no resemblance to today’s sleek gadgets — sold for $374,000 at an auction by Sotheby’s in New York. The Apple I computer was created by Apple co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs and sold in 1976.

BOKO HARAM STRIKES AGAIN IN NIGERIA Nigeria’s dreaded Islamist militant group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for recent deadly attacks on churches that left at least 52 people dead and 131 others wounded. Boko Haram wants to impose Islamic sharia law in Nigeria.

TOKYO – MOST EXPENSIVE CITY

Global HR services firm Mercer's survey of 214 cities worldwide has ranked Tokyo as the most expensive, while Karachi is the least costly place for expatriates. New Delhi has slipped to

113th position (from 85 last year), while Mumbai is at 114th place (from 95).

MASSIVE ANTI PUTIN PROTESTS IN MOSCOW Tens of thousands of Russians flooded streets in Moscow to protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule in what appeared to be the biggest opposition rally yet. This is despite the fact that Putin recently increased fines on illegal protests and violations from 5,000 roubles to as much as 300,000 roubles ($9,000) for participants and 1 million roubles ($30,000) for organisers.

WORLD FOOD PRICES TAKE A DIP The FAO Food Price Index, which measures monthly price changes for a food basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 204 points in May, down from 213 points in April. The prices dropped in May for a second month in a row, hit by steep falls in dairy products, sugar and other commodities, and are likely to fall further in the coming months.

RUSSIA TESTS ITS TOPOL ICBM The Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, RVSN (Russian name) has successfully test-fired a Topol RS-12M Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, ICBM. The RS-12M Topol is a single-warhead ICBM with a maximum range of 10,000 km and can carry a nuclear warhead.

EARTH SUMMIT 2012 The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from June 20. Also known as Rio+20 or Rio Earth Summit 2012. India pushed for upholding the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibility, CBDR, at the summit.

END OF ‘EMERGENCY’ IN EGYPT Egypt's decades-old state of emergency came to an end on May 31 as its last renewal expired. Egypt has been under a

state of emergency continuously since President Anwar Sadat's assassination in 1981, allowing authorities to detain people without charge and try them in emergency security courts. Egypt elected its new President – Mohmd Mursi recently to signal the new democratic regime.

PAK SEEKS INDIA HELP TO FIGHT POLIO A nine-member Pakistani delegation has arrived in India to learn from its experience of polio eradication. Pakistan saw a manifold rise in polio cases this year, and is one of the three countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where the infectious viral disease is still prevalent. India became polio-free in January this year, after one full year without a single

case being reported. It has subsequently been removed from the WHO list of polio-endemic countries.

INTERNATIONAL NORTH SOUTH TRANSPORT CORRIDOR A three-day meeting of experts from 16 countries discussed ways to smoothen the way for the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC). The corridor would

radically reduce cargo transportation time between India on one side and Central Asia and Russia on the other, with Iran being the pivot.

SCO SUMMIT AT BEIJING Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit was held at Beijing on 6th June. India has the ‘observer’ status in SCO. Foreign Minister SM Krishna attended the meet. Afghanistan received observer status at the 2012 SCO summit in Beijing, China on June 6, 2012.

8 LAKH REFUGEES IN 2011 Conflicts around the world produced 800,000 refugees in 2011. A report issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) says that currently there are more than 43.7 million refugees in the world which also include internally displaced people.

CHINA ACHIEVES FIRST SPACE DOCKING China completed its first manned space docking on June 18 as the spacecraft Shenzhou-9 (Divine Grace), carrying three astronauts including the country's first spacewoman- Liu Yang, successfully coupled with an orbiting space lab Tiangong-1 or 'Heavenly Palace’ in a major milestone for its ambitious space programme.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 42

In Egypt, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood party’s Mohammed Mursi has won the Presidential elections

In Israel, a bust of Rabindranath Tagore has been unveiled at the prestigious Hebrew University at Jerusalem to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the Nobel laureate.

International conference on dealing with the issues related to maritime piracy held at Dubai

The Philippine government has decided to allow Indian nationals who are regular international travellers to enter the country without a visa and stay for up to 21 days.

MAY 2012

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY World press freedom day was celebrated on May 3. The United Nations General Assembly declared 3rd May the World Press Freedom Day in 1991 to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression.

CHINA ISSUES SMART PASSPORTS The new passports issued by China have an electronic chip inside with personal information. Besides name and date of birth, the chip contains the holder’s finger prints and signature. Paper photos will also be replaced by digital ones. In addition to increased security, the E-passport is seen as an important step toward automatic processing at customs points.

$ 80,000 FINE ON AIR INDIA Ailing Air India has been slapped a fine of $80,000 by US authorities for failing to post customer service and tarmac delay contingency plans on its website and for not adequately informing passengers about its optional fees.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM IN AFRICA The three-day meeting of the World Economic Forum on Africa was held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

INDIA SHOULD SIGN NPT: JAPAN Visiting Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, Koichiro Gemba, has called upon India to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) so that the two countries can cooperate for development of nuclear energy.

JAPAN BECOMES NUCLEAR POWER FREE Japan’s Hokkaido Electric Power Co has shut down the country's 50th and last active nuclear reactor at Tomari, leaving the world's third-biggest user of atomic energy with no nuclear-derived electricity for the first time since May, 1970.

NEPAL CABINET RESIGNS EN MASSE The Constituent Assembly of Nepal failed to come to agreement on the new constitution and PM Mr,. Bhattarai has called for election on November 22 to resolve the constitutional impasse. Efforts for a new constitution have

been marred by demands for the country to be divided into states along ethnic lines.

HATF-IX MISSILE TESTED BY PAKISTAN Pakistan (May 29) successfully carried out a test of its indigenous quick reaction tactical nuclear-capable Hatf-IX missile with a range of 60 km, aimed at "deterring evolving threats at shorter range."

UN MEET ON CLIMATE HELD AT BONN UN Climate Change Meeting held at Bonn, Germany to discuss the further amendments to the Kyoto Protocol and to review the other major decisions taken at historic UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that took place in Durban in Nov, 2011. Next round of UNFCCC will be held at Doha by the end of this year.

HUNGER ALLEVIATION FUND A report on food security and Poverty released by ADB in Manila, Philippines suggested creation of a hunger alleviation fund by the nations of Asia and the Pacific to deal with the problem of rising prices of commodities.

Switzerland has agreed to provide details of secret

bank accounts of individuals sought by India even on the basis of “limited” information, under a mutual DTAA inked on April 20 this year.

Time magazine has selected Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s classic epic ‘Devdas’ as one of the 10 all time best films of this millennium.

The Netherlands to host Nuclear Security Summit in 2014.

A major university centre dedicated to the life and works of Rabindranath Tagore has opened in Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland to mark his 150th birth anniversary.

APRIL 2012

GLOBAL RISE IN FOOD PRICES Global food prices rose by 8 per cent between December 2011 and March 2012 on account of high oil prices, adverse weather conditions and increased food imports by Asia, a World Bank report stated.

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HATF-4 IRBM TESTED BY PAKISTAN Pakistan test-fired an "improved version" of the nuclear-capable Hatf-4, also called Shaheen 1A intermediate range

ballistic missile that can hit targets in India. It is expected to have a range of over 1000 kilometers.

GILANI GUILTY OF CONTEMPT OF COURT Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani was held guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to imprisonment till the rising of the Bench of the Supreme Court hearing the case. He was accused of not complying with SC’s order to reopen corruption cases against country’s President Asif Ali Zardari.

G-20 CALLS TO COMBAT MONEY LAUNDERING The G-20 Finance Ministers has called upon all nations to

sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance for comprehensive exchange of information to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. G-20 is a grouping of rich and developing countries.

G-8 MEET AT WASHINGTON Summit of Foreign Ministers of the G-8 nations was held at Washington to discuss a range of country-specific, regional and transnational topics. The Group of Eight comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

SUU KYI SWEEPS MYANMAR BY-ELECTIONS Myanmar pro-democracy leader and Noble Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has won her first-ever seat in parliament. Her National League for Democracy party has so far won 40 of the 44 seats it contested in Myanmar’s first by-elections in last almost 50 years.

Meeting of Foreign Ministers of RIC countries held at Moscow, Russia. RIC stands for Russia, India and China.

BRICS finance Ministers’ Meeting held in Washington, USA.

13th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD was held in Doha, Qatar from April 21-26. It focused on trade, investment and development issues.

PERSONS IN NEWS OCTOBER 2012

FELIX BAUMGARTNER: Supersonic skydiver from Austria was in news for his death-defying, record-breaking leap from the edge of space at about 39 kms, breaking the sound barrier at a sky diving speed of 1,342-kmph on October 14, landing in a desert in New Mexico. DIEGO MARADONA: Football legend from Argentina visited Kannur, Kerala on a private tour. AISHWARYA RAI: Appointed International Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS, the joint UN programme on AIDS and HIV.

LT. GEN. K S BRAR (RETD.): was in news as he was attacked by alleged militants in Central London. He had led Operation Blue Star in 1984 to flush out pro Khalistani

militants from the Golden Temple, Amritsar. MALALA YOUSAFZAI: She is the 14-year-old peace activist who became the ‘voice of girls in Swat’ in Afghanistan when the Taliban controlled the valley in 2008. She was recently shot at and seriously injured by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), triggering a nationwide wave of revulsion at not just terrorists but also their supporters.

SEPTEMBER 2012

AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN Bollywood actress has been appointed the UN Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS to raise awareness on issues related to new HIV infections in children and to advocate for increased access to anti-retroviral treatment.

ASEEM TRIVEDI 25 years old cartoonist from Kanpur was in news as he was charged with sedition for putting up banners mocking the Constitution during a rally in Mumbai.

MAMATA BANERJEE West Bengal Chief Minister figures in the list of 50 most influential people in the world of finance as rated by Bloomberg Markets magazine. The list also includes names like American business magnate Warren Buffett, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Hyundai’s chairman Chung Mong Koo and America Movil’s chairman Carlos Slim.

SMITA SHAH

The first Indian-Americ an business women selected as a Democratic National Convention parliamentarian in USA. Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi, an anti-submarine warfare specialist, took over as Chief of Indian Navy from Admiral Nirmal Verma.

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS The US envoy to Libya was in news as he was killed by violent protesters in Benghazi, Libya. The protest was against a US film – ‘Innocence of Muslims’ which allegedly portrayed Prophet Mohammed in an insulting manner.

INNOCENCE OF MUSLIMS A US film produced recently evoked wide spread violent protests for its anti Muslim contents, causing insult to Prophet Mohammed, in a number of Muslim countries like Libya, Egypt, Yemen killing several persons, including US ambassador to Libya – Christopher Stevens.

STEPHEN HAWKING

Britain’s most famous living scientist and universally admired for his courage in overcoming a potentially debilitating disability was in news as he inaugurated the London paralympics. He is now almost entirely paralysed and communicates through a speech generating device.

MITT ROMNEY Republican party’s candidate selected for contesting US Presidential election against Barack Obama (of Democratic party). The elections are held every four years on the

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 44

‘Election Day’ which is Tuesday falling between 2nd and 8th November. This year it is their 57th election and will be held on 6th November.

SUNITA WILLIAMS Indian-American NASA astronaut was in news as she created a new world record for spending highest number of hours in spacewalk by a female astronaut. Williams has conducted six spacewalks for 44 hours and 2 minutes. Currently, she is on a mission to International Space Station. She also holds the record for spending highest number of days in space – 195.

GENERAL LIANG GUANGLIE: Chinese Defence

Minister who visited India recently.

MAHMOUD ABBAS: The President of Palestine who

visited New Delhi recently.

MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA: Sri Lankan President visited

India on a official tour.

AUGUST 2012

JULIAN ASSANGE: Australian founder of international

whistle blowing website ‘Wikileaks’ has sought asylum in Ecuador by entering its embassy in London, UK. He is wanted by Sweden in some alleged sexual offences committed by him in Stockholm, Sweden.

LAKHDAR BRAHIMI: Former Algerian foreign

minister was in news as he was appointed UN and Arab League envoy to Syria for brokering peace in war torn country.

ANDERS BEHRING BREIVIK: A Norwegian citizen was

in news as he was sentenced to 21 years prison for his massacre of 77 people in July 2011 in Norway as part of his anti-Muslim crusade.

LANCE ARMSTRONG: Record seven Tour de France

titles holder cycling champion from USA was in news as he was banned for life by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after concluding he used banned substances. Lance was

the hero of millions of cancer survivors as he himself fought cancer bravely.

DR B.R. AMBEDKAR: Father of the Indian Constitution

was voted as the ‘Greatest Indian’ in a poll spearheaded by History TV18 and CNN IBN. Nearly two crore votes were cast, making him the most popular Indian figure.

RIAD HIJAB: Syria’s Prime Minister has joined the anti-

regime revolt. He fled abroad, in a major blow to President Bashar Al-Assad.

HAMID ANSARI: re-elected as Vice-President of India.

He is only the second Vice-President to get a second consecutive term after S. Radhakrishnan, who enjoyed two terms from 1952 to 1962. The vice president of India is ex officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha and is elected by members of both houses of the Parliament i.e. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

ASHOKE SEN: Indian physicist received the first Fundamental Physics award for his contribution to the ''String Theory''. The three million dollars award, started by Russian

entrepreneur Yuri Milner, is the highest cash award in the world. VANYA MISHRA: Miss India 2012 lost the Miss World title to Miss China Wenxia Yu, however, she won ‘Miss World Beauty with a Purpose’ and ‘Miss Multimedia’ titles.

JULY 2012

KULANDAI FRANCIS: has been awarded Magsaysay

award for his efforts for eradicating poverty and empowering more than one lakh rural women for 35 long years. His organisation, the Integrated Village Development Project provides vocational training to rural students

DWIJENDRA LAL ROY: Eminent Bengali poet and

musician was in news as his 150th birth anniversary celebrations started in West Bengal.

JUNE 2012

RAJAT GUPTA: One of the most successful Indian Americans on Wall Street, the 63-year-old former Goldman Sachs director was found guilty by a Manhattan (USA) court of passing confidential market information to Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, in one of America's biggest insider trading cases.

WHAT IS INSIDER TRADING Insider trading is best understood as a type of “securities related fraud”. In this, fraudsters exploit positions of privilege to improperly source, access and utilise the Price Sensitive Information (PSI) to derive financial benefit from the share market by purchasing large number of such shares in advance whose prices are expected to increase in the near future.

SUDARSHAN PATTNAIK: Internationally-acclaimed sand artist from Odisha has won the first prize in the Copenhagen

International Sand Sculpture Championship 2012, held in Denmark. Mr. Pattnaik created a 20-foot-high sand sculpture on “Save the Ocean”.

JUSTICE MADAN BHIMARAO LOKUR: was sworn in as 26th judge of the Supreme Court, still five short of the sanctioned strength of 31 judges. FERNANDO LUGO: President of Paraguay was impeached by the Parliament over his poor handling of a deadly land dispute. LIU YANG: 33 years old air force pilot of China got the honour to become China’s first woman astronaut and world's 57th space woman when she went up in spaceship Shenzhou-9 that docked with the Spacelab Tiangong-1.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 45

ALLEN STANFORD: Financier and cricket mogul (62) of USA was in news as he was sentenced to 110 years in jail for running a $7-billion Ponzi scheme (fraudulent investment

scheme)

LEON PANETTA, the US Defence Secretary, was in New Delhi for a two-day visit to India.

YOUSUF RAZA GILANI: Pakistan’s Prime Minister was disqualified from holding office by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, two months after convicting him of contempt of court. SNIGDHA NANDIPATI: 14years old eighth-grade student from San Diego, California was in news as she won this year's prestigious Spelling Bee Competition in USA. She correctly spelled the French word ‘guetapens’ to be declared the national champion. HOSNI MUBARAK: 84 years old ousted Egyptian President was sentenced to life in prison after a court in Cairo found him guilty of complicity in the killing of over 800 protesters during the popular uprising against his 30-year rule last year. According to the latest information Mr. Hosni Mubarak is on life support system and is being kept clinically alive.

CHARLES TAYLOR: Former President of Liberia was sentenced to 50 years in jail by a U.N.-backed war crimes court for arming rebels in Sierra Leone in return for “blood diamonds.”

REHMAN MALIK: Pakistan's Interior Minister was suspended by the Supreme Court of Pakistan from the membership of parliament on the ground that he had failed to provide proof of renouncing his British citizenship, raising questions over his continuance as a minister.

MAY 2012

SAADAT HASAN MANTO: Veteran short story writer of Indian origin who later migrated to Pakistan after the partition. His 100th birth anniversary falling on 11th May, 1912 is being celebrated with great fervor in both India and

Pakistan. Known for his famous story ‘Toba Tek Singh’. GIRIRAJ KISHORE: Verteran Writer and Gandhian was in news as he returned his Padma Shri award to protest against the auction of items belonging to Gandhi. A R RAHMAN: Oscar-winning musician has been conferred with his first American Honorary Doctorate by the Miami University, Ohio, USA. It is Rahman’s fourth doctorate. He has previously been honoured by Aligarh Muslim University, Anna University and Middlesex University in the UK. SAM PITRODA: Advisor to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has been conferred with an honorary

degree by New York University's Polytechnic Institute, which is considered among the U.S.' most prestigious and oldest private schools, specialising in engineering and technology. HILLARY CLINTON: US Secretary of State has been named No 1 in the World's 20 Most Powerful Moms list which also

ranked India-born Indra Nooyi at the 3rd spot and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at No 6.

JACQUES ROGGE: President of the International Olympic Committee. MICHAEL HANEKE: Austrian director won the Cannes film festival's top honor, the Palme d'Or, for the picture "Love" (Amour), his acclaimed tale of an elderly couple facing the inescapable, yet no less tragic march of death.

APRIL 2012

SARASVAT, V K: Director of DRDO was in news due to success in testing of Agni V missile.

TESSY THOMAS: Project Director in DRDO who guided the team of scientists to successfully test Agni-V, the fiercest weapon in India's armour. Also known as ‘Missile Women’ or ‘Agniputri’.

DR K RADHAKRISHNAN: Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), credited with successful launch of RISAT-1, India’s first all weather day-night viewing satellite.

N VALARMATHI: First lady Project Director of a remote sensing satellite mission, credited with successful launch of RISAT-1. ZOHRA SEHGAL: The grand old lady of Indian cinema, veteran actress, Padma Vibhushan Awardee, turned 100 years old. HANS RAJ ‘HANS’: Famous Punjabi singer has been appointed visiting professor of ‘Sufism’ in the San Jose University of California, USA. NANCY J POWELL: Ambassador of the United States to India who took charge of her office in India.

APPOINTMENTS

OCTOBER 2012

PRANAY SAHAY, IPS: Director General, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) SHUBHALAKSHMI PANSE: Chairperson and Managing Director of Allahabad bank. HUGO CHAVEZ: President of Venezuela (re-elected)

SEPTEMBER 2012

ALTAMAS KABIR: appointed the 39th Chief Justice of India from September 29. RAMESH ABHISHEK: Chairman of commodity markets regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC). KAUSHIK BASU: Chief economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 46

JOSE EDUARDO DOS SANTOS: President of Angola (re elected)

HASSAN SHEIKH: President of Somalia

AUGUST 2012

SUMIT BOSE: Revenue Secretary, Central Govt

RAGHURAM G RAJAN: Chief Economic Advisor to Finance Minister

SUSHIL KUMAR SHINDE: Union Home Ministry, Also Leader of the House in Lok Sabha P CHIDAMBARAM: Union Finance Minister

JIN-YONG CAI: CEO of International Finance Corporation of the World Bank. (From China)

JULY 2012

JAGADISH SHETTAR: Chief Minister of Karnataka JAWAHAR THAKUR: Controller General of Accounts (CGA). HESHAM QANDIL: Prime Minister of Egypt NKOSAZANA DLAMINI-ZUMA: First woman Head of African Union Commission (from South Africa)

ENRIQUE PEÑA NIETO: President of Mexico

JUNE 2012

SEKHAR BASU: Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, Mumbai. V.S. SAMPATH: Chief Election Commissioner of India D.K. JOSHI (Vice-Admiral): Chief of the Indian Navy (w.e.f. Sep. 1) D.K. MEHROTRA: Chairman, LIC of India

BUJAR NISHANI: President of Albania ANTONIS SAMARAS: Prime Minister of Greece MOHAMMED MURSI: President of Egypt RAJA PARVEZ ASHRAF: Prime Minister of Pakistan from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). FATOU BENSOUDA: Lawyer from Gambia has been sworn in as Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at Hague, Netherland.

MAY 2012

ANSHU JAIN: Co-CEO, Deutsche Bank

S R RAO: Union Commerce Secretary

PRADEEP KHOSLA: Chancellor of the University of California, USA. He is alumni of IIT Kharagpur.

RAHUL KHULLAR: Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

RATAN KUMAR SINHA: Chairman, Atomic Energy

Commission

GOOLAM E. VAHANVATI: Attorney-General (re appointed for two more years)

VIDYA BALAN: Ambassador for Total Sanitation Campaign of Govt. of India.

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE: President of France, from Socialist party, defeating Nicolas Sarkozy

JEAN-MARC AYRAULT: Prime Minister of France.

DAVID RICHARDSON: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Cricket Council

TOMISLAV NIKOLIC: President of Serbia

APRIL 2012

FIVE NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED

B.V. Wanchoo Goa

Dr. Ajij Quershi Uttarakhand

Ms Margaret Alwa Rajasthan

ESL Narasimhan Andhra Pradesh

K. Sankar narayanan Maharashtra

JIM YONG KIM: President, World Bank, he is a Korean-American physician.

SALMAN BASHIR: High Commissioner of Pakistan to India.

JUSTICE DALVEER BHANDARI: Elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

AWARDS & HONOURS

OCTOBER 2012

NOBEL PRIZES FOR 2012 DECLARED

Nobel prize for

Winner Work done

Chemistry Robert Lefkowitz, USA and Brian Kobilka, USA

for studies of proteins that let body cells respond to signals from the outside.

Physics Serge Haroche, France and David Wineland, USA

for work in quantum physics that could one day open the way to revolutionary computers.

Medicine (Physiology)

John Gurdon, Britain and Shinya Yamanaka, Japan

for the 'reprogramming' of the fate of cells,

Literature Mo Yan, China For his hallucinatory realism with which he merges folk tales, history and the contemporary.

Peace prize European Union for over six decades contributed to the

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 47

advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

Economics Alvin Roth, USA and Llyod Shapley, USA

for studies on the match-making that takes place when doctors are coupled up with hospitals; students with schools; and human organs with transplant recipients.

STORY OF NOBEL PRIZES The Nobel Prize is an international award of highest level given annually since 1901 for outstanding achievements in six fields - Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Economics and Peace the prizes were started by Nobel Academy set up by great Sweedish scientist Alfred Nobel. The prize consists of a medal, a personal diploma, and a prize amount (reduced recently by 20%) of Swedish Kroner 8 million (roughly $ 1.1 million). In 1968, the Sveriges Riksbank (Bank of Sweden) instituted the prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. The peace prize is decided by the Parliament of Norway. These awards are announced every year in the month of October.

MAN BOOKER PRIZE FOR FICTION: Hilary Mantel for her book 'Bring up the Bodies'. She made history by becoming

the first woman and first British author to become a two-time winner of this prestigious award. SHARMILA TAGORE: Awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by the Edinburgh Napier University for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. GOLDEN PEACOCK AWARD: Analjit Singh, Max India founder and Vodafone Chairman, for personal leadership and his contribution to society. 27TH INDIRA GANDHI AWARD FOR NATIONAL INTEGRATION: Gulzar, the noted poet, lyricist and film-maker "for his yeoman work in promoting and preserving the

spirit of National Integration."

11TH ECONOMIST CROSSWORD BOOK AWARD – 2012: To Aman Sethi for his book “A Free Man”

SEPTEMBER 2012

Moorti Devi Award-2010*: Prof. Gopi Chand Narang for the book ‘Urdu ghazal aur Hinduatani jehan-o-tehzib’. (also awarded Pakistan’s top civilian award ‘Sitara e Imtiaz’)

Moorti Devi Award-2011*: Dr. Gulab Kothari for his book ‘Main hi Radha, Main hi Krishna”.

*This award is given by Bhartiya Jnanpith Trust for

recognising a person’s contribution to Indian philosophy and cultural heritage in any language

GOLDEN LION for best film at the 69th Venice Film Festival: Korean film ‘Pieta’ directed by Kim Ki-duk.

AUGUST 2012

TOP SPORTS AWARDS DECLARED RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RATNA AWARD - 2012:

1. Shri Vijay Kumar Shooting

2. Shri Yogeshwar Dutt Wrestling

Apart from a medal and a citation, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees will receive a cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh each and Arjuna Awardees will receive statuettes, citations and cash prize of Rs.5 lakh each.

ARJUN AWARDS – 2012

Sl. No. Name Discipline

1. Ms. Deepika Kumari Archery

2. Ms. Laishram Bombayla Devi Archery

3. Ms. Sudha Singh Athletics

4 Ms. Kavita Ramdas Raut Athletics

5 Ms. Ashwani Ponnappa Badminton

6 Mr. Parupalli Kashyap Badminton

7 Mr. Aditya S. Mehta Billiards & Snooker

8 Mr. Vikas Krishan Boxing

9 Mr. Yuvraj Singh Cricket

10 Mr. Sardar Singh Hockey

11 Mr. Yashpal Solanki Judo

12 Mr. Anup Kumar Kabaddi

13 Mr. Samir Suhag Polo

14 Ms. Annu Raj Singh Shooting

15 Mr. Omkar Singh Shooting

16 Mr. Joydeep Karmakar Shooting

17 Ms. Deepika Pallikal Squash

18 Mr. Sandeep Sejwal Swimming

19 Ms. Ng. Sonia Chanu Weightlifting

20 Mr. Narsingh Yadav Wrestling

21 Mr. Rajinder Kumar Wrestling

22 Ms. Geeta Phogat Wrestling

23 Mr. M. Bimoljit Singh Wushu

24 Mrs. Deepa Mallick Athletics –

Paralympics

25 Mr. Ramkaran Singh Athletics –

Paralympics

DRONACHARYA AWARD (for excellence in coaching) Veerendra Purnia (Athletics) Sunil Dabhan (Kabaddi) Yashweer Singh (Wrestling) Harindra Singh (Hockey) Satyapal Singh (para athletics) Bhavani Mukherjee (Table Tennis) J.N. Bhatia (Athletics Lifetime

achievement award) B.I. Fernandez (Boxing)

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 48

DHYANCHAND AWARD(Lifetime achievement award) Jagrajsinghman (Athletics) Gundeep Kumar (Hockey)

Vinod Kumar (Wrestling) Sukhbeer Singh Tokan (para sports)

FUKUOKA PRIZE: Vandana Shiva, Indian environmental philosopher and activist. Awarded by Fukuoka city government in Japan on people who contribute to academia, arts, and culture in Asia

SITARA-I-IMTIAZ: (Star of Excellence) Professor Gopi Chand Narang, eminent Urdu litterateur from India. It is the third highest civilian honour bestowed by Pakistan MISS WORLD 2012: Wenxia Yu of China, Ordos city in Inner Mongolia, China.

NORMAN BORLAUG AWARD in Field Research and Application: Aditi Mukherjee for her work in transforming access to water for thousands of farmers in West Bengal.

RAJIV GANDHI MANAV SEVA AWARDS Mr. R Ravi Kumar, Swami Japananda and Mr. N Thungdemo Kikon have been selected for the Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Awards for the year 2011 for their contribution in the field of child protection and welfare service to children. The Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award is conferred on three individuals each year who make outstanding contribution in the field of child protection and child development for over ten years.

THE 2012 SASTRA RAMANUJAN PRIZE: Professor Zhiwei Yun, USA. The SASTRA Ramanujan Prize was established in 2005 and is awarded annually for outstanding contributions by very young mathematicians to areas influenced by the genius Srinivasa Ramanujan. The age limit for the prize has been set at 32 because Ramanujan achieved so much in his brief life of 32 years

JUNE 2012

IIFA 2012 AWARDS: SINGAPORE

Best Actor: Ranbir Kapoor for movie Rockstar Best Actress: Vidya Balan for movie The Dirty Picture Best Film: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Best Director: Zoya Akhtar for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons has been awarded the prestigious award by Rockefeller Foundation, New York for his innovation in philanthropy. WORLD FOOD PRIZE: Daniel Hillel, Israeli scientist, for his radically innovative way of bringing water to crops in arid and dry-land regions.

MAY 2012

EXCELLENCE IN CINEMA AWARD: Shyam Benegal, veteran filmmaker. The award is conferred by the South Asian Cinema Foundation, London

AMBEDKAR WOMEN'S WELFARE AWARD: Maya Suwalka, a social activist from Tonk, Rajasthan

BANGA BIBHUSAN: West Bengal's highest award to eminent actor Suchitra Sen

RATAN TATA: Tata Group Chairman, was conferred ‘The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun' title at Tokyo by Japan Govt for his contribution in strengthening economic relations between Japan and India. PALME D'OR: Best Film Award at Cannes Film Festival won by Australian film ‘Love’

APRIL 2012

TEMPLETON PRIZE: Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader

International Indu Sharma Katha Samman-

2012: Pradeep Saurabh for his Hindi novel “ Teesri Tali”.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

OCTOBER 2012

India Grows at Night – by Gurucharan Das Ad katha: The story of Indian Advertising – by Anand Halve and Anita Sarkar Sethji – by Shobhaa De London Company –by Farukh Dhondy India’s Tryst with Destiny –by Jagdish Bhagwati &Arvind Panagariya Joseph Anton - by Salman Rushdie The Garden of Evening Mists –by Tan Twan Eng Swimming Home –by Deborah Levy The Lighthouse –by Alison Moore The Casual Vacancy – by J K Rowlings Ending Corruption? — How to Clean up India – by N. Vittal, Former CVC of India Fifty Shades of Grey – by EL James What Young India Wants – by Chetan Bhagat No Easy Day – by Mark Owen, Kevin Maurer Ministry of Hurt Sentiments – by Altaf Tyerwala A Free Man – by Aman Sethi

OTHER IMPORTANT BOOKS 11/22/63–by Stephen King A Better India, A Better World – by N.R. Narayana Murthy A Shot at History - My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold: Autobiography by Abhinav Bindra, Olympic shooting champion co authored by Rohit Brijnath Aleph – by Paulo Coelho Assault on Merit – The Untold Story of Civil Military Relations – by R K Anand Barack Obama: The Making of the Man by David Maraniss Beyond the lines: An Autobiography – by Kuldip Nayar Bishan, Portrait of a Cricketer – by Suresh Menon Breakout Nations: Ruchir Sharma Can Love Happen Twice: Ravinder Singh

Can't Is Not An Option: My American Story –BY Nikki Haley, Governor of South Carolina, USA Confront and Conceal by David Sanger Corporate Chanakya by Radhakrishnan Pilliai Decoding Rahul Gandhi – by Aarti Ramachandran

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 49

End This Depression Now by Paul Krugman Eunuch Park – by Palash Krishna Mehrotra, Fierce Focus–Autobiography of Greg Chappell

Gendering Colonial India – by Charu Gupta Great By Choice: by Morten T Hansen Jim Collins Hunger and Public Action – by Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen I Am Zlatan–Autobiography of Zlatan Ibrahimovics, international football player from Sweeden Iconic Shrines of Kashmir by The Chinar Corps of Indian Army in Kashmir. Imagine by Jonah Lehrer In the Name of Love –by Katy Price Indira Nooyi – A Biography by Annapoorna Killing Lincoln: Bill O’Reily and Martin Dugard Lucknow Boy: A Memoir by Vinod Mehta Maharani –by Ruskin Bond

March of Aryans – Bhagwan S Gidwani Mis-measuring Our Lives by Joseph E. Stiglitz, Amartya Sen, Jean-Paul Fitoussi Narcopolice – by Jeet Thayil Nirbasan (Exile) –by Taslima Nasreen Non Stop India – by Mark Tully Of Economics, Policy and Development by (Late)I G Patel: Edited by Deena Khatkhate and Y V Reddy Pakistan on the Brink by Ahmed Rashid Pax Indica – by Shashi Tharoor Poor Little Rich Slum – by Rashmi Bansal & Deepak Gandhi Poriborton (The Change) – a book by Mamta Banerjee, CM of West Bengal Rebirth – by Jahnavi Barua Reverse Innovation by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble Revolution 2020 – by Chetan Bhagat River of Somke – By Amitabh Ghosh Sachin: Born to Bat – by Khalid A H Ansari Sea of Poppies – by Amitav Ghosh SEAL Target Geronimo–The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama bin Laden by Chuck Pfarrer Sonia Gandhi: An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny – by Rani Singh Steve Jobs: Genius by Design –by Jason Quinn Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson That used to be US – by Thomas Friedman

The 3rd Alternative – by Stephen R Covey The Affair – by Lee Child The Best Quest – by Laeeq Futehally The Best Thing About You is You by Anupam Kher The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama by David Remnick The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey The Coalition of Competitors: The Story of Nasscom and the IT Industry: by Kiran Karnik The Drop: by Michael Connelly The Habit of Winning by Prakash Iyer The High Performance Entrepreneur – by Subroto Bagchi The Householder by Amitabha Bagchi The Immortals of Meluha: by Amish Tripathi The Litigators–by John Grisham The Magic –by Rhonda Byrne The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Economy by Chetan Ghate

The Rolling Stones: Fifty Years by Christopher Sandford The Second World War –by Antony Beevor The Secret – by Rhonda Byrne

The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: by Robin S Sharma The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins The Sense of An Ending: Julian Barnes The Sins Of The Father –by Jeffrey Archer The Steve Jobs Way – Jay Eliot and William L Simon The TCS story and Beyond–by S Ramadorai The Unfinshed Memoirs by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman The Winning Way: Learnings From Sport for Managers by Harsha and Anita Bhogle

Tiger Head Snake Tails: Jonathan Fenby

Time Guerrilla – Memoires of Fidel Castro, great revolutionary and ex President of Cuba.

Turning Point – A Journey Through Challenges – by A P J Abdul Kalam

Unusual People Do Things Differently – by T G C Prasad

Whatever the Odds–Autobiography of DLF Chairman K. P. Singh

When China Rules The World – by Martin Jacques

Wit and Wisdom – Pickings from the Parsee Punch by Mushirul Hasan

OBITUARY

OCTOBER 2012

YASH CHOPRA: Legendary film producer and director, known as ‘King of Romance’. His last film “Jab Tak Hai Jaan” will be released on Diwali, Nov. 13.

SUNIL GANGOPADHYAY: Noted Bengali littérateur and Sahitya Akademi President

JASPAL BHATTI: Popular satirist and film-maker from Punjab, the man behind hit comedy shows like Ulta Pulta and Flop Show.

DINESH THAKUR: Renowned theatre and film artist

BRAJESH MISHRA: India’s first National Security Adviser and ambassador to UNO. He was the man who supervised the testing and incorporation of nuclear weapons as an integral part of the country’s security strategy.

ERIC HOBSBAWM: One of Britain's leading historians and most significant Marxist intellectual of the past half century.

PRINCE NORODOM SIHANOUK: Former king of Combodia

SEPTEMBER 2012

DR VERGHESE KURIEN: Architect of the ‘Operation Flood’, fondly known as the Milkman of India, father of White Revolution

which made India the leading producer of milk in the world, accounting for 17% of total production. He formed Anand Milk Union Ltd (Amul), one of the

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 50

top Asian brands with a turnover of nearly Rs 13,000 crore. He was also founder of National Dairy Development Board.

G. KASTURI: Former Editor of The Hindu and former Managing Director of The Hindu Group.

RANGANATH MISRA: The former Chief Justice of India

K S SUDARSHAN: Ex chief of Rashtriay Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) SYED MUSTAFA SIRAJ: Veteran Bengali writer from Kolkata, West Bengal ANIL BORDIA: Eminent educationist, activist and former civil servant from Rajasthan

AUGUST 2012

AVTAR KISHAN HANGAL: Veteran actor, popularly known as A.K. Hangal and best remembered for his role as Rahim Chacha in the iconic film Sholay. NEIL ARMSTRONG: The legendary US astronaut who, in 1969, became the first man to set foot on the moon. MELES ZENAWI: Prime Minister of Ethopia TONY SCOTT: Prominent Hollywood film director (68), whose signature works included Top Gun, was in news as he jumped to his death from a bridge in San Pedro, California, USA. VILASRAO DESHMUKH: Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences and ex-Chief Minister of Maharashtra. ASHOK MEHTA: Noted cinematographer of Hindi movies

JULY 2012

RAJESH KHANNA: The charismatic suoer star of Indian cinema LAKSHMI SAHGAL — Freedom fighter and a close associate of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in his Indian National Army MRINAL GORE: Veteran socialist, known for her dauntless activism on the issues of price rise, water rights and women’s empowerment. Prof. P N DHAR: An eminent economist who served as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s

P.M. RUNGTA: Former President of Board of Control for Cricket in India

HIREN BHATTACHARYYA: Celebrated Assamese poet and winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award and several honours

DARA SINGH: Noted wrestler-turned film actor BIKRAM KESHARI ROY BURMAN: Noted scholar and Anthropologist from West Bengal STEPHEN R. COVEY: Author of the bestselling motivational books like "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," First Things First,the 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, the leader in me, The Speed of Trust. YITZHAK SHAMIR: Famous leader and two times Prime Minister of Israel

JOAN DUNLOP: A global leader in addressing women’s issues, from USA

JUNE 2012

MEHDI HASSAN: India-born legendary ghazal maestro from Karachi (Pakistan) DIPANKAR MUKHERJEE: Renowned trade union leader NORA EPHRON: Noted film Director & Writer from New York

MAY 2012

ACHALA SACHDEV: Veteran Hindi films actress GAJANAN VERMA: Eminent poet and lyricist from Rajasthan CARROLL SHELBY: Veteran race car driver and automobile manufacturer from USA, who created the best known US sports cars of the 1960s —— the AC Cobra and the Shelby Mustang. CARLOS FUENTES: Noted novelist from Mexico DONNA SUMMER: Legendary pop singer from USA

PLACES IN NEWS

OCTOBER 2012

MINBYAR TOWNSHIP: A town near Sittwe in border

state of Rakhine, Myanmar was in news due to violent clashes there between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.

ABYEI — a 10,000 sq km oil-rich territory on Sudan and

South Sudan border which is claimed by both sides, was in news due to frequent violent skirmishes there between the two communities - Misseriya tribes allied to the North and Ngok Dinka people who consider themselves South Sudanese.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 51

NEW YORK: The city and areas around it were lashed by the devastating hurricane ‘Sandy’ causing widespread damage.

SEPTEMBER 2012

GHOGALGAON: A small village in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh was in news as scores of villagers launched a ‘jal satyagraha’ there by standing in neck deep waters of Narmada river for 17days, demanding reduction in the water level of Omkareshwar dam to 189 metres from the current 190.5 metres. Ultimately, State govt acceded to their demands.

HARDA: Place in district Harda, MP, was in news as over

250 affected people of the Indira Sagar project on river Narmada had been observing jal satyagraha by standing in neck-deep waters and demanding proper rehabilitation, compensation and a reduction in the level of the dam waters from 262 to 260 meters. However, they were removed forcefully by the local police.

MUDALPATTI: Place near Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu was in

news as over 38 persons were killed in a fire accident at a cracker factory. Allahabad University, known as the “Oxford of the East”,

the fourth-oldest university in the country, turned 125 on September 23, 1887.

KARACHI: Port town of Pakistan was in news as around

300 people were killed in a fire that broke out in a local garment factory on Sep. 11.

FEUGO VOLCANO: in Guatemala was in news due to its

sudden eruptions.

AUGUST 2012

MANESAR: Industrial town near Gurgaon, Haryana, was

in news due to violent protests, arson by workers of Maruti Udyog Ltd, causing widespread damage to its car plant. It also lead to the death of one of their General Manger and seriously injured several other senior managers.

KAMRA: Pakistan Air Force’s Minhas Base station near

Islamabad was in news as it was attacked by terrorists.

ALEPPO: Commercial capital of Syria was in news due to

heavy battle going on there between state forces and the rebels, killing over hundreds of civilians.

OAK CREEK: Place in Wisconsin state of USA where six

persons were killed in a bloody shoot out in a Sikh Gurdwara.

IRAN: was in news due to twin earthquakes that

devastated many villages in northwest Iran killing over 300 people — most of them women and children — and injured 3,037.

JULY/JUNE 2012

KOKRAJHAR

District and town in Assam was in news due to violent clashes between local Bodo community and immigrant Bangladeshis, claiming over 40 lives.

TIPAIMUKH Multipurpose mega hydel project on the river Barack in Manipur was in news as it has led to a dispute between India and Bangladesh over sharing of water rights. It has also not gone down well with the people of Manipur who will have to be relocated because of the dam reservoir.

RAKHINE State in western Myanmar witnessed widespread violent

clashes between Buddhist and Muslim communities forcing some ninety thousand Muslims to flee from their homes.

LAGOS Commercial capital of Nigeria was the site of a plane crash killing over 153 people when a passenger plane crashed into a residential building shortly after takeoff from Lagos.

HOULA

The grisly massacre at in a cluster of villages at Houla in Syria's Homs province led to worldwide condemnation of the Syrian government. The incident involved killing of over 100 people, including dozens of children and women.

MAY 2012

KODUMANAL: A village in Erode district of Tamil Nadu

was in news due to discovery of a variety of artefacts from four trenches in the habitational mound which revealed an industrial complex that existed around fourth century BCE. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi project: A hydel project across Pranahita River, which is a major tributary of Godavari River, being established jointly by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The major benefit of increased irrigation from this project will go to Andhra Pradesh.

SPORTS WORLD

OCTOBER 2012

Saina Nehwal beats Juliane Schenk of Germany to win the Denmark Open Super Series Premier Trophy (badminton) at Odense, Denmark.

Pankaj Advani won his seventh World Billiards title when he outclassed defending champion Mike Russell in the finals at Leeds in UK

Sachin Tendulkar: has been honoured by the Australian government with the membership of the

Order of Australia, an honour rarely awarded to non-Australians.

Anil Kumble: Former Indian cricket captain appointed chairman of ICC's Cricket Committee.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 52

Saina Nehwal: The London Olympics bronze medallist in badminton was in news as she flew in a Kiran aircraft of the Indian Air Force from an airbase near Hyderabad.

Babita Kumari: She is the third Indian woman wrestler to grab a medal at any International Wrestling meet when she clinched a bronze in World Wrestling Championship held at Edmonton, Canada. First Indian women to win an international medal in wrestling was Alka Tomar and second, Geeta Phogat, elder sister of Babita.

West Indies won the ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup captained by Darren Sammy, after defeating host Sri Lanka at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Marlon Samuels of West Indies was declared Man of the Match.

Australia beats England to lift ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup for women at Colombo, Sri Lanka.

East Zone lifts Duleep Trophy (cricket) defeating Central Zone at Chennai.

East Bengal won the Federation Cup (Football) beating the Dempo SC at Siliguri, West Bengal.

Rest of India beat Rajasthan to lift Irani Cup 2012(of cricket) at Bangalore.

Team India ‘B’ beat India ‘A’ to win the N.K.P. Salve Challenger Trophy of cricket at Rajkot, Gujarat.

The 28th National junior athletics championships held at Lucknow, UP.

Sebastian Vettel: The German Champion of Red Bull team recorded a stupendous victory in the Indian Grand Prix for the second successive year, at the Buddh International Circuit, Noida, UP.

Michael Schumacher: Legendary F-1 champion (43) from Germany, arguably the most successful driver in Formula One car races (91 wins), announced his retirement from the sports.

Tony Greig: Former England captain was in news as he has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

SEPTEMBER 2012

GIRISHA WINS ‘SILVER’ IN PARALYMPICS H N Girisha of Karnataka gave India its first medal at the London Paralympic Games after bagging silver in the Men's High Jump event. Girisha with impairment in his left leg, sailed over a height of 1.74m using scissors technique.

ICC ANNOUNCES 2012 AWARDS VIRAT KOHLI: Cricketer of the Year - ODI, KUMAR SANGAKARA: Cricketer of the Year, ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, the People's Choice Award. SANDEEP PATIL selected as Chairman of the National

Selection Committee of BCCI RONJAN SODHI: India's ace double trap shooter won a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in Slovania. DEEPIKA KUMARI: India's top archer won the silver medal at Archery World Cup at Tokyo, Japan.

MATTHEW HAYDEN: Former Australia Test opener has decided to retire from all forms of cricket. MAHESH BHUPATHI AND ROHAN BOPANNA have been

banned by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) from representing India in international events till the end of June 2014. India beats New Zealand in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania group ‘I’ in tennis at Chandigarh.

India beats Cameroon to win Nehru Cup of Football at New Delhi.

The ICC Men's World Twenty20 Tournament starts in Sri Lanka.

The ICC Women's World Twenty20 Tournament starts in Galle, Sri Lanka. ANDY MURRAY of UK won US open tennis grand slam defeating defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia. SERENA WILLIAMS of USA captured her 15th Grand Slam title and fourth career US Open Tennis crown at Flushing Meadows, New York, by beating World No 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. TIGER WOODS: Became the first golfer to make more than $100 million in earnings on the PGA Tour in USA.

AUGUST 2012

HIGHLIGHTS OF LONDON OLYMPICS–2012

MICHAEL PHELPS –STAR OF ALL TIMES Michael Phelps of USA became the greatest swimmer of all time and the most decorated Olympian of all times when he won a record 22nd Olympic medal at the London Games. His tally includes 18 gold and two silver and bronzes each; he

won in 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He also became the sports man to win highest numbers of medals in London Olympics, winning four gold and two silver medals.

USAIN BOLT: Charismatic sprinter from Jamaica

succeeded in wining gold in both – 100m and 200m races at London Olympics. He is the first man to win both these races at two Olympics.

MOHAMMED "MO" FARAH: Somali-born British international track and field athlete. He won gold in both 10,000 m and 5000 m race. Ye Shiwen: Chinese swimmer. She won gold medals in the 400 metres (world record) and 200 meters (olympic record). David Rudisha: Medium distance runner from Kenya. He is the only person in world to have broken the 1 minute 41 second barrier for 800 mt race by clocking a time of 1:40:91 seconds at London Olympics.

FINAL MEDAL TALLY

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total

USA 46 29 29 104

China 38 27 23 88

Britain 29 17 19 65

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 53

INDIA SHINES IN OLYMPICS Sports persons from India created history in Olympics 2012 at London by winning highest ever 6 individual medals

Sports Person Medal Sports

Vijay Kumar Silver Shooting

Sushil Kumar Silver Wrestling

Gagan Narang Bronze Shooting

Saina Nehwal Bronze Badminton

M.C. Mary Kom Bronze Boxing

Yogeshwar Dutt Bronze Wrestling

2012 PARA OLYMPICS IN LONDON The 2012 Para Olympic Games started in London on August 29 and will conclude on September 9. Over 4200 contestants from 166 countries will take part in games.

DHONI ENTERS BIKE RACING Cricketer M S Dhoni has floated his own motor bike racing team named as MSD R-N Racing Team India. The team will participate in the 17-race championship in the 10th race at Brno, Czech Republic and is expected to compete full season in 2013.

INDIA LIFTS UNDER 19 ICC WORLD CUP Captain Unmukt Chand led from the front with a magnificent hundred (unbeaten111) as India Under-19 lifted their third World Cup title after beating formidable defending champions

Australia by six wickets in the final in Townsville, Australia on 26th August. He was also declared as ‘Man of the match’.

V.V.S. Laxman, ace Indian batsman announces his retirement from international cricket at Hyderabad.

JULY 2012

Shooter Gagan Narang won the first medal for India in London Olympics when he clinched bronze in the 10 metre air rifle event with an overall score of 701.1.

M C Mary Kom: Five-time boxing world champion has become the first Indian woman and the fifth sportsperson overall to hold an honorary rank in the country's defence forces as she will be made a Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army.

IAF TEAM CREATES WORLD RECORD IN SWIMMING An Indian Air Force, IAF swimming team has created a record by successfully crossing the English Channel between

the United Kingdom and France twice within a fortnight. The marvelous feat makes Delphinus the first team in the world to have crossed the Channel twice in the same year and that too in the first tide which is considered the toughest. Led by their Skipper Mithali Raj, Indian women defeated England to win their first cricket ODI in London. The National youth athletics championship held at Bangalore was won by Kerala. Spain lifted the prestigious Euro Cup in Football, defeating Italy at the finals played at Kiev, Ukraine.

Fernando Torres of Spain won the Golden Boot Award for the top scorer in the Euro Cup. Andres Iniesta of Spain was named ‘Player of the Tournament’ of Euro Cup by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Kim Clijsters of Belgium, veteran tennis player announced her retirement from the tennis after playing in US Open. RAFAEL NADAL: Defending Olympic tennis champion from Spain has decided to pull out of the London Summer Olympics 2012, with an undisclosed fitness problem. WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO, boxing champion from Ukraine defeated Tony Thompson of USA to win WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight boxing title belts at Berne, Switzerland. Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated Andy Murray of Britain to win a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title and 17th grand slam crown at London, UK. Serena Williams of USA won the women’s Wimbledon defeating Agnieszka Radwanskw of Poland at London, UK. Mark Webber of Australia with his Red Bull team won the British Grand Prix F-1 championship beating Fernando Alonso (Spain) of Ferrari.

MARK BOUCHER: South African wicketkeeper has retired from international cricket after suffering a severe eye injury during his country’s tour match against Somerset. BRETT LEE: One of the most fearsome pace bowlers in modern era from Australia has announced his retirement from international cricket.

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JUNE 2012

SAINA NEHWAL lifted the Thailand Open Grand Prix badminton gold title beating Thailand’s Ratchanok Inthanon in Bangkok. Saina Nehwal won the Indonesia Open Super Series title after beating China's Xuerui Li in Jakarta, Indonesia. Sachin Tendulkar was presented the Wisden India Outstanding Achievement Award at Dubai for completing a century of 100 international hundreds. Tendulkar had achieved the milestone while playing against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in March. Harmeet Desai defeated Belgian Cedric Nuytin to win the gold medal in the Under-21 men's final of the Brazil Open Table Tennis in Santos, Brazil becoming the first Indian to achieve such a feat. Indu Chaudhary and Sakshi Malik won the gold medals in the 44kg and 63kg weight categories in the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship at Almaty, Kazakhstan Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi of India won their second Grand Slam title and first French Open trophy together after crushing Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Santiago Gonzalez in the mixed doubles final of French Open at Paris. Chhattisgarh clinched both the boys and girls titles in the 63rd National junior basketball championship held at Puducherry. Indian women team won the gold in kabaddi by defeating Thailand in the third Asian Beach Games held in Haiyang (China). National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships held at Hyderabad.

Russia's Maria Sharapova became the 10th woman in tennis history to win all four Grand Slam titles on June 9 when she defeated Sara Errani of Italy in the French Open final (women) at Paris. Spain’s Rafael Nadal clinched a record seventh French Open tennis title defeating world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia at Paris. New Zealand beat Argentina in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup men's hockey at Ipoh, Malaysia LASITH MALINGA: The International Cricket Council has chosen Sri Lanka's star pacer as the official Event Ambassador for the World Twenty20 Championships to be held in Sri Lanka from 18th Sep, 2012. KEVIN PIETERSEN: Former England skipper has announced his retirement from international limited overs cricket(ODI and T-20).

MAY 2012

Viswanathan Anand: Indian Grandmaster beat challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel to win the World Championship crown at Moscow for the fifth time and fourth in a row. Services have won this year's Santosh Trophy (Football) defeating Chennai at Cuttack, Odisha. China lifted both, Thomas Cup for Men’s Badminton and Uber Cup for Women’s Badminton, defeating South Koreans in both the events at Wuhan, China Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed the defending champions Chennai Super Kings to win IPL title at the MA Chidambaram

stadium, Chennai. WIM KOEVERMANS, former Dutch international footballer appointed as the chief coach of the Indian football team for a two-year term. Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi won the Asian continental chess championship held at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Deepika Kumari won her first World Cup individual Archery (recurve) gold medal at Antalya, Turkey. World Chess Title: Between defending champion

Vishwanathan Anand and Israeli challenger Boris Gelfand.

Wenlock & Mendeville: names of mascots of London Olympics ‘Inspire a Generation’ is the official slogan for the London Olympics. The official Olympic motto is taken from the Latin "Citius, Altius, Fortius" - which means "Faster, higher, stronger”. David Richardson has been named new chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Cricket Council World Snooker Championship won by Ronnie O'Sullivan (UK) beating Alister Carter (UK) at Sheffield, England.

APRIL 2012

5th edition of IPL started at Chennai at MA Chidambaram Stadium on April 4th. Shiv Thapa, the 17-year-old boxer from Assam is the youngest Indian boxer in the bantam weight (56kg) to participate in London Olympics. Aditya Mehta wins Asian Snooker Championship defeating Pankaj Advani at Panaji, Goa Pankaj Advani won the 11th ONGC Asian Billiards Championship title held at Panaji, Goa, after defeating

Thawat Sujaritthurakarn of Thailand.

ABBREVIATIONS

AYUSH Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy

AERB Atomic Energy Regulatory Board

AICTE All-India Council for Technical Education

APDRP Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (meant for improving commercial viability of electricity power distribution).

APEC Adsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation – A forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries (styled "member economies”) that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation.

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations

BASIC Group of Brazil, South Africa, India and China for the purpose of safeguarding their interests under Kyoto protocol

BIKRA Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment

CAGR Compounded Annual Growth Rate

CAPART Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology

CBMs Confidence-Building Measures

CCTNS Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems

CIRP Committee for Internet-Related Policies (at UNO).

CPSU Central Public Sector Units

CSC Convention on Supplemental Compensation (for international nuclear liability)

DARE Defence Avionics and Research Establishment

DDS Duty Drawback Scheme for exporters (in place of DEPB)

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 55

DEPB Duty Entitlement Pass Book for exporters (since withdrawn)

DGCA Directorate General of Civil Aviation

DRDO Defence Research and Development Org.

EAS East Asia Summit

EPFO Employees' Provident Fund Organisation

ETC Electronic Toll Collection (at toll plaza)

FIEO Federation of Indian Export Organisations

FINO Financial Inclusion & Network Organisation

FMCG Fast Moving Consumer Goods

GSLV Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle

IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency

ICDS Integrated Child Development Service

IDFC Infrastructure Development Finance Company

IIFCL India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd.

IOR-ARC Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation – A group of 18 nations forming a ring around Indian Ocean to promote trade and economic cooperation among members.

IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature

MCOCA Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act

MICE Business referring to Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions

NADA National Anti Doping Agency

NCDEX National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange

NCTC National Counter-Terrorism Centre

NELP New Exploration Licensing Policy (oil & natural gas)

NSSF National Small Savings Fund

NPCIL Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited

NSSF National Small Savings Fund

NSSO National Sample Survey Organisation

PSLV Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

PTCT Parent to Child-Transmission (of HIV)

RFID Radio Frequency Identification

RISAT Radar Imaging Satellite

RINL Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd

RKVY Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna

SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

SAFTA South Asian Free Trade Agreement

SAI Sports Authority of India

SFIO Serious Fraud Investigation Office

TDSAT Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal.

TRIPS (Agreement on) Trade-Related Aspects of

TUFS Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (for textiles)

UDRS Umpire Decision Review System

UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNRWA UN Relief and Works Agency

USB Ultra Small Branch (of a Bank)

VLSI Very Large Scale Integration (process of creating integrated circuits-ICs e.g. micro processor)

WADA World Anti Doping Agency

WANA West Asia and North Africa (the countries here are facing civil war)

WiMAX Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access

DAYS & DATES International Non- violence Day 2nd October Birth day of Gandhi Ji & Shastri Ji 2nd October World Habitat day 3rd October World Teacher's Day 5th October World Wild animal Day 6th October Indian Air Force Day 8th October World Post Day 9th October The World Mental Health Day: 10th Oct World Food Day 16th October United Nation (UN) Day 24th October

ET CETRA

EYE CONTROLLED TV A prototype of an eye-controlled television that uses a sensor placed on a table in front of the user to track the eye movements has been unveiled in Berlin. Users control the set by staring at the top or bottom of the screen to activate a user-interface. The users can then change the volume, switch channel or carry out other functions by looking at icons shown on the display.

NAGALAND MAKES ‘BAMBOO GUITAR’ Nagaland Bamboo Resource Centre (NBRC) in Dimapur,

Nagaland has launched the first ever bamboo guitar on the occasion of 'World Bamboo Day' on Sep. 18. The much anticipated 'Bamboo Guitar' is made of laminated strips of the bamboo.

RIDE A BIKE MADE OF CARDBOARD An Israeli engineer has developed a bicycle where everything apart from the brakes and chain is made of cardboard - including the seat. The bike is stronger than carbon fibre and can carry riders weighing up to 220 kg.

WORLD’S LARGEST DIAMOND MUSEUM The Treasury of National Jewels, managed by the Central Bank of Iran, opened recently, is one of the largest museums of precious stones in the world. The diamonds from India include the world’s largest pink diamond — the famous Darya-i-Noor or ‘Sea of Light.’ This is the sister diamond to the world’s largest cut diamond, the “Koh-i-Noor,” which is its Persian name and means “Mountain of Light.”

NASA TO DEVELOP SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT A new type of ‘Ninja style’ aircraft that spins 90 degrees in

air for efficient faster-than-sound flight and “virtually zero sonic boom” has been selected by NASA for further development. The plane is created in a way that will allow it to take off from the ground, and then turn on its side once it reaches supersonic atmospheric levels so that it can continue its flight into the uppermost parts of space.

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – DECEMBER 2012 56

GENERAL ANTI-AVOIDANCE

RULES (GAAR) Government has decided to postpone imposition of General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) to next year. A

look at why GAAR has caused panic among investors:

What are general anti-avoidance rules?

These rules, originally proposed in the Direct Taxes Code, are targeted at arrangements or transactions

made specifically to avoid taxes. The government had

decided to advance the introduction of GAAR and implement it from the current financial year itself. More

than 30 countries have introduced GAAR provisions in their respective tax codes to check evasion.

What are the implications?

GAAR allows tax authorities to call a business arrangement or a transaction 'impermissible avoidance

arrangement' if they feel it has been primarily entered into to avoid taxes.

Once an arrangement is ruled 'impermissible' then the

tax authorities can deny tax benefits. Most aggressive tax avoidance arrangements would be under the risk of

being termed impermissible. The rule can apply on domestic as well as overseas transactions.

What were the key concerns?

GAAR is a very broadbased provision and can easily be

applied to most tax-saving arrangements. Many

experts feel that the provision would give unbridled powers to tax officers, allowing them to question any

tax saving deal.

Foreign institutional investors are worried that their investments routed through Mauritius could be denied

tax benefits enjoyed by them under the Indo-Mauritius tax treaty. The proposal had spooked stock market as

FII inflows dropped on concerns, and the rupee hit a low of Rs 53.47 to the dollar.

What has the govt done now?

It has postponed GAAR to the next financial year. This will give a breather to tax payers and also allow the

government time to frame clear rules after consultations with stakeholders. Govt has also clarified

that the onus to prove that an arrangement is

'impermissible' will lie with the tax department. The GAAR panel, the final body that will decide on the

applicability of the law, will include an independent member.

Source: The Economic Times, May 8, 2012.

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NOTES