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1 WiFiStudy.com
Donald Trump Bans 7 nations from Entering US on
Security Issues
The new US President
has imposed a
controversial 90-day
ban on travellers from
Iran, Iraq, Libya,
Somalia, Sudan, Syria
and Yemen.
The decision aims at protecting United States from the
entry of foreign terrorists to keep the nation safe.
SAARC Programme Committee meeting underway
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
Programme Committee’s 53rd meeting is underway in the
capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu.
The meeting is being led by Nepal Foreign Ministry’s
Regional Organisation Division Chief Mani Prasad
Bhattarai.
Nepal is hosting the meeting in capacity as the SAARC
Chair.
ISB, IIMA And IIMB Among The Top 50 In FT Global
MBA Ranking 2017
Indian School of Business (ISB), Indian Institute of
Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) and Indian Institute of
Management Bangalore(IIMB) have been ranked among the
top 50 in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2017.
Management schools in the top 50 include INSEAD
(France and Singapore), Stanford Graduate School of
Business, Wharton Business School, Harvard Business
School, University Cambridge Judge Business School and
London Business School.
ISB is the highest ranked B school from India which has
been ranked in the 27th position which jumped two slots
than last year's while IIMB is placed in the 29th position
jumping five slots than last year's.
Kuwaiti visa ban on 5 Muslim-majority countries
Kuwait has suspended the issuance of visas for nationals of
Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.
The Kuwaiti government has told would-be migrants from
the five banned nations to not apply for visas, as it is
worried about the possible migration of radical Islamic
terrorists.
The order came at a time after refugees from all over the
world will be denied US entry for 120 days by US Prsident
Trump while all immigration from so-called "countries
with terrorism concerns" will be suspended for 90 days.
The countries included in the US ban are Iraq, Syria, Iran,
Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
The world's most valuable brands revealed
Google has snatched Apple’s title as the world’s most valuable
brand, ending the iPhone maker’s five-year reign.
The monetary value of Google’s brand rose by 24 per cent
last year to $109.5bn, propelling it to the top spot for the
first time since 2011.
Apple’s value fell from $145.9bn in the previous year to
$107.1bn.
The study of 500 brands deemed Amazon the third most
valuable.
Qatar Airways launches world's longest flight
Qatar Airways launched the world's longest scheduled
commercial service with its inaugural flight from Doha to
Auckland.
Flight QR920 left the Qatari capital at 05:02 (local time)
and is set to land in New Zealand at 07:30 (local time).
The Boeing 777 flight will take 16 hours and 20 minutes,
pass over 10 time zones, five countries and travel 14,535
kilometres before reaching Auckland.
4 February: The World Cancer Day
The World Cancer Day is observed every year on 4 February.
World Cancer Day unites the world’s population in the fight
against cancer.
It aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by
raising awareness and education about the disease,
pressing governments and individuals across the world to
take action.
The theme of 2017 World Cancer Day is ‘We Can, I Can’.
China Becomes World’s Largest Solar Energy Producer
China has become
the world’s largest
producer of solar
energy, according
to a new report
from the country’s
energy
administration.
China's National Energy Administration announced
over that their photovoltaic (PV) capacity reached an
impressive 77.42 gigawatts.
Germany, the former global solar-power leader, produced
40.78 gigawatts in November 2016.
2 WiFiStudy.com
BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meet concludes
The 17th Session of
BIMSTEC Senior
Officials' Meeting (SOM)
has concluded in
Kathmandu, with an
understanding to host the
summit meeting by the end
of 2017.
The SOM meeting
represented by senior foreign ministry officials from
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka
and Thailand gave concurrence to Nepal's proposal to host
the fourth BIMSTEC Summit in October/November in
Kathmandu.
As the current chair of BIMSTEC, Nepal is hosting the
fourth BIMSTEC Summit.
Pakistan bans Basant festival
Pakistan's Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif imposed a
“complete ban” on Basant, a festival celebrated to mark the
start of the spring season.
Sharif has made it clear that the Punjab government won't
allow such festivals which endanger people's lives.
Israeli firm to contribute in clean Yamuna
The Delhi government has decided to employ Israeli
technology to clean the Yamuna river for a cleaner
environment and water, the Israeli Embassy said.
Ayala Water and Ecology Ltd. will focus on a stretch of
eight km of sewage which drains into Yamuna River as an
initial step towards cleaner water and environment.
Ayala is also partnering with other Indian cities, including
Hyderabad and Chennai, offering Israeli technology to
help address water and ecological challenges.
Israel, in addition to being one of the major exporter of
weapons to India, is also contributing in the areas of
agriculture and horticulture, among others.
Israeli drip irrigation technologies are now widely used in
India.
Shawna Pandya to be 3rd Indian-origin woman to go to
space
An Indian-origin neurosurgeon currently based in Canada has
been shortlisted by NASA for its 2018 space mission under the
Citizen Science Astronaut (CSA) programme.
If everything goes according to plan, Dr Shawna Pandya
(32) may join the league of Kalpana Chawla and Sunita
Williams.
Dr Pandya, who was born in Canada, is a general physician
with the Alberta University Hospital.
China releases theme for year's BRICS Summit
China has released the theme and the cooperation priorities of
the 2017 BRICS Summit which is scheduled to begin in
September in Xiamen which is located in east China's Fujian
Province.
The summit will be held under the theme "BRICS:
Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future," China’s state-
run Xinhua news agency reported.
It will also feature five key priorities such as deepening
cooperation, strengthening global governance, carrying
out people-to-people exchanges, making institutional
improvements and building broader partnerships.
The BRICS comprises of Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa.
The inaugural summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia,
in 2009. South Africa did not take part in it as the nation
was admitted to the group in 2010.
So far a total of eight summits have taken place.
The last year's summit was hosted by India at Goa.
China:
Capital: Beijing
Currency: Yuan (Renminbi)
President: Xi Jinping
Prime Minister: Lee Keqiang
Naval drill Aman-17 with 37 nations begins in Karachi
The multinational Aman-
17 naval exercise kicked
off in Karachi with 37
countries taking part in the
event.
Aman-17 is the fifth
such exercise which
Pakistan has been holding every alternate year since 2007.
Commander of the Pakistani naval fleet Vice Admiral
Arifullah Hussaini inaugurated the exercise, which
includes Australia, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Sri Lanka,
Britain, the US, Japan and Russia at the Karachi dockyard.
The Vice Admiral said the exercise would help work
against human trafficking, narcotics smuggling, and
terrorism in the region.
Pakistan
Capital: Islamabad
Currency: Rupee
President: Mamnoon Hussain
Prime Minister: Nawaj Sharif
3 WiFiStudy.com
World Radio Day: 13 February
World Radio Day is an observance day held annually on 13
February.
World Radio Day is about celebrating radio, why we love
it and why we need it today more than ever.
The theme for the 2017 edition of World Radio Day is
“Radio is You!”
Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi is considered as the
inventor of the Radio.
Delhi airport 12th busiest in the world
Delhi International Airport was the 12th busiest airport
worldwide for the month of November 2016, according to a
latest report published by International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO).
This is the first time an Indian airport has entered the big
league of top 15 airports in the world, which comprises of
major airports like Atlanta, Dubai, Los Angeles and
Changi airports.
In November, Delhi airport also recorded the highest
growth rate of 19.1 per cent in the world.
Longest elevated cycle path in the world opens in China
The longest elevated bike path in the world has been opened in
a city in south-east China.
The five-mile long, 16-feet wide bicycle-only pathway –
“the winding viaduct” – has been built in the city of
Xiamen.
China
Capital: Beijing
Currency: Yuan (Renminbi)
President: Xi Jinping
Prime Minister: Lee Keqiang
UNESCOs Nature Fest held in Himachal Pradesh
The 2017 UNESCO Natural Heritage Festival was held at
Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Sairopa, Himachal
Pradesh from February 11th to 12th.
The fest was held in collaboration with the Wildlife
Institute of India (WII).
The festival feature a media workshop on environmental
journalism, discussions on natural and cultural heritage of
the Himalayan region and a heritage walk.
Notably, Great Himalayan National Park was given
UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2014.
UNESCO
Headquarters: Paris
Director General: Irina Bokova (Bulgaria)
Founded: 16 November 1945
Memners: 195
US, Thailand to Launch 2017 Cobra Gold Military
Exercises
The United States and
Thailand have kicked off
the 2017 iteration of the
annual Cobra Gold military
exercises, Asia’s largest
multinational drill.
In over 30 years, Cobra
Gold, which began as a bilateral drill between the United
States and Thailand, has now grown into one of the
world’s largest multinational exercises, involving some 30
countries.
Cobra Gold 2017, the 36th iteration of the military
exercise, took place from February 14 to 24.
The opening ceremony was held in Sattahip Royal Thai
Marine Corps Base in Chonburi Province, while the
closing ceremony will be held in Phu Lamyai Training
area in Nakhon Ratchasima Province.
Thailand
Capital: Bangkok
Currency: Baht
Prime Minister: Prayut Chan-o-cha
India ranks 143rd in economic freedom index
India ranked a dismal 143rd in an annual index of economic
freedom by a top American think tank, behind its several South
Asian neighbours including Pakistan, as progress on market-
oriented reforms has been “uneven”.
The Heritage Foundation in its Index of Economic
Freedom report said despite India sustaining an average
annual growth of about 7 per cent over the past five years,
growth is not deeply rooted in policies that preserve
economic freedom.
Also, India’s overall score of 52.6 points is 3.6 points less
than that of last year, when India was ranked 123rd.
Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand topped the index
respectively.
Among South Asian countries, only Afghanistan (163) and
Maldives (157) were ranked below India. Nepal (125), Sri
Lanka (112), Pakistan (141), Bhutan (107), and
Bangladesh (128) surpassed India in economic freedom.
World Day of Social Justice observed
The World Day of Social Justice was observed globally on 20
February 2017
4 WiFiStudy.com
The theme for 2017 is "preventing conflict and sustaining
peace through decent work”.
The day is observed with an aim to recognise the need to
promote efforts to tackle several issues like exclusion,
unemployment and poverty.
India world's largest importer of major arms in the last four
years
India was the world’s largest
importer of major arms between
2012–16, accounting for 13 per
cent of the global total sales,
according to a new data released
by Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
India increased its arms imports by 43 per cent, between
2007–11 and 2012–16. In the last four years India’s
imports were far greater than those of its regional rivals
China and Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia was the world’s second largest arms importer
in 2012-16.
The United States of America is the leading arms exporter
in the world with almost half of its arms exports going to
to the Middle East.
Russia comes close second that increased its exports by 23
percent, selling its arms to four countries of India,
Vietnam, China and Algeria.
Netanyahu is first Israeli prime minister to visit Australia
Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Sydney on the first visit to
Australia by a serving Israeli prime minister.
Netanyahu will start his four-day visit with talks with his
Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull at his official
Sydney address.
Netanyahu and Turnbull will sign agreements on
technology and air services.
Australia
Capital: Canberra
Currency: Dollar
Prime Minister: Malcolm Turnbull
Israel
Capital: Jerusalem
Currency: Shekel
President: Reuven Rivlin
Mexico City ranked world's most congested city
Mexico City has the worst daily traffic condition in the world
for the second consecutive year, according to a new research.
TomTom, a Dutch company manufacturing traffic and
mapping products, said in the research that the Mexican
capital once again took the top spot with drivers expecting
to spend an average of 66 percent extra time stuck in traffic
everyday, Xinhua news agency reported.
By analysing the traffic congestion situation in 390 cities
in 48 countries, the research has listed other cities,
including Bangkok, Jakarta and Bucharest as the most
congested cities in the world.
Mexico
Capital: Mexico City
Currency: Peso
President: Enrique Pena Nieto
India, Israel to develop missile for Army
Ahead of the first
visit of an Indian
Prime Minister to
Israel later this year,
India has approved a
deal to develop
jointly a medium
range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) system for the Army
in a Rs17,000-crore deal.
The deal will be executed by the Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aircraft
Industries (IAI).
The systems will be manufactured in India and would have
an 80% indigenous content.
China steams past U.S., France to be Germany's biggest
trading partner
China for the first time became Germany's most important
trading partner in 2016, overtaking the United States, which
fell back to third place behind France.
German imports from and exports to China rose to 170
billion euros ($180 billion) last year, Federal Statistics
Office figures showed.
France
Capital: Paris
Currency: Euro, Franc
Prime Minister: Bernard Cazeneuve
President: François Hollande
Germany
Capital: Berlin
Currency: Euro
Chancellor: Angela Merkel
President: Joachim Gauck
5 WiFiStudy.com
Pakistan army launches nationwide military operations
'Radd-ul-Fasaad'
Pakistan army has
launched
nationwide military
operation 'Radd-ul-
Fasaad' to eliminate
terrorists and
consolidate gains of
its counter-terrorism
operations, days after a wave of suicide attacks that killed more
than 88 at a Sufi shrine in Sindh.
'Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad' — an Arabic word which
translates roughly to 'elimination of discord' - has been
launched across the country, the army's media wing Inter-
Services Public Relations said in a statement.
According to the statement, the operation aims include the
elimination of the residual and latent threat of terrorism,
consolidating gains of operations made so far and ensuring
the security of Pakistan's borders.
"The Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Civil Armed
Forces as well as other security and law enforcement
agencies will continue to actively participate and support
the efforts of the Pakistan Army to eliminate the menace
of terrorism from the country," the statement said.
Pakistan
Capital: Islamabad
Currency: Rupee
Prime Minister: Nawaj Sharif
President: Mamnoon Hussain
Venezuela, Libya again lose UN vote rights over dues debts
Venezuela and Libya have been suspended from voting in the
UN General Assembly for the second time in two years
because of millions of dollars in unpaid dues to the world body.
The Assembly decided this week that six countries i.e.
Sudan, Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, Cape Verde, Libya
and Vanuatu would lose their votes in the 2016-2017
session because they're over two years in arrears.
Venezuela
Capital: Caracas
Currency: Bolivar
President: Nicolas Maduro
Libya
Capital: Tripoli
Currency: Dinar
Prime Minister: Fayez al-Sarraj
India, Bangladesh ink MoU for development of Sylhet
India has agreed to provide financial assistance to Bangladesh
for the sustainable development of Sylhet, a north-eastern
Bangladeshi city.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed,
three development projects would be taken up in Sylhet.
The MoU was signed by Additional Secretary of the
Economic Relations Division Shah Md. Aminul Haque,
Sylhet City Corporation CEO Enamul Habib and Indian
High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla in Sylhet.
Bangladesh
Capital: Dhaka
Currency: Taka
Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
Mobile app to monitor tiger reserves launched
Monitoring of tiger reserves in the country will become much
easier, quicker and transparent with the official launch of M-
STrIPES (Monitoring System For Tigers-Intensive Protection
and Ecological Status) software-enabled mobile app at Corbett
Tiger Reserve.
Foresters of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are participating in three-
day training workshop to learn about data collection and
software entry under the guidance of scientists of Wildlife
Institute of India at Corbett.
After the successful trial at Panna Tiger Reserve, the app
has now been launched in these five states in one go.
Vasundhara pips Kejriwal as most ‘liked’ CM
Rajasthan Chief Minister
Vasundhara Raje has
become the “most liked
Chief Minister” on social
media platforms, leaving
behind Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal and U.P.
Chief Minister Akhilesh
Yadav.
Her official Facebook
page has notched up
more than 71 lakh ‘likes’ so far.
Mr. Kejriwal's Facebook page has 70.87 lakh ‘likes’, while
Mr. Yadav has 54.85 lakh ‘likes’.
Ms. Raje's team closely monitors the opinions coming on
social channels and takes follow-up action to ensure help
for those who ask for it.
6 WiFiStudy.com
Government to build 2 crude oil storages in Odisha,
Rajasthan
In a bid to insulate the country from volatility in global oil
market, the government will build two more underground
crude oil storages at Chandikhol in Odisha and Bikaner in
Rajasthan.
India has already built underground storages in rock
caverns at Visakhapatnam (1.33 million tonnes),
Mangalore (1.5 MT) and Padur (2.5 MT).
“For strengthening our energy sector, Government has
decided to set up Strategic Crude Oil Reserves.
Madhya Pradesh: Rs 1500 crore defence unit to be set up
in Morena district
The Defence Ministry would be setting up its unit of national
importance in Madhya Pradesh at Morena district’s Kailaras
and Sabalgarh tehsil areas, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj
and Rural Development, Narendra Singh Tomar said.
The Defence Ministry would spend Rs 1500 crore on the
proposed unit, the Minister said in a statement welcoming
MP government’s decision to allot land for the same.
National Testing Agency To Be Set Up
Asserting that quality
of education
will energise the
youth, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley
unleashed measures to
revamp the country's
education system, including setting up of a National Testing
Agency to conduct all entrance examinations for higher
education institutions.
Unveiling the budgetary proposals for 2017-18 in
Parliament, Jaitley said the government proposes to
establish a National Testing Agency as an autonomous and
self-sustained premier testing organisation to conduct all
entrance examinations for higher education institutions.
This would free CBSE, AICTE and other premier
institutions from these administrative responsibilities so
that they can focus more on academics.
Surajkund International Crafts Mela Kicked off in
Faridabad
The 31st edition of the annual Surajkund international crafts
fair begun with artists from over 20 countries participating in
the cultural extravaganza.
The mela is being hosted jointly by the Haryana Tourism
Corporation and Surajkund Mela Authority, in
collaboration with the Union Ministries of Tourism,
Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.
For the 31st edition of the much anticipated fair, Jharkhand
has been chosen to be the Theme State.
19th Bharat Rang Mahotsav begins
Offering a potpourri of plays from India as well as other
countries, the 19th edition of National School of Drama's
Bharat Rang Mahotsav began In New Delhi.
The annual theatre extravaganza, slated to run through
February 1-21, will see 14 foreign productions and
participation of 12 countries.
Renowned Bhartnatyam and Odissi dancer Sonal
Mansingh, who was present at the event as the chief guest
said she is excited for having been invited to perform in
the festival.
Rail Museum celebrates 40th anniversary
The National Rail Museum just entered into its 40th year.
It houses the largest collection of life-size rail exhibits.
It was recently renovated and reopened for public.
The museum also has interactive screens, miniature
working models to inform the visitors of its main
attractions.
UIDAI clamps down on 50 fraud sites offering Aadhaar
services
In a massive crackdown on unauthorised agencies offering
Aadhaar-related services illegally and charging excessive
money from the public, UIDAI has got shut down 12 such
websites and 12 mobile apps available on the Google Playstore.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has
further directed authorities for closure of another 26 such
fraudulent and illegal websites and mobile applications.
Bihar introduces third gender category in school exams
For the first time since the
Supreme Court recognised
transgender people as a
third gender in 2014, as
many as 18 students in
Bihar have been allowed to
appear for the Board
exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board
(BSEB) under the third-gender category.
The exams for Class 12 begin on February 14 and for Class
10 from March 1.
According to board officials, 10 third-gender students will
be taking the Class 12 exams and eight would be writing
the Class 10 exams.
7 WiFiStudy.com
Penalty of 100% amount for receiving cash over Rs 3 lakh
In a bid to check generation of black money, a steep penalty
awaits those accepting cash in excess of Rs 3 lakh, beginning
April 1, to settle any transaction.
A ban on cash transaction of more than Rs 3 lakh has been
proposed in the Budget for 2017-18.
Revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia said the penalty for
doing cash transaction will be steep and the receiver will
have to pay an amount equivalent to the cash received.
"Supposing you do a transaction of Rs 4 lakh in cash, then
the penalty would be Rs 4 lakh. If you do a transaction of
Rs 50 lakh, penalty would be Rs 50 lakh," he said, adding
that the penalty will be levied on the receiver.
Telangana government launches India’s first social
innovation centre
Telangana government launched the Kakatiya Hub for Social
Innovation in Nizamabad, which is expected to be up and
running by September.
Funded by the Telangana government, Kakatiya Hub,
which will function like a rural incubator to encourage
entrepreneurship at grassroots level, is claimed to be
India’s first social innovation centre.
The incubator will be run through Kakatiya Sandbox.
IndiGo Security Training Centre Licence Suspended
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has suspended
the licence of IndiGo's aviation security training facility for
alleged lapses in the examination system conducted by the
airline.
The orders issued by BCAS, the apex aviation security
agency, last week bar the Gurgaon-based airline from
conducting security training programme for its employees
any further, sources said.
The training academy is run by IndiGo's parent company,
InterGlobe Aviation.
India's solar power capacity crosses 9 GW
Country's solar power generation capacity was 9,012 MW as
on December 31, 2016.
Tamil Nadu led the chart followed by Rajasthan and
Gujarat, Power Minister Piyush Goyal informed the Rajya
Sabha.
The minister said solar power development varies from
state to state depending on solar irradiance, availability of
conducive state policy for the sector, availability of land,
cost of financing and business environment such as
willingness of DISCOMS to purchase the solar power,
power evacuation infrastructure, etc.
IIT Bombay helps Rajasthan tribal communities set up
solar manufacturing plant
A solar module manufacturing plant fully owned and operated
by local tribal communities is being set up in Dungarpur,
Rajasthan with the help of IIT Bombay.
The Institute has helped implement this first-of- its-kind
solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturing plant,
which will be completely owned and operated by tribal
women in Dungarpur, Rajasthan.
Assam launches Rs 30,000 cr village development scheme
In a move to bring
about paradigm shift
towards holistic
development of
villages in Assam,
Chief Minsiter
Sarbananda Sonowal
launched Chief
Minister Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY).
Chief Minister Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana, a mega
mission with a financial outlay of Rs. 30,000 crore will be
implemented in all the villages in Assam in the next five
years culminating in 2021-22.
Arunachal Becomes First NE State to Implement e-Cabinet
Solution
Arunachal Pradesh became the first state in the northeast to
implement e-Cabinet solution for the state cabinet members.
Using this system, the cabinet members can access the
cabinet notes before the meeting.
The entire business of the Cabinet can be conducted using
the e-Cabinet solution.
The e-Cabinet solution will give remote access to the
Ministers to view Cabinet notes and the same will be
circulated well in advance for proper analysis and
feedback.
First Smart Police Station inaugurated in Andhra Pradesh
Chandrababu Naidu
inaugurated the first model
police station at
Nagarampalem in the
capital region Amaravati.
Later in the day, he
also inaugurated the second model police station in old
Guntur town.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, for the
first time in the country, Andhra Pradesh has brought forth
the smart policing system.
8 WiFiStudy.com
Global conference on Nuclear Terrorism begins in New
Delhi
The Implementation and Assessment Group Meeting of the
Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism begins in New
Delhi.
Nearly 150 delegates from various partner countries and
international organisations will take take part in the three-
day event.
Cabinet approves 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital
Saksharta Abhiyan’
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has approved 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta
Abhiyan' (PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore rural households
digitally literate.
The outlay for this project is Rs.2,351.38 crore to usher in
digital literacy in rural India by March,2019.
This is in line with the announcement made by Finance
Minister in the Union Budget 2016-17.
PMGDISHA is expected to be one of the largest digital
literacy programmes in the world.
Under the scheme, 25 lakh candidates will be trained in the
FY 2016-17; 275 lakh in the FY 2017-18; and 300 lakh in
the FY 2018-19.
To ensure equitable geographical reach, each of the
250,000 Gram Panchayats would be expected to register
an average of 200-300 candidates.
17th International Counter Terrorism Seminar held
The Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Col.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore inaugurated the 17th
International Seminar on Counter Terrorism.
It was organised by National Security Guard, in Manesar,
Haryana.
Speaking on the occasion, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh
Rathore said that terrorism is a global threat and the
footprint of terrorism does not restrict to any border.
Portal and Mobile Application launched for Mining
Operations
With an objective to enhance transparency and accountability
as a part of the Ease of Doing Business in the Mining sector,
Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New &
Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal will launch
TAMRA (Transparency, Auction Monitoring and Resource
Augmentation) portal and Mobile Application here on 10th
February, 2017.
Ministers of Mining and senior officers from 12 mineral
rich States would also be connected through
videoconferencing.
TAMRA will be an interactive platform for all the
stakeholders to compress the timelines for statutory and
other clearances as it would help minimize the gestation
period for commencing production.
Gujarat Becomes First State To Establish Cashless System
Ram Vilas Paswan,
Union Minister for
Consumer Affairs, Food
and Public Distribution
congratulated the State
Government of Gujarat
on becoming the first
State in the country for establishing Cashless System for
distribution of foodgrains.
Paswan lauded the efforts of the State Government for
installing Aadhaar Enabled Payment System in 17250
FPSs, much before the targeted date of 31st March, 2017.
The beneficiaries under NFSA will need to carry only
Aadhaar cards for getting their foodgrains in Gujarat.
This will help in establishing the identity of beneficiaries,
help in stopping the leakages of grains at shop level and
above all eradicate corruption in the Public Distribution
System.
Dalhousie Road becomes Dara Shikoh Road
The New Delhi
Municipal Council
passed a proposal to
change the name of
Dalhousie Road to
Dara Shikoh Road,
after the eldest son of
Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
New Delhi MP and NDMC member Meenakshi Lekhi said
that the Council decided to honour Dara Shikoh Road for
“bringing Hindus and Muslims together”.
Centre makes Aadhaar card mandatory for availing
foodgrain under PDS
The central government said an Aadhaar (unique citizen
identification) number would be mandatory for taking
foodgrain through the Public Distribution System (PDS) under
the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and also for cash
transfers in lieu of the food subsidy under it.
According to the Aadhaar Act, producing the document
for identification is compulsory for any transfers made
from the Consolidated Fund of India, stated the food
ministry.
9 WiFiStudy.com
Those who don’t have an Aadhaar numbers will continue
to get their monthly ration quota if they provide proof of
having applied for it. Such persons have to necessarily
apply for Aadhaar enrolment by June 30.
HRD ministry forms sub-panel of CABE to boost girls'
education
The Union HRD Ministry has constituted a sub-committee of
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) under
Chairmanship of Telangana's Deputy Chief Minister to look
into issues of girl's education.
The terms of reference of the sub-committee would be to
examine the reasons for low participation of girls in
education, including the socio-economic factors with
resultant gender bias, and suggest ways to reduce gender
disparity so as to achieve better gender parity index, an
official release said.
The sub-committee, to be chaired by Telangana's Deputy
Chief Minister and Education Minister Kadiyam Srihari,
would also assess the current status of girls' enrolment
across the country at primary, upper primary, secondary
education and senior secondary levels.
National Productivity Week Celebrations from Feb 12-18,
2017
12th-18th February is celebrated as the ‘National Productivity
Week’ every year.
The theme chosen for this year’s observance is “From
Waste to Profits-through Reduce, Recycle and Reuse”.
National Productivity Council, an autonomous body under
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of
Commerce & Industry, Government of India was
established on 12th February, 1958, with the objective of
stimulating and promoting productivity and quality
consciousness across all sectors in the country.
World’s Oldest Working Steam Engine ‘Fairy Queen’
Ready to Haul Heritage Train Once Again
The ‘Fairy Queen’, the oldest surviving functional steam
engine in the world is once again ready in this season to haul a
heritage train from National Capital Delhi to Rewari, Haryana
after a gap of 5 years.
This train, which is a great attraction among steam engine
lovers across the globe, will run between Delhi Cantt.
Station and Rewari from 11th February 2017 for a single
day trip.
The locomotive was constructed by Kitson, Thompson and
Hewitson at Leeds, in England, in 1855, and reached
Kolkata, then known as Calcutta, in the same year.
On arrival, it was given fleet number "22" by its owner,
the East Indian Railway Company, not receiving a name
until 1895.
Initially, the 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) gauge locomotive was
used to haul light mail trains in West Bengal, operating
between Howrah and Raniganj, and during the Indian
Rebellion of 1857 hauled troop trains.
It was later consigned to line construction duty in Bihar,
where it served until 1909.
Govt to open 56 Post Office Passport Seva Kendra
Enthused by success of two pilot projects on utilising the head
post offices as Passport Seva Kendra, the government has now
decided to scale up this programme by opening 56 such
facilities across the country.
The ministry of external affairs and the department of
posts had earlier decided to join hands to deliver passport-
related services to the citizens.
The pilot project between the MEA and Department of
Posts had started in Mysuru and Dahod (Gujarat), on
January 25.
‘India Pharma 2017’ & ‘India Medical Device 2017’
International Conference inaugurated
Union Minister for
Chemicals & Fertilizers
and Parliamentary
Affairs, Shri
Ananthkumar
inaugurated the 2nd
edition of India Pharma &
India Medical Device International Conference in Bengaluru.
The three day event, with the Vision - ‘For Responsible
Healthcare’, is being organized by the Department of
Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers and
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry
(FICCI) from 11th-13th February, 2017.
Addressing the gathering, Shri Kumar called the
International Conference as a ‘Pharma and Medical
Devices Kumbh’.
India Successfully Test Fires Exo-Atmospheric Interceptor
Missile
India successfully conducted a test wherein an incoming
ballistic missile target was intercepted by an exo-atmospheric
interceptor missile off the Bay of Bengal.
With this commendable scientific achievement, India has
crossed an important milestone in building its overall
capability towards enhanced security against incoming
ballistic missile threats. It has entered an exclusive club of
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four nations with developing capabilities to secure its skies
and cities against hostile threats.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Defence Minister
Shri Manohar Parrikar lauded the efforts of the DRDO and
all the scientists involved for their dedicated efforts in this
significant achievement.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi inaugurates “Hunar Haat”
Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent
Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
inaugurated the second edition of “Hunar Haat”.
It is being organized by the Minority Affairs Ministry to
encourage, promote and provide national and international
market to master artisans/craftsmen belonging to the
Minority communities from across the country.
With the theme “Craft Aur Cuisine Ka Sangam”, the
second “Hunar Haat” is being organized from 11th to 26th
February, 2017 at State Emporia Complex, Baba Kharak
Singh Marg, Connaught Place.
In a first for Indian warships, solar power lights up INS
Sarvekshak
For the first time in the country, solar panels have been
installed on an Indian warship. The survey class vessel INS
Sarvekshak, attached with the Southern Naval command, has
been fitted with 18 sheets of solar panels atop its hangar.
“It took about six months to put the entire system in place
and we are now using solar energy for lights and a couple
of air conditioners,” said Captain Rajesh Bargoti,
commanding officer of the ship.
The 300-Watt panels generate about 5.4 KW power.
National Women’s Parliament held in Andhra Pradesh
The three-day National Women’s Parliament, organised by
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly with the theme of
‘Empowering Women — Strengthening Democracy’, held in
the state capital region Amaravati.
Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama, Union Ministers M
Venkaiah Naidu and P Ashok Gajapati Raju, AP Chief
Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and many other dignitaries
attended the inaugural event at Pavitra Sangamam here.
The vision of NWP was to enable and encourage social,
political and economic empowerment of women in all
strata of the society.
International Spice Conference from Feb 12-14
The three-day International Spice Conference begin in
Thiruvananthapuram on Feb 12.
More than 700 delegates representing various states,
Industry leaders from 40 countries, International Spice
Associations representatives, Policy makers and End-
Users are among those participating.
The second edition of the conference would also address
food safety concerns, demand supply disparity and ways
to foster sustainable growth.
The central theme of the conference would be ‘21st
Century Spice Industry - Disrupt or be Disrupted’ .
First International Spice Conference (ISC) was held in
Goa.
New FSSAI panel to finalise food fortification rules
India’s food safety
authority has created an
expert panel to finalise
food fortification rules
that would facilitate
inclusion of crucial
micro-nutrients to
essential food items like rice, wheat, oil and milk.
The panel with doctors and medical researchers would
finalise the rules on the basis of inputs that the Food Safety
and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) received since
October 2016.
The FSSAI also issued guidelines on fortification for five
food items — salt, milk, wheat flour, rice and edible oil.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
Aim: FSSAI is responsible for protecting and promoting public
health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
Headquarters: New Delhi
Founded: August 2011
Chairman: Ashish Bahuguna
Radha Mohan Singh inaugurates Indian Seed Congress –
2017 in Kolkata
The Union Minister of
Agriculture and Farmers
Welfare,Radha Mohan
Singh has inaugurated
Indian Seed Congress –
2017, in Kolkata.
The theme of Seed Congress is “Seed of Joy” which is very
much in line with vision of this government to bring
happiness and prosperity in the lives of farmers by
doubling their farm income by 2022.
GNFC township becomes 100% cashless
Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers (GNFC) township, the
state owned company's township at Bharuch, which has a
population of around 5,000 and floating population of around
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10,000 every day, has become 100% cashless and probably the
first such township in India.
It has facilities like a big shopping centre, restaurants,
eateries, schools and colleges, hospital, stadium, guest
house, etc.
The GNFC is the first integrated industrial township in the
country to go 100% digital in all financial transactions.
India’s first floating elementary school inaugurated on
Manipur’s Loktak Lake
Loktak lake, the largest freshwater lake in the country, has now
become home to first of its kind loktak floating elementary
school.
Situated about 50 km from Imphal, the school has been
inaugurated at Langolsabi Leikai of Champu Khangpok
village in Manipur.
The Loktak Lake is referred as the “lifeline of Manipur”
as it is highly productive and many lives depend on the
lake for endurance.
The lake is also an Important Bird Area as it’s a potential
breeding site for waterfowl and is a staging site for
migratory birds.
Manipur
Capital: Imphal
Chief Minister: Okram Ibobi Singh
Governor: Najma Heptulla
Founded: 21 January 1972
International coin fair held in Thiruvananthapuram
More than 2,500 coins from around 500 regions, including
those from the time of empires and princely states, were on
display at an international coin fair which was organised in
Thiruvananthapuram from February 13 to 15.
The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC)
organised the event.
Minister for Tourism, Cooperation Kadakampally
Surendran inaugurated the exhibition.
The three-day event featured the collections of Justin
Gilbert Lopez, who holds a Guinness world record for the
largest coin collection.
ISRO sends record 104 satellites in one go
Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO has created a
world record in the space arena by sending 104 satellites in a
single rocket.
The space agency's trusted workhorse Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle PSLV-C37, on its 39th mission, took off
from Sriharikota space centre with the 104 satellites
belonging to international customers.
What is significant about the launch is the number of
satellites carried by a rocket. Compared to successful
launch by the Russian Space Agency launching 37
satellites in one go, India become the first country to script
history launching 104 satellites in a single rocket.
It was ISRO's second successful attempt after launching
23 satellites in one go in June 2015.
PSLV first launched the 714 kg CARTOSAT-2 Series
satellite for earth observation, followed by 103 co-
passenger satellites, together weighing about 664 kg at lift-
off into polar Sun Synchronous Orbit, about 520 km from
Earth.
Of 104 satellites, 96 belong to USA, three from India and
five from International customers of ISRO -- Israel,
Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Arab
Emirates, respectively.
ISRO
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Founded: 15 August 1969
Chairman: AS Kiran Kumar
Mamata Banerjee declares Kalimpong as separate district
A new district of
Kalimpong was carved out
of Darjeeling, which has
seen separate statehood
demands since 1980s, with
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee making
the formal announcement.
Announcing a slew of development projects for the newly
created district at a colourful ceremony, Banerjee said “a
Rs 220 crore road link project will be taken up to connect
Kalimpong with Sikkim via the old Silk Route.
She said a Rs 50 crore water supply project by the public
health engineering department will be taken up soon to
address Kalimpong’s water scarcity problem.
West Bengal
Capital: Kolkata
Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi
Founded: 26 January 1950
11th International Aero India 2017 begins
Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar inaugurated the 11th
biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence
Exhibition at Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru.
This edition of Aero India, for the first time, combines the
defence and civil aviation segments into a holistic event
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with the co involvement of the defence and civil aviation
ministries in the event.
During his inaugural address Shri Parrikar said that this
edition of Aero India would witness the emerging
dynamism of defence manufacturing in India, especially
the rising role of Indian defence industry.
This edition of Aero India sees the participation of 549
companies with 53 Aircraft gracing the event.
IAF inducts indigenous early warning system
The IAF has formally inducted the first indigenously built
Airborne Early Warning and Control System Netra developed
by the Defence Research and Development Organisation at the
Aero India exhibition.
It was handed over by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar
to Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, is in the Initial
Operational Configuration.
It is expected to achieve Final Operational Configuration
(FOC) by June.
International Conference on NexGen Technologies
inaugurated
Inaugurating the International Conference on "NexGen
Technologies for Mining and Fuel Industries" [NxGnMiFu-
2017] in New Delhi, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that this
conference must look at the working conditions of the poorest
of the poor/ the have-nots/ downtrodden and see how much
scientific research can change and improve their lives.
Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth
Science Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that clean energy
initiatives being taken by Government should be
perceptible and bring measurable change in the lives of the
common man.
J&K govt launches e-Prison project
The Jammu and
Kashmir government
has launched the e-
Prison project to
enumerate jail inmates
in the State, where
numbers of detainees
keep swelling during unrest.
The information about jail inmates is currently being
maintained manually.
To avoid delays in processing the information and manage
all the jails efficiently, the automation of prison
department has been started.”
The government has already digitised records of 500
inmates.
The project will digitise 25 district jails, two Central jails
and one sub-jail in the State.
KVIC to make khadi Gaon in each state
Aiming to scale up employment at rural locations and push up
the khadi and village industries products from the villages, the
khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has initiated a
project named khadi Gaon.
Under the scheme, Five Khadi Gaon will be established in
each state.
It will help them to be self dependent and would stop their
retrea towards the cities.
Mahesh Sharma launches pre-loaded Sim Card for
Tourists arriving in India on E-visa
Dr. Mahesh Sharma,
Minister of State
(Independent
Charge) for Tourism
and Culture,
launched the
initiative of the
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for providing pre-
loaded Sim Card to foreign tourists arriving in India on e-Visa.
Addressing on the occasion, he said that this unique
initiative will facilitate the foreign tourists in
communicating with their acquaintances immediately
after their arrival in India.
Earlier, the Ministry of Tourism had also launched a 24 x
7 Tourist Helpline 1800111363 in Twelve foreign
languages so that the foreign tourists can get the required
information in their own language.
This initiative has been launched in association with
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., (BSNL), wherein BSNL
would distribute pre-loaded SIM Cards to foreign tourists
arriving in India on e-Visa.
This facility will be initially available in the Indira Gandhi
International Airport (T3 Terminal), New Delhi and later
cover remaining 15 international airports, where e-Visa
facility is currently available.
Indian panorama festival 2017 begins in port blair
Govt of India, is organizing Indian Panorama Film Festival
(Public Screening of films) in Port Blair from February 15 to
19, 2017.
About 15 films of different languages and different genre
will be screened at two different venues viz. PBMC
Auditorium and ITF Ground during the festival.
The Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Anindo
Majumdar inaugurated the Film Festival.
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Two-day Global Investor Summit 'Momentum Jharkhand'
begins in Ranchi
A two-day mega event of Global Investor Summit, branded as
"Momentum Jharkhand" was started at Khelgaon of Ranchi.
More than one thousands delegates, including many
leading industrialists, both Indian and from other
countries, will take part in this.
The Jharkhand Government is hoping for an investment of
around three lakhs seventy five thousands crores rupees
from 219 companies.
Jharkhand
Capital: Ranchi
Chief Minister: Raghubar Das
Governor: Draupadi Murmu
Formation: 15 November 2000
MP govt to set up Tourism Board
Madhya Pradesh government has decided to constitute MP
Tourism Board for expansion of facilities at tourist spots and
draw investment in the sector.
The main functions of the board will be to perform all
responsibilities mentioned under Tourism Policy-2016,
like to draw private investment in tourism sector,
investors' facilitation and avail grant and facilities for
investors as per the policy, the official said.
The board will also develop a work plan for all tourism-
related archaeological sites, wildlife places, caves with
natural beauty, amusement and other parks, water
reservoirs and also take measures for their supervision.
Madhya Pradesh
Capital: Bhopal
Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Governor: Om Prakash Kohli
Formation: 1 November 1956
Tarini to be Inducted into Indian Navy on 18 February
2017
The Indian Navy’s second ocean going sailboat Tarini will be
inducted at a ceremony scheduled to be held at the INS
Mandovi Boat Pool on 18 February 2017.
Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of Naval Staff will also be
present on the occasion.
INSV Tarini is a sloop built by M/s Aquarius Shipyard Pvt
Ltd at Divar, Goa.
The sail boat Tarini is being inducted into the Navy and is
slated to be the platform for First Indian All Women
Circumnavigation of the Globe expedition of the Indian
Navy.
BEL launches communication radio
PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has unveiled a new
communication radio for the Indian armed forces, called
STARS-V Mk III, at the Aero India 2017 show.
MV Gowtama, CMD of BEL, said: “The radio is
completely designed, developed and made in BEL.”
It is a multi brand, high data rate, software intensive IP
radio with mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) functions
supporting up to 64 notes.
Bharat Electronics Ltd
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Founded: 1954
Chairman: MV Gowtama
Govt cuts tenure of Sebi's Chairman-designate Ajay Tyagi
by two years
The government said that the tenure of the next chairman of the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Ajay Tyagi,
will “initially” be for three years.
A government official said the latest order was issued to
clear up ambiguity on the length of the tenure.
The new order said the term will be for an initial three-year
period, leaving open the possibility that it could be
extended later.
The rules allow for a term of five years or up to the age of
65 for the Sebi chairman.
Some Sebi members appointed recently have been given
five-year terms.
SEBI
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 12 April 1992
Chairman: Ajay Tyagi
UDAN scheme to increase number of airports by 50
The implementation of the
regional air-connectivity
scheme, UDAN, will see the
number of operational airports
in the country shoot up by over
50, while the cost of travelling
will come down to as low as Rs 2,500 for up to an hour of air
journey, said Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation.
According Sinha, there are 75 small operational airports in
the country, and this number will increase to over 125 with
the successful implementation of UDAN (Ude Desh ka
Aam Nagrik).
Drawing reference to Jharkhand, the Minister said the
Centre will be able to connect all major cities of the State
in 1-2 years.
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India’s Western Regional Agriculture Fair – 2017
inaugurated in Bikaner
Union Minister of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha
Mohan Singh inaugurated India’s
Western Regional Agriculture Fair
– 2017 in Bikaner.
The Minister of Agriculture
further said that Government
of India has fixed an ambitious target for making the
farmers income double in the next five years.
To achieve this target, the out of box initiative has been
taken instead of traditional system.
Towards this, the establishment of National Agriculture
Mandi E-NAM portal is an revolutionary initiative for the
farmers with which farmers can sale their agricultural
products on better prices in any of the mandis.
South Asian Speakers’ Summit held in Indore
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan inaugurated a two-day
South Asian Speakers Summit in Indore on Achieving
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The Summit had a Plenary Session on Identifying
Resources for SDGs Implementation in South Asia:
Opportunities for Parliamentary Cooperation.
India’s only volcano active again
India's only live volcano in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
has started spewing smoke and lava again.
After lying dormant for 150 years, Barren Island volcano
erupted in 1991 and has been showing sporadic activity
since then, scientists of Goa based National Institute of
Oceanography (NIO) said.
A team of scientists led by Abhay Mudholkar, from CSIR-
National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO) in Goa
reported that the volcano is active and spewing smoke and
lava once again.
India sanctions soft loan USD 340 million to Nepal
India has sanctioned a soft loan of 340 million US dollar to
Nepal for various infrastructure development programmes.
Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae handed over the
approval papers to Physical Infrastructure and Transport
Minister of Nepal Ramesh Lekhak in the presence of
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.
Under this programme Mahalaki bridge and 15 roads will
be constructed in various parts of Nepal.
Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang resigns
Embattled Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang announced his
resignation from the top post, days after party legislators
withdrew their support to break the deadlock between agitating
tribal groups and the government.
Nagaland has been in a state of turmoil ever since the
Nagaland Tribal Action Committee began their agitation
demanding the resignation of Zeliang over his decision to
conduct civic bodies' elections with 33 per cent reservation
for women.
Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH commissioned in
Kochi
Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH was commissioned in
Kochi, Kerala.
The ship was commissioned by Vice Admiral AR Karwe,
Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval
Command.
The fast patrol vessel (FPV) is fitted with state-of- the-art
navigational and communication equipment including
Integrated Bridge System (IBS) and Machinery Control
System (MCS).
Post commissioning, the ship will be based at
Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
India’s first dedicated heliport to open in Delhi
The capital will soon get India's first dedicated "heliport" for
flying in and out of Delhi to nearby areas in choppers.
Aviation secretary R N Choubey said the Rs 100-crore
project will be inaugurated on February 28 and will be an
integrated one with a chopper maintenance, repair and
overhaul (MRO) unit part of the complex at Rohini.
It will be Owned by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL).
Health Secretary launches ‘SAATHIYA’ Resource Kit and
‘SAATHIYA SALAH’ Mobile App
C K Mishra, Secretary, Health and Family Welfare launched
the SAATHIYA Resource Kit including ‘Saathiya Salah’
Mobile App for adolescents, as part of the Rashtriya Kishor
Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) program.
One of the key interventions under the programme is
introduction of the Peer Educators (Saathiyas) who act as
a catalyst for generating demand for the adolescent health
services and imparting age appropriate knowledge on key
adolescent health issues to their peer groups.
In order to equip the Saathiyas in doing so, the Health
Ministry has launched the Saathiya Resource Kit
(including ‘Saathiya Salah’ Mobile App).
This Resource Kit comprises Activity Book, Bhranti-
Kranti Game, Question-Answer Book and Peer Educator
Diary.
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The mobile app is also linked to another important piece
of cost-effective information platform of a toll-free
Saathiya Helpline (1800-233-1250) which will act as an e-
counselor.
Cyber Swachhta Kendra launched to prevent cyber attacks
The government, through its Computer Emergency Response
Team (CERT-in), launched “Cyber Swachhta Kendra”, a new
desktop and mobile security solution for secure cyber space in
the country.
The new solution will notify, enable cleaning and secure
systems of end-users to prevent further infections.
“Launched USB Pratirodh, which will control the
unauthorised usage of removable USB storage media
devices like pen drives, external hard drives. Launched
App Samvid, to protect Desktops from suspicious
applications from running,” tweeted Union IT and
Electronics Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Bharat QR code launched to push less-cash economy
In its bid to promote digital economy in the country,
Government of India has launched a new payment method
using QR codes.
The solution comes as a first of its kind throughoout the
globe.
After the introduction of Bharat QR code, a consumer can
simply open his or her banking app or BHIM app, scan the
merchant's QR code, enter the payable amount and enter
the four digit code to authenticate the transaction. The
amount will be directly transferred to the merchant’s bank
account once the transaction is complete.
The method would eliminate the need of PoS machines on
a merchant outlet.
The National Payments Corporation has jointly developed
it with MasterCard and Visa.
Kashmir to observe 2017 as the ‘Year of Apple’
J & K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has declared 2017 as
‘Year of Apple’ in a major bid to promote the famed Kashmiri
apples in domestic and foreign markets.
The Chief Minister launched the High Density Apple
Plantation Scheme in Srinagar.
These high-density plants will be routed through J&K
Bank along with the subsidy.
Jammu and Kashmir is the largest apple producing State
in India at 11.2 metric tonnes, which accounts for 71% of
national production.
India aims to bring broadband to every village by 2018
India aims to bring high-speed digital connectivity to every
village by 2018 and is keen to share expertise in the area with
other nations, the government said.
In his Union Budget presented on February 1, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley said the government would allocate
Rs 10,000 crore to expand the Bharat Net project in 2017-
18 for high-speed broadband.
National Biodiversity Congress held in Kerala
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the five-
day-long National Biodiversity Congress and Expo at Tagore
theatre in Thiruvananthapuram.
This is one of the biggest biodiversity congresses in the
country and its focal theme is 'Mainstreaming biodiversity
for sustainable development'.
Kerala
Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
Governor: P Sathasivam
Formation: 1 November 1956
J-K govt limits guests, dishes at weddings
The Jammu and Kashmir government has announced
restrictions on the number of guests to be invited and specified
the number of dishes that can be served at both public and
private gatherings, mostly weddings, in a bid to limit wastage
of food and essential commodities in such ceremonies.
The order will come into effect from April this year.
While families will be allowed to invite only 500 people
for their daughter’s wedding, the number has been
restricted to 400 if one’s son is getting married. And only
100 people can be invited for smaller ceremonies like
engagements.
The wedding menu is also likely to be restricted and non-
vegetarian dishes cannot accede more than seven with only
two servings of fruits and sweets.
Loudspeakers and firecrackers can not be used in any
government or private program.
Also, giving sweets and dry fruits with invitation cards has
been restricted.
Minister for Railways Dedicates Coaches of Antyodaya
Express to the nation
Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inspected
the newly turned rake of Antyodaya Express consisting 22
Coaches.
Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital and senior
officials were also present on the occasion.
The Minister appreciated the new Antyodaya Rake and
dedicated it to the common people of the nation.
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CCEA approves 40,000-mw solar park scheme
In a major push for solar power development in the country, a
cabinet panel approved increasing the capacity of solar parks
and projects from 20,000 MW to 40,000 MW.
"The enhanced capacity would ensure setting up of at least
50 solar parks -- each with a capacity of 500 MW and
above in various parts of the country," Power and
Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal told.
"The capacity of the solar park scheme has been enhanced
after considering the demand for additional solar parks
from the states," he said.
"The solar Parks and ultra mega solar power projects will
be set up by 2019-20 with central government financial
support of Rs 8,100 crore," he added.
India, China hold strategic dialogue
China and India today held their upgraded strategic dialogue to
shore up bilateral ties amid hectic parleys to resolve differences
over Beijing's reluctance to support India's NSG bid as well as
a UN ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar.
Just before the dialogue, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar
held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Later, Jaishankar along with China's Executive Vice
Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui held the strategic dialogue.
International Ayurvedic research Institute planned at
Kannur
Kerala government has decided to set up a Rs 300 crore
international Ayurvedic research institute at Kannur during the
13th five year plan.
The project will be implemented with central assistance.
Cabinet also decided to set up Kerala Blood Bank society
of International standards.
It will be set up jointly by Thiruvananthapuram Citizens
India Charitable Trust, Health Department with technical
assistance of WHO.
The government also decided to strengthen the Public
Works Department's design, investigation and quality
control wings.
President of India inaugurates international conference on
‘Bharat Bodh’
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated an
international conference on ‘Bharat Bodh’ organized by the
Indira Gandhi National Open University and Bhartiya
Shikshan Mandal in New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, the President complimented the
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the
Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal for organizing this conference
bringing together intellectuals, academicians and
researchers to unravel various aspects of the “Bharat
Bodh”.
DoNER Ministry along with Tezpur University to
encourage entrepreneurship in Northeast
Ministry of Development of
North Eastern Region
(DONER), jointly with the
Department of Business
Administration, Tezpur
University and North Eastern
Finance Corporation Limited
(NEDFi), is coming up with a
Business Idea Challenge to encourage entrepreneurship in the
North-East Region (NER).
The annual industry-academia interface event “Sampark”,
which will see the DoNER Ministry’s involvement for the
first time, brings the spirit of entrepreneurship in the
region.
The event will take place on March 3, 2017 and will be the
17th edition in the series.
To encourage the students towards entrepreneurship, a
Pioneering Business Idea Challenge 2017 is being
organized as a part of the event.
24 February: Central Excise Day
Central Excise Day is commemorated every year all across the
India on 24th of February.
It aims to encourage the employees of excise department
to carry out the central excise duty all over the India in
better way in order to prevent the corruption.
It is also celebrated to commemorate the establishment of
the Central Excise and Salt Act on 24th of February in the
year 1944.
Rajasthan 2nd largest crude oil producer in country
Rajasthan has become the second largest crude oil producer in
the country after the offshore field Bombay High, Governor
Kalyan Singh said in the Assembly, highlighting the
achievements of the state government.
Delivering his speech on the first day of the Budget
Session, Singh said oilfields in the state were producing
nearly 90 lakh tones oil annually, which is 24 per cent of
the total domestic crude oil production.
Maneka Gandhi announces compensation fund for child
abuse victims
Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has
announced the setting up of a compensation fund under
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Nirbhaya scheme to provide financial help to children who are
victims of sexual crimes.
A Central Victim Compensation Fund was set up with an
initial corpus of Rs 200 crore in 2015 but has not not been
operating, the official said.
POCSO Act or Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act was formulated in 2012 to address sexual
abuse and sexual exploitation of children.
PM unveils 112-foot tall Shiva statue 'Adiyogi'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the 112-foot tall statue
dedicated to ‘Adiyogi’ at Coimbatore.
The statue has been funded by Isha Foundation, founded
by the popular yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev.
The foundation has been mired in controversies since
2012. Tribal associations in the Coimbatore region allege
that the statue lack approvals.
Rajasthan inaugurates medical project RAHAT
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated a
medical project Rajasthan Heart Attack Treatment programme
(RAHAT), launched by a private hospital.
The programme is a telemedicines platform that captures
and transmits patient's EKG along with clinical history
from remote geographical locations to heart command
center hub.
Mumbai is the richest Indian city
India's financial capital
Mumbai, which is home to
46,000 millionaires and 28
billionaires, is the richest
Indian city with a total
wealth of $ 820 billion,
says a report.
According to New World Wealth, Mumbai is the richest
city in the country followed by Delhi and Bengaluru in the
second and third place, respectively.
Delhi is home to 23,000 millionaires and 18 billionaires
with a total wealth of $ 450 billion, while Bengaluru with
a total wealth of $ 320 billion houses 7,700 millionaires
and 8 billionaires.
The list also includes Hyderabad with a total wealth of $
310 billion. Hyderabad is home to 9,000 millionaires and
6 billionaires.
Goa Ranks first in having lesser infant mortality rate
While infant mortality rate in the country has been registered
at 42 deaths of kids per 1000 births the Union Territory of
Puducherry has established a record of having lesser rate of
infant mortality.
Director of Health and Family Welfare Services K V
Raman told that Union Territory was having 11 deaths of
children per 1000 babies born.
Puducherry ranked third in the achievement next to Goa
and Kerala.
Goa
Capital: Panaji
Chief Minister: Laxmikant Parsekar
Governor: Mridula Sinha
Formation: 30 May 1987
Minister of Railways Flags off Country’s first Antyodaya
Express
Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off
the fourth Humsafar clan of trains and first Antyodaya clan of
trains through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan.
Speaking on the occasion Ministry of Railways, Shri
Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that “This is the fourth
Humsafar Express to be launched and it will cross the
entire country from North to South.
Humsafar train is a fully Air Conditioned 3 AC service
having facilities like GPS based Passenger Information
System, Passenger announcement System, fire and smoke
detection and suppression system, CCTVs, comfortable
seats, mobile and laptop charging points, integrated Braille
display, LCD display above compartment doors in the
aisle, Fire retardant curtains, etc.”
He also said that “we are launching the country’s first
Antyodaya Express to be launched.
Tejas and UDAY Express will be launched soon.
Antyodaya Express is a long-distance, fully unreserved,
superfast train service, for the common man to be operated
on dense routes.
24. Reliance Defence bags Rs916-cr order from MoD
Industrialist Anil Ambani-
led Reliance Defence said it
had signed a contract with
the Ministry of Defence
(MoD) for the design and
construction of 14 Fast
Patrol Vessels for the Indian
Coast Guard valued at Rs 916 crore.
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These ships are medium-range, high-speed vessels, and
primarily used for patrol within the exclusive economic
zone, costal surveillance, and anti-smuggling, anti-piracy,
search and rescue operations.
They also support front-line warships in the hour of need.
The economic survey 2016-17
The economic survey 2016-17 was presented in the parliament
on January 31, 2017.
The survey was prepared by the finance ministry's chief
economic adviser Arvind Subramanian.
The Economic Survey 2016-17 advocates the concept of
Universal Basic Income (UBI) as an alternative to the
various social welfare schemes in an effort to reduce
poverty.
Here are the highlights of the report:
GROWTH
2017/18 GDP growth seen between 6.75 and 7.5 percent
year on year.
GDP growth rate at constant market prices for the current
year 2016/17 is placed at 7.1 percent.
The federal statistics office's estimate of 7.1 percent
growth for 2016/17 likely to be revised downwards.
Service sector is estimated to grow at 8.9 percent in
2016/17.
Industrial growth rate expected to moderate to 5.2 percent
in 2016/17 from 7.4 percent in 2015/16.
The agriculture sector is estimated to grow at 4.1 percent
in 2016/17 as opposed to 1.2 percent in 2015/16.
FISCAL DEFICIT
Implementation of wage hike, muted tax receipts to put
pressure on fiscal deficit in 2017/18.
Need for fiscal prudence for both centre and states for
fiscal health of the economy.
Fiscal windfall from low oil prices to disappear in
2017/18.
INFLATION
The average consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate
declined to 4.9 percent in 2015/16 from 5.9 percent in
2014/15.
CPI-based core inflation has remained sticky in the current
fiscal year averaging around 5 percent.
Oil prices, seen rising by one-sixth in 2017/18 over
2016/17 prices, could dampen India's economic growth.
DEMONETISATION
Remonetisation will ensure that the cash squeeze is
eliminated by April 2017.
Supply of currency should follow actual demand and not
be dictated by official estimate of desirable demand.
MONETARY POLICY
Sharp rise in prices in 2017/18 may cap monetary easing
headroom Market interest rates seen lower in 2017/18 due
to demonetisation.
GOVERNMENT DEBT
Government debt to GDP ratio in 2016 seen at 68.5 percent
down from 69.1 percent in 2015.
BANKING
Suggests setting up public sector asset rehabilitation
agency to take charge of large bad loans in banks.
Central agency with government backing could overcome
coordination and political issues on bad loans.
TAXATION
Income tax rates and real estate stamp duties could be
reduced.
Timetable for reducing corporate tax rate could be
accelerated.
UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME
Universal Basic Income (UBI) proposal a powerful idea,
but not ready for implementation.
UBI is an alternative to plethora of state subsidies for
poverty alleviation; UBI would cost between 4 and 5
percent of GDP.
SBI to hike stake in two credit card joint ventures
The Mumbai-based
lender, which is also
India’s biggest
government-owned
bank by market
capitalisation, wants
to increase its stake
to at least 51% from
40% in the back office and technology arm GE Capital
Business Process Management Services, and to 74% from 60%
in SBI Cards and Payments, which markets and distribute
credit cards.
The move is in line due to demonetisation as it
increasingly drives consumers to spend online or through
cards,
According to a study by global consulting firm BCG,
digital payments in India is expected to multiply 10 times
as Internet banking and cards replace cash in transactions.
IT Department launches Operation Clean Money
Income Tax Department (ITD) has
initiated Operation Clean Money.
Initial phase of the operation
involves e-verification of large
cash deposits made during 9th
November to 30th December 2016.
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Data analytics has been used for comparing the
demonetisation data with information in ITD databases.
In the first batch, around 18 lakh persons have been
identified in whose case, cash transactions do not appear
to be in line with the tax payer’s profile.
Future Generali India Insurance ties up with Bank of
Maharashtra
Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd (FGIL) has
entered into a corporate agency tie-up for its products with
Bank of Maharashtra (BOM), a public sector bank.
With this tie-up, BOM's customers will be able to avail of
motor, home, shopkeeper and rural insurance products at
any of the 1,896 branches of the bank.
K.G. Krishnamoorthy Rao, MD & CEO, Future Generali
India Insurance Company, said bancassurance is one of the
key avenues to distribute insurance products across a
wider audience.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Fisdom tie-up to launch robo-
advisory platform
Lakshmi Vilas Bank has tied up with Fisdom, a Bangalore-
based fin-tech startup, to launch financial planning and wealth
management services based on robo-advisory platform.
The platform called Mission FINFIT will also include
services like getting the KYC done, investing money in
various platforms, viewing the account summary,
withdrawing the invested money, etc.
Banks credit growth to remain subdued at 5-6 per cent in
FY17: Icra
Bank credit growth is likely to remain subdued at 5-6 per cent
in the current financial year on weak loan demand and as debt
market continues to offer better priced, according to a report.
Deposit growth is likely to ease further to 12 per cent by
end-March 2017, with banks cutting deposit rates and
easing cash availability in the system, from 14.7 per cent
as on January 6, said the report by rating agency ICRA.
Union Budget 2017: Important Takeaways
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget
2017. This was the first time that the budget was presented in
February. Also, Railway budget was merged with the Union
budget.
Here are the highlights of the budget
36 per cent increase in FDI flow; forex reserves at
USD 361 billion in January enough to cover 12
months needs.
World Bank expects GDP growth rate at 7.6 per cent
in FY18 and 7.8 per cent in FY19
Mini labs by qualified local entrepreneurs to be set up
for soil testing in all 648 krishi vigyan kendras in the
country
Agricultural sector is expected to grow at 4.1 per cent
this fiscal
Target of agriculture credit fixed at Rs 10 lakh crore
in 2017-18
Rs 9,000 cr higher allocation for payment of
sugarcane arrears
Allocation under MNREGA increased to 48,000 crore
from Rs 38,500 crore. This is highest ever allocation.
Space technology to be used for monitoring
MNREGA implementation
Market reforms will be undertaken, states will be
asked to denotify perishables from Essential
Commodities Act
Dedicated micro-irrigation fund to be created with a
corpus of Rs 5000 crore.
National Testing agency to conduct all examinations
in higher education, freeing CBSE and other agencies
Participation of women in MNREGA increased to 55
per cent from 45 per cent in past
1 crore households to be brought out of poverty under
Antodya Scheme
Govt to set up dairy processing fund of Rs 8,000 crore
over three years with initial corpus of Rs 2,000 crore.
27,000 crore on to be spend on PMGSY; 1 crore
houses to be completed by 2017-18 for houseless
100 per cent electrification of villages to be completed
by May 2018
PM Awas Yojana allocation raised from Rs 15,000
crore to Rs 23,000 crore.
provide safe drinking water to 28,000 arsenic and
fluoride affected habitations.
In higher education, will undertake reforms in UGC,
give autonomy to colleges and institutions
The allocation for rural agri and allied sector in 2017-
18 is record Rs 1,81,223 crore
PM Kaushal Kendras will be extended to 600
districts; 100 international skill centres to be opened
to help people get jobs abroad.
Rs 500 cr allocated to set up Mahila Shakti Kendras;
Allocation raised from Rs 1.56 lakh cr to Rs 1.84 lakh
cr for women & child welfare.
National Housing Bank will refinance individual
loans worth Rs 20,000 crore in 2017-18.
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1.5 lakh health sub centres to be converted to Health
Wellness Centres.
New rules regarding medical devices will be devised
to reduce their cost
Two new AIIMS to be set up Jharkhand and Gujarat
Model Shops and Establishment Bill to open up
additional opportunities for employment of women
For senior citizens, Aadhaar based health cards will
be issued.
35 per cent increase in allocation for SC to Rs 52,393
crore
Allocation for SCs increased from Rs 38,833 cr to Rs
52,393 crore, a rise of 35 per cent
Capital and development expenditure pegged at Rs
1.31 lakh crore for railways in 2017-18 from Budget
Total allocation for rural, agri and allied sectors for
2017-18 is a record Rs 1,87,223 crore, up 24 per cent
from last year
Railway line of 3,500 km will be commissioned in
2017-18 as against 2,800 km in 2016-17
A scheme for senior citizens to ensure 8 per cent
guaranteed returns
Rs 1 lakh cr corpus for railway safety fund over five
years
Unmanned railway level crossings to be eliminated by
2020
500 stations will be differently abled by providing
lifts and escalators
Government proposes Coach Mitra facility to redress
grievances related to rail coaches
Select airports in tier-II cities to be taken up for
operations, development on PPP mode
Delhi and Jaipur to have solid waste management
plants and five more to be set up later
Service charge on e-tickets booked through IRCTC
will be withdrawn
Railway tariffs to be fixed on the basis of cost, social
obligation and competition.
New metro rail policy to be unveiled
Crude oil strategic reserves to be set up in Odisha and
Rajasthan apart from 3 already constructed
For transport sector, including railways, road and
shipping, government provides Rs 2.41 lakh crore.
Budget allocation for highways stepped up to Rs
64,000 crore in FY18 from Rs 57,676 crore.
Allocation of Rs 10,000 crore for Bharat Net project
for providing high-speed broadband in FY18
Coverage of Fasal Bima Yojana to go up from 30 per
cent of cropped area to 40 per cent in 2017-18 and 50
per cent next year
Digi Gaon will be launched to promote tele-medicine
and education
Dedicated micro-irrigation fund to be set up by
NABARD to achieve mission of Per Drop, More
Crop.
Second phase of solar power development to be taken
up with an aim of generating 20,000 MW
Trade Infrastructure Export Scheme to be launched in
2017-18; total allocation for infra at record Rs 3.96
lakh crore.
Foreign Investment Promotion Board will be abolished.
Over 90 per cent of FDI proposls are now processed
through automatic route
Rs 2,74,114 crore allocated for defence expenditure,
excluding pension; This includes Rs 86,000 crore for
defence capital.
Govt to further liberalise FDI policy
Dispute resolution in infrastructure projects in PPP
mode will be institutionalised
Computer emergency response team to be set for
cyber security of financial sector.
Govt will amend the Multi-state Cooperative Act to
protect the poor and gullible investors
Integrated public sector oil major to be created to
match global giants
More funds beyond Rs 10,000 crore for
recapitalisation of banks will be provided if needed
Of 76 lakh individuals who reported income of over
Rs 5 lakh, 56 lakh are salaried
New ETF with diverse stocks will be launched in
2017-18
The shares of railway CPSCs like IRCTC and IRFC
to be listed on various stock exchanges
Govt to double lending target under PM Mudra
Yojana to Rs 2,44,000 crore for 2017-18
Govt to introduce two new schemes to promote BHIM
App -referal bonus for users and cash back for traders.
A proposal to receive all government receipts beyond
a certain threshold through e-modes under
consideration
3 yr period for long-term capital gains tax on
immovalble property reduced to 2 years; base year
indexation shifted from 1.4.1981 to 1.4.2001
Payment regulatory board to be set up in RBI to
regulate electronic payments, replacing Board for
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Regulation and Supervision in Payments and
Settlements System.
FRBM review committee has recommended 60 per
cent debt to GDP ratio; 0.5 per cent of GDP deviation
from stipulated fiscal deficit targets
Govt considering option to amend Negotiable
Instruments Act to ensure that holders of dishonoured
cheques get payment.
Govt to set up a web-based interactive platform for
defence pensioners
Head post offices to issue passports
Capital expenditure stepped up by 25.4 per cent in
FY18 over previous year.
Maximum amount of cash donation a political party
can receive will be Rs 2000 from any one source as
part of effort to clean political funding.
Political parties can receive donations in cheque,
electronic mode; electoral bonds to be issued by RBI
FPI to be exempt from indirect transfer provisions
Customs duty on LNG halved to 2.5 per cent
With abolition of plan and non-plan expenditure, the
govt’s focus is on revenue and capital expenditure
Govt pegs fiscal deficit target at 3.2 per cent for 2017-
18 and 3 per cent for next year.
Revenue deficit reduced to 2.1 per cent from 2.3 per
cent for 2016-17
Direct tax collection not commensurate with income
and expenditure pattern
Of 3.7 cr individuals who filed tax returns in 2015-16,
99 lakh showed income below exemption limit.
Income Tax rate cut to 5 per cent for individuals
having income between Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh,
Earlier it was 10 percent
10 per cent surcharge on individual income above Rs
50 lakh and upto Rs 1 crore to make up for Rs 15,000
crore loss of due to cut in personal I-T rate.
5 per cent surcharge on income above Rs 1 crore to
continue
Government earmarks another Rs 10,000 crore for
recapitalisation into PSBs
Hit by mounting non-performing assets (NPAs) and losses, the
government will pump in Rs 10,000 crore into public sector
banks (PSBs) in the next financial year to meet their capital
requirements and bail them out from a financial mess.
This amount is being given under mission Indradhanush,
launched in 2015.
Under this, Government will invest Rs. 70,000 in PSBs in
next four years.
Govt proposes setting up of Payments Regulatory Board
under RBI
The government, keen on
promoting digital
payments, will form a
separate regulator for the
payments industry to
resolve disputes, ensure
customer protection.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley has called for an overhaul of
the Payment and Settlements Act 2007 to create the
Payments Regulatory Board. He said the board would be
under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
India's GDP growth likely at 7.1% in 2017-18: HSBC
India is expected to clock a GDP growth of 7.1 per cent in
2017-18 as the country gets sufficiently remonetised and the
schemes in the Budget play a supportive role, says an HSBC
report.
The uptick in the growth numbers would be largely driven
by the remonetisation process which is expected by April
end as this in turn would boost the consumption levels in
the country.
Growth numbers will be largely consumption driven as
investment is expected to be a drag.
RBI to soon put new Rs 100 banknotes in circulation
The Reserve Bank will soon put into circulation new Rs 100
banknotes which will be similar to the design of the ones in
Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005.
The Reserve Bank will shortly issue Rs 100 denomination
banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, bearing
the signature of Dr Urjit R Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank
of India," RBI said in a notification.
The year of printing '2017' will be on the reverse of the
banknote.
All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 100 issued by
the Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender, RBI
added.
Rs 10,000 penalty for late filing of income tax returns
The budget has however proposed a fee for delayed filing of
income tax return.
If the income tax return is furnished after the due date but
on or before the December 31 of the assessment year, there
will be a fine of Rs 5,000 imposed. In other cases, there
will be an imposition of a fine of Rs 10,000.
However, in a case where the total income does not exceed
Rs 5 lakh, the Budget proposed that the fee amount shall
not exceed Rs 1,000.
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RBI gives freedom to Banks to fix Bank Service Charges
for Transactions
In a major move to promote cashless transactions in the
country, the Reserve Bank of India has given banks the
freedom to fix bank service charges for transactions.
The RBI has deregulated interest rates on credit card dues.
Interest rates are determined by banks with the approval of
their respective Board of Directors subject to regulatory
guidelines on the interest rate on advances issued by RBI
from time to time.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) has approved a scheme for giving 0.5 percent
incentive on payments made through the Aadhaar Enabled
Payment System (AEPS) to merchants.
With regards to debit card transactions on PoS devices,
between January 1 and March 31, 2017, Merchant
Discount Rate (MDR) has been capped at 0.25 percent for
transaction value between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 2,000, MDR
has been capped at 0.5 percent.
Chinese banks outpace US banks
There has been a major change in global banking, says the 2017
Brand Finance Banking 500 report. For the first time, a non-
western brand tops the ranking.
Chinese banks’ brand value growth has been rapidly
outpacing that of European and North American
competitors.
Already the world’s biggest bank by assets, ICBC’s brand
value has grown 32% year on year to a total of $47.8
billion.
Three Indian banks are in hundred most valuable banks.
SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI ranked 51st,74th and 86th
respectively.
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank to commenced banking
The UK's CDC Group-backed Ujjivan Small Finance Bank is
going to open its first set of branches for public transaction on
Monday and start rolling out branch network across India from
next fiscal.
The bank is operationally ready since February 1 but
customer transaction will commence only on February 6.
Corporation Bank inks pact with Religare Health
Insurance
Corporation Bank has entered into agreement with Religare
Health Insurance Co to market its products and services
through the distribution network of the Bank across India.
The Bank holds around 5% stake in Religare Health
Insurance.
Corporation Bank is a Mangalore-based mid-sized public
sector bank which was established in 1906.
Bank of Maharashtra ties up with Cigna TTK
Public sector lender Bank of Maharashtra has partnered with
insurance company Cigna TTK Health to market the insurer’s
products in the bank’s branches across the entire country.
Under the agreement, the bank will offer the all of Cigna
TTK’s superior health insurance products to its 2 crore
customers through its network of over 1,896 branches.
Axis Bank ties up with Earthport
India's third largest private bank, Axis Bank has tied up with
Earthport Plc, a cross-border payment network, to enable faster
outbound cross-border payments for its customers through
Earthport’s state-of-the-art global payments network.
Axis Bank has become the first bank in India to connect
with Earthport’s global payments network, which spans
over 60 countries.
This agreement also marks Earthport’s entry into India, the
world’s fastest growing major economy.
Highlights of sixth bimonthly RBI monetary policy
Following are the highlights of the sixth bi-monthly monetary
policy announced by RBI:
Policy repo rate unchanged at 6.25%.
Reverse Repo rate at 5.75%
Cash Reserve ratio at 4%
Statutory Liquidity ratio at 20.50%
Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate at 6.75%.
Bank Rate at 6.75%.
Economic growth for FY17 lowered to 6.9%
Growth is expected to recover sharply in 2017—18.
Retail inflation in Q4 likely to be below 5%.
Inflation projected in the range of 4—4.5% in the first half
of 2017—18 and 4.5—5% in the second half.
RBI changes policy stance from ‘accommodative’ to
’neutral’
Excluding food and fuel, inflation has been unyielding at
4.9% since September.
The next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee on
April 5-6.
Bank of America opens branches without employees
Bank of America Corp has opened three completely automated
branches over the past month, where customers can use ATMs
and have video conferences with employees at other branches,
according to spokeswoman Anne Pace.
Bank of America has been reducing its overall branch
count to cut costs even as it opens new branches in select
markets.
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Federal Bank, Commodity Online in pact for agri loans
Federal Bank Limited has
partnered with leading online
data and information portal
Commodity Online for the
distribution of loans against
warehouse receipts and
collateral management services across the country.
Commodity Online will roll out an agri-commodity
financing platform through its flagship portal
www.commodityonline.com where farmers and traders
can track commodity markets and warehouses online and
get financing for their commodities quickly.
IFFCO partners Bank of Baroda to issue co-branded debit
card
Fertiliser major IFFCO has tied up with Bank of Baroda to
launch co-branded debit cards for farmers as part of strategy to
promote cashless transactions in the rural area.
IFFCO and Bank of Baroda signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) in this regard.
The pact was signed by Yogendra Kumar, General
Manager (Marketing), IFFCO and GB Panda, General
Manager (government relationships), Bank of Baroda.
IFFCO and Bank of Baroda would pool in their resources
to promote market and make accessible organised finance
facility at competitive interest rates for the farmers who
wish to buy the products of IFFCO and its subsidiaries.
ICICI Securities inks partnership with Denmark's Saxo
Bank
Largest retail brokerage ICICI Securities announced a strategic
partnership with Denmark-based Saxo Bank to enable
domestic investors enter overseas markets, including equities
and debt segments.
The partnership will enable ICICI Securities' 4 million
clients to diversify their investments outside of the
domestic market and access multi-asset investment
opportunities on 36 stock exchanges across 24 countries.
RBI to set up panel to strengthen security
In a bid to strengthen cyber security system, the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) decided to set up an inter-disciplinary panel on
cybersecurity to examine various threats and suggest measures
to deal with it.
The panel will review the threats inherent in the existing
or emerging technology on an ongoing basis.
It will also study adoption of various security
standards/protocols and also act as the interface with
stakeholders.
The committee will suggest appropriate policy
interventions to strengthen cybersecurity and resilience.
PNB Housing Finance limited & CREDAI-West Bengal
inks pact
Addressing the need of pacing up constructions with skilled
labour that would result in quicker delivery and hand overs,
PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNBHFL) has signed an MOU
with CREDAI West Bengal to train 1000 construction workers
in Kolkata and nearby villages.
CREDAI-Bengal would also be setting up permanent (off-
site) skill development centres in Medinipur and
Murshidabad - places with huge concentration of
construction labour.
50% of the training cost is to be borne by the West Bengal
State Government and PNBHFL, while the remaining 50%
while would be borne by the developer at the construction
site from where workers would be trained.
IDFC Bank, IndiaLends tie-up for loan services to 1st
timers
Private sector lender IDFC Bank has collaborated with fintech
startup IndiaLends to enable first time borrowers who do not
have a credit history to take loans.
IDFC Bank said it is a differentiated personal loan solution
which will offer instant loans approvals through a
completely digitised process to first time borrowers.
Govt sells 2% in ITC held through SUUTI, raises Rs 6,700
cr
The government raised Rs 6,700 crore through sale of 2 per
cent stake in tobacco-to-FMCG firm ITC, held through
Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).
The transaction took place through block deals with Life
Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) picking up the entire
chunk on offer at a price of Rs 275.85 a piece.
SUUTI, which was created to take over part of the assets
and liabilities of the now-defunct Unit Trust of India, held
11.17 per cent stake in ITC.
BoB to finance small units in diamond sector at
concessional rates
To give a leg up to micro, small and medium enterprises in the
diamond industry, Bank of Baroda is planning to launch a
supply chain financing product for the industry on a pilot basis
in Surat.
Cutting and polishing units, which procure roughs from large
companies and supply finished products back, will be provided
finance at a competitive rate of interest.
24 WiFiStudy.com
This move is expected to give a boost to MSMEs as well as the
corporate segment within the diamond industry.
The product will be launched in the next 10-20 days.
Headquarters: Vadodara
Founded: 20 July 1908
CEO and MD: PS Jayakumar
Chairman: Ravi Venkatesan
Hindustan Motors sells iconic Ambassador car brand to
Peugeot
Ambassador, the iconic Indian car brand that till less than a
decade ago carried both the Prime Minister and the common
man, is being sold to French carmaker Peugeot.
The C K Birla Group-owned Hindustan Motors formalised
the deal for Rs 80 crore.
Production of Ambassador cars had stopped around three
years ago.
The Ambassador brand was introduced seven decades ago
when Hindustan Motors launched the Morris Oxford
series II (Landmaster) in a new avatar with minor changes.
It quickly became a national icon and continued to
dominate Indian roads till the 1980s, when the Maruti 800
exposed its inadequacies.
HDFC Bank goes live on Bharat Bill Payment System
Private sector lender HDFC Bank
said that it has gone live on Bharat
Bill Payment System (BBPS) for
HDFC Bank’s Net Banking for
customers. It is the first bank to do
so.
BBPS is a centralized system
created by National Payments Corporation of India
involving banks and non-banks, which allows agents to
access bill payments services in an interoperable manner.
Customers can now pay their utility bills like electricity,
gas and water bills instantly without registering the biller.
HDFC Bank customers can avail of BBPS after logging
onto the Net Banking page.
HDFC Bank
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 1994
Chairman: Aditya Puri
Tagline: We Understand Your World
Government allocates Rs 500 crore to IPPB for financial-
year 2017-18
Government has allocated Rs 500 crore to India Post Payments
Bank for financial year 2017-18 as it gears up to set up 650
branches across country by September 2017.
Government has allocated Rs 125 crore as “capital
infusion into corporate entity for India Post Payments
Bank” and Rs 375 crore as “grant in aid to India Post
Payments Bank (IPPB)”.
The total paid up equity of the new bank IPPB is Rs 800
crore, of which the government has already infused Rs 275
crore.
Payments banks can accept deposits up to Rs 1 lakh per
account from individuals and small businesses.
Catholic Syrian Bank’s ‘name and shame’ campaign starts
paying dividends
The ‘name and shame campaign’ initiated by Catholic Syrian
Bank Employees and Retirees against wilful defaulters in
Kerala seems to have started paying dividends.
Of the 30 defaulters identified by the bank with dues of
more than Rs 50 lakh each, 10 borrowers have already
approached the bank with settlement proposals, following
dharnas organised at 20 locations in the State.
According to EJ Kurien, DGM in charge of Asset
Recovery, the bank has already received firm assurance
for payments worth Rs 25 crore from defaulters.
IDBI Bank ties up with Consumerfed
Kerala State Cooperatives Consumers’ Federation
(Consumerfed) has tied up with IDBI Bank to facilitate
cashless purchases for its consumers.
Consumerfed runs a network of hundreds of Thriveni fair
price shops, Neethi fair price medical shops and some
beverage outlets throughout the state.
Consumers can now swipe their cards at these outlets.
More than 300 machines have already been installed.
A special IDBI Bank team was deputed to plan and
execute the scheme under the guidance of M Ramanunni,
Managing Director, Consumerfed, and M Mehaboob,
Chairman.
IDBI Bank
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 1964
CEO: Kishor Kharat
India Ratings cuts India’s GDP growth forecast for 2016-
17
India Ratings & Research, a Fitch Group company, has cut its
growth forecast for India’s gross domestic product (GDP) for
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FY17 to 6.8 per cent, lower than its initial estimate of 7.9 per
cent.
For the next financial year 2017-18, the agency expects the
country’s GDP to grow higher at 7.4 per cent, backed by
consumption demand and government spending.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) in its advance estimate
for 2016-17 had projected growth rate of 7.1 per cent.
HDFC life launches 'Pragati' plan for low income group
HDFC life has launched Pragati, a traditional life insurance
plan that has been specifically designed to empower low
income families.
Pragati makes life insurance easily accessible to every
person who wishes to financially secure his family.
With Pragati, HDFC Life wants to offer the dual benefit of
systematic savings (with guaranteed premium returns) and
wholesome life protection.
Government gives green signal to merger of SBI and its five
associate banks
The Cabinet approved a proposal to merge the five subsidiaries
of State Bank of India with the parent, kick-starting
consolidation among public sector lenders.
Two of the five associate banks —State Bank of Patiala
and State Bank of Hyderabad — are unlisted. Among the
other three, Mumbai-based SBI holds a 75 per cent stake
in State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, 90 per cent in State
Bank of Mysore and 79 per cent in State Bank of
Travancore.
A decision on Bharatiya Mahila Bank will be taken later.
RBI to reimburse MDR to banks on government payments
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it will reimburse banks
the merchant discount rate (MDR) on debit cards used for
payment of tax and non-tax dues to the government of India.
In a notification on its website, the central bank said the
reimbursement will be applicable from 1 January, 2017.
MDR is the commission paid by the merchant to the
acquiring bank for every digital transaction allowed by the
bank.
RRBs can now lend up to 2 lakh against gold
The Reserve Bank of India has doubled the quantum of loan
that Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) can give against security of
gold/ gold ornaments to Rs2 lakh.
Earlier limit was Rs 1 Lakh.
Such loans will be subject to the conditions that the period
of the loan cannot exceed 12 months from the date of
sanction; interest will be charged on the amount at
monthly rests but will become due for payment along with
principal only at the end of 12 months from the date of
sanction.
Further, RRBs are required to maintain a Loan to Value
(LTV) ratio of 75 per cent, that is, if the value of gold
ornaments pledged with a bank is Rs1 lakh, then it will
give a loan of Rs75,000, on the outstanding amount of
loan, including the interest on ongoing basis, failing which
the loan will be treated as a non-performing asset.
The RBI said crop loans sanctioned against the collateral
security of gold/ gold ornaments will continue to be
governed by the currents norms relating to income
recognition, asset classification and provisioning for such
loans.
Regional Rural Banks
Regional Rural Banks are local level banking
organizations operating in different States of India.
They have been created with a view to serve primarily the
rural areas of India with basic banking and financial
services.
However, RRBs may have branches set up for urban
operations and their area of operation may include urban
areas too.
Central Government held 50% shares of RRBs, State
Government- 15% and Sponsor Banks- 35.
These were set up on the recommendations of The M.
Narasimham Working Group.
Prathama Bank was the first bank established in 1975,
sponsored by Syndicate bank.
Citi Bank launches instant chat service for customers
Citi bank has launched instant chat services for customers
logged in to Citibank Online (CBOL) in India.
The real-time chat facility focuses on resolving queries
instantly, in a safe environment, across cards, domestic
and non-resident accounts, and loans, for clients as they
transact online.
India is the first country in Asia Pacific within the Citi
network, which spans 12 countries in the region, to launch
the generic chat capabilities.
Citi Bank India
India Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded in India: 1902
India Head: Pramit Jhaveri
IMF Launches South Asia Training and Technical
Assistance Center in New Delhi
The IMF’s South Asia Training and Technical Assistance
Center (SARTTAC) was officially inaugurated by Secretary
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Shaktikanta Das of India’s Ministry of Finance in New Delhi
on February 13, 2017.
Deputy Managing Director Carla Grasso and senior
officials from the center’s six South Asian member
countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,
and Sri Lanka) and development partners attended the
event.
SARTTAC is a collaborative venture between the IMF,
the member countries, and development partners.
The center’s strategic goal is to help its member countries
strengthen their institutional and human capacity.
International Monetary Fund
Headquarters: Washington D.C.
Managing Director: Christine Lagarde (France)
Founded: 27 December 1945
Members: 189
Parent Organization: United Nation Organization
Railway general tickets to be available in banks
In a major step towards easing availability of train tickets, the
Indian Railways will soon start disbursing tickets of the general
class from banks.
The railway board had started working on this in August
2016 and the initiative is said to be in its final stages now.
The Indian Railways and the State Bank of India are in
constant touch to work out the modalities for this.
The project will reach its final satges by April 2017 after
which a trial run will begin soon.
The Indian Railways is considering two options for this
new initiative. One is to make tickets available to the
travelers by installing an automated vending machine in
the bank premises. And the other is to make changes in the
ATM and link them with railway's ticket distribution
system.
Corporation Bank bags ‘National MSME Excellence
Award 2017’
Corporation Bank has been awarded once again ‘National
MSME Excellence Award 2017’ organized by the Federation
of Industry, Trade and Services (FITS).
D V Subramanya Varma, General Manager,
Corporation Bank received the award from Haribhai
P Choudhary, Honourable Union Minister of State,
Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in
New Delhi.
Corporation Bank
Headquarters: Mangalore
Founded: 12 March 1906
CEO and MD: Jai Kumar Garg
Tagline: A Premier Public Sector Bank
Canara Bank signs MoU with HRD Ministry
Canara Bank on Thursday said
it has signed a memorandum
of understanding with the
Ministry of Human Resource
Development (MHRD) to
operationalise the Higher
Education Financing Agency (HEFA).
In September 2016, the Union Cabinet had approved
the establishment of HEFA to give a major push for
the creation of high quality infrastructure/capital
assets in premier educational institutions.
HEFA has been jointly promoted by the Ministry of
Human Resource Development (MHRD) and Canara
Bank with an authorised capital of Rs. 2,000 crore.
Canara Bank
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Founded: 1906
Chairman: T.N. Manoharan
Tagline: Together We Can
Oriental Bank launches mobile wallet ‘Batuaa’
On the occasion of its 75th Foundation Day, Oriental Bank of
Commerce (OBC) has come up with several digital offerings
including launch of mobile wallet ‘Oriental Batuaa’.
Besides introducing a new version of mobile banking,
OBC has also launched two new cards.
The two MSME schemes that have been launched are
‘Oriental Sanjeevani’ and ‘Oriental Budget Hotels and
Restaurants’.
Karnataka Bank inks pact with Daimler India
Karnataka Bank Ltd has entered into a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with Daimler India Commercial
Vehicles Pvt Ltd (DICV) for extending finance to customers
for the purchase of commercial vehicles manufactured by the
company.
A press release said that DICV has nominated Karnataka
Bank as a preferred financier for the purchase of
commercial vehicles manufactured by the company.
Karnataka Bank
Headquarters: Mangaluru
Founded: 1924
Chairman: P Jayarama Bhat
Tagline: Your family bank across India
Dish TV partners with ICICI Bank for digital payments
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Direct-to-home operator Dish TV has tied-up with private
lender ICICI Bank for digital payments.
This alliance with ICICI Bank through UPI will drive
higher customer adoption and allow them to be a part of
the digital economy.
ICICI Bank
Established: 1994
Headquarters: Mumbai
Chairman: MK Sharma
MD and CEO: Chanda Kochar
Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khyal Aapka
Jewellery Purchase In Cash Above Rs. 2 Lakh To Attract
Tax From April 1
Cash purchases of
jewellery will
attract a 1 per cent
TCS (tax collected
at source) from
April 1, 2017 if the
amount exceeds
Rs. 2 lakh, as
against the current threshold of Rs. 5 lakh.
Once the Finance Bill 2017 is passed, jewellery will be
treated on par with general goods which attract 1 per cent
TCS on cash purchase of above Rs. 2 lakh.
The amendments will take effect from April 1, 2017.
Vijaya Bank, SIDBI ink pact to provide concessional loans
to MSEs
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vijaya Bank for
providing concessional finance to micro and small enterprises
(MSEs).
The MoU aims at promoting and strengthening units in the
MSE segment through concessional funding.
The MoU also envisages joint financing/co-financing of
MSMEs for meeting capital expenditure under the ‘SIDBI
Make in India Soft Loan Fund for Micro, Small & Medium
Enterprises’ scheme at concessional rate of 9.60 per cent,
along with working capital from Vijaya Bank.
Vijaya Bank
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Founded: 1931
MD and CEO: Kishore Kumar Sansi
Tagline: A friend you can bank on
SIDBI
Headquarters: Lucknow
Founded: 2 April 1990
Chairman: Dr. Kshatrapati Shivaji
Bharti Airtel to buy Telenor India
Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecoms network operator, said it
would buy Telenor (India) Communications Pvt Ltd, in a deal
that will bolster Airtel's footprint with additional spectrum of
43.4 MHzin the 1800 MHz band.
Airtel will buy Telenor's India operations in seven circles
- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar
Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and Assam, the
company said in a statement.
Telenor India’s operations and services will continue as
normal, until the transaction is completed, the company
said.
Centre clears Rs 5,700-crore hydro project to be set up in
Nepal
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Rs
5723.72 crore by state-owned SJVN Limited in the 900-mw
Arun-III hydropower project in Nepal, power, coal, renewable
energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal said.
Financial closure for the project is expected to be achieved
by September this year and it is scheduled to be completed
after five years.
The project will offer 21.9% free power to Nepal for 25
years and generate employment of around 3000 persons in
India and Nepal.
The project will be carried out by a subsidiary owned by
public sector company SJVN.
Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) is a joint venture of centre
and Himachal government. Centre holds 64.46 percent
shares while Himachal Pradesh holds 25.51 percent
shares.
Nepal
Capital: Kathmandu
Currency: Rupee
Prime Minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal
President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
Five associate banks to merge with SBI from April 1
The merger of State Bank of India’s five associate banks with
the SBI will become effective in the new fiscal year, the
government said.
In gazette notifications the government said the
entire undertakings of these five banks shall stand
transferred to and vested in State Bank of India
from April 1, 2017.
The combined entity will have a network of
nearly 23,000 branches, further increasing the
dominance of the country’s largest bank.
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ADB, India ink $500 million loan pact to expand power
connectivity
India and the ADB has signed a $500 million loan pact to
expand inter-regional power connectivity in the country, and
strengthen transmission system to accommodate renewable
energy-generation capacity.
The project, which is expected to be completed by
December 2020, will help build 800 kilovolt (kV) and 320
kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converter
stations and 765 kV power transmission systems in India,
the multilateral lending agency said in a statement.
The loan has a 20-year term, including a five-year grace
period with an annual interest rate determined in
accordance with ADB's LIBOR-based lending facility, it
said.
Karnataka Bank bags two awards at IBA Banking
Technology Awards
City based private sector bank - Karnataka Bank Ltd has
bagged two IBA - banking technology awards 2017.
The awards are, winner- best financial inclusion initiatives
[small bank] category; and runner up - best use of digital
and channels technology [small bank] category.
Oriental Bank ties up with Chola MS to sell insurance
products
The Public Sector Oriental Bank of Commerce has signed a
corporate agency agreement with general insurance provider
Cholamandalam General Insurance Company, for distribution
of insurance products.
Chola MS will offer a wide range of non-life insurance
products to customers of Oriental Bank of Commerce
through its branches.
The insurance products include motor, health, home and
travel, a company statement said.
Andhra Pradesh to develop Vizag as fintech hub, signs
MoU with Visa
Andhra Pradesh government has unveiled its plans to develop
Visakhapatnam as Fintech hub of the country and signed MoUs
with Visa and Thomson Reuters.
Visa, the leading global payments network, will help
transform Vishakhapatnam into India's first "less cash"
city.
This initiative is designed to provide the foundation for the
city to emerge as India's Fintech Valley.
The state government also signed a MoU with Thomson
Reuters for cooperation in Fintech initiatives in the state.
IDBI Bank set to get Rs 3000 crore bailout package from
govt
The government is all set to bail out IDBI Bank with a Rs.
3,000-crore capital infusion to help it maintain a healthy
capital-adequacy ratio and pursue credit growth.
The government has already said it is still open to bring
down its stake in the bank to below 50 per cent.
Other state-run banks will also require immediate capital
support, the finance ministry reckons.
"About seven state-run banks have reported net profit over
the past three quarters. There has also been substantial
improvement in recoveries done by some lenders,
including Indian Overseas Bank," he said.
On the other hand, IDBI Bank’s lending portfolio is mostly
in corporate segment and that is one of the major reasons
for surge in its bad loans.
IDBI Bank
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 1964
MD and CEO: Kishor Kharat
Tagline: Banking for All, Aao Sochein Bada
Dena Bank introduces Radio Frequency Identification
Card
Public lender Dena Bank has launched an RFID (Radio
Frequency Identification) card for its customers to provide
prompt and personalized services without any delay.
The card was unveiled at the hands of Bank chairman and
managing director, Ashwani Kumar.
RFID-enabled banking cards will help
Branch/Relationship Manager in identifying a card-holder
the moment they enter the branch and complete
information of that particular client will pop up on their
desktop.
Dena Bank
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 26 May 1938
Tagline: Trusted Family Bank
NCAER lowers GDP growth forecast to 6.9 pc for FY17
After RBI and IMF, economic think tank National Council of
Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has lowered the
country's growth forecast to 6.9 per cent for the current fiscal
on account of demonetisation.
A few days before demonetisation was announced,
NCAER had projected a growth rate of 7.6 per cent for
2016-17.
Earlier this week, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
lowered GDP growth forecast to 6.6 per cent.
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TCS among top three IT services brands globally
India’s largest software services firm Tata
Consultancy Services has broken into the list of Top 3 most
valuable brands in the IT services industry by Brand Finance,
the leading global brand valuation firm.
According to a release by TCS, the company was also
rated as the industry’s highest brand strength rating of
AA+ and contributes to 69 percent of the value of the
larger Tata Brand.
Over the past year, TCS has also been recognised for
running one of the most innovative marketing programmes
in Europe and featured as a top 100 brand in the United
States.
Apollo Munich enters into bancassurance tie-up with Dena
Bank
Standalone health insurer Apollo Munich Health Insurance
said it is expanding its footprint across the country with
bancassurance tie-up with state-owned Dena Bank .
Under the tie-up the bank will distribute customised
Apollo Munich Health insurance and personal accident
policies to the bank's 20 million customers nationwide.
Dena Bank
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 26 May 1938
CMD: Ashwani Kumar
Tagline: Trusted Family Bank
IDBI Bank receives the MSME Excellence Award 2017
IDBI Bank receives the MSME Excellence Award 2017 for
outstanding contribution in funding to MSME sector instituted
by Federation of Industry Trade and Services.
The award was received by Smt. Lalita Sharma, Chief
General Manager at the hands of Shri Haribhai P.
Chaudhary, Hon’ble Union Minister of State, Ministry of
MSME, Govt. of India.
IDBI Bank
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 1964
MD and CEO: Kishor Kharat
Tagline: Banking for All, Aao Sochein Bada
Lakshmi Vilas Bank ties with Centrum for its wealthy
clients
South-based Lakshmi Vilas has roped in Centrum group, a
leading financial services company, which will now mange the
bank’s wealthy clients.
Centrum Wealth Management currently has assets under
advise (AUA) in excess of Rs 10,000 crore.
It offers a bouquet of professional Wealth Management
Services which include investment advisory across asset
classes, portfolio management services and family office
services including estate and tax planning.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank
Headquarters: Chennai
Founded: 1926
CEO and MD: Parthasarathi Mukherjee
Tagline: The Changing Face of Prosperity
Dushyant Chautala is new TTFI chief
Dushyant Chautala was elected
as president of the Table Tennis
Federation of India (TTFI)for
the next four years at the
annual general body meeting
held at Gurugram.
M.P. Singh and Arun Kumar Banerjee will be the new
secretary general and treasurer respectively, according to
a release from TTFI.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Anushka Sharma becomes
female face of campaign
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Swachh Bharat
Mission' has now reportedly roped in Bollywood beauty
Anushka Sharma as its female face.
The 28-year-old actress has taken the responsibility of
spreading awareness about the same among women.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan is already doing his best to
make India a cleaner place by joining forces with PM's
mission.
PM Modi had launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Clean
India Campaign on October 2, 2014, and set a 5-year
deadline to usher in complete cleanliness in the country.
Chad foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat to head
African Union
Chad’s foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat has been
elected as the new chair of the African Union Commission,
pledging to place development and security at the top of his
agenda and streamline the organisation’s bureaucracy.
Moussa was chosen by the 54-member body at a summit
that has exposed splits over Africa’s relationship with the
international criminal court and Morocco’s readmission to
the union.
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He edged out his closest rival, the Kenyan foreign minister
Amina Mohamed, who had been regarded in some
quarters as the frontrunner.
Sanjeev Sanyal appointed India’s Principal Economic
Advisor
Sanjeev Sanyal, economist, author and former global strategist
and Managing Director of Deutshe Bank, has been appointed
as the principal economic adviser in the finance ministry.
A notification by the department of personnel and training
(DoPT) said Sanyal has been appointed on contract for a
three-year period from the date of assumption of charge of
the post or until further orders.
Sanyal, an alum of Delhi’s Shri Ram College of
Commerce and the University of Oxford, has worked
extensively in global financial markets.
The World Economic Forum named him the Young
Global Leader 2010.
Vikram Limaye named new MD & CEO of NSE
The National Stock Exchange (NSE), India's largest stock
exchange by turnover, named Vikram Limaye, Managing
Director of IDFC, as the new Managing Director.
The board of directors of NSE, chaired by former finance
secretary Ashok Chawla, cleared the decision.
He will fill the post vacant after the resignation of Chitra
Ramachandra.
NSE is in the process of going public. It has already filed
for its IPO and it likely to hit the market by March.
Government forms panel to improve Haj policy,look into
subsidy issue
The Centre has formed a six-member committee to give a
report on ways to improve India’s Haj policy and also look into
issue of subsidy to the pilgrimage in light of 2012 Supreme
Court order on gradually reducing and abolishing it by 2022.
Former Consulate General of India (CGI), Jeddah, Afzal
Amanullah has been appointed as convener of the high-
level panel, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs
(Independent Charge) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told.
Anand Kumar Gupta takes over as director commercial at
NTPC
Anand Kumar Gupta has taken over the charge as director
commercial at NTPC, the company said in a statement.
As director commercial, he will be responsible for the
activities relating to commercial, international and
domestic business development and consultancy business
of NTPC.
A 16 member expert panel constituted by M/o AYUSH to
prepare a Yoga Protocol for
diabetes control
A 16 member committee of
experts has been constituted
by Ministry of AYUSH to
prepare a Yoga Protocol for
Diabetes Control.
The Committee is headed
by Dr. H.R. Nagendra, Chancellor, S-Vyasa University.
Yoga is a part of adjuvant therapy.
Arun Kumar succeeds Richard Rekhy as KPMG India
chairman
KPMG India board has elected Arun M Kumar as chairman
and CEO to lead the India operations of the consulting and
accounting major.
He succeeds Richard Rekhy, who stepped down in
November last year following a large-scale exodus of key
people from the advisory team.
Earlier in January 2016, Rekhy had been re-elected for a
four-year term.
Sasikala to be next Tamil Nadu chief minister
AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala was elected as
legislature party leader by MLAs during a party meeting,
paving way for her to become next Tamil Nadu chief minister.
“Chinnamma all set to become the Next Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu,” AIADMK said in a tweet.
O. Panneerselvam proposed her name at the meeting of
AIADMK legislators, party leaders said “I resigned and
we elected Sasikala unanimously as leader of the party in
assembly. All MLAs are in support,” said Panneerselvam.
N Chandrasekaran elected as Chairman of Tata Steel
Board
N Chandrasekaran, chairman-designate of Tata Sons and
currently the CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy
Services, was elected as Chairman of Tata Steel Board.
On January 17, Tata Motors had appointed Tata group
chief to designate Chandrasekaran as its Chairman with
immediate effect.
Farmajo wins Somalia’s presidential vote
A former prime minister who holds dual Somali-U.S.
citizenship has been declared Somalia’s new president.
Incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud conceded
defeat after two rounds of voting, and former prime
minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo was declared the
new leader and quickly took the oath of office.
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Centre appoints 3 directors to RBI central board
The Centre appointed three part-time non-official directors on
the Reserve Bank of India’s Central Board for a four-year term.
The Central Government has nominated Dr. Rajiv Kumar,
Dr. Ashok Gulati and Shri Manish Sabharwal as directors
on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India for a
period of four years with effect from February 9, 2017 or
until further orders, whichever is earlier,” according to an
RBI notification.
In addition to this, the Cabinet also approved the proposal
by the Department of Financial Services for appointment
of three members on the local board of the RBI.
These include Prasanna Kumar Mohanty (Southern Local
Board), Vallabh Roopchand Bhanshali (Western Local
Board) and Sunil Mitra (Eastern Local Board), each of
whom have been appointed for a period of four years.
Government appoints IAS officer Ajay Tyagi as Sebi chief
The government appointed Ajay
Tyagi, a low-profile, senior
bureaucrat in the finance ministry
to head the Securities and
Exchange Board of India, the
country’s capital markets
watchdog.
Mr Tyagi will replace UK Sinha who will finish his term
on March 1, 2017.
He has been in charge of the capital markets division in the
economic affairs department since October 2014 and
headed the committee that crafted the draft code on
resolution of financial firms.
He has considerable experience in senior governmental
positions having served as joint secretary in the ministry
of environment.
SEBI
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 12 April 1992
The Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) is the regulator for the securities market in
India.
Hemant Bhargava appointed as LIC managing director
Hemant Bhargava has been appointed as the managing director
of Life Insurance Corporation of India.
Presently Bhargava is the zonal manager (I/C) in Delhi.
He has been appointed by the Appointments Committee of
the Cabinet as managing director from the date of
notification of his appointment up to the date of his
superannuation (July 31, 2019) or until further orders.
The top LIC management consists of the Chairman and
three Managing Directors.
Life Insurance Corporation of India
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 1 September 1956
Satinder Sartaaj chosen for UN project against human
trafficking
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has
chosen Punjabi folk singer Satinder Sartaaj for the Blue Heart
Campaign, an awareness project against human trafficking.
More than 30 artists from around the world — including
music director AR Rahman and singer Sonu Nigam.
Around 168 Million people are the victims of Human
Trafficking comprising 73 million children below the age
of 10 years.
Subir Dutta appointed as Ambassador of India to the
Republic of Madagascar
Subir Dutta has been appointed as the next Ambassador of
India to the Republic of Madagascar.
He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.
He was presently appointed in the Embassy of India,
Vientiane.
Madagascar
Capital: Antananarivo
Currency: Malagasy Ariary
President: Hery Rajaonarimampianina
Prime Minister: Olivier Solonandrasana
Task force set up to check tax evasion by deviant shell firms
In the latest move to curb tax evasion, the government has set
up a task force to monitor actions of deviant shell companies.
The setting up of the task force, under the co-chairmanship
of revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia and corporate affairs
secretary Tapan Ray, followed a meeting held in Prime
Minister’s Office to review the functioning of shell
companies to prevent their misuse for money laundering
and tax-evasion, especially post-demonetisation.
Harsh punitive actions will be taken against the deviant
shell companies including freezing of bank accounts,
striking off the names of dormant companies, invocation
of Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act,
2016, a finance ministry release said.
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has filed
cases against 49 shell companies after it was found that Rs
3,900 crore was laundered by 559 persons with the help of
54 professionals.
32 WiFiStudy.com
Also, Rs 1,238 crore cash has been deposited in shell or
dormant firms, post demonetisation, the release said.
Diego Maradona to get ambassador role with FIFA
Argentina’s Diego Maradona is getting an ambassador's role
with FIFA.
It wants to ensure the Argentina great "has a major role in
FIFA's activities to promote the game across the globe,".
The 56-year-old Maradona will be involved in "relevant
development projects," FIFA said.
Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
Aim: FIFA is responsible for the organisation of football's
major international tournaments.
Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
Founded: 21 May 1904
President: Gianni Infantino (Italy)
Secretary General: Fatma Samoura (Senegal)
Members: 204
Motto: For the game, For the world
Narinder Chauhan appointed as Ambassador of India to
Philippines
Ms. Narinder Chauhan (lFS: 1985), has been appointed as the
next Ambassador of India to the Republic of the Philippines.
She is expected to take up the assignment shortly.
She was presently Ambassador of India to the Republic of
Serbia.
Philippines
Capital: Manila
Currency: Peso
President: Rodrigo Duterte
Neelu Rohmetra: First IIM woman director
Dr. Neelu Rohmetra of Jammu University has been appointed
as the director of Indian Institute of Management Sirmaur,
Himachal Pradesh and she has become the first woman to helm
an IIM in that capacity.
Professor Neelu Rohmetra is currently the Rector of
Kathua and Billawar Campuses of Jammu University
Business School and is also the founder director of
International Centre for Cross-Cultural Research and
Human Resource Management (ICccR and HRM),
University of Jammu.
The tenure of a new director will be for five years or until
they turn 65 years of age.
Newly Appointed Directors are:
IIM Bangalore: G Raghuram
IIM Ranchi: Shailendra Singh
IIM Rohtak: Dheeraj Sharma
IIM Raipur Bharat Bhaskar
IIM Sambalpur: Mahadeo Prasad Jaiswal
IIM Nagpur: LS Murthi
IIM Bodhgaya: Professor Ganesan Kannabiran
IIM Sirmaur Professor Neelu Rohmetra
IIM-Visakhapatnam: Chandrasekhar Milawarapu
IIM Tiruchirappalli: Bhimaraya Maitri
Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey appointed as ICAI president
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has
elected Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey as president and Naveen N D
Gupta as vice-president. They have been elected for the year
2017-18, ICAI said in a release.
Vikamsey, who served as vice-president, has been a
member of the ICAI since 1985.
Gupta has been a chartered accountant for more than 20
years.
The council has 32 elected members and eight are
nominated by the Central government.
Tehmina Janjua becomes Pakistan’s first woman foreign
secretary
Career diplomat Tehmina Janjua was appointed as Pakistan’s
foreign secretary.
The first woman in the country’s history to hold the
foreign office, Janjua will replace outgoing foreign
secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.
Janjua, who holds masters degrees from Quaid-e-Azam
University, Islamabad, and Columbia University, New
York, is serving as ambassador and permanent
representative to the United Nations in Geneva, since
October 2015.
Sandeep Jajodia is new Assocham President
Sandeep Jajodia has been elected President of the industry
body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India
(Assocham).
The industry body, in a statement, said Balkrishan
Goenka, Chairman of Welspun Group, and Kiran Kumar
Grandhi, Vice-Chairman of GMR Infrastructure, have
taken over as senior vice-president and vice-president,
respectively.
Jajodia is the chairman and managing director of Monnet
Ispat and Energy, the statement added.
Assocham
Headquarters: New Delhi
Founded: 1920
Frank-Walter Steinmeier elected president of Germany
33 WiFiStudy.com
Germany's parliamentary assembly has elected Frank-Walter
Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, as the country's 12th president.
The position of president in Germany is largely
ceremonial, because the chancellor is the official head of
government and has a higher profile on the world stage.
Steinmeier previously served as vice chancellor and
foreign minister under current Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Germany
Capital: Berlin
Currency: Euro
Chancellor: Angela Merkel
Ravi Shankar appointed as High Commissioner of India to
Rwanda
Shri Ravi Shankar (IFS: 1995)
has been concurrently accredited
as the High Commissioner of
India to the Republic of Rwanda,
with residence in Kampala
(Uganda).
He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.
Presently he was High Commissioner of India to the
Republic of Uganda.
Rwanda
Capital: Kigali
Currency: Franc
President: Paul Kagame
Prime Minister: Anastase Murekezi
Norman Isaac becomes first Indian to be FIBA’s Technical
Delegate
Norman Isaac has become the first Indian ever to be promoted
by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) as Technical
Delegate (TD).
The sport's worldwide governing body recently confirmed
the appointment after Isaac, along with a select few
aspirants from across the globe, successfully cleared a
series of tests in Doha, Qatar.
As a TD, he will be assigned to any country except his own
and will be responsible for conduct of an entire event,
ranging from actual competition management to every
related aspect, from media arrangements to logistics.
France’s Jean-Pierre Lacroix named new UN
peacekeeping chief
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced the
appointment of Jean-Pierre Lacroix of France to head UN
peacekeeping for a year.
The UN’s political affairs chief, Jeffrey Feltman of the
United States, will remain at this post, also for a year.
The two positions of under-secretary-general are among
the most high-profile at the United Nations.
France
Capital: Paris
Currency: Euro, Franc
Prime Minister: Bernard Cazeneuve
President: Francois Hollande
Vikas Swarup appointed High Commisioner to Canada
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas
Swarup has been appointed the new High Commissioner to
Canada.
Mr. Swarup, a well-known author, became the MEA
spokesperson in April 2015.
He is expected to join his new post in Ottawa by mid-
March.
He will replace Vishnu Prakash in Canada.
Gopal Baglay, the present joint secretary in charge of the
Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran desk, will be the next
spokesperson.
Canada
Capital: Ottawa
Currency: Dollar
Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau
Tamil Nadu Governor appoints Edappadi K Palaniswami
as Tamilnadu CM
Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao has appointed
Edappadi K Palaniswami as chief minister.
The Governor invited him to form the ministry at the
earliest.
The governor requested the chief minister-designate to
seek the vote confidence of the assembly within 15 days.
Palaniswami has claimed that he has the support of 124
legislators, while the O Pannerselvam camp had that of
only 10.
Tamilnadu
Capital: Chennai
Governor: C Vidyasagar Rao
Formation: 26 January 1950
Ranganathan, Mehta appointed Non-Official Director in
IOB, PNB
T C A Ranganathan and Sunil Mehta were appointed as Non-
Official Directors in Indian Overseas Bank and Punjab
National Bank respectively.
34 WiFiStudy.com
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has cleared
their appointment as Non-Official Director/Non-
Executive Chairman in the respective banks for a
period of three years, an order issued by Personnel
Ministry said.
Mehta's appointment is subject to a condition that he
needs to resign from the board of State Bank of India
before joining the new post.
Punjab National Bank
Headquarters: New Delhi
Founded: 1894
CEO and MD: Usha Ananthasubramanian
Tagline: The Name you can Bank Upon
Indian Overseas Bank
Headquarters: Chennai
Founded: 10 February 1937
Executive Director: K Swaminathan
Tagline: Good People to Grow With
Eight Executive Directors appointed in various banks
Eight Executive Directors (EDs) have been appointed in
various public sector banks on the recommendations of Banks
Board Bureau. The appointments have been made for three
years.
Neelam Damodharan and Atanu Kumar Das: Bank of
India.
K Swaminathan: Indian Overseas Bank
Ashok Kumar Pradhan: United Bank of India.
P Ramana Murthy: Central Bank of India
Fareed Ahmed Khan: Punjab and Sind Bank.
M K Bhattacharya: Indian Bank
S Harishankar: Allahabad Bank
Renu Pall appointed Ambassador of India to Montenegro
Ms. Renu Pall has been concurrently accredited as the next
Ambassador of India to Montenegro, with residence in Vienna
(Austria).
She is expected to take up her assignment shortly.
She is presently Ambassador of India to Austria.
Montenegro
Capital: Podgorica
Currency: Euro
President: Filip Vujanovic
Prime Minister: Dusko Markovic
Shurozelie Liezitsu elected Nagaland Chief Minister
Naga People’s Front (NPF) President Shurozelie Liezitsu was
selected as a consensus candidate by the Democratic Alliance
of Nagaland for the post of Chief Minister.
Liezitsu will be sworn as the Chief Minister of Nagaland
on February 22.
Earlier Nagaland’s Chief Minister TR Zeliang stepped
down from his post.
Nagaland
Capital: Kohima
Formed: 1 December 1963
Governor: Padmanabha Acharya
Trump Chooses H.R. McMaster as National Security
Adviser
President Trump
appointed Lt. Gen. H.
R. McMaster as his
new national security
adviser.
McMaster will
take on the role after having served several tours of duty
in Germany, Southwest Asia and Iraq.
McMaster has a PhD in military history from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
FreeCharge CEO Govind Rajan resigns
Govind Rajan, the chief executive of Jasper Infotech-owned
digital payments platform FreeCharge, has resigned from the
company.
Former Housing.com CEO, Jason Kothari, who joined
Snapdeal last month as its chief strategy and investment
officer, will oversee the business operations of
FreeCharge.
Rajan, who had joined Jasper Infotech in July 2015, initially
held the role of chief strategy officer at Snapdeal. However, he
took over the top job at Freecharge in May last year.
Suman Saxena takes charge as the Whole Time Member of
the IBBI
Ms. Suman Saxena took charge as the Whole Time Member,
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).
Ms Saxena will look after Research and Regulation Wing
comprising Corporate Insolvency, Corporate Liquidation,
Individual Insolvency, Individual Bankruptcy, Research
and Publications, Data Management and Dissemination
and Advocacy.
She will also look after National Insolvency Programme,
Continuing Professional Programme, and Knowledge
Management and Partnership.
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Ms. Saxena served as a member of the Indian Audit and
Accounts Service for over 35 years.
Her last assignment was Deputy Comptroller and Auditor
General, where she oversaw three important sectors,
namely, defence, communications and railways.
She has also been the Director of National Academy of
Audit and Accounts.
Abhijit Sarkar appointed Vice President of Asian
Hockey Federation
Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) has appointed Abhijit Sarkar
as it’s new Vice Chairman and also the chief of AHF
Commercial and TV Committee.
Sarkar, who has been associated with the Sahara India
Pariwar since 2004, was appointed on the basis of an
Executive Board Meeting held on February 7.
Justice Sapre to head Cauvery Tribunal
Supreme Court sitting judge Justice
Abhay Manohar Sapre will head the
Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal
(CWDT).
According to Ministry of Water
Resources, Supreme Court Chief
Justice J S Khehar has nominated
Justice Sapre as the tribunal chairman on 16 February.
The post was vacant after the resignation of Justice B S
Chauhan following his appointment as Law Commission
chairman, in March 2016.
Before his elevation to the Supreme Court, Sapre served
as chief justice of Guwahati High Court and the High
Court of Manipur.
He also served as judge at Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
High Courts.
He was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court and
assumed charge on August 13, 2014. He is due to retire on
August 27, 2019.
The appointment of Sapre assumes significance since the
Supreme Court is set to hear the Cauvery case on a regular
basis from March 21.
CWDT was established by centre to resolve Cauvery water
dispute.
The president of Azerbaijan picked his wife to be vice
president
The president of oil-rich Azerbaijan picked his wife to be the
nation's first-ever vice-president.
President Ilham Aliyev, 55, named his wife Mehriban
Aliyeva, 52, as vice president after he ordered a
referendum last year to create the role and extend his own
term from 5 to 7 years.
The resolutions passed in September with more than 90
percent of the votes.
Azerbaijan
Capital: Baku
Currency: Manat
Prime Minister: Artur Rasizade
President: Ilham Aliyev
Somali president names Hassan Ali Khaire prime minister
Somalia's new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has
chosen political newcomer Hassan Ali Khaire, a former oil
company executive, as the country's prime minister.
The appointment was announced shortly before
Mohamed, also known as Farmajo, departed to Saudi
Arabia for his first foreign trip since his election.
The president has requested Somali citizens to work with
the prime minister.
Somalia
Capital: Mogadishu
Currency: Shilling
Government ropes in Shilpa Shetty as Swachh Bharat
brand ambassador
The government has roped in actress Shilpa Shetty as a brand
ambassador for the Modi government's cleanliness initiative
Swachh Bharat Mission.
The 41-year-old actress will feature in TV and radio
campaigns aimed at discouraging people from littering on
roads.
Soon, campaign posters featuring her will be displayed at
various places across the country.
Shetty is the latest entrant in the list of the mission's
ambassadors like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan,
Shankar Mahadevan and Sachin Tendulkar.
PV Sindhu set to be Deputy Collector
Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu,
who is the first Indian woman
athlete to win a silver medal at the
Olympics, has accepted a
government job which was offered
by the Andhra Pradesh
Government following her Rio de
Janeiro triumph.
The 21-year-old shuttler has been working with Bharat
Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) since 2013 and is currently
an assistant manager (sports) at its Hyderabad office.
36 WiFiStudy.com
Zeliang appointed Finance Advisor to Nagaland govt.
Former Nagaland Chief
Minister T R Zeliang was
appointed as Finance Advisor
to the state government in the
rank of a Cabinet Minister.
Mr. Zeliang, appointed by
the Governor P.B.Acharya, will receive the pay and
allowances and all other facilities admissible to a cabinet
minister, an official release said.
Mr. Zeliang resigned from the chief ministership on
February 19 for his decision to hold elections to urban
bodies with 33 per cent reservation for women and
subsequent incidents.
Birender Singh Yadav appointed as the Ambassador of
India to Togo
Shri Birender Singh Yadav has been concurrently accredited as
the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Togo, with
residence in Accra (Ghana).
He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.
Presently he is the High Commissioner of India to the
Republic of Ghana.
Togo
Capital: Lome
Currency: Franc
President: Faure Gnassingbe
Ustad Imrat Khan declines Padma Shri
Noted Sitar and Surbahar player Ustad Imrat Khan has turned
down the Padma Shri award as he believes it comes "too late"
and is not "parallel" to his "worldwide reputation and
contributions".
Imrat, 82, said he has mixed feelings about getting a
Padma Shri when his "juniors" have already received the
Padma Bhushan.
SpiceJet bags 3 Asian awards
Budget carrier SpiceJet has bagged three awards at the Asia
One Awards held recently in Singapore.
Besides, winning the 'Asia's Greatest Brands - 2016'
award, the Gurugram-based airline's chairman and
managing director Ajay Singh and chief financial officer
Kiran Koteshwar were also honoured with the title of the
'Global Asian of the year' and 'Asia's Greatest CFO 2016'
awards.
Indian-origin sculptor Anish Kapoor wins Genesis Prize
Renowned Indian-origin British sculptor Anish Kapoor has
won Israel's prestigious one million dollar Genesis Prize for his
commitment to Jewish values.
He said he would use the money to help alleviate the
refugee crisis and try to expand the Jewish community's
engagement in a global effort to aid Syrian refugees.
The prize committee, headed by Jewish Agency Chairman
Natan Sharansky, acknowledged Kapoor as "one of the
most influential and innovative artists of his generation".
Hyderabad surgeon Raghu Ram wins B C Roy award
Dr P Raghu Ram, president of
Association of Breast Surgeons
of India, has won the prestigious
Dr B C Roy national award for
'outstanding service in the field
of socio medical relief' for 2016.
The announcement was made by Dr Jayshree Mehta,
president, Medical Council of India, in a letter addressed
to Ram, who is also director, KIMS-USHALAKSHMI
Centre for Breast Diseases, and CEO, Ushalakshmi Breast
Cancer Foundation.
The award, the highest recognition for medical
practitioners in India, would be conferred on Ram by
President Pranab Mukherjee on July 1, observed as
Doctors day, according to a KIMS-USHALAKSHMI
Centre perss release.
GMR Hyderabad Airport bags CAPA award
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, which operates
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, has won the Centre for
Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Chairman’s Order of Merit for
its focus on environmental sustainability and becoming the first
airport in Asia Pacific to become carbon neutral.
GHIAL received the award during the CAPA 12 Annual
India Aviation Summit in Mumbai.
CAPA India is a specialist aviation consulting and
research practice in South Asia, with the region’s largest
team of analysts and a portfolio of more than 125 advisory
and research projects.
Sudarsan's tallest sand castle storms into Guinness World
Records
Glob-trotting sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik added yet another
feature in his cap by storming into Guinness World Records for
having created the world's tallest sand castle on Puri beach.
37 WiFiStudy.com
The official announcement was made by Guinness
authorities in the presence of state chief secretary Aditya
Padhi and other senior officers.
Sudarsan broke the previous record of Ted Siebert (45 ft)
by building a 14.84 metre high (48.8 ft) castle in the
backdrop of the Bay of Bengal in Puri.
59th Grammy Awards 2017
Album of the year: 25 - Adele
Record of the year: Hello - Adele
Song of the year: Hello - Adele
Best rap album: Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book
Best urban contemporary album: Beyonce - Lemonade
Best country solo performance: My Church - Maren
Morris
Best rock song: Blackstar - David Bowie
Best pop duo/group performance: Stressed Out - Twenty
One Pilots
Best new artist: Chance the Rapper
Best pop vocal album: Adele - 25
Best pop solo performance: Hello - Adele
Best R&B performance: Solange - Cranes In the Sky
Best R&B song: Maxwell - Lake By the Ocean
Best rap performance: Chance The Rapper featuring Lil
Wayne & 2 Chainz - No Problem
Best rap/sung performance: Drake - Hotline Bling
Best R&B album: Lalah Hathaway - Lalah Hathaway
Live
Best rap song: Drake - Hotline Bling
Best metal performance: Megadeth - Dystopia
Best rock performance: David Bowie - Blackstar
Best dance recording: The Chainsmokers - Don’t Let Me
Down
Best dance/electronic album: Skin - Flume
Best music video: Beyonce - Formation
Best country song: Humble and Kind - Tim McGraw
Best country duo/group performance: Pentatonix
Featuring Dolly Parton – Jolene
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
awards 2017
Best film: La La Land
Best Actress: Emma Stone - La La Land
Best Director: La La Land - Damien Chazelle
Best Actor:Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea
Best Cinematography:La La Land
Best Original Screenplay:Manchester By The Sea
Best Supporting Actor: Dev Patel – Lion
Oustanding debut by a British writer, director or producer:
Babak Anvari (writer/director), Emily Leo, Oliver
Roskill, Lucan Toh (producers)
Special visual effects:The Jungle Book –
Best Animated Film:Kubo And The Two Strings -
Travis Knight
Best Supporting Actress:Viola Davis – Fences
Best Adapted Screenplay:Lion - Luke Davies
Best Film non-English language:Son Of Saul
Best Production Design:Fantastic Beasts And Where To
Find Them
Best Editing:Hacksaw Ridge
Best British short film:Home
Best British short animation:A Love
Usain Bolt wins Laureus 'Sportsman of the Year' award
World's “greatest” sprinter Usain Bolt pipped the likes of
Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James to win the 'Sportsman of
the Year' trophy for a fourth time.
Simone Biles clinched the 'Sportswoman of the Year'.
Michael Phelps bagged the 'Comeback of the Year' award.
Formula One champion Nico Roseberg claimed the
'Breakthrough of the Year' award.
In other categories, Italy's Beatrice Vio clinched the
disability award.
Olympic refugee team won the Laureus Sport for Good
award.
Hindi Scholar and writer Surendra Verma selected for
Vyas Samman award 2016
Well known Hindi Scholar and writer Surendra Verma has
been selected for Vyas Samman-2016.
Mr Verma has been chosen for this prestigious award
for his novel Kaatna Shami Ka Vriksha : Padma
Pankhuri Ki Dhar Se, published in 2010.
The award instituted by K K Birla Foundation in 1991
carries a cash award of 3.50 lakh rupees.
Sunita Jain was awarded last year.
Lata Mangeshkar honoured with 'Legendary Award ' 2017
Indian melody queen Lata
Mangeshkar has been
honoured with the 'Legendary
Award' by The Brand
Laureate.
She says she is thankful
for her gratifying career
and well-wishers.
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The Brand Laureate recognises world-class achievement
in branding amongst individuals and companies.
India’s ‘Newton’ & ‘Aaba’ Win Big at Berlinale 2017
Two Indian films at the world renowned Berlin Film festival
bagged awards - Amit Masurkar’s Newton and Amar
Kaushik’s Aaba.
While Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton brought home the
CICAE Art Cinema Award in the Forum section of the
fest, Aaba won the Special Prize of Generation KPlus
International Jury for Best Short Film.
EDII wins International Mercury Award 2016-17
The Ahmedabad-based Entrepreneurship Development
Institute of India (EDII) has received the prestigious
International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17.
Instituted by MerComm, Inc, International Mercury
Awards, honor outstanding achievement in professional
communications in around 80 countries.
Katamati Mine wins Best Green Award
Tata Steel's Katamati iron mine has been honoured with the the
Best Green Organisation of the Year Award.
The award was presented at a function organised by World
CSR Day on February 18 in Mumbai.
Katamati iron mine has been engaged in environmental
protection efforts for years and has successfully
implemented Environmental Management System as per
the requirements of ISO 14001:2004.
Haryana: 42 sportspersons conferred Bhim Awards
42 Haryana sportspersons as the players were given the Bhim
Awards for their performances in the year 2013-14, 2014-15
and 2015-2016 in an award function presided over by Haryana
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at Haryana Raj Bhawan.
Khattar and Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki
conferred the award to sportspersons.
The players were given a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, an idol
of Bhim, a scroll of honour, a blazer and tie/scarf.
2016 Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik was
also given the award for the year 2013-14.
Dohmen, Naomi win International Hockey Federation’s
Player of the Year Awards
Male Player of the Year 2016- John-John Dohmen
(Belgium)
Female Player of the Year 2016- Naomi van As
(Netherland)
Male Goalkeeper of the Year 2016- David Harte (Ireland)
Female Goalkeeper of the Year 2016 - Maddie Hinch
(Britain)
Male Rising Star of the Year 2016 - Arthur Van Doren
(Belgium)
Female Rising Star of the Year 2016- Maria Granatto
(Argentina)
Male Coach of Year 2016- Danny Kerry (Britain)
Female Coach of Year 2016- Karen Brown (Britain)
Male Umpire of the Year award 2016- Christian Blasch
(Germany)
Female Umpire of the Year award 2016- Laurine Delforge
(Belgium)
Vivek Chaand Sehgal named EY Entrepreneur of the Year
2016
Vivek Chaand Sehgal, the 60-year-old chairman of auto parts
maker Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd, has been named Indian
entrepreneur of the year 2016 by EY.
Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani was honoured
with a lifetime achievement award for spearheading
India’s Aadhaar project as head of the Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
Sehgal will get a shot at winning the EY World
Entrepreneur of the Year (WEOY) award in June in Monte
Carlo where he will compete with business leaders from
around the world.
89th Academy Awards (Oscar Awards)
Best picture: Moonlight
Best director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Best actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Best actress: Emma Stone (La La Land)
Best supporting actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Best supporting actress: Viola Davis (Fences)
Best original screenplay: Manchester by the Sea
Best adapted screenplay: Moonlight
Best documentary short: The White Helmets
Best live-action short: Sing
Best cinematography: La La Land
Best score: La La Land
Best song: City of Stars (La La Land)
Best foreign language film: The Salesman
Best animated short: Piper
Best animated feature: Zootopia
Best production design: La La Land
Best visual effects: The Jungle Book
Best film editing: Hacksaw Ridge
Best makeup and hairstyling: Suicide Squad
Best costume design: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them
39 WiFiStudy.com
Best documentary: OJ: Made in America
Best sound editing: Arrival
Best sound mixing: Hacksaw Ridge
10th ESPNcricinfo Awards
Test Batting Performance of
the Year: Ben Stokes
(England)
Test Bowling Performance
of the Year award: Stuart
Broad (England)
ODI Batting Performance of the Year: Quinton De Kock
(South Africa)
ODI Bowling Performance of the Year: Sunil Narine
(West Indies)
T20 Batting Performance of the Year award: Carlos
Brathwaite (West Indies)
T20 Bowling Performance of the Year: Mustafizur
Rahman (Bangladesh)
Debutant of the Year: Mehedi Hasan Miraz (Bangladesh)
Captain of the Year: Virat Kohli (India)
Batting Performance of the Year (Female): Hayley
Williams (West Indies)
Bowling Performance of the Year (Female): Leigh
Kasperek (New Zealand)
Cricketer Andre Russell was banned for one year
West Indies all-rounder
Andre Russell was banned
for one year for a doping
whereabouts rule violation.
He was revealed to
have committed the
violation 11 months ago
after registering three
filing failures in 2015.
That constitutes a failed drugs test under World Anti-
Doping Agency (WADA) rules.
The 28-year-old Jamaican, who helped the West Indies
win their second World T20 title in 2016, will be banned
for a year from Jan. 31.
Lakshya Sen takes top spot in junior rankings
Lakshya Sen, 15, became the latest junior World No 1 of
badminton’s rankings, following in the footsteps of Siril Verma
and Aditya Joshi.
The Almora, Uttarakhand boy has been training at
Bangalore’s Prakash Padukone Academy.
He is the winner of u-19 tournaments in Switzerland and
Denmark, as well as international series in Pune and
Hyderabad.
Pankaj Advani pockets the National Snooker
Championship title
Champion cueist Pankaj Advani won the Indian National
Snooker Championship with a 6-0 win over Pandurangaiah of
Railways in a one-sided final.
He became the only Indian men’s cueist to be the holder
of all national billiards and snooker titles at the same time
India to host women's Asia Cup basketball
India will host two international events in 2017, the FIBA
Women's Asia Cup and FIBA Under-16 Women's Asian
Championship, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI)
announced.
The FIBA Women's Asia Cup will be held from July 23 to
29 in Bengaluru while the FIBA U-16 Women's Asian
Championship will be held from October 22 to 28 in
Hyderabad, a BFI statement said.
Sports Minister lays the Foundation Stone for the first ever
Para training center
Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Vijay
Goel took the initiative and approved a Center of Excellence
for Differently Abled Sportspersons at SAI Gandhinagar,the
first ever training centre dedicated for Para athletes in the
country.
Vijay Goel laid the foundation stone of Boundary wall for
the Center of Excellence Para Center at Sector – 25
Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Para athletes have won 4 medals in Rio Paralympics last
year.
Wisden Almanack 2017 features Virat Kohli on cover
Virat Kohli will feature on the cover of the 2017 edition of the
‘Bible of cricket’, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack after the
Indian captain's exceptional performances over the course of
2016.
Kohli had an exceptional 2016 where he finished as the
highest run-scorer with 2595 runs from 41 innings at an
average of 86.50 including 7 centuries and 13 half-
centuries.
Apart from Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian to
be featured on the cover of Wisden in 2014.
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The Almanack, which was founded in 1864 by John
Wisden, is considered the world’s most well-known sports
reference book.
England test captain Cook resigns
Alastair Cook has
resigned as England
Test captain after a
record 59 matches in
charge.
The 32-year-old
Essex batsman
took the role in August 2012 and led his country to Ashes
victories in 2013 and 2015.
However, during last year's 4-0 Test series defeat in India
he admitted to having "questions" over his role.
National Badminton Championship: Sourabh, Rituparna
clinches titles
81st Senior Badminton National Championship was held
recently in Patna. Here are the results:
Men’s Singles title: Sourabh Verma registered a 21-13 21-
12 win over Lakshya Sen.
The women's singles title: Rituparna Das registered a 21-
21 21-14 win over Reshma Karthik.
Men's doubles title: Satwik Sai Raj R and Chirag Shetty
registered a 21-17 16-21 21-14 win over Nanda Gopal K
and Sanyam Shukla.
Women's doubles title: Aparna Balan and Prajakta
Sawant registered a 21-9 21-11 win over Shikha Gautam
and Sanyogita Ghorpade.
Mixed doubles title: Satwik Sai Raj R and Maneesha K
registered a 21-14 21-18 win over Venket Gaurav Prasad
and Juhi Dewangan.
Russia banned from London World Athletics
Championships: IAAF
Russia will miss August’s World Athletics Championships in
London after their doping ban was extended.
Coe said Russia, whose 15-month ban from athletics was
prolonged at the IAAF’s Council meeting in Cap d’Ail
near Monaco, could not be reintegrated into the sport
before November.
Russia has been barred from international competition
since November 2015 following a damaging report
alleging that state-sponsored doping was rife in the
country.
Mission XI Million launched in New Delhi
Driven by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi´s vision of
making football the sport of choice in India, Mission XI
Million, the biggest school sport outreach programme was
launched here today by the Minister of State (I/C) for Youth
Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel in the presence of President
of AIFF Shri Praful Patel.
A first of its kind, the programme will encourage children
to play the beautiful game of football, gain healthy habits
and learn important life lessons in teamwork and
sportsman spirit.
The approach is to work with school principals and sports
teachers and encourage and incentivize them to make
children play football games on regular basis.
FIFA Under-17 World Cup: Official mascot 'Kheleao'
unveiled
With just 238 days remaining for th start of the tournament, the
official mascot of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017,
'Kheleao' was unveiled at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New
Delhi.
In a glittering ceremony attended by Sports Minister Vijay
Goel, the chairman of the Local Organising Committee nd
AIFF presidnt Praful Patel, the young and charismatic face
of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, a clouded leopard called
Kheleo, was introduced to hundreds of football fans.
The clouded leopard is an endangered wild cat whose
habitat extends from the Himalayan foothills to mainland
Southeast Asia.
Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
Founded: 21 May 1904
President: Gianni Infantino (Italy)
Secretary General: Fatma Samoura (Senegal)
Members: 204
Motto: For the game, For the world
India Thrash Pakistan To Win 2017 Blind World T20
Defending champions
India thrashed arch-
rivals Pakistan by 9
wickets in Bengaluru
to lift the Blind T20
World Cup title.
Chasing Pakistan's
197/9, India lost just one wicket and romped home with
nine wickets in hand to lift the coveted title.
Prakash Jayaramaiah stood out with a splendid unbeaten
99-run knock, while Ajay Kumar Reddy was the only man
to be dismissed for 43.
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The two teams had clashed in the 2012 edition final as well
with India emerging triumphant.
Blind World Cup 2017
Man of the Final: Prakash Jayaramaiah
Man of the series: Badar Munir
Host Country: India
Brand Ambassador: Rahul Dravid
Ashwin - the fastest to 250 Test wickets
Indian spinner R Ashwin has become the fastest to reach 250
test wickets in the game's history with the dismissal of
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim.
He bettered Dennis Lillee's record of 48 Tests by three
matches.
Among India bowlers, the fastest was Anil Kumble - 55
Tests.
Jamshed suspended from all forms of cricket
Left-handed opener Nasir Jamshed has been provisionally
suspended from all forms of cricket by the Pakistan Cricket
Board (PCB) for violating its anti-corruption code.
PSL chairman Najam Sethi had earlier stated that strict
action will be taken against those who are found guilty of
corruption charges in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
PSL has already been rocked by corruption scandal with
Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif being suspended from the
tournament with Mohammad Irfan currently under
investigation.
Adam Voges retires from international cricket
Adam Voges, Australian batsman, announced his retirement
from international cricket.
The Western Australia batsman has played 20 Tests,
scoring 1485 runs at an average of 61.87 - second highest
average in Tests after Don Bradman (Among batsmen who
have played at least 20 Tests).
He has also figured in 31 One-Day Internationals and
scored 870 runs with an average of 45.78 while 139 runs
in seven Twenty20 Internationals with an average of
46.33.
East Zone clinches Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2017
East Zone clinched the Syed
Mushtaq Ali Inter Zonal
Trophy wit their fourth
consecutive win as they
trounced West Zone by eight
wickets on the final day of the
tournament at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Set a target of 150, they polished off the chase in 13.4
overs after Virat Singh's 34-ball 58 and Ishank Jaggi's
stroke-filled 56.
Afridi announces retirement from international cricket
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi announced his retirement
from international cricket, ending an illustrious 21-year career.
The 36-year-old star had already quit Tests in 2010 and
ODI cricket after the 2015 World Cup but still skippered
the Pakistan Twenty20 team at the 2016 world
championships in India.
Nicknamed ‘Boom Boom’, Afridi had been a fan favourite
since he burst onto the scene in 1996, striking a 37-ball
one-day century against Sri Lanka in only his second
match to set a world record that was unbeaten for 18 years.
Afridi finishes his international career having played just
27 Test matches which yielded 1,176 runs with a highest
score of 156 and 48 wickets.
He played 398 one-day internationals with 8,064 runs, a
highest score of 124 while taking 395 wickets with his leg
spin.
His Twenty20 international CV saw him play 98 matches
with 1,405 runs and a career-leading 97 wickets.
India win silver at Asian Women's Rugby Sevens Trophy
India won the silver medal at the women’s Asian Rugby
Sevens Trophy having won five matches and lost one at
Vientiane, Laos.
In the seven-nation round-robin competition, India
defeated Laos 22-7, Philippines 12-5, Nepal 43-0 and
Malaysia by 26-12.
On the second day, India defeated Pakistan by 5-0 and in
the last match were beaten by South Korea by 0-29.
India to host Combined World Cup for shooting in 2019
India will be hosting the
Combined World Cup
for shooting in 2019, a
qualifying event for the
2020 Tokyo Olympics,
which will further boost
the country's profile as a
global shooting destination.
The National Rifle Association of India's (NRAI) bid was
approved by the International Shooting Sport Federation's
Executive Board in its meeting held in New Delhi.
Combined World Cup comprises all the three categories
— shotgun, rifle and pistol, and at stake in the 2019 edition
will be a number of quota places for the Tokyo Games.
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Adidas Ties Up With FIFA U-17 World Cup For Mission
XI Million
Sportswear giant Adidas has announced its association with
FIFA U-17 World Cup Local Organising Committee, coming
onboard as the exclusive performance partner for the Mission
XI Million programme.
The programme was recently flagged off by the Sports
Ministry and All India Football Federation in the capital.
The Mission XI Million is an initiative that aims at
reaching out to millions of youth across India to increase
participation in football and create a platform for them to
develop their skills.
ISSF World Cup: Pooja Ghatkar Clinches Bronze in 10m
Air Rifle Event
Pooja Ghatkar has clinched the women's 10m air rifle bronze
medal with a score of 228.8 in the International Shooting Sport
Federation (ISSF) World Cup.
China's Mengyao Shi won the gold medal with a score of
252.1, setting a new world record in the event.
Mengyao's compatriot Dong Lijie bagged the silver with a
score of 248.9 on day one of competitions.
Kalinga Lancers Clinch Maiden Hockey India League Title
Kalinga Lancers came out with a stupendous performance to
defeat Dabang Mumbai 4-1 and clinch their maiden Hockey
India League (HIL) title in Chandigarh.
The Lancers, who finished runners-up last season, went
one better to clinch the 2017 crown.
Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Wizards register a 5-4 win
over Delhi Waveriders to claim the bronze medal.
E. Ahamed passes away
IUML national president
and former minister of state
for External Affairs
Minister E. Ahamed passed
away at the Ram Manohar
Lohia hospital in New
Delhi. He was 78.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, 1996, 1998,
1999, 2004 and 2009.
May 2004 – May 2009 he served as the Minister of State
for External Affairs.
May 2009 – January 2011, he was Minister of State for
Railways.
Cricketer R. Raghavan passes away
Former Tamil Nadu left-handed batsman R. Raghavan passed
away after prolonged illness. He was 82.
Representing the State side in the 50s, Raghavan played
15 matches making 384 runs with a highest score of 79.
He played against visiting overseas sides such as a team
from Commonwealth and represented Mambalam
Mosquitos in the first division league with distinction.
Former CBI director Joginder Singh passes away
Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director
Joginder Singh passed away after a prolonged illness. He was
77.
Singh, who was the CBI director for between 1996-97 was
an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
He has been serving as an Independent Non- Executive
Director of Sunil Healthcare Ltd. since January, 2000.
Renowned fiction writer Bano Qudsia passes away
Renowned Pakistani novelist, short-writer and TV playwright
Bano Qudsia has passed away at the age of 88 years after a
prolonged illness.
She was widow of a great fiction writer and playwright
Ashfaq Ahmed.
After being married with Ashfaq Ahmed, she launched a
literary magazine “Dastango” with the help of his
husband.
Bano Qudsia’s most popular novels include “Raja Gidh”,
“Amarbail” and “Mome Ki Kalian”
Subhash Chandra Bose’s confidant colonel Nizamuddin
passes away
Colonel Nizamuddin, a close confidant of Netaji Subhash
Chandra Bose, breathed his last at his residence in Dhakwa area
of Mubarakpur, Azamgarh.
He was 116. He served as Bose’s driver.
Nizamuddin had been with Netaji between 1943 and 1945.
He reportedly last saw the leader on August 20, 1947 in
Burma. He could never meet Netaji thereafter.
Freedom fighter Racharla Samrajyam Passes away
Racharla Samrajyam, freedom fighter, died at her residence at
Vishakhapatnam. She was 98.
Samrajyam was inspired by the Quit India Movement,
when she was undergoing Hindi Pracharak training at
Anantapur in 1942. She quit the training programme and
joined the Quit India Movement.
She received the ‘Tamra Patra’ from the Government of
India in 1972.
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Sir Peter Mansfield, Nobel prize winner who developed
MRI, passes away
The Nobel prize winning physicist and Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI) pioneer Sir Peter Mansfield has died aged 83.
Sir Peter received the award for Physiology or Medicine
in 2003 for advances in using MRI for medical science.
Pandit Dharmsheel Chaturvedi passes away
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the passing away
of eminent thinker, writer and journalist Pandit Dharmsheel
Chaturvedi.
The sharp writings, wit and humour of Pandit Dharmsheel
Chaturvedi endeared him to a wide spectrum of readers.
He will be missed.", the Prime Minister said.
Hindi novelist Ved Prakash Sharma passes away at 62
Celebrated Hindi novelist Ved Prakash Sharma, who has 176
novels to his credit, died in Meerut. He was 62.
Sharma had also written scripts for about half-a-dozen
Hindi movies.
Mr. Sharma started his writing career at the age of 14 and
initially ghost written novels for others.
Former MP Jambuvantrao Dhote passes away
Former Nagpur MP Jambuwantrao Dhote, who always stood
for the cause of separate Vidarbha, passed away following a
massive heart attack. He was 78.
Popularly known as “Lion of Vidarbha”, Dhote was also a
legislator for two terms from Yavatmal district.
An ardent disciple of Subhash Chandra Bose, he started
his political career with the Forward Bloc and later moved
to the Congress in the late 70s before joining the Shiv
Sena.
Former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir passes away
in Kolkata
Hailed as one of the brilliant
judges of the Supreme Court,
former Chief Justice of India,
Justice (Retired) Altamas
Kabir passed away after
prolonged illness. He was 68.
Justice Altamas Kabir enrolled as an Advocate in 1973 at
Kolkata Bar Association.
He was appointed as a judge in the Calcutta High Court in
1990.
In March 2005, Justice Altamas Kabir was apponted as the
Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court before being
elevated as a judge in the Supreme Court in September the
same year.
Justice Altamas Kabir appointed as the 39th Chief Justice
of India on Septemebr 29 in 2012. He held the office till
July 18, 2013.
Norway Nobel Committee chairwoman dies aged 65
Kaci Kullmann, the chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel
Committee which selects the Peace Prize laureates, has died
aged 65.
Kullmann became a member of the Norwegian Nobel
committee in 2003, and was elected chair in 2015.
She was among the decision makers who honoured former
US vice president Al Gore (2007), former US president
Barack Obama (2009), Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo
(2010), and Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi
(2003).
Norway
Currency: Krone
Capital: Oslo
Prime Minister: Ema Solberg
Nobel-winning economist, mathematician Kenneth J
Arrow dies
Kenneth J. Arrow, the youngest-ever winner of a Nobel prize
for economics, whose theories on risk, innovation and the basic
mathematics of markets have influenced thinking on
everything from voting to health insurance to high finance, has
died. He was 95.
Arrow and British economist Sir John R Hicks shared the
1972 Nobel memorial prize in economic science for their
pioneering mathematical work on general equilibrium
theory, which says that there is an overall balance between
supply and demand in an economy as a whole.
Their mathematical models dealt with the factors involved,
such as when and where a product is sold.
He also was known as a mentor. Five of his former
students went on to become Nobel winners.
'Apollo 13' star Bill Paxton dies at 61
Hollywood actor Bill Paxton,
best known for his roles in such
blockbusters as "Apollo 13" and
"Titanic," has died at the age of
61, a family representative said.
The versatile Texas-
born actor was a
familiar face on US movie screens, with a string of
memorable credits to his name from a career spanning
several decades.
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Former Union Minister P. Shiv Shankar passes away
Former Union Minister P.
Shiv Shankar passed away
after a prolonged illness. He
was 89.
He became Law
Minister in the Indira
Gandhi Cabinet in 1980.
From 1985 till 1993, he represented the Congress as Rajya
Sabha member from Gujarat.
Shiv Shankar served as External Affairs and Human
Resource Development Minister.
He first became Governor of Sikkim in 1994 and later was
shifted to Kerala in 1995.
‘Game of Thrones’ actor Neil Fingleton passes away at 36
Neil Fingleton, a 7-foot 7-inch actor who played the giant, Mag
the Mighty, in “Game of Thrones” has died at 36.
The Tall Persons Club says Mr. Fingleton, who was
Britain’s tallest man, died due to heart failure.
Mr. Fingleton was recognized by Guinness World Records
in 2007 as the U.K.’s tallest man.
Salman Rushdie's new book, 'The Golden House', to
release in September
After Arundhati Roy, it is
now author Salman
Rushdie's turn to return to
the literary world this year
with his new book “The
Golden House”, slated to
be released in September.
The book will be published in India by Penguin Random
House which acquired the subcontinent rights from the
Wylie Agency.
Salman Rushdie had earlier won the Booker Prize in 1981
and Best of the Booker Prize in 2008 for his book
“Midnight's Children”.
Rajnath Singh releases the book titled ‘Veerappan,
Chasing the Brigand’
The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh released the
book titled ‘Veerappan, Chasing the Brigand’, written by K.
Vijay Kumar, Senior Security Adviser, Ministry of Home
Affairs.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajnath Singh said that Vijay
Kumar, who was the Chief of the Special Task Force
(STF) that was behind the killing of Veerappan during
“Operation Cocoon” in 2004, is a role model for the new
IPS Officers.
Book to chronicle Dream Girl Hema Malini's journey
Dream Girl Hema Malini's
incredible journey from an
actor, a danseuse and
filmmaker to a politician is
being chronicled in a new
book which will hit stores
on her 69th birthday this
October.
Billed as an authorised biography, 'Hema Malini: Beyond
the Dream Girl' is penned by author-columnist Ram Kamal
Mukherjee.
Amarinder Singh's biography 'The People's Maharaja'
released
Punjab congress chief Amarinder
Singh's biography, 'The People's
Maharaja', was released on 21st
February.
The authorised biography,
authored by Chandigarh-based
writer Khushwant Singh, sheds
a new light on the sequence of
events that led to the 1984 army action at Golden temple
in amritsar.
Speaking during a discussion after the launch of the book,
Amarinder explained the circumstances under which he
had resigned from the Congress over Operation Bluestar
in 1984.
He had, however, rejoined the party in 1998.
PM releases the book “Judicial Reforms – Recent Global
Trends”
The Prime Minister,
Narendra Modi, released the
book “Judicial Reforms –
Recent Global Trends” and
presented the first copy to
President Pranab Mukherjee.
Speaking on the
occasion, the Prime Minister said that India has to keep
pace with changing technology, and the new,
interdependent global order.
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Current Affairs Question 1. Benjamin Netanyahu is the first serving Prime Minister
of ____ to visit Australia?
(A) Israel
(B) Myanmar
(C) Cuba
(D) Malaysia
(E) None of these
2. Which of the following has been launched to prevent
cyber attacks?
(A) Cyber Suraksha Kendra
(B) Cyber Swachhta Kendra
(C) Cyber Sahayata Kendra
(D) Cyber Saavdhani Kendra
(E) None of these
3. What is the name of QR code system launched recently
to promote digital payments?
(A) Bharat Payment
(B) QR Digital
(C) Pay Digital
(D) Bharat QR
(E) None of these
4. Which Direct-to-home operator has tied-up with ICICI
Bank for digital payments?
(A) Airtel Digital TV
(B) Dish TV
(C) Reliance Digital TV
(D) Videocon D2H
(E) None of these
5. Jewellery purchase in cash above Rs. 2 Lakh will attract
what amount of tax from April 1, 2017?
(A) 1%
(B) 2%
(C) 3%
(D) 5%
(E) None of these
6. Which of the following has won the prestigious
International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17?
(A) Confederation of Indian Industries
(B) Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
(C) Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India
(D) Defence Research and Development Organisation
(E) None of these
7. Which iron mine has been honoured with the the Best
Green Organisation of the Year Award?
(A) Ratnagiri
(B) Bellary
(C) Sighbhum
(D) Katamati
(E) None of these
8. What is the name of the CEO of Freecharge, who has
resigned recently?
(A) Sanjay Baweja
(B) Manish Arya
(C) Govind Rajan
(D) Ajay Bansal
(E) None of these
9. Which state has hosted National Biodiversity Congress
2017?
(A) Maharashtra
(B) Tamilnadu
(C) Kerala
(D) Karnataka
(E) None of these
10. Which state has announced restrictions on the number of
guests to be invited and number of dishes that can be
served?
(A) Maharashtra
(B) Gujarat
(C) Jammu and Kashmir
(D) Rajasthan
(E) None of these
11. Government has approved increasing the capacity of
solar parks and projects from 20,000 MW to_____
(A) 45,000 MW
(B) 40,000 MW
(C) 30,000 MW
(D) 50,000 MW
(E) None of these
12. Which bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with SIDBI for providing concessional finance to micro
and small enterprises?
(A) Andhra Bank
(B) Canara Bank
(C) Corporation Bank
(D) Vijaya Bank
(E) None of these
13. Airtel has announced to buy which of the following
telecom company?
(A) Telenor
(B) Aircel
(C) Vodafone
(D) Idea
(E) None of these
14. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has
approved Rs 5723.72 crore to set up a hydro power
project in which country?
(A) Sri Lanka
(B) Nepal
(C) Bhutan
(D) Afghanistan
(E) None of these
15. Who has been appointed as the Vice President of Asian
Hockey Federation?
(A) Rajiv Shukla
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(B) Sunita Saxena
(C) Brij Bhushan Singh
(D) Abhijit Sarkar
(E) None of these
16. Who has been appointed as the head of the Cauvery
Water Disputes Tribunal?
(A) B.S. Chauhan
(B) Abhay Manohar Sapre
(C) Anand Sharma
(D) Kishor Sen
(E) None of these
17. Which country will host Combined World Cup for
shooting in 2019?
(A) Malaysia
(B) South Korea
(C) India
(D) Indonesia
(E) None of these
18. Which country will help India in developing missiles for
Indian Army?
(A) France
(B) Japan
(C) Russia
(D) Israel
(E) None of these
19. Which state has decided to set up International Ayurvedic
research Institute?
(A) Maharashtra
(B) Gujarat
(C) Kerala
(D) Andhra Pradesh
(E) None of these
20. Which University will help in encouraging
entrepreneurship in Northeast?
(A) Tezpur University
(B) Delhi University
(C) Nalanda University
(D) Mumbai University
(E) None of these
21. Merger of five associate banks with the SBI will be
effective from which date?
(A) 1 March 2017
(B) 1 April 2017
(C) 1 July 2017
(D) 1 December 2017
(E) None of these
22. What amount has been approved by Asian Development
bank to strengthen power transmission system in India?
(A) 200 Million Dollar
(B) 300 Million Dollar
(C) 400 Million Dollar
(D) 500 Million Dollar
(E) None of these
23. Which bank has won two awards at the IBA - banking
technology awards 2017?
(A) Karnataka Bank
(B) Canara Bank
(C) Oriental Bank of Commerce
(D) Indian Overseas Bank
(E) None of these
24. Which bank has has signed an agreement with
Cholamandalam General Insurance for distribution of
insurance products?
(A) Karnataka Bank
(B) Canara Bank
(C) Oriental Bank of Commerce
(D) Indian Overseas Bank
(E) None of these
25. Kenneth J. Arrow passed away recently. Who he was?
(A) Economist
(B) Mathematician
(C) Physician
(D) Both A and B
(E) None of these
26. Which country has become largest trading partner of
Germany?
(A) France
(B) China
(C) Russia
(D) USA
(E) None of these
27. Which country has launched military operations 'Radd-
ul-Fasaad' to counter terrorism?
(A) Iran
(B) Syria
(C) Afghanistan
(D) Pakistan
(E) None of these
28. Which state has become the second largest crude oil
producer in India?
(A) Rajasthan
(B) Gujarat
(C) Andhra Pradesh
(D) Tamilnadu
(E) None of these
29. Who is the Union Minister of Women and Child
Development?
(A) Uma Bharati
(B) Smriti Irani
(C) Maneka Gandhi
(D) Sushma Swaraj
(E) None of these
30. Andhra Pradesh government has signed a MoU with
VISA to develop _____ as Fintech hub of the country?
(A) Visakhapatnam
(B) Amravati
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(C) Karim Nagar
(D) Hyderabad
(E) None of these
31. Hassan Ali Khaire has been appointed as the Prime
minister of ____
(A) Syria
(B) Nigeria
(C) Ghana
(D) Somalia
(E) None of these
32. Which of the following is a brand ambassador Swachh
Bharat Mission?
(A) Amitabh Bachchan
(B) Shankar Mahadevan
(C) Shilpa Shetty
(D) Sachin Tendulkar
(E) All of the above
33. Which of the following has accepted the Deputy
Collector job offered by the Andhra Pradesh
Government?
(A) Saina Nehwal
(B) PV Sindhu
(C) Sania Mirza
(D) Sakshi Malik
(E) None of these
34. How many countries have been suspended from voting in
the UN General Assembly recently?
(A) 2
(B) 4
(C) 6
(D) 8
(E) None of these
35. Which city of Bangladesh will be developed by financial
assistance of India?
(A) Dhaka
(B) Sylhet
(C) Mirpur
(D) Chittagong
(E) None of these
36. Which bank will get Rs 3000 crore package from
government?
(A) Dena Bank
(B) SBI
(C) Bank of Baroda
(D) IDBI Bank
(E) None of these
37. Which bank has launched Radio Frequency Identification
card?
(A) Dena Bank
(B) SBI
(C) Bank of Baroda
(D) IDBI Bank
(E) None of these
38. Who has been appointed as Finance Advisor to Nagaland
government?
(A) TR Zeliang
(B) Sam Pitroda
(C) YV Reddy
(D) Arvind Mayaram
(E) None of these
39. Who has been awarded EY Entrepreneur of the Year
2016?
(A) Nandan Nilkeni
(B) Vivek Chand Sehgal
(C) Anand Mahindra
(D) Mukesh Ambani
(E) None of these
40. Pooja Ghatkar is related to which sport?
(A) Billiards
(B) Badminton
(C) Shooting
(D) Golf
(E) None of these
41. Bill Paxton has passes away recently. Who he was?
(A) Writer
(B) Journalist
(C) Singer
(D) Actor
(E) None of these
42. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled a 112-foot
tall statue dedicated to ‘Adiyogi’ at____
(A) Coimbatore
(B) Varanasi
(C) Ahmedabad
(D) Thiruvananthapuram
(E) None of these
43. Which state has inaugurated medical project RAHAT?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Assam
(C) Rajasthan
(D) Punjab
(E) None of these
44. RAHAT project is related to___
(A) Poverty Elimination
(B) Heart Attack
(C) Malaria Elimination
(D) Polio Elimination
(E) None of these
45. Which is the richest Indian city?
(A) New Delhi
(B) Mumbai
(C) Bengaluru
(D) Hyderabad
(E) None of these
46. What is India’s latest GDP growth forecast for for 2016-
17 by NCAER?
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(A) 6.6%
(B) 7.1%
(C) 6.8%
(D) 6.9%
(E) None of these
47. Which Indian firm is among top three IT services brands
globally?
(A) Wipro
(B) Infosys
(C) Tech Mahindra
(D) TCS
(E) None of these
48. Which film has won best film award at 89th Oscar
awards?
(A) La La Land
(B) Moonlight
(C) The Jungle Book
(D) Hacksaw Ridge
(E) None of these
49. Who has won best actor award at 89th Oscar awards?
(A) Leonardo Dicaprio
(B) Casey Affleck
(C) Mahershala Ali
(D) Damien Chazelle
(E) None of these
50. Which team has won Hockey India League 2017?
(A) Kalinga Lancers
(B) Dabang Mumbai
(C) Uttar Pradesh Wizards
(D) Delhi Waveriders
(E) None of these
51. Which state has lowest infant mortality rate?
(A) Kerala
(B) Goa
(C) Karnataka
(D) Gujarat
(E) None of these
52. Who is the Union Minister of the Railways?
(A) Suresh Prabhu
(B) Ram Vilas Paswan
(C) Mukul Dwivedi
(D) Sadanand Gowda
(E) None of these
53. Which bank has tied up with Apollo Munich Health
Insurance for Bancassurance?
(A) Dena Bank
(B) Vijaya Bank
(C) IDBI Bank
(D) Lakshmi Vilas Bank
(E) None of these
54. Which bank has won MSME Excellence Award 2017
from Federation of Industry Trade and Services?
(A) Dena Bank
(B) Vijaya Bank
(C) IDBI Bank
(D) Lakshmi Vilas Bank
(E) None of these
55. Which bank has tied up with Centrum group for its
wealthy clients?
(A) Dena Bank
(B) Vijaya Bank
(C) IDBI Bank
(D) Lakshmi Vilas Bank
(E) None of these
56. Who has been appointed as India’s ambassador to the
Republic of Togo?
(A) Renu Pall
(B) Ajay Singh
(C) Birendra Singh Yadav
(D) Yashvardhan Sinha
(E) None of these
57. Who has won 10th ESPNCricinfo Test Batting
Performance of the Year award?
(A) Ben Stokes
(B) Quinton De Kock
(C) Carlos Brathwaite
(D) Virat Kohli
(E) None of these
58. Who has won 10th ESPNCricinfo Captain of the Year
award?
(A) Misbah Ul Haq
(B) Steven Smith
(C) Alistair Cook
(D) Virat Kohli
(E) None of these
59. P. Shiv Shankar passed away recently. Who he was?
(A) Journalist
(B) Politician
(C) Actor
(D) Writer
(E) None of these
60. Neil Fingleton passed away recently. Who he was?
(A) Journalist
(B) Politician
(C) Actor
(D) Writer
(E) None of these
61. Longest elevated bike path in the world has been opened
in which country?
(A) USA
(B) Spain
(C) Sweden
(D) China
(E) None of these
62. 2017 UNESCO Natural Heritage Festival was held in
which state?
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(A) Gujarat
(B) Kerala
(C) Himachal Pradesh
(D) Madhya Pradesh
(E) None of these
63. Which city has hosted International coin fair 2017?
(A) Thiruvananthapuram
(B) Nasik
(C) Vishakhapatnam
(D) Hyderabad
(E) None of these
64. Indian Space Research Organisation has created history
by sending _____ satellites in a single rocket?
(A) 83
(B) 104
(C) 23
(D) 37
(E) None of these
65. Which state was was carved out of Darjeeling recently?
(A) Siliguri
(B) Jhargram
(C) Kalimpong
(D) Nandgram
(E) None of these
66. Which city is hosting 11th International Aero India 2017?
(A) Mumbai
(B) Bengaluru
(C) Hyderabad
(D) New Delhi
(E) None of these
67. Which country has elected Frank-Walter Steinmeier as its
President?
(A) Argentina
(B) France
(C) Uruguay
(D) Germany
(E) None of these
68. Ravi Shankar has been appointed as High Commissioner
of India to which country?
(A) Ghana
(B) Rwanda
(C) Norway
(D) Netherland
(E) None of these
69. Who has won Laureus 'Sportsman of the Year' trophy
2017?
(A) Usain Bolt
(B) Christiano Ronaldo
(C) Roger Federer
(D) Novak Djokovich
(E) None of these
70. Which country is hosting 2017 Cobra Gold Military
Exercises?
(A) USA
(B) Poland
(C) Thailand
(D) Philippines
(E) None of these
71. What is the name of the early warning system recently
inducted into Indian Air Force?
(A) Netra
(B) Trinetra
(C) Drishya
(D) Drishti
(E) None of these
72. Which scheme was recently launched by Khadi &
Village Industries Commission?
(A) Khadi Gaon
(B) Khadi Shahar
(C) Mera Gaon
(D) Khadi Swadeshi
(E) None of these
73. Which state has launched e-Prison project?
(A) West Bengal
(B) Jharkhand
(C) Assam
(D) Jammu and Kashmir
(E) None of these
74. Which telecom operator will provide pre-loaded Sim
Card to foreign tourists arriving in India on e-Visa?
(A) Jio
(B) MTNL
(C) BSNL
(D) Vodafone
(E) None of these
75. Which bank has launched ‘name and shame’ campaign?
(A) City Union Bank
(B) Catholic Syrian Bank
(C) IDBI Bank
(D) United Bank of India
(E) None of these
76. Which bank has tied up with Kerala State Cooperatives
Consumers’ Federation to facilitate cashless purchases
for its consumers?
(A) City Union Bank
(B) Catholic Syrian Bank
(C) IDBI Bank
(D) United Bank of India
(E) None of these
77. Who has become the first Indian ever to be promoted by
the International Basketball Federation as Technical
Delegate?
(A) Narendra Batra
(B) N Srinivas
(C) N Ramachandram
(D) Norman Isaac
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(E) None of these
78. What is India’s rank in Economic Freedom Index 2017?
(A) 141
(B) 123
(C) 147
(D) 143
(E) None of these
79. What is the theme of Global Investor Summit 2017 held
in Jharkhand?
(A) Invest Jharkhand
(B) Force Jharkhand
(C) Momentum Jharkhand
(D) Make in Jharkhand
(E) None of these
80. From which date, merchant discount rate will not be
levied on Government payments?
(A) 1 January 2017
(B) 1 April 2017
(C) 1 June 2017
(D) 31 December 2017
(E) None of these
81. What is the new lending limit for Regional Rural Banks
against Gold?
(A) 1 Lakh
(B) 2 Lakh
(C) 5 Lakh
(D) 10 Lakh
(E) None of these
82. Which bank has launched instant chat services for
customers?
(A) City Bank
(B) HDFC Bank
(C) Axis Bank
(D) Yes Bank
(E) None of these
83. IMF has Launched South Asia Training and Technical
Assistance Center in which city?
(A) Bengaluru
(B) Mumbai
(C) Hyderabad
(D) New Delhi
(E) None of these
84. Which bank has tied up with railway to sell general
category tickets?
(A) Punjab National Bank
(B) State Bank of India
(C) Bank of Baroda
(D) Corporation Bank
(E) None of these
85. Who has been appointed as the Chief Minister of
Tamilnadu?
(A) EK Palaniswami
(B) Panneerselvam
(C) VK Shashikala
(D) MK Stalin
(E) None of these
86. Which sailboat has been Inducted into Indian Navy on 18
February 2017?
(A) Tarini
(B) Saarthi
(C) Nauka
(D) Naiyya
(E) None of these
87. Which organisation has launched a communication radio
for the Indian armed forces?
(A) BEL
(B) BEML
(C) DRDO
(D) ISRO
(E) None of these
88. What will be the new tenure of the chairman of Securities
and Exchange Board of India?
(A) 5 Years
(B) 4 Years
(C) 3 Years
(D) 2 Years
(E) None of these
89. Which bank has won National MSME Excellence Award
2017?
(A) UCO Bank
(B) Corporation Bank
(C) Indian Overseas bank
(D) Canara Bank
(E) None of these
90. Which bank has tied up with Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD) to operationalise the
Higher Education Financing Agency?
(A) UCO Bank
(B) Corporation Bank
(C) Indian Overseas bank
(D) Canara Bank
(E) None of these
91. Who has been appointed as Non-Official Director of
Punjab National Bank?
(A) T C A Ranganathan
(B) Sunil Mehta
(C) K Swaminathan
(D) Ashok Kumar Pradhan
(E) None of these
92. Who has been appointed as the Executive Director of
Central Bank of India?
(A) Neelam Damodharan
(B) Ashok Kumar Pradhan
(C) P Ramana Murthy
(D) Fareed Ahmed Khan
(E) None of these
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93. Who has been awarded with Vyas Samman 2016?
(A) Raghuveer Choudhary
(B) Padma Sachdev
(C) Sunita Jain
(D) Surendra Verma
(E) None of these
94. How many new airports will be added to UDAN scheme?
(A) 25
(B) 50
(C) 75
(D) 125
(E) None of these
95. Which city is hosting Western Regional Agriculture Fair
– 2017?
(A) Jaisalmer
(B) Jodhpur
(C) Jaipur
(D) Bikaner
(E) None of these
96. Which city is hosting South Asian Speakers’ Summit?
(A) Indore
(B) Bhopal
(C) Vishakhapatnam
(D) Bengaluru
(E) None of these
97. Who has been appointed as ambassador of India to
Montenegro?
(A) Amrit Logun
(B) VIshal Shah
(C) Renu Pall
(D) Ashish Lodha
(E) None of these
98. Who has been honoured with 'Legendary Award ' 2017?
(A) Shahrukh Khan
(B) Amitabh Bachchan
(C) Dilip Kumar
(D) Lata Mangeshkar
(E) None of these
99. Which team has won Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2017?
(A) West Zone
(B) East Zone
(C) South Zone
(D) North Zone
(E) None of these
100. Ved Prakash Sharma passed away recently. Who he was?
(A) Singer
(B) Writer
(C) Journalist
(D) Politician
(E) None of these
101. Jambuwantrao Dhote passed away recently. Who he was?
(A) Singer
(B) Writer
(C) Journalist
(D) Politician
(E) None of these
102. Which volcano has became active recently?
(A) Deccan Traps
(B) Barren Island
(C) Narcondam
(D) Baratang
(E) None of these
103. India has sanctioned a soft loan of _____ Million Dollar
to Nepal for various infrastructure development
programmes.
(A) 320
(B) 340
(C) 400
(D) 540
(E) None of these
104. T. R. Zeliang has resigned recently. He was the chief
Minister of___
(A) Assam
(B) Manipur
(C) Kerala
(D) Nagaland
(E) None of these
105. Which bank has launched mobile wallet ‘Batuaa’?
(A) Indian Overseas Bank
(B) Canara Bank
(C) Oriental Bank of Commerce
(D) Indian Bank
(E) None of these
106. Which film has been awarded at the Berlin Film festival
2017?
(A) Newton
(B) Dhanak
(C) Aaba
(D) Both A and C
(E) None of these
107. Shahid Afridi, who has announced his retirement from
international cricket recently, is from which country?
(A) Pakistan
(B) Bangladesh
(C) Afghanistan
(D) South Africa
(E) None of these
108. Which team has won Gold medal at Asian Women's
Rugby Sevens Trophy?
(A) India
(B) Pakistan
(C) Malaysia
(D) South Korea
(E) None of these
109. Altamas Kabir passed away recently. He was ____ Chief
Justice of India?
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(A) 38th
(B) 39th
(C) 40th
(D) 41st
(E) None of these
110. Who is the author of the book titled 'Hema Malini:
Beyond the Dream Girl'?
(A) Vijay Lokapally
(B) Sourabh Duggal
(C) Malti Sharma
(D) Ram Kamal Mukherjee
(E) None of these
111. Which is the world’s largest arms importer country in
last four years?
(A) USA
(B) Saudi Arab
(C) India
(D) China
(E) None of these
112. Which is the world’s largest arms exporter country in last
four years?
(A) USA
(B) France
(C) Russia
(D) China
(E) None of these
113. World Day of Social Justice is observed on which date?
(A) 18 February
(B) 21 February
(C) 19 February
(D) 20 February
(E) None of these
114. What is ICGS AYUSH?
(A) Indian Navy Ship
(B) Indian Coast Guard Ship
(C) Indian Army Aircraft
(D) Indian Army Navigator
(E) None of these
115. India's first dedicated heliport will open in which city?
(A) Mumbai
(B) Chennai
(C) New Delhi
(D) Bengaluru
(E) None of these
116. Which resource kit has been launched recently for
adolescents, as part of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya
Karyakram?
(A) SAATHIYA
(B) SALAH
(C) SHIKSHAK
(D) PRASHIKSHAK
(E) None of these
117. Which bank has entered into a memorandum of
understanding with Daimler India for extending finance
to customers for the purchase of commercial vehicles?
(A) Karnataka Bank
(B) Yes Bank
(C) Indusind Bank
(D) Kotak Mahindra Bank
(E) None of these
118. Who has been appointed as Chief Minister of Nagaland?
(A) TR Zeliang
(B) Pawan Chamling
(C) Nabam Tuki
(D) Shurozelie Liezitsu
(E) None of these
119. Who has been appointed as National Security Adviser of
USA?
(A) Keith Kellogg
(B) H. R. McMaster
(C) John Bolton
(D) Michael Flynn
(E) None of these
120. What is the currency of Norway?
1. Franc
2. Dollar
3. Krone
4. Peso
5. None of these
121. Which country has become the world’s largest producer
of solar energy?
(A) Germany
(B) China
(C) India
(D) UAE
(E) None of these
122. Which country has hosted BIMSTEC Senior Officials'
Meeting?
(A) Maldives
(B) Bhutan
(C) Nepal
(D) India
(E) None of these
123. Which is the first state in the northeast to implement e-
Cabinet solution?
(A) Arunachal Pradesh
(B) Assam
(C) Manipur
(D) Tripura
(E) None of these
124. Which state has inaugurated first smart police station in
India?
(A) Maharashtra
(B) Tamilnadu
(C) Telangana
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(D) Andhra Pradesh
(E) None of these
125. Who has won Israel's prestigious Genesis Prize?
(A) Anish Kapoor
(B) Rajan Sheikh
(C) Salim Ahmed
(D) Anil Sabharwal
(E) None of these
126. Which bank has partnered with insurance company Cigna
TTK Health?
(A) Corporation Bank
(B) Bank of Baroda
(C) Bank of Maharashtra
(D) Axis Bank
(E) None of these
127. Which bank has tied up with Earthport Plc for cross-
border payments?
(A) Corporation Bank
(B) Bank of Baroda
(C) Bank of Maharashtra
(D) Axis Bank
(E) None of these
128. Who has resigned as England Cricket team Test captain?
(A) Joe Root
(B) Eoin Morgan
(C) Alistair Cook
(D) James Anderson
(E) None of these
129. Colonel Nizamuddin passed away recently. He was a
confidant of___
(A) Jawahar Lal Nehru
(B) Mahatma Gandhi
(C) Chandra Shekhar Azad
(D) Subhash Chandra Bose
(E) None of these
130. Which country has imposed a ban on Basant festival?
(A) Sri Lanka
(B) Pakistan
(C) India
(D) Nepal
(E) None of these
131. Which city has hosted Global conference on Nuclear
Terrorism?
(A) Mumbai
(B) Patna
(C) New Delhi
(D) Bhubaneswar
(E) None of these
132. Which state has organised 17th International Counter
Terrorism Seminar?
(A) Haryana
(B) Assam
(C) Manipur
(D) Gujarat
(E) None of these
133. Which portal has been launched to enhance transparency
and accountability as a part of the Ease of Doing
Business in the Mining sector?
(A) Urja Mitra
(B) KANSA
(C) TAMRA
(D) SWARNA
(E) None of these
134. Which is the first State in India to establish Cashless
System for distribution of food grains?
(A) Punjab
(B) Andhra Pradesh
(C) West Bengal
(D) Gujarat
(E) None of these
135. What is the new name of Dalhousie Road in new Delhi?
(A) Dara Shikoh Road
(B) Aurangzeb Road
(C) Akbar Road
(D) Shah Jahan Road
(E) None of these
136. Which bank has opened branches without employees?
(A) Bank of America
(B) JP Morgan
(C) Wells Fargo
(D) Citi Bank
(E) None of these
137. Which bank has tied up with Commodity Online for
agriculture loans?
(A) Federal Bank
(B) Bank of Baroda
(C) ICICI Bank
(D) HDFC Bank
(E) None of these
138. Which bank has tied up with IFFCO to issue co-branded
debit card for farmers?
(A) Federal Bank
(B) Bank of Baroda
(C) ICICI Bank
(D) HDFC Bank
(E) None of these
139. Ayala Water and Ecology Ltd., a company from ____
will contribute in cleaning the river Yamuna?
(A) Germany
(B) Japan
(C) Israel
(D) France
(E) None of these
140. National Science Day is observed in the memory of___
(A) Homi Jehangir Bhabha
(B) C.V. Raman
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(C) Jagadish Chandra Bose
(D) APJ Abdul Kalam
(E) None of these
141. Which card has been made mandatory for taking
foodgrain through the Public Distribution System?
(A) Ration Card
(B) BPL Card
(C) Voter Card
(D) Aadhar Card
(E) None of these
142. Who is the head of the sub-committee of Central
Advisory Board of Education (CABE) to look into issues
of girl's education?
(A) Kadiyam Srihari
(B) Sukhbir Singh Badal
(C) Chandra Babu Naidu
(D) Tathagat Roy
(E) None of these
143. Which of the following has signed an MOU with
CREDAI West Bengal to train 1000 construction workers
in Kolkata and nearby villages?
(A) ICICI Prudential
(B) Punjab National Bank
(C) PNB Housing Finance Limited
(D) National Housing Board
(E) None of these
144. Which bank has tied-up with India Lands for loan
services to 1st time borrowers?
(A) Axis Bank
(B) IDFC Bank
(C) Yes Bank
(D) Bandhan Bank
(E) None of these
145. The government has recently raised Rs 6,700 crore
through sale of 2 per cent stake in which company?
(A) ITC
(B) NTPC
(C) HUL
(D) Pawan Hans
(E) None of these
146. Which country has been banned from London World
Athletics Championships 2017?
(A) Russia
(B) Italy
(C) Uzbekistan
(D) France
(E) None of these
147. Racharla Samrajyam has Passed away recently. Who she
was?
(A) Journalist
(B) Writer
(C) Singer
(D) Freedom Fighter
(E) None of these
148. Which of the following week is observed from Feb 12-18
every year?
(A) National Disarmament Week
(B) National Voters Week
(C) National Awareness Week
(D) National Productivity Week
(E) None of these
149. Which is the World’s Oldest Working Steam Engine?
(A) Fairy Queen
(B) John Bull
(C) Invicta
(D) Royal Hudson
(E) None of these
150. Which bank will finance small units in diamond sector at
concessional rates?
(A) ICICI Bank
(B) Punjab National Bank
(C) Bank of Baroda
(D) State Bank of India
(E) None of these
151. Which car brand has been sold to French carmaker
Peugeot?
(A) Maruti
(B) Tata
(C) Mahindra
(D) Ambassador
(E) None of these
152. Who has been appointed as the chief of the Securities
and Exchange Board of India?
(A) Mukul Bhargava
(B) Ajay Tyagi
(C) Akash Yadav
(D) Hemant Bhargava
(E) None of these
153. Who has been appointed as the Managing Director of the
Life Insurance Corporation of India?
(A) Mukul Bhargava
(B) Ajay Tyagi
(C) Akash Yadav
(D) Hemant Bhargava
(E) None of these
154. Who has been chosen for UN project against human
trafficking?
(A) Satinder Sartaaj
(B) Sonu Nigam
(C) AR Rahman
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
155. What is the name of Official mascot of FIFA Under-17
World Cup?
(A) Zakumi
(B) Fuleco
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(C) Kheleao
(D) Zabivaka
(E) None of these
156. Which country is hosting naval exercise ‘Aman-17'?
(A) India
(B) Pakistan
(C) China
(D) Japan
(E) None of these
157. Which city is hosting ‘India Pharma 2017’ & ‘India
Medical Device 2017’ International Conference?
(A) New Delhi
(B) Mumbai
(C) Kolkata
(D) Bengaluru
(E) None of these
158. Which is the first bank to use Bharat Bill Payment
System?
(A) Yes Bank
(B) Axis Bank
(C) HDFC Bank
(D) ICICI Bank
(E) None of these
159. Who has been appointed as Ambassador of India to the
Republic of Madagascar?
(A) Subeer Dutta
(B) Narinder Singh
(C) Yashvardhan Sinha
(D) Renu Paul
(E) None of these
160. Who is the head of task force to check tax evasion by
deviant shell firms?
(A) Ajay Bansal
(B) Lily Vadera
(C) Tapan Ray
(D) Kishor Sahni
(E) None of these
161. Which Airport has won Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation
award 2017?
(A) Hyderabad Airport
(B) Delhi Airport
(C) Kochi Airport
(D) Mumbai Airport
(E) None of these
162. Who has entered in Gunnies book of records by building
a 14.84 metre high sand castle?
(A) Ted Siebert
(B) Sudarshan Pattnaik
(C) Ema Bellis
(D) Edmund Key
(E) None of these
163. Peter Mansfield passed away recently. Who he was?
(A) Scientist
(B) Singer
(C) Actor
(D) Writer
(E) None of these
164. Which Indian Airport is the 12th most busiest airport in
the world?
(A) Hyderabad Airport
(B) Delhi Airport
(C) Kochi Airport
(D) Mumbai Airport
(E) None of these
165. Which is the first warship to be fitted with solar panels?
(A) INS Vikramaditya
(B) INS Mormugao
(C) INS Kolkata
(D) INS Sarvekshak
(E) None of these
166. Which state has hosted National Women’s Parliament
2017?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Kerala
(C) Andhra Pradesh
(D) Madhya Pradesh
(E) None of these
167. Who has been appointed as Ambassador of India to the
Republic of Philippines?
(A) Subeer Dutta
(B) Narinder Chauhan
(C) Yashvardhan Sinha
(D) Renu Paul
(E) None of these
168. Which city is hosting International Spice Conference
2017?
(A) Ahmedabad
(B) Thiruvananthapuram
(C) Hyderabad
(D) Bhopal
(E) None of these
169. Who has been appointed as the ambassador of FIFA?
(A) Diego Maradona
(B) David Beckham
(C) Zinedine Zidane
(D) Pele
(E) None of these
170. Who has been appointed as the first woman director of
Indian Institute of Management?
(A) Alka Sirohi
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(B) Rajni Rajdan
(C) Neelu Rohmetra
(D) Sushma Pandey
(E) None of these
171. Which team has won blind T-20 world cup 2017?
(A) Pakistan
(B) South Africa
(C) Sri Lanka
(D) India
(E) None of these
172. Who is the fastest to take 250 test wickets, in terms of
matches played?
(A) Dennis Lillee
(B) Dale Steyn
(C) Ravi Ashwin
(D) Glen Mcgrath
(E) None of these
173. Which is the first cashless township in India?
(A) GNFC
(B) Ansal API
(C) IREO
(D) DLF
(E) None of these
174. India’s first floating elementary school is inaugurated in
which lake?
(A) Loktak Lake
(B) Jaisamand Lake
(C) Aana Sagar Lake
(D) Nakki Lake
(E) None of these
175. Government has allocated Rs _____ crore to India Post
Payments Bank for financial year 2017-18.
(A) 375
(B) 800
(C) 125
(D) 500
(E) None of these
176. Who has been elected as the president of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India?
(A) Naveen Gupta
(B) Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey
(C) Sandeep Jajodia
(D) Balkrishan Goenka
(E) None of these
177. Who has been elected as the president of the Associated
Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India?
(A) Naveen Gupta
(B) Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey
(C) Sandeep Jajodia
(D) Balkrishan Goenka
(E) None of these
178. Which city is hosting Indian Seed Congress 2017?
(A) New Delhi
(B) Kolkata
(C) Hyderabad
(D) Bhopal
(E) None of these
179. Who has been appointed as Pakistan’s first woman
foreign secretary?
(A) Shajia Haque
(B) Ashima Siddiqui
(C) Hina Sheikh
(D) Tehmina Janjua
(E) None of these
180. Dharmsheel Chaturvedi has passed away recently. Who
he was?
(A) Writer
(B) Journalist
(C) Singer
(D) Both A and B
(E) None of these
181. Which country has banned 7 Muslim countries from
entering for 90 days?
(A) UK
(B) USA
(C) Italy
(D) Russia
(E) None of these
182. Which Mobile app has been launched to monitor tiger
reserves?
(A) M-STRiPES
(B) M-FOReST
(C) M-TiGER
(D) M-MONiTER
(E) None of these
183. Who is the “most liked Chief Minister” on social media
platforms?
(A) Akhilesh Yadav
(B) Chandrababu Naidu
(C) Aravind Kejariwal
(D) Vasundhara Raje
(E) None of these
184. Which company will design and construct 14 Fast Patrol
Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard valued at Rs 916
crore?
(A) Reliance Defence
(B) Jabalpur Vehicle Factory
(C) Assam Coach Factory
(D) Augusta Westland
(E) None of these
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185. Which service has been launched by Income Tax
Department for the verification of large cash deposits?
(A) Operation Black Money
(B) Operation White Money
(C) Operation Clean Money
(D) Operation Old Money
(E) None of these
186. Which bank has tied up with Future Generali India
Insurance for Bancassurance?
(A) State Bank of India
(B) Punjab National Bank
(C) Bank of Baroda
(D) Bank of Maharashtra
(E) None of these
187. Who has been elected as president of the Table Tennis
Federation of India?
(A) Dushyant Chautala
(B) M.P. Singh
(C) Brijbhushan Singh
(D) Arun Kumar Banerjee
(E) None of these
188. Who has been appointed as the female brand ambassador
of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan?
(A) Deepika Padukone
(B) Priyanka Chopra
(C) Madhuri Dixit
(D) Anushka Sharma
(E) None of these
189. Government will build 2 crude oil storages in which of
the following states?
(A) Madhya Pradesh
(B) Gujarat
(C) Odisha
(D) Rajasthan
(E) Both C and D
190. Rs 1500 crore defence unit will be set up in which state?
(A) Madhya Pradesh
(B) Gujarat
(C) Odisha
(D) Rajasthan
(E) None of these
191. Which Bank has tied-up with Fisdom to launch robo-
advisory platform?
(A) Federal Bank
(B) Jana Laxmi Bank
(C) Laxmi Vilas Bank
(D) City Union Bank
(E) None of these
192. In Union Budget 2017, how much amount has been
allocated to MNREGA?
(A) 48000 Crore
(B) 1,81,223 Crore
(C) 274,114 Crore
(D) 64000 Crore
(E) None of these
193. In Union Budget 2017, how much amount has been
allocated for highways?
(A) 48000 Crore
(B) 1,81,223 Crore
(C) 274,114 Crore
(D) 64000 Crore
(E) None of these
194. In Union Budget 2017, how much amount has been
allocated to Defence sector?
(A) 48000 Crore
(B) 1,81,223 Crore
(C) 274,114 Crore
(D) 64000 Crore
(E) None of these
195. What is the new Income Tax rate for individuals having
income between Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh?
(A) 5 per cent
(B) 8 per cent
(C) 10 per cent
(D) 15 per cent
(E) None of these
196. What is the fiscal deficit target of government for 2017-
18?
(A) 2.3 Percent
(B) 3.3 Percent
(C) 3 Percent
(D) 3.2 Percent
(E) None of these
197. Which is the highest ranked Business school in India,
according to financial times survey?
(A) Indian School of Business
(B) Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
(C) Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
(D) Indian Institute of Management, Indore
(E) None of these
198. Which country has banned visas of 5 Muslim-majority
countries?
(A) Kuwait
(B) Iraq
(C) Iran
(D) Pakistan
(E) None of these
199. Which agency will be set up to conduct all entrance
examinations for higher education institutions?
(A) National teaching agency
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(B) National training agency
(C) National testing agency
(D) National examination agency
(E) None of these
200. The government will pump in Rs ____ crore into public
sector banks (PSBs) in the next financial year.
(A) 30,000
(B) 10,000
(C) 20,000
(D) 70,000
(E) None of these
201. Payments Regulatory Board will be set up under____
(A) SEBI
(B) NPCI
(C) NABARD
(D) RBI
(E) None of these
202. What is India is expected GDP growth for 2017-18,
according to HSBC?
(A) 7.3%
(B) 6.9%
(C) 7.1%
(D) 7.2%
(E) None of these
203. Which of the following has has turned down the Padma
Shri award recently?
(A) Harkishan Singh
(B) Imrat Khan
(C) Anuradha Koirala
(D) Punam Suri
(E) None of these
204. Which of the following airline has won three awards at
the Asia One Awards in Singapore?
(A) Spice jet
(B) Air Asia
(C) Air India
(D) Jet Airways
(E) None of these
205. Which is the World’s most valuable brand?
(A) Google
(B) Amazon
(C) Microsoft
(D) Apple
(E) None of these
206. Which of the following new bank notes will be in
circulation soon?
(A) Rs 1000
(B) Rs 100
(C) Rs 50
(D) Rs 20
(E) None of these
207. What will be the maximum penalty for late filing of
income tax returns for the income level above 5 lakh
rupes?
(A) Rs 5000
(B) Rs 10,000
(C) Rs 2000
(D) Rs 1000
(E) None of these
208. What will be the maximum penalty for late filing of
income tax returns for the income level below 5 lakh
rupes?
(A) Rs 5000
(B) Rs 10,000
(C) Rs 2000
(D) Rs 1000
(E) None of these
209. Who has been appointed as India’s Principal Economic
Advisor?
(A) Sanjeev Sanyal
(B) Amitabh Chaudhary
(C) Shaktikanta Das
(D) Ashok Chawla
(E) None of these
210. Who has been appointed as MD and CEO of the National
Stock Exchange?
(A) Chitra Ramachandra
(B) Vikram Lavaye
(C) Sujeet Bhattacharya
(D) Aakash Malhotra
(E) None of these
211. Joginder Singh passed away recently. He was the former
chief of ___?
(A) RAW
(B) Indian Army
(C) CBI
(D) Indian Navy
(E) None of these
212. According to union budget 2017, what is the maximum
limit for the cash transactions?
(A) Rs 1 Lakh
(B) Rs 2 Lakh
(C) Rs 3 Lakh
(D) Rs 5 Lakh
(E) None of these
213. Which country has launched world's longest flight?
(A) New Zealand
(B) Qatar
(C) UAE
(D) UK
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(E) None of these
214. World Cancer Day is observed on which date?
(A) 2 February
(B) 3 February
(C) 4 February
(D) 5 February
(E) None of these
215. Which of the following has recently celebrated its 40th
anniversary?
(A) Nehru Museum
(B) National Library
(C) Banaras Hindu University
(D) Rail Museum
(E) None of these
216. How many fraud websites and applications have been
shut down recently by the Unique Identification
Authority of India?
(A) 20
(B) 25
(C) 50
(D) 40
(E) None of these
217. Who has been appointed as director commercial at
NTPC?
(A) Afzal Amanullah
(B) Anand Kumar Gupta
(C) Rajeev Malhotra
(D) Dr. H.R. Nagendra
(E) None of these
218. Who is the head of the panel to to prepare a Yoga
Protocol for Diabetes Control?
(A) Afzal Amanullah
(B) Anand Kumar Gupta
(C) Rajeev Malhotra
(D) Dr. H.R. Nagendra
(E) None of these
219. Which state has recently introduced third gender category
in school exams?
(A) Punjab
(B) Assam
(C) Karnataka
(D) Bihar
(E) None of these
(F) 219
220. What is the theme of the World Cancer Day 2017?
(A) We Can, I Can
(B) We Can, You Can
(C) I Can, You Can
(D) He Can, She Can
(E) None of these
221. What percent of penalty will be imposed for receiving
cash over Rs 3 lakh?
(A) 25
(B) 50
(C) 75
(D) 100
(E) None of these
222. NABARD has approved a scheme for giving ____
percent incentive on payments made through the Aadhaar
Enabled Payment System to merchants.
(A) 1.0
(B) 0.75
(C) 0.25
(D) 0.5
(E) None of these
223. What is the rank of state bank of India in 2017 Brand
Finance Banking 500 report?
(A) 74
(B) 43
(C) 51
(D) 86
(E) None of these
224. Which bank has commenced banking operations on 6
February 2017?
(A) Suryodaya Finance
(B) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
(C) India Post Payment Bank
(D) Airtel Payment Bank
(E) None of these
225. Who has been appointed as KPMG India chairman?
(A) AP Singh
(B) Arun Kumar
(C) Richard Rekhy
(D) Sharad Kumar
(E) None of these
226. Who has been appointed as next chief minister of
Tamilnadu?
(A) VK Sasikala
(B) O. Panneerselvam
(C) MK Stalin
(D) M Karunanidhi
(E) None of these
227. Which city will host women's Asia Cup basketball 2017?
(A) New Delhi
(B) Mumbai
(C) Hyderabad
(D) Bengaluru
(E) None of these
228. Which city will host Under-16 Women's Asian basketball
Championship 2017?
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(A) New Delhi
(B) Mumbai
(C) Hyderabad
(D) Bengaluru
(E) None of these
229. First ever Para training center in India is inaugurated in
which city?
(A) Ahmedabad
(B) Gandhi Nagar
(C) New Delhi
(D) Chandigarh
(E) None of these
230. Renowned Novelist Bano Qudsia passed away recently.
She was from which country?
(A) India
(B) Pakistan
(C) Bangladesh
(D) UAE
(E) None of these
231. Tribal communities of which state has set up a solar
manufacturing plant with the help of IIT Bombay?
(A) Telangana
(B) Tamilnadu
(C) Rajasthan
(D) Assam
(E) None of these
232. Which state has launched India’s first Social Innovation
centre?
(A) Telangana
(B) Tamilnadu
(C) Rajasthan
(D) Assam
(E) None of these
233. Which state has launched Chief Minister Samagra
Gramya Unnayan Yojana?
(A) Telangana
(B) Tamilnadu
(C) Rajasthan
(D) Assam
(E) None of these
234. Which state has topped in generating Solar energy in
India?
(A) Telangana
(B) Tamilnadu
(C) Rajasthan
(D) Assam
(E) None of these
235. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has
suspended the licence of ____ aviation security training
facility.
(A) IndiGo
(B) Jet Airways
(C) Spice Jet
(D) Vistara
(E) None of these
236. Which bank has entered into agreement with Religare
Health Insurance Co to market its products and services
through the distribution network of the Bank across
India?
(A) Corporation Bank
(B) Bank of Baroda
(C) Bank of Maharashtra
(D) Axis Bank
(E) None of these
237. Who has been elected as Chairman of Tata Steel Board?
(A) Harish Bhatt
(B) N Chandrasekaran
(C) AK Bhatt
(D) C Venkat
(E) None of these
238. Which Cricketer has been featured on the cover of
Wisden 2017 edition?
(A) David Warner
(B) Steve Smith
(C) Joe Root
(D) Virat Kohli
(E) None of these
239. Who is the first Indian Cricketer to be featured on the
cover of Wisden?
(A) Kapil Dev
(B) Sachin Tendulkar
(C) Sunil Gavaskar
(D) Virat Kohli
(E) None of these
240. Who is the author of the book titled “Midnight's
Children”?
(A) Salman Rushdie
(B) Arundhati Roy
(C) Arunima Sinha
(D) Ali Smith
(E) None of these
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Answer Key
1. A 2. B 3. D 4. B 5. A 6. C 7. D 8. C 9. C 10. C
11. B 12. D 13. A 14. B 15. D 16. B 17. C 18. D 19. C 20. A
21. B 22. D 23. A 24. C 25. D 26. B 27. D 28. A 29. C 30. A
31. D 32. E 33. B 34. C 35. B 36. D 37. A 38. A 39. B 40. C
41. D 42. A 43. C 44. B 45. B 46. D 47. D 48. B 49. B 50. A
51. B 52. A 53. A 54. C 55. D 56. C 57. A 58. D 59. B 60. C
61. D 62. C 63. A 64. B 65. C 66. B 67. D 68. B 69. A 70. C
71. A 72. A 73. D 74. C 75. B 76. C 77. D 78. D 79. C 80. A
81. B 82. A 83. D 84. B 85. A 86. A 87. A 88. C 89. B 90. D
91. B 92. C 93. D 94. B 95. D 96. A 97. C 98. D 99. B 100. B
101. D 102. B 103. B 104. D 105. C 106. D 107. A 108. D 109. B 110. D
111. C 112. A 113. D 114. B 115. C 116. A 117. A 118. D 119. B 120. C
121. B 122. C 123. A 124. D 125. A 126. C 127. D 128. C 129. D 130. B
131. C 132. A 133. C 134. D 135. A 136. A 137. A 138. B 139. C 140. B
141. D 142. A 143. C 144. B 145. A 146. A 147. D 148. D 149. A 150. C
151. D 152. B 153. D 154. D 155. C 156. B 157. D 158. C 159. A 160. C
161. A 162. B 163. A 164. B 165. D 166. C 167. B 168. B 169. A 170. C
171. D 172. C 173. A 174. A 175. D 176. B 177. C 178. B 179. D 180. D
181. B 182. A 183. D 184. A 185. C 186. D 187. A 188. D 189. E 190. A
191. C 192. A 193. D 194. C 195. A 196. D 197. A 198. A 199. C 200. B
201. D 202. C 203. B 204. A 205. A 206. B 207. B 208. D 209. A 210. B
211. C 212. C 213. B 214. C 215. D 216. C 217. B 218. D 219. D 220. A
221. D 222. D 223. C 224. B 225. B 226. A 227. D 228. C 229. B 230. B
231. C 232. A 233. D 234. B 235. A 236. A 237. B 238. D 239. B 240. A