YEAR 2017

Awards & Honours

Union Budget Banking

India 2017 Yojanas

Committees MoU

International News Foreign Visits

Summits Rankings & Distinctions

Appointments Brand Ambassadors

Science & Technology Defence News

Sports

Books & Authors

YEAR 2017

AGENDAS

AWARDS & HONOURS 2017

Nobel Prizes 2017

Physics Rainer Weiss, the other half jointly to Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne

LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.

Chemistry Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson

cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.

Physiology or Medicine

Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young

discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.

Literature Kazuo Ishiguro novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.

Peace International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve prohibition of such weapons.

Economics Richard H. Thaler contributions to behavioural economics.

Oscar Awards 2017

Best Picture Moon Light

Best Actress Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Actor Casey Affleck (Manchester by the sea)

Best Director Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best supporting actor Mahreshla Ali (Moon light)

Best supporting actress Viola Davis (fences)

Best foreign language film The sales man (Iran)

Grammy Awards 2017 India-American Tabala player “Sandeep das” won Grammy award in the Category of Best world music album with Yo-Yo ma:

Album of the year: 25 – Adele

Record of the year: Hello – Adele

Song of the year: Hello – Adele

The Man Booker Prize 2017

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel, written in the English language and published in the UK, instituted in 1969 by Man group. George Saunders won the Booker Prize for the book ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ in 2017. He is the second American to win the prestigious Booker after Paul Beatty (in 2016) was the first, in a trend that some have suggested points to the growing Americanization of an award that used to be distinctly British.

Pulitzer Prizes 2017

64th Annual National Cinema 2017

ESPN Cricinfo Awards

Captain of the year Virat Kohli

Test Batsman Ben Stokes

Test Bowler Stuart Broad

ODI Batsman Quinton De Kock

ODI Bowler Sunil Narine

T20I Batsman Carlos Brathwaite

T20I Bowler Mustafizur Rahman

Debutant of the year Mehedi Hasan Miraz

Associate Batsman Muhammad Shahzad

Associate Bowler Muhammad Nabi

Women’s Batswoman Hayley Mathews

Women’s Bowler Leigh Kasperek

Fiction Colson whitehead for The underground railroad

Poetry Tyehimba jess for Olio

Biography Hisham Matar for The Return

Music Du Yun for Angel’s Bone

Drama Lynn Notage for Sweat

Best Feature Film Kasaav(Marathi)

Best Actor Akshay Kumar (Rustom)

Best Actress Surabhi Lakshmi (Minnaminungu)

Best Director Rajesh Mapuskar (Ventilator)

Best Film on Social Issues 'Pink'

Best Supporting Actor Manoj Joshi (Dashkriya)

Best Supporting Actress ZairaWasim (Dangal)

DE KOCK

STOKES

MATHEWS

Best Actor Shahid Kapoor for Udta Punjab Best Actress Alia Bhatt for Udta Punjab Best Film Neerja Best Director Aniruddha Roy for Pink

Raksha Mantri’s Award for Excellence BEML Most Valuable Company on BSE 1.Reliance

2.HDFCBest News website award at WAN-IFRA The Hindu World’s Most Valuable Brand Apple Best University by TIMES Higher Education Oxford RedInk Awards for Excellence Indian Express Unilever Global Development Award Water Health International (WHI) PM’s trophy for best integrated steel plant Tata Steel National Award for ‘Excellence’ in Energy Management

Hyderabad International Airport

National sports award 2017 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2017

1.Shri Devendra Jhajharia (Para Athlete) 2.Shri Sardar Singh (Hockey)

Arjuna Awards 2017

1. V.J. Surekha (Archery) 2. Khushbir Kaur (Athletics)

3. Arokia Rajiv (Athletics) 4. Prasanthi Singh (Basketball)

5. Laishram Debendro Singh (Boxing) 6. Cheteshwar Pujara (Cricket)

7. Harmanpreet Kaur (Cricket) 8. Oinam Bembem Devi (Football)

9. S.S.P. Chawrasia (Golf) 10. S.V. Sunil (Hockey)

11. Jasvir Singh (Kabaddi) 12. P. N. Prakash (Shooting)

13. A. Amalraj (Table Tennis) 14. Saketh Myneni (Tennis)

15. Satyawart Kadian (Wrestling) 16. Mariyappan (Para-Athlete)

17. Varun Singh Bhati (Para-Athlete)

IIFA Awards

Organisation Awards

Sports Awards , India (2017)

SJFI Annual Best Sportsperson of the Year award : P V Sindhu SJFI Annual Best Team of the Year award Indian Junior Hockey

BAI’s first Lifetime Achievement Award Prakash Padukone Bharat Gaurav Former Indian hockey

captain Dhanraj Pillay Maruti Suzuki- Sportsperson of the Year P V Sindhu Coach of the Year award P Gopichand Living Legend of the Year award Milkha Singh Game changer of the Year KL Rahul Lifetime Achievement Award Abhinav Bindra

Sportsman of the Year Usain Bolt (Athletics)

Sportswoman of the Year Simone Biles (Gymnastics) Comeback of the Year Michael Phelps (Swimming)

Team of the Year Chicago Cubs (Baseball)

Spirit of Sport Leicester City (Soccer)

Action Sportsperson of the Year Rachel Atherton (BMX)

Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Beatrice Vio (Fencing)

Laureas Sports Awards 2017

An Indian medical student was crowned Miss World at a glitzy event in a Chinese resort on 18 November 2017, making her country the joint-most successful in the beauty pageant’s history. Manushi Chhillar is the sixth Indian winner of the long-running contest,Her win brings India level with Venezuela as the countries with most victories in the history of the pageant, now in its 67th edition. Meanwhile Stephanie Jayne Hill, who represented England, came second runner up.

Manushi Chhillar Miss World

2017

Reita FariaMiss World1966

Aishwarya RaiMiss World1994

DianaHaydenMiss World 1997

YuktaMookheyMiss World1999

PriyankaChopraMiss World2000

P.Gopichand PV Sindhu

BOOKS & AUTHORS 2017

Book Author Beren And Lúthien J.R.R. Tolkien The Ministry of Utmost Happiness Arundhati Roy Lalan Shah Fakir KeGeet Prof. Muchkund Dubey The Crisis Within Ganesh Devy Indira Gandhi - A life in Nature Jairam Ramesh Yug Purush, Bharat Ratna, Atal Ji’ Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank The Emergency — Indian Democracy’s Darkest Hour Surya Prakash

Cryptocurrency for Beginners Amit Bhardwaj Making of A Legend Bindeshwar Pathak Dalhousie...Through My Eyes Kiran Chadha President’s Lady Sangeeta Ghosh Playing With Fire Katie Price Future of Indian Universities: Comparative and International Perspectives

C. Raj Kumar

Kadve Vachan Jain saint Acharya Tarun Sagar Maharaj

I am HIV positive, so what? Jayanta Kalita ( Manipur bodybuilder Pradipkumar Singh’s inspirational fight to overcome HIV)

I Do What I Do’ Raghuram Rajan Immortal India Amish Tripathi ‘How India Sees the World’ Shyam Saran 100 things every professional cricketer must know’ BCCI player’s handbook Hit Refresh Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Unstoppable: My Life So Far Maria Sharapova Bhartiya Kala Mein Salil Kridayen Evam Dr. Kshetrapal Gangwar and Shri Sanjib Kumar

The Shershah of Kargil Biography of Kargil war hero Late Captain Vikram Batra written by Deepak Surana

A to Z of Financial Management in Autonomous Institutions Dr. Rajat Bhargava and Shri Deenanath Pathak

Economic Survey The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley presented the Economic Survey 2016- 17 in the Parliament on January 31, 2017 that provides a base for the government to prepare the annual Budget. The survey has been authored by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian.

The Economic Survey has estimated that the GDP growth rate for FY18 will be inthe range of 6.75 percent to 7.5 percent.

The survey stated that the growth in export was increased by 0.7 percentduring April-December of 2016-17 amounting to USD 198.8billion.Similarly, during April-December of 2016-17, imports declined by 7.4per cent to USD 275.4 billion.

The agriculture sector is estimated to grow at 4.1 percent in the current fiscalas compared to 1.2 percent in 2015-16 due to better monsoon.

The survey estimates a growth rate of the industrial sector to be moderate at 5.2percent in 2016-17 from 7.4 percent in 2015-16.

The Service sector has been estimated to grow at 8.9 percent in 2016-17which is almost similar to that in 2015-16.

Annual Budget 2017-2018

Agriculture

Total Agriculture Credit to Farmers in 2017-18 Rs. 10 lakh crore Allocation under Fasal Bima Yojana for 2017-18 Rs. 9000 crore Long Term Irrigation Fund in NABARD created in 2016-17 Rs. 20000 crore Dedicated Micro Irrigation Fund to be created in NABARD Rs. 5000 crore Digital transformation of Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) in the next 3 Rs. 19000 Cr Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund in NABARD Rs. 8000 crore

Rural

Infrastructure

Total Infrastructure Allocation Rs. 3,96,135 crore Allocation in Transportation Sector including rail, roads, shipping Rs. 2,41,387 crore Railway Sector Rs. 1,31,000 crore Allocation for Highway Rs. 64,900 crore

Total allocation for rural, agriculture and allied sectors Rs. 1,87,223 crore MNREGA Rs. 48,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Rs. 27,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin) Rs. 23000 crore Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana Rs. 4,814 crore Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana Rs. 4,500 crore

Shri Arun Jaitley with Arvind Subramaniam

Key Points:

The total Budget expenditure allocated for 2017-18 is Rs. 21.47 lakh crores. A political party can receive a maximum of Rs 2000 in cash per person. For individuals with income between Rs. 2.5 Lakh and Rs.5 lakh rate of taxation

has been reduced from 10% to 5%.

For individuals whose annual taxable income is between Rs. 50 lakhs and Rs.1 crore a surcharge of 10% of tax payable will be levied.

Single Page Income Tax Return filing form for taxable income under Rs. 5 lakh. Small firms with turnover up to Rs.50 crore will now only need to pay 25% tax

instead of 30%. No cash transaction above Rs 3 lakh will be permitted. The holding period for considering the Capital Gain Tax of immovable

property has been increased from 2 years to 3 years. Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) has been proposed to be carry forwarded for 15

years instead of 10 years. In MSME sector for companies with turnover upto Rs. 50 crore the income tax

will be reduced to 25%. Basic customs duty on LNG reduced from 5% to 2.5%.

Latest Banking Apps:

Apps/Portals Launched by Truecaller Pay ICICI Bank

Mera iMobile ICICI Bank

“Eazypay” ICICI Bank

Appzillon Karnataka Bank

‘811’ zero-balance app Kotak Mahindra Bank

SIMsePAY Yes Bank

YES mPower Yes Bank

Aadhaar Pay IDFC Bank Chatbot Eva HDFC Bank

FASTag service Karur Vysya Bank

Batuaa Oriental Bank of Commerce

Selfie Federal Bank

BPay app Fino Payments Bank

BANKING NEWS 2017:

World Bank India signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 36 Million

for “Himachal Pradesh Public Financial Management Capacity Building Program”

India Signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 39.2 Millionfor the project “Assam Citizen Centric Service Delivery”

World Bank sanctions 44 million dollars for ASPIRe. Bolivia declared total independence from World Bank & IMF ICAR to undertake major research works on agriculture with World Bank fund World Bank allocates $8 bn for China's Silk Road project World Bank approves $500 million grant package for Afghanistan projects World Bank clears $250-million loan for Skill India Mission World Bank, AIIB to grant $380 million to Andhra Pradesh power project

RBI New 500 rupee banknotes have been launched by RBI with inset letter 'A'. RBI issued new Rs 200 and Rs 50 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma

Gandhi (New) Series (Rs.200 Note: Dimension: 66mm X 146mm, Colour:Bright yellow and Motif: Sanchi Stupa). (Rs.50 Note: Dimension: 66mm x135mm. Colour: Fluorescent Blue and Motif: 'Hampi with Chariot)

RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs. 3 crore on state-owned Union Bank of India forKYC “non-compliance”

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd has been given scheduled bank status by RBI. RBI to introduce new Rs.100 coins along with special Rs.5 coins to

commemorate the occasion of MG Ramachandran’s Birth Centenary RBI will also issue Rs.100 coins along with special Rs.10 coins to

mark the birth centenary of MS Subbulakshmi. India’s Forex Reserves Top $400 billion for the First Time. RBI announced that Masala bonds will be treated as External Commercial

Borrowings (ECB) RBI included HDFC Bank in the list of 'too big to fail' lenders RBI Opens Branch in Dehradun. Banks to Provide Funds at 7% to Women SHGs under DAY-NRLM: RBI DBS Bank Gets RBI Nod for Subsidiary in India RBI has initiated a 'prompt corrective action' against Oriental Bank of Commerce RBI initiates ‘prompt corrective action’ for Dena Bank RBI initiates PCA against Bank of Maharashtra RBI initiates prompt corrective actions on Central Bank of India. RBI to Pay Rs 30,659 cr Dividend to Government RBI is to launch a financial literacy drive in 80 blocks in nine states on the pilot

basis to educate people on e-transactions, formal sector borrowings and insurancepurchases.

SBI SBI signs MoU with Escorts for tractor financing 400 crore rupees for Rooftop solar projects announced by SBI. SBI cuts rate on home loan above Rs. 75 lakh by 10 bps to 8.6%. Tirumala Milk Products & State Bank of India has entered into

a tie up for providing loans to dairy farmers Nepal SBI launches first paperless Banking services sbi INTOUCH SBI waives charge on IMPS fund transfer of up to Rs 1,000. State Bank of India launches website for home buyers - SBI Realty SBI, Samsung collaborate to advance Digital India initiative. SBI launches Indian bond index series in London SBI launches Chatbot to Help Customers in Banking Activities SBI to Set Up Country's Largest Innovation Centre at Mumbai SBI Launched SME Assist for MSME Clients. Odisha Government Department Signs MOU with SBI for integration of SBI

e-Pay with the cyber treasury. SBI launches chatbot to help customers in banking activities. SBI to fund Maharashtra govt affordable housing schemes. SBI waives account closing fees

YES BANK Indus OS partners with Yes Bank to launch OS-integrated UPI platform Yes Bank Commits Rs 156 cr for Namami Gange Project Yes Bank gets $150 mn from OPIC to fund SME lending Yes Bank Partners with Abu Dhabi Global Markets for Collaboration on

Fintech Yes Bank partners with TerraPay for faster international remittance.

AXIS BANK Axis Bank to issue biodegradable prepaid gift cards Freyr Energy Ties up With Axis Bank GMR gets Rs. 1,330 cr loan from Axis Bank for developing Mopa airport. Axis Bank Set to Waive Off 12 EMIs for Home Loans up to Rs 30L @8.35%

p.a. Axis Bank Buys FreeCharge For Rs 385 Crores(Snapdeal sells Freecharge at

90% discount to Axis Bank.

ICICI BANK ICICI Bank commissions 200 solar-powered ATMs ICICI Bank committed financial assistance of Rs. 10 crore to the Indian Armed

Forces. ICICI Bank offers up to Rs 15 lakh instant personal loan via ATMs ICICI Bank’s new home loan offers 1% cash-back for every EMI. (The EMI cash-

back benefit is available for fresh home loans with minimum tenure of 15 years.)

NTPC signs Rs 3,000-cr term loan agreement with ICICI Bank.

HDFC Bank

HDFC Bank Becomes 2nd Most Valuable Company on BSE HDFC Bank Launches All-in-one PoS Machine HDFC Life Launched Neo, a Bot for Twitter HDFC Bank launches SmartUp zones to nurture, collaborate with start-ups HDFC Bank retains its No. 1 position in BrandZ India Top 50 for the fourth

time

Other Banking News

Aadhaar made mandatory for new bank accounts,transactions above Rs.50,000 ADB, IndusInd Bank partner to provide finance to women borrowers AIIB grants USD 150 Mn loan for India Infrastructure Fund Air India Ties up with PNB, IndusInd Airtel Payment Bank ties up with HPCL for ATM services Airtel Payments Bank launches UPI enabled digital payments Banks to Pay 3% IGST on Gold Imports BoB signs MoU with DGS&D for services to govt’s e-marketplace Canara Bank and New India announces tie up Canara Bank launches 'CANDI' - its first digital branch in Bengaluru Canara Bank unveiled two new digital services for online payments-Bharat

QR(Quick Response)and Bharat Bill Payment System(BBPS) Canara HSBC Oriental Life launched ‘PoS - Easy Bima Plan’ China, ADB launch green financing platform to fight pollution DCB bank launches Aadhaar based iris eye scan customer verification service Dhanlaxmi Bank, DHFL Pramerica Tie up for Bancassurance Fincare Small Finance Bank (previously known as Disha Microfin Limited)

kick-started its banking operations with about 25 operational branches acrossGujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

First Regional Centre of NDB Opens in South Africa HSBC Launches App to Track Trade Transactions - Trade Transaction Tracker IDBI Bank initiates 'Project Nishchay' to improve financial performance IDBI Bank only PSB to get ‘high’ rating for code compliance Indian Overseas Bank launches retail mart in Thiruvananthapuram IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion Sign Exclusivity Agreement for Merger IndusInd Bank secures $200 million loan from ADB for microlending Infosys partners with ToneTag for sound based payments IOB launches retail mart in Thiruvananthapuram Private insurer Tata AIA Life announced the launch of ‘Eazy Connect’, that

will extend online customer service to social media platforms. Punjab National Bank and state-run firm BSNL teamed up to roll out open mobile

wallet Speedpay across 10 states in the country. Reliance General Insurance Gets IRDAI Nod for IPO

SEBI inks pact with ESMA for information exchange on CCPs South Indian Bank ties up with PFG Forex TCS launches BaNCS app development kit to help banks Union Bank launches bilingual Android App - Union Sahyog Unions to observe July 19 as ‘Save Public Sector Banks' day US Banking Regulators Shut Down Pakistan’s Habib Bank US fines HSBC $175 mn for Lax Forex Oversight Vijaya Bank Inks MoU with HPCL for Digital Payments Vijaya Bank set to develop 100 digital villages.

INDIA in 2017

India’s first ‘private’ railway station Habibganjto come up near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

114-year old Taj Palace (also referred to as Taj Mahal Palace) in Mumbai hasbecome first Indian building to get itself trademarked.

Election Commission joins hands with Facebook to Launch First Time NationwideVoter Registration Reminder.

On June 30, 2017, PM inaugurated ‘Textiles India 2017’country’s first-evermega trade event for the textiles sector in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badalinaugurated first Mega Food Park in the state of Odisha M/s MITS MegaFood Park Pvt. Ltd. at Rayagada district.

India’s first ‘freight village’ will be developed by the Inland WaterwaysAuthority of India (IWAI) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Odisha to have first automatic coastal warning for disasters in India.EarlyWarning Dissemination System (EWDS) project for natural disasters will becompleted by July 31.

India's first public bicycle sharing project launched in Mysuru, Karnataka. A national human milk bank and lactation counseling centre known 'Vatsalya

- Maatri Amrit Kosh' has opened at College in New Delhi Indore has become the first city in India where a robot is being used on an

experimental basis to control its ever growing and unruly traffic. Odisha is all set to become the first state in the country to have a blood bank for the

cattle. The Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi inaugurates

first Gharib Nawaz Skill Development Centre in Hyderabad. Delhi will be the first state police to get ‘super cop belt,’. Raghubar Das, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, has recently inaugurated the

India’s largest fresh water aquarium “Ranchi Machchli Ghar” at BhagwanBirsa Munda Biodiversity Park in Ranchi.

Rajasthan is the first state of our country has set minimum educationalqualification to candidates for elections to village cooperative societies andvarious other cooperative bodies.

India is set to get its first high-speed rail training centre at GandhinagarGujarat announced on 13th of July 2017.

India’s first Lucknow metro network to offer free drinking water and toiletfacilities and will also become the first in the country to have its own FM radiostation

The Mumbai Metro One Private Limited has announced the launch of India’s first

Mobile Ticketing System ‘OnGo’on 26th of July 2017. It will help commuters tobuy their tickets on their mobile phones.

Delhi Metro is the first Metro system to become completely green in the world

The 9 year old Kaamya Karthikeyan became the youngest person to reach thesummit of the 6,153 metres-high Mt Stok Kangri in Kashmir

India’s First Heli-taxi service launched by MoS for Civil Aviation JayanthSinha in Bengaluru. Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is the firstairport and Bengaluru is the first city in the country with such a service

India’s first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility wasinaugurated near Hyderabad, Telangana.

India’s first railways disaster management village is expected to come up nearBengaluru by December 2018.

India’s first museum will open in Amritsar Punjab, as India and Pakistan celebrate70 years as independent nations.It will have ‘The Gallery of Hope’.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will inaugurate the country’s firstVidesh Bhavan, incorporate all Regional Passport Offices under one roof, at theBandra Kurla Complex (BKC)in Mumbai.

First water ATM has been inaugurated by Telangana State Home MinisterN Narasimha Reddy at Nalgonda X Roads on 7th of Sept. 2017.

Kerala’s Health minister K.K. Shylaja announced that kerla is planning toopen India’s first transgender-exclusive clinics at government medicalcolleges across the state.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has launched firstIntelligence Wing of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Welfare &Rehabilitation Board (WARB) App in New Delhi.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhiinaugurated India’s first Centre for Animal Law that has beenestablished at the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad.

Tripura became the first state in the country to set up family welfaredistrict committees to deal with the issue of fake and biased complaintsby women against their husbands, in-laws and husband’s relatives.

Dr Jitendra Singh had inaugurated the first ‘Pension Adalat’ on 20th of Sept.2017.He will award the Pensioners for their outstanding contribution towards‘Anubhav’.

Himachal Pradesh government started electric bus service for the first time, inRohtang Pass.Himachal Pradesh is the first state in India to start this initiative.

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport became the first airport in thecountry to introduce a wheelchair lift or Verti-lift

Vice president Shri .M.Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for thefirst and only greenfield smart city project, in Ranchi coming up on theHEC land

MP CM Mr.Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated a community toilet forthird gender, in the Mangalwara area, Bhopal.This is the first communitytoilet for exclusive third gender usage in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the setting up ofIndia’s first “Marine Police Training Institute” at Dev BhoomiDwarka district of Gujarat.

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has planned to makeKempegowda International Airport (KIA) as India’s first airport to havecomplete Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric boarding system in the countryby December 2018.

Rajasthan State assembly has become the first in India to call attention andadjournment motions and proposals online from legislators.

India gets its first High Power Locomotive from France soon. The arrival of thefirst bodyshell of 12000 HP loco from Alstom France at Kolkata port on 20th ofSept. 2017.

Central/ State Bills & Policies in News

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill 2017 hascleared by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice on June 8, 2017.

Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to introduce a Financial Resolution andDeposit Insurance Bill, 2017.

President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to a bill banning hookah in Gujarat on3rd of July 2017.

Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Bill, 2017introduced in Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Planning, ProgrammeImplementation and Statistics Rao Inderjit Singh.

A bill has introduced in Lok Sabha for setting up of the Indian Institute of Petroleumand Energy in Andhra Pradesh.

A bill to grant statutory status to the Indian Institutes of Information Technology(IIITs) in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode was passed through a voicevote in Lok Sabha

Arun Jaitleyhas introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to repeal the necessary Acts inwake of the merger of State Bank of India (SBI) with its subsidiary banks

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017,a bill amending the law on free and compulsory education to extend thedeadline for teachers to acquire the prescribed minimum qualifications forappointment was passed in Lok Sabha.

The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017, was introduced in Lok Sabha byFinance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The government has withdrawn from the Rajya Sabha a bill to amend theArchitects Act, 1972 which provides for registration of architects.

Rajya Sabha passed Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) Bill,2017 and The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims),2017.

Government introduced in the Lok Sabha, Central Road Fund (Amendment)Bill, 2017, a bill providing for allocation of about Rs 2,000 crore from CentralRoad Fund (CRF)

Rajya Sabha passed Collection of Statistics (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which seeksto amend the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008.

Cabinet gives ex-post facto approval for amendment of the Constitution(Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 1954.

NITSER (National Institutes of Technology, Science Education andResearch) Amendment Bill passed in Rajya Sabha. The Bill proposes tointroduce two new Institutions.

1.Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati.

2.IISER Berhampur.

Karnataka Cabinet approved the state Bio-Technology Policy 2017-22 and Anti-Superstition Bill, in Bengaluru. Bio- Tech Policy for 2017-22 will enable furtherdevelopment in the Biotechnology sector in Karnataka.

Constitution 123rd Amendment Bill, 2017 for setting up of a NationalCommission for Backward Classes was passed by Rajya Sabha

Lok Sabha passed two bills,1.CGST (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill, 2017 and2.IGST (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill, 2017,extending Central Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Integrated Goodsand Services Tax (GST) to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The Goa Legislative Assembly has passed a bill which regain coconut as a`tree, ensuring legal protection for it

The Delhi Assembly has passed the Minimum Wages (Delhi)Amendment Bill 2017and the Delhi Netaji Subhash University ofTechnology Bill 2017

Code on Wages 2017 Bill that seeks to fix a national minimum wage wasintroduced in the Lok Sabha

As part of labour law reforms, the Government has undertaken the exerciseof rationalisation of the 38 Labour Acts by framing 4 labour codes vizCode on Wages,Code on Industrial Relations,Code on Social Security andCode on occupational safety, health and working conditions.It subsumes 4 existing Laws,

1.The Minimum Wages Act, 1948;2.The Payment of Wages Act, 1936; 3.The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965;4.The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. Assam passed the Industrial Disputes (Assam Amendment) Bill, 2017,

regarding lay off of employees, in Guwahati. The Cabinet approves the introduction of the Payment of Gratuity

(Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Parliament. Assam state Assembly passed PRANAM(Parental Responsibility And Norms

for Accountability and Monitoring ) bill that makes it mandatory for stategovernment employees to take care of their parents and needy siblings or face acut in their income.

Odisha government passed a bill for starting the first Odia language universityfor post-graduate in literature,linguistics and epigraphy.

Union cabinet has given approval for beginning of the Dentists (Amendment)Bill, 2017 in Parliament subject to modifications of drafting or significantnature.

Law Ministry approved the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill 2017, in NewDelhi. The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill 2017 would enable thegovernment to seize the property of economic offenders and defaulters whoescape from India, through a new provision.

SCHEMES AND YOJANAS

Central Government Schemes :

The Aadhaar card has been made mandatory for government subsidy onpurchase of kerosene and benefits of Atal Pension Yojana.

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) theadministrative authority of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has now introduced“APY@eNPS” which involves a complete digital enrolment process.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the renaming of thenew Central Sector Scheme – SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-MarineProcessing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters) .”Pradhan MantriKisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) “covers for the period of 2016-20 coterminouswith the 14th Finance Commission cycle.

Government has doubled monthly child care allowance for women withdisabilities. At present, the allowance of Rs. 1500 per month is given todifferently-abled female employees for taking care of their newborn child.This has been raised to Rs. 3000 per month.

A revamped ‘Khelo India’ scheme has been approved by union cabinet.There may be 1,000 selected athletes will receive an annual scholarship ofRs5 lakh each for eight years under this scheme

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr.Dharmendra Pradhanlaunched the ‘Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat’ in Mota Ishanpurvillage of Gujarat.

Narendra Modi launched a new scheme, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har GharYojana –‘Saubhagya’, to carry out electrification of all households in India.Thetotal budget for this project is Rs.16,320 crore. Gross Budgetary Support (GBS)provided is Rs.12,320 crore.

The Cabinet approved the implementation of Umbrella Scheme of‘Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF)’ for years 2017-18 to 2019-20. Theestimated cost of the scheme is Rs.25,060 crore.

Government is finalising the Electoral Bonds Scheme, in New Delhi.Mr.Arun Jaitley announced this at a book release, named ‘India@70Modi@3.5’. This is being done in a move to monitor political funding.

PM launched Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan Scheme inGandhinagar aimed at imparting digital literacy to citizens in rural areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Intensified MissionIndradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in Gujarat to ensure full immunizationto more than 90% by December 2018

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has launched a schemenamed 'Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty' (VAJRA)

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley formally launched Pradhan Mantri Vaya VandanaYojana (PMVVY), a pension scheme exclusively for senior citizens (60 yearsand above) with 8% fixed rate of interest on their savingsfor 10 years

Ministry of Rural Development will launch a new sub-scheme under DeendayalAntyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)which will be named as “Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY)”.

President Ram Nath Kovind launched Mata Amritanandamayi Math (MAM)’s,‘Jivamritam’ filtration system, a clean water initiative, in Vallikkavu, Kollamdistrict of Kerala. ‘Jivamritam’ filtration system aims at providing filtration forclean drinking water to 1 crore villagers.

In a bid to provide a boost to ‘Skill India Mission’, on October 11, 2017,Union Cabinet approved two new skill development schemes named SkillsAcquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion(SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement(STRIVE).

Minister for Communications Manoj Sinha launched the Sampoorna Bima Gram(SBG) Yojana and an initiative for expansion of clientele base of Postal LifeInsurance (PLI).Under Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana, at least one village(having a minimum of 100 households) will be identified in each of the revenuedistricts India.

State Government Schemes

Jharkhand Government launched the “Shaheed Gram Vikas Yojana” at UlihatuVillage ,Khunti district of Jharkhand.The scheme aims at developing the villagesof freedom fighters in the state.

Odisha Government launched ‘Sampurna (Sishu Abond Matru Mrityuhara PurnaNirakaran Abhijan) Yojna’ scheme for pregnant women, in Odisha.Under thescheme gov will provide Rs.1,000 as transport cost for pregnant women to travelto the hospital from inaccessible areas arranging their own vehicles.

Telangana State Gov launched single-woman pension scheme across the state,thereby becoming the first state in India to launch such scheme. Under thisscheme, Telangana State Govt. will provide 1,000 financial assistance per monthto single women.

Punjab State government launched the “Chief Minister Scholarship Scheme” withan aim to provide cheaper and quality technical education to the meritorious andpoor students of the state.

Madhya Pradesh government has launched a new debt relief scheme “Krishi RinSamadhan Yojana” for farmers. The cabinet has allocated Rs 1,000 crore for thescheme.

Maharashtra government has approved a revised policy of the 'Majhi KanyaBhagyashree' scheme who have a yearly income of upto Rs 7.5 lakh will bebenefited from this scheme.

Uttar Pradesh Power Minister Srikant Sharma has launched free powerconnection scheme for the BPL card holders in the state.

Punjab health minister Brahm Mohindra has launched a flagship carecompanion health scheme on 28th of July 2017. The main aim is to improvepatient outcomes through better family engagement and education.

The Punjab government has announced the launch of its flagship 'Apni GaddiApna Rozgar' scheme by flagging off over 100 uber MOTO bikes.

Assam state government is introducing a new Scheme called, Scheme forCompassionate Family Pension (CFP) at Guwahati.The scheme plans tooffer the compassionate family pension instead of job offers to familymembers due to some practical difficulties.Karnataka government will merge the existing seven health schemes tolaunch a unified health scheme- ‘Arogya Bhagya’. It will cover all 1.4 crorehouseholds of the state. The main theme of the ‘Arogya Bhagya’ scheme is

”Treatment First and Payment Next”.

On 8th September 2017, Union Human Resource Development MinisterMr.Prakash Javadekar announced that Government would implement‘School Chalo Abhiyan’ scheme in 2018, in New Delhi. This scheme hasbeen introduced in order to enroll students who have dropped out fromschool.

Uttar Pradesh State Gov launched a mass marriage scheme called‘Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana’. Under the scheme, Uttar Pradeshsocial welfare department will conduct mass marriages.

Himachal Pradesh Cabinet under Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh approved‘Heritage Tourism Policy 2017’ & ‘Mukhya Mantri Rural Road Repair Scheme’along with other developmental and welfare initiatives.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched ‘Single ClickPension Delivery’ scheme. Under this scheme, the money will go directly intothe account of the beneficiaries.

Karnataka CM Mr.Siddaramaiah launched ‘Mathru Poorna’ scheme, fornutritional wellness of pregnant and lactating women in rural areas, at VidhanSoudha, in Bengaluru,Karnataka.The ‘MathruPurna’ scheme, aims at providingpregnant and lactating poor women in rural areas with one nutritious meal daily,for 25 days in a month.

Himachal Pradesh government implemented the Senior Citizen Health InsuranceScheme (SCHIS), in Shimla. The scheme would increase coverage of Rs.30,000per senior citizen to all existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) smartcard holders.

Government Projects

NITI Aayog has launched ‘SATH’ program with state governments forfurthering the agenda for cooperative federalism. Acronym ‘SATH’stands for ‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital’.

Union Government has launched a Skill for Life, Save a Life Initiative on6th of June. Its aim is to promote skill development in the health sector.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has inaugurated Know IndiaProgramme (KIP) for young overseas Indians at a function in New Delhi.

The Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DrJitendra SinghDoNER) has announced the launch of, “Hill Area DevelopmentProgramme” (HADP) for Northeast in Imphal (Manipur).

Union Health Ministry has launched an Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight(IDCF) across the country on 15th of June 2017.It has been launched to reducechild deaths due to diarrhoea.

Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energyand Mines launched the Energy Conservation Building Code 2017 (ECBC 2017).

On June 23, 2017, Urban Development Ministry launched "City LiveabilityIndex". It is a first of its kind initiative to measure the quality of life in 116 majorcities including capital cities.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated an integrated sports & entertainment 'ArenaProject’ in Ahmedabad.

On July 6, 2017, ‘JIGYASA’, a student- scientist connect programme was officiallylaunched in New Delhi.

President Pranab Mukherjee on 9th July launched digital initiatives Swayam,Swayam Prabha, National Academic Depository and National Digital Library inNew Delhi.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda, launched the NationalStrategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22) at a function in New Delhi.

Government launched “AGRI UDAAN”- Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0programme in New Delhi.

Narendra modi has launched a New India movement from 2017- 2022, a SankalpSe Siddhi (Attainment through Resolve) Program was organized at Coimbatore.

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the ‘YUVA’ –askill development programme. It is an initiative taken by Delhi Police underPradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched two new contraceptives, an injectibles, MPA (Medroxyprogesterone Acetate) under the ‘Antara’ programme and contraceptive pill ‘Chhaya’ in New Delhi.

The Union Finance Ministry, has announced that it is has planned to launch ‘ProjectInsight’ from October, 2017. A move initiated to restrict black money holdings andtransactions.

'Anuyatra’, an empowerment programme for the differently abled launched byKerala government. It aimed at bringing the differently abled to the mainstream andmaking the state differently abled-friendly.

Department of Biotechnology announced ‘lab on boat’ project for biologicalanalysis of the Bramhaputra river.

Union Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan unveiled India’s third NationalWildlife Action Plan for 2017-2031, which outlines the future road map for wildlifeconservation across the country.

Name of Committee Chairperson Agenda MHA Panel Special secretary

(Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home

To examine the rules which allows free movement of Indian and Myanmarese citizens within 16 kms of the border

Panel on National Education Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan To draft the National Education Policy Committee on

Corporate

UdayKotak To improving the standards of corporate governance of listed companies.

RBI Overseeing Committee Pradeep Kumar To look at the stressed assets of the banking sector.

Four-member committee of BCCI CK Khanna To support staff of the Indian team and then decide on the contracts that will be handed

to the coaches Nine member committee Karnataka Gov To design a 'state' flag and submit a report

on giving it legal sanctity. GST Council panel Pradeep Kumar Sinha To select National Anti-profiteering

Authority AIFF’s Transfers

Dispute Committee Ushanath Banerjee Deal with the players’ transfer disputes’.

10 member panel Justice B.N Srikrishna The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)

appointed an expert panel committee that would study various issues relating to data

protection High level committee Justice B N Srikrishna to review the Institutionalization of

Arbitration Mechanism

Parliamentary panel Renuka Chowdhury Genetically Modified (GM)crop should be introduced only after biosafety, socio-

economic evaluation RBI panel Tarun Ramadorai Rights- based privacy

framework in household finance Parliamentary Panel B C Khanduri 100% pension to widow of deceased

soldiers Task Force on

Artificial Intelligence Dr. V. Kamakoti Artificial Intelligence (AI) for India’s

Economic Transformation. 29-member panel K RajeswaraRao To review the National Mineral Policy,

2008, and for submission of a report for a new National Mineral Policy.

Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)

Shekatkar Committee To enhance combat capability and rebalancing Defence Expenditure of the

Armed Forces.Group of Ministers on the implementation of

Hasmukh Adhia To look at the issues of export sector and to recommend to the GST Council.

Economic Advisory Council (EAC)

Bibek Debroy The EAC is an independent body that gives advice on economic and related topics to the Government, especially to the Prime

Minister .Empowered Steering Committee (ESC)

Based on the recommendations of the interim report of the8-

member Task Force headed by AbinavBindra

The committee will review the core probable list of each High Priority and Priority disciplines for Commonwealth

Games, Asian Games and Olympic Games.

COMMITTEES 2017

Hate speech on internet T.K.Viswanathan The committee has suggested that section 78 of the IT Act needs to be substituted and

Section 153 & 505A of the Indian Penal Code needs to be amended .

IRDAI panel Dilip C Chakraborty To help in implementing the new risk-based capital (RBC) regime and it will also enhance protection to policyholders.

NITI Aayog Expert Task Force on Employment & Exports

Dr.Rajiv Kumar To provide a major thrust to job creation by enhancing India’s exports.

Group of Ministers on the implemen

tation of GST

Sushil Kumar Modi To monitor & resolve IT challenges faced in implementation

of Goods

and Services tax.

Joint Parliamentary Committee Bhupender Yadav To examine and present a report on the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet

PM NarendraModi It is responsible for all appointments of higher ranks in the Central Secretariat.

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

PM NarendraModi It deals with the ac tivities pertaining to the economics of the country.

Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA)

PM NarendraModi

responsible for all issues related to domestic &foreign affairs.The most powerful cabinet committee, also termed 'Super Cabinet'.

Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)

PM NarendraModi It is one of the most important committees in India, it looks into the matters of defence

Cabinet Committee on Accommo

d ation (CCA)

Rajnath Singh responsible for the allotment of accommodat- ion for vari

ous

top pos

itions in Government.

Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs

Rajnath Singh To look after the progress of government business in the Parliament of India.

Afive member Commission Delhi High Court’s former Chief Justice G Rohini

To examine sub categorization of Other Backward Classes (OBCs)

Government constitutes a High Level Committee

Chairmanship of Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman of Niti Aayog.

For proper management of water resources in North Eastern Region .

Uday Kotak-led panel Uday Kotak On corporate governance wants.

Central Government has set up a study group

The study group will be headed by Rina Mitra

(Special Secretary in the Home Ministry).

to examine the problems being faced by the people residing near the International

Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

a group of ministers (GoM) committee on GST

The GoM has been set up under Assam Finance Ministe

r Himanta Biswa Sarma

to make the ‘composition scheme’ more attractive and also revisit GST rates on

restaurants The Standing Committee on

External Affairs Standing Committee on

External Affairs headed by

Committee was formed to examine the India-China relations.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel

Headed by Janak Raj on an external benchmark rate for banks

A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence,

Headed by BJP MP B C Khanduri

will examine the operational preparedness of the armed

Government committee Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

to coordinate celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.

Rajya Sabha secretariat, a five- member committee

Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash.

to select the candidate for the post of editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV

(RSTV).

MoUs Agenda Assam govt & Google To increase digital literacy Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Metal Industries Development Institute (MIDI), Ethiopia

To implement a twinning programme

Gujarat government &Google For Digital Gujarat

India & Japan For collaborative research in the field of silkworm and silk industries

India & Afghanistan Technical Cooperation on Police Training and Development India & Armenia Cooperation on youth matters India & Armenia Cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space India & Armenia Cooperation in the field of Disaster Management

India & BRICS Establishment of the BRICS Agriculture Research Platform (BRICS-ARP).

India & Cyprus Co-operation on Merchant Shipping

India & Ethiopia Cooperation in the field of Information, Communication and Media

India & Iran Mutual cooperation on matters pertaining to securities markets.

India & Israel National Campaign for Water Conservation in India

India & Japan Disaster risk reduction,skill training developmental projects in the North Eastern Region of India .

India, Japan sign $76 mn loan dealIndia & Japan Co-operation in Rail Safety: India & Korea For export credit of USD 9 billion India & Mali For standardization and conformity assessment India & Mauritius To institutionalise cooperation between their parliaments

India & Nepal

Drug Demand Reduction and Prevention of IllicitTrafficking in Narcotic Drugs and PsychotropicSubstance.

New Mechi Bridge over Mechi River at Indo-Nepalborder

MoU was signed between the Institute of CharteredAccountants of India and the Institute of CharteredAccountants of Nepal.

Modalities for utilization of India’s housing grantcomponent to support reconstruction of 50,000 houses

India & Norway To extend health co-operation India & Palestine Cooperation in the field of agriculture

India & Portugal Protocol of Cooperation was signed between the National Archives of India and the Minister of Culture of the Portuguese Republic in the field of archives in Lisbon, Portugal

India & Somalia Agreement on Transfer of sentenced persons

India & Sri Lanka To provide fresh assistance of USD 318 million line of credit for the development of the railway sector.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) 2017

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 2017

India has ratified the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocolannounced on 9th of August 2017 that commits countries to contain theemission of greenhouse gases, reaffirming its stand on climate action.

EU and France will give a grant of 3.5 million euros to three Indian cities-Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad.

India ratified two important core conventions on child labour – pertaining tominimum age for admission to employment and worst forms of child labour –at the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

India and Bangladesh have decided to construct a bridge over Mizoram’sKhawthlangtuipui River to facilitate trade and improve communicationbetween the two neighbours.

The British government has launched a new project the ‘Grand Trunk Road’to mark the 70th anniversary of India’s Partition in August 1947.

European Union (EU) and India announced the establishment of anInvestment Facilitation Mechanism (IFM) for EU Investments in India.

The World Government Summit announced India as the guest country for itsannual gathering on 11thto 13th February, 2018, in Dubai.

Indonesia has become the latest Southeast Asian nation to rename South ChinaSea as North Natuna Sea.

Australia became the 35th country to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA). World Bank has said that India is allowed to construct hydroelectric power

facilities on tributaries of the Jhelum and Chenab rivers with certainrestrictions under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

US- India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is being set up toenhance business relations between India and US.

India and US have established TWO-BY-TWO MinisterialDialogue with an aim to elevate their strategic consultations.

Seychelles ratifies the ISA Framework Agreement and became the ninthmember of ISA framework agreement.

Montenegro officially joined North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) andthereby became the 29th member country of NATO.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates cut ties withQatar in the worst diplomatic crisis to hit Gulf Arab states in decades.

The World Taekwondo Federation has changed its name to World Taekwondoon 25th June 2017. It is headqurtered in South Korea.

2017 India and China jointly submitted a proposal to the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) calling for the elimination of farm subsidies bydeveloped countries.

Malta parliament voted to allow same-sex couples to marry on 12th of July2017.

Zimbabwe's parliament has passed a bill by amending the constitutionto give the president (Robert Mugabe )sweeping powers to appoint thecountry's top judges without consulting any other institution.

Kenya passes world’s toughest plastic bag law. Those who are producing,selling or even using the non-degradable bags now face four years in jail ora $40,000 (USD) /(£31,000) fine in Kenya.

New Development Bank (NDB) of the five nations has approved $1.4billion loans for sustainable development projects in China, India andRussia

Nepal’s Parliament has endorsed an electoral law for upcoming elections to thefederal and provincial council

Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on internet calling applications like WhatsApp,Skype etc.

WADA has announced that it had provisionally suspended the WADAaccreditation of the laboratory of the National Anti-DopingOrganisation of France (AFLD) announced on 26th Sept. 2017.

China announced the commissioning of its first radar-evading J-20stealth fighter jets into military service, in Beijing.

Austria’s law banning face veils such as burqa or niqab, came into force fromOctober 1, 2017

From October 1, 2017, UAE has begun collecting new “sin” taxes ontobacco products, energy drinks and soft drinks

The first metro train to Pakistan has arrived from China as a gift to thecountry and rolled into Lahore and it is set to be launched in December2017. This metro train service is Called as “The Orange Line Metro Trainservice”, and this is the Pakistan’s first mass transit system.

India and the UN Office for South- South Cooperation (UNOSSC) haslaunched a partnership fund for supporting sustainable development projectsacross the world.

UN General Assembly approved the establishment of a new office to helpMember States implement the organization's global counter-terrorism strategy.

India won re-election To UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).Indiahas been re-elected for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2018.

India ratifies United Nations Transports Internationaux Routiers(TIR)Convention,to ensure a secured supply chain and boost trade

Sharjah has been crowned with the prestigious 'the World Book Capital' for

2019 by UNESCO.

Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)

A global treaty banning nuclear weapons was adopted at the UnitedNations on 7th July by 122 countries. But all nuclear states and NATOmembers have boycotted the negotiations except for the Netherlands.

India has contributed an additional million dollars to a UN partnership fund.It has launched to support sustainable development projects across thedeveloping world.

The UN General Assembly has elected Cote DIvoire, Equatorial Guinea,Kuwait, Poland and Peru as the non- permanent members of theSecurity Council for a two-year term.

The UN has selected Dubai as the data hub for the Middle East North Africaand South Asia (MENASA) region.

United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution topreventing terrorists from acquired weapons, particularly small arms andlight weapons.

China launched its first cyber court specialising in handling internet-relatedcases in the e-commerce hub of Hangzhou amid a spike in the number ofonline disputes.

UN soldiers left Haiti finishing their 13 year military peacekeeping mission inHaiti.

US and Israel announced that, they quit from the UN’s cultural agencyUNESCO, after US accused UNESCO of “anti-Israeli bias”.

WHO has declared the end of the latest Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreakin the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has declared his government’s independencefrom World Bank and IMF.

WHO has declared that in the last three years Somalia had not recorded anycase of polio disease and announcing the country polio free

WHO given the message to the South East Asian countries toassimilatetheir national plans and mobilise and utilise resources efficiently to reachthe Tuberculosis elimination target of 2030.

The world's fastest elevator that can operate at a record breaking speed of1,260 metres per minute is set to been installed in a skyscraper complexbuilding in China.

India and Afghanistan are set to operationalize their first air-freight corridor. China has launched world's largest floating solar farm consisting

160000 panels. Estonia to open the world's first data embassy in Luxembourg on housing

data and information systems between the two countries (Estonia&Luxembourg).

China has unveiled world's first train that operates on a virtual trackusing sensor technology instead of metal rails.

The world’s first emergency call telephone line marks 80th anniversary on

1st of July 2017 by police forces across, Britain.

The world's first saola breeding centre is beingconstructed in Vietnam's central region.

The world's first full-scale floating wind farm has started to take shape off thenorth-east coast of Scotland

The world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge the Europabrücke orEuropaweg (Europe Bridge) on 29th July 2017, a ribbon-thin spannearly a third of a mile long at in Randa, Switzerland

Nepal launches world’s First Climate smart landscape management plan forsnow leopard conservation

The world’s largest and powerful X-ray laser- European X-ray FreeElectron Laser (XFEL) presented in Hamburg, Germany.

Hurricane Irma has become the first storm in the world to sustain windsof 185 miles per hour for more than 24 hours

China has issued a commemorative stamp in honour of the world’slargest radio telescope located in Guizhou province on 18th of Sept.2017

China has launched world’s fastest bullet train on the Beijing-Shanghaihigh-speed railway line to 350 kilometres per hour

On October 11, 2017, world’s first ‘negative emissions’ power plant startedoperating in Iceland.

Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has become the first female actorever to hoist the Indian National Flag at the Indian Film Festival ofMelbourne (IFFM),Australia

Utrecht has opened the world’s largest bicycle parking garage The first regional centre of the New Development Bank was officially opened

in South Africa.

FOREIGN VISITS

PM Modi Visit to Germany India and Germany inked 12 pacts - three memorandum of understanding (MoUs)

and nine joint declaration of intent (JDI): Three MoUs between India and Germany:

Agreement between the Ministry of Health and BMG (Federal Ministry of Health)on cooperation in health sector.

Agreement on collaboration between the Ministry of Skill Development andGermany's BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) to facilitatetraining of Indian skill development officers and cluster managers.

Agreement between the AYUSH and BMG (Federal Ministry of Health) overcooperation in alternative medicine

PM Modi Visit to Spain As a part of his four-nation tour, PM Modi reached Spain on May 31, 2017. He

thereby became 1st Indian PM to visit Spain in nearly 30 years after formerPrime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Spain in year 1988.

India and Spain Sign Seven Agreements After wide-ranging talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid,Spain, India and Spain signed following agreements:

1. Pact on transfer of sentenced persons2. Pact on visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports3. Agreement on cooperation in organ transplantation4. Agreement on cooperation in cyber security5. Agreement on cooperation in renewable energy6. Agreement on cooperation in civil aviation7. Agreement on cooperation between India’s Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic

Academy of Spain.

PM Modi Visit to Russia Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended 18th Indo-Russia Annual Summit in St. Petersberg, Russia.The summit envisaged closer economic ties between the Indian and Russia.

Following the talks, India and Russia signed pact for 2 nuclear power units inKudankulam, Tamil Nadu.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putinsigned the St Petersburg Declaration to mark 70 years of India-Russiadiplomatic ties.

India, Russia to set up JVs to build aircrafts, automobiles - 5 MoUs signed 1. Agreement on intellectual property2. A master framework agreement on building two units at

the Kudankulam nuclear power plant3. A programme of bilateral cultural exchanges for 2017-20194. An agreement on a feasibility study for a high- speed link between Nagpur

and Secunderabad.5. A memorandum on cooperation between joint stock company ALROSA and

India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

PM Modi Visit to France Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met newly-elected

French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, France. After two-hour long talks between the two Prime Ministers, India and

France vowed to work together for the successful implementation of thelandmark Paris climate agreement and fight the challenge posed byterrorism.

Arun Jaitely’s four days visit to South Korea Arun Jaitley participated in the India-Korea Financial Dialogue and the 2nd

Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB. The theme of this year’sannual meeting was "Sustainable Infrastructure".

Indian and South Korea have signed agreements to establish $9 billion inconcessional credit and $1 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA)funding for infrastructure development projects in India.

The dialogue was followed by the Signing Ceremony of Economic DevelopmentCooperation Fund

(EDCF) agreement between India and South Korea and thereafter, an MOU wassigned between EXIM Bank of India and South Korea’s KEXIM Bank.

On 15th June 2017: Seminar on”Doing Business in India” hosted by theKorean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), FICCI and theIndian Embassy in South Korea.

Defence Minister ArunJaitley’s 3-day visit to Russia On June 21, 2017, Mr. Jaitley co-chaired the first meeting of the India-Russia

High Level Committee on Science and Technology with the Russian DeputyPrime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

Mr. Jaitley co-chaired the 17th meeting of the India-Russia IntergovernmentalCommission on Military-Technical Cooperation in Moscow with RussianDefence Minister General Sergei Shoigu.

India and Russia inked a protocol that lays out the roadmap to further boostbilateral defence cooperation, which ranges from joint development offuturistic weapon systems to a major upgrade of military-to-military ties.

PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Portugal During PM Modis’ visit to Portugal, India and Portugal signed 11 pacts for

cooperation in various areas including cooperation in outer space, doubletaxation avoidance, nano technology, improving cultural ties, youth and sports,higher education, scientific research, and setting up of a Portugal-IndiaBusiness Hub and an Indian Chamber of Commerce in Portugal.

On June 24, 2017, Indian Prime Minister Modi and Portugal Prime Minister Costalaunched a unique startup Portal , the India-Portugal International StartUp Hub(IPISH) - in Lisbon.

On June 24, 2017, India and Portugal announced a four million Euros joint fundto bolster research in science and technology.

PM Modi Visit to USA India, US agree to strengthen ties to ensure peace in Afghan as they expressed

concern over rising instability in the war-torn country caused by terrorism. Marking 70 years of diplomatic relations between India and the United States,

the leaders resolved to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the countries and advance common objectives.

PM Modi Visit to Netherlands During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Netherlands.

The 2 Nations signed following three agreements: 1. MoU on water cooperation2. MoU on Cultural Cooperation3. Agreement on Amending Social Security Arrangement

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel Commemorating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, Danziger Flower Farm

named the flower Crysanthumun as 'Modi', on the name of Prime Minister.Crysanthumun is a new fast-growing Israeli flower.

PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel, first ever visit of an incumbent Indian PM

India’s Mahindra Telephonics and Israeli firm Shachaf Engineeringsigned a MoU to collaborate on design, development and manufacture ofstrategic electronics for military use.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahureplicas of two sets of relics from Kerala, regarded as key artefacts of the longJewish history in India. The gift comprise two different sets of copper plates thatare believed to have been inscribed in 9-10th Century.

India, Israel sign seven agreements, to cooperate in fight against terror

Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba on 5-day visit to India

Nepal’s PM Sher Bahadur Deuba made his maiden visit to India as prime minister. India and Nepal signed eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs)

Arun Jaitley visit to Japan 2017

On 4th September 2017, Mr.Arun Jaitley left to Japan for a two dayvisit. During the meeting issues relating to the US-2 amphibious aircraftwere also figured out.

The two sides also agreed to commence technical discussions for researchcollaboration in the areas of Unmanned Ground Vehicles and Robotics.

India plans to buy the US-2 ShinMaywa aircraft from Japan for its navy.Last year, China had reacted angrily to reports that Japan plans to sellweapons to India at cheaper prices, saying that such a move is disgraceful.

Swiss president Doris Leuthard is on a three-day visit to India

Swiss president Doris Leuthard will begin her three day visit to India onAugust 6 2017. The visit is significant as Switzerland is the chair of theNuclear Suppliers Groupwhere India has been seeking membership.

Both countries will sign trade agreements and aMoU on railway infrastructure.

President Ramnath Kovind’s first overseas visit to Ethiopia and Djibouti:

On October 4, 2017, India and Djibouti signed an agreement toestablish regular Foreign Office-level bilateral consultations.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Indian President RamNath Kovind during his official visit to Djibouti. It is to be notedthat Ram Nath Kovind is the first Indian leader to visit Djibouti.

On October 5, 2017, India and Ethiopia signed agreements on trade,communication and media to boost bilateral ties. These agreements weresigned in presence of Indian President Ram Nath Kovind during hisofficial visit to Ethiopia.

India’s support to Ethiopia in the power sector, healthcare, and educationsector was discussed between both the Presidents.

They also released a book titled ‘India- Ethiopia: 70 Years of Diplomatic Relations’. President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to Ethiopia is the first by an Indian

President in past 45 years since President V V Giri’s visit in 1972. During his visit to Ethiopia on October 5, 2017, Indian President

Ram Nath Kovind announced that India would extend USD 195million line of credit to Ethiopia for power transmission sector andanother USD 2 million line of credit for medicines.

Summits& Conferences Hosts Key Points BRICS Media Forum Beijing, China One Million Dollar fund established

Second Mission Innovation(MI) Ministerial

Beijing, China To share knowledge and collaborate on priorities for clean energy innovation.

BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting Beijing, China

Beijing, China

BRICS Education Ministers Beijing, China

Creation of institutional mechanism in the form of BRICS Network University and BRICS Think Tank Council .

BRICS Youth Forum Beijing, China Theme -Enhance BRICS Partnership, Promote Youth Development.

SCO summit Astana, Kazakhstan

Theme:“Future Energy”, India, Pakistan become members of Shanghai Cooperation O

rganisation.

G7 environment ministers meeting

Bologna, Italy ‘5-year Bologna Roadmap’ was adopted

2017 Biotechnology Innovation Organization

San Diego, US Indian Pavilion at BIO International Convention & Exhibition 2017.

International Labour Conference in Geneva

Geneva, Switzerland

India ratif ied two core conventions on childlabour – pertaining to minimum

ag

e of admission to

employment and worst forms of child labour.World Summit on Information Society

Geneva, Switzerland.

implem enta tion of the WSIS Actio n Lines for

a dvancing sustainable development.

Namaskar Africa’ trade show Ghana M.J.Akbar gave a cheque of US$1 Mn as grant

assistance rehabilitation of the Presidential residence residence residence of Flagstaff House 9th BRICS summit Xiamen, China Theme - BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future”.

International Hindu Conference Kathmandu,Nepal Theme- ‘Emerging spiritualism: Renaissance of

Hindui

sm’.

Indian Ocean Conference Colombo, Srilanka Theme of the conference is peace, progress and prosperity

Eastern Economic Forum Vladivostok, Russia

The Eastern Economic Forum is considered as the biggest international communication

12th meeting of G20 Hamburg, Germany

Theme –“Shaping an Inter-connected World” G20 leaders adopted a World Bank funding

Informal BRICS Leaders meeting

Hamburg, Germany

World Petroleum Congress (WPC) International

Istanbul in Turkey Theme “Bridges To Our energy Future”

Model United Nations (MUN)ional

Kathmandu, Nepal It is an educational simulation activity which students can learnabout diplomacy,

EU-India Summit Brussels EU and India announc ed the establishment of an Investment facilitation mechanism.

BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’

Chonqging, China China is the chair for the BRICS Lab our & Employment Ministers’ Meet for the year

SUMMITS 2017

The leaders had discussed preparations& priorities for the forthcoming Xiamen BRICSSummit.

Indian Road Congress (IRC) Udaipur, Rajasthan The Indian Road Congress is the apex body of highway engineers in the country.

Global business meet Kolkata It will focus on sustainable business pract ices in

various areas,including power & energy.

North East Connectivity Summit Arunachal Pradesh action oriented contemplations on sub regional

International meet on social justice

Bengaluru A Qu est for equity – reclaiming social justice.

Sankalp Se Siddhi Program Coimbatore,Tamilnadu

Participants took New India Pledge for bui l ding a

New India by 2022, a Clean&Poverty-free IndiaFirst National Canine Seminar Manesar

(Gurugram),

The theme " Canine as Tactical weapon in fight against T errorism".

Coastal shipping and waterways summit

Kochi The summit will be an initiative to explore the potential of coastal shipping and waterways.

World Congress of Optometry Hyderabad The aim of the congress is to give unique opport

unity for a

nyone in th

e ey

e health .

Good Governance and Replication

Goa Good governance is an aid to ensure speed y delivery of services to the people.

economic integration between NE & SE Asia.

Forbes World's Highest-Paid Celebrities of 2017 Topped by American rapper and entrepreneur Sean Combs SRK ranked 65th Salman Khan is on the 71st spot

Forbes’ Annual list of top earners.(Female) Emma Stone has been named as this year’s highest-paid actress

Forbes World’s 20 highest paid actors Mark Wahlberg - world’s highest-paid actor ,Shahrukh Khan India’s Highest,

Jack Ma becomes Asia’s richest person

Forbes Highest paid author JK Rowling Forbes World’s 100 most innovative

companies 1.Salesforce 78.BhartiAirtel

Forbes &Transparency International.

Most corrupt country in Asia 1.India2.Vietnam

Fortune Global 500 list Ranks companies by their revenues in 2016 Walmart(1st place)

Fortune America’s top 500 companies Tesla &Walmart are placed in the list

UN Agencies UN World Population Prospects - The 2017

Revision world’s population will surpass the 8 billion mark in year 2023

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

World Investment Report 2017: Investment and the Digital Economy

US, China and India are considered as top prospective destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI)

UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Sending Money Home: Contributing to the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), One Family at a Time

India has been the top remittance- receiving country in year 2016 with USD 62.7 billion

UN Refugee Agency's Global Trends study Developing regions host 84% of the world's refugees 65.6 million people displaced worldwide

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

World Drug Report 2017 29.5 million people (0.6% of the global adult population) were engaged in problematic use of drugs and suffered from drug use disorders, including dependence.

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)

World University Rankings 2018 Top 3 in the world: 1.Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 2.Stanford University 3.Harvard University University IIT-Delhi - 172 IIT-Bombay - 179 IISc Bangalore - 190

RANKING & DISTINCTIONS 2017

Cornell University, INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)

Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017 1.Switzerland, 2.Sweden and 3.Netherlands India – 60th

World Economic Forum (WEF)

Global Competitiveness Report 2017 1.Switzerland 2.US 40.India

Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD)

International Migration Outlook 2017 report

Indians and Chinese were the top asylum seekers in countries such as New Zealand and Latvia between 2012 and 2016

World Bank Global Economic Prospects–A fragile recovery

Fastest Growing Economies Estonia (1st place) India (4th place )

BRICS BRICS Innovative Competitiveness Report 2017

China is the leading BRICS nation

The Institute of Economics and Peace

Global Peace Index 2017 Top 3: Iceland, New Zealand and Portugal India – 137th

Institute for Management Development's

World competitiveness list Top 3: Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore India – 45th

A.T. Kearney 2017 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) Top 3: India China and MalaysiaChild Rights and You (CRY)

CRY report Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of children (250672) engaged in labour

Environmental impact survey

UK-based Money Super Market Topped by Mozambique India - ranked 75th

Mercer 23rd Annual Cost of Living Survey Mumbai is the most expensive city for expatriates in India. Most Expensive City: 1. Luanda 2.Hong Kong 3.Tokyo

World's least expensive city for expatriates, is Tunis in Tunisia

SKYTRAX World's Best Airline in 2017 Qatar Airways

Social progress Imperative (SPI) with support from Deloitte

Social Progress Index 2017 Top 3: Denmark, Finland and Iceland India ranked 93rd

International Center for Climate Governance

World’s climate think tanks TERI (2nd Place)

Swiss National Bank Money parked by its citizens with Swiss bank

UK(1st place ) INDIA(88th place )

GQ India magazine Most Influential Young Indians list Actor Ranveer Singh &Bahubali Fame Prabhas

(OECD) and(FAO) Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026 India will be the world’s largest milk producer by 2026

International Organisation for Migration(UNMigrationAgency)

GlobalMigration Potential (2010-15)

India second highest number of adults planning to migrate. Most popular destination planning to migrate is the US.

Travel+Leisure’(T+L) magazine

The World’s Top 15 Cities San Miguel de Allende, Mexico( 1st

place) Udaipur in Rajasthan in top 15

Fletcher School at Tufts University

Digital Evolution Index 2017 India has been categorised under the “break out” segment

A Report by Norton by Symantec

in online harassment, in the Asia Pacific region.

India ranks first

Forbes’s India Rich List 2017 With a net worth of $38 billion, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani

As per a survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation

on the parameter of women safety India’s capital Delhi is one of the worst megacities in the world. Japan’s capital Tokyo emerged as the safest city in terms of risk of sexual harassment.

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia .

University Rankings 2018 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) has emerged as top- ranked Indian institute IIT Bombay has ranked 34th andSingapore’s Nanyang Technology University has topped QS Asia University Rankings 2018.

A new survey named “Authentic Brands Study” \

Indian consumers regard Globally, Amazon occupies the 1st place and Apple the 2nd, as the mostauthentic brands, according to the Cohn & Wolfe survey.in India Google as the most authentic brand

Global Hunger Index (GHI), 2017

Chile, Cuba and Turkey have a GHI score of less than 5 and have ranked as the best nations on the index.

India has ranked at 100th position among 119 countries

Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017 report

India has ranked as 8th most valuable nationbrand

US retained its top spot as most valuable nation brand;

The regulators list SEBI Chairman Ajay Tyagi has been named among the world’s top 10 regulators in the Market structure.

The regulators list is topped by European Unions Commissioner Margrethe Vestager

Economist Intelligence Unit’s Safe Cities Index 2017

Indian cities Delhi and Mumbai have ranked 43rd and 45th respectively

Japan’s capital Tokyo has topped

LinkedIn released a report

“The Indian Pharma and Biotech Industry”.

India ranks as the second largest market for pharmaceuticals and biotechnology workforce.

Travel+Leisure’(T+L) magazine

World’s best airline Singapore Airlines(1st place ) Emirates (2nd place )

National Consortium for the Study

Most terror attacks Iraq(1st place ) Afghanistan (2nd place ) India (3rd place )

Oxfam &Development finance

Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index

Sweden (1st place ) India (2nd place)

Global Infrastructure hub

Global Infrastructure Outlook India will need investment of around 4.5 trillion USD till 2040 to develop infrastructure.

Dell Women Entrepreneur (WE) Cities Index 2017

NewYork (1st place ) Bengaluru (40th place)

Natixis Global Global Retirement Index 1. Norway2. Switzerland3.Iceland 43. India

Ministry of Drinkingwater&Sanitation

sanitation survey Kerala and Haryana tops, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has least access to toilets .

Oxford Economics Asian Cities & Regions Outlook 2016

Delhi India’s largest

Bloomberg Bloomberg Billionaires Index Lika-shing is the richest man, Mukesh Ambani becomes Asia’s 2nd richest

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)

world’s most liveable city Melbourne topped the Global Liveability Rankings

Scimago Institutions Scimago Institutions ranking World Report 2017.

1)Chinese Academy of Sciences. 9)CSIR, India.

World Economic Forum

Global Human Capital Index India Ranks 103

China Development I i (CDI)

2017 Global Financial Centres Index 1.London 2.New York 3 H K Kantar Millward

Brown which specialized in brand equity research and brand valuation.

BrandZ India Top 50 HDFC remains top position The report stated that Airtel, State Bank of India, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and Axis Bank comprise the rest of the top 10

Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings

1. Russian gas firm Gazrpom.2. German utility E.ON.3.

Reliance

Industries Ltd (RIL).

HSBC Best country for expats 1.Singapore 40 India

Knight Frank Global technology hubs 1.Bengaluru 2.Gurugram

Hurun India Rich List 2017

India’s Rich List 2017 1.Mukesh Ambani8.Patanjali’s Acharya Balkrishna

International Telecommunication Union(ITU)

Global Cyber security Index Singapore (1st Place) India (23rd Place)

Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Sustainable Development Goals Sweden (1st Rank) India (116th Rank)

APPOINTMENTS 2017

Name Designation Sher Bahadur Deuba Nepal's prime minister for fourth time UkhnaagiinKhurelsukh New PM of Mongolia Mohammed Bin Salman Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Aleksandar Vucic New President of Serbia Indian-origin Leo Varadkar Next Ireland PM Ana Brnabic First openly gay and first female Prime Minister of Serbia Jagmeet Singh First non-white politician to lead a major party in Canada Mihai Tudose Prime-minister designate in Romania Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Prime Minister of Pakistan Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany Bjarni Benediktsson (Resigns) Iceland PM Mercedes Araoz Peru PM Halimah Yacob First female President of Singapore Peter O’Neill Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Hassan Rouhani President of Iran Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif (resigns) Over Panama Papers verdict Khaltmaa Battulga (Democratic Wins Mongolian presidential election Carrie Lam Hong Kong's first female leader Ram Nath Kovind (NDA) 14th President of India Uhuru Kenyatta President of Kenya Paul Kagame President of Rwanda Joao Lourenco Angola’s first new president in 38 years JacindaArdern New Zealand Prime Minister (youngest-ever female) Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav President of 72nd session of the UN General Assembly. Sunny Verghese – World Business Council for Sustainable

Development (WBCSD) Chair from 2018 Lt General Mahesh Senanayake New Army Commander of Sri Lanka. Sandeep Chakravorty (India's Ambassador to Peru )

New York Consul General

Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli Chief Justice of Nepal Kaushik Basu International Economic Association president. Sushila Karki (retires) First woman Chief Justice of Nepal Supreme Court Dalveer Bhandari Re-nominated Justice as its candidate for another term as judge

at the International Court of Justice. J-K Governor N N Vohra President of India International Centre (IIC)

Neeru Chadha First Indian woman member of ITLOS

Indian origin Sikh Palbinder Kaur First turbaned judge in Canada

Preet Gill First female Sikh MP to be elected to the UK's Houses of Parliament

Darshan Lal First Hindu in Pakistan's Cabinet in 20 years

Major Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah First Ever black assistant for Queen Elizabeth

M&M's Rajeev Dubey Governing board of the International Labour Organisation

Raquel Dodge first woman General Prosecutor of Brazil

Brenda Hale UK supreme court's first female president

Former minister Lord Davies Chair of the UK India Business Council

Brenda Hale UK Supreme Court’s first female president

Dr SoumyaSwaminathan WHO’s deputy director general

Zafar Mahmood Abbasi New Navy Chief of Pakistan

John K Paul (re-elected) Federations of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA)-President

France’s Audrey Azoulay Next UNESCO chief

Indian Appointments

Sunil Arora Election Commissioner Rajiv Mehrishi Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Rajiv kumar NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar Department of Financial Services Secretary U. Kamachi Mudali chief executive of the Heavy Water Board Anita Karwal CBSE chairperson Nirmala Sitharaman First independent woman Defence Minister of India Rajyavardhan Singh New Sports Minister Ram Nath Kovind (resigns) Bihar Governor KeshriNathTripathi Bihar Governor Mukul Rohatgi Country's chief law officer (14th attorney general) Justice CS Karnan becomes (retires) First High Court Judge to retire while absconding Rajiv Gauba Home Secretary Yudhvir Singh Malik Secretary, Road Transport and Highways. Subhash C. Garg Secretary of Economic Affairs. Aruna Sundarajan Telecommunications Secretary. Ajay Prakash Sawhney Electronics and Information Technology Secretary Avinash K. Srivastava Consumer Affairs Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena Secretary, Food Processing Industries Rajiv Kapoor Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals. Sanjeevanee Kutty, Secretary, Ex-Servicemen Welfare in the Defence Ministry. Arun Kumar Panda Secretary, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises,. Ravi Kant, Secretary in the Ministry of Shipping. Anand Kumar, Secretary, New and Renewable Energy. Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Power Secretary R K Pachnanda Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). John Joseph Director General of GST intelligence agency Raninder Singh (Re-elected) National Rifle Association of India President Debi Prasad Dash Director General of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). Ruchira Kamboj High Commissioner of India to the Republic of South Africa JDU President Nitish Kumar Chief Minister of Bihar for 6th time TR Zeliang 19th Cheif Minister of Nagaland. KK Venugopal 15th Attorney General of India

Achal Kumar Jyoti 21st Chief Election Commissioner Smriti Irani Additional charge as I&B Minister NarendraTomar Additional charge -Minister for housing and urban affairs. Rajiv Kumar Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Himachal Pradesh DGP Sanjay Kumar National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Chief M Venkaiah Naidu 13th Vice President of India Sameer Garde Cisco president for India, Saarc region Arvind Panagariya (resigns ) As NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Lt.Gen. Abhay Krishna Chief of the Indian Army’s Eastern Command Prasoon Joshi CBFC chairperson Justice Dipak Misra 45th Cheif Justice of India Banwarilal Purohit Governor of Tamil Nadu Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi Lieutenant Governor for Andaman and Nicobar Islands Brigadier (Retd.) BD Mishra Governor ofArunachal Pradesh Jagdish Mukhi Governor of Assam

Ganga Prasad Governor of Meghalaya Satya Pal Malik Governor of Bihar Arvind Subramanian one-year extension as Chief Economic Advisor Vanlalawmpuii Chawngthu Mizoram’s first woman minister in 30 yrs Rajnikant Mishra Chief of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). Gautam Bambawale India’s high commissioner to china Viveck Goenka PTI Chairman N. Ravi PTI Vice Chairman Harshil Mehta MD & CEO of DHFL Baijendra Kumar NMDC chief O Panneerselvam Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Dipak Misra 45th Chief Justice of India Rajiv Bansal Air India chief Sekhar Basu 1 Year Extension as Atomic Energy Secretary Ajay Bisaria High Commissioner to Pakistan Y C Modi Director General of NIA Dharmendra Kumar Director General of RPF Rajiv Gauba Union Home Secretary Sanjay Kothari Secretary to new President Ram Nath Kovind I.V. SubbaRao Secretary to Vice President Ranjit Kumar (resigns) Solicitor General of India

Banking Appointments

KV Rama Moorthy MD & CEO of TMB Rajnish Kumar SBI Chairman Ajay Vipin Nanavati Chairman of Syndicate Bank Nachiket Mor Re-appointed as a member of the Eastern local board of the Reserve

Bank of India (RBI). Dr. Mamta Suri Executive Director of IBBI RK Sharma Administrator for Sahara India Life Insurance Jeevandas Narayan Managing director of Manappuram Home Finance K G Karmakar, Gauri Shankar Directors of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)

Private Appointments

Roopa Purushothaman Chief Economist & Head of Policy Advocacy of Tata Sons Dara Khosrowshahi CEO of Uber Puneet Chhatwal MD and CEO of Indian Hotels Vasant Narasimhan CEO of Novartis CMD of Coal India Gopal Singh A.B. Pandey Additional Charge as GSTN Chairman Abhay Firodia Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) president Pat Hickey (resigns ) Member of International Olympic Committee Raj Shah Principal Deputy Press Secretary in US Brian Acton (resigns ) WhatsApp Mahendra Pratap Mall CMD of IRCTC Nagaraja Sharma CMD of United India Insurance Peter Thomson First UN envoy for oceans Ban Ki-moon IOC’s Ethics Commission head Suresh Chitturi Vice-Chairman of International Egg Commission Vikram Sakhuja Advertising Club President Abanti Sankaranarayanan Chairperson of ASCI Rajat Sharma News Broadcasters Association (NBA) president Balraj Joshi NHPC chairman Chuck Robbins Cisco executive chairman Ram Jethmalani Retires as advocate at 94 Binay Tamang Gorkha Territorial Administration chairman Shashi Shanker ONGC Chairman David Harquail Chairman of World Gold Council Rajiv Sabharwal Tata Capital CEO Royana Singh Banaras Hindu University’s first woman chief proctor Tony Douglas CEO of Etihad Aviation Group Shashi Shekhar Vempati CEO of public broadcaster Prasar Bharati

Shikha Sharma (Term Extended three- year from June 2018 )

Axis Bank CEO

Ajay Kanwal Janalakshmi Financial Services- CEO Mukesh Kumar Jain MD & CEO of Oriental Bank S Ganesh Kumar Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India Sunil Kakar MD and CEO of IDFC Bank B K Manjunath Part-time chairman Lakshmi Vilas Bank Subhash Chandra Garg India’s Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of ADB Ravi Mittal Part-time member on IRDAI board P R Seshadri MD and CEO of Karur Vysya Bank Mohammad Mustafa CMD Of SIDBI David Rasquinha Exim Bank MD MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank Sankara Narayanan Sankara Rao IFCI Chief Executive Officer S.Aparna Executive Director of World Bank Vikram Limaye MD & CEO of National Stock Exchange Ashish Chauhan CEO of BSE Dhirendra Swarup BSE chairman Dilip Asbe Chief executive of NPCI B Sambamurthy NPCI interim Board chairman

Nirupama Rao Public Policy Fellow to US Think-Tank Vinay Dube CEO of Jet Airways Girish Wagh CV unit head Tata Motors

Travis Kalanick (resigns) Uber CEO and Co -Founder. Indian origin doctor Kailash Chand Honorary VP of UK medical body Russian Diplomat Vladimir Voronkov Chief of United Nations CounterTerrorism Centre Rajesh V. Shah National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)Chairperson. SN Subrahmanyan CEO & MD of Larsen & Toubro Hoshiar Singh Chief of Copyrights office Lt Col Raja Chari First Indian American after Kalpana Chawla to be chosen by NASA

for one of its missions from 18,000 applicants at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

N Chandrasekaran Chairman of Tata Global Beverages Sanjiv Goenka IIT-Kharagpur chairman Sambit Patra Non-Official Director of ONGC

Industrialist Sanjiv GoenkaChairman, IIT Kharagpur

Industrialist Adi GodrejChairman,ISB Hyderabad

Dia Mirza Wildlife Trust of India's brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar, Novak Djokovic and David Beckham

UNICEF initiative Super Dad highlights the critical role played by fathers in children’s early development.

Yuvraj Singh Brand Ambassador of EazyDiner Muzoon Almellehan Ambassador for UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Amitabh Bachchan Ambassador to promote Goods and Services Tax Priyanka Chopra Ambassador for Government's Skill India campaign Vidya Balan Ambassador of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM). Vidya Balan Brand Ambassador of Signature Global Amitabh Bachchan Ambassador of UNICEF Saima Wazed Goodwill Ambassador of WHO Sandeep Patil Brand ambassador of Indoor Cricket Team Lilly Singh UNICEF's Global Goodwill Ambassador Katrina Kaif Brand ambassador of Lenskart Yuvraj Singh Laureus’ first Indian ambassador Nayanthara Brand Ambassador for Tata Sky Kamal Haasan Brand ambassador of Tamil Thalaivas Bilal Dar Brand ambassador of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Rahul Dravid Brand Ambassador of InCred Akshay Kumar Brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat Mission in UP Hritik Roshan Brand ambassador for health and wellness startup Cure.fit

startup Cure.fit Milkha Singh WHO Goodwill ambassador for physical activity in South-East

Asia Region (SEAR) PV Sindhu Ambassador of Swachh Andhra Mission. Neymar Goodwill ambassador for Handicap International P V Sindhu Brand ambassador for Bridgestone India Parineeti Chopra First Indian woman ambassador for Tourism Australia. Akshay Kumar Brand ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Mission in Uttarakhand. Bilal Ahmad Dar Brand ambassador for Swachhata Hi Seva Jacqueline Fernandez Brand ambassador of Delhi Dynamos Corey Anderson Event ambassador for U-19 World Cup 2018- ICC Robert Mugabe WHO withdraws as goodwill ambassador title

BRAND AMBASSADORS

Person Brand / Campaign

Amazon Opened its largest fulfillment center in India on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Google Tez Become the latest UPI-based payments app in the country. The app can be used to pay

for movie tickets, utility bills, & make other transactions online. Suzuki Motor will invest more than Rs 1,150 crore along with Japanese partners Toshiba & Denso

to set up India's first lithium-ion battery facility in Gujarat. London's transport regulator stripped Uber of its licence to operate, affecting over 40,000 drivers in a huge blow to

the taxi app. Samsung’s Bixby Voice now works in India. Bixby is meant to do additional & on-phone tasks which Samsung hopes

will make getting things done faster & easier. Twitter Announced a test project allowing tweets to be expanded to 280 characters, double the

existing limit in the latest effort to boost flagging growth at the social network. Samsung Tied up with State Bank of India to store higher variants of SBI debit cards on the app. Facebook Acquired an artificial intelligence (AI) startup Ozlo that specialises in understanding

text-based conversations. Two Iranian companies Signed the Iran’s biggest-ever car deal with French multinational automobile

manufacturer Group Renault to produce 150,000 cars, beginning in 2018. Netflix Acquired Millarworld, a comic book company.

Amazon Launched its virtual customer service (VCS) model, to create cost efficient employment prospects for skilled candidates seeking more flexible work opportunities.

BitBay (Cryptocurrency trading platform)

Launched a dedicated platform for trade & exchange of digital currencies such as bitcoin, litecoin, ether, Lisk, monero, dash & gamecredits.

Uber Launched a business to business model called "Uber for Business " Google has launched its version 8.0 the operating system as Android Oreo.

Microsoft Announced its 'Project Brainwave' deep learning acceleration platform for real-time artificial intelligence (AI).

Facebook Rolled out 'Watch', a redesigned video platform for creators & publishers. Google Launched 'Hire', a recruiting app for small- & medium-sized businesses that also

integrates seamlessly with G Suite. Microsoft Launched ‘Kaizala’, a productivity app that has been designed to enhance the

collaboration & communication experience for Indian enterprises. Amazon’s share price propelled founder Jeff Bezos to top of list of world’s richest individuals—for less than a day.

Alphabet Google CEO Sundar Pichai appointed to the board of directors of Alphabet. It is the second most valuable U.S. company behind Apple.

Siemens Opened its first digital factory in India after one each in Germany & China.

Google Acquired Bangalore-based artificial intelligence (AI) firm Halli Labs.

Nokia Entered into a wide-ranging patent licensing & purchase deal with Xiaomi

BUSINESS/CORPORATE NEWS 2017

Acquisitions & Mergers

Ambani has announced on 4th of June that RCom-Aircel merged company will be calledAircom.

Microsoft has acquired Hexadite. It is an Israeli startup that uses AI to identify andprotect against attacks. This deal cost $100 million.

Amazon is buying USA based Whole Foods in a deal valued at about $13.7 billion. Bharti Airtel has received the merger approval between Airtel and Telenor

Communications.from Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), BombayStock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).

National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE) will merge with IndianCommodity Exchange (ICEX) creating the India's third biggest commodityexchange.

SBI and Carlyle Group will acquire GE Capital's entire stake in SBI Card, the second-largest credit card franchise in India.

Yatra Online Inc, India’s second-largest online travel operator has acquired Air TravelBureau (ATB) for $22.5-27.5 million.

Axis Bank has announced to buy mobile payments wallet provider FreeCharge fromSnapdeal for Rs 385 crore.

Facebook has acquired an artificial intelligence (AI) startupOzlo thatspecialises in understanding text-based conversations

Infosys would acquire London-based firm Brilliant Basics for Rs 62.76 crore (£7.5million).

National Company Law Tribunal has approved the merger of Reliance Communications(RCom) and Aircel

Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Cycle Computing ONGC has given ‘in-principle’ approval to acquire government’s 51.11% stake in

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd Google has acquired a part of electronics company HTC Corporation’s engineering and

design teams for $1.1 billion Flipkart has acquired F1 Info Solutions, a mobile and IT repair services company

with a pan-India presence of owned and franchised centres. NABARD bought 7% stake in SIDBI for Rs900 crore from IDBI Bank India’s IndusInd Bank Ltd agreed an all-share deal to buy Micro-lender Bharat

Financial Inclusion Ltd.IndusInd Bank has sealed the deal for $2.4 billion to buyBharat Financial

FLIPKART Top 3 Buys

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The world's first hybrid "aeroboat" has been built by an Indo-Russian joint venture

was unveiled in Moscow in June 2017.

The World’s smallest and cheapest private jet Vision Jet has launched in USA.

Chinese scientists have developed world’s most powerful submarine detectorwhich could find hidden metallic objects, including minerals andsubmarines.

China's Navy launched its biggest new generation destroyer weighing 10,000tonnes as part of its ambitious plans to become a global naval power.

Scientists in the US for the first time have successfully used gene-editing tools onhuman embryos to correct defective DNA that cause inherited diseases.

U.S. Navy recently tested the world’s first-ever active Laser Weapons System (LaWS).It is $40 million system.

Microsoft has introduced “Project Brainwave”. It is a deep learningacceleration platform that will enable faster system processes with ultra-lowlatency.

Scientists at The University of Manchester have created the world’s first‘molecular robot’. This robot is capable of performing basic tasks includingbuilding other molecules.

Gurugram-based VVDN Technologies, in partnership with Ireland’s EmbeddedDownloads, launched the world’s first blockchain technology based smartphone‘BitVault’.

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced the setting up of a researchcentre for startups, academicians, environmentalists and entrepreneurs, inGuwahati, Assam.

National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD), world’slargest combustion research centre was inaugurated at the Indian Institute ofTechnology,Madras.

Space News

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also referred to as Mangalyaan, completed1000 Earth days in Martian orbit and is still in good health.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to launch theworld’s first mission directly into the atmosphere of the sun in 2018.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft, designed to take astronauts to deep space destinationssuccessfully completed a series of tests for its critical safety systems.

NASA engineers, for the first time tested the effectiveness of a flexible solar arrayon space station that could be used to power satellites and spacecrafts in future.

NASA's Kepler space telescope has spotted 219 new potential planets. According to a study published in the journal Nature the planet called KELT-9b

is hotter than most stars. KELT-9b is 2.8 times more massive than Jupiter, butonly half as dense.

Bengaluru girl, Sahithi Pingali to get planet named after her for research, app on lakepollution, crowd-sourced method to monitor pollution in water bodies.

NASA is developing the first-ever mission that will deflect a near-Earth asteroid Astronomers from Cambridge University have discovered a smallest star in our

galaxy.The star known as EBLM J0555- 57Ab Astronomers had discovered seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a relatively

nearby dwarf star. The system is called TRAPPIST-1.

Environment

China is constructing for the 175 hectare the world’s first “Forest City “ inLiuzhou and it designed by Stefano BoeriArchitetti.

Assam government has raised a new Special Rhino Protection Force (SRPF) forbetter protection of the one-horned rhinos in Assam.

A rare ‘white tiger’ with a pale skin color has been spotted for the first time in theNilgiris.

The Indian state of Telangana will have eco-friendly bridges for easy movement oftigers.

Vizag’s Rayichapalu is declared one of the rarest fish in the world by researchersfrom the Marine Living Resources Department of Andhra University.

Typhoon Haitang struck China's eastern Fujian Province with continual rain blows ondifferent parts of the region.

Typhoon Hato smashed into Hong Kong on 23rd of Aug 2017 with hurricane forcewinds and heavy rains in the worst storm the city has seen for five years.

Rayichapalu Fish

DEFENCE NEWS 2017

Indian Army has signed a MoU with the Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) to raise one regiment of the advanced Medium Range Surfaceto Air Missiles ( MRSAM) . The entire project has a total cost of Rs 17,000 cr.

China has formally launched its first overseas naval facility in Djibouti, an East Africannation.

Central Government has approved a nearly Rs 32,000 crore “definitive five-year actionprogramme” for the Indian Coast Guard to enhance its capability in maintaining vigilon coastal waters.

Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has signed contract with Research Centre Imarat(RCI) for supply of Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (MRSAM) to Indian Armyannounced on 25th Sept. 2017.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman flagged off the first such expedition bythe Indian Navy, ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’, at a ceremony at the INS Mandovinaval training base, Panaji Goa.

‘Pralay Sahayam’, a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercisewas held in Secunderabad.

15-day long joint military training exercise named Ex Maitree 2017 between the

Indian and Thai army has begun from 3rd July in Himachal Pradesh Trilateral Malabar exercise begins in Chennai on 7th July 2017. The U.S, Indian

and Japanese maritime forces will be participating in the Malabar Naval Exercise NATO military exercises Saber Guardian 17 exercises have begun in Bulgaria. It

involves 25,000 military personnel from more than 20 allied and partner countries.

China and Russia have started their large-scale naval exercise “Joint Sea 2017” in

the Baltic Sea. It has been announced on 23rd of July 2017. A 66-member Indian Navy band has joined the historic Royal Edinburgh

Military Tattoo in the UK announced on 5th of August 2017. Indian Navy would join the Chinese Navy in the maiden International Maritime Search

and Rescue Exercise (IMMSAREX) to be chaired by Bangladesh at the Indian OceanNaval Symposium (IONS).

Seventh edition of India-Sri Lanka joint maritime naval exercise SLINEX 2017 startednear Vishakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh in India on the Bay of Bengal.

Nepal India Joint Military Exercise Surya Kiran has launched and it is to be held fromSeptember 3 to 16 , 2017 at Saljhandi.

The air forces of China and Pakistan has begun a joint training exercise named“Shaheen VI”.

The Indian and U.S. armies started the 13th edition of their ‘Yudh Abhyas’ series ofjoint military exercises in Washington, United States.

China and Russia started the second stage of their “Joint Sea-2017”naval exercises in Vladivostok, Russia.

Exercise Panda-Kangaroo 2017” were the first joint drills betweenChina and Australia held in China.

Turkey was holding naval exercises with NATO members at a time of crisis inrelations with several alliance states and controversy over Ankara’s plan topurchase weapons from Russia.

Pakistan and Russia will hold a two-week long military exercise DRUZBA 2017 inMinralney Vody, Russia.

Bangladesh Armed Forces Division and U.S. Army began their participationin the Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE).

On 13th – 25th October 2017, Mitra Shakti 2017, a joint exercise between India andSri Lanka for military co-operation and interoperability, was conducted at theAundh Military Camp, in Pune.

Cricket Virat Kohli Fastest to 8000 & 9000 ODI runs Yuvraj Singh Fifth Indian to play 300 ODIs

Virat Kohli Became the highest run-scorer after 200 ODIs. During his innings against New Zealand, Virat overtook South African AB de Villiers's record.

Australian Cricketer John Wayne Hastings

Confirmed his retirement from Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODIs). He plans to focus on T20 cricket.

Kerala High Court Restored life ban imposed on cricketer S.Sreesanth by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Indian cricket team coach Ravi Shastri

World’s highest-earning cricket coach..He is paid around 1.17 million dollars per year

Shakib Al Hasan Becomes first Bangladeshi to be inducted in MCC World Cricket Committee

ICC Next edition of Mens World T2O will only be held in 2020. Wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi, (New Zealand)

Announced his retirement from the international game. He also represented Australia in ODIs.

The eight top teams of the world will be competing for a winner's prize of USD 660,000 in the ICC Women's World Cup. India cricket coach Anil Kumble Stepped down from his position Pakistan Team Won ICC Champions Trophy 2017 beating India in the Finals. Ireland and Afghanistan International Cricket Council (ICC) conferred Test match status. Indian captain Virat Kohli No.1 Ranked Batsman in ODI and T20I in the latest ICC Rankings (as of Nov

2017) West Indies Cricket team Officially changed their name to WINDIES.

Kuldeep Yadav Became first male Chinaman bowler to represent India in One Day Internationals (ODI).

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) formed a special seven-member committee

To analyse the few contentious Lodha panel reforms which are being opposed by the Board's state units. The committee will be headed by Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla.

Muttiah Muralitharan becomes first Sri Lankan to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame. Virat Kohli. only Indian in Forbes top 100 paid athletes England

Won ICC women world cup 2017 beating Indian women's cricket team in the finals.

Misbah-ul-Haq To get honorary life membership by Marylebone Cricket Club Harmanpreet Kaur breaks into top 10 of ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings(6th position) Mithali Raj Becomes leading run-getter in Women’s ODIs

MS Dhoni First Indian batsman to hit 200 sixes in ODIs and Sixth Indian player to play 300 ODI India has been ranked as the No.1 in Tests (Nov 2017).

ODI Cricket MS Dhoni has become the first wicketkeeper to effect 100 stumpings in ODI,surpassed former Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara.

ICC launches anti-corruption investigation

ICC has confirmed that it has opened an investigation in Sri Lanka into corruption allegations.

ODI Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has become the first Indian spinner and Third Indian Bowler after Chetan Sharma (1987) & Kapil Dev (1991) to take hat- trick in ODI cricket against Australia at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

SPORTS 2017

Cricket Former Sri Lanka batsman Chamara Silva has been banned for two-year from cricket- related activities and for breaching the spirit of the game during a Tier-B first class match.

T20 series Pakistan beat World XI to clinch the final Twenty20 match and the series at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium (2-1).

T20I West Indies legend Chris Gayle has become the first batsman to hit 100 sixes in the shortest format of the game during their Twenty20 International match.

Test Cricket South African all-rounder JP Duminy announced his retirement from test cricket, in South Africa.

IPL Star India bagged the IPL media rights for TV and digital broadcast for a consolidated sum of Rs.16, 347.5 crore ($ 2.55 billion) for a period of five years. The rights from 2018 to 2022.

IPL 2017 Winners - Mumbai Indians, Most Runs - David Warner, Most Wickets - BhuvneshwarKumar and The Player of the Tournament - Ben Stokes.

PSL Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has imposed a five-year ban and a fine of one million rupees on batsman Khalid Latif for his involvement in spot-fixing during the PSL.

The Indian Women's Cricket team led by Mithali Raj reached the finals's of the ICC Women's World Cup 2017 in England. The Event was won by England Women's Team.

131st edition -Wimbledon Championships 2017 Category Winner Runners-up Men’s Singles Roger Federer (Switzerland) Marin Cilic (Croatia) Women’s Singles Garbine Muguruza (Spain) Venus Williams (US) Men’s Doubles Lukasz Kubot (Poland) & Marcelo Melo

(Brazil) Oliver MArach (Austria) & Mate Pavic (Croatia)

Women’s Doubles Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) & Elena Vesnina (Russia)

Monica Niculescu (Romania) & Chan Hao-ching (Taiwan)

Mixed Doubles Jamie Murray (UK) & Martina Hingis (Switzerland)

Heather Watson (UK) & Henri Kontinen (Finland)

Tennis

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal. This is Nadal’s 75th Career Title.

won the men’s singles title at China Open 2017in Beiging

French tennis player Caroline Garcia

Won the women’s singles title at China Open 2017.

Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan and Martina Hingis of Switzerland

Won the women’s doubles title at China Open 2017.

Swiss Tennis maestro Roger Federer Won ninth Halle Open title by defeating Alexander Zverev in the final match played at Halle, Germany

Tennis star Leander Paes Won the Aegon Ilkley Challenger trophy with Canadian partner Adil Shamasdin on 25th of June 2017. It was held in Ilkey ,UK.

Indian wild card Nitin Kumar Sinha Won the boys singles title of HCL Asian Junior Tennis Championship held in Pune.

India’s young paddler Selena Selvakumar

Won gold medal in the Junior Girls Team event to annex the 2017 Egypt Junior and Cadet Table-Tennis Open.

GaneshanNeelakantaIyer First Indian to be nominated as a member of the Umpires and Referees Committee (URC) by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). In the final match of Tianjin Open tennis tournament. Maria Sharapova of Russia beat

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 137th edition of the US Open Tennis in 2017 (Winners)

Men’s singles: Rafael NadalWomen singles: Sloane Stephens of US Men’s doubles: Jean-JulienRojer and HoriaTecau Women Doubles: Chan Yung-Jan and Martina Hingis Mixed Doubles: Martina Hingis and Jamie Murray

(US OPEN 2017)

French Open 2017 Category Winner Runners-up Men’s Singles Rafael Nadal (Spain) Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) Women’s Singles Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) Simona Halep (Romania) Men’s Doubles Ryan Harrison (US) & Michael Venus (New

Zealand) Donald Young (US) & Santiago Gonzalez (Mexico)

Women’s Doubles Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) & Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic)

Ashleigh Barty (Australia)& Casey Dellacqua (Australia)

Mixed Doubles Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada) & Rohan Bopanna (India)

Anna-Lena Grönefeld (Germany) & Robert Farah (Colombia)

Football Neymer signs world record deal with PSG

most expensive player in football history

UEFA super cup football tournament Real Madrid defeated Manchester United Arjen Robben Retires from International Footbal. Arjen was in fourth position in the

Netherlands “all time goal scorers” list. Switzerland’s Esther Staubli Set to become the first female football referee to officiate a match at the

FIFA U-17 World Cup when Japan takes on New Caledonia in the final round group E match on October 14, 2017 at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata

Spanish Super Cup Real Madrid

Wayne Rooney Retires from international football UEFA player of season Cristiano Ronaldo UEFA Women’s Player of the Year Lieke Martens Real Madrid Retained the UEFA Champions League title by defeating Juventus in the

final match at Cardiff, UK. England’s Team Won the U-20 World Cup final against Venezuela in Suwon (South Korea). Jeje Lalpekhlua striker Nominated as the '2016 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year. First

player to score 350 La Liga Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi

Iceland becam

e the sm

allest

Nation Icel

and has q

ualified

to p

artic

ipate

in FIFA

World Cup 2018

Sudan Football Association (SFA ) World football's governing body FIFA has lifted the ban. Germany won firs

t Confedera

tions Cup title beating Copa America winners Chile held

India Football team 96th in FIFA World ranking, its best in 21 years. Brazil Topped Francesco Totti a footballer legend from Italy confirmed his retirement Mission Football Meghalaya CM launches at JN Sports Complex in Shillong Indonesia- To host AFC U-19 championship 2018. FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 Winner England

FORMULA 1 SEASON 2017 Grand Prix Winning driver Constructor

Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Azerbaijan Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Austrian Grand Prix ValtteriBottas Mercedes British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Hungarian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Singapore Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen Red Bull Japanese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

United States Grand Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

Moto Racing 2017

Sebastian Vettel Lewis Hamilton

PRO KABADDI SEASON 5 WINNERS INDIAN BADMINTON SUPERSTAR

Summer Olympics

2020 – Tokyo, Japan

2024 - Paris, France

2028- Los Angeles,USA

Winter Olympics

2018 – Pyeongchang, South Korea

2022 – Beijing, China

Commonwealth Games

2018 – Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Asian Games

2018 – Jakarta, Indonesia

2022- Hangzhou, China

Hockey World Cup

Mens

2018 – Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar, India

Women Hockey World Cup2018 – London, England

FIFA World Cup2018 – Russia2022 – Qatar

Women Football World Cup2019 – France

ICC Cricket World Cup2019 – England2023 – India

Women Cricket World Cup2017 – England (Winner England)2021 – New Zealand

ICC World T-20 World Cup2020 – Australia

Women ICC World T-20 World Cup2018 – West Indies

UPCOMING EVENTS