February 2015
1. Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will begin his “SAARC Yatra” with a
visit to Dhaka on March 2, followed by a visit to Islamabad, where he
will resume India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary-level
2. Film Dhanak directed by Nagesh Kukunoor won two awards at the
65th Berlin International Film Festival.
3. Economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen won the newly
established Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize 2015.
4. Eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade on 6
February 2015 was chosen for the Jnanpith Award
2014 by the Jnanpith Selection Board.
5. Dr. Zakir A. Naik, the founder and President of the Islamic Research
Foundation of India on 3 February 2015 won the King Faisal
International Prize (KFIP) for the year 2015. Naik, an
international preacher on Islam was awarded for Service to Islam.
6. Madhya Pradesh won the 10th National Award for excellent work in
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005
(MGNREGA).
7. Poetess Arundhathi Subramaniam won the inaugural Khushwant
Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry at Jaipur Literature Festival. She was
awarded for her work When God is a Traveller.
8. Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh were
posthumously awarded with the highest peacetime military honour the
Ashok Chakra.
9. Miss Colombia Paulina Vega was crowned Miss Universe 2014. She
was crowned at the final of 63rd edition of Miss Universe held in
Miami, US.
10. Noted film producer and Dada Saheb Phalke award winner
Daggubati Ramanaidu died.
11. India successfully test-fired nuclear weapons capable, surface-tosurface Prithvi Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district, Odisha as
part of a user trial by the army. The missile was tested for a shortened
range of 250 km as against its full range of 350 km.
12. The first Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo, also
called RE-Invest 2015, was held in New Delhi.
13. The 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit was held in New
Delhi. The theme of the summit was Sustainable Development Goals
and Dealing with Climate Change.
14. The First World Ocean Science Congress (WOSC) was held in
Kochi, Kerala.
15. Vanaj 2015 is a weeklong National Tribal Festival was inaugurated
by the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram at the the Indira
Gandhi National Center for Arts, New Delhi.
16. The Eighth India-Nepal Battalion level Combined Military Training
named Exercise Surya Kiran commenced at Integrated Army Training
Centre, Saljhandi, Nepal.
17. India successfully test cruise missile from Indian Navy's latest
destroyer INS Kolkata. The launch off the Goa coast was flawless as
the missile met all its designed parameters. BrahMos is a missile with a
rang 290 kilometers and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300
kilograms.
18. Indian Navy conducted a large scale Humanitarian Assistance and
Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise in the Lakshadweep Islands (Karavati,
Aggatti, Kalpeni and Androth).
19. Cabinet granted its approval for the establishment of the New
Development Bank (NDB). The NDB will mobilise resources for
infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS (Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa) have an initial authorized
capital of $100 billion. The initial subscribed capital will be of $50
billion, equally shared among founding members, it said,
adding that the first President of the bank is to be from India, while the
headquarters will be located in Shanghai.
20. The 14th Finance Commission recommended a fiscal deficit target
of 3.6% of gross domestic product or GDP in 2015-16 and 3% in the
subsequent years on the back of a likely pick economic growth.
21. The 14th Finance Commission has recommended a record increase
of 10 per cent in the devolution of the divisible pool of resources to
states. The states share will now be 42 per cent of the entire kitty as
compared to 32 per cent previously.
22. Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh of the 57 Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles
will be posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, the country’s
highest peacetime military decoration.
23. The flight-trial of the country’s Inter Ballistic Missile (ICBM), Agni
was a grand success Odisha coast, and traversed it than 5,000 km
before plunging into the Indian Ocean.
24. Veteran actor Dilip Kumar was conferred ‘Lifetime Achievement
Award’ for his contribution to Indian cinema.
25. Foreign ministers of the Russia grouping issued India’s inclusion
in an expanded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a 21
grouping of Pacific Rim countries. The Ministers also endorsed India’s
impending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
26. Supreme Court ruled that the election of a returned candidate will
be held as null and void if he fails to disclose complete and full details
of his criminal antecedents at the time of his nomination.
27. Bhalchandra Nemade, whose Kosala (Cocoon) published in 1963
transformed the Marathi novel, has been selected for the 50th Jnanpith
Award for 2014.
28. The BRICS grouping, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa, is discussing a green fund under the New Development
Bank to undertake green projects and develop green technologies for
sustainable development.
29. The Election Commission will conduct an electoral roll purification
and authentication drive (ERPAD) by linking electoral rolls with
Aadhaar numbers from March 1 to August 15, Chief Election
Commissioner H.S. Brahma said.
30. A four-decade-old aircraft, Dakota-3, used during
the Bangladesh Liberation War was handed over to
Bangladesh.
31. China has taken a firm step to implement its vision of the Silk Road
Economic Belt — an initiative to integrate the economies of Asia and
Europe along the Eurasian corridor — by putting into operation
its $40 billion infrastructure fund for this purpose.
32. The much-awaited unveiling of a Mahatma Gandhi bronze at the
historic Parliament Square will take place on March 14, Prime Minister
David Cameron announced.
MARCH 2015
1 Nobel Laureate John F Nash Jr. won the Abel Prize 2015 for his work
on partial differential equations.
2. Artist Bharti Kher of India was conferred with the
Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. This is the
highest cultural award of France.
2. Indian author Amitav Ghosh was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker
International Prize.
3. Indian ecologist Madhav Gadgil and US Scientist Dr. Jane
Lubchenco were named for the Tyler Prize for Environmental
Achievement 2015.
3.The Waterman of India Rajendra Singh was named as the 2015
Stockholm Water Prize Laureate.
4. Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader M. Veerappa
Moily was selected for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for 2014 for
his Kannada poem Ramayana Mahanveshanam.
5. Three South Asian women, namely Niloofar Rahmani, Nadia
Sharmeen and Tabassum Adnan were selected for the prestigious
International Women of Courage Award for the year 2015 given by the
US Secretary of State.
6 Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji was awarded with the National Award
for the Best Representation of the
Cause of Safety, Security and Protection of Women and Girl Child by
National Institute of Gender Justice
7. Hifikepunye Pohamba, outgoing Namibian President won the Mo
Ibrahim prize for achievement in African leadership for year 2014.
8. The 1st Counter-Terrorism Conference 2015 was held in Jaipur.
9. India will host the seventh Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster
Risk Reduction in 2016.
46. The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk
Reduction (WCDRR) was held in Sendai City, Miyagi
Prefecture, Japan.
10. NASA's Dawn spacecraft completed its Orbit around Dwarf Planet
Ceres. By doing so, it became the first spacecraft to orbit around a
dwarf planet.
11. India successfully test-fired nuclear weapons capable, surface-tosurface Prithvi-II missile with the range of 350 Km from Chandipur-onsea in Balasore district, Odisha as part of a user trial by the army.
12. China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was in
news as it was reported that France, Germany and Italy have agreed to
join the AIIB after the United Kingdom (UK) decided to join the bank.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a 50 billion dollar international
investment bank and was floated in 2014 by President Xi Jingping.
India along with 20 other countries signed an agreement to become the
founding member of Bank.
13. Eighth India-Nepal combined exercise named Surya Kiran VIII
concluded at Salijhandi, Nepal.
14. Flight 4U 9525 of Germanwings Airbus A320, the
budget carrier airline of Germany’s Lufthansa, crashed in the French
Alps between Digne and Barcelonnette with 150 people.
15. A Book Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy - Speaker’s Perspective
written by Meira Kumar was
released. Meira Kumar is a former Speaker of Lok
Sabha.
16. Indian Navy concluded its Theatre Level Readiness and Operational
Exercise (TROPEX)-2015. TROPEX-2015 was a month long exercise
aimed at validating the Indian Navy’s Concept of Operations and the
area of operations spanned across the Arabian Sea and Northern
Indian Ocean.
17. AirAsia India unveiled its fourth aircraft with a livery dedicated to
JRD Tata as a mark of respect to the pioneer of civil aviation in the
Indian sub-continent.
18 . Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced ‘The
Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015,’
in Lok Sabha proposing that it would come into effect from April 1,
2016. Here are
5 top penalties: 1. Penalty for non-disclosure of income or an asset
located outside India will be equal to three times the normal tax rate of
30 per cent 2. Failure to furnish return in respect of foreign income or
assets shall attract a penalty of Rs 10 lakh 3. Punishment for wilful
attempt to evade tax will be rigorous imprisonment from three years to
10 years in addition to fine 4. Failure to furnish a return in respect of
foreign assets and bank accounts or income will be
punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term of
six months to seven years 5. Abetment or inducement
to make a false return or a false account or statement
or declaration will be punishable with rigorous
imprisonment from 6 months to 7 years.
18. Cheaper fuel and lower food inflation are expected to add an
additional Rs 1.4 lakh crore to the purses of Indian households in 201516 for spending,
according to a research report issued by credit rating
agency CRISIL.
19. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka and met with Sri
Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Prime Minister handed over
27,000 new homes to Tamils who became homeless during the civil
war. He had also urged the Sri Lankan government to ensure early and
full implementation of the 13th Amendment relating to devolution of
powers to Tamils and to go beyond that in finding a political solution.
Earlier, Modi flagged off a train service in the north-western town of
Talaimannar. Modi also offered prayers at the Naguleswaram Temple in
Jaffna.
20. Parliament passed the Insurance Bill that raises the cap from 26%
to 49%.
21. Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport saw
the first India landing of Solar Impulse, a Swiss long-range solarpowered aircraft. Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard are two Swiss
pilots who are attempting to fly around the world in the solarpowered
plane. The plane that took off from Abu Dhabi, the United Arab
Emirates, landed in Ahmedabad after a stop over at Muscat, Oman. It
will next fly to Varanasi.
22. Government increased the service tax to 14 per cent from the
current 12.36 per cent.
23. Prime minister Narendra Modi has called upon energy companies to
become multinational at the inaugural session of energy conference
‘Urja Sangam’ in New Delhi.
24. Indian economy will grow 7.8% in FY16 to lead Asia’s growth as
China slows down, before accelerating further to 8.2% in FY17, said
Asian Development Bank.
25. As many as 1.80 lakh accounts have been opened under ‘Sukanya
Samridhi Scheme’ in less than two months of launch of the special
programme for girl child, with the maximum number of accounts in
Karnataka and the least in Bihar.
26. After a gap of over 20 years, Re 1 note has been
released in the country and it bears the signature of
Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi. Earlier last week, RBI had said that it
will soon put into circulation one rupee currency notes and would be
legal tender as provided in The Coinage Act 2011. In November 1994,
printing of Re 1 note was stopped.
27. The Union Cabinet gave approval for establishing the New
Development Bank (NDB) and the BRICS
Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). The $100
billion BRICS CRA would help countries deal with shortterm liquidity
pressures, provide mutual support and further strengthen financial
stability.
28. Giving a big boost to Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY),
RBI said bank overdrafts of up to Rs.5,000 in accounts opened under
this financial inclusion mission would be treated as priority sector
lending.
29. To boost Buddhist and religious tourism, a direct AC bus service
between Varanasi and Kathmandu was flagged off by Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Varanasi.
30. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first
indigenously developed and manufactured rotavirus
vaccine.
31. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled the longawaited
32. The Haryana Assembly passed the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan
and Gausamvardhan Bill.
33. Lok Sabha passed a Bill, raising the number of members of Andhra
Pradesh Legislative Council from 50 to 58.
34. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena conferred the highest
military rank of Field Marshal on retired army chief and politician
Sarath Fonseka.
35. India will allow greater capital account convertibility in financial
special economic zones (SEZs). The first such notified SEZ to benefit
from the reform will be the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT
City), coming up near Ahmedabad.
36. Section 66A of the Information Technology Act is
unconstitutional in its entirety, the Supreme Court
ruled striking down a “draconian” provision that had
led to the arrests of many people for posting content
deemed to be “allegedly objectionable” on the
Internet.
37. India and Qatar signed an agreement on transfer of sentenced
persons, allowing Indian convicts in Qatar to complete their remaining
sentence in India and vice versa.
38. Railway passengers can now book their tickets, do shopping and
pay service bills using RuPay pre-paid cards, as the Indian Railway
Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), launched the debit card
service. The service was launched by the IRCTC in collaboration with
Union Bank of India and the National Payment Corporation of India.
Card holder will get free Rs.1 lakh accident insurance coverage as part
of the benefits to customers. One can have the card with a loading limit
of Rs.10,000 with partial KYC detail or Rs.50,000 loading limit with full
KYC.
34. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee received the Bharat
Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, which was conferred by
President Pranab Mukherjee.
APRIL 2015
1. In a rare action, a private member’s Bill protecting and providing
rights for transgenders was passed by the Rajya Sabha. The Bill also
guarantees reservation in education and jobs, financial aid and social
inclusion. This is the first time in 45 years that a private members' Bill
has been passed by the House
2. The government has kept the rate of interest on General Provident
Fund contributions unchanged at 8.7 per cent for 2015-16. The rates
are effective from April 1. The government recently maintained the
rates for the PPF at 8.7 per cent for 2015-16. Interest rates for senior
citizens in small savings schemes will now be 9.3 per cent and for the
Sukanya Samriddhi Account for the girl child, 9.2 per cent
3. Meenakshi Madan Rai was sworn in as the first lady judge of the
Sikkim High Court.
4. Sumit Mazumder was elected as the President of Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) for the year 2015-16. He succeeded Ajay Shriram.
5. President of India, Pranab Mukherjee appointed Dr. Nasim Zaidi as
the Chief Election Commissioner. Zaidi is the 20th CEC of India and
will succeed Harishankar Brahma.
6. Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani was appointed as the Chairman of
the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and
Services Tax (GST). GST is intended to be implemented from 01 April
2016 as announced by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his
2015-16 budget speech. .
7. Ace tennis player Rafael Nadal received the Golden Medal for Merit
in Work. Golden Medal is one of the top civilian honours of Spain
which aims to highlight an exemplary performance in
any job or profession.
8.Two Indians namely Dr Ananda Kumar and Dr Pramod Patil won the
prestigious Whitley Awards (also known as Green Oscar) for their
contribution to wildlife conservation.
9. Srinagar-born novelist Siddhartha Gigoo won the 2015
Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Asia region for his work Umbrella
Man.
10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred the 50th Jnanpith Award
on eminent Marathi litterateur Bhalchandra Nemade.
11. Former Union Finance Minister and veteran BJP leader Yashwant
Sinha was conferred with the Officier de la Légion d’Honneur(Officer of
the Legion of Honour) in recognition of his valuable
contribution to thought on international issues. This highest French
civilian distinction was presented by the French Ambassador François
Richier on behalf of the President of the French Republic.
12. The President Pranab Mukherjee conferred two Kirti Chakras and
eleven Shaurya Chakras to Armed Forces Personnel for displaying
conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and extreme devotion to
duty. Naib Subedar Kosh Bahadur and Subedar Ajay Vardhan got Kirti
Chakras.
13. Bharatiya Mahila Bank won the Asian Banker Achievement Award
2015. It was awarded for Technology Implementation in the category of
Best Outsourcing Project (New Bank). The award was received by Usha
Ananthasubramanian, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of
BMB at a functionheld in Hong Kong during the Asian Banker Summit
2015.
14. Chhurim Sherpa, first woman to climb the Mount Everest summit
twice in a week was in news. Sherpa was in news as during her third
ascent to Mount Everest she will take a cricket bat and two jerseys of
deceased Australian cricketer Phil Hughes.
15. The 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
was held at Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha, Qatar.
16. India was designated to chair the ninth meeting of the International
Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) council. The scheduled meeting
will be held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates.
17. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley
inaugurated the Vividh Bharati Service of Delhi on FM Mode.
18. India launched a relief and rescue Operation named Maitri in
earthquake hit Nepal.
19. Operation Raahat was in news as India launched a massive air and
sea operation to evacuate over 4000 Indian nationals from Yemen.
20. Flight 4U 9525 of Germanwings Airbus A320, the budget carrier
airline of Germany’s Lufthansa, crashed in the French Alps between
Digne and Barcelonnette with 150 people on board.
21. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi released a book titled PreModern Kutchi Navigation Techniques and Voyages transcribed and
edited by Ashok B. Rajeshirke in New Delhi.
22. Vice President of India Hamid Ansari released a book titled Aatank
Ke Saaye Men written by Garima Sanjay.
23. Food for All: International Organizations and the Transformation of
Agriculture written by Uma Lele was in news.
24. Novel titled Family Life written by Akhil Sharma was in news
recently because for this novel the author won the Folio Prize for
fiction for the year 2015.
25. Indian Coast Guard held a security exercise, Theera Veeta, in the
Arabian Sea.
26. The 14th edition of Indo-French Naval Exercise named VARUNA-15
commenced off the coast of Goa.
27. The First ship of Project-15B, a Guided Missile Destroyer
Visakhapatnam was launched on 20 April 2015 at Mazagaon Dock
Limited (MDL), Mumbai.
28. The Surface-to-Surface Agni III ballistic missile was successfully
test-fired from the Wheelar Isalnd off the Odisha coast in the Bay of
Bengal. Although the missile has a strike range of more than 3000 km.
29. Surface-to-Surface nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile with a
range of 350 Km was successfully test-fired from a naval ship off the
Odisha coast.
30. Earth Hour 2015 was observed globally on 28 March 2015 from 8:30
pm to 9:30 pm local time. The tagline for the global campaign was
Change Climate Change. This was the ninth edition of the
Earth Hour that started in 2007.
31. Union Cabinet approved Smart Cities Mission for development of
100 smart cities and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation (AMRUT) of 500 cities with outlays of Rs 48,000 crore
and Rs 50,000 crore respectively. Each selected city under the
ambitious scheme would get central assistance
of Rs 100 crore per year for five years. AMRUT is
the new avatar of the Jawaharlal Nehru National
Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
32. Projecting a growth rate of 7.5 per cent for
2015-16, the World Bank suggested that India
should step up economic reforms and encourage
domestic companies to become globally
competitive. The International Monetary Fund
has projected a growth rate of 7.5 per cent for
the current fiscal while Asian Development Bank
(ADB) puts it at 7.8 per cent for 2015-16 and 8.2
per cent for 2016-17. However, the Finance
Ministry expects GDP growth to be 8-8.5 per
cent in 2015-16, and the Reserve Bank (RBI) has
estimated it at 7.8 per cent.
33. A single rate of GST will
replace central excise, state VAT, entertainment
tax, octroi, entry tax, luxury tax and purchase tax
on goods and services to ensure seamless
transfer of goods and services. While liquor has
been completely kept out of the GST, petroleum
products like petrol and diesel will be part of the
new regime from a date to be decided at a future
date by the GST Council, which will have two third
of its members from states. As per the Bill,
the states where goods originate can levy 1 per
cent additional tax over GST to make up for any
revenue loss for the first two years.
34. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from countries
such as Mauritius and Singapore, with which
India has double tax avoidance agreements
(DTAAs), got a window of possible relief from
the 18.5% minimum alternate tax (MAT)
demands they are facing in India with the
government clarifying that treaty benefits would
be available to them.
35. China cemented its “all-weather ties” with
Pakistan by agreeing to build a strategic USD 46billion economic corridor through the PoK as
part of 51 deals signed. Chinese President Xi
Jinping unveiled his country’s biggest overseas
investment – the ambitious 3,000 km-long
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) –
during his historic maiden state visit to
Islamabad.
36. India missed the FY15 export target of $340
billion by 8.7% due to a sluggish demand and
appreciation of the rupee. Merchandise exports
stood at $310.5 billion in FY15, even lower than
the $314 billion achieved in the previous fiscal.
37. Developers of new coal-based power plants will
have to set up renewable power units
amounting to 10% of the total capacity, as the
government integrated its commitment to
reduce the emission intensity of the gross
domestic product in a new tariff policy
announced earlier this week. While the new
thermal power units, for whom the new norm
will be mandatory, will have their tariffs decided
factoring in the (usually high) cost of renewable
energy, developers of existing coal-based units
will be allowed to transmit the additional cost to
the cons.
38. France will partner India in a study for
upgrading the speed on Delhi-Chandigarh rail line to 200 km per hour
and help in redevelopment of Ambala and Ludhiana railway
stations.
39. India and France signed 17 agreements, including on the stalled
nuclear project in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, after Prime Minister
Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with French President Francois
Hollande.
40. India will buy 36 Rafale fighter jets in flyaway condition from
France.
41. Dassault handed over two upgraded Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft to
the Indian Air Force at a formal ceremony at the Dassault Aviation
Flight Test Centre in France.
42. In a deal of particular significance for the large
expatriate community, India and Qatar signed an
agreement on transfer of sentenced persons.
43. Rajasthan’s first State-run human milk bank,
“Jeevan Dhara”, was inaugurated.
44. Rajasthan became the first State in the country
to fix a minimum educational qualification for
contesting elections to the Panchayati Raj
Institutions. It makes Class VIII pass mandatory
for the post of sarpanch — except in tribal
reserved areas, where the minimum
qualification is Class V — and Class X for Zila
Parishad or Panchayat Samiti elections.
45. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has
been selected for the Gandhi Peace Prize for
2014 for its contribution to the country’s
development through space technology and
satellite-based services.
46. The Satish Dhawan Space Centre, located at
Sriharikota in Andhra preadesh, launched Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C27). This launch
saw injecting the 4th navigation constellation
satellite of India into a precise geosynchronous
orbit.
47. The Defence Acquisition Council approved the
development of an indigenous Airborne
Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) by the
Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO).
48. The Defence Acquisition Council has approved
the ‘Maitri’ project for the co-development of a
Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (SR-SAM) by
the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) with MBDA of France.
49. Freedom fighter and founder of Banaras Hindu
University, Madan Mohan Malviya, was
posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna, the
country’s highest civilian award.
50. Gujarat Assembly passed the landmark Gujarat
Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill
2015. The new Bill is a re-worked version of the
Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill
(GUJCOC), 2003, which was earlier rejected
twice by the President due to some of its
contentious provisions.
51. Andhra Pradesh government decided to name its capital
‘Amaravati’.
52. Palestine formally joined the International
Criminal Court.
53. The Indian Army is set to take the “Swachh
Bharat” campaign to Mount Everest with a
mountaineering team planning to clean up and
bring down tonnes of garbage dumped there by
mountaineers over the decades.
54. Gujarat stands tops the list of States in the
implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission,
while Odisha has excelled in the construction of
community toilets, according to an assessment
by the Union Urban Development Ministry for
2014-15.
55. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the
Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency
(Mudra) aimed at providing a collateral-free soft
loans of up to R10 lakh to small businesses.
Mudra, which has a corpus of R20,000 crore, has
been incorporated as a SIDBI subsidiary, but
would later be converted to a bank.
56. Dena Bank signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with Life Insurance
Corporation (LIC) of India under the Prime
Minister’s Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima
Yojana scheme.
57. An 11-member international jury has declared
Thane the National Earth Hour Capital with the
city emerging the winner from India in the Earth
Hour City Challenge this year.
58. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation
(EPFO) has suspended the Rs. 1,000 minimum
monthly pension scheme. the EPFO said it has
decided to suspend the scheme in the absence of
any direction from the government to continue
this benefit beyond March 31.
59. India and many influential western nations are
among the 57 founder members of the $50
billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB), while the U.S. and Japan stayed away
from the China-backed multilateral lender.
60. After more than four years of orbiting Mercury,
NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft will crash into
the solar system’s innermost planet in two
weeks when it runs out of propellant.
MAY 2015
Worlds largest solar photo voltaic plant“PV-Gurh tehsil in Rewa
district MP,
Rajasthan Gov allocates Rs.12Cr for Project Great Indian
Bustard(GIB)-bird
conservation programme-Khudi rasla,Pokhran & Shahgarhof Jaislmer
district.
Dr .Mahesh Sharma inagurated Science Centre and Planetarium in
PuducherryRs.5.5Cr-47th Science Museum setup by National Council of Science
Museums
(NCSM).
BHEL commissioned Muzaffarpur thermal power station of Kanti
Bijlee Utpadan
Nigam Limited (KBUNL) in Bihar.
BHEL commissioned GVK’s Srinagar Greenfield -electric project in
Uttarakhand-Alaknanda River.
Lok Sabha passed the Goods and Services Tax(GST) Constitutional
Amendment bill2015.
Union Cabinet Approves Amendments to Whistleblowers Actcorruption, misuse of
power, or criminal offence by a public servant.
Union Cabinet approves security scheme -APY(Atal Pension Yojna ) 18 to 40Yr,
PMJJBY(Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana)-18 to 50Yr and
PMSBY (Pradhan
Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana)-18 to 70Yr.
India has currently signed co-operation agreements with 35 countries
for peaceful
uses of outerspace design & operation,ISRO.
India inks Chabahar Port deal with Iran-signed by Abbas Ahmad
Akhoundi, Minister
for Transport and Urban Development of Iran-$2 billion.
ADB signed loan agreement worth 31 Million US dollars-to boost
water availability in
selected river basins in Karnataka.
Prime Minister releases commemorative coin on Swami
Chinmayananda Saraswati birth
centenary-8 may,1916.
Gov launched Nirmal Ganga Sahbhagita Programme-objective of
Clean Ganga.
Govt approves National Smart Grid Mission-Rs.980Cr with a
budgetary support of
Rs.338cr-three tier structure.
Indian Army and Bank of India Inked an MoU on the Defence of Salary
Package-1st
MoU -2011, valid upto 3 years.
Haryana Govt included Deaflympics in sports policy-enable
Deaflympian medalists to
get cash rewards, jobs and other benefits.
INS Sardar Patel, the latest Naval establishment of Indian Navy, was
commissioned at
Porbandar,Gujarat by Anandiben Patel, the CM of Gujarat.1st
Commanding Officer of
INS Sardar Patel : Cmde BR Prakash.
Narendra Modi inaugurates IISCO steel plant –Burnpur, West BengalRs.16,000Cr300million tonnes of steel by 2025 .
Solar photovoltaic plant for IL&FSED Co in MP-2 plants- by Jawahar
Nehru National
Solar Mission phase II.
cleanliness awards ‘kayakalp’ for public health facilities to be
launched by the governement
Health Minister Mr.JP Nadda.
Punjab-1st state to issue Soil Health Cards to farmers.
India pavilion inaugurated by Rajyavardhan Rathore at Cannes 201568th film festival.
President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates 50th anniversary of India’s
first historic
climb of Mt. Everest -1965- 21 mountaineers led by Captain M.S.Kohli8848m.
Delhi government launched Pay and Play scheme to promote sportsfacility will be
totally free for students & specially abled persons. For others : a
nominal fee of RS
100/m upto 45 years and RS 75/m for above 45 years.
Two Indian naval ships,INS Satpura and INS Kamorta take part in
naval
exercise(SIMBEX) with Singapore-Captain Mr.Hari Krishnan.
Micro Units Development Refinance Agency(MUDRA) bank partners
with 19 regional
coordinates-11 lakh crore.
Mhara Gaon Jagmag Gaon scheme to be launched in Haryanalaunched in those
villages where there is no power theft, where the consumers pay their
bills regularly
and where the line losses are not more than 20%.
Tripura withdraws AFSPA(Armed Forces Special Powers Act),1958
from the state-may
27,2015.
HP becomes 1st state to implement ABPS(Aadhaar based Payment
System) - Rs 76.53
Cr-Rural Development Minister Anil Kumar.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Singapore PM Lee opened first museum Indian Heritage Centre in
Little India.
North Korea successfully test-fired Submarine-Launched Ballistic
Missile(SLBM)May,8.
Modi inaugurate 1st Gandhian studies centre in china- Fudan
University on may 16th .
Pact ready for transit of vehicles in four SAARC nations(Bangladesh,
Bhutan , India
and Nepal).
Spring imperial decorations award of Japan 2015 for four Indians-Mr
C.N.R Rao,
Mr.T.K.A Nair, Mr. Nikunj Parekh and Mr Topgay Bhutia.
62nd National Film Awards Ceremony-New Delhi, actor Shashi
Kapoor, honoured with
the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award.
Syrian journalist Mazen Darwish honoured with UNESCO-Guillermo
Cano World Press
Freedom Prize 2015.
G.K Reddy Memorial National Award to veteran journalist Vinod
Mehta-Rs. 5 lakh, a
gold medal and a citation.
Indo-American professor Dr.Sivanadane Mandjiny wins UNC award for
2015-12,500
US dollars.
Presidential awards for Classical Tamil conferred by Indian
President,Tolkappiyar
award-SV.Shanmugam(2011-12), R.Krishnamurthi (2012-13),Kural Pitam
award-Eva
Maria Wilden ,German.
Vice President Hamid Ansari confers Pt.Haridutt Sharma Award to
senior journalist
Anurradha Prasad.
International cricketer of the year: Kumar Sangakkara.
Domestic cricketer of the year: R. ViNaY, Ranji.
Indian player of the year: Ajinkya Rahane.
T20 player of the year: West Indian player Dwayne Bravo.
International batsman of the year: Hashim Amla.
International bowler of the year: Sri Lankan Rangana Herath.
Popular choice award: West Indian Keiran Pollard.
Special award: Rohit Sharma.
Young player of the year: Deepak Hooda.
IMD inks MoU with POSOCO-optimum use of weather information and
forecast in the
power sector.
RBI Signs MoU with Central Bank of Seychelles-exchange of
information and mutual
assistance in banking sector supervision.
Cosmos Bank ties up with New India Assurance and LIC Pradhan
Mantri Suraksha
Bima Yojana.
Banks union and Indian banks association sign 10th bipartite wage
increment
agreement,Mumbai-Rs.4725 Cr.
New directors for ISRO's-M.Chandradathan(hiruvananthapuram),
S.Somanath(LPSC)
and P.Kunhikrishnan(SDSC).
K.V.Kamath appointed as the head of $50-billion New Development
Bank.
Former Chief Secretary of Gujarat, Mr.Achal Kumar Jyoti, was
appointed as Election
Commissioner.
Pinaka Mark-II rocket successfully test-fired-Army's Chandan firing
range near
Pokhranusing, near Indo-Pak border.
NASA MESSENGER spacecraft crashes into Mercury, ends missionending its historic
11-year mission.
Akash air missile inducted into Indian Army-protect the country form
aerial threats-6
launchers each have 3 missiles.
BrahMos land-attack cruise missile successfully test-fired from Car
Nicobar Islands47th test-290Km target.
ISRO is close to commissioning home-made radar system that is
capable of tracking
several objects at the same time-multi object tracking radar (MOTR).
New species of fish - Pethia Striata found by ecologists-Tunga river of
Kudremukh
National Park,Karnataka.
Archer Deepika Kumari wins bronze in Archery World Cup, Deepika
defeated
opponent Chang Hye Jin of Korea by 6.
Asian Wrestling Championship at Doha,Indian wrestler Geeta Phogat
won the Bronze
medal in the women freestyle 58kg category.
Saina Nehwal becomes the 3rd Indian and first women from India to
reach the finals
of the prestigious tournament All England Open Badminton
ChampionshipBirmingham,UK.
Apex industry body ASSOCHAM has proposed BRICS U-17 football
tournament to be
held in India.
12th South Asian Games 2015 to be held in Kerala,NovemberDecember.
Mumbai Indians defeat Chennai Super Kings to win IPL 2015 for
second time.
Abhinav Bindra becomes fourth Indian shooter to qualify for 2016 Rio
Olympics-6th .
China – conficuous in shadows – V P Hamid Ansari
JUNE 2015
4th North East Youth Festival at Majuli in Jorhat district of Assamorganized by
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan(NYKS) on behalf of the Ministry of
Youth Affairs and
Sports.
GOI and Tamil Nadu has inked a deal with the World Bank for $400
million loan for
an sustainable urban development project in Tamil Nadu,by the
International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development(IBRD).
World Bank approved a $250 million loan for Jhelum and Tawi Flood
Recovery
Project for reconstruction of flood for 20 districts-affected public
infrastructure in
Jammu & Kashmir by International Development Association(IDA).
Northern Railway rolled out India’s 1st rail coach lit by solar panelsattached to a
high speed Self Propelled-Accident Relief Unit(SPART) travelled from
Delhi
Cantonment to New Delhi railway station.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust(JNPT) and Maharashtra Maritime
Board(MMB) signed
an MoU for the construction of green field port at Vadhawan in Thane
district by the
union minister for ports and shipping Nitin Gadkari.
Solar power capacity touches 4,000MW,Rajasthan races ahead of
Gujarat-Senior
Manager-Consulting at Bridge to India:Jasmeet Khurana.
Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping,Nitin
Gadkari
inaugurated the India’s first of its kind Tier-I Oil Spill Response
Centre(OSRC) for
Mumbai & JNPT Harbour(Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust).
Indian Medical Association’s(IMA) 1st Aushadhi medical store
inaugurated by
Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir
at IP Estate
IMA’s headquarter in New Delhi.
India’s 1st green police station inaugurated at Maurice Nagar in north
Delhi on the
occasion of world environment day.
16th IIFA Awards,2015 took place in the Malaysian capital city of
Kuala Lumpur.
Best picture-Queen.
Best regional film-Lai Bhari(Marathi).
Best story-Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar & Parvez Shaikh(Queen).
Best direction-Rajkumar Hirani(PK).
Finance Ministry exempts non-AC restaurants from service tax.
Cyclone ASHOBAA intensified into severe cyclonic storm-over
Arabian Sea-cause
rainfall over Karnataka,Konkan and Goa as well as south Gujarat.
National Capital Region(NCR) just got bigger-Jind,Karnal and
Muzaffarnagar
districts added- announced by Urban Development Minister M
Venkaiah NaiduNational Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB).
At the Cochin Shipyard Limited CSL,India’s first home made aircraft
carrier INS
Vikrant undocked successfully-40,000 tonne aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
Gov set up an insurance pool of Rs.1,500 crore to offset financial
burden of foreign
nuclear suppliers,under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act
(CLND)
by Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy,Jitendra
Singh.
Haryana village launches ‘Selfie with daughter’ contest to save girl
child.
Chandrababu Naidu,Andhra Pradesh govt. has launched “Mee
Bhoomi” portal- a
digital repository of land records in the state.
Adani Group signed an agreement with Rajasthan government to set
up a joint
venture solar power park of 10,000 MW-India’s largest solar plant.
Union government launched an Augmented Reality(AR) application
named ‘Sakaar’
to highlight the achievements of the Department of Space during 1
year.
Centre gov come up with ‘Agriculture Income Insurance Scheme’ to
ensure
minimum income to farmers in case of crop loss-Rs.50,000 per
hectare,MP CM
Shivraj Singh Chouhan suggested formation of a corpus known as
“Kisan Kalyan
Kosh’ (Farmers Welfare Fund).
Northern Command(“Dhruva Command”) of Indian Army celebrated
its 44th
Raising Day today in Udhampur.
Govt order seeks to reduce number of Antyodaya beneficiaries-adopt
the National
Food Security Act (NFSA), the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Cabinet approved the revised target of Jawaharlal Nehru National
Solar Mission
(JNNSM) to generate 1lak Mw by 2022-5 times the previous target.
Tighter Norms for NGOs to Track Foreign Funds-Civil rights
advocacy’ for issues
such as human rights,democratic rights,natural resources and
religious
discrimination.
India Shares SAARc Satellite Concept with Regional Nationscontrolled from ISRO
facilities at Hassan or Bhopal and managed by an inter-governmental
space
cooperation consortium .
Gov of Haryana launched Village Mentoring Project(VMP) to improve
healthcare
and education of the villagers with emphasis on girl child.
Lucknow zoo renamed after last Nawab Wajid Ali Shah by UP gov.
BHEL Commissions 250 MW Unit of NTPC’s Bongaigaon Power Plant
in Kokrajhar
district in Assam.
India ranked 9th in 2014 with FDI inflows of $34 billion- according to
UNCTAD in its
World Investment Report 2015.
Union Cabinet approved setting up of 6 new Indian Institutes of
Management(IIMs)
chaired
by
PM
Narendra
Modi-(Punjab),Bodh
Gaya(Bihar),Nagpur(Maharashtra),
Sambalpur(Odisha),Sirmaur(Himachal
Pradesh)
and
Vishakhapatnam(Andhra
Pradesh).
Solar Energy Corporation of India(SECI) renamed as Renewable
Energy Corporation
of India after Union Cabinet gave its nod.
Haryana gov will launch “Mhara Gaon-Jagmag Gaon” scheme to
supply
uninterrupted power to rural consumers besides strengthening
distribution
network and realising outstanding payments.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived at Bangkok for the
16th World
Sanskrit Conference- signed MoU on establishment of Nalanda
University.
Bank of Maharashtra and MUDRA(Micro Units Development and
Refinance Agency)
Bank sealed a pact to finance new entrepreneurs and small
businesses.
CM Jayalalithaa flagged off 1st phase of the Chennai Metro-distance
of 10.15km,
consisting
of
Alandur,Ekkathuthangal,Ashok
Nagar,Vadapalani,Arumbakkam and
Koyambedu Railway stations.
Indigo, Infibeam and Teamlease filed a draft prospectus for Initial
Public Offering
(IPO) to list on the domestic stock market.
Nobel peace prize winning organisation OPCW(Organisation for the
Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons) achieved major milestone of destroying 90% of the
global
chemical weapons stockpile.
Intergovermental agreements between India and Netherlands signed
in New Delhi
in order to enhance the bilateral cooperation between the two nationsIndian PM
Narendra Modi and PM of Netherlands Mark Rutte.
India,Bangladesh launch 2 bus services-Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala and
DhakaShillong-Guwahati flagged off by PM Modi and West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata
Banerjee. during PM Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to Bangladesh.
Mauritius(29%) regained the position as top source of foreign direct
investment
(FDI) into India by pushing Singapore to the second slot in 2014-15.
41st G7 summit-nations agree to space out fossil fuels by 2100,held in
Schloss
Elmau,Krün,Bavaria,Germany.
African leaders in order to create a common market that span half the
continent
from Cairo to Capetown signed 26 nations Tripartite Free Trade Area
(TFTA) signed
in Egypt,by Jim Yong Kim,President of World Bank .
Minister of State(MoS) for External Affairs V K Singh inaugurated 1st
India-China
Yoga College at Yunnan Minzu University in Kunming, China.
Nathu La opens a new route for Indian pilgrimags travelling to
Mansarovar expand
road connectivity between the two countries.
Typhoon Kujira,8th typhoon of 2015-made landfall in south China’s
Hainan Province.
BRICS Bank (New Development Bank) is expected start operations by
April 2016,
President.
Australia joined Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) by
contributing
930m Australian dollars equivalent to USD $718.5m over five years.
ISRO bags Space Pioneer Award for its Mars mission at 34th Annual
International
Space Development Conference held at Toronto,Canada-presented by
National
Space Society NSS of USA.
Para-athlete Devika Malik selected as one of the winner of Queen’s
Young
Leaders Award from across all the Commonwealth Nations.
Musicologist S.R.Janakiraman,filmmaker M.S.Sathyu,Indian classical
singer Vijay
Kichlu and musician Tulsidas Borkar awarded for Sangeet Natak
Akademi
fellowships,awards for 2014 by the General Council of ‘Sangeet Natak
Akademi’.
Hindi writers Babusha Kohli,Upasana won 10th Navlekhan Award of
Bharatiya
Jnanpith- recognized for poem “Prem Gilhari Akhrot Dil” and novel
“Zindagi Ek Ek
Ek Script Bhar”-held at the India Habitat Centre,New Delhi.
India’s famous Historian Ramachandra Guha won most coveted prize
Fukuoka
Prize in academics category.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan awarded this year’s Swathi Puraskar,to for his
outstanding
contribution to Indian music.
Carnatic musician Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan won the prestigious
award “SANGITA
KALANIDHI”-at 89th annual conference of the Music Academy“SADAS” on
1st January 2016.
Sahitya Akademi announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar -five novelists,four
writers of
short stories and three authors of poetries .
Famous Writer Vishwanath Tripathi chosen for 28th Moorti Devi
Award-“Vyomkesh
Darvesh”.
President Pranab Mukherjee presented the ‘Punyabhushan‘ award to
media
personality Pratap Pawar.
Mr.P.Kunhikrishnan appointed as Director of Satish Dhawan Space
Centre (SDSC)
SHAR.
Famous scientist K.Sivan appointed as new Director of Vikram
Sarabhai Space
Centre(VSSC).
Indian diplomat to the United Nations,Nikhil Seth appointed as the
head of
UNITAR(United Nations Institute for Training and Research) by UN
Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon(South Korea).
India-born Padmasree Warrior stepped down from her post of Chief
Technology
Officer at global IT giant CISCO.
Dr.Srivari Chandrasekhar appointed as the Director of CSIR-Indian
Institute of
Chemical Technology(IICT) by PM Narendra Modi,president of
the CSIR(Council of Scientific and Industrial Research).
Managing director and CEO of Indian Bank, T M Bhasin quits to take
up new
responsibility as Vigilance Commissioner in Central Vigilance
Commission.
Fifty nations,including India, sign agreement on China-led AIIB(Asian
Infrastructure
Investment Bank)-USD 100 billion.
ISRO’s GAGAN(GPS-Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation) to provide
navigational
support to Railways-developed by ISRO and Airports Authority of India
(AAI),
broadcasted by two Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites:GSAT8
and GSAT10.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL) delivered ‘Orbiter Craft Module
Structure’ of
Chandrayaan-2, India’s 2nd lunar exploration mission, to ISRO Satellite
Centre,launched by a Geo-Stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLVMKII).
European Space Agency (ESA) launched a satellite that will give its
ambitious
Copernicus Earth observation project “color vision” by delivering
valuable images.
Indian space programme, the Mangalyaan spacecraft completed its
100th orbit
around Mars.
On World Environment Day,Botanical Survey of India BSI and
Zoological Survey of
India ZSI released the list of newly discovered species- India richer by
349 new
species.
India will be hosting the 2016 AFC Under-16 Championship as
confirmed by the
Asian Football Confederation (AFC)-All India Football Federation
(AIFF).
India has moved to 141st position from 147th in the latest rankings
released by
FIFA,India
is
at
22nd
position
among
the
Asian
countries.Iran(41),Japan(52) and
South Korea(58).
Serena Williams defeated Czech Lucie Safarova ,won 3rd French
Open and 20th
Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.
Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland defeated Serbia’s Novak Djokovic
become the winner
of the 2015 French Open title.
India finished with 3rd spot in the final medal’s tally of 21st Asian
Athletics
Championship. Overall India bagged 13 medals including 4 Gold, 5
Silver and 4
Bronze.
Winners of 2015 French Open title of Tennis: 114th edition of the
French
Open event took place at the Stade Roland Garros.It is the second
Grand Slam
event of the year.
Men’s Singles: Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland defeated Novak
Djokovic of
Serbia.
Women’s Singles:Serena Williams of United States defeated Lucie
Safarova of Czechoslovakia.
Goa will be hosting 5th Youth Delphic Games from February 1 to 14 in
2016 under
the motto “Celebrating Arts and Cultures”.
Guam defeated India in 2018 World Cup Qualifier match-ranked 33
places below
India in FIFA rankings.
Sunil Chhetri became 1st Indian footballer to score 50 international
goals during
India’s 2nd match of the second round of qualifiers for 2018 football
World Cup.
Captain of Pakistan cricket team,Zaheer Abbas appointed as the ICC
President.
Inderjit Singh and Jinson Johnson of India bagged gold at the first leg
of the Asian
Athletics Grand Prix in Bangkok,Thailand.
3rd seeded Indian Badminton duo Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa
won
the Canada Open 2015 women’s doubles title after beating the topseeded Dutch
pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in the finals.
“Education of Muslims:An Islamic Perspective of Knowledge and
Education” by
Indian Context edited by Professor JS Rajput.
“Flood of fire” by Amitav Ghosh.
”Charting a New path: Early Years of the NFIW’‘, co-authored by
famous women’s
rights activist Gargi Chakravarthy and Supriya Chottani.
“Transcendence:My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji” by
former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.