1 CA Fact Bytes Contents Business Awareness ............................................................................................................................... 2 Personalities ....................................................................................................................................... 2 Business Appointments - India .................................................................................................. 2 International Appointments ...................................................................................................... 3 Key positions held – World Forums........................................................................................... 4 Business Awards ................................................................................................................................. 6 Global Rankings .................................................................................................................................. 7 Business News .................................................................................................................................... 8 Mergers, Acquisitions, Investments .......................................................................................... 8 New Launches/Initiatives ........................................................................................................ 10 Systems/Apps .......................................................................................................................... 12 General Awareness............................................................................................................................... 13 Personalities ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Appointments .......................................................................................................................... 13 Key positions held ................................................................................................................... 14 Deaths...................................................................................................................................... 16 People in News ........................................................................................................................ 18 Book Releases & Authors ................................................................................................................. 19 Sports................................................................................................................................................ 19 Awards .............................................................................................................................................. 22 Honours ............................................................................................................................................ 29 Government Schemes ...................................................................................................................... 29 Aerospace/Defence .......................................................................................................................... 34 Military & Naval Exercises ................................................................................................................ 36 Government News............................................................................................................................ 38 India’s Global Rankings ..................................................................................................................... 42 International News ........................................................................................................................... 44 Important Days ................................................................................................................................. 49
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CA Fact Bytes
Contents Business Awareness ............................................................................................................................... 2
Personalities ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Business Appointments - India .................................................................................................. 2
International Appointments ...................................................................................................... 3
Key positions held – World Forums ........................................................................................... 4
Business Awards ................................................................................................................................. 6
Global Rankings .................................................................................................................................. 7
Business News .................................................................................................................................... 8
Mergers, Acquisitions, Investments .......................................................................................... 8
New Launches/Initiatives ........................................................................................................ 10
Systems/Apps .......................................................................................................................... 12
General Awareness ............................................................................................................................... 13
Personalities ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Appointments .......................................................................................................................... 13
Key positions held ................................................................................................................... 14
Deaths ...................................................................................................................................... 16
People in News ........................................................................................................................ 18
Book Releases & Authors ................................................................................................................. 19
Sports ................................................................................................................................................ 19
Awards .............................................................................................................................................. 22
Honours ............................................................................................................................................ 29
Government Schemes ...................................................................................................................... 29
Aerospace/Defence .......................................................................................................................... 34
Military & Naval Exercises ................................................................................................................ 36
Government News ............................................................................................................................ 38
India’s Global Rankings ..................................................................................................................... 42
International News ........................................................................................................................... 44
Important Days ................................................................................................................................. 49
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Business Awareness
Personalities Business Appointments - India
Position Personality President & MD, General Motors India
Sanjiv Gupta
Chairman ,Infosys Nandan Nilekani CMD,Hindustan Copper Limited Santosh Sharma MD & CEO, Bank of India Dinabandhu Mohapatra Director, Twitter India Taranjeet Singh MD & CEO, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)
R Subramaniakumar
MD & CEO, Union Bank of India Rajkiran Rai G MD & CEO, Punjab National Bank Sunil Mehta Head, Nokia India Sanjay Malik Partner & CEO, KPMG India Sameer Chadha CEO & MD, MCX Mrugank Paranjape CEO, NSE Vikram Limaye Chairman, BSE Dhirendra Swarup MD, SBI Dinesh Kumar Khara Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)
Sushil Chandra
CEO & MD, Larsen & Turbo Ltd S.N. Subrahmanyan Chairman, Tata Sons N Chandrasekaran Key Corporate Positions
Entity Personality CMD, SIDBI Mohammad Mustafa MD & CEO, Union Bank of India Rajkiran Rai G Chairman, SBI Rajnish Kumar MD & CEO, ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar MD, HDFC Bank Aditya Puri MD & CEO, Yes Bank Rana Kapoor CEO, Standard Chartered India Zarin Daruwala CMD, Exim Bank Yaduvendra Mathur Governor, RBI Urjit Patel MD & CEO, IDFC Bank Sunil Kakar
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COO, ITC Limited Sanjiv Puri President, Microsoft India Anant Maheshwari CEO, Wipro Abidali Neemuchwala CEO, AirAsia India Amar Abrol MD, Facebook India Umang Bedi MD, Mondelez India Deepak Iyer International Appointments
Personality Narration Audrey Azoulay She was elected as new Director General of UNESCO. She will
succeed outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria. With this, she became first Jewish Director of UNESCO.
Soumya Swaminathan
She has been appointed as Deputy Director General of WHO. She will replace Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah from Ghana.
Nisha Biswal Former US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia has been appointed president of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), a forum of US businesses under the US Chamber of Commerce.
Dara Khosrowshahi
Appointed as CEO of Uber Technologies Inc (Replaced Travis Kalanick)
S. Aparna An IAS officer from Gujarat cadre has been appointed as Executive Director, World Bank to represent the constituency of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka for three years.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi
Pakistan’s petroleum minister was elected as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan. He succeeded Nawaz Sharif who was disqualified by the Supreme Court over the Panama Papers scandal
Emmanuel Macron
Elected as the youngest president in French history after a landslide victory over the far-right Marine Le Pen
Moon Jae-in From the Democratic Party of Korea won the elections to become the 19th President of South Korea
Lenin Moreno Sworn in as Ecuador's President following a tight electoral race
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Appointed as the new Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO) for a five-year term
Ovais Sarmad Appointed as the Deputy Executive Secretary of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Leo Varadkar Indian origin Varadkar elected as PM of Ireland
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Key positions held – World Forums
Organization (Established in)
HQ Headed by 2017 convention
United Nations (1945)
New York Secretary General – Antonio Guterres
Multiple conventions
UN General Assembly
New York President – Miroslov Lajcak
72nd session, (September 2017)
International Court of Justice (1945)
Netherlands Ronny Abraham ---
World Bank (1945)
Washington D.C
President - Jim Yong Kim
---
IMF (1945) Washington D.C
MD - Christine Lagarde
---
UNESCO (1945) Paris, France Director-General - Audrey Azoulay
Multiple Conventions
UNCTAD (1964) Geneva, Switzerland
Secretary General – Mukhisa Kituyi
---
World Economic Forum (1971)
Geneva, Switzerland
Executive Chairman – Klaus Schwab
Davos, Switzerland (January 2017)
Commonwealth of Nations (1949)
London, UK Secretary General – Patricia Scotland
__
World Intellectual Property Organization (1967)
Geneva, Switzerland
Director-General – Francis Gurry
__
New Development Bank (2015)
Shanghai, China
K V Kamath
BRICS (2009) Shanghai, China
---- Xiamen, China (September 2017)
BIMSTEC (1997) Dhaka, Bangladesh
Secretary General – Sumith Nakandala (Sri Lanka)
Kathmandu, Nepal (August 2017)
WHO (1948) Geneva, Switzerland
Director General – Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
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ASEAN Summit (1967)
Jakarta, Indonesia
Secretary General – Le Luong Minh
30th summit, Manila (April 2017) 31st summit, Philippines (Planned in Nov 2017)
UNICEF (1946) New York Exec Director - Anthony (Tony) Lake
Global Innovation Summit – Jordan (May 2017)
OPEC (1960) Vienna, Austria
Secretary General – Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo (Nigeria)
NATO (1949) Brussels Secretary General – Jens Stoltenberg
Belgium (May 2017)
SAARC (1985) Kathmandu Secretary General – Amjad Hussain B. Sial (Pakistan)
---
NAM (1961) Jakarta Secretary General – Nicolás Maduro
---
G7/G8 (1976) ---- ---- 43rd summit, Italy (May 2017)
G20 (1999) Mexico Xi Jinping 12th summit, Germany (July 2017)
SCO (2001) Beijing Secretary General – Rashid Olimov
Kazakhstan (June 2017)
International Maritime Organization (1948)
London, UK Secretary General – Ki Tack Lim (South Korea)
71st Session, London (July 2017)
International Labour Organization (1919)
Geneva, Switzerland
Director General – Guy Ryder (UK)
106th Session, Switzerland ( June 2017)
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum (1989)
Singapore Executive Director – Alan Bollard
25th summit to be held in Vietnam (November 2017)
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Business Awards Business Awards Awardees Achievement
Forbes India Leadership Awards 2017
Entrepreneur for the Year
To be held
Best CEO – Private sector Best CEO – Public sector Outstanding Startup for the year NextGen Entrepreneur for the year Lifetime Achievement
Golden Peacock Awards
Awardees Sector
Global Awards for Excellence in Business Excellence 2017
eClerx Services Limited BPO UltraTech Cement Limited, Aditya Cement Works
Cement
Triveni Engineering & Industries Limited
Chemical (Distillery)
Capgemini Technology Services India Limited
Consultancy
The New India Assurance Company Limited
Insurance
DHL Express (India) Pvt Ltd Logistics World Security, Dubai Security Services GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited
Transportation (Aviation)
Lifetime Achievement Award for Business & Social Inclusiveness 2017
Dr. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor Group Chairman Al Habtoor Group
Business Leadership Award 2017
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem Group Chairman and CEO, DP World
Other Awards Awardees Details Niryat Shree (Exporters) 2017
To be announced Offered by Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Niryat Bandhu (Export
promotion Councils & To be announced
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Banks) 2017 CNBC’s 16th Asia Business Leader Awards
To be held in November 2017 (China)
---
Global Rankings Forbes Rankings 2017 Personality Role (Rank) World’s most powerful women
To be announced To be announced
Forbes List of world’s 100 most powerful women – Indian names
To be announced To be announced
Forbes “Asia 50 Power Businesswomen” list – Top 2 positions
To be announced To be announced
Forbes 2017 India Richest List
Mukesh Ambani Reliance Industries Lakshmi Mittal Mittal Steel Azim Premji Wipro Dilip Sanghvi Sun Pharma Shiv Nadar HCL
Forbes 2017 list of the World’s highest paid celebrities (Indians)
Shahrukh Khan(Rank 8), Salman Khan(Rank 9), Akshay Kumar(Rank10), Priyanka Chopra (Rank 8 among Highest paid TV actress )
Actors
Forbes 2017 list of the World’s highest paid TV celebrities (Indians)
Priyanka Chopra(8) Actors
Forbes 2017 World’s Most Powerful People
To be announced To be announced
Companies/Entities Details Fortune 500 list – Indian companies
To be announced
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Forbes 2017 ranking of The World’s Most Innovative Companies
To be announced
Forbes best countries for business 2017
Ranks 1-5 Ranks 6-10 To be announced
TIME Magazine Rankings
Person Profile
TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year 2017
To be announced To be announced
TIME Magazine’s 2017 list of world’s most influential people –
Indian entries
Name Category Profile Narendra Modi Leaders PM of India Politician Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Titan Paytm founder
Business News Mergers, Acquisitions, Investments
News Narration SBI launched India’s first bond index series at London Stock Exchange
The FTSE SBI Bond Index Series, launched by India’s largest commercial bank along with global index and data provider FTSE Russell, is positioned as a first-of-its-kind transparent benchmark for investors in international markets to analyse India’s government bond market
Star India Wins IPL Media Rights
Star India acquired digital as well as media rights for Indian Premier League for a term of five years 2018-2023 with a bid of Rs. 16,347.50 crore
Tribes India products to be sold on Amazon
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) has inked MoU with e-commerce giant Amazon for selling tribal products. The aim is to promote tribal handicrafts like handloom products, cane and bamboo products, tribal jewellery, Dhokra craft, tribal weaves and embroidery, tribal paintings etc. TRIFED already has tied-up with Snapdeal
PNB, BSNL join hands for mobile wallet Speedpay rollout
Punjab National Bank and state-run firm BSNL teamed up to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay across 10 states in the country.
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Speedway wallet will operate like any other mobile wallet for paying bills, recharging phone besides its users will be able to deposit and withdraw money from authorised retail outlets
Fincare Small Finance Bank starts operations with 25 branches in 4 states
Previously known as Disha Microfin Limited), Fincare started banking operations with 25 operational branches across Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
L&T bags Rs 3375-crore Mauritius metro order
The project comprises of a 26-kilometer route, which will connect Curepipe to Immigration Square in Port Louis
Facebook launches YouTube competitor called ‘Watch’
A new video programming platform ‘Watch’ for creators and publishers. Watch is expected to compete with Google-owned YouTube
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approves selling 51% stake in HPCL to ONGC
HPCL will continue as PSU after the acquisition. HPCL will add 23.8 million tonnes of annual oil refining capacity to ONGC’s portfolio, making it the third-largest refiner in the country after IOC & Reliance Industries
AIIB Approves $150 million for India Infrastructure Fund
China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $150 million equity investment loan to the India Infrastructure Fund. This loan will be the bank’s first equity investment to fund private projects
Paytm launches payments bank
Paytm has rolled out Payments Bank operations by launching first physical branch in Noida
Amul signs MoU with ISRO GCMMF, marketer of Amul brand has signed an MoU with ISRO for fodder acreage assessment using satellite observation and space technology
BSNL signs MoU with Facebook & MobiKwik
BSNL has inked agreements with Facebook & MobiKwik in order to popularize value added services among customers
Siemens, TCS tie-up for industrial IoT services
TCS & Siemens announced collaboration around Internet of Things (IoT) innovation. This will enable customers to benefit from data insights & services based on “MindSphere,” a cloud-based, open IoT operating system from Siemens
JK Tyre ties up with Suzuki to create new
After playing a pioneering role in identifying & nurturing India’s top racers for over two decades,
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opportunities
JK Tyre wants to churn out world-class bike racers. It will introduce a two-wheeler racing series, which will give an opportunity to every aspiring biker to showcase skills & fulfil dream of becoming a champion
World Bank clears $250 million loan for Skill India mission
The World Bank has cleared a $250 million loan for making Indian youth more employable through reskilling. Under the programme, adults in 15-59 years of age, underemployed or unemployed, will get the skill training . The programme will benefit approximately 15,000 trainers and 3,000 assessors
Thales and Reliance Defence Limited Joint Venture
Thales and Reliance Defence Limited announced in June 2017 their decision to form a joint venture (JV) to execute part of the offset obligations for the 36 Rafale fighter jets India has contracted from France
TeamLease To Buy 30% Stake In Job Portal Freshersworld.com
Staffing services firm Team Lease Services will acquire a 30% stake in job portal Freshersworld.com at an enterprise valuation of Rs. 18 crore, a move that will accelerate its hiring strategy
Fairfax sells 12% in ICICI Lombard to Warburg for Rs 2,473 cr
ICICI Lombard General Insurance said its foreign partner Canada-based Fairfax has offloaded part stake of 12.18 per cent to a clutch of investors, including Warburg Pincus, for Rs 2,473 crore.
New Launches/Initiatives
News Narration Government launches Intensified Mission Indradhanush
• The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) to accelerate full immunization coverage to more than 90% by December 2018
• Government aims to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme
CARA launches monthly ‘Jan Sampark’ Program
• The first of its kind programme was held in New Delhi by Central Adoption Resource Authority
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to facilitate adoption (CARA) of the Ministry of Women & Child Development
• This program is launched to enable the public to have interaction with its officials and staff for seeking information related to Adoption as well as flagging their concerns
Government launches PENCIL Portal
• The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment launched Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCIL) Portal at National Conference on Child Labour
• This portal is an electronic platform that aims at involving Centre, State, District, Governments, civil society and general public in achieving the target of child labour free society
HRD ministry launches DIKSHA Portal for teachers
• DIKSHA portal will provide digital platform to teachers to make their operations more digital
• DIKSHA is built considering the whole life cycle of teacher beginning from the time when they enrol in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to the time they retire as teachers
Union Government launches National Sports Talent Search Portal
• A sports talent search portal was launched by Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to trace & provide essential directions to young talent who wish to seriously pursue sports
Scania launches new gen U-BODY tipper for mining operations in India
• Scania, the Swedish company and a leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles and engines, has designed the new tipper to increase productivity in country’s mining sector
• It has designed for Indian conditions, which brings down the Total Operating Economy
NSDC, Google India launch mobile app development programme
• The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Google India have launched Android Skill Development programme to improve mobile developer ecosystem in the country.
• The programme aims to impart mobile development training on the android OS and web platform and also improve the quality of mobile app development ecosystem in India.
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Maharashtra Government launches two online portals MahaDBT, MahaVASTU
• Maharashtra Government has launched two online portals MahaDBT and MahaVASTU to streamline the process of direct benefit transfer (DBT) and to bring in more transparency in construction sector
• Maharashtra became first state in the country to launch such a system that will provide direct benefits with Aadhaar authentication
Systems/Apps
Name Launching Entity
Narration
Divyang Sarathi
Union Government
The mobile app aims to empower ‘Divyangjans’(people with disabilities) by providing them easier and convenient access to information pertaining to schemes, scholarships, statutes, institutional support systems, jobs and other crucial information
FoSCoRIS FSSAI System will help in verifying compliance of food safety and hygiene standards by food businesses as per the government norms & will bring together all key stakeholders including food businesses, food safety officers, designated officers, state food safety commissioners
MyFASTag & FASTag
NHAI These apps were launched to facilitate the availability of FASTags for Electronic Toll Collection
Humraaz Indian Army The app has been launched through which serving soldiers can track details like postings and promotions. The app will also enable soldiers to view their monthly salary slips, Form 16 and also download them
Rail SAARTHI Indian Railway
Launched by Railway minister Suresh Prabhu in July 2017, the app was made to cater to various passenger requirements, including ticket booking, inquiry, on-board cleaning and ordering meal on a single platform
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mAadhaar app UIDAI The app allows users to carry unique Aadhaar information including name, date of birth, gender, address, and the linked photograph, on smart phones. The app also allows users to lock or unlock biometrics data
e-RaKAM Portal
Union Government
The portal provides a platform for farmers to sell agricultural produce. E-RaKAM is a first of its kind initiative that leverages technology to connect farmers from the smallest villages to the biggest markets of the world
General Awareness
Personalities Appointments
President of India Narration Ram Nath Kovind sworn in as 14th President of India
The Ex-Governor of Bihar & Rajya Sabha MP was administered oath to the office. Before entering politics, he was a lawyer for 16 years & practiced in the Delhi High Court & the Supreme Court
Vice-President of India Narration M Venkaiah Naidu sworn in as 13th Vice-President of India
Former Union Minister sworn in as 13th Vice President of India. He took charge as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha
(a) Chief Ministers
Personality
Nagaland TR Zeliang sworn in as 19th Chief Minister of Nagaland Bihar Nitish Kumar resigned & got re-elected, with BJP support
(b) Governor/ Lieutenant Gov Personality Arunachal Pradesh BD Mishra Assam Jagdish Mukhi Andaman & Nicobar Islands DK Joshi Bihar Satya pal Malik Meghalaya Ganga Prasad Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit
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(c) Sports Personality
Coach of Indian cricket team Ravi Shastri (Ex-coach Anil Kumble resigned) Coach of Indian U-19 cricket team
Rahul Dravid (Re-appointment)
Coach of Indian men’s hockey team
Sjoerd Marijne (Ex-coach Roelant Oltmans was ousted)
(d) Others Personality
Attorney General of India K K Venugopal (Replaced Mukul Rohatgi) Chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti (Replaced Nasim Zaidi) (e) Union Cabinet portfolio Personality
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (First woman with full time responsibility)
Information & Broadcasting Smriti Irani (Additional charge, post M.Venkaiah Naidu resigned)
Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan Railway Minister Piyush Goyal (Replaced Suresh Prabhu).
Additional charge of coal ministry
(f) Government dept Personality CMD, Air India Rajiv Bansal (Replaced Ashwani Lohani) Chairman, Railway Board Ashwani Lohani Chairman, Economic Advisory Committee
Bibek Debroy
Chairman, GSTN Ajay Bhushan Pandey Comptroller & Auditor General of India
Rajiv Mehrishi
CEO,IGCAR U. Kamachi Mudali Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra Key positions held
Government/Defence Personality Governor, RBI Urjit Patel RBI Deputy Governors NS Vishwanathan
Viral Acharya Bibhu Prasad Kanungo
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S S Mundra Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa Chairperson, NACWC Inder Jit Singh Chairman, Press Trust of India Vivek Goenka Chairman (Part time), UIDAI J Satyanarayana CEO, UIDAI Ajay Bhushan Pandey Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)
Justice Permod Kohli
NITI Aayog Chairperson- Shri Narendra Modi CEO-Amitabh Kant Vice Chairman – Rajiv Kumar
Chief Economic adviser to the govt
Arvind Subramanian
National Human Rights Commission of India
Justice H.L. Dattu
Chief Information Commissioner
Radha Krishna Mathur
National Security advisor to the Prime Minister
Ajit Doval
Secretary to President Sanjay Kothari Chief, RAW Anil Dhasmana Chief, Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain Director, CBI Alok Kumar Verma Director-General, CRPF Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Bipin Rawat Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa Chief Economic advisor to the government
Arvind Subramanian
Chairman, 7th pay commission
Justice A K Mathur
Chairman, 14th Finance Commission
Y V Reddy
Minister of Commerce & Industries
Suresh Prabhu
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg Cabinet Secretary of India Pradeep Kumar Sinha Chairman, SEBI chief Ajay Tyagi
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CII President- Shobana Kamineni Director General-Chandrajit Baneer
NASSCOM President – R. Chandrasekhar Chairman – Raman roy
President, ASSOCHAM Sandeep Jajodia President, FICCI Pankaj Patel
Science Related Bodies (Establishment year)
Name
TIFR (1945) Sandip Trivedi BARC (1954) Director – K N Vyas Atomic Energy Commission of India Chairman – Sekhar Basu ISRO (1969) A S Kirankumar DRDO (1958) Director General – S Christopher National Green Tribunal (2010) Justice Swatanter Kumar Deaths
Name Narration Hugh Hefner The founder & chief creative officer of Iconic magazine
‘Playboy’, passed away in Los Angeles Tom Alter Veteran theatre, television and film actor was a recipient
of Padma Shri award for his contribution in the field of arts & cinema
Arjan Singh The Indian Air Force Marshal served as Chief of Air Staff, was the he first and only officer of the Indian Air Force to be promoted to five-star rank as Marshal. He was also recipient of Padma Vibhushan award
Gauri Lankesh Noted Journalist & editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada weekly was shot dead
Ahmed Khan India’s oldest football Olympian, participated in 1948 & 1952 Summer Olympics
Ex-Manipur CM Rishang Keishing
A freedom fighter and member of India’s first parliament (1952-57) served as the Chief Minister of Manipur from 1980 -1988 & 1994-1997
S Paul The veteran photographer who was described as ‘The Henry Cartier-Bresson of India’ by B&W Magazine of US, died in New Delhi
Stephen Wooldridge
The Australian racing cyclist was a former Olympic Gold Medallists & four time World Champion
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Yisrael Kristal Polish-Israeli super centenarian and Holocaust survivor, world’s oldest living man, died at the age of 113
Pushpa Mittra Bhargava
An Indian scientist, writer, and administrator founded the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, a federally funded research institute, in Hyderabad
U R Rao Former ISRO Chairman & Internationally renowned space scientist passed away in Bengaluru in July 2017
Prof. Yash Pal Globally renowned physicist, academic and higher education reformer, passed away in Noida in July 2017. He was known for contributions to the study of cosmic rays, as well as for being an institution-builder. He was also one of the leading science communicators in India
H. Sayeeduddin Dagar
An Indian classical vocalist belonged to Dhrupad tradition, the oldest existing form of north Indian (Hindustani) classical music
Chester Bennington An American singer & songwriter, also famous for being the front man for the rock band ‘Linkin Park’ was found dead at his Apartment
Joseph Rago Former Pulitzer prize winner & well known American political writer was famous for his work at The Wall Street Journal
Bhishmraj Bam, sports psychology expert
He had provided guidance to sportspersons in several fields, including the cricketer Rahul Dravid & badminton player Aparna Popat. He also wrote for newspapers on sports psychology & had penned books on the subject
Justice Leila Seth She was the first woman judge of Delhi High Court and first woman Chief Justice of a high court (Himachal Pradesh)
KPS Gill An IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre of the 1958 batch was known as a ‘super cop’ and was credited with rooting out militancy in Punjab
Chandraswami The spiritual leader was closely linked to former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chandra Shekhar
Manuel Noriega He ruled Panama from 1983-89 and spied for the Central Intelligence Agency CIA
Roger Moore The British actor played the much famed secret agent James Bond in seven films
Ueli Steck Famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck was killed in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal
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C Narayana He was a renowned Telugu poet, writer & Jnanpith awardee
P. N. Bhagwati Former Supreme Court Judge & Chief Justice of Gujarat introduced concepts of Public Interest Litigation(PIL)
Deshbandu Das Gupta
Founder & Chairman of Lupin limited, a multinational pharmaceutical company was the recipient of the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year 2011 – Visionary Leader award
People in News
Name Narration Anupam Kher He has been appointed new chairman of FTII in Pune. He
succeeded Gajendra Chauhan whose tenure ended in March 2017.
Peggy Whitson Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth, wrapping up a record-breaking flight that catapulted her to first place for U.S. space endurance. Whitson’s 665 days off the planet 288 days on this mission alone exceeds that of any other American and any other woman worldwide
Jagmeet Singh A lawyer by profession, he became first Sikh politician to lead Canada’s major New Democratic Party, thus becoming the first non-white politician to lead a major political party in Canada
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Former Indian Cricket team Captain created history by becoming first ever wicket keeper to do 100 stumpings in ODI
Amritpal Singh The captain of the Indian basketball team scripted history by becoming the first Indian-born player to be picked up by an Australian NBL team
Tahir Mahmood The eminent jurist was awarded with the prestigious N R Madhava Menon Best Law Teacher Award 2017 for his distinguished services to legal education and legal profession on the occasion of Law Teachers’ Day celebrations
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh
Dera Sacha Sauda chief has been jailed for 20-years by a special CBI court. The sentence was delivered by special CBI Judge Jagdeep Singh
Wayne Rooney Former Captain of England Football team retired Ashish Bagga CEO of India Today Group, which runs news channels India
Today and Aaj Tak, stepped down from his position
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Milkha Singh The legendary athlete has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of WHO for physical activity in the South-East Asia Region (SEAR)
Prasoon Joshi Appointed as the Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). He replaced Pahlaj Nihalani (who was expelled from his duties)
Preet Kaur Gill Britain’s first woman Sikh MP was elected to Home Affairs Select Committee in the UK Parliament
Book Releases & Authors Author Book
Maria Sharapova Unstoppable: My Life So Far Satya Nadella Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul
and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone Anita Shirodkar ‘Aryavir’ Amish Tripathi Sita – Warrior of Mithila Durjoy Dutta The Boy who Loved Jairam Ramesh Indira Gandhi: A life in Nature Surya Prakash The Emergency-Indian Democracy’s Darkest Hour M S Swaminathan The World Without Hunger
Sports Individual Sports Football/Futsal Location Highlights
Confederation Cup 2017
Russia Germany won first ever Confederation Cup by defeating Copa America Champion Chile by 1-0 goals in the final match held at St. Petersburg, Russia
Football Location Highlights 2017 UEFA Super Cup football tournament
Macedonia Real Madrid has won the 2017 UEFA Super Cup football tournament by defeating Manchester United in the final by 2-1 at the Philip II Arena in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 8, 2017
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Tennis Location Highlights Wimbledon Championship 2017 Men’s Single
London
Roger Federer won his 8th Wimbledon championship by defeating Marin Cilic in the finals
Women’s Single Gabrine Muguruz won her first ever Wimbledon championship by defeating Venus Williams in the finals
Mixed Doubles Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis, defeated Henri Kontinen and Heather Watson in the finals
French open 2017 Men’s Single
Paris
Rafael Nadal won his 10th French open title defeating Stan Wawrinka in the finals
Women’s Single Jeļena Ostapenko won the title, defeating Simona Halep in the finals
Mixed Doubles Rohan Bopanna clinched his maiden Grand Slam title when he won French Open mixed doubles final with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski
Rogers Cup 2017 Men’s Single
Montreal Alexander Zverev won the title by defeating Roger Federer in the final, 6–3, 6–4.
Women’s Single Elina Svitolina won the title by defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final, 6–4, 6–0.
US Open 2017 Men’s Single
New York Rafael Nadal won his 16th Grand Slam title and 3rd US Open title, defeating first time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson, 6–3, 6–3, 6–4.
Women’s Single Sloane Stephens won her first Grand Slam title, defeating Madison Keys in the final, 6–3, 6–0
Mixed Doubles Martina Hingis and Jamie Murray won their second consecutive Grand Slam mixed doubles title, defeating Chan Hao-ching and Michael Venus in the final, 6–1, 4–6, [10–8]
Cricket Location Highlights Champions Trophy 2017
London Pakistan defeated India in the finals of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 to clinch their maiden champions trophy
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ICC Women’s World Cup 2017
London England defeated India in the finals to win their 4th World Cup by 9 runs
Squash Location Winners Victorian Open Squash Championship, 2017
Melbourne Harinder Pal Sandhu defeated Australia’s Rex Hedrick in the finals of Victorian Open Squash Championship 2017
South Australian Open Squash Title, 2017
Harinder Pal Sandhu defeated Rhys Dowling of Australia in finals to win South Australian Open Squash Title 2017
Badminton Location Winners US Open Grand Prix California H S Prannoy won the 2017 US Open Grand
Prix Gold badminton tournament title. He defeated his compatriot Parupalli Kashyap by 21-15, 20-22
BWF World Championship 2017
Glasgow Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara defeated PV Sindhu in the finals by 19-21, 22-20, 20-22 score. Saina Nehwal clinched bronze medal
Shooting Location Winners Asian Championship Shotgun
Kazakhstan Mairaj Ahmad Khan & Rashmmi Rathore won a gold medal in the skeet mixed team event at the 7th Asian Championship Shotgun in Astana, Kazakhstan
Formula One Winner 2017 Spanish Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton 2017 Belgian Grand Prix 2017 Italian Grand Prix
Upcoming events Location 10th World Games 2017 Poland 18th Asian Games 2018 Indonesia 21st FIFA World cup 2018 Russia
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46th Copa America 2019 Brazil 12th Cricket World Cup 2019 England & Wales 37th National Games 2019 Andhra Pradesh Summer Olympics 2020 Tokyo 37th Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy 2018
Netherlands
13th South Asian Federation Games 2018
Kathmandu
Summer Olympics 2020 Paris
Awards Movies/Music
International Personality Achievement 59 th Grammy Awards 2017
Adele, the British star
Won five awards, including Record, Album & Song of the year
Sandeep Das, Indian table player
“Sing Me Home”, an album having contribution from Sandeep won the Best World Music Album
89th Academy awards 2017
‘La La Land’ Received 14 nominations & 6 awards, including – Best Director – Damien Chazelle Best Actress – Emma Stone
‘Moonlight’ Received 6 nominations & won 3 awards, including “Best Movie” award
Casey Affleck Best Actor
70th Cannes’ Film Festival, 2017
Swedish film,’ The Square’ directed by Ruben Ostlund
Won Palme d’Or (The highest prize at the Cannes Film Festival)
49th International Film Festival of India 2017
To be announced
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Beauty Pageants Winner Achievement Miss Universe 2017 To be announced Miss World 2017 Miss India World 2017 Mister World 2017
Movie Awards Awardees Achievement 18th IIFA awards 2017, New York
Shahid Kapoor Best Actor (Udta Punjab) Alia Bhatt Best Actress (Udta Punjab) Neerja Best Film
11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2017
To be held in November 2017
Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2017
To be announced
64th Filmfare Awards 2018, Mumbai
Popular category Best Actor To be announced Best Actress Best Film Best Director
Critics Awards Best Actor To be announced Best Actress Best Movie
66th National Film Awards, 2018
Category Awardee Best Film To be announced Best Actor
Theatre Award Awardee Achievement Kalidas Samman 2018
To be announced To be announced
Sports Awards (Inception Yr)
Winner (s) Sport
Arjuna Awards (1961) 17 awardees Key names Chateshwar Pujara – Cricket Harmanpreet Kaur – Cricket
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SSP Chawrasia – Golf V.J. Surekha-Archery
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (1991)
2 Athletes were awarded
Key names Sardar Singh – Hockey Devendra Jhajaria – Javelin Throw
Dronacharya Award (1985)
2 coaches were awarded
Sanjoy Chakraverthy –Shooting Roshan Lal- Wrestling
Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award
Sumrai Tete She is a member of the India women’s national field hockey team
Best player in Europe by UEFA for 2016/17
Christiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo picked up the trophy for the second consecutive season and third time in total, having also received the accolade in 2013-14
Player of the Year – World Soccer Awards 2017
To be announced
Ballon d’Or award 2017 To be announced IAAF World Athlete of the Year award 2017
To be announced
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017
To be announced
ICC Cricketer of the Year & Test Cricketer of the Year
To be announced
C K Naidu lifetime achievement award 2017
To be announced
BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award for Women 2017
To be announced
BCCI Polly Umrigar Award 2017
To be announced
Times of India Sports Awards 2018
To be announced
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General Awards Awardees Achievement 2017 Von Hippel Award Prof. C.N.Rao Eminent Scientist & Bharat Ratna
Awardee, will receive the highest international prize in materials research in November 2017. He is the first Indian & Asian to receive this award
Plus Alliaz Prize Narayana Murthy & Veena Sahajwalla
Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy and Mumbai-born scientist Veena Sahajwalla have been conferred the PluS Alliance Prize – a prestigious honour that recognises Research Innovation, Education Innovation, Global Leadership and Global Innovation
13th IDRBT Banking Technology Excellence Awards 2016-17
Karnataka Bank
Karnataka Bank has bagged the “Best bank award among small banks for use of technology for financial inclusion”
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Award for ‘Excellence’ in Energy Management
Hyderabad International Airport
Hyderabad International Airport Ltd has bagged the National Award for ‘Excellence’ in Energy Management at a conference hosted by CII
44th Tyler Prize for environmental achievement 2017
Jose Sarukhan Mexican ecologist Professor José Sarukhán, who built a government department to exclusively track the country’s rainforests and protect their biodiversity
World Food prize 2017 (Dubbed Nobel Prize for food and agriculture)
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
Innovator in funding and financing of African agriculture
Anna Politkovskaya Award 2017
Gauri Lankesh (Posthumous)
Late Kannada journalist was awarded prestigious Reach All Women in WAR (RAW in WAR) Anna Politkovskaya Award. She will share this award with Gulalai Ismail, a Pakistani peace activist
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Ramon Magsaysay awards 2017 Given to Asians achieving excellence in their respective fields
To be announced
Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award 2017
To be announced
International Prize in Statistics 2017
To be announced
International Children’s Peace Prize 2017
To be announced
Civilian Gallantry Awards 2018
Awardees Achievement
Ashok Chakra To be announced Kirti Chakra To be announced
Shaurya Chakra To be announced
Literature (Inception year)
Awardees Piece of work
The Man Booker International 2017
David Grossman ‘A Horse walks into a bar’ written by Israel author, translated in English by Jessica cohen
Commonwealth short story prize 2017
Ingrid Persuad Ingrid Persuad from Trinidad & Tobago won award for her shot story Sweet Sop
Vyas Samman 2017, conferred in 2018
Rishabh Jain For his autobiography ‘aadhe adhure’ , 18 year old boy youngest recipient of VYAS SAMMAN, honoured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Scholastic Asian Book Award 2017
To be announced
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The Man Booker Prize 2017
To be announced in November 2017
FT business book award 2017
To be announced
53nd Jnanpith Award 2017 (1962)
To be announced
Saraswati Samman, 2018
To be announced
Fellows of Nature (FON) South Asia Short Story Award in Nature writing
To be announced
Mathrubhumi Literary Award 2017
To be announced
Sahitya Akademi Awards 2017
To be announced
Pulitzer Awards 2017 Journalism Awardees
Public Service New York Daily News and ProPublica Breaking News Reporting Staff of East Bay Times, Oakland, CA National Reporting David A. Fahrenthold of The
Washington Post Letters, Drama, Music Awardees
Fiction The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
Drama Sweat, by Lynn Nottage History Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison
Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, by Heather Ann Thompson (Pantheon)
Journalism Awardee Achievement UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2017, Helsinki
Dawit Isaak Dawit, an imprisoned Eritrean-Swedish journalist is bestowed with this prestigious award in recognition of his courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression
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International Press Freedom Award 2017(Since 1991, from Committee to Protect Journalists, an NGO
To be held in November 2017
Nobel Prizes 2017 Subject Winners
Physics Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish & Kip Thorne(for their contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves)
Chemistry Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank & Richard Henderson(for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution)
Physiology/Medicine Michael W. Young, Michael Rosbash, Jeffrey C. Hall (for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm)
Literature Kazuo Ishiguro Peace ICAN-International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear
Weapons (for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.)
Economics Richard Thaler (for his work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.)
Alternative Nobel Prize 2017
Subject Winners To be announced
Civilian Awards 2018 Awardees Field
Padma Shri To be announced Padma Bhushan M.S.Dhoni & P V Sindhu Cricket Padma Vibhushan Bharat Ratna
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Honours Personality Honour
Mithila Raj Indian Women’s Cricket team skipper was named as one of the most influential women in India by BBC in the list of BBC’s 100 Women list
Ashwani Kumar Former Union Minister was conferred with the Japan’s imperial decoration ‘Order of the Rising Sun’ award for his contribution to fostering Japan-India ties
LK Advani Lifetime achievement Award by Lokmat Media group for his contributions as a Parliamentarian in Lok Sabha
Ahmadabad is the first Indian city to get UNESCO World Heritage site status
The 600 year old city has now joined the ranks of Paris, Vienna, Cairo, Brussels, Rome and Edinburgh and put India on the world heritage city map
Government Schemes
Name Narration CCEA approves SANKALP & STRIVE Schemes to boost Skill India Mission
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two World Bank supported schemes Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) to boost Skill India Mission
Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana –“Saubhagya” revived by Ministry of Power
The Prime Minister has launched a new scheme to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas. The total outlay of the project is Rs. 16, 320 crore while the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is Rs. 12,320 crore. The outlay for the rural households is Rs. 14,025 crore while the GBS is Rs. 10,587 crore
Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat scheme Led by The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (September 2017)
The scheme was launched by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at Mota Ishanpur village in Gandhinagar district in Gujarat. The LPG Panchayat scheme aims at spreading awareness among LPG users about how to properly use clean fuel and its benefits
AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Providing basic services, including water supply, sewerage, urban transport & building of amenities in cities to improve quality of life. Development of
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Transformation) Led By Ministry of Urban Development
100 smart cities across the country by 2020. 20 cities were selected in 1st round, 13 in 2nd round
HRIDAY (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana) Led by Ministry of Urban Development
With a duration of 27 months (completed in March 2017) and an outlay of Rs 500 Crores, the scheme was implemented in 12 cities Intent is to preserve & revitalise soul of heritage cities to reflect their unique character by encouraging aesthetically appealing, accessible, informative & secured environment
PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) Led by Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
Housing for all by 2022 in three phases. Target groups women, SC, ST, Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) Interest subsidy of 6.5% on housing loans availed up to a tenure of 15 years will be provided to EWS/LIG categories Central assistance at the rate of Rs.1.5 lakh per house for EWS category will be provided under the Affordable Housing in Partnership
PMUY (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana) Led by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
Replacing the unclean cooking fuels mostly used in the rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG (Tagline – ‘Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan’) Targets 5 Crore LPG connections to be distributed to BPL households over 3 yrs
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (Crop insurance) Led by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW)
Replaced existing National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified NAIS (MNIAS) Farmers will have to pay a uniform premium of 2% for kharif crops, 1.5%for rabi crops, 5% for annual commercial and horticultural crops The remaining share of the premium will continue to be borne equally by the Centre & respective state governments
PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana) Led by Ministry of
National mission to improve farm productivity and ensure better utilization of the resources in the country Rs 500 billion (US$7.4 billion) in a time span of five years have been allocated to this scheme
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Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Sagarmala Project Led by Ministry of Shipping
Transforming existing Ports into modern world class ports Integrating port development, the Industrial clusters & hinterland and efficient evacuation systems through road, rail, inland and coastal waterways
Namami Gange – National Mission for Clean Ganga Led by Ministry of water resources
231 projects have been launched under Namami Gange programme. The idea is to maintain minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga with the aim of ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable development
Skill India Led by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Aim to train 40 crore Indians in different skills by 2022 It includes various initiatives like National Skill Development Mission, National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and the Skill Loan scheme
PMKVY (Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana) Led by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Encourage aptitude towards employable skills & increase working efficiency of probable & existing daily wage earners, with monetary awards & providing them quality training Average award amount per person has been kept as ₹8,000 (US$120) In the initial year, a target to distribute Rs 15 billion (US$220 million) has been laid down
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushalya Yojna Led by Ministry of Rural Development
Aims to target youth, under age group of 15–35 years. A corpus of Rs 1,500 crore is aimed at enhancing employability of rural youth Under this programme, disbursements would be made through a digital voucher directly into the beneficiary’s bank account as part of the government’s skill development initiative
PMGKY (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana)
Unaccounted income attracts almost 50% effective tax. Person will be compelled to pay 25% of declared amount into PMGKY & the deposit will be blocked for four years
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PMYY (Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana) for entrepreneurs Led by Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE)
Scheme will span over 5 years (2016-17 to 2020-21) with a project cost of 500 crores It will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over 7 lakh students in 5 years through 3,050 institutes (Include higher learning schools, ITIs, schools and entrepreneurship development centres)
UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna) Led by Ministry of Power
Financial turnaround and revival package for electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) It aims to improve operational efficiencies, reduce cost of power & interest cost for discoms & enforce financial discipline on them through alignment with state finances
SFURTI (Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries) Led by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Government plans to set up 800 SFURTI clusters with an investment of Rs 850 crore by March 2017 to boost khadi & village industries The Scheme envisages need-based assistance for replacement of production equipment, setting up of common facility centres (CFC), product development, quality improvement, improved marketing, training and capacity building
PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) Led by Ministry of Tourism
Religious destinations that have potential to be show-cased as world-class tourism products are identified & infrastructure is developed. In the initial phase, 12 cities have been identified Overall development of temple town, new job creation, world-class infrastructure facilities, promotion of local arts, cuisine and handicrafts form part of the approved project
Swadesh Darshan Led by Ministry of Tourism
Theme based tourism circuits (e.g. Religion, culture, ethnicity, niche etc) are identified for infrastructure development across the country
JIGYASA Led by CSIR
• A student- scientist connect programme has been launched by the government in New Delhi. The programme would be implemented by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, in collaboration with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangatha
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• The main focus of the programme is to connect school students and scientists as well as to extend student’s classroom learning to a very well-planned research laboratory based learning
UDAN RCS
• RCS phase-1 started with operationalisation of 128 new regional routes by the Airports Authority of India from 70 airports, including 27 currently served major airports in big cities, 31 unserved and 12 under-served regional airports in the smaller regional cities, with various new flights routes progressively commenced on 27 April 2017
• The bids from the airlines for second phase of RCS routes closed in June 2017 and phase-2 new flights routes commenced from August 2017
Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana
• The Union Finance Ministry has launched Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a pension scheme exclusively for senior citizens aged 60 years and above
• Under this scheme, senior citizens will get a guaranteed interest of 8% for 10 years depending upon the investment made by them
Sagar Vani • An integrated information dissemination system will serve the coastal community, especially the fishermen community with the advisories and alerts towards their livelihood as well as their safety at Sea
• It has been developed by ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) through the Industry M/s. Gaian Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
AGEY • The Government of India will soon launch a new sub-scheme named “Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY)” as part of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
• This will help to provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services to connect remote villages with key services and amenities (such as access to markets, education and health) for the overall economic development of backward rural areas
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Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat
• Programme was launched by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javdekar in Kochi, Kerala
• The programme is an initiative of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to prepare a physical Health and Fitness Profile Card for more than 12 lakhs of Kendriya Vidyalaya students.
UJALA • Energy Efficiency Services Limited ( EESL) , under Ministry of Power, Government of India has launched UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Lighting for All) Scheme in the State of Melaka, Malaysia
• Under this scheme, each household in Melaka will get 10 high quality 9-watt LED bulbs at a cost of only RM 10, which is a special price and is almost half of what in begin offered in the market. The distribution of these LED bulb will take place from 28 numbers of Japerun in the region.
Aerospace/Defence News Narration ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission completed 3 years in orbit
• ‘Mangalyaan’ completed 3 years in Martian orbit. • It has outlived original lifespan and is still in good health
and continues to work as expected CSIR’s artificial leaf creates fuel from sunlight, water
• Scientists have developed an artificial leaf that absorbs sunlight to generate hydrogen fuel from water, an advance that may provide clean energy for powering eco-friendly cars in the future
• The ultra-thin wireless device mimics plant leaves to produce energy using water and sunlight
India’s first private missile production facility unveiled in Hyderabad
• Missile sub-systems manufacturing facility, Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) plant was inaugurated at the Hardware Park in Rangareddy district near Hyderabad
Army to get six Apache attack helicopters
• This is the first time that the Army will be able to operate attack helicopters as it has long been demanding its own fleet of such choppers besides the Air Force
• Six choppers will be procured for the army at a cost of Rs 4168 crore. Apache choppers are operated in the armed forces of United States, Israel and The Netherlands among other nations
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Coast Guard inducts new ship Shaurya
• Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Shaurya was commission in Vasco, Goa
• ICGS Shaurya is an offshore patrol vessel designed and built indigenously by Goa
• It is fifth of a series of six OPVs designed in-house and built by GSL. It is 105-metre long and capable of cruising at a speed of 23 knots.
ISRO, NASA working towards completion of NISAR mission by 2021
• The satellite will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequency and it is planned to be used for remote sensing purposes, to observe and understand natural processes of the Earth
• It will be the world’s most expensive earth-imaging satellite till date, costing around $1.5 bn
DRDO successfully test fires anti-tank missile in Rajasthan
• The Nag missile is a third generation “fire and forget” anti-tank missile. The test was conducted by Scientists of the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Missile Complex at Hyderabad, Defence Laboratory at Jodhpur, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) & Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) at Pune
Prithvi-II Missile Test Fired Successfully by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army
• The land version of the short range surface–to–surface ballistic missile Prithvi-II was successfully test-fired from a defence base off Odisha coast
• The trial of the surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur
Launch of navigation satellite IRNSS-1H unsuccessful
• The launch of IRSO’s eight navigation satellite IRNSS-1H on board of PSLV-C39 from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh was unsuccessful
• The heat shield did not separate as a result of which satellite did not complete the 4th stage
Indian Navy’s second LCU Mark IV L52 ship launched by GRSE
• Second LCU (landing craft utility) Mark IV L52 ship built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata, was formally launched in Kolkata, West Bengal
Munta, Country’s first unmanned tank, rolled out from the Chennai lab
• DRDO has developed an unmanned, remotely operated tank which has three variants – surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and bio threats
•
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NASA Successfully Launches Latest Communications Satellite
• NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M), which is the third and final in a series of next generation communications satellites, has successfully been placed into orbit following separation from an United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket
GSAT -17 satellite launched
• GSAT-17 was inducted into the INSAT/GSAT system from Kourou, French Guiana by Ariane-5 VA-238. Weighing 3477 kg at lift-off, GSAT-17 carries Payloads in Normal C-band, Extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services
GSLV Mark-III, India’s heaviest rocket carried GSAT-19 satellite
• India launched its heaviest and most powerful indigenous rocket, GSLV Mark III Leaps in technology was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota
ISRO to develop full-fledged hyperspectral imaging satellite
• A full-fledged niche Earth observation (EO) satellite called the Hyper spectral Imaging Satellite (HySIS) is planned for launch
• The HySIS satellite has critical chip called an “optical imaging detector array’” indigenously developed by ISRO. Its launch will allow ISRO to enter the domain of operational hyperspectral imaging from earth orbit
Military & Naval Exercises Exercise Narration
Mitra Shakti 2017: India-Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise held in Pune
• The two weeks exercise (13 – 25 October) is based on Counter Terrorist Operations (CTO) and Infantry companies from both countries participated
• The aim of joint training was to exchange best of military practices of two countries and build strong military-to-military (M2M) relation between two armies
INS Satpura, Kadmatt participated in Passage Exercise in Japan
• Indian Naval Ships Satpura and Kadmatt participated in Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with Japanese Marine Self Defence Force (JMSDF) held at Sasebo, Japan
• These ships participated in the exercise in pursuance of India’s Act East Policy and
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demonstration of India’s commitment to peace and stability in Indo-Pacific region
INS Tarasa commissioned into Indian Navy
• INS Tarasa (T94), the fourth and last ship in series of Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) was commissioned into Indian Navy at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai
• It is an improved variant of Car Nicobar-class high-speed offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) built indigenously by Kolkata based Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE), for the Indian Navy
Indian navy gets INS Kalvari, its first conventional submarine in 17 years
• The boat is the first of six in a variant on the Scorpène class of submarines that India is buying from France under an agreement reached back in 2005
• The delivery of INS Kalvari (tiger shark), the first of the six French diesel-electric Scorpene submarines being built under the Rs 23,652 crore “Project-75” at Mazgon Docks in Mumbai
SLINEX: A joint naval Exercise between India & Sri Lanka
• Indian Navy and Sri Lankan Navy began the 2017 Sri Lanka-India Exercise (SLINEX) at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh on 7 September. It will conclude on 14 September
• SLINEX 17 aims at reinforce strong neighbourly ties between both countries underscored by extensive maritime interaction and improved understanding
Navika Sagar Parikrama: India’s first all-women circumnavigation expedition flagged-off
• India’s first all-women crew circumnavigation expedition was flagged off by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Goa
• The crew belongs to Indian Navy and is sailing Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Tarini (INSV Tarini)
Indian Navy’s second LCU Mark IV L52 ship commissioned at Port Blair
• Lieutenant Governor, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, commissioned IN LCU L52 into the Indian Navy at Port Blair
• IN LCU L52 is the second Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mk-IV class to be inducted into the
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Indian Navy. The ship has been indigenously designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata
MALABAR Trilateral Naval Exercise involved the US, Japan & India
• The 2017 Malabar exercise featured 95 aircraft, 16 ships and two submarines & was conducted in Bay of Bengal
India-Thailand military exercise – Maitree 2017
• Conducted in Himachal Pradesh, its purpose was to acquaint both contingents with each other’s operating procedures in the backdrop of counter insurgency/ counter terrorism environment
India-Nepal military exercise – Surya Kiran 2017
• 11th edition of joint military exercise ‘Surya Kiran 2017‘ between India and Nepal was held in Uttarakhand
• Two-week long battalion level joint exercise focussed on skills required for natural disaster management, counter-insurgency and jungle warfare
India-Russia military exercise – Indra
• India will hold a major military exercise with Russia later this year which is likely to be a tri-service war game with participation of navy, air force and army in October 2017
India-Oman military exercise – Al-Nagah II 2017
• Second edition of the joint exercise between the Indian and Oman Armies commenced in May 2017 with the Opening Ceremony at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh
Government News
Entity Action World’s largest combustion research centre inaugurated at IIT Madras
• National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) was inaugurated by NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat in Chennai
• It is world’s largest combustion research centre and one of best diagnostic centres in the country to understand combustion
Government launches Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan in Gujarat
• PMGDISHA is expected to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate by March 2019, making it one of the largest digital literacy programmes in the world
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India’s first Sewage Treatment Plant under Hybrid Annuity Mode to come up in Haridwar and Varanasi
• The agreement is a major step forward in realizing dream of Nirmal Ganga as it is first time ever in India that Hybrid Annuity-based Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode is being applied in sewerage sector
44th Indian Handicrafts and Gifts-Delhi Fair inaugurated in New Delhi
• It was organised by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) and was inaugurated by Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani
• More than 100 countries including US, UK, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan and Korea participated in the fair
Government launches Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana
• The intent is to expand the coverage of Postal Life Insurance & to provide affordable life insurance services to people, particularly those living in rural areas
First electric bus service in India has been launched in Himachal Pradesh
• First in the world at an altitude of 13,000 feet, the electric bus service will ply between Manali and Rohtang and there will be 10 electric buses in fleet
India’s first advanced Homoeopathy Virology lab inaugurated in Kolkata
• The laboratory has been established to develop new drugs and technologies in homoeopathy to combat emerging challenges of viral diseases
• The laboratory is the only one in India for conducting basic and fundamental research in Homoeopathy for viral diseases like influenza, Japanese encephalitis, dengue, chikungunya and swine flu
Government launches online facility to resolve foreign trade issues
• Government has set up an online service facility ‘Contact@DGFT’ for resolution of their matters
• This online service facility can be used by importers and exporters to resolve all foreign trade-related issues
• Traders can raise all matters related to the directorate or other agencies of the Centre and States through this facility, which is activated at the DGFT website
India’s first Hyperloop to connect Amrawati and
• The proposed metro project from Vijaywada, the Andhra Pradesh government joined hands
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Vijaywada with US-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) to introduce the futuristic “Hyperloop” transportation system in the state capital region, Amravati
• Hyperloop is two-to-three times faster than fastest high-speed rail & claimed to be faster mode than commercial air travel
India imposes duty on Chinese flat steel for five years
• Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has announced countervailing duty (CVD) for a period of five years on certain Chinese flat steel products.
• The Union Finance Ministry has imposed 18.95% countervailing duty (CVD) on certain Chinese flat steel products for period of five years to protect domestic players from cheap subsidised imports
Google, NSDC launch programme to improve Mobile Developer Ecosystem
• The programme is aimed at imparting mobile development training on the Android and Web platform and improving the quality of mobile app development ecosystem in India
ICEX launches world’s first diamond futures contracts with a hedging tool
• The Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) has received approval from market regulator SEBI to commence trading with diamond futures contracts
India’s first Videsh Bhawan inaugurated in Mumbai by Union Government
• Country’s first Videsh Bhavan, assimilating all Regional Passport Offices and allied departments under a single roof, at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai.
Five year anti-dumping duty on sodium nitrite imports from China
• The Finance Ministry has imposed a five year anti-dumping duty on Sodium Nitrite imports from China. It was imposed based on recommendations of Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties (DGAD)
Odisha govt and Facebook launchesSheMeansBusiness’ program
• A program to train women entrepreneurs was launched by CM Naveen Pattanaik
• Under this initiative, 25, 000 women entrepreneurs and self-help group (SHG) members from the state will be given training on digital marketing skills within by 2018 end
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Centre notifies new Rs.200 & Rs. 50 notes
• The Union Finance Ministry, on the recommendations of the Central Board of Directors of RBI has notified currency notes of Rs.200 & 50
Government launches Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017
• The Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has released Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017, third party survey report to assess the progress Swach Bharat Mission in rural India
• The survey was undertaken by the Quality Council of India (QCI) between May and June 2017 to take into account status of rural sanitation in all States & Uts
Government launches nationwide campaign Gaj Yatra to protect elephants
• Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, launched ‘Gaj Yatra’, a nationwide campaign to protect elephants on World Elephant Day
• The campaign is planned to cover 12 elephant range states
Odisha government and Facebook launches ‘SheMeansBusiness’ programme
• The programme was launched to train women entrepreneurs in the state
• It was launched in partnership between Odisha’s MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) department and Project Mission Shakti
FSSAI bans stapler pins in tea bags from January 2018
• The FSSAI order directs concerned food business operators to discontinue the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of stapled tea bags by 1 January 2018
NITI Aayog clears six proposals for high-tech public transport
• High-tech mass rapid transportation technologies such as metrino, hyperloop, pod taxis, stadler buses, hybrid buses and freight rail road has been included
Government to launch Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana
• The Union Ministry of Rural Development will launch Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY), a sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)
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Raipur Airport ranked first in Customer Satisfaction Index Survey
• Raipur’s Swami Vivekananda Airport was ranked first in Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Survey among 49 airports in the country. It has achieved 4.84 score on a five point scale index
Reliance Defence launches first two Navy ships Shachi and Shruti at Pipavav, Gujarat
• These Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPV) are the first warships to be launched by a private sector shipyard in India.
• These ships are part of a five-ships being constructed for the Indian Navy under the P-21 project
India’s Global Rankings
Rating/Index Released by India’s Ranking The Yearbook (World’s 10 largest manufacturing countries)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
6 in 2015 (9 in 2014)
Global Innovation Index 2017
WIPO, Cornell University and INSEAD
India’s rank 60 () Rank 1 – Switzerland
Ease of Doing Business ranking 2017
World Bank 130 (131 in 2016) Rank 1- New Zealand
Global Gender Gap Index 2016
World Economic Forum 87 (108 in 2015) Rank 1 – Iceland
World Economic Freedom Index 2017
Centre for Civil Society, a public policy think tank along with Canada’s Fraser Institute
143/186 countries Rank 1 – Hong Kong
Travel & Tourism competitiveness Index 2017
World Economic Forum 40/136 in 2017 (52 in 2015) (Is a biennial report) Rank 1 – Spain
Global Competitiveness Index 2017-18
World Economic Forum 40 (39 in 2016-17) Rank 1 – Switzerland
Human Capital Index 2016
World Economic Forum 105/130 (100/124 in 2015)
Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2017
INSEAD Business School, Adecco Group & Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore
92/118 countries
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World Digital Competitiveness Index 2017
The IMD Digital 51/63 countries Rank 1- Singapore
A T Kearney Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) 2017
GRDI India acquired the top position among 30 developing countries. China stood at second place, followed by Malaysia, Turkey, UAE and Vietnam
Corruption Perception Index 2016
Transparency International
79/176 countries (76 in 2016) Rank 1 – Denmark
Human Development Index 2017
United Nations Development Programme
131/188 Rank 1 – Norway
World Investment Report 2017
United Nations CTAD India ranks 9th in FDI inflows
World Disaster Risk Index 2016
United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
77 (78 in 2015)
World Press Freedom Index 2017
Reporters Without Borders (NGO)
136 (133 in 2016) Rank 1 – Finland
Global Peace Index 2017
Institute for Economics and Piece (IEP)
137th (141 in 2016) Rank 1 – Iceland
Global Hunger Index 2017
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
100/119 countries (97/118 in 2016) Rank 1 – Argentina
World’s most valuable nation list 2017
Valuable Nation Brands 8/100 countries Rank 1-USA
Climate Change Performance Index 2017
German watch, an independent German NGO and Climate Action Network, Europe
20 (58 countries accounting for 90% of global CO2 emission)
ICT Development Index (IDI) 2016
United Nations International Telecommunication Union
138 (135 in 2015) Rank 1- South Korea
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Global Youth Development Index 2016
Commonwealth Secretariat
133 (Newly introduced index) Rank 1- Germany
Global Terrorism Index (GTI 2016) – Countries Most Hit by Terror
Institute for Economics & Peace, a Sydney-based think-tank
8 (India experienced 7% of all terrorist attacks around the world)
World Power Language Index 2016 (PLI)
World Economic Forum Hindi ranked 10th (Top 5 – English, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Arabic)
2017 Inclusive Growth & Development Index
World Economic Forum 60/79 developing nations
Global e-Waste production ranking
Assocham-KPMG joint study
India is fifth largest e-waste producer (100 crore+ mobile phones in circulation, 25% end up in e-waste per annum)
Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2017
World Economic Forum & Accenture strategy
87 /127 countries (90 in 2016) Rank 1 – Switzerland
World Happiness Report 2017
UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network
122/155 Rank 1 – Norway
Sustainable Development Goals Index 2017
Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann Stiftung
116/157 nations Rank 1- Sweden
Global Cyber security Index(GCI) 2017
UN telecommunications agency International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
23/165 Rank 1- Singapore
Global Retirement Index 2017
Natixis Global 43/43 Rank 1-Norway
International News News Narration Catalonia wants independence from Spain
• The Catalonia region is planning to declare independence from this country, because of its own cultural identity
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• About 90 percent of the 2.3 million people who cast votes chose independence, Catalan officials said of the disputed referendum.
• However, fewer than half of eligible voters participated due to which Spanish government said he referendum was illegal and part of a strategy to impose independence that few want and is good for nobody
USA & Israel withdrew from UNESCO, both accusing it for anti-Israel bias
• USA & Israel quitted UN’s culture and education body, in a move that underlined Washington’s drift away from international institutions.
Russia launches ‘Sibir’, world’s biggest and most powerful nuclear icebreaker ship
• World’s largest nuclear-powered icebreaker ship built under ‘Project 22220’ into the water at the Baltic Shipyard in St Petersburg
• Sibir is second of three icebreakers of new class of biggest nuclear powered icebreakers ever constructed
Japan launches fourth Michibiki satellite for hi-tech GPS
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched Michibiki-4 satellite (QZSS-4) onboard of H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima Space Centre
• The H-IIA rocket is Japanese large-scale launch vehicle. It was manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The vehicle stands 53 meters tall and generates 1.7 million pounds-force (7,628 kilonewtons) of thrust at liftoff
Scientists create world’s first ‘molecular robot’
• Scientists at The University of Manchester have created the world’s first ‘molecular robot’ that is capable of performing basic tasks including building other molecules
• The tiny robots, which are a millionth of a millimetre in size, can be programmed to move and build molecular cargo, using a tiny robotic arm
World’s largest aircraft successfully passes first engine tests
• The world’s largest airplane, which has been designed to serve as a launching platform for sending rockets into low-Earth orbit, has successfully completed its initial engine tests
• The plane weighs about 227,000 kg and has the
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biggest wingspan ever built, measuring 118 m from one end to the other
India and the US renew commitment for Joint Collaboration on Health
• Both countries renewed their commitment to collaborate in the healthcare sector at the second India-US Health Dialogue that was held on 26-27 September 2017 in New Delhi
• The two-day event saw several experts deliberate on issues of bilateral importance including communicable and non-communicable diseases, low-cost innovations, food and drug regulations, traditional medicine and access to medicines
New US travel ban includes N Korea, Venezuela, Chad among 8 countries
• President of United States issued a new travel ban that includes North Korea, Venezuela and Chad in the list of eight countries
• The new order expands to countries beyond just Muslim-majority ones
UNSC unanimously adopts new sanctions against North Korea
• The UN Security Council has unanimously ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea, imposing a ban on the country’s textile exports and a ceiling on the country’s imports of crude oil
• The ban came after its nuclear test on September 3 in violation of previous Security Council resolutions
Lakshadweep island Parali –I has vanished
• One of the uninhabited islands that is a part of Lakshadweep has vanished due to coastal erosion and another four such territories in the sea are shrinking fast, claims a new study
• Parali I island, part of Bangaram atoll, which had an area of 0.032 sq.km in 1968 has been completely eroded, resulting in its inundation
IAU named two Pluto mountains after Tenzing Norgay & Edmund Hillary
• The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named two mountain ranges on icy dwarf planet Pluto as Tenzing Montes & Hillary Montes after the first mountaineers to reach Mount Everest peak
London retains top rank in 2017 Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI)
• The survey was conducted by Z/Yen Partners and the China Development Institute (CDI) among 92 financial centres worldwide
• India’s financial capital Mumbai was ranked at 60th
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position, up by three positions compared to previous edition
Kazakhstan opens IAEA Low Enriched Uranium Bank
• President Nursultan Nazarbayev inaugurated the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Low Enriched Uranium Bank in the Kazakh city of Oskemen
• The bank is owned and managed by IAEA. It will be the first of its kind LEU bank not to be under control of any individual country
China launches first ever cyber court in e-commerce hub
• The cyber court will specialize in handling internet-related cases in the e-commerce hub of Hangzhou, amid a spike in the number of online disputes
Qatar to offer permanent residency to some non-citizens
• The energy-rich Qatar becomes first Gulf Arab state to make permanent residency available to some non-citizens
• Moreover it will be also granted to people who offered valuable services to the country and those with special skills
Scientists discover the largest volcanic region on Earth, and it’s under Antarctica
• The newly discovered volcanoes range in height from 100 to 3,850 metres
• All of them are covered in thick layers of ice. These active peaks are concentrated in a region known as the west Antarctic rift system, which stretches 3,500 km from Antarctica’s Ross ice shelf to the Antarctic peninsula
India and US to co-host Global Entrepreneurship Summit
• India and US are going to co-host the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Hyderabad, Telangana from 28-30 Nov 2017
• American delegation will be led by US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump
• The Summit will serve as a unique opportunity for bringing together entrepreneurs and start-ups with global leaders
India-ASEAN Youth Summit in Bhopal
• A five-day India-ASEAN Youth Summit commemorated 25th anniversary of Association of Southeast Asian Nations – India dialogue partnership
• The event is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, India Foundation and the state
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government jointly on the commemorative year’s theme “Shared Values, Common Destiny”
Japan’s men-only island tagged as UNESCO World Heritage site
• A men-only island in Japan where women are banned & male visitors must bathe naked in the sea before visiting its shrine
India contributed additional $1 million to India- UN Development Partnership fund
• The fund was set up in June 2017 as a partnership between India & UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)
12th G-20 Summit held in Hamburg City, Germany
The main agenda of the summit was to discuss topics of Trade, Sustainable development, More Inclusive growth, Indian-Norwegian, Women’s economic empowerment, European migrant crisis & refugees, Counter Terrorism & National security
122 countries adopt global treaty banning nuclear weapons
A global treaty banning nuclear weapons was adopted at the UN on July 7,2017, despite opposition from the US, Britain, France and other nuclear powers that boycotted negotiations
India, Israel expand cooperation from defence to science, agriculture and technology
Countries signed agreements on science, agriculture & technology as part of the PM’s visit. The countries plan to create a bilateral technology innovation fund worth $40 million
North Korea claims successful test of the maiden intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)
Hwasong-14 was test fired into waters near Sea of Japan. The claim was confirmed by US
Carrie Lam Sworn first female Chief Executive of Hong Kong
Carrie Lam was sworn in as the first female Chief Executive (CE) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), an autonomous territory of China on the Pearl River Delta
Cambridge university scientists developed super-flexible and strong artificial silk
• Artificial silk is composed almost entirely of water & may be used to make eco-friendly textiles and sensors. The fibres are spun from a soupy material called a hydrogel, which is 98% water
• Remaining 2% is made of silica and cellulose, both naturally available materials, held together in a network by barrel-shaped molecular “handcuffs” known as cucurbiturils
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Indian Scientists discover ’Saraswati’, a super cluster of galaxies
• The supercluster is located around four billion light years away from Earth & is a group of clusters of galaxies
• Super clusters are the largest structures of stars, planets and other heavenly bodies in the universe
Hottest planet in the universe found KELT-9b
• Scientists have discovered the hottest known exoplanet, designated KELT-9b which is warmer than most stars in the universe
• The planet’s day-side temperature is 4,326 degree Celsius and is only 926 degree Celsius cooler than the Sun
Cambridge University Scientists discover the smallest star in the universe
The star named ‘EBLM J0555-57Ab’ is located about 600 light years away. It is slightly larger than Saturn in size. It may have Earth-sized planets with liquid water in its orbit
NASA developing first asteroid deflection mission
The first-ever mission will deflect a near-Earth asteroid, and help test the systems that will allow mankind to protect the planet from potential cosmic body impacts in the future
Important Days Global Days
Description Date About it World Cancer Day 4 February 2017 Theme – “We can. I can,” to
explore how everyone – together and individually – can do their part to reduce global burden of cancer
International Mother Language Day
21 February 2017 Theme – “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education”
World Wildlife Day 3 March 2017 Theme – “Listen to the young voices “. A sub-theme –“The future of elephants is in our hands”
International Women’s Day
8 March 2017 Theme – “Be Bold for Change”
PI Day
14 March 3,1,4 are significant digits of PI, i.e. 3.14), so 14/03, i.e. 14 March
World Consumer Rights 15 March The day is observed to pay solidarity
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Day with the international consumer movement and give more attention to promote basic rights of consumers 2017 Theme – ‘Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust’
International Day of Happiness
20 March The International Day of Happiness (“Happiness Day”) was founded by UN adviser Jayme Illien on June 28, 2012 2017 Theme – ’10 steps to happiness’
World Water Day 22 March The day focuses attention on the importance of fresh water & advocates for the sustainable management of fresh water resources 2017 Theme – ‘Wastewater’
World Meteorological Day
23 March It marks establishment of World Meteorological Organization 2017 Theme – “Understanding Clouds”
World Tuberculosis Day 24 March WHO has placed special focus on uniting efforts to “Leave no one behind” including actions to address stigma, discrimination, marginalization and overcome barriers to access care 2017 Theme – “Unite to End TB”
World Health Day 7 April 2017 Theme –”Depression: Let’s Talk’ World Earth Day 22 April 2017 Theme – “Environmental and
Climate Literacy” English Language Day/World Book Day
23 April Birth anniversary of William Shakespeare 2017 Theme – “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education”
World Malaria Day 25 April 2017 Theme – “A push for prevention” World Intellectual Property Day
26 April 2017 Theme – “Innovation – Improving Lives”
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World Press Freedom Day
3 May 2017 Theme – “Critical Minds for Critical Times: Media’s role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies”
World Information Society Day
17 May Marks foundation of International Telecommunication Union on 17 May 1865
No Tobacco Day 31 May 2017 Theme – “Tobacco – a threat to development”
World Milk Day 1 June The day is intended to provide an opportunity to bring attention to activities that are connected with the dairy sector. In India,
The International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression
4 June The day acknowledges the pain suffered by children throughout the world who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse
World Environment Day 5 June 2017 Theme – “Connecting People to Nature – in the city & on the land, from the poles to the equator”
World Oceans Day 8 June 2017 Theme – “Our Oceans, Our Future”
World Day Against Child Labour
12 June 2017 Theme – “In conflicts and disasters, protect children from child labour”.
International Yoga Day/World Hydrography Day
21 June 21 June – The longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere 2017 Theme: “Mapping our seas, oceans and waterways – more important than ever”
World Population Day 11 July World’s population reached almost five billion people on 11 July 1987 2017 Theme – “Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations”
World Youth Skills Day 15 July 2017 Theme – “Skills Development to Improve Youth Employment”
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International Youth Day 12 August 2017 Theme – “Youth Building Peace.” World Humanitarian Day 19 August ---- International Literacy Day
8 September
2017 Theme- ‘Literacy in a digital world’
International Day of Peace
21 September
2017 Theme – “ Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All. “
World Tourism Day 27 September
2017 Theme – “Sustainable Tourism –a Tool for Development”
World Teachers Day 5 October ---- World Sight Day 13 October 2017 Theme – “Make Vision Count” World Standard day 14 October 2017 Theme-‘Standards make cities
smarter ‘ World Student Day 15 October ---- World Food Day 16 October 2017 Theme-“Change the future of
migration. Invest in food security and rural development.”
World Anaesthesia Day 16 October World Statistics Day 20 October ---- United Nations Day 24 October 2017 Theme- “Freedom First” Universal Children’s Day 21
November 2017 Theme – “Families ,Education & well being”
World AIDS Day 1 December ----- World Computer Literacy Day
2 December -----
Human Rights Day 10 December
-----
Indian Days
Day Date Narration Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 9 January ---- National Science Day 28
February Marks discovery of Raman Effect. 2017 theme - "Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons”
National Maritime Day 5 April On this day in 1919, navigation history was created when SS Loyalty, the first ship of The Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd., journeyed to the UK
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National Civil Services Day 21 April All officers of Central and State Governments are honoured for excellence in public administration by the Prime Minister. The 'Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration' is presented
National Statistics Day
29 June Birth anniversary of Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, an Indian scientist and applied statistician
National Doctors Day (India)
1 July Birth anniversary of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, the legendary physician
National Handloom Day 7 August • Union Minister of State, Textiles, Shri Ajay Tamta celebrated this at Guwahati
• Hathkargha Samvardhan Sahayata Scheme under which Government of India assists weavers by bearing 90% of the cost of new looms
National Sports Day 29 August Birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand, the Olympic Gold medallist hockey player by organizing friendly hockey matches in New Delhi
National Hindi Divas 14 September
On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India had adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the official language of the Republic of India
Engineer’s Day (India) 15 September
Birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Visvesvaraya. He is known as India's greatest engineer of all times
National Education Day 11 November
Birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India
National Constitution Day, National Milk Day
26 November
Birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien, Father of the White Revolution
National Mathematics Day
22 December
Birth anniversary of the Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan
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