Current Affairs Jun'15

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June 1, 2015

1) The Finance Ministry on 31 May 2015released new simplified income taxreturn forms for different classes of tax

payers. The new forms – ITR 2 andITR2A, have only three pages ascompared to the earlier controversialforms that comprised of 14 pages. Whatis the extended last date of filing incometax returns with these new forms? – 31August 2015 

Explanation: The main features ofthese new ITR forms is that the pryingquestions on foreign travel details and

balances in bank accounts that wereasked in the forms proposed in April2015, have been dropped. The forms forboth ITR2 and ITR2A would now containonly three pages and other informationwould be sought only in scheduleswhich are to be filled only if applicable.The fact that the returns form proposedearlier was a 14-page one had beenintimidating for most taxpayers. TheFinance Ministry statement said that

only passport number, if available,would be required in ITR-2 and ITR-2A.Tax payers have time till 31 August2015 to file returns as per the revisedforms. The e-filing software would beready in the tax department’s website by3 June.

2) A new plant to produce the paper forhigh-denomination currency notesdomestically was inaugurated by theUnion Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on30 May 2015. This plant is at whichplace? – Hoshangabad (Madhya

Pradesh) 

Explanation: The unit of the SecurityPaper Mill (SPM) at Hoshangabad(Madhya Pradesh) will produce high-denomination currency notes up to6,000 tonnes per year. Hoshangabadwas chosen as the centre for producingpaper for printing currency notes severaldecades ago by Morarji Desai, who wasthe then Finance Minister and laterbecame the Prime Minister. However, itproduced paper for printing of currencynotes of smaller denominations only.With the development of new facilities atHoshangabad and also Mysore, it wouldbe possible to produce currency printingpaper of high denomination to fulfill therequirement. This will also reducepossibility of diversion of the papersupplied by foreign countries to otherdestinations for the purpose ofgenerating fake currency. Currently,currency notes of larger denominations(such as Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000) areprinted on imported paper though inkused is mostly produced within thecountry.

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3) The United States on 29 May 2015officially removed Cuba from its list ofcountries that sponsor terrorism, settingthe two nations up for a full renewal ofdiplomatic ties. Since when, Cuba wason this list? – 1982 

Explanation: Cuba was originally

placed on the terror list in 1982 whenthe U.S. government accused the FidelCastro regime of sponsoring communistgroups in Latin America and Africa.Three other countries are currentlynamed as state sponsors of terror – Iran, Sudan and Syria. The terror listingwas one of the final barriers to restoringdiplomatic relations between the UnitedStates and Cuba. Obama announced inDecember 2014 that he was ending a

nearly half-century of frozen relations,stating that the freeze wasn’t benefitingeither nation. President Barack Obamaoriginally announced in April 2015 thathe was recommending that Cuba beremoved from the terror blacklist after aState Department review. 29 Maymarked the expiration of a 45-day periodwhen Congress could have blocked themove.

4) Who was named as the newChancellor of the Nalanda University on30 May 2015 to replace Nobel laureate

 Amartya Sen? – George Yeo(Singapore) 

Explanation: George Yeo is a formerForeign Minister of Singapore. He was

till now on the governing board of theprestigious Nalanda University in Bihar.He will replace Nobel laureate AmartyaSen, who withdrew his candidature for asecond term as Chancellor of theUniversity February 2015. Yeo wasawarded the Padma Bhushan in 2012 inrecognition of his contribution in the fieldof “public affairs.” The University hit theheadlines in February 2015, when Prof.Sen, whose term was to end in July

2015, wrote a letter to his colleagues onthe board, withdrawing from seeking asecond term, since the Narendra Modigovernment had not given its approvalto his nomination. Nalanda University,situated in Rajgir (Bihar), has beenestablished as a revival of the iconicancient center of learning at Nalanda,which was one of the most famousacademic institutions of the ancient era.It started functioning from 1 September

2014.

5) Which private-sector bank on 31 May2015 announced that it will discontinueissuing slips after cash withdrawals at

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 ATMs and will alert the customerthrough SMSes? – HDFC Bank 

Explanation: This is a part of the digitalinitiative by the HDFC Bank, under

which it had last year launched the‘green PIN’ scheme wherein card-userswere given the PIN numberselectronically rather than in a printed kit.The bank is piloting the initiative at a few

 ATMs at present and will roll out thesame across its network of over 11,700

 ATMs by the end of June 2015. Cashwithdrawals account for the bulk oftransactions at ATMs and the bankwitnesses an average of 2 crore cash

withdrawals every month at its ATMs. Atpresent, customers are given a choiceon whether they want a printed receiptor not. However, much of the receiptsget discarded as soon as they come outand if not disposed off in the right way,also pose a security risk as they containprivate information. The bank expectsthat the switch to paperless mode willhelp it save under Rs. 10 crore a yearspent on paper.

6) Ed Gilligan, who died suddenly afterfalling ill on a flight to New York on 29May 2015, was the President of whichfamous US banking entity? – AmericanExpress 

Explanation: 55-year old Gilligan wasworking as the President of AmericanExpress since 2013. He was reporting tocompany’s CEO Ken Chenault. He wasonboard a corporate plane and wascoming back to New York from abusiness trip. Gilligan worked on justabout every ar ea of American Express’business, including commercial card,small business, merchant services,

travel and, most recently, digitalpartnerships and payments. His passingcomes at a challenging time for

 American Express. Earlier this year, thecompany lost its exclusive relationshipwith Costco and lost a US antitrust suit.

 A stronger US dollar also dampened itsrevenue in the first quarter.

June 2-4, 2015

1) Which city on 3 June 2015 becamethe sixth in India to have the metro railsystem? – Jaipur  

Explanation: Rajasthan Chief MinisterVasundhara Raje flagged off theinaugural train of state capital city’smetro rail system on 9.6 km long routefrom Mansarovar to Chandpole. ThusJaipur’s metro rail system was thrown

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open to the public and Jaipur becamethe sixth Indian city to have the metrorail system after Kolkata, Delhi NCR,Bangalore, Gurgaon and Mumbai.Jaipur Metro is being touted as one of

the fastest built metro systems in thecountry. This metro system will bemanaged by the Jaipur Metro RailCorporation (JMRC). For effectiveexecution of the project in its initialstages, the total work of Phase-1 wasdivided into two parts – Phase-1A andPhase-1B. The Phase 1A is fromMansarovar to Chandpole, that wasopened on 3 June, while work on phase1B from Chandpole to Badi Chaupad is

underway.

2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 2June 2015 cut the Repo Rate by 25basis points. The latest cut takes thenumber of rate cuts this calendar year tothree. What is the new Repo Rate afterthis cut? – 7.25% 

Explanation: Taking advantage ofsubdued inflation to give more supportto the economy, the RBI Governor

Raghuram Rajan cut the benchmarkRepo Rate by 25 basis points to 7.25%.Previous cuts, in January and March2015, had also been by 25 basis points.But, two other important rates – CashReserve Ratio (CRR) and StatutoryLiquidity Ratio (SLR), were leftunchanged. The reduction showed

policymakers recognised the need to putthe economy on a sounder footing,regardless of data released on 29 May2015 that disclosed that India outpacedChina by growing 7.5% in the March

quarter. The rate reduction answeredcalls from both the government andbusinesses for the RBI to do more toshore up the economy. Corporateearnings have been dismal, growth inbank lending has been the lowest inalmost two decades, and weak industrialoutput data is at odds with the strongGDP numbers.

3) PSU-based power generationmachinery maker Bharat HeavyElectricals Limited (BHEL) during June2015 secured the single-largest order inits history for setting up a 4,000 MW(5×800 MW) supercritical thermal powerproject in a state. Which state is this? – Telangana 

Explanation: Under this huge order,BHEL would establish a 4,000 MW(5×800 MW) supercritical thermal powerproject from Telangana State PowerGeneration Corporation Limited(TSGENCO). Valued at Rs. 17,950crore, this is also one of the highestvalue orders ever placed in the capitalgoods sector in India. The newly formedTelangana state utility, TSGENCO hasentrusted BHEL with this order forsetting up the 5×800 MW thermal power

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plant, with supercritical parameters, onEngineering, Procurement andConstruction (EPC) basis, atDamaracherla in Nalgonda District in thestate, named as Yadadri Thermal Power

Project. Earlier, in December, 2014,TSGENCO had placed an order onBHEL for setting up Telangana’s firstSupercritical Thermal Power Plant of800 MW rating, also on EPC basis, atKothagudem, followed by an order forthe 4×270 MW Bhadradari TPS atManuguru in Khammam district in March2015.

4) Prime Minister Narendra Modi wouldbecome the first-ever Indian PrimeMinister to visit which important country,as announced by External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj on 1 June2015? – Israel 

Explanation: No Indian Prime Ministerhas visited Israel till now, despite Indiasetting up full relations with the country

more than two decades ago. It wasduring the previous NDA tenure in 2000that Jaswant Singh became the firstIndian foreign minister to visit Israel, andPM Ariel Sharon the first Israeli PM tovisit India (2003). However, the External

 Affairs Ministry made it clear that theproposed visit of Modi to Israel did notindicate any shift in the Indian position.But it will in fact be a break with thepast.

5) Which mutual fund house retained itsposition as the most profitable fundhouse in India in 2014-15 as disclosedin the data released by industry body

 AMFI recently? – HDFC Mutual Fund 

Explanation: The profit after tax (PAT)for HDFC Mutual Fund stood at Rs. 416crore during 2014-15. Its rival RelianceMutual Fund was able to retain itssecond position with PAT of Rs. 357

crore during last fiscal. ICICI PrudentialMF, the second largest fund house interms of assets base, reported a profitafter tax of Rs. 247 crore, while BirlaSunlife MF posted a PAT of Rs. 123crore. On the assets under management(AUM) front, HDFC maintained its leadwith assets base of Rs. 1.46 lakh crore,followed by ICICI MF Rs. 1.32 lakhcrore, Reliance MF Rs. 1.24 lakh croreand Birla Sunlife MF at Rs.1.07 lakh

crore.

6) In a surprising development, FIFAPresident Sepp Blatter resigned on 2June 2015 just four days after he wasre-elected to a fifth term as president ofthe World’s most powerful football body.This resignation was in the face of aU.S.-led corruption investigation thathas plunged FIFA into the worst crisis inits history. Blatter was heading FIFAsince which year? – 1988 

Explanation: Sepp Blatter(Switzerland), who had been headingFIFA since 1988, was under intensepressure after the US investigationagency FBI, during May 2015 raided ahotel in Zurich and arrested severalFIFA officials into alleged widespreadfinancial wrongdoing stretching back for

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years. Swiss authorities mounted theirown criminal probe into the award of the2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russiaand Qatar, respectively. While Blatterwas not mentioned in either the U.S. or

Swiss investigations, there werewidespread calls for him to quit, mostlyfrom Western nations. The investigationhowever closed in on Blatter on 2 June2015, when FIFA was forced to denythat his right-hand man, Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, was implicatedin a $10 million payment that lies at theheart of the U.S. case.

7) The State Bank of India (SBI) on 2June 2015 cut its base lending rate by15 basis points hours after the RBI hadreduced the Repo Rate by 25 basispoints. What is the new lending rate ofSBI after this cut? – 9.7% 

Explanation: SBI, which is India’s toplender by assets, cut its base lendingrate by 15 basis points to 9.7%, which

will came into effect from 8 June 2015.With this, the equated monthlyinstallments (EMIs) on home and autoloans are likely to come down. Apartfrom SBI, some other smaller statelenders also announced base lendingrate cuts of between 25 and 30 basispoints. Allahabad Bank, Dena Bank, andPunjab and Sind Bank also announcedrate cuts on the same day.

8) Which FMCG group on 2 June 2015announced its acquisition of the hair andscalp care business of Kesh King for

Rs.1,651 crore through a slump sale? – Emami Limited 

Explanation: Kesh King is the brandname of Himachal Pradesh-based SBSBiotech Pvt. Ltd. As per deal, promoterof SBS Biotech Sanjeev Juneja’s brandportfolio of “Kesh King” Ayurvedicmedicinal oil, herbal shampoo andconditioner and Ayurvedic capsulesalong with its formulations, assets, rights

and liabilities including working capitalwill be transferred to Emami. Kesh Kingand allied brands had a revenueof Rs.300 crore in 2014-15 and havebeen growing at an average of 68% ayear for the last three years. Emami isnow in a dominant position in the

 Ayurvedic and herbal space. In the Ayurvedic hair oil segment, Kesh King isthe market leader and this will helpEmami consolidate its position. Emami

is new to the Ayurvedic hair and scalpcare segment.

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June 5, 2015

1) In one of the worst attacks on theIndian Army in two decades, insurgentson 4 June 2015 ambushed a militaryconvoy in Manipur killing at least 20army personnel and injuring 11 others.The incident is being described as theworst casualties the Army has sufferedsince the Kargil War of 1999. It tookplace in which district of Manipur? – Chandel 

Explanation: The attack happened inChandel district in Manipur, which is oneof the nine districts of the state. Thearea is under the rule of Armed PowersSpecial Forces Act (AFSPA). The areaof attack is about 15-20 km away fromthe India-Myanmar border. A team of 6Dogra Regiment, which was on a RoadOpening Patrol (ROP) as part of its dailyroutine along Tengnoupal-New Samtalroute, about 80 km from Imphal, wasattacked by an insurgent outfit first witha powerful Improvised Explosive Device(IED). After the IED blast, the insurgentsresorted to heavy firing at the convoy offour Army vehicles with RPGs andautomatic weapons. The ambush tookplace when the convoy reached

between Paralong and Charong

villages. Twenty armymen were killedand 11 injured in the attack. Recentlyformed militant group United LiberationFront of Western South East Asia, ofwhich NSCN(K) is a part, claimedresponsibility for the ambush. The casewas later handed over to the NationalInvestigating Agency (NIA) by the UnionGovt.

2) India and five nations on 3 June 2015signed an agreement to join 60countries, including Switzerland, toexchange financial informationautomatically from 2017. What is thename of this agreement that would paveway to have a control on black moneyoverseas? – Multilateral CompetentAuthority Agreement (MCAA) 

Explanation: Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) is anagreement which provides forestablishment of an internationalplatform that would allow exchange ofinformation on an annual basis,including account balances. It isexpected to tighten the noose on thosehaving black money overseas. Fifty-onecountries had joined MCAA on 29October 2014, in Berlin. Switzerland

became the fifty-second country on 19November 2014. On 3 June 2015, 6countries – India, Australia, Canada,Costa Rica, Indonesia and New Zealand

 joined MCAA by signing the agreementin Paris. Till now 94 countries havecommitted to exchange information onan automatic basis from 2017 onwards,

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according to the new global standardson automatic exchange of information,known as common reporting standards(CRS) on automatic exchange ofinformation (AEOI).

3) Union Govt. on 3 June 2015 notifiedthe amendments in the definition ofNRIs as contained in the FDI policy.What is the broad change in thisdefinition? – According to the newdefinition NRIs would also includeOverseas Citizens of India (OCIs) andPersons of Indian origin (PIOs) 

Explanation: The Union Cabinet,chaired by Prime Minister NarendraModi, had cleared these amendmentsduring May 2015. According to thenotified policy relaxations for NRIs bythe Department of Industrial Policy andPromotion (DIPP), non-repatriableinvestments by non-resident Indians,overseas citizens of India and personsof Indian origin will be treated as

domestic investments and will not besubject to foreign direct investmentcaps. The decision is expected to resultin increased investments across sectorsand greater inflow of foreign exchangeremittances leading to higher economicgrowth. The government has alsonotified increase in FIPB’s power torecommend foreign investmentproposals of up to Rs. 3,000 crore fromthe earlier Rs 2,000 crore. Beyond this

limit, proposals will go to the CabinetCommittee on Economic Affairs forapproval.

4) Who on 4 June 2015 became the firstIndian umpire after S. Venkataraghavanto be inducted in the InternationalCricket Council’s (ICC) Elite Panel ofUmpires? – Sundaram Ravi 

Explanation: Sundaram Ravi thusended 11-year long wait for an Indian

umpire to make place in ICC’s ElitePanel of Umpires. ICC announced theprestigious panel for 2015-2016following an annual review and selectionprocess. The panel includes Aleem Dar,Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus,Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, RichardIllingworth, Richard Kettleborough, NigelLlong, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, RodTucker and Bruce Oxenford. NewZealand’s Chris Gaffaney andSundaram Ravi were promoted from theInternational Panel of Umpires to theElite Panel, replacing Kiwi veteran BillyBowden and the retiring Steve Davis.Ravi has umpired in six Tests, 24 ODIsand 12 T20Is, since making hisinternational debut in Visakhapatnam inDecember 2011 in an ODI betweenIndia and the West Indies.

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5) China on 4 June 2015 confirmeddeath of at least 77 persons in thesinking of a cruise ship on the YangtzeRiver on 1 June, which is beingdescribed as China’s worst shipping

disaster in almost 70 years. What is thename of the cruise ship that wasinvolved in this disaster? – “EasternStar” 

Explanation: “Eastern Star” was acruise liner owned by the ChongqingEastern Shipping Corporation. It was onan 11-day voyage upstream fromNanjing, near Shanghai, to Chongqing.The sinking of this cruise ship took place

on 1 June 2015 in the Jianli section ofthe Yangtze River after it was caught inwhat was described as a suddentornado. The ship immediately sank with406 tourists and over 50 staff onboard.Chinese govt. on 4 June pledged thatthere would be “no cover-up” in theinvestigation of the accident as muchmore causalities are expected in it.

6) The appointment of the first womanPresident of Mauritius was approved bythe country’s Parliament on 4 June2015. What is her name? – AmeenahGurib-Fakim 

Explanation: 56-year old AmeenahGurib-Fakim is an internationally-renowned scientist and biologist. Shewas till now the Director of theMauritius-headquartered Centre forPhytotherapy Research (CEPHYR),which carries out research on plants foruse in cosmetics, nutrition and therapy.She replaced Kailash Purryag whostepped down as country’s President on

29 May 2015. Purryag had served aspresident since July 2012, when he wasappointed by the country’s previousLabour party government of formerpremier Navin Ramgoolam. The Govt. ofMaurituius had nominated Gurib-Fakimas country’s next President on 1 June2015. The motion moved by PrimeMinister Anerood Jugnauth for herelection was unanimously approved inparliament on 4 June.

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June 6, 2015

1) Food group Nestle on 5 June 2015

withdrew the highly popular “Maggi”noodles from sale in India following afood scare sparked by reports of excesslead and presence of harmful MSG in it.The “Maggi” brand of instant noodles isunder fire in India as reports of presenceof these harmful substances have beenreported from labs of several statesacross the country. What is the name ofthe food inspector belonging to the UttarPradesh FDA who had taken the firststep against Nestle’s “Maggi” noodles in2014 for allegedly flouting food safetynorms? – V.K. Pandey 

Explanation: V.K. Pandey, the DistrictFood Officer (DFO) of Barabanki district,had taken the first step nearly 15months ago against Nestle’s Magginoodles brand. This started after he hadcollected samples of “Maggi” noodlesfrom a retailer in Barabanki on 10 March2014 under a routine check. Sixteendays later, the Government RegionalPublic Analyst Laboratory in Gorakhpur,one of the state’s six food testing labs,confirmed the presence of monosodiumglutamate (MSG), a flavour enhancerthat officials said is not listed on thenoodle packets. Nestle was then served

the notice and samples of “Maggi” were

sent to Central Food Laboratory,Kolkata for further testing. The reportfrom this lab came on 7 April 2015 andconfirmed the presence of MSG, as wellas lead in higher quantity than thepermissible limits. “Maggi” is now facingan avalanche of tests across the countryfor allegedly flouting food safety norms.Nestle on 5 June withdrew the productfrom India. The company howeverreiterated that “Maggi” noodles are

completely safe. On the other hand, thecentral food safety regulator FoodSafety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI), on 5 June 2015, ordered recallof all nine approved variants of “Maggi”instant noodles from the market, termingthem “unsafe and hazardous” for humanconsumption.

2) The Election Commission of India(ECI) during June 2015 gave whichimportant order pertaining to applicationof indelible ink mark in the elections? – It ordered that the indelible ink

should be applied thoroughly using abrush specifically provided for thepurpose 

Explanation: Indelible ink is used tomark voters’ finger during elections toavoid fraudulent, multiple voting andmalpractices. The ECI had received

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numerous complaints regarding the inknot being applied properly by pollofficials. There have been complaintsthat poll officials use match sticksinstead of a brush to apply ink. The ink

is barely visible and often leads toallegations that people try to remove it ina bid to cast vote again. The ECI ordermakes it clear that the ink “will beapplied on voter’s finger with the help ofbrush from top of the nail to the bottomof the first joint of the left forefinger”.Use of brush will ensure that besidesbeing bigger, the ink mark will also bebolder and more prominent. The ECIalso asked the Managing Director of

Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd toensure supply of brushes along with theindelible ink supplied to states and UTswith “immediate effect”. A Karnatakagovernment undertaking, Mysore Paintsprovides the famous indelible ink forvoters to all states in India and evensome foreign countries.

3) Delhi Metro received India’s firstdriver-less metro train on 4 June 2015from South Korea. The new generationtrain, which is a part of a 20-setconsignment, will be suitable toeventually run on UTO (unattended trainoperation) mode. These trains are beingprocured through Hyundai Rotem, whichmanufactures them at its facility inKorea. Which entity is manufacturingthese trains in India? – Bharat Earth

Movers Limited (BEML) 

Explanation: BEML already producesmetro trains at its manufacturing facilitysituated in Bangalore. It is now engagedin the manufacture of 61 sets of metrotrains to be run on UTO (unattendedtrain operation) mode. UTO simply

means that train operators will not berequired to operate these trains and theOperations Control Centre (OCC) of themetro system will directly regulate themovement of the trains. Initially, train

operators will be deputed for operation.They will be gradually withdrawn tomove to UTO. These trains will run onthe corridors of Phase-III of Delhi Metro.This Phase comprises of 58 km-longMajlis Park-Shiv Vihar (Line 7) and theover 38 km-long Janakpuri (West)-Botanical Garden (Line 8) corridors.

4) Who was appointed as the next Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys bycompany’s Board on 5 June 2015? – 

R.Seshasayee 

Explanation: The Company Board ofInfosys approved the appointment of R.Seshasayee as its new Non-ExecutiveChairman to replace K.V. Kamath.Kamath will step down from his positionas Chairman of the Board and as anIndependent Director of the Company,consequent to his nomination asPresident of the BRICS New

Development Bank. Seshasayee hasbeen an Independent Director on theCompany’s Board since January 2011and is the chairperson of the AuditCommittee. His other board positionsinclude Non-Executive Vice Chairman of

 Ashok Leyland Ltd. and Chairman ofIndusInd Bank Ltd.

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5) Which Indian male Badminton playerstunned World No. 1 Chen Long in theIndonesian Open Super Series

badminton tournament to reach men’ssemi-finals on 5 June 2015? – ParupalliKashyap 

Explanation: Parupalli Kashyap, who ispresently ranked No. 12 in the world,came from behind to beat the top seedChen Long (China) by 14-21, 21-17 and21-14 in the quarter-final. Chen Long isthe numero uno men’s Badmintonplayer over the last two years has

emerged as China’s successor to theincomparable Lin Dan. Before this,Kashyap had defeated Long just once intheir last 8 appearances. Incidentally,Kashyap’s last victory against Longcame in this very tournament in 2012.

6) Tariq Aziz, who passed away on 5June 2015 in a prison, was a formerforeign minister of which country? – Iraq 

Explanation: Tariq Aziz was one of themost recognizable faces of Iraq under

Saddam Hussein. Aziz played aprominent diplomatic role in the run-upto the 1991 Gulf War to drive Iraqiforces out of Kuwait, as well as in thelong-running disputes over UnitedNations weapons inspections insubsequent years. Aziz surrendered in

 April 2003 to a U.S. invasion force which

overthrew Saddam. He was sentencedto death seven years later over thepersecution of Islamic parties underSaddam Hussein. He had longcomplained of ill-health during his

detention.

7) The Bangladesh government recentlyallowed Life Insurance Corporation ofIndia (LIC) to form a joint-venture tooperate its services in the country. Whatwill be the name of the joint-venture tobe formed by LIC in Bangladesh? – LICBangladesh 

Explanation: The Bangladesh IRDAgave its consent letter to LIC to start itsoperations in Bangladesh. LIC wouldthus become the second foreign insurerto operate in the country. LIC wasallowed to start operations as a jointventure entity to be called “LICBangladesh” with a paid up capital ofTaka 1 billion ($1=Tk 80). LIC will holdhalf of the amount while the rest would

be owned by its Bangladeshi partnersraising the amount from the capitalmarket and local entrepreneurs. LICthus became the second foreigninsurance agency after the US-basedMetLife-ALICO, which only has a branchoffice in Bangladesh and is not a jointventure registered company. Apart fromtwo state-run insurance companies,Bangladesh currently has 60 insurancecompanies in private sector, 43 of them

being general and 17 life.

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June 7, 2015

1) India and Bangladesh on 6 June2015 ratified the Land Boundary

 Agreement (LBA) to settle the landboundary dispute between the twocountries through exchange ofterritories. This ratification thus sealedan agreement signed by the then Indian

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and herBangladeshi counterpart Mujib-ur-Rehman. When that path-breakingagreement was signed? – 1974 

Explanation: Bangladesh and Indiashare a 4,096-km international border,the fifth-longest land border in the world.From 1947 till now, the unresolvedproblem of enclaves and adversepossession has been a source of

constant friction. It was hoped that theLand Boundary Agreement (LBA)signed by Indira Gandhi and Mujib-ur-Rehman in 1974 would settle both theseproblems but, for a variety of reasons, ithas taken four decades to resolve all thepending issues and for the IndianParliament to finally ratify the

agreement. The ratification to the 1974agreement was done on 6 June on theoccasion of Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s maiden visit ofBangladesh. Under the agreement,India will have an advantage of 500

acres and 10,000 acres will go toBangladesh. The enclave residentscould continue to reside at their presentlocation or move to the country of theirchoice. The agreement settles thequestion of citizenship for over 50,000people.

Read More about India-BangladeshLand Boundary Agreement 

2) In a major boost to connectivitybetween India and Bangladesh, two busservices were flagged off on 6 June2015 that will link West Bengal to threeNorth Eastern states of India viaBangladeshi capital Dhaka. Which 3states are these? – Assam, Tripuraand Meghalaya 

Explanation: The bus services wereinaugurated Prime Minister NarendraModi, his Bangladesh counterpartSheikh Hasina and West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee in Dhaka.The bus services – Kolkata-Dhaka-

 Agartala and Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati – will link West Bengal to three North

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Eastern states of India via Bangladeshicapital Dhaka. There would be twobuses on the Kolkata-Agartala-Dhakaroute, one of which would be run by theWest Bengal government and the other

by the Tripura government. The solobus in the Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahatiroute would be run by the Bangladeshigovernment. Buses on this route wouldoriginate three days a week each fromGuwahati and Dhaka, respectively.People of the North Eastern states of

 Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya, whichshare extensive boundaries with India’seastern neighbour, would benefit fromthe two services.

3) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister on 6June 2015 performed the sacred

“Bhoomi Pooja” ceremony for the newcapital of the state – Amaravati. Thisceremony was held at which village? – Mandadam village (Guntur district)

Explanation: Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu and his wifeBhuvaneswari performed “BhoomiPooja” . This ceremony was performedat Guntur’s Mandadam village, whichlies in the periphery of the proposed

capital city of Amaravati. Amaravati isthe planned capital state of AndhraPradesh and it is situated 12 km south-west of Vijayawada city and 20 km northof Guntur City.

4) Union Govt. on 5 June 2015 formedan eight-member committee to reviewthe Companies Act, 2013, and suggestnecessary changes. Who will head thiscommittee? – Anjuly Chib Duggal,

Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs(MCA)

Explanation: The committee is to givethe report within six months of its firstmeeting. It is to make recommendationsto the government on issues arisingfrom implementation of the Companies

 Act, 2013. The panel would beexamining recommendations from theBankruptcy Law Reforms committee,

High Level Committee on CorporateSocial Responsibility, Law Commissionand other agencies on the issue. It mayinvite subject experts and those fromregulatory bodies as needed. Others onthe committee are Manoj Fadnis,president of The Institute of Chartered

 Accountants of India; A S Durga Prasad,president, Institute of Cost Accountantsof India; Atul H Mehta, president,Institute of Company Secretaries of

India; Reva Khetarpal, former Delhi highcourt judge; Bharat Vasani, chief legaland group general counsel, Tata Sons,and Y M Deosthalee, chairman, L&TFinance Holdings. The joint secretary(policy), MCA, would be member-convener.

5) A court of which country recently

ordered three tobacco companies to payfines worth around $12 billion fordamages, which is the largest award incountry’s history? – Canada 

Explanation: The Quebec SuperiorCourt gave this landmark decision in acase file by a group of smokers from

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Quebec who said the firms failed towarn them of health risks associatedwith smoking. The three firms involvedin this case are Imperial Tobacco,Rothmans Benson & Hedges and JTI-

MacDonald. The class-action lawsuitswere filed in 1998, but only recentlywent to trial in the courts. The firmsargued that Canadians have had a “highawareness” of smoking health riskssince the 1950s. But the plaintiffsargued that the companies did notproperly warn their customers and failedin their general duty “not to cause injuryto another person”. 

6) Serena Williams (US) won her 20th Grand Slam title and third French Openwomen’s singles title at Roland Garroson 6 June 2015. Whom she defeated inthe final? – Lucie Safarova (Czech

Republic) 

Explanation: 13th seeded LucieSafarova had made into her first GrandSlam singles final at the age of 28. Butshe was defeated by Serena Williamsby 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2 in a tough final.With 20 Grand Slam titles Williams isnow second on the Open-era list, twoshy of Steffi Graf. She is also nowhalfway to winning all four Grand Slam

titles, in the same year, a feat previouslyachieved by just three other women, thelast being Graf in 1988.

June 8, 2015

1) The 2-day Summit of G7 countriesstarted on 7 June 2015. This summit is

being held at which place? – SchlossElmau (Germany) 

Explanation: Schloss Elmau is a luxury

hotel in the state of Bavaria in SouthGermany. It is site of the 41st Summit ofG7 countries from 7 to 8 June 2015. G7is the group of seven major advancedeconomies of the world and includesCanada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,the United Kingdom, and the UnitedStates. Apart from these 7 countries, the

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President of the European Commissionis a permanent member at all G7summits. Russia has been excludedfrom, what was previously known as theG8, since the annexation of Crimea last

year. The G7 Summit 2015 in SchlossElmau will focus on the global economyas well as on key issues regardingforeign, security and developmentpolicy. Additionally the UN conferencesto be held in 2015 as well as the post-2015 agenda will be discussed. Russiais also a key subject of this summit overits role in support of Ukrainian rebels.

2) Who won the men’s singles title of

French Open 2015 by defeating themuch-fancied Novak Djokovic (Serbia)in the finals on 7 June 2015 to becomethe oldest winner of the French Open in25 years? – Stanislas Wawrinka(Switzerland) 

Explanation: 30-year old Wawrinkascored a famous 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4victory to secure his second careermajor after the 2014 Australian Open.

This historic win thus ended worldnumber one Djokovic’s bid to becomeonly the eighth man to secure a careerSlam as he slumped to his third defeatin a Roland Garros final in four years.Wawrinka also became the oldestchampion in Paris since Andres Gomez(Ecuador) in 1990. This was Wawrinka’s

fourth win in 21 meetings againstDjokovic. It is worth mentioning thatWawrinka is a regular appearance atChennai Open, India’s premier ATPGrand Prix tournament and in January

2015 he became the first in the historyof the Chennai Open tournament tohave won the crown thrice.

3) Union Govt. on 5 June 2015announced plans to establish country’s13th major port in Maharashtra with aninvestment of Rs. 6,000 crore. This portwould be established at which place

near Mumbai? – Dahanu 

Explanation: The proposed port wouldbe located 4.5 nautical miles off theDahanu coast in northern Maharashtra’sPalghar district, about 150 km fromMumbai. This port would thus become13th major port of India. This projectenvisaging an investment of up to Rs6,000 crore is likely to be completedover the next three years. In a first, the

Centre has tied up with the stategovernment by making it an equitypartner to ensure the port getscompleted fast. The port, which willhave a capacity to handle 60-100 milliontonne of cargo per annum, will be builtcompletely on the reclaimed land spreadover 2,500 acres. Jawaharlal Nehru PortTrust (JNPT), which is the largestcontainer port in the country, will own76% in the proposed port and the

remaining 24% will be held by theMaharashtra Maritime Board (MMB).The project will be executed on public-private partnership (PPP) model.

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4) On 6 June 2015 former PrimeMinister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wasconferred with which award by theBangladesh Govt. for his role in thecountry’s independence struggle and

consolidating India’s friendship with thenation? – “Bangladesh Liberation WarHonour” 

Explanation: “Bangladesh LiberationWar Honour” was conferred on AtalBihari Vajpayee by BangladeshPresident Abdul Hamid, who handedover the award to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi at a glittering ceremonyat Bangabhaban, the President’s house.

The citation of the award hailedVajpayee as a “highly respected politicalleader” and recognised his “active role”in support of the liberation war ofBangladesh. It said, as President of theBharatiya Jana Sangh and a member ofthe Lok Sabha, Vajpayee took varioussteps towards that end. The award wascollected by Narendra Modi, who wason his state visit to Bangladesh.Vajpayee is indisposed and is away

from public life for several years now.

5) Former bureaucrat M.N. Buch, whopassed away on 6 June 2015, wasknown for role in developing which

Indian city with his modern urbanplanning concepts? – Bhopal 

Explanation: M.N. Buch was known forhis clear views on betterment of Bhopal

and Madhya Pradesh, especially incontext of urban planning andenvironment protection. He wascommonly referred to as ‘Architect ofNew Bhopal’ for the urban planningconcepts that he introduced in the city.He sought voluntary retirement fromIndian Administrative Services (IAS) in1984 and took up social activities. Anexpert in housing, forestation, townplanning and environmental protection,

he set up the NGO National Centre forHuman Settlements and Environment(NCHSE). He passed away in Bhopal on6 June at the age of 80.

6) Who won the Canadian Formula 1Grand Prix on 7 June 2015? – LewisHamilton (Britain) 

Explanation: This was fourth win forHamilton this year and with the win heextended his lead in the F1 standingsover fellow Mercedes teammate NicoRosberg (Germnay), who finished therace at second place. Valtteri Bottaswas third, giving Williams its firstappearance on the podium all season.Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastien Vettel were fourth and fifth respectively.

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June 9, 2015

1) Who was appointed as the new

Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC)by the Union Government on 8 June2015? – K.V. Chowdary 

Explanation: K.V. Chowdary is a formerChairman of the Central Board of DirectTaxes (CBDT). He retired as CBDTchief in October last year and since thenhas been working as adviser toSupreme Court appointed SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) that is probing

black money cases. On the other hand,T.M. Bhasin, Chairman & ManagingDirector, Indian Bank, was appointedVigilance Commissioner. The post ofCVC was lying vacant since last ninemonths when Pradeep Kumar retiredfrom the post on 28 September 2014,while Vigilance Commissioner J M Garghad completed his tenure on 7September 2014. The Central VigilanceCommission is headed by a CVC andcomprises two vigilance commissionersand these appointments constitute thefull Commission. However, it isimportant to mention that with theappointment of Chowdary as the CVC,the government has for the first timebroken away with the tradition ofappointing an Indian Administrative

Service (IAS) officer as the chief of the

anti-corruption watchdog since it wasformed in 1964. The appointments havecome after opposition leaders includingCongress President Sonia Gandhi hadcriticized the government for notappointing a CVC for such a longperiod. However, the appointment ofChowdary as the CVC also came undercontroversy following senior lawyer RamJethmalani’s allegations of the govt.totally overlooking Chowdary’s

credentials while doing the appointment.He alleged that he was totally unfit forthis post.

2) Who was appointed by the UnionGovt. as the new Chief InformationCommissioner (CIC) on 8 June 2015? – Vijai Sharma 

Explanation: Vijai Sharma, a formerEnvironment Secretary, has been

working as Information Commissioner inthe Central Information Commissionersince 2012. The CIC, which is mandatedto resolve appeals and complaints filedagainst government departments orpublic authorities by information seekersunder the Right to Information Act, hasbeen working without a chief for over

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nine months, after the tenure of CICRajiv Mathur ended on 22 August 2014.Many right-to-information (RTI) activistswere aggrieved over non-appointment ofa CIC for such a long period of time. In

this appointment the government hasfollowed the convention of appointingthe senior most InformationCommissioner’s as the CIC. 

3) A tropical storm in the Arabian Seawas declared as a severe cyclonic stormon 8 June 2015. What is the name givento this storm which is expected to affect

Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtracoasts during the next two days? – “Ashobaa” 

Explanation: This tropical storm waslocated 590 km west-southwest ofMumbai and 470 km southwest ofVeraval (Gujarat) in the morning of 8June. ‘Ashobaa’ would move initiallynorth-northwestwards and intensifyfurther into a severe cyclonic storm

during the next 36 hours. Meanwhile,the cyclone is expected to move north-northwest (initially towards Karachicoast and then steering west towardsPersian Gulf) before being declared as acyclonic storm during the next 24 hours.Fishermen along and off Karnataka,Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat coastshave been advised not to venture intothe sea for next 48 hours.

4) Cambodia has recently lodged aprotest to India over a private trust’splans to build an Angkor Wat replica inBihar. It alleged that the plans of thisBihar temple, seriously violates the 12th century Hindu temple and a world

heritage property which holdsexceptional and universal value. What isthe name of the trust in this case, whichis planning to construct a replica of thelargest Hindu temple in the world at

 Angkor Wat? – Mahavir Mandir Trust 

Explanation: Patna-based MahavirMandir Trust (MMT) is planning toconstruct the largest Hindu temple forLord Rama some 120 kms from Patna.This temple, to be named the ‘ViraatRamayan Mandir’, is expected to be thereplica of the world famous Angkor Wattemple of Cambodia, which is presentlythe largest temple complex in the world.The proposed temple will be 2,800 feetin length and 1,400 feet in width and itssanctum sanctoram shall be 405 feet inheight. The site is spread over asprawling area of 161 acres and the hallwill have a seating capacity for 20,000devotees at a time. The protest comesafter Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign

 Affairs and International Cooperationreceived a report about MMT’s plans toconstruct a replica of Angkor Wat.Cambodia “considers that this copy of

 Angkor Wat Temple for commercialbenefit seriously violates the World

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heritage which is of a universal andexceptional value of humanity’, theMinistry said in its protest note to theIndian External Affairs Ministry.

5) The ruling party of Turkey that wasfounded by President Tayyip Erdogan,suffered a major setback on 7 June2015 as the party failed to win anoutright majority in a parliamentaryelection for the first time. With this,Erdogan’s hopes of assuming greaterpower also suffered a major jolt. What isthe name of this ruling party? – AK

Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) 

Explanation: President Tayyip Erdoganwas expecting his AK Party to do well inthe parliamentary elections held on 7June so as to assume greater power incountry’s parliament. AK Party whileremained the largest party, failed evento achieve a simple majority on its own.The vote share of AK Party stood at40.8%, down from 49.8% at the last

parliamentary election in 2011.Theoutcome augurs weeks ofunpredictability as parties vie to form acoalition and possible early elections.Erdogan, Turkey’s most popular modernleader but not one used to compromiseand negotiation, had hoped a crushingvictory for the AK Party would allow it tochange the constitution and create amore powerful U.S.-style presidency. Onthe other hand, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’

Democratic Party crossed a 10%threshold to enter parliament for the firsttime.

6) Who was appointed as new DirectorGeneral (DG) of National Security

Guard (NSG) on 7 June 2015? – R.C.Tayal 

Explanation: R.C. Tayal, 1980-batchofficer of the Indian Police Service (IPS),

was the Special Director General ofCentral Reserve Police Force (CRPF) tillnow. He replaced J.N. Choudhury whoretired as NSG DG on 31 May 2015.NSG is a security force of Indiaconstituted in 1984 for combatingterrorist activities with a view to protectStates against internal disturbances. Itcomes under the Ministry of Home

 Affairs.

7) India finished at which place in the21st Asian Athletics Championships thatconcluded in Wuhan (China) on 7 June2015? – Third 

Explanation: India secured a medalhaul of 4 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze inthe championships to finish third behindChina (15, 13, 13) and Qatar (7, 2, 1).

Japan (4, 3, 11) and Bahrain (3, 3, 2)finished fourth and fifth respectively.This was India’s best finish after 2007 in

 Amman, Jordan where the country wasplaced second. A highlight for India wasthe bagging of the maiden gold medal ina major international event by womenathlete Tintu Luka, as she won women’s800m finals. This was 26-year-oldLuka’s first individual title in a majorinternational event after breaking into

the scene in 2008-09 with a lot ofpromise under the tutelage of thelegendary P.T. Usha.

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June 10, 2015

1) A first of its kind operation ofoperation was carried out by the Indian

 Army on 9 June 2015 when it conductedan anti-terrorist operation on a foreignsoil for the first time. This bold operationwas carried out in which country withstrategic support from that country? – Myanmar  

Explanation: Indian Army on 9 June2015 struck terrorist camps insideMyanmar and killed nearly 20 North-Eastern insurgents. The attack was inresponse to the deadly ambush inManipur that killed 18 soldiers on 4 June2015 in Chandel district. The Indian

 Army deployed an Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter and a commando teamfrom the 21 Para (special forces) unit forthe attack. Elite commandos of the armywent a few kilometers inside Myanmarterritory to destroy two camps ofinsurgents hiding there after attacks inManipur and Arunachal Pradesh lastweek by NSCN(K) and KYKLoutfits. This was Indian Army’s first “hotpursuit” operation in the eastern sector.It was also the first joint commandooperation by Indian Army and Indian AirForce on any foreign soil. Securitypersonnel from Myanmar cooperatedwith India in carrying out this operation.

2) Union Govt. on 9 June 2015 officially

added three more districts into theNational Capital Region (NCR) thusextending the span of the NCR. Whichthree districts are these? – Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) andJind and Karnal (Haryana) 

Explanation: This decision to extendthe NCR was announced by UrbanDevelopment Minister M. VenkaiahNaidu after a meeting of the National

Capital Region Planning Board(NCRPB) in New Delhi on 9 June. Apartfrom this, a committee has beenappointed to look into the demands forthe inclusion of more areas in NCR.With this the total number of districtsincluded in NCR has risen to 22. It nowincludes 13 districts from Haryana(Faridabad, Gurgaon, Mewat, Rohtak,Sonepat, Rewari, Jhajjar, Panipat,Palwal, Mahendragarh (Narnaul),

Bhiwani, Jind and Karnal), 6 districtsfrom Uttar Pradesh (Meerut, Ghaziabad,Bulandshahr, Gautam Budh Nagar,Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar) and 2districts from Rajasthan (Alwar andBharatpur), apart from Delhi. It is worthmentioning that while decision to includeMuzaffarnagar, Jind and Karnal in NCRwas taken in July 2013, the inclusionwas kept in abeyance as there was athinking that the addition of new districts

to NCR should not be allowed till theirinfrastructure reached a certain level.

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3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 8June 2015 made which importantannouncement which is being seen as asignificant move to provide a moreflexible process for banks to recover badloans? – It allowed banks to acquire51% or more stake in companiesdefaulting after restructuring of their

loans 

Explanation: It is worth mentioning thatbanks have been reporting more lossesfrom restructured assets of-late and theRBI move is primarily aimed at resolvingstress in the banking system. The RBIhas, however, advised banks to sell thestake to a new promoter ‘as soon aspossible’, but they should ensure thebuyer is in no way related to the

borrower. The other measuresannounced under the new scheme‘strategic debt restructuring’ (SDR)include allowing lenders to convert debtinto equity within 30 days of review ofcompanies’ accounts. In addition,lenders acquiring shares of listedcompanies under restructuring would beexempted from making open offers.These restructuring norms would alsoapply to all company accounts before 8

June 2015.

4) What is the name of the Law Ministerof Delhi Govt. who was arrested by theDelhi Police on charges of a fake lawdegree on 9 June 2015, an incident thatfurther escalated the ongoing tusslebetween the Centre and the DelhiGovt.? – Jitender Singh Tomar  

Explanation: The BJP and Congresshave been demanding the resignation ofJitender Singh Tomar’s since April 2015when allegations were first made that hehad faked his Bihar law degree. Theissue came to highlight after Bihar-based Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur Universityhad told a Delhi court that it has norecord of Tomar’s law degree. Theuniversity had said Tomar’s provisionalcertificate was “fabricated and doesn’t

exist in the university’s record”. Thearrest came as a complete surprise tothe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governmentin Delhi. AAP alleged that Tomar wasarrested without prior notice andslammed the BJP-led Centralgovernment. AAP sources alleged thatthe order to arrest Tomar was signed bythe Lieutenant Governor of Delhi,Najeeb Jung, who represents theCentre. Jung has been in a protractedturf battle with the Delhi governmentover the appointment of key officials.

5) Who was nominated as the new non-executive Chairman of ICICI Bank by

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the board of the bank on 9 June 2015 toreplace K.V. Kamath? – M.K. Sharma 

Explanation: M. K. Sharma willsucceed KV Kamath, who would step

down from the Board to take on a biggerrole as the first President of NewDevelopment Bank, established by theBRICS nations. He was earlier the ViceChairman of Hindustan Unilever Ltd(HUL). Sharma was also anindependent Director on the Board ofICICI Bank for eight years from 2003 to2011 and is an independent director ofseveral companies. Sharma will havetenure of 5 years.

6) Which major international bankingentity on 9 June 2015 madeannouncement to cut almost 50,000

 jobs from its payroll, axe its investmentbank and shrink its risk weighted assetsby $290 billion in an effort to improve itssluggish performance? – HSBC 

Explanation: HSBC is the largest bankin Europe. It made this announcementto the Hong Kong stock exchangeahead of an important presentation toinvestors and analysts. This is thesecond major strategic plan for HSBCCEO Stuart Gulliver since he took thecharge at the start of 2011. The job cuts,which will affect almost a fifth of thebank’s workforce, involve 25,000 stafffrom the expected sales of the lender’s

Brazil and Turkey units and 22,000-25,000 from the consolidation of IT andback office operations and branchclosures. However the cuts, to becompleted by 2017, will be followed bysome hiring in growth businesses andthe bank’s compliance division. Apartfrom this, HSBC will shrink the global

banking and markets division to lessthan one third of its $2.6 trillion balancesheet from its current level of around40%. It is worth mentioning that HSBChas been under pressure from investors

for carrying out radical cuts at its globalbanking and markets divisions.

7) Noted Indian author Amitav Ghosh’sthird and final book under the “Ibistrilogy” was published recently. What isthe name of this book? – “Flood ofFire” 

Explanation: “Flood of Fire” is the finalpart of the famous “Ibis trilogy” by

 Amitav Ghosh, which comprises ofhistorical fictional writings by him. Theother two previous books under “Ibistrilogy” are – “Sea of Popp ies ” (2008)and “River of Smoke ”. This trilogy is setin the first half of the 19th century. Itdeals with the trade of opium betweenIndia and China run by the East IndiaCompany and the trafficking of cooliesto Mauritius. The trilogy gets its namesfrom the ship “Ibis”, on board whichmost of the main characters meet for thefirst time. “Sea of Poppies” wasnominated for the Man Booker Prize in2008.

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June 11, 2015

1) The World Health Organisation(WHO) during June 2015 declared Indiafree of which infection which was muchprevalent in the country at a period oftime? – Maternal and NeonatalTetanus 

Explanation: The WHO’s declaration ofIndia now being free of maternal andneonatal tetanus has been hailed as a

significant public health milestone by thecountry. The elimination of neonataltetanus is defined as less than one casein 1000 live births in every district acrossthe country. Abolishing a disease thatwas once responsible for 15% of deathsin the country is surely a matter of greatpride for India. The disease usuallyoccurs in newborns through infection ofthe unhealed umbilical stump, especiallywhen the stump is cut with a non-sterile

instrument. Nagaland was the lastIndian state to achieve maternal andneonatal tetanus elimination.

2) The Union Cabinet on 10 June 2015decided to bring in an ordinance toamend the Negotiable Instruments Act,which provides for filing of chequebounce cases in place where thecheque was issued. What the govt.wants to achieve by brining thisordinance? – It seeks to overturn aSupreme Court 2014 ruling said thecase has to be initiated where the

cheque-issuing branch was located 

Explanation: The Supreme Court hadpassed a judgement in 2014 that if aperson receives a cheque fromsomeone and the cheque gets bounced,then the jurisdiction for initiating actionlies in the State where it was issued.This ruling resulted in filing of over 18lakh cases in various courts spreadacross the country and immense

hardships to people involved in thesecases. Government had brought a Bill(Negotiable Instruments (Amendment)

 Act, 2015) in this regard in Parliamentand it was passed in the Lok Sabha inMay 2015. The amendment passed bythe Lok Sabha provided that cases ofbouncing of cheques can be filed only in

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a court in whose jurisdiction the bankbranch of the payee (person whoreceives the cheque) lies. If a complaintagainst a person issuing a cheque hasbeen filed in the court with the

appropriate jurisdiction, then allsubsequent complaints against thatperson will be filed in the same court,irrespective of the relevant jurisdictionarea. However, as the Rajya Sabhacould not pass it, the government hasbrought this ordinance so as to giverelief to these people.

3) What is the name of the Kerala port

project, which has been awarded by thestate govt. to Adani Ports and SEZ asagreed to in the State Cabinet on 10June 2015? – Vizhinjam Port Project 

Explanation: Vizhinjam Port Projectcomprises of an international port anddeep-water container transshipmentterminal and is worth multi-thousandcrore. The project was awarded to AdaniPorts despite strong opposition from the

Opposition which disagreed on thespecifics during an all-party meetconvened by the government on 3 June2015 and continued to air its differencesin public. The Adanis have demanded agrant of Rs. 1,635 crore. This is beingmade available as a viability grant fundto be shared equally by the state and

Central Governments, a first for a portproject. The Adanis will invest on theirown Rs. 2,454 crore.

4) Which prominent European country’sParliament on 9 June 2015 votedoverwhelmingly in favour of a bill thatseeks to hold a referendum to gauge themood of its citizens on the issue ofremaining part of the European Union(EU)? – Britain 

Explanation: It is worth mentioning thatBritish Prime Minister David Cameron

had promised to hold a referendum onthe critical issue – whether the countryshould remain part of the EU or exitfrom it. The British Parliament on 9 Junevoted overwhelmingly in favour of thebill, the EU Referendum Bill, with 544MPs voting in its favour and just 53opposing it. The passing of the bill thusbrings the proposed EU referendumcloser to reality. British ForeignSecretary Philip Hammond justified the

referendum saying that finally thecitizens will have a final say on UK’splace in Europe. The govt. hadproposed to undertake the referendumby the end of 2017. On the other hand,many prominent corporates havewarned that a British withdrawal fromthe EU would threaten jobs and harm itseconomy.

5) According to information released on9 June 2015, the Union Govt. canceledthe registration of 4,470 non-governmental organisations (NGOs)under the Foreign ContributionRegulation Act (FCRA). What is theprimary reason for this government

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action? – Non-filing of annual returnsand other anomalies 

Explanation: The decision to cancel theregistration of these entities under the

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act(FCRA) was taken after examination oftheir activities that allegedly include non-filing of annual returns and otheranomalies. De-registration of theseentities was done between 5 May to 9June 2015. This bars these NGOs fromreceiving foreign funds. According to thegovt., all NGOs were given propernotice by the Foreigners Division of theHome Ministry with adequate time to

reply before their FCRA licences werecancelled. The NGOs in this list includesa number of top universities, SupremeCourt Bar Association and Escorts HeartInstitute. It is worth mentioning that theUnion Govt. had in April 2015 cancelledthe licences of nearly 9,000 NGOs forthe same offence.

6) Pappu Yadav, the expelled MP of theLalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya JanataDal (RJD) on 9 June 2015 announcedthe formation of his own political party totake on Lalu-Nitish Kumar combine inBihar. What is the name of this newparty? – Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) 

Explanation: Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) is

the name of the new political outfitfloated by Pappu Yadav, who wasexpelled from the party some time agodue to alleged anti-party activities. JAPis expected to fight elections from anumber of seats in the upcoming

 Assembly elections in Bihar, likely to beheld in September-October 2015.

June 12, 2015

1) For the first time a move is beingmade to involve private players inrunning of passenger trains in the

country as disclosed in the reportprepared by a committee set up by theUnion Govt. The committee has

recommended the entry of privatecompanies in operation andmaintenance of railways, and haspitched for attracting talent from outsidefor a radical revamp of Indian Railways.Who headed this committee? – BibekDebroy (Member, NITI Aayog)

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Explanation: The Bibek DebroyCommittee, set up by the NarendraModi government to giverecommendations for overhaul of theoperations of the Indian Railways, has

prepared a detailed report, which will bepresented to the government on 12June 2015. The government is expectedto act on the recommendations in themonths ahead as Indian Railway isbeing regarded as a priority sector forthe Modi administration. The panel hasalso suggested the scrapping of aseparate railway budget as the railwayswas just another public sector company.The radical measures suggested

include, switching over to commercialaccounting of railway functions,corporatization of railways productionunits and involving private sector inmanufacturing coaches, wagons andlocomotives.

2) The 44th edition of COPA America,the prestigious football tournament forSouth American countries, started from11 June 2015. Which country is hostingthis tournament? – Chile 

Explanation: The 44

th

 edition of COPA America is being held from 11 June to 4July 2015 at Chile. The tournament wasoriginally planned to be hosted by Brazilbut it opted out from hosting thetournament due to tight schedule formajor tournaments like 2013 FIFAConfederations Cup, 2014 FIFA World

Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.Chile was given hosting rights afterconsultations with the Brazilianauthorities. Twelve countries areparticipating in COPA America 2015 – 

 Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,Columbia, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico,Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay andVenezuela. Jamaica and Mexico are twoinvitee participants in the tournament.Uruguay is the defending championteam having won the tournament in2011. The tournament is beingorganized by CONMEBOL, South

 America’s f ootball governing body. Thewinner of the tournament, or the best

placed CONMEBOL team if Mexico orJamaica win the tournament, will qualifyfor the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cuphosted in Russia.

3) In an important development, 26 African countries agreed to create thecontinent’s largest free-trade zone thatwill span a huge area from Cape Town(South Africa) to Cairo (Egypt). Thedeal, signed in Egypt, is intended toease the movement of goods acrossmember countries which represent morethan half the continent’s GDP. What isthe name of this proposed free tradeagreement? – Tripartite Free TradeArea (TFTA) 

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Explanation: Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) is the name given to theproposed free-trade zone to be createdin Africa that comprises of 3 tradingentities of African continents – the

Common Market for Eastern andSouthern Africa (COMESA), Southern

 African Development Community(SADC) and East African Community(EAC). The agreement for TFTA wassigned on 10 June 2015 at Egypt. Theagreement is slated to be unveiled atthe 25th African Union (AU) Summit tobe held in South Africa. The century-olddream to link the continent from theCape to Cairo comes to reality with

signing of this agreement. Since the endof colonial rule, governments have beendiscussing ways to boost intra-Africantrade. The poor state of roads, railwaysand airlines has made it difficult. TFTAemerged as three existing trading blocks

 – COMESA, SADC and EAC, merged toform a single pan-African trading entity.However, TFTA needs parliamentaryendorsements from all member-nations.

4) Former Bihar Chief Minister JitanRam Manjhi on 11 June 2015announced the decision to join theNational Democratic Alliance (NDA) ledby the BJP to fight the upcoming Biharassembly elections. What is the name ofhis party that will contest the Bihar

 Assembly elections as a partner ofthe NDA? – Hindustan Awam Party

(HAP) 

Explanation: Manjhi made theannouncement after a meeting with BJPPresident Amit Shah in New Delhi on 11June. The BJP believes its casteformula, a key factor in any election inBihar, is now in place with Manjhi, a

Mahadalit, expected to eat into Kumar’smahadalit support base.

5) The Reserve Bank India (RBI) on 11June 2015 gave permission to whichinvestor segment to invest in regulatedchit funds in India? – Non-ResidentIndians (NRIs) 

Explanation: The permission to Indiansabroad for participation in chit fundscomes with riders. NRIs can subscribeto chit funds through banking channels,including accounts maintained in India.

The state governments or Registrar ofChits may permit chit funds to acceptsubscription from NRIs on non-repatriation basis. This should be donein accordance with the provisions of theChit Fund Act.

6) Veteran actor, Sir Christopher Lee,who passed away on 7 June 2015 at theage of 93, was associated with whichlegendary character in films? – “Dracula” 

Explanation: Christopher Lee was a

British-born actor who made his nameplaying Dracula and Frankenstein’smonster in horror films. He appeared inover 250 films. He was best-known forhis villainous roles – includingScaramanga in James Bond’s “The ManWith The Golden Gun” and evil wizardSaruman in “The Lord of the Rings”. His

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other important films include “TheWicker Man” and “Star Wars”. He wasknighted in 2009 for services to dramaand charity and was awarded a BAFTAfellowship in 2011.

June 13, 2015 

1) Nek Chand Saini, who passed awayon 12 June 2015 at the age of 90, wasthe creator of which iconic creation inChandigarh? – Rock Garden 

Explanation: Nek Chand Saini wasknown all over the world for his uniquecreation in Chandigarh, the RockGarden. This sculpture garden wascreated from waste and other unusedhousehold materials. As a govt.employee he started creating the gardenin his spare time in 1957. He usedwaste and useless articles like oldswitches, tyres, bicycle parts, bangles,

mosaic, etc. from demolition sitesaround the city. He recycled thesematerials into his own vision around agorge near the famous Sukhna Laka. Itis worth mentioning that Nek Chand’swork was illegal and he was able to hideit for eighteen years before it wasdiscovered by the authorities in 1975.

 After pressure from citizen groups tocontinue the park, the Rock Garden wasopened officially in 1976. He was

assigned some 50 labourers to extendthe park. And now Rock Garden isspread over 40-acre area and hasattracted almost 1.2 crore visitors sinceit was opened. Nek Chand passed awayfollowing complaint of chest pain atPGIMER, Chandigarh. He was awardedthe Padma Shri by Government of Indiain 1984.

2) Which African country is on its way tolegally end its virtually worthless localcurrency which has witnessed hyper-

inflation as high as 500 billion per centin the recent times? – Zimbabwe 

Explanation: Zimbabwe has decided toend the local currency (ZimbabweanDollar) by September 2015. Thisprocess starts from 15 June 2015 bankaccounts with balances of up to 175

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quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars to bepaid just US$ 5 in the exchange. This isdue to the fact that the Zimbabweandollar has become almost worthless. Itis worth mentioning that at the height of

Zimbabwe’s economic crisis in 2008,Zimbabweans had to carry plastic bagsbulging with bank notes to buy basicgoods like bread and milk. Prices wererising at least twice a day. According tothe Reserve Bank Zimbabwe (RBZ), thecustomers who held Zimbabwean dollaraccounts before March 2009 canapproach their banks to convert theirZimbabwean dollar balance into dollars.The process will legally end the local

currency. Zimbabweans have untilSeptember 2015 to turn in their old banknotes. Customers who still have stashesof old Zimbabwean dollar notes canwalk into any bank and get $1 for every250 trillion they hold.

3) The second “Border Haat”, thecommon border market between Indiaand Bangladesh, was opened on 11June 2015. These Border Haats havebeen established at which Indian state

bordering Bangladesh? – Tripura 

Explanation: The first “Border Haat”was opened near the Indo-Bangladeshinternational border at Srinagar in SouthTripura district on 13 January 2015. Thisplace borders Madhugram village ofFeni district of Bangladesh. The concept

of establishing “Border Haat” is to boostbilateral trade and enhance people topeople contacts. These markets are setup at the zero line of the internationalborder with one part on the Indian side

and the other in Bangladesh. Secondsuch “Border Haat” was inaugurated on11 June at Kamalasagar in Sipahijaladistrict, bordering Brahmanbaria districtof Bangladesh. It was officially jointlyinaugurated by video-conferencing fromDhaka on 6 June 2015 by NarendraModi and his Bangladeshi counterpartSheikh Hasina.

4) The US government has recentlyopened an investigation against two ofthe biggest Indian outsourcingcompanies, Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) and Infosys, for possibleviolations of H1-B visa rules. Thepossible visa rule violations of TCS andInfosys with regard to which US-basedelectric utility are being probed by theauthorities? – Southern California

Edison 

Explanation: TCS and Infosys arebeing probed for possible violations ofrules for visas for foreign technologyworkers under contracts they held withSouthern California Edison. SouthernCalifornia Edison had recently laid-offmore than 500 technology workers,many of who claimed that they weremade to train their replacements who

were immigrants on the temporary workvisas brought in by the Indian firms.Senators Richard Durbin of Illinois andJeff Sessions of Alabama announcedthe investigation after they were notifiedby the US Labor Department. Indianoutsourcers are among the biggestrecipients H1-B visas, which are

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intended for highly skilled workers. TCSand Infosys derive their biggest share ofrevenues from US markets.

5) Which former fast-bowler of West

Indies was inducted into the ICC CricketHall of Fame on 11 June 2015? – Wesley Hall 

Explanation: With Wesley Hall’sinduction into this elite league, the tallyof cricketers from the Caribbean in theHall of Fame rose to 18 while overalltally stood at 80. Hall received hiscommemorative cap from fellow ICC

Cricket Hall of Famer, Courtney Walsh,during the lunch break on the openingday of the second Test between theWest Indies and Australia at the SabinaPark on 11 June. Hall played in 48 Tests

from 1958 to 1969 in which he took 192wickets, including five wickets in aninnings nine times and 10 wickets in amatch on one occasion. In 170 first-class matches, Hall claimed 546 wicketsat an average of 26.14. In 1964-65, his16 wickets were instrumental in guidingthe West Indies to its first series winover Australia. Hall is the fourth cricketerthis year to be inducted into the ICCCricket Hall of Fame after Betty Wilson,

 Anil Kumble and Martin Crowe, whowere inducted earlier this year duringthe ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

June 14-15, 2015

1) The Union Govt. on 13 June 2015launched an Indian insurance pool tothe tune of Rs. 1,500 crore which ismandatory under the Civil Liability forNuclear Damage Act (CLND). Thisinsurance pool was launched to addressthe concerns of the clauses in the CLND

 Act, which give the operator the Right toRecourse and allow it to sue thesuppliers in case of any accident. Whichinsurance entity is the fund operator of

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this pool? – General InsuranceCorporation of India (GIC Re) 

Explanation: General InsuranceCorporation of India (GIC Re) is the fund

operator of this Rs. 1,500 crore Indianinsurance pool and it includes 11 othernon-life insurers as associates of thepool. Apart from GIC Re, New India,Oriental Insurance, National Insuranceand United India Insurance from thepublic sector, the private ones are ICICILombard General Insurance, Tata AIGGeneral, Reliance General Insurance,Chola MS General Insurance, IFFCOTokio General Insurance, SBI General

and Universal Sompo General. Thispool will be the 27th such market poolglobally. It is expected to address third-party liability insurance to begin with andlater expand into property and other hotzone (inside reactor areas) risk. This willcover both operators and suppliers. Atpresent, only cold zones (outsidereactor areas) are covered. The idea offorming a pool was mooted in early2013 and got stuck due to differences

among stakeholders on certain clauses.In 2010, Parliament passed the CLND

 Act, which creates a liability cap fornuclear plant operators for economicdamage in the event of an accident.

2) What is the name of the Joint-MilitaryExercise that started between thearmies of India and UK at Salisbury

Plains Training Area, UK on 13 June2015? – “Ajeya Warrior 2015” 

Explanation: “Ajeya Warrior” is thename given to the biannual militaryexercise between Indian and the UnitedKingdom. The aim of the Exercise is tobuild and promote positive military

relations between Indian and UK Armyand to enhance their ability to undertake

 joint tactical level operations in CounterInsurgency/Counter TerrorismEnvironment under United Nations

Charter. A battalion of the KumaonRegiment of the Indian Army is takingpart in the exercise. The exercise isbeing held at Westdown Camp,Salisbury Plains Training Area (UK) andwill conclude on 28 June 2015.

3) External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj on 14 June 2015 came intocontroversy over the grant of travel

documents to former Indian PremierLeague commissioner Lalit Modi by theUK government. When was this travelgrant was provided? – August 2014 

Explanation: Lalit Modi is facing anEnforcement Directorate (ED) probe intoallegations of financial irregularities inthe IPL. He has been in the UK since2010 when the IPL was caught in ahuge storm over an alleged betting

scandal. Lalit Modi’s passport wasrevoked in March that year. Last year,Lalit Modi was given a visa in August2014 after Indian-origin British MP KeithVaz recommended his name. Accordingto the British media, Vaz cited the nameof Sushma Swaraj to put pressure onthe UK’s top immigration off icial to grant

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British travel papers to Modi. The grantof visa is being discussed before aparliamentary panel in the UK.Opposition parties, including Congressdemanded resignation of Swaraj over

this issue.

4) Former Union Minister and seniorCongress leader Sheila Kaul, whopassed away on 13 June 2015, was aformer Governor of which state? – Himachal Pradesh 

Explanation: 100 year old Sheila Kaulwas a sister-in-law of Jawaharlal Nehruand oldest surviving formerparliamentarian at present. She was

married to renowned botanist KailashNath Kaul. Sheila Kaul was Corporatorof the Lucknow Municipal Corporationduring 1959-65, and a member of theUttar Pradesh Legislative Council during1968-71. She was elected as Member ofParliament five times – in 1971, 1980and 1984 from Lucknow, and in 1989and 1991 from Rae Bareli. UrbanDevelopment Minister in the NarasimhaRao Cabinet, Sheila Kaul was accused

of making out-of-turn allotment ofgovernment accommodations in returnfor monetary gain between 1992 and1995. She was Governor of HimachalPradesh between 1995-96.

5) Which bird was nominated as UnitedKingdom’s first-ever national bird in apoll conducted in the country thatconcluded during June 2015? – Robin 

Explanation: The red-breasted “Robin”bird topped a poll of more than 200,000people to choose the UK’s first nationalbird, winning a landslide victory. The

bird received 34% of votes, followed bythe barn owl, which received 12% andthe blackbird, 11%. More than 224,000people voted online, at ballot boxes inschools and by post in the poll, whichbegan in March 2015. The poll waslaunched by noted ornithologist DavidLindo. Lindo began the project last yearwhen he realised Britain did not have anational bird, unlike countries such asIndia (Peacock), US (Bald Eagle) and

 Australia (Emu). The red-breasted“Robin” has long been a part of Britain’scultural history, most notably with itsimage adorning Christmas decorationsevery year.

6) Which Indian mining conglomerate on13 June 2015 announced buying thestake of minority shareholders in CairnIndia, the country’s top private oilproducer? – Vedanta Ltd 

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Explanation: Vedanta Ltd. is India’slargest private sector miner while CairnIndia is country’s top private oilproducer. Under the deal Cairn India willget one share in Vedanta Ltd for every

held. This will result in merger of CairnIndia in Vedanta, a move that isexpected to streamline debt-burdened

parent Vedanta Resources Plc’soperating structure.

June 16, 2015

1) 15 June 2015 marked whichanniversary of the Magna Carta, thehistoric charter (agreement) signedbetween the King of England and theEnglish nobility which limited the powerof the throne and was the first significantlimit placed on governmental authority inthe world? – 800th 

Explanation: The signing of the historic“Magna Carta” completed 800 years on15 June 2015. It was signed on 15 June1215, when under pressure from agroup of some forty English baronsunhappy with the crown’s excessivetaxation, King John agreed to affix hisseal to the charter at Runnymede, nearWindsor (UK). British monarch Queen

Elizabeth II lead commemorations tomark this historic occasion. The MagnaCarta is considered the foundingdocument of English law and civilliberties. Signing of Magna Carta isimportant as it is widely accepted as thefirst significant step in the direction ofestablishing governmental system inplace of the monarchial rule. In perhapsits most enduring legacy, the MagnaCarta mandated that no man beimprisoned, stripped of his possessionsor exiled “except by the lawful judgmentof his equals or by the law of the land.”Basically, it said the king can’t arbitrarilyimprison someone just because he’s ina bad mood. The government must actaccording to its own laws. That was ahuge step toward establishing themodern legal and justice system.

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2) What is the name of the SudanesePresident who came to news for leavingSouth Africa on 15 June 2015 and thusdefying a Pretoria court order for him toremain in the country until it ruled on anapplication for his arrest? – Omar al-

Bashir  

Explanation: Omar al-Bashir, who wasattending an African Union summit inSouth Africa, has been indicted by theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) overwar crimes and crimes againsthumanity. The Pretoria High Court wasin session on 15 June to decide on apetition by the Southern AfricanLitigation Centre, a rights group that

wanted to force South African PresidentJacob Zuma’s government to arrestBashir and hand him over to the ICC.South Africa is an ICC signatory andtherefore obliged to implementarrest warrants, but the ruling AfricanNational Congress (ANC) on 14 Juneaccused the Hague-based ICC of beingbiased against Africans and said it was“no longer useful”. South Africa’s furiousresponse and its decision to allow

Bashir to leave is affirmation of itsshifting diplomatic priorities with Africa’sinterests trumping those of the West. Itis worth mentioning that the Zuma’sgovernment had given immunity toBashir and all other delegates attendingthe AU summit. The ICC issued arrestwarrants for Bashir in 2009 and 2010,

accusing him of mastermindinggenocide and other atrocities in hiscampaign to crush a revolt in the Darfurregion. He has long rejected the court’sauthority. The conflict in Darfur has

killed as many as 300,000 people anddisplaced 2 million, according to the UN.

3) Which Indian business group came tonews by clinching a multi-million dollaraerospace contract with Europeanconsortium Airbus at the ongoing Paris

 Air Show on 15 June 2015 and thusmarking a major milestone in the ‘Makein India’ initiative? – Mahindra Group 

Explanation: This contract was bagged

by Mahindra Group subsidiary Mahindra Aerospace which is basically a multi-year aero-components manufacture andsupply contract. The contract, the valueof which has not been disclosed, willinvolve a variety of Mahindra producedmetallic components, in excess of amillion parts per annum, to be fitted intoseveral Airbus aircraft programmes aspart of assemblies produced byPremium Aerotec. The parts will be

produced at the new Mahindra Aerostructures facility located atNarsapura, near Bengaluru, withdeliveries to Premium Aerotec’s facilitiesin Germany scheduled to commencethis year. It is worth mentioning thatMahindra Aerospace started its

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operations in 2008 and is today thelargest supplier to Airbus out of India.

4) What is the percentage of gross non-

performing assets (gross NPA) forpublic-sector banks as on 31 March2015 as reported in the recently heldannual review meeting of the UnionFinance Minister with the CEOs ofbanks, insurance companies andfinancial institutions (FIs)? – 5.17% 

Explanation: It was reported that thepublic-sector banks continue to reporthigher bad loans and the gross non-

performing assets as on 31 March 2015,stood at 5.17%. The stressed assetsratio (which includes NPAs andrestructured loans) was 13.2%. The risewas due to some infrastructure projects,slowdown in global economic recovery,and continuing uncertainty in globalmarkets leading to lower growth ofcredit.

Other important points that came out

of this annual review:

 – The gross non-performing assets(GNPA) of 26 public sector banks(including 19 nationalised banks, StateBank of India and its associates andIDBI) have risen by 22.5% to Rs.2.78

lakh crore against Rs.2.27 lakh crore inthe previous financial year.

 – While the 19 nationalised banks haveregistered a rise of 39.8% in gross NPA

at Rs.1,92,270 crore againstRs.1,37,487 crore in the previousfinancial year, State Bank of India andits associates have reported eight percent drop in their NPAs at Rs.73,508crore against Rs.79,818 crore.

 – The gross NPAs of new private sectorbanks — consisting of Axis Bank, DCBBank (Development Credit Bank), HDFCBank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank

and Yes Bank, has risen by 35.3% toRs.24,534 crore in 2014-15 fromRs.18,133 crore in the previous financialyear.

 – Among the new private sector banks,ICICI Bank, with 43.7% rise in grossNPA at Rs.15,095 crore againstRs.10,506 crore, contributes to themaximum followed by DCB Bank(Development Credit Bank) at 33.8%

(the increase is on a lower base).

 – The gross NPAs of eight old privatesector banks (listed on stockexchanges) and Tamilnad MercantileBank put together shows a rise of 50%at Rs.7,755 crore against Rs.5,170crore in 2013-14.

 – Among the eight old private sectorbanks, Jammu & Kashmir Bank tops the

list with a sharp rise of 253% atRs.2,764 crore against only Rs.783crore, followed by Karur Vysya Bankwith 143% rise at Rs.678 crore (Rs.279crore) and South Indian Bank (48.5%).Tamilnad Mercantile Bank has shown areduction in NPA to 318.68 crore fromRs. 428 crore. Lakshmi Vilas Bank has

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reduced its NPA significantly to Rs.455crore from Rs.546 crore, followed byFederal Bank to Rs.1,058 crore fromRs.1,087 crore.

5) World famous Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan, which were destroyed inthe Taliban in 2001, recently came tonews again. Why? – A Chinese coupleresurrected the giant Buddhas with3D light projection technology in theempty cavities where they oncestood 

Explanation: The two giant Buddhas

were carved out of sandstone cliffs andstood at one point painted and gilded.They managed to survive for more than1500 years. But the Taliban dynamitedand destroyed them in March 2001 aspart of a campaign to remove all non-Islamic art from Afghanistan. DuringJune 2015, the giant statues wereresurrected with 3D light projectiontechnology in the empty cavities wherethey once stood in Afghanistan. The

project was undertaken by a Chinesecouple, (Janson Yu and Liyan Hu) whoused 3D laser light projectiontechnology to fill the empty cavities inthe cliff in the Bamiyan Valley inHazarajat with Buddha’s virtual images,

230 km northwest of Kabul. The eventon 7 June 2015 saw projectorsdisplaying huge holographic statues ofthe exact size of the precious culturalmonuments that were lost, accompanied

by music.

6) The Supreme Court on 15 June 2015directed the Central Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) to re-conduct AllIndia Pre-Medical Test 2015 within fourweeks. What was the reason for thisdirection? – Irregularities were allegedto have taken in this exam 

Explanation: All India Pre-Medical Test2015 (AIPMT 2015) was conducted bythe CBSE on 3 May 2015 and theresults of the exam were set to bedeclared by it on 5 June 2015. However,the Supreme Court first stopped theresults from being announced aftersome irregularities were reported in theexam. On its part, the CBSE opposedthe contentions seeking cancellation of

the test, saying, “6.3 lakh studentscannot be made to take the exam afreshwhen only 44 students have been foundinvolved in taking benefits through unfairmeans.” However, on 15 June 2015 theSupreme Court said in its order – “Theexamination stands vitiated even if onestudent is being benefited illegally”. Andit ordered CBSE to re-conduct the

 AIPMT 2015 again.

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June 17, 2015

1) Which state is poised to become thefirst in India to impose streetlight tax on

its citizens as approved by the statecabinet during June 2015? – AndhraPradesh 

Explanation: Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister N. Chandra Babu Naidu clearedthe proposal to levy streetlight tax onresidents of the state. The proposedstreetlight tax will become part of theproperty tax notice served on APresidents. According to the proposal,

each house will have to pay Rs. 50 toRs. 100 as ‘streetlight tax’ per yearbased on the total amount of theowner’s property tax. In the 2014-15fiscal, the power utilities supplied 313.12million units for lighting up the streets of

 Andhra Pradesh for which it drew a billof Rs. 170.81 crore. Against this, theygot a mere amount of Rs 5.46 crore aspayment from the users. With this, atotal population of 4.8 crore of Andhra

Pradesh would now have to paystreetlight tax. This is the first instanceof any Indian state taking steps to shell-out money from its residents for the so-called “streetlight tax”. 

2) What is the name of an AugmentedReality (AR) application launched by theUnion Govt. on 15 June 2015 tohighlight the achievements of theDepartment of Space during last oneyear? – “Saakar” 

Explanation: The application named“Saakar” was launched by UnionMinister Dr. Jitendra Singh on 15 June.The application has been developed by

DECU-ISRO for Android devices. Itconsists of 3D models of MOM, RISAT,rockets (PSLV, GSLVMk-III); videos ofINSAT 3D-predicting cyclones, GSLVD5/Cryo, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)orbit insertion, launch video of MOM,360 degree animated view of MOM,

 Anaglyph of Mars surface, etc.

3) Which PSU entity has become thesixth-largest mining company in theworld in terms of market capital asdisclosed in a recent report ofPricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)? – Coal India Limited (CIL) 

Explanation: The PwC report titled“Mine 2015″, which analyses thefinancial performance of the top 40mining companies by market

capitalization disclosed that Coal IndiaLimited is now the sixth largest miningcompany in the world. Earlier, CIL wasat the eighth spot among top 40 globalmining firms, according to thereport. Another state-run company,NMDC, the country’s top iron ore minerwhich also figures in the list, has

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improved its position by coming to the21st slot from 24th earlier. The report, ingeneral mentioned, that though therehave been improvements in mostfinancial statement metrics across the

top 40 companies, market valuescontinued to decline. The top 40 minerslost US$ 156 billion, or about 16% oftheir combined market value, in 2014.The market capitalisation for the top 40was USS 791 billion at the end of 2014,which is where it sat 10 years ago,mentioned the report.

4) An annual report by the BostonConsulting Group (BCG) concluded that

 Asia has overtaken Europe as theworld’s second-richest region in theworld. The report concluded that The

 Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, held $47trillion (£30tn) in private wealth during2014 to overtake Europe. Which regionstill remains world’s richest regionaccording to the report? – NorthAmerica 

Explanation: North America is theworld’s richest region with $51 trillion,but is expected to be surpassed by Asiain 2016. Asia is also projected to hold34% of global wealth in 2019. Overall,global private financial wealth grew bynearly 12% last year to $164 trillion,lifted by strong gains in the stock andbond markets. The BCG report

concluded that as in both 2012 and2013, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan)remained the fastest-growing region in2014. By contrast, growth rates in all‘old world’ regions remained in the

single digits, led by Western Europe andNorth America, and with Japan laggingsomewhat behind.

5) Al-Qaida on 15 June 2015 confirmedthat the leader of its offshoot in the

 Arabian Peninsula, has been killed in aUS drone strike in Yemen. What was hisname? – Nasser al-Wuhayshi 

Explanation: Nasser al-Wuhayshi wasa major global figure among jihadistsand even supporters of al-Qaeda’s rivalIslamic State viewed him with respect.He was seen as al-Qaeda’s second-in-command and was a former personalassistant to Osama Bin Laden.

 According to reports, in August 2013Wuhayshi was appointed deputy of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, a signof the extent of his influence. Wuhayshialso played a major role in forming theal-Qaida Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) off-shoot, Ansar al-Sharia, in 2011, toappeal to disaffected youth in Yemen atthe time of the Arab Spring. His deathwas announced by the AQAP group inan online video. His successor wasnamed as military chief Qasim al-Raymi.In Yemen, resurgent al-Qaeda militantshave seized territory and infrastructure – indirectly assisted by Saudi-led air

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strikes on the rebel Houthi movement,their Shia Muslim foes. But the deaths ofa number of leading figures in AQAP inrecent months have reportedly fuelledrumours among supporters that it has

been successfully targeted byintelligence agencies.

6) Who became the first 100% visually-challenged person to gain entry into theprestigious Indian Foreign Service (IFS)as announced on 12 June 2015? – NLBeno Zephine 

Explanation: NL Beno Zephine is a 25-year girl from Chennai and she wasinformed by the External Affairs Ministry

on 12 June 2015 that she has beeninducted into the Indian Foreign Service(IFS). She thus became the first 100%visually-challenged person to gain entryinto the 69-year-old IFS. Benotranscended the dependence on Braillebooks by switching to Job Access WithSpeech (JAWS), a software that allowsvisually challenged to read from acomputer screen, to scan Tamil andEnglish books. The software can also be

adapted to a smart phone. It is worthmentioning that the Union Govt.modified some parameters pertaining toservice criteria to give the IFSassignment to her. Till now, apart fromvisually normal candidates, onlycandidates wearing spectacles (and

thereby have perfect vision) wereaccepted in IFS.

7) What is the name of the Indonesianvolcano which is in news for beingactive once again during June 2015 andhas been active since 2010 after beingdormant for more than 400 years? – Mount Sinabung 

Explanation: Mount Sinabung volcanois situated on the island of Sumatra inIndonesia. It has been in a dormantstage since last 400 years but went intoactive stage in August 2010. It had sincewitnessed a series of volcanic eruptions

in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015. It onceagain witnessed volcanic activities from2 June 2015 and has been erupting instages since then. At least 3,000 peopleliving near its slopes have had to leave,including 1,200 on 15 June alone.Scientists worry the volcano could posemore dangers in the coming weeks. Thelong eruption of Mount Sinabung issimilar with Mount Unzen in Japanwhich the mount erupted for 5 years

after 200 years dormant.

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June 18, 2015

1) With regard to the intention ofintroduction of Goods and Service Tax(GST) from 1 April 2016, the UnionGovt. on 17 June 2015 announcedconstitution of a Steering Committee onGST. This committee will be headed bythe Co-Chairmanship of AdditionalSecretary in Revenue Department andMember Secretary, EmpoweredCommittee of State Finance Ministers.What will be the objectives of thisSteering Committee? – Monitor theprogress of information technologypreparedness, finalisation of reportsof all the Sub-Committeesconstituted on different aspectsrelating to the mechanics of GST anddrafting of tax legislations and rules 

Explanation: The Steering Committeeon GST will also monitor the progresson consultations with variousstakeholders like trade and industry andtraining of officers. It is worth mentioningthat progress is underway to finalisevarious aspects of GST design likebusiness processes, payment systems,matters relating to dual control,

threshold, exemptions, place of supplyrules and also making of model GST,SGST and IGST laws and rules.

2) Apart from the Steering Committee

on GST, the Union Govt. alsoconstituted another committee on GSTon 17 June 2015. This secondcommittee will be chaired by the ChiefEconomic Advisor in the FinanceMinistry. What is the primary taskassigned to this committee? – It willrecommend possible tax rates underGST that would be consistent withthe present level of revenuecollection of Centre and States 

Explanation: This committee will alsotake into account expected levels ofgrowth of economy, different levels ofcompliance and broadening of tax baseunder GST. The Committee would alsoanalyse the Sector-wise and State-wiseimpact of GST on the economy. TheCommittee is expected to give its reportwithin two months.

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3) Charles Correa, one of India’sgreatest architects and urban planners,passed away on 16 June 2015 at theage of 84. He was known for adaptinghis designs to local climates andbuilding styles. He was the chiefarchitect of which famous satellite

suburb of the country? – Navi Mumbai 

Explanation:  Correa played a definingrole in developing architecture of post-Independence India. Some of CharlesCorrea’s iconic works include GandhiSmarak Sangrahalaya Ahmedabad, theHandloom Pavilion in Delhi, BharatBhavan and Vidhan Bhavan in MadhyaPradesh, Jawahar Kala Kendra inJaipur, the Permanent Mission of India

at the U.N., New York and Kala Academy in Goa. Apart from these, hewas also the chief architect of NaviMumbai, the new city that came upacross the harbour from Mumbai. In1984, he founded the Urban DesignResearch Institute (UDRI) in Mumbai,dedicated to protecting the environmentand improving urban communities. Hewas honoured with the Padma Shri in1972 and Padma Vibhushan in 2006.

4) Which state is poised to become thefirst in India to get an anti-spittinglaw under which provisions forimposition of monetary fines and

community service have beenintegrated? – Maharashtra 

Explanation: In a bid to keep the citystreets cleaner, the Maharashtra

government on 16 June 2015 approvedan anti-spitting law. Under the proposedlaw, a fine of Rs. 1000 and provision forone-day community service at a publicoffice or a government office have beenmade. For a second-time offender, thefine will be Rs 3,000 plus three-daycommunity service, and for repeatoffenders the fine will be Rs 5,000 plusfive-day community service. If state’s

 Assembly approves this law,

Maharashtra will become the first statein India to get an anti-spitting law.

5) The Election Commission of India(ECI) on 16 June 2015 suspended therecognition of the PA Sangma-ledNational People’s Party (NPP), which isa recognized regional party inMeghalaya. What is the reason for thisECI action? – NPP’s failure to file theelection expenditure statement forthe 2014 Lok Sabha Elections 

Explanation: This is the first-of-its-kindaction by the ECI. It suspended therecognition of the NPP by exercisingpower under para 16A of the ElectionSymbols (Reservation and Allotment)Order 1968. It was the first case thatrecognition of a party has beensuspended by the Commission underElection Symbols (Reservation and

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 Allotment) Order 1968, for its failure tofollow the Lawful directions of theCommission.

6) What is the new minimum supportprice (MSP) of paddy, which was raisedby Rs. 50 per quintal by the CabinetCommittee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)on 17 June 2015? – Rs. 1410 perquintal 

Explanation: The MSP of paddy wasraised in line with the recommendationof the Commission for Agricultural Costs

and Prices (CACP), a governmentadvisory body. For 2014-15 KharifSeason, the government had fixed theMSP of common variety paddy at Rs.1,360 and grade-A variety grain at Rs.1,400 per quintal. MSP is the rate atwhich government buys the grain fromfarmers. Paddy is the main crop grownin the kharif (summer) season. Sowingof kharif crops has already started withthe onset of the South-West monsoon

from June.

7) On 16 June 2015, who became thefirst Indian footballer to score 50international goals? – Sunil Chhetri 

Explanation: Sunil Chhetri is the mostprolific striker in recent times. Heachieved this feat in his team’s 2018World Cup qualifying match against on16 June at Tamuning (Guam). AfterGuam took a two-goal lead by scoring ineach half, Chhetri reduced the marginfor the visitors in added time, heading ina cross from the right. But despiteChhetri’s feat India lost this importantmatch to Guam by 1-2. This was his 87 th match. Former captain BhaichungBhutia stays at the second spot with 42goals in 107 matches while IM Vijayanhas 40 goals from 79 games.

June 19-20, 2015

1) Which historic town of Punjabcompleted 350 years of its

establishment on 19 June 2015, with theevent being marked by a huge function?

 – Anandpur Sahib 

Explanation: Anandpur Sahib (Ropardistrict, Punjab) is a town deeplyrevered by Sikhs all over the world. Itwas founded on this day in 1665 by

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ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur. It’salso where the tenth Sikh Guru, GuruGobind Singh, established the ‘Khalsa’in 1699, giving a special identity toSikhs. The city is known as “the holy

City of Bliss” and is one of the Sikh’smost important sacred places. Thewhole town was painted in white for thehistoric event of 19 June as hundreds ofthousands of people descended on thetown. Anandpur Sahib also has veryimportant association with the rulingShiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of Punjab itwas at a meeting in Anandpur Sahib inOctober 1973 that the Akalis passed the‘Anandpur Sahib Resolution’ which

called for transfer of Chandigarh toPunjab, merger of Punjabi-speakingareas of neighbouring states to the stateand greater autonomy for Punjab.

2) What is the name of the online forexplatform launched by State Bank ofIndia (SBI) on 19 June 2015 thatenables customers to book their foreign

exchange transactions online? – SBIeforex 

Explanation: eforex is the name givento the Internet-based forex (foreignexchange) platform launched by the SBIthat facilitates the customers of the bankto obtain forex rates without having tophysically visit the branch and enablecustomers to book their foreignexchange transactions online. SBI

eforex is also an innovative platformincorporating robust security featuresand is designed to be user-friendly, fastand convenient. It is a highly flexibleproduct offering the facility to thecustomers to customise and set theirown limits for deal size, daily transactionlimits etc.

3) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 17 June 2015 gaveits approval to the broader structure ofhousing mission that will facilitate therehabilitation of slum-dwellers and

promotion of affordable housing for theurban poor. What is the name given tothis ambitious mission? – “Housing forAll by 2022” 

Explanation: “Housing for All by 2022”mission has set out an ambitious targetto provide nearly 20 million houses overseven years. The mission comes outfrom a key promise in BJP’s manifestofor 2014 Lok Sabha elections to provide

a “pucca” house for every family by the75th year of Independence, i.e., by year2022. The mission would cover all urbanareas consisting of 4,041 statutorytowns with initial focus on 500 Class Icities. The programme would beimplemented in three phases: Phase I(April 2015 to March 2017) to cover 100cities to be selected from willing Statesand Union Territories; Phase IIA (April2017 to March 2019) to cover additional

200 cities; and Phase III (April 2019 toMarch 2022) to cover the remainingcities. It would focus on slumrehabilitation and an average Rs. 1 lakhwould be available for a house under it.But the State governments couldexercise flexibility in spending the grantfor any slum rehabilitation project using

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land as a resource for providing housesto slum-dwellers. Under the credit-linkedinterest subsidy component, an interestsubsidy of 6.5% on housing loansavailed up to a tenure of 15 years will be

provided to economically weakersections/lower income group (EWS/LIG)categories, wherein the subsidy pay-outon a net present value basis would beabout Rs. 2.3 lakh per house for bothcategories. The Central assistance ofRs. 1.5 lakh a house for the EWScategory would be provided inpartnership and for beneficiary-ledindividual house construction orenhancement.

4) Which Indian monument during June2015 became the first one in the country

to have free Wi-Fi Internet facility forvisitors? – Taj Mahal 

Explanation: The free Wi-Fi Internetfacility in the Taj Mahal complex wasinaugurated by Union Minister forCommunications Ravi Shankar Prasadon 16 June 2015. The facility would beavailable free for first half hour andanyone wishing to remain logged in formore than half-an-hour can do so by

paying Rs.30 an hour. For this, BSNLhas made special arrangements tointroduce the facility with support fromQuadgen, a Bengaluru-based company.Future plans include introducing Wi-Fi atthe Fathepur Sikri complex. The AgraCantt railway station is already Wi-Fienabled.

5) Which prominent Asian country on 17June 2015 officially lowered its votingage from 20 to 18 years? – Japan 

Explanation: Japan had last changedits voting age in 1945, the yearJapanese women gained the right tovote, when it lowered the requirementfrom 25 to 20. With lowering of votingage to 18 years around 2.4 million newvoters will be added to the country’sexisting pool of 104 million eligiblevoters. It is worth mentioning that acrossthe world, 90% of nations have a voting

age of 18.

6) A US appeals court recentlyinvalidated the patent of Israel-basedTeva Pharmaceutical Industries on itsmultiple sclerosis drug, Copaxone. This

 judgement thus ended Teva’s ongoingpatent dispute with four pharma entitieswhich also included Hyderabad-based

Indian drug company. Which Indiancompany is this? – Natco 

Explanation: According to theinformation disclosed by Nato, US Courtof Appeals for Federal Circuit againfound Teva’s U S Patent No. 5,800,808(the 808 patent) for Copaxone to beinvalid as indefinite. The judgment thusended the ongoing patent dispute andNatco is now awaiting the United States

Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)approval to launch the product. USCourt of Appeals for Federal Circuit iscountry’s top patent tribunal. The

 judgement by this court was a blow toIsrael’s Teva in its seven-year fightagainst two generic drugmakers – Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit and

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Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc andanother involving Mylan Inc and NatcoPharma Ltd – over patent protections forCopaxone.

7) Which team won the NationalBasketball Association (NBA) title for

2015 and thus ended its 40-year longtitle drought on 16 June 2015? – Golden State Warriors 

Explanation: Golden State Warriorswon its first NBA title in 40 years as itdefeated Cleveland Cavaliers by 105-97in Game 6 of the NBA finals on 16 June.The Warriors won the final three games

of this best-of-seven series, counteringevery move that the Cavaliers made.This was fourth overall NBA title forGolden State Warriors and the first titlesince 1975. The team is based onOakland, California and has now wonNBA titles in 1947, 1948, 1975 and2015.

June 21-22, 2015

1) Which Guinness World Record wasmade as the Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi led the country to markthe first International Day of Yoga on 21June 2015 by doing Yoga at the

Rajpath? – Largest number of peopledoing yoga at one venue 

Explanation: 35,985 people took part inthe massive Yoga exercise at thehistoric Rajpath on 21 June. Apart fromthis, another Guinness World Record oflargest number of foreign nationals in asingle yoga lesson was made on theoccasion. Nationals from 84 countries

were present at the Rajpath as PrimeMinister Narendra Modi performed Yogafor 35 minutes with the participants. Thehuge event was organised to celebratethe first-ever International Yoga Day thatwas given recognition by the UnitedNations (UN).

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2) After more than 200 samples from astate were tested positive, the alarmbells of Polio making a comeback inIndia, rang across the medical fraternity.Which state is this? – Uttar Pradesh 

Explanation: It is worth mentioning thatIndia was declared Polio-free just a yearback. The samples, from Baheri,Meergunj, Faridpur and Nawabgunj andmany other tehsils from Uttar Pradeshwere sent to the central laboratory inMumbai for further testing. Officials havealso been informed that the children,between the ages of 5 and 15 years,have complained of paralysis and lossof muscular strength in hands and legs.

Only if the test report of the stool sampleconfirms presence of wild polio virus canit be treated as a case of Polio.

 According to World Health Organisation(WHO) rules, a country needs to havezero recorded cases of an infectiousdisease for three years for the diseaseto be eradicated. After years of intensecampaigns across the country, India’slast polio case, that of 18-month-oldRukhsar from Howrah district in West

Bengal, was reported in 2011. Threeyears later, the country was declaredpolio free in 2014. Uttar Pradesh’s lastcase was reported in 2010 in Firozabaddistrict.

3) What is the name of the world’slargest cruise ship that made its maidenentry into water in France on 19 June2015 and is expected to take its maidenvoyage in 2016? – “Harmony of theSeas” 

Explanation: “Harmony of the Seas” isthe name of the mammoth cruise liner ofRoyal Caribbean that is beingconstructed since 2013. The ship willcarry 6,360 passengers along with2,100 staff. It weighs 227,000 tons andmeasures 1,187 feet, which is 50 meterslonger than the height of the EiffelTower. It is expected to set sail in mid-February on test runs. The first voyage

could take place in May 2016 and will befrom the United Kingdom to Spain. Thesecond biggest cruise ships are alsoowned by Royal Caribbean and arenamed “Allure of the Seas” and “Oasisof the Seas.” Both weigh 225,000tonnes.

4) The International TelecommunicationUnion (ITU) recently agreed on thepreliminary definitions for the future 5G

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standard for mobile networking. Accordingly, what will be the typical dataspeed for a network to qualify for 5Gstandard? – Data speed up to 20 Gbps (Gigabits per second)

Explanation: It is worth mentioning thatthe accepted data speed for 4Gnetworks is 1Gbps. This means that toqualify for 5G standard, the telecomnetworks have to be 20 times fasterthan 4G standard. In terms of what thismeans for actual user speeds,customers should receive speeds in theregion of 100 to 1000 Mbps, dependingon a number of factors. This is

anywhere from a 10 to 100 fold increaseover typical 4G speed of 10Mbps. As forthe formal naming scheme, 5G will becalled IMT-2020. IMT-2000 was thename for 3G networks and IMT-

 Advanced for 4G. A conference in SanDiego to decide on the future of datastandard was held from 10 June to 18June 2015.

5) US State Department listed ISIS asthe world’s leading terrorist group in itsannual terrorist report that was releasedon 20 June 2015. According to thisreport, ISIS overtook which organisationto take the top spot? – Al-Qaeda 

Explanation: The report mentioned thatthe prominence of the threat posed bycore al Qaeda diminished in 2014. On

the other hand, unprecedented spreadand brutality of ISIS, its strength inrecruiting foreign fighters, messagingand its ability inspire lone attacksstrengthened its position as the topterrorist organisation. The reportdisclosed that the number of terroristattacks in 2014 increased 35% over the

previous year, but were more heavilyconcentrated in a handful of countries.More than 60% of all attacks took placein five countries -Iraq, Pakistan,

 Afghanistan, India and Nigeria. By a

wide margin, the highest number ofattacks, fatalities and injuries took placein Iraq, coinciding with the expansion ofISIS.

6) What is the name of an Indian American scientist who was awardedRussia’s top technology award duringJune 2015 in honor of his work in thearea of energy efficiency? – B. JayantBaliga 

Explanation: Baliga was recognized asthe inventor of the insulated gate bipolartransistor (IGBT), which he developedwhile working at the General Electricalresearch & development center in NewYork in 1983. He was awarded Russia’stop technology award by RussianPresident Vladimir Putin on 19 June2015 at St. Petersburg. He now teachesat the North Carolina University asdistinguished university professor. Hehad earned his Bachelor’s inengineering from the Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT) in Madras in 1969before arriving in the United States.

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7) Which international airport’s Wi-Fiwas declared the fastest in Wi-Fi servicein the world recently in a surveyconducted by internet speed-testwatchdog RottenWifi? – Suvarnabhumi

Airport, Bangkok 

Explanation: Suvarnabhumi’s Wi-Fispeed topped all airports at 41.45 mbps,ahead of the airport in Chattanooga,Tennessee, where the speed wasmeasured at 30.99 mbps.Suvarnabhumi provides two hours ofWi-Fi for free after a quick registration.Dublin Airport ranked third with 19.45mbps followed by Vilnius and Helsinki

 Airports at 18.04 and 17.46 mbpsrespectively. RottenWifi, an internationalinternet speed-test watchdog, hadconducted this survey in over 130airports all over the world.

8) Who won the Austrian F1 Grand Prixon 21 June 2015? – Nico Rosberg(Germany) 

Explanation: Nico Rosberg defeatedhis Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton(Britain) and is now just 10 pointsbehind him in this year’s F1 season. Thevictory was Rosberg’s third of theseason, to Hamilton’s four. This was the10th F1 race of 2015 season and now 9races remain. Brazilian Felipe Massafinished a distant third for Williams teamafter holding off Ferrari’s Sebastian

Vettel.

June 23, 2015

1) What is existing route, and thesecond route that is opened under Indo-China diplomacy forKailashMansarovarYatra? ExistingLipulesh Pass and new route fromNathu La to Shigatse.

China on 22 June 2015, opened thesecond route for Kailash pilgrims viaNathu La in Sikkim. The existing

Lipulekh Pass, from Uttarakhand wasbadly damaged in floods in 2013. A totalof 44 pilgrims crossed over from theIndian side on Monday thru this borderroute. Both India and China haveincreasing commercial interest and alsolong historical ties, which isovershadowed by suspicion owning to

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recent history and yet to sort out afestering border dispute.

China and India has already proposedmeasures to resolve the border issues

during PM NarendraModi visit to Beijingin May. It can be seen as a potentialdiplomatic step that could change theinternational political order. The signalfrom New Delhi and Beijing is to setaside differences and better ties.

Explanation:India and China areworld’s largest population are in theprocess to break the ice in their foreignrelations and move on into the future ofprosperity. The development of openingNathu La as second route forKailashMansarovarYatra is the latestconfidence-building measure betweenIndo-China. The prime ministerModiwanted the second route for the Yatra,in the view of difficult terrain through theexisting routes of Uttarakhand andNepal involving arduous journey. Thenew route thru Nathu La will enablepilgrims to travel the 1,500 km-longroute from Nathu La to Kailash bybuses. The provincial government of the

Tibet Autonomous Region has done alot of preparations to open the new routeby building hotels, improving roads, andpreparation of Indian food.

On both sides expectations are high thatthe route through Nathu La border pointin Sikkim would be part of the big

gesture of friendship not only to strikechord with Modi but also the people atlarge, specially the Hindus andBuddhists considering its religiousimportance.

2) Name which is Japan’s biggestmobile carrier entered into wind venturewith Bharti Enterprises andTaiwas’sFoxconn Technology to form aJoint Venture to set up a solar and windenergy projects in India. SoftBank. 

Explanation: With an investment of $20billion SoftBank, Bharti, Foxconnteamedup to set up a 20 gigawatt (GW) of solarand wind energy projects.

SoftBank, owns one of Japan’s biggestmobile carriers and has the largestshareholder in Chinese e-commercefirm Alibaba. Softbank will invest $10billion in India over time, to take the leadand responsibility to make 20 GW as a

minimum commitment in the solar spacein India.

Explanation: India gets two times moresunshine than Japan and constructioncost solar park is half of Japan. Thismakes India 4 times more efficient insolar and wind energy than Japan. The

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 joint venture can be seen as anendorsement to PM’s vision of cleanenergy by 2022. The JV, SBGCleantech will be headed by ManojKohli as its executive chairman while

Raman Nanda will be the chiefexecutive officer.

3) Know about former Indian women’shockey captain ShashiBala who died inroad accident

Know about former Indian womenhockey captain ShashiBalaand her son

were killed in a road accident on 21June 15 in Punjab. ShashiBala madeher international debut in 1987. In 1998she was a member of the national teamin the FIH Women World Cup in theNetherlands. She became captain of theIndian team in 1997 FIH Women WorldCup qualifier held in Harare, Zimbabwe.

4) At whichplace India’s first AC DEMU train waslaunched? Kochi 

India’s first diesel electric multiple unit(DEMU) rail service will run on

 Angamaly-Ernakulam-Tripunithura-Piravomroute with an air-conditionedcoach was flagged off in Kochi. The ACcoach provides comfortable cushionseats for 73 passengers. The train isequipped with bio-toilets and with fullyvestibule for free movement ofpassengers between coaches.

Explanation: The Angamaly-Ernakulam-Tripunithura-Piravom trainservice is of its first type and is expectedto help in reducing traffic congestion forfast growing city. The service will beincreased in more places.

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June 24, 2015

1. How much of capital isplanned to be injected in state

banks of India this fiscal year?

To double capital injection to $3

billion

The government of India plans to injectabout $3 billion into state-owned banksthis fiscal year which will boost capitaland help lenders meet the global BaselIII regulatory requirements.

Explanation: The state banks accountfor more than 70 percent of alloutstanding bank loans. It is more thanthe double of an earlier estimate of 79.4billion rupees budgeted for this fiscalyear.

 As per Morgan Stanley governmentwould need to inject $15 billion acrossall state banks “urgently” to achieve acommon equity tier 1 ratio of around 10

percent in this month.

In another estimate rating agency ICRAexpected a rise of non- performing loansfrom 5.3 percent to 5.9 percent of totalloans from 4.4 percent in the year thatended March.

2. By what recognition Sister

Nirmala Joshi was known? As

Mother Teresa’s successor. 

Sister Nirmala Joshi, died on Tuesdayaged 80, succeeded Nobel laureate

Mother Teresa as the head of herMissionaries of Charity. She expandedthe movement after Mother Teresa’sdeath in 1997. Nirmala expanded thecharity movement and organisation’sreach overseas. The organisation’sreach includes, countries like,

 Afghanistan, Israel, Thailand and othersby opening centres in 134 countries. In2009 she stepped down due to her poorhealth. In his tweet PM Narendra Modi

said: “Sister Nirmala’s life was devotedto service, caring for the poor andunderprivileged. Saddened by herdemise.” 

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1. What are the key plans to

boost cashless economy, for

India? By taming costs for

electronic payments.

India has unveiled plans to cuttransaction costs for electronicpayments, to spur retailers andconsumers to use less cash, as part of

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive topull more people into the formaleconomy and boost public revenue.

The finance ministry on 22 June 2015,recommended tax concessions toreduce the cost of credit, debit andonline payments. The proposals to beimplemented gradually after June 29.

Explanation:

India is one of the most cash-intensiveeconomies, with 12 per cent cash-to-GDP ratio. This is four times that ofcountries such as Brazil, Mexico andSouth Africa, as per global paymentscompany MasterCard estimates.

Many small Indian businesses prefercash, to avoid higher 3 per centtransaction costs on electronic

payments, and also to escape sales tax.

The new measures will be a boostbusiness for global and debit cardcompanies MasterCard, Visa and

 American Express, also domestic rivalRuPay and mobile payment banks.

The draft proposal is to offer sales taxrebates of 1 to 2 percentage points tomerchants who report at least half oftheir transactions through onlinepayments. Consumers could get an

income tax rebate for electronicpayment of a proportion of theirexpenses.

1. With which India signs

biggest wheat import deals in

over a decade – Australia

In more than a decade, in its biggestpuchases, Indian flour millers and globaltrading companies have planned toimport 500,000 tonnes of premium

 Australian wheat since March. Thepurchase is done despite surplus stocksat home, due to concerns that untimelyrains in February and March would cutwheat output, especially of high-proteinvarieties used to make pizzas andpasta.

 A further 500,000 tonnes of import isexpected from France and Russia,where harvests are around the cornerbecause of attractive prices. The dealscould push up benchmark prices in US

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due to recent concerns about cropquality.

Explanation:

India is world’s second-biggestproducer, but rains and hailstorms wiltedthe Indian wheat crop. India has largestockpiles accumulated after eightstraight years of bumper harvests. But

due to Monsoon concerns thegovernment is likely to draw heavilyfrom its warehouses this year, as Indiais also the biggest consumer of wheat.

June 25, 2015

1. Name the three urban missions to belaunched to set Smart Cities Mission.

 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenationand Urban Transformation), Housing for

 All (Urban) and Smart Cities Mission(SCM).

Under Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT,basic infrastructure like providing tapwater and sewer connections to everyurban household, solid waste

management, provision of roads andpublic transport. Promotion of urbanreforms to improve urban governancewill also be supported. This Missionseeks to enable urban local bodies meetservice level benchmarks in respect ofvarious services. 500 cities with a

population of above one lakh eachwould be included in AMRUT.

Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY), it is proposed to build 2 crorehouses for urban poor includingEconomically Weaker Sections and LowIncome Groups in urban areas by theyear 2022. This Mission has fourcomponents viz., In-situ SlumRedevelopment with private sectorparticipation using land as resource,

 Affordable Housing through CreditLinked Subsidy, Affordable Housing inPartnership with private and publicsector and Beneficiary led houseconstruction/enhancement. Under thesecomponents, central assistance will bein the range of Rs.1.00 lakh to Rs.2.30lakh.

Smart Cities Mission aims atdevelopment of entire urban eco-systemof cities covering physical, social,economic and institutional infrastructure.The objective is to enable better livingand driving economic growth for thebenefit of all sections. This will beimplemented through retrofitting

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(enhancing infrastructure in already builtup areas and adopting smart solutions),redevelopment by demolishing alreadybuilt up areas with fresh layouts forintensive land use and smart solutions,

Pan-city projects for the benefit of allcitizens like e-governance andappropriate smart solutions. Greenfieldprojects can be taken up foraccommodating people outside existingcities.

Explanation:The three missions, is expected toherald a new urban era in the countrywith the launch today. The project is

focused to build a resurgent India andmark the journey of Team India towardsradical transformation of urban areas.For the success of new missions, urbangovernance needs to be improved,ensuring citizen participation,transparency and accountability andefficient service delivery to citizens.

2. Which state became the first state tohave a state Butterfly?

Maharashtra – Name of the Butterfly – Blue Mormon (Papilio Polymnestor)

In India Maharashtra has become thefirst State to have a ‘State butterfly.’ The

Blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor ) isdeclared as the State butterfly.

The Blue Mormon is a large, swallowtailbutterfly, reported the second largest

butterfly found in India. It is mainlyrestricted to the Western Ghats ofMaharashtra, South India and coastalbelts. It may occasionally be spotted inthe Maharashtrian mainland betweenVidarbha and Western Maharashtra.

Easily identifiable, the Blue Mormonboasts exquisite velvet-like black wingswith bright blue spots.

3. Which Indian auto company becamethe only Indian brand among the top fivepassenger vehicle company in India?M&M (Mahindra & Mahindra)

 As per the Society of Indian AutomobileManufacturers (SIAM), the top fivepassenger vehicle companies in Indiaby sale are Maruti, Hyundai, Mahindra &Mahindra, Honda and Toyota. TataMotors, and Ford India slipped to sixthand seventh place respectively in thetop sellers’ list. Among the topmanufacturers Maruti, Hyundai andM&M have retained their earlierpositions in FY2015. Maruti, with11,70,702 units in sales, remains topseller in FY2015 as well, increasing itstally from 10,53,689 units the yearbefore.

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4. At what place Ministry of Culture issetting up National Memorial of LokNayak Jai Prakash Narayan. Lala Ka

Tola, Sitab, Diara, District Chhapra(Saran) in Bihar – the birth place of LokNayak Jai Prakash Narayan

The Memorial will house a virtualmuseum and an institute to undertakestudy and research on (a) democracy,(b) enhancing the role of Panchayats innation building, (c) Gandhian thoughts,and (d) centre for Khadi andconstructive work keeping in view thethoughts of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash

Narayan, along with Lok Nayak KhadiGaurav Samvardhan Kendra at thesame place for making national flags bywomen cluster(s).

Explanation:

Bharat Ratna Lok Nayak Jai PrakashNarayan’s contribution as an exemplaryleader of Indian independencemovement, a freedom fighter, social

reformer and a visionary political leaderwill be commemorated through thesedecisions. As sentinel of Indiandemocracy, his contribution to redeemdemocracy will be remembered for long.

 After proclamation of NationalEmergency, on the mid-night of 25thJune, 1975, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash

Narayan was arrested and kept as adetenu at Chandigarh.

Jai Prakash Narayan’s call for aSampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution) for

upholding and defending civil liberties ata very critical juncture in the post-independence history of India, ushereda new democratic movement for Indiaand contributed to strengthen the rootsof democracy.

5. Which state overtook Gujarat tobecome the leader in Solar Energygeneration in India? Rajasthan

Rajasthan with 1167 mw overtookGujarat have 1000 mw of solar Energygeneration.

6. Which movie became fastest film to

earn $1 billion?

Jurassic World

7. Which two islands of Lakshadweepwere designated as Immigration checkposts (ICPs) to attract foreign luxurycruises? Agatti and Minicoy

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Explanation: Till now cruises had totravel over 450 kms to Kochi (Kerala) forimmigration and customs clearance todock in these islands.

8. Which Airport will be the first in Indiato get Ground-Based AugmentationSystem?

 Ahmedabad Airport

9. Name the places of six new IITs

Union government has approved forsetting up.

Vishakhapatnam (AP), Bodh Gaya(Bihar), Sirmaur (HP), Sambalpur(Odessa), Amritsar (Punjab) and Nagpur(Maharashtra)

Praful Bidwai, who passed away on 23

June 2015 was a noted personalityassociated with which field? Journalism

June 26, 2015

We are devoting today’s current affairsfor discussions and request our readers,members and associates for preparingthe paragraph questions, groupdiscussion, interviews, decision makingquestions and for opinion making.Following are the key topics:

India and China pledge millions of aid

for Nepal earthquake.

1. India pledges $1 bn, China $500 mand about $600 m from the AsianDevelopment Bank for earthquakereconstruction at an internationaldonor’s conference inKathmandu. 

Opening the conference, NepalesePrime Minister Sushil Koirala promisedthat the relief funds would be usedwisely. It is expected that Nepal willneeds $7bn to reconstruct the losses inearthquake. With the internationalagencies voiced their concerns that thered tape and poor planning could resultin the donations being squandered.

Discription:

The Nepalese PM Mr Koirala urgeddelegates to “work with us, thegovernment of Nepal” and vowed “zerotolerance toward corruption”. 

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In your opinion do you agree thatNepalese government will ensure thatthe support reaches the intendedbeneficiaries? Give your comments, andreasons in favour and against of your

thoughts. In your opinion what actionsshould be taken to ensure that theworld’s poorest country is built againand gets benefitted from theinternational aids?

2. Is world united with Yoga

The acceptance of India’s soft-powerYoga worldwide was seen with thedemonstration of asanas across theworld – from Haridwar to Paris, fromColombo to New York and fromCombodia to Japan – to mark the firstInternational Day of Yoga on 21 June2015.

Do you agree that the PM NarendraModi’s effort to introduce yoga as aninvaluable gift of India’s ancienttradition, was well received in 192countries as a message of sense ofoneness with yourself, the world and thenature that could even help in themodern day challenges of climatechange.

Discription:

Following is the response across theworld:

The Prime Minister of Bhutan TsheringTobgay was among the first to tweet hisexperience of doing yoga. “Feelingrelaxed after taking part in the mega

yoga event organised to mark theInternational Day of Yoga by the IndianEmbassy.” 

 At the U.N. Headquarters in New York,

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who,along with his wife, performed asanas,said: “I feel like yoga can promotephysical dexterity; it can also promotediplomatic dexterity … In my job, I haveto be agile all of the times.” 

Sam Kutesa, President of the U.N.General Assembly, said an estimatedone-third of humanity around the worldwould be participating in the

celebrations, which was a true test of itspopularity.

The Director-General of the WorldIntellectual Property Organisation,Francis Gurry, who could not participatein the demonstration at India’s Missionin Geneva, sent out a message,testifying to the benefits of the exercise.“…Yoga is India’s gift to humanity and itexpresses wisdom and learning of

generations. I am a practitioner of yogaand can testify to its very great benefits,”he said.

Please give your comment on the topic,in a debate format and come withmaximum points you can suggest.

3. The Government run EPF to start

equity investments

India’s state social security fund, willstart investing in equity markets fromJuly, as part of a reform drive aimed atboosting the economy. This is inaccordance with PM Narendra Modi’sagenda to reform India as the third

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largest economy, which includes tax,land and labour regulations. With morethan $100 billion of assets from some80-million members, the Employees’Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is

one of the world’s largest. 

It will begin by investing in exchangetraded funds, starting with 1 per cent inJuly and by the end of this (fiscal) year itwill go up to 5 per cent of annualinvestments.

 As per EPFO the fund annually investednearly 1 trillion rupees ($15.72 billion),out of which it could invest nearly 50

billion rupees ($785.95 million) inequities between July and March.

Do you agree with this ambitious targetof raising nearly $11 billion throughselling shares in state-run firms andminority stakes in private companies willenable government to report this sector.

Description:

In the past, the government run LifeInsurance Corp of India also started intobuying equity when market interest is

low, EPFO is planning to replicate thismodel.

 As per government if the experimentwas successful, the fund could increaseits equity exposure to 15 percent ofannual investments over the next fewyears. At current investment rates, thatwould be about $2.5 billion a year.However some unions have opposedEPFO investing in share markets as

they worry that their life-long savingscould be depleted in a market crash.

June 27, 201

What is OneWeb? 

Which Indian group joined one Web byacquiring minority stake in it? Bharati

 Airtel.

Bharti Enterprises buys stake in satelliteinternet startup OneWeb, along withRichard Branson’s Virgin Group andSunil Mittal’s would use the funds to

acquire 65 commercial rockets to launchsatellite-borne Internet services toextend the reach of mobile operators tocustomers in remote corners of theworld.

Other investors include Airbus Group,Qualcomm, Coca-Cola Co, Mexico’sGrupo Salinas, Hughes NetworkSystems, a unit of EchoStar and

Intelsat.

Explanation:

OneWeb, plans to start its services by2019, was awarded licence byinternational radio spectrum regulators.OneWeb is expected to put its proposed

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network with initially number 648 lowEarth orbit, geosynchronous satellites – into space before 2020.

Which Indian home grown

coffee chain firm is planning

IPO to raise 11.5 billion rupees?

Cafe Coffee Day

With Kotak Mahindra Bank, MorganStanley and Citigroup are among theunderwriters for the IPO, the CafeCoffee Day, has filed a draft prospectuswith SEBI for an initial public offering toraise as much as 11.5 billion rupees($181 million). The application processwith the Securities and Exchange Boardof India (SEBI) could take two to threemonths.

Explanation:

Café Coffee Day is India’s biggest homegrown coffee chain, opened its first shopin 1996 and has now grown to over1,500 outlets. CCD as commonly knownis popular among more young, urbanconsumers who opt for cappuccino overtea and seek out spaces to socialise inmajor overcrowded, traffic-congestedcities. Coffee Day Enterprises had

consolidated debt of 28.64 billion rupeesas of December 31, and is planning touse 6.33 billion rupees towards therepayment of debt.

Name the premiere institute

whose foundations stone is to

be laid down in Jharkhand by

the Prime Minister Narendra

Modi for research in agriculture.

Indian Agriculture Research

Institute (IARI).

The new premiere institute fordevelopment and research inagricultural sector, Indian AgricultureResearch Institute (IARI), at GoriyaKarma village in Barhi, Hazaribagh,Jharkhand will soon have thousand acrecampus to give fillip to agriculture in theregion.

Explanation: IARI-Jharkhand will focuson inclusive agricultural growth throughIntegrated Farming Systems (IFS) in theregion. It will achieved through multi-disciplinary research centered around 3major schools viz. School of NaturalResource Management, School of Crop

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Improvement & Protection, and Schoolof Horticulture and Forestry withintegrated Animal Sciences, BasicSciences and Social Sciencescomponents for catering to the local

farming system needs of the region. Theinstitute will attract the cream of postgraduate and doctoral students from allover India and abroad to conduct regionspecific research.

The key regional challenges will be to,improved soil health, improve water useefficiency (WUE) and management ofboth surface and ground waterresources. Work on crop diversification

to double the production in rice.Improve nutritional security,development of region specificintegrated farming systems.

IARI – has played a pivotal leadershiprole of transforming Indian foodproduction system from “ship to mouth”to “self -reliant sustainable agriculture”during – Green Revolution. 

Who is the first India-born player in the

NBA?

The Mavericks’Satnam SinghBhamaraSatnam Singh was picked by the DallasMavericks, as he was the torchbearer ofIndian basketball. Satnam is 7-2” andplays at Centre position.

He perused basketball, at therecommendation of his father’s friend,and was sent to Ludhiana at the age of10. As a kid, Satnam idolized Los

 Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant andalso admired India’s Jagdeep SinghBains. During Satnam’s childhood, hiscoach S. Subramanian the former chiefof Ludhiana Basketball Academy playeda big role. Satnam represented India inthe Under-16 FIBA AsianChampionships in 2009 and also helpedhis state side Punjab win the Goldmedal at the National YouthChampionships in Trichy. At the age of14 when he was picked for the IMGReliance tryouts in Delhi, where in 50

students, he was among the 8 chosenones, to be awarded a fully-fundedscholarship to train at the IMG Sports

 Academy, located in Florida, UnitedStates. Satnam underwent physicaltraining, and his excellent work ethicwere very impressive for a 19-year-old.In the 2014-15 season, Satnamaveraged 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and2.2 blocks per game in under 20minutes for IMG. In April 2015, Singh

became the first player since 2005 tohave declared himself for the NBA Draftin June. On June 26th 2015, historywas created as he became the firstIndian player to be drafted in the NBAafter he was picked as the 52nd pick bythe Dallas Mavericks.

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What is the New deadline of RBI toexchange pre 2005 currency notes?

31 December 2015 

Vishwanathan Anand finished at whichplace in Norway Chess Tournament thatconcluded on 26 June 2015? – Second. 

Same sex marriages declared legalacross which country on 25 June 2015?

The US 

Supreme Court Legalizes Same-SexMarriage in United States asa fundamental right for all people. TheSupreme Court of the United Statesmade a groundbreaking, historic rulingon Friday, June 26, that same-sexmarriage is a legal right for all couples

across all 50 states within the country.

June 28, 2015

1) The data released by the WorldEconomic Forum (WEF) during June2015 disclosed that the Indian Railways

is the 8th

 largest employer in the worldwith 1.4 employees. It is followed by theIndian armed forces which employs 1.3million people. Which is the largestemployer, as disclosed in this WEFreport? – U.S. Department of Defense 

Explanation: This WEF research reportdisclosed that the U.S. Department of

Defense is world’s largest employer witharound 3.2 million employees on its roll.It is followed by People’s Liberation

 Army (the Chinese military) with 2.3million. In 3rd place is Walmart (2.1million), 4th is Macdonald’s (1.9 million)and 5th is U.K.’s National HealthService (1.7 million).

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2) What is the name of the unmannedrocket bound for the International SpaceStation (ISS) that exploded just after itslift-off from Cape Canaveral Air ForceStation in Florida on 28 June 2015? – 

SpaceX Falcon 9 

Explanation: SpaceX Falcon 9 was the19th Falcon 9 rocket of privately-ownedSpaceX company and was on itsmission to the International SpaceStation (ISS) when it exploded abouttwo minutes after lifting-off from CapeCanaveral air base in Florida. The 208-foot-tall (63-meter) rocket was sent forNASA under a 15-flight contract worth

more than $2 billion. SpaceX is aprivately-owned space company ownedand operated by technologyentrepreneur Elon Musk. SpaceXFalcon 9 was launched in 2010 and hascarried out 6 cargo missions for NASA.

3) What is the name of the Indian HighCommissioner to New Zealand that was

recalled by the Indian Govt. on 27 June2015 after assault allegations surfacedagainst his wife? – Ravi Thapar  

Explanation: Ravi Thapar, India’s HighCommissioner to New Zealand, wasrecalled after allegations of assault werelevelled against his wife, Sharmila, by a

member of the couple’s domestic staff. Itwas first brought to the notice of theMinistry on 10 May 2015. After thisThapar was posted to Indian Mission’sheadquarters in New Zealand and an

investigation into the matter wasinitiated by the govt. it is worthmentioning that the govt. takes suchcharges very seriously.

4) Which High Court during June 2015passed a landmark judgment thatwomen in tribal areas would also inheritproperty in accordance with the Hindu

Succession Act 1956? – HimachalPradesh High Court 

Explanation: This landmark judgmentwas given by the Himachal PradeshHigh Court on 26 June 2015. Annullinga decades-old tribal custom that allowedonly men to inherit property in severaldistricts of the state, such as Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur and Chamba, the courtheld that daughters of tribal areas were

also entitled to inheritance of propertyas equality of rights was a constitutionalright and would prevail over statutoryrights. The 60-page order stated that itwas made clear by way of abundantprecaution that the observations madeonly pertained to the right to inheritproperty by the daughters under theHindu Succession Act, 1956, and notany other privilege enjoyed by residentsof tribal areas.

5) Which country ousted Brazil fromCopa America 2015 on 27 June 2015? – Paraguay 

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Explanation: Paraguay defeated Brazil4-3 in the penalty shoot out to stunBrazil after the match was tied at 1-1 atthe end of the regular time. Paraguaythus repeated their 2011 Copa America

penalty shootout win over Brazil to setup a semi-final meeting with Argentinaon 30 June. The first semi-final will be

played between Chile and Peru on 29June.