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NEW UNION COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
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JIGYASA/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER/2016/31
CONTENTS Current Affairs
New Union Council of Minister
Pg. 1
News & Events National Updates
Pg. 6
News From States
States Updates
Pg. 14
International/World Updates
Pg. 15
New Makers
Person in News
Pg. 22
Appointments
Pg. 27
Death/Obituary
Pg. 30
Awards & Honours
Pg. 31
Important Days
Pg. 34
Book & Authors in News
Pg. 38
Current Affairs Science & Technology
Pg. 40
Sports World
Pg. 45
Banking & Economy Banking
Pg.50
Economy Objective GK
Pg. 52
Objective GK for Upcoming Exams
Pg. 56
One Liner One Liner GK for Upcoming Exams
Pg. 94
CONTENTS
N NIO U F NEW CIL O N COU ISTER MIN
MINISTERS NEW UNION COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2016 expanded his Council of Ministers which included inducting of some new Ministers of State, changes in portfolio of some ministers and dropped 5 Ministers from CoM. Prime Minister Narendra Modi - Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic energy; Department of Space; and all important policy issues, and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister Rajnath Singh - Home affairs Sushma Swaraj - External affairs Arun Jaitley – Finance and Corporate Affairs Venkaiah Naidu - Urban Devel and Housing; Urban Poverty Alleviation; Information and Broadcasting Nitin Jairam Gadkari - Road Transport and Highways; Shipping Manohar Parrikar - Defence Suresh Prabhu - Railways DV Sadananda Gowda - Statistics and Programme Implementation Uma Bharati - Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Najma A Heptulla - Minority Affairs Ramvilas Paswan - Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Kalraj Mishra - Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Maneka Sanjay Gandhi - Women and Child Development Ananth Kumar - Chemicals and Fertilizers; Parliamentary Affairs Ravi Shankar Prasad - Law and Justice; Electronics and Information Technology Jagat Prakash Nadda - Health and Family Welfare Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati - Civil Aviation Anant Geete - Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Harsimrat Kaur Badal - Food Processing Industries Narendra Singh Tomar - Rural Development; Panchayati Raj; Drinking Water and Sanitation Chaudhary Birender Singh - Steel Jual Oram - Tribal Affairs Radha Mohan Singh - Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Thaawar Chand Gehlot - Social Justice and Empowerment Smriti Zubin Irani - Textiles Harsh Vardhan - Science and Technology; Earth sciences Prakash Javadekar - Human Resource Development
MINISTERS OF STATE Rao Inderjit Singh - Planning (Independent Charge); Urban Development; Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Bandaru Dattatreya - Labour and Employment (Independent Charge) Rajiv Pratap Rudy - Skill development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) Vijay Goel - Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge); Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shripad Yesso Naik - AAYUSH (Independent Charge)
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Dharmendra Pradhan - Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge) Piyush Goyal - Power (Independent Charge); Coal (Independent Charge); New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge); Mines (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh - Development of northeastern region (Independent Charge); Prime Minister's Office; Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space Nirmala Sitharaman - Commerce and industry (Independent Charge) Mahesh Sharma - Culture (Independent Charge); Tourism (Independent Charge) Manoj Sinha - Communications (Independent Charge); Railways Anil Madhav Dave - Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge) VK Singh - External affairs Santosh Kumar Gangwar - Finance Faggan Singh Kulaste - Health and family welfare Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - Minority Affairs; Parliamentary Affairs SS Ahluwalia - Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Parliamentary Affairs Ramdas Athawale - Social Justice and Empowerment Ram Kripal Yadav - Rural Development Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary - Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh - Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Hansraj Gangaram Ahir - Home Affairs GM Siddeshwara - Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi - Drinking Water and Sanitation Rajen Gohain - Railways Parshottam Rupala - Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Panchayati Raj MJ Akbar - External Affairs Upendra Kushwaha - Human Resources Development Radhakrishnan P - Road Transport and Highways; Shipping Kiren Rijiju - Home Affairs Krishan Pal - Social Justice and Empowerment Jasvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor - Tribal Affairs Sanjeev Kumar Balyan - Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Vishnu Deo Sai - Steel Sudarshan Bhagat - Agriculture and Farmers Welfare YS Chowdary - Science and Technology; Earth Science Jayant Sinha - Civil Aviation Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - Information and Broadcasting Babul Supriyo - Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti - Food Processing Industries Vijay Sampla - Social Justice and Empowerment Arjun Ram Meghwal – Finance; Corporate Affairs Mahendra Nath Pandey - HRD Ajay Tamta - Textiles Krishna Raj - Women and Child Development Mansukh L Mandaviya - Road transport and Highways, Shipping; Chemicals and Fertilizers Anupriya Patel - Health and Family Welfare CR Chaudhary - Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution PP Chaudhary - Law and Justice; Electronics and Information Technology Subhash Ramrao Bhamre - Defence
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LIST OF TOP 30 PROGRAMMES LAUNCHED BY GOVT OF INDIA
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National Updates JULY UPDATES NATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION POLICY
Senior Tax Administrators in New Delhi. It will help people to respect the rule of law as well as fear of the long arm of the law for those who evade taxes. The mantra, RAPID means R for Revenue, A for Accountability, P for Probity, I for Information and D for Digitization.
The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) released National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016 in June 2016. The policy's mission is to provide safe, secure, affordable and sustainable air travel for passengers and air transportation of cargo with access to various parts of India and the world.
Union Ministry of AYUSH released a Yog Geet (Song) in June 2016 in connection with the celebration of International Day of Yoga–2016.
Vision
The details of the song are as under:
8 To create an eco-system to make flying affordable for the masses
8 The song is of 3 minutes and 15 seconds in Hindi language.
8 To enable 30 crore domestic ticketing by 2022 and 50 crore by 2027
8 The song is written and produced by Deeraj Saraswat.
YOG GEET FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA
8 To increase international ticketing to 20 crore by 2027
8 Gandhar TD Jadhav and Gatha Jadhav were given their voice.
Increase cargo volumes to 10 million tonnes by 2027
8 The Music of the song is composed by Sumanto Ray.
Highlights of Policy 8 Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS): It will not allow the airlines to charge more than 2500 rupees for one hour flight between two small cities. 8 Encourage Private Security: The Government will encourage use of private security agencies at airports for non-core security functions. 8 No-Frills Airports: They will be built at an indicative cost of 50 crore to 100 crore rupees. 8 5/20 Rule: The requirement for 5/20 is modified and all airlines can commence international operations provided that they deploy 20 aircraft or 20 percent of total capacity.
INDIA AND THAILAND SIGNED MOU India and Thailand in June 2016 signed two agreements that are aimed at enhancing cooperation in culture as well as educational sectors.The agreements were signed in New Delhi during the 3-day visit of Thailand Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha . INDIA GETS FIRST WOMEN FIGHTER PILOTS The Indian Air Force (IAF) in June 2016 commissioned first three women fighter pilots. The batch of pilots was inducted at the Combined Graduation Parade at Air Force Academy, Dundigal near Hyderabad. The first three women fighter pilots of India are –
FIVE-POINT CHARTER FOR TAX ADMINISTRATORS NAMED RAPID Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2016 suggested a mantra, RAPID, to tax officials while inaugurating Rajasva Gyan Sangam, a two-day Annual Conference of
8 Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi 8 Flying Officer Bhawana Kanth 8 Flying Officer Mohana Singh
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MORI SMART VILLAGE Mori village in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh will be developed as a smart village of global standards.The project involves using digital tools, real time information and uninterrupted internet connectivity.Under the project, the village will be equipped with fibre optic connectivity. Around 1900 households will be connected with 15 Mbps link. TEXTILES TO CREATE 1CR JOBS The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of a Rs.10,000 crore fund to support start-ups in becoming full fledged business entities.The Government has also approved Rs. 6,000-crore special package for textile and apparel sector, which has been ailing for a long time.The fund is expected to generate employment for one crore persons in three years and attract investments of USD 11 billion. It will increase exports by USD 30.4 billion. PRADHAN MANTRI SURAKSHIT MATRITVA ABHIYAN Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA), an initiative of the Narendra Modi Government, was launched in June 2016.The scheme aims at boosting the health care facilities for the pregnant women, especially the poor. It also seeks to protect pregnant ladies from infectious diseases. Under the scheme, the pregnant ladies will be given free health check-up and required treatment for free on 9th of every month. The scheme will be applicable for pregnant women to avail in every government hospitals across India.The scheme is applicable only to the women in their pregnancy period of 3 to 6 months. MOU BETWEEN UPSC AND ROYAL CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION OF BHUTAN The Union Cabinet in June 2016 approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC), Bhutan.The MoU will strengthen the existing relationship between RCSC and UPSC. It will facilitate sharing of experience and expertise of both the parties in the area of recruitment. TEACHER EDUCATION PORTAL PRASHIKSHAK LAUNCHED
Smriti Zubin Irani in June 2016 launched the Prashikshak, a teacher education portal, with a vision to strengthen District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and bring quality teachers into the Indian school education system. 8 Prashiskshak Portal works only for DIETs, however it will cover block level institutes in the future and identify gaps at the bottom of the pyramid. 8 Prashikshak is a unique IT initiative, a first of its kind in the country, which will contain a comprehensive database of all DIETs in the country with all relevant performance indicators. 8 It will help benchmark DIETs to enable aspiring teachers to make informed choices about their future. 8 It will give the opportunity to Union and State Governments to do real time monitoring of the institutions. 8 The major users of Prashikshak will be Pre-service teacher educators, DIET principals and faculty, Policy makers at District, State Government and National Level and the General public. INTEREST SUBVENTION SCHEME FOR FARMERS APPROVED The Union Cabinet has approved the Interest Subvention Scheme for farmers for the year 2016-17. The Government has earmarked a sum of Rs. 18,276 Crore for this purpose. Features 8The Central Government will provide interest subvention of 5 % per annum to all farmers for short term crop loan upto one year for loan upto Rs. 3 lakhs rupees for year 2016-17. Thus farmers will have to effectively pay only 4% as interest. 8 In case farmers do not repay the short term crop loan in time they would be eligible for interest subvention of 2% as against 5% available above. 8 To give relief to small and marginal farmers who would have to borrow at 9% for the post harvest storage of their produce, the Central Government has approved an interest subvention of 2% i.e an effective interest rate of 7% for loans upto 6 months. 8 To provide relief to the farmers affected by Natural Calamities, the interest subvention of 2% will be provided to Banks for the first year on the restructured amount. Interest subvention is the subsidy offered on interest
8 The Union Minister for Human Resource Development 7 JIGYASA/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER/2016/31
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rates to promote some particular industry and general public interest.
Modi's visit to Africa had five key elements and they were
INDIA'S FIRST CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE ON INTERNET OF THINGS
8 Maritime Security and Defence cooperation
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in July 2016 unveiled India's first Centre of Excellence focused on Internet of Things (CoE-IoT) at its Startup Warehouse in Bengaluru.
8 Diaspora engagement
The centre was launched in a bid to encourage start-ups to come up with tech solutions centred on Internet of Things (IoT). INDIA SIGNED AGREEMENTS WITH MOZAMBIQUE India and Mozambique have signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on reduction of drug trafficking and psychotropic substances and related materials, cooperation in the field of youth affairs and sports, and long term agreement for purchase of pulses .Narender Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Mozambique in 34 years. PM MODI'S FOUR AFRICAN NATION TOUR Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2016 concluded his four-nation visit to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique. 8 In South Africa he visited Sarvodaya, Mahatma Gandhi's residence in Phoenix, the farm where Mahatma Gandhi spent formative years of his political carrier. 8 During the five-day tour in July 2016, Modi met with President of South Africa Jacob Zuma, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Tanzania John Magufuli and President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi. 8 During his visit India and South Africa signed four agreements including MoU on ICT.
8 Food Security and agriculture
8 Climate Change and Solar energy 8 Cooperation to check drug trade and terrorism NALANDA MAHAVIHARA WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN INDIA The ruins of ancient Nalanda Mahavihara known as old Nalanda University of Bihar in July 2016 got inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Nalanda University ruins became the second World Heritage Site in Bihar after Bodhgaya's Mahabodhi temple and 33rd such site in India.Nalanda Mahavihara was founded by Kumargupta I of the Gupta dynasty in 5th century . JUSTICE SHAH HEADED SIT ON BLACK MONEY The Supreme Court-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money in July 2016 submitted its fifth report to the apex court. The SIT was headed by retired Justice M B Shah. 8 It has recommended ban on cash transactions above 3 lakh rupees in a day. It recommended enacting a law to declare such transactions as illegal and punishable. 8 It also suggested capping the cash holding of an industry or individual at 15 lakh rupees. In case any person or industry required holding more cash, it may obtain necessary permission from the Commissioner of Income Tax of the area. ARVIND SUBRAMANIAN PANEL
8 During his visit to Kenya he signed seven agreements to enhance cooperation and bilateral relations between the two countries including Revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).
Union Government in July 2016 constituted a high-level committee to review the minimum support price (MSP) and bonus for pulses.The committee will be headed by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian.
8 During his visit to Tanzania he signed five agreements to enhance the bilateral cooperation between the two nations including MoU on Cooperation in the field of water resource management.
8 It will look into various options to frame a long-term policy on pulses to tackle shortage. 8 It will suggest an appropriate policy to promote cultivation of lentils in India. 8
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8 It will find the measure to contain the rising prices of pulses in the country.
Ambassador in South Sudan Srikumar Menon and his team is organising this operation on the ground.
8 The production of pulses in India is expected to increase to 20 million tonnes in 2016-17 from 17 million tonnes in 2015-16.
DATA ON DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN TOURIST VISITS RELEASED
RESTORATION OF NABAM TUKI GOVERNMENT IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH The five-judge Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court (SC) in July 2016 unanimously restored Congress Government led by N a b a m Tu k i i n A r u n a c h a l Pradesh. 8 It also quashed the Kalikho Pul government that came into power in February 2016 after Governor J P Rajkhowa ordered dismissal of Nabam Tuki led government of the state. 8 The constitutional bench headed by Justice JS Khehar termed removal of former chief minister Nabam Tuki as unconstitutional 8 It said that Governor who is not an elected representative is only an executive nominee whose powers flow from the aid and advice of the State Cabinet. Use of his discretionary powers under Article 163 of the Constitution to summon or dissolve assembly sessions without the aid and advice of the Chief Minister and his cabinet is unconstitutional. 8 Governor carries no power to take a decision on issues that happens within the four walls of the political party. 8 It is the first time that the Supreme Court used its power of judicial review to restore a government when its successor government is in place. OPERATION 'SANKAT MOCHAN' Union Government in July 2016 started the operation 'Sankat Mochan' to evacuate its citizens stranded in South Sudan's capital Juba. Two C-17 military transport aircrafts have been pressed in service to make the evacuation.The operation being undertaken by Indian Air Force (IAF) will be headed by Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) VK Singh.The Indian
The Market Research Division of Ministry of Tourism in June 2016 released data on domestic and foreign tourist visits to States and Union Territories (UTs) for the year 2015. 8 The number of Domestic Tourist Visits (DTVs) to the States and UTs was 1432 million. The number was 1282.8 million in 2014. Therefore, 2015 registered a growth of 11.63% over 2014. 8 The State that topped the list of the top ten States in terms of number of domestic tourist visits is Tamil Nadu that garnered 333.5 million domestic visits. Uttar Pradesh secured the second place with 204.9 million visits, while Andhra Pradesh bagged the third position with 121.6 million visits. 8 The number of Foreign Tourist Visits (FTVs) to the States and UTs in 2015 registered a growth of 4.4% over 2014. India garnered 23.3 million visits in 2015 as compared to 22.3 million in 2014. 8 The State that topped the list of the top ten States in terms of number of FTVs during 2015 is Tamil Nadu with 4.68 million visits. Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh secured second and third place with 4.41 million visits and 3.1 million visits respectively. ALL INDIA INSTITUTES OF MEDICAL SCIENCES AT GORAKHPUR The Union Cabinet in July 2016 gave its approval for establishment of new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.The institute will be established under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).The cost of the project for establishment of the new AIIMS in Gorakhpur will be 1011 crore rupees. INDIA'S FIRST E-COURT AT HYDERABAD India's first e-court was opened at High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad in July 2016. It was inaugurated by Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur who heads the e-Committee of the Supreme Court.Hyderabad High Court is the common high court for the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.The purpose of e-court is to ensure speedy justice for the litigants. 9
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JUNE UPDATES DRAFT NATIONAL POLICY FOR WOMEN Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi in May 2016 unveiled Draft National Policy for Women for comments and consultation.It will replace National Policy for Empowerment of Women, 2001. It will also guide Government action on Women's issues over the next 15-20 years. The Salient features 8 It seeks to create a society in which women attain their full potential and participate as equal partners in all spheres of life. 8 It seeks to create conducive socio-cultural, economic and political environment to enable women enjoy de jure and de facto fundamental rights and realize their full potential. 8 It describes emerging issues such as making cyber space safe place for women, redistribution of gender roles, for reducing unpaid care work, review of personal and customary laws in accordance with the Constitutional provisions and many more. INDIA, OMAN SIGNED 4 AGREEMENTS ON DEFENCE COOPERATION India and Oman in May 2016 signed 4 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs)/agreements in Muscat. 8 MOU on Defence Cooperation . 8 MOU in the field of Marine Crime Prevention at Sea 8 MOU on Maritime Issues 8 Protocol on Flight Safety information Exchange CYCLONIC STORM ROANU HITS INDIA Cyclonic Storm Roanu, an active tropical cyclone has hit the northwest and adjoining west central Bay of Bengal.It is the first tropical cyclone of the annual cyclone season.Roanu originated from a low pressure area that formed south of Sri Lanka TAMIL NADU ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2016 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa emerged triumphant and swept the polls.
Party
Won
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
134
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
89
Indian National Congress
8
Indian Union Muslim League
1 232
Total
WEST BENGAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2016 Ruling All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) of Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee crossed the two-third mark by winning 211 seats. Party
Won
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
3
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M)
26
Indian National Congress (INC)
44
All India Trinamool Congress (TMC)
211
Total
294
The huge victory in the assembly elections 2016 compared to 2011 elections by Mamta-led TMC can be attributed to her campaign “Maa, Maati, Maanush.” In 2011 elections her party was able to secure just 184 seats. ASSAM ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2016 RESULTS BJP and its alliance partners have won an absolute majority in Assam state assembly election. It has won 60 seats on its own in the 126 member House. BJP has thus made history by winning an assembly election in the state. Party
Won
Bharatiya Janata Party
60
Indian National Congress
26
All India United Democratic Front
13
Asom Gana Parishad
14
Bodoland Peoples Front
12
Independent
1
Total
126 10
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KERALA ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2016 RESULTS
10. Imphal 11. Ranchi 13. Faridabad
12. Agartala
INDIA AND IRAN SIGN 12 BILATERAL AGREEMENTS India and Iran in May 2016 signed 12 memorandum of understandings (MoUs) and agreements in various areas including building and operating the Chabahar port by India. DB SHEKATKAR COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE SPENDING
Union minister O Rajagopal, who won by over 8000 votes. He will go down in history as the first BJP MLA in Kerala's 140-member assembly. P. M. NARENDRA MODI VISITED IRAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2016 concluded his two-day visit to Iran. During his visit, Modi held discussions with President Hassan Rouhani .He also met the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to whom he gifted the reproduction of the seventh-century manuscript of the Holy Quran attributed to Hazrat Ali, the fourth caliph. Highlights
The Union Government in May 2016 constituted a committee of experts on defence spending.The 11member committee will be headed by Lt Gen DB Shekatkar (retd) and include top military officers and civilian experts. 8 The committee will recommend measures to enhance the combat capabilities of the over 13-lakh strong armed forces. 8 It will also focus on re-balanceing the overall defence expenditure in view of the escalating salary and pension bills. 8 The appointment of the committee is also in tune with the Government's 'Save and Raise' policy adopted in the aftermath of 1999 Kargil conflict.
8 Two countries signed 12 agreements including the pact on developing the strategic Chabahar port.
ASMITA, STUDENT TRACKING SYSTEM LAUNCHED
8 The two nations also released a Joint Statement titled Civilisational Connect, Contemporary Context.
The HRD Ministry is all set to launch a programme christened -ASMITA- that would probably be the world's largest student tracking system.ASMITA is acronym for All School Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis and shall be launched under Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY).
8 Modi released rare manuscript, Kalileh Wa-Dimneh, which is the Persian translation of the Panchatantra. 2ND BATCH OF 13 SMART CITIES ANNOUNCED The Union Government in May 2016 announced the 2nd batch of 13 smart cities that will be developed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Smart City Mission. Lucknow topped the list of winners of the Fast Track competition conducted for 23 cities from as many States and Union Territories. With the selection of these 13 cities, 25 States/Union Territories are now covered under Smart City Mission. List of 13 smart cities Rank wise 1. Lucknow 2. Warangal 3Shimla 4.Chandigarh 5.Raipur 6.New town Kolkata 7.Bhagalpur 8. Panaji 9. Port Blair
8 Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY) aims to track the educational journey of close to 25 crore school students from Class I to Class XII across 15 lakh schools in the country. 8 Students will be tracked through their Aadhaar numbers and incase those not having unique number will be provided with it. 8 ASMITA will be an online database which will carry information about student attendance and enrolment, mid-day meal service, learning outcomes and infrastructural facilities, among other things, on one platform for both private and government schools. 11
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INDIA EMERGES AS 5TH LARGEST PRODUCER OF E-WASTE IN WORLD India emerged as the fifth largest producer of e-waste in the world, but the second largest mobile market with 1.03 billion subscribers as per the ASSOCHAM-KPMG joint study that was published in May 2016. India discards roughly 18.5 lakh metric tonnes of electronic waste each year with telecom equipment alone accounting for 12 percent of the e-waste. The unorganised sector in India is estimated to handle around 95 percent of the e-waste produced in the country. With more than 100 crore mobile phones in circulation, nearly 25 percent of mobiles end up in e-waste annually. SIX NEW IITS TO BE INCORPORATED Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2016 gave its ex-facto approval to the Amendment to The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 for incorporation of six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). These six are: 8 Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh 8 Palakkad in Kerala 8 Dharwar in Karnataka 8 Bhilai in Chhattisgarh 8 Goa 8 Jammu in Jammu & Kashmir The above Amendment is also for conversion of Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad into an IIT by bringing it into the ambit of the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 and also declaring it as an institute of national importance. NATIONAL CAPITAL GOODS POLICY APPROVED The Union Cabinet in May 2016 approved the National Capital Goods Policy 2016. This is first ever policy for Capital Goods sector with a clear objective of increasing production of capital goods from 2.3 lakh crore rupees in 2014-15 to 7.5 lakh crore rupees in 2025.It also seeks to raise direct and indirect employment from the current 8.4 million to 30 million by 2025. Features 8 To increase the share of capital goods contribution from present 12 to 20 percent of total manufacturing activity by 2025 8 To raise exports to a significant level of at least 40 percent of total production and thus gain 2.5 percent
share in global exports of capital goods 8 Increase total production to achieve total production in excess of 5 lakh crore rupees by 2025 from the current 2.2 lakh crore rupees 8 To increase the share of domestic production in India's capital goods demand from 56 percent to 80 percent by 2025 and in the process improve domestic capacity utilization to 80-90 percent 8 To improve skill availability by training 50 lakhs people by 2025 8 To improve 'technology depth' in capital goods subsectors by increasing research intensity in India from 0.9 percent to at least 2.8 percent of GDP LAKSHADWEEP SIGNED 24X7 POWER FOR ALL DOCUMENT Lakshadweep in May 2016 signed 24x7 Power for All document. It became the first Union Territory (UT) to sign the document which aims to provide each household access to electricity through 24x7 Power supply by 2019 As a part of energy efficiency measures, 1 lakh LED bulbs will be distributed by UT administration through Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and Incandescent lamps/CFL bulbs will be replaced with LED bulbs under UJALA programme. NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2016 released the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP). The plan aims to make India disaster resilient and reduce loss of lives. 8 The plan is based on the four priority themes of the Sendai Framework namely: i. Understanding disaster risk, ii. Improving disaster risk governance, iii. Investing in disaster risk reduction (through structural and non-structural measures), iv. Disaster preparedness, early warning and building back better in the aftermath of a disaster. Key Features 8 It covers all phases of disaster management: prevention, mitigation, response and recovery. 8 It provides for horizontal and vertical integration
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among all the agencies and departments of the government. 8 The plan also spells out the roles and responsibilities of all levels of government right up to Panchayat and Urban Local Body level in a matrix format.
plea seeking a CBI probe into the incident.Mathura Violence or can be termed as an armed conflict at Jawahar Bagh public park, led to death of at least 24 people including a Superintendent of Police (City) Mukul Dwivedi and SHO Santosh Kumar.
RETIREMENT AGE OF DOCTORS TO 65
ROAD ACCIDENTS IN INDIA REPORT
Union Government approved the proposal of extending age of superannuation of all doctors of Central Health Services to 65 years with effect from May 2016.
The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in June 2016 launched the report titled Road Accidents in India 2015. Road accidents have emerged as a major public health problem in India where almost 5 lakh accidents occurred last year killing 146000 people.
It will help in providing additional doctors in the health pool of the country. This will enable the government to retain experienced doctors for a longer period and to provide better services in its public health facilities. NATIONAL WATER FRAMEWORK BILL RELEASED
The total number of road accidents increased by 2.5 percent from 489400 in 2014 to 501423 in 2015. The total number of persons killed in road accidents increased by 4.6 percent from 139671 in 2014 to 146133 in 2015. INDIA SIGNED AGREEMENT WITH GHANA
The Union Ministry of Water Resources in May 2016 released the Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016 to invite comments and suggestions from public.The proposed Act provides an overarching national legal framework with principles for protection, conservation, regulation and management of water as a vital and stressed natural resource.
India and Ghana in June 2016 signed three bilateral agreements to strengthen co-operation in varied fields.The three agreements signed with Ghana included one for visa waivers for holders of diplomatic and official passports and one for setting up a Joint Commission.India is the largest foreign investor in Ghana today, with more than 700 projects.
Since 'water' is in the State list of the Constitution, the Act will be applicable only after approval of the concerned State legislature.
SHIYAL BET: AN ISLAND IN GUJARAT GOT ELECTRICITY
INDIAN RESERVE BATTALION NAMED MAHARANA PRATAP Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in June 2016 announced that a new Indian Reserve Battalion in Rajasthan will be named after Maharana Pratap. The battalion will be named as Maharana Pratap reserve battalion.Maharana Pratap, a Rajput ruler who had fought against the Mughals and never bowed before them, is attributed as the greatest warrior of the Mewar region.The government introduced the scheme of Indian Reserve Battalions in 1971 and so far, 153 battalions have been sanctioned to various states. MIRZA IMTIYAZ JUDICIAL COMMISSION Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in June 2016 appointed a judicial commission to probe into the recent Mathura violence hours.The commission was formed after the Supreme Court refused to entertain a
Shiyal Bet an island located off pipavav port in gujarat's amreli district got electricity for the first time, after 70 years of Independence.State's Chief Minister Anandiben Patel inaugurated the 18.35 crore rupees project to supply grid power to the island through marine cables.Shiyal Bet is part of Jafrabad taluka of Amreli district. TIGER TRAIL CIRCUIT TRAIN LAUNCHED Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in June 2016 flagged off the inaugural run of the Tiger Trail Circuit Train from Delhi Safdarjung Station.The launch of this Tiger Express on World Environment Day is to highlight the significance of environment.The most important objective of the train is to create and spread awareness about the wildlife in general and the tiger in particular.
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NEWS FROM STATE JULY UPDATES
JUNE UPDATES
MINORITY STATUS TO JEW COMMUNITY
HC STAYS QUOTA FOR JATS, FIVE OTHER COMMUNITIES
The Maharashtra Cabinet in June 2016 approved the minority status to Jew community. This decision will benefit the students from these communities to avail scholarships from the state government. After getting the minority status, the Jews in the state will be entitled to use benefits of government schemes meant for minorities and can also apply in educational institutions under the minority status. The people of this community will now be able to easily get their marriage registrations done in Maharashtra. The Jewish people living in the state would now also be able to set up their own educational institutions and practice and promote their culture. India is one of the few countries in the world where Jews have never faced any harassment or persecution. There are six notified minority communities in India - Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains. PILOT PROGRAMME TO RUN TWO WHEELERS ON CNG The Union Government in June 2016 launched India's first pilot programme to run two wheelers on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in New Delhi. Key highlights 8 The programme is implemented by Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) and GAIL (India) Limited. 8 The programme is implemented under Hawa Badlo movement, which is supported by GAIL. The movement is a people's initiative to fight air pollution.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the reservation for Jats and five other communities— Jat Sikhs, Muslim Jats, Bishnois, Rors and Tyagis — provided by the Haryana government under a newly carved Backward Classes (C) category as per provisions of Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016. Earlier the Supreme Court also had ruled that Jats could not be treated as backward, the state assembly had no right to pass the law. The act provided 10 per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutions, and 6 per cent in Class I and II posts, was provided in exclusion to the already notified 27 per cent quota for Backward Classes (Block A and B) and 10 per cent to Economically Backward Persons. Thus, it had violated the reservation ceiling of 50 per cent imposed by the Supreme Court. JAI JAWAN AWAS YOJNA Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar in June 2016 laid foundation stone of Jai Jawan Awas Yojna (JJAY) at Bahadurgarh, Haryana.Jai Jawan Awas Yojna is an initiative to provide affordable housing to serving and retired JCOs and Other Ranks. ODISHA FIRST STATE TO GIVE WELFARE BENEFITS TO TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY Odisha became the first state in the country to give transgender people social welfare benefits such as a pension, housing and food grains which is usually allocated for only the most impoverished. The move to give the transgender community the same benefits as those living below the poverty line was aimed at improving their overall social and economic status.
FAT TAX ON JUNK FOOD BY KERALA GOVERNMENT
HIMACHAL PRADESH LAUNCHED STATE DATA CENTRE
Kerala Finance Minister T. M. Thomas Isaac in July 2016 proposed 14.5 percent tax on pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and tacos sold through branded outlets.The so-called 'fat tax' was proposed in the maiden State Budget of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Government that came into power in May 2016.
Himachal Pradesh in June 2016 became the first Indian state to have a State Data Centre (SDC). The centre was launched by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Shimla.The SDC is designed using green data centre concept. The centre will offer 101 people-oriented service online through an integrated data base. 14 2
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International/World Updates JULY UPDATES BRITAIN VOTES TO EXIT EUROPEAN UNION People of Britain in a historic referendum in June 2016 voted in favour of leaving European Union (EU). The referendum 'to leave' or 'to be a member' of EU saw 51.9% votes in favour compared to 48.1% in against.
8 New Delhi – Rank
130
8 Chennai – Rank
158
8 Kolkata – Rank
194
8 Bangalore – Rank
180
PANAMA CANAL REOPENS
8 Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation from his position.
Newly renovated and expanded Panama Canal reopened for bigger business in June 2016.The 5.25 billion US dollar project was unveiled nearly two years .The Panama Canal expansion project is also called as the Third Set of Locks Project.
8 The pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results.
8 The Panama Canal is a man-made 48-mile waterway in Panama.
8 The departure of the bloc's second biggest economy would weaken Europe's unity and stability which is already grappling with the Greek financial crisis and a massive influx of refugees.
8 It connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. 8 France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate.
8 It may lead to disintegration of United Kingdom as an entity because Scotland may again ask for a referendum to be a part of EU.
8 The United States took over the project in 1904, and opened the canal on 15 August 1914.
8 Other nations of the 28 nation bloc, now 27 with exit of Britain, may call for a referendum giving rise to protectionism and ultra-nationalism which is getting hardened across the world.
INDIA BECAME MEMBER OF MISSILE TECHNOLOGY CONTROL REGIME
MERCER'S COST OF LIVING SURVEY 2016
India in June 2016 became the 35th full member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). This entry would be mutually beneficial to enhance global nonproliferation norms.
Mercer's Cost of Living Survey 2016 was released in June 2016. Asia dominates the top 5 of 2016 Cost of Living Rankings, with Hong Kong bagging the No. 1 spot, pushing Luanda, Angola to 2nd.
8 India's entry into the regime as its thirty-fifth member would be mutually beneficial in the furtherance of international non-proliferation objectives.
8 The ranking for 2016 includes 209 cities across five continents.
8 It entered this multilateral export control regime with the support of all thirty-four MTCR Partners. In 2015, India's membership to the group was blocked by Italy.
8 New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons and currency movements are measured against the US dollar. Five Indian cities were also ranked in the list. 8 Mumbai – Rank
82
8 MTCR membership will now enable India to buy highend missile technology and also enhance its joint ventures with Russia. 8 Set up in 1987 by G-7 countries, the aim of the MTCR is to restrict the proliferation of missiles, complete rocket systems, unmanned air vehicles and related technology 15
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for those systems capable of carrying a 500 kilogram payload for at least 300 kilometres, as well as systems intended for the delivery of weapons of mass destruction. STATE OF THE WORLD'S CHILDREN REPORT The United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in June 2016 released the State of the World's Children 2016 report. Key highlights 8 The report mentions that unless the world focuses more on the plight of its most disadvantaged children, by 2030: 8 Almost 70 million children may die before reaching their fifth birthdays. 8 Children in sub-Saharan Africa will be 10 times more likely to die before their fifth birthdays than children in high-income countries. 8 Nine out of 10 children living in extreme poverty will live in sub-Saharan Africa. 8 The report states that five countries will account for more than half of the global burden of under-five deaths. These countries are India (17 per cent), Nigeria (15 per cent), Pakistan (8 per cent), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (7 per cent) and Angola (5 per cent). 8 The average annual rate of reduction in neonatal mortality required for India to reach the target is almost double the current level. THE HUMAN CAPITAL REPORT 2016 The World Economic Forum (WEF) in June 2016 released the Human Capital Report 2016.The WEF prepared the report in collaboration with Mercer, an American global human resource and related financial services consulting firm. TOP 3 Finland
(1)
Norway
(2)
Switzerland
(3)
Bottom 3 Chad
(128)
Yemen
(129)
Mauritania
(130)
8 India occupied the 105th position among the 130 countries surveyed in the Index. 8 In the Asia-Pacific region, it is placed behind Sri Lanka (50), China (71), Indonesia (72), Iran (85), Bhutan (91) and Bangladesh (104). NEW NON-PERMANENT UNSC MEMBERS United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in June 2016 elected Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden and Kazakhstan as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The two-year terms at UNSC of the new members will begin from 1 January 2017 and run through 31 December 2018.The 193-member UN body conducted the elections for five non-permanent seats. These newly-elected countries will replace Spain, Malaysia, New Zealand, Angola and Venezuela. The Security Council has 15 members, including five permanent. The five permanent members, each with the power of veto, are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. 2016 BRICS YOUTH SUMMIT The 2016 BRICS Youth Summit held in Guwahati, Assam concluded in July 2016. The theme of the 2nd youth summit was “Youth as bridge for Intra-BRICS Exchanges”.The three day summit saw participation of officials and youth of the delegation from BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 'BIG BROTHER' LAW IN RUSSIA Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2016 signed the “anti-terrorist” legislation adopted by the lower and upper houses of parliament in June 2016.This anti-terror amendment is dubbed as Big Brother by US intelligence contractor turned privacy activist Edward Snowden. Highlights 8 Law enforcement agencies will be granted access to any user's messages without any judicial oversight. 8 It boosts the surveillance powers for the security services by requiring communication providers to store users' calls, messages, photographs and videos for six months, and the Metadata for up to three years. 8 They will have to provide Federal Security Service (FSB) with access to this data and any necessary encryption mechanisms necessary to use it. 16
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BRICS DRUG CONTROL MEET Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the second anti-drug Working Group meeting of Heads of Drug Control Agencies of BRICS in New Delhi to discuss issues related to narco-terrorism and money laundering. The meeting is being organized by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). SHINZO ABE'S PARTY ATTAINS MAJORITY Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its allies in July 2016 claimed victory in an election for the upper house of parliament National Diet.He said the result is a vote of confidence in his economic policies known as Abenomics. NATO SUMMIT 2016 The 2-day long NATO Summit concluded in July 2016 in Warsaw, Poland.It was the 27th summit biannual summit of NATO since its inception in 1949. The summit was attended by Heads of State and Heads of Government of NATO members including the USA President Barack Obama, Polish president Andrzej Duda and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. 8 The NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is also called the North Atlantic Alliance. 8 It is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. 8 The grouping has 28 member countries including major countries of North America and Europe. FORBES LIST OF WORLD'S HIGHEST-PAID CELEBRITIES Forbes in July 2016 released the list of world's highestpaid celebrities of 2016. The list is also termed as Celebrity 100. Top 10 celebrities in the list are: Rank 1 2 3 4 5
Celebrity Name Taylor Swift One Direction James Patterson Dr. Phil McGraw Cristiano Ronaldo
Earning 170 Million US dollar 110 Million US dollar 95 Million US dollar 88 Million US dollar 88 Million US dollar
Indian celebrities in the list Shahrukh Khan was ranked 86th in the list with earnings of 33 million US dollars. Akshay Kumar grabbed the 94th spot in the list with earnings of 31.5 million US dollars.
SOUTH CHINA SEA MARITIME DISPUTES The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in July 2016 ruled in favor of the Philippines in a maritime dispute on South China Sea. The tribunal concluded that China do not have legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the Sea. 8 The tribunal gave a ruling that China does not has the right to resources within its nine-dash line which extends hundreds of miles to the south and east of its island province of Hainan and covers some 90 percent of the disputed waters. PERU DECLARES ZIKA EMERGENCY The Peru Government in July 2016 declared Zika health emergency across the northern half of the country.The emergency was declared after 102 people have been confirmed to be infected with the virus, 34 of which are pregnant women. 8 Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus. 8 It is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes. 8 Its name comes from the Uganda's Zika Forest, where the virus was first isolated in 1947. FORTUNE GLOBAL 500 LIST The 2016 Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest firms was released in July 2016. Top 5 in 2016 Fortune Global 500 list Rank 1 2 3 4 5
Revenue ( Billion US dollars) Company Walmart 482.1 State Grid 329.6 China National Petroleum 299.2 Sinopec Group 294.3 Royal Dutch Shell 272.1
India in 2016 Fortune Global 500 list 8 Seven Indian companies figure in the Fortune 500 list with state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) ranked highest at 161st with revenues of 54.7 billion US dollars. Second and third biggest Indian firms in revenue were Reliance Industries (RIL) and Tata Motors Ltd, with 215th and 226th ranks respectively. 8 State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest bank in terms of customer base, came fourth after Tata Motors to occupy the 232nd rank.
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STATE OF EMERGENCY IN TURKEY Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July 2016 declared a three-month state of emergency in the country. The emergency was declared in response to the failed coup that happened in July 2016.While declaring the imposition of the emergency Erdogan said that the measure was being taken to counter threats to Turkish democracy.A coup was attempted by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces against the incumbent Justice and Development Party in Turkey, which ultimately failed. The faction organized the coup under a council calling itself the Peace at Home Council. UNESCO'S WORLD HERITAGE SITES The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in July 2016 listed FrancoSwiss architect Le Corbusier's works among its World Heritage Sites. The listed works include Chandigarh's Complexe du Capitole, Khangchendzonga National Park and Nalanda Mahavihara. It is the first time that any country got three sites inscribed in the Word Heritage List at a single session of the committee meeting. 8 Complexe du Capitole, Chandigarh. The site comprises three buildings, i.e., Legislative Assembly, Secretariat and High Court. 8 Khangchendzonga National Park and Mount Khangchendzonga:The park is located at the heart of the Himalayan range in Sikkim. 8 Nalanda Mahavihara The ruins of ancient Nalanda Mahavihara known as old Nalanda University of Bihar .
JUNE UPDATES UN-HABITAT WORLD CITIES REPORT 2016 The UN-Habitat in May 2016 released the new global flagship report on sustainable urban development titled World Cities Report 2016, Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures. The report states that a New Urban Agenda is needed to unlock the transformative power of cities. Highlights The top 600 cities, with 1/5th of the world's population, produce 60 percent of global GDP. Large South-Asian countries like Bangladesh, India and
Pakistan feature massive, expanding urban populations in mega- cities such as Dhaka, Mumbai, Delhi, Karachi and Lahore. The fastest growing urban centres are the medium and small cities with less than one million inhabitants, which account for 59 percent of the world's urban population. India is projected to add 300 million new urban residents by 2050 and it will need to build climate-friendly cities to address the challenge of accommodating the needs of the growing population. FIRST WORLD CONFERENCE ON TOURISM FOR DEVELOPMENT The First World Conference on Tourism for Development was held in Beijing, China in May 2016 with a specific view to advancing the contribution of tourism to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).China, as chair of the G20, also hosted the 7th G20 Tourism Ministers' Meeting under the theme “Sustainable Tourism – An Effective Tool for Inclusive Development”. UNEP REPORT ON AIR QUALITY The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in May 2016 released the report titled Actions on Air Quality. The report was released during the 2ndUnited Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2). Highlights 8 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global urban air pollution levels increased by 8 percent between 2008 and 2013. 8 More than 80 percent of people living in urban areas that monitor air pollution are exposed to air quality levels that exceed WHO limits, threatening lives, productivity and economies. 8 On the positive side, 97 countries have increased the percentage of households that have access to cleaner burning fuels to more than 85 percent. 8 The majority of countries around the world have now put in place national air quality standards. India, with major air quality challenges in many cities, has established air quality laws and regulation. UNITED NATIONS WORLD HUMANITARIAN SUMMIT The United Nations World Humanitarian Summit concluded in May 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. The summit 18
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was organised by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA). More than 50 heads of state and government attended the summit.The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced his disappointment at the absence of world leaders from G7 countries. The World Humanitarian Summit's main achievement was the Grand Bargain, which is the name for a set of 51 commitments to reform humanitarian financing to make emergency aid finance more efficient and effective. In the summit, a New charter for Persons With Disabilities was also endorsed. The charter aims at improving the living conditions of persons with disabilities during emergencies. UN REPORT ON RISING SEA LEVEL Due to rapid urbanisation and economic growth, in future nearly 40 million Indians will be at risk from rising sea levels by 2050, with people in Mumbai and Kolkata having the maximum exposure to coastal flooding says UN environment report.India tops the list with nearly 40 million people in the country projected to be at risk from rising sea levels, followed by more than 25 million in Bangladesh, over 20 million in China and nearly 15 million in the Philippines. GOTTHARD BASE TUNNEL Switzerland in June 2016 inaugurated Gotthard Base Tunnel, world's longest and deepest railway tunnel. The tunnel is also the first flat low-level route through the Alps.It took 17 years and 12.2 billion Swiss francs to construct the tunnel.The Gotthard Base Tunnel has route length of 57.09 km and a total of 151.84 km of tunnels, shafts and passages. INDIA SIGNED MOUS WITH TUNISIA India and Tunisia in June 2016 signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for co-operation in Information Technology and promotion of traditional handicrafts.The MoUs were signed after the delegation level talks between the two countries in the presence of Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid in Tunis. INDIA JOINS HAGUE CODE OF CONDUCT India in June 2016 joined the Hague Code of Conduct (HCoC) against Ballistic Missile Proliferation as its 138th
subscribing state.India's joining the Code signals its readiness to further strengthen global non-proliferation objectives. Its subscription reinforces its support for international missile non-proliferation. The HCOC is a voluntary mechanism that has built a broad international predisposition against ballistic missile proliferation. It also promotes transparency and confidence building, including through the Subscribing States' commitment to submit pre-launch notifications and annual declarations of their relevant policies. INDIA SIGNED MOU WITH USA India and the United States (US) in June 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation on energy security, clean energy and climate change.The MoU will provide framework to work more closely not only for betterment of people but also for creating a positive environment for US companies working in India.It will also provide momentum for cooperative work which needs to be done in fields of energy security, clean energy and climate change. INDIA SIGNED AGREEMENTS WITH QATAR India and Qatar in June 2016 signed seven agreements in various fields including assistance in custom matters, skill development and recognition of qualifications and health. The agreements were inked after delegation-level talks between Prime Minster Narendra Modi and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at Doha. GOOD COUNTRY INDEX India is the world's 70th good country to live in amongst 163 other nations, according to recently released 2015 Good Country Index (GCI). India figured at 70th position overall, three places below China. India's best ranking (27th) was in 'international peace and security' parameter of index and was the worst (124th) in 'prosperity and equality'. Sweden has been voted as the best country in the world when it comes to serving the interests of its people and contributing to the common good of humanity. The top ten best countries included Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Finland, Canada, France, Austria and New Zealand whereas Libya was ranked as the least "good" country in the world.
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PAKISTANI SINDHI HINDUS TO GET INDIAN CITIZENSHIP The Centre will set up a four-day camp in Indore, Madhya Pradesh to grant Indian citizenship to the Sindhi Hindus who migrated to India from Pakistan between 1971 and 2009.It should be noted that nearly 35,000 Sindhis from Pakistan were living as refugees in M.P. AFGHAN-INDIA FRIENDSHIP DAM Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Dr Ashraf Ghani jointly inaugurated the Afghan-India Friendship Dam with in Herat province in Western Afghanistan in June 2016.The Dam was earlier known as Salma Dam on the river Chist-e-Sharif in western Herat neighbouring Iran. Afghan Presresident connferred the the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan, the Amir Amanullah Khan Award on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. INDIA SIGNED MOU WITH USA India in June 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States of America (USA) to facilitate hassle-free entry of Indians into America at selected airports. It will provide quick security clearances for pre-approved, low-risk travellers from India. Features 8 The Agreement was signed as a part of America's International Expedited Traveller Initiative which is also known as the Global Entry Programme. India became the ninth country to sign the agreement with US. 8 GEP is available at more than 40 US airports and 12 pre-clearance locations. 8 Approximately 50000 new applications for the programme are being filed every month and it already have more than 1.8 million people who are enrolled in Global Entry Programme. INDIA BECOMES CO-CHAIR OF MARITIME SITUATIONAL AWARENESS India in June 2016 became the co-chair of Working Group on Maritime Situational Awareness under Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).This decision was taken through a consensus during the 19th Plenary Session of the CGPCS that took place in Mahe, Seychelles .
ABOUT CGPCS 8 CGPCS is a coalition of states, international organisations, the private sector and civil society that came together to fight piracy together in a coordinated manner. 8 It was established in response to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1851 (2008), later recalled and replaced with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1918 (2010). 8 Seychelles is the current Chairman of the CGPCS for the biennium 2016-17.
WORLD'S SPACE AGENCIES JOIN HANDS FOR CLIMATE CHALLENGE Space agencies of more than 60 countries, under the impetus of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French Space Agency (CNES), have agreed to come together to combat climate challenge.It is for the first time that the space agencies have agreed to engage their satellites to coordinate their methods and their data to monitor human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. FORBES WORLD'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN Forbes in June 2016 released the list of World's 100 Most Powerful Women of 2016 showing women who impacted businesses, media, philanthropy, politics and more. The top three most powerful in the list are politicians: Germany's Angela Merkel, U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Indian Women in the list 8 Four Indians have been named in Forbes list including Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chair-Managing Director of State Bank of India (SBI), who stood at 25th position. 8 Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, was placed at 40th position. 8 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Founder-chair of Biocon Limited, was placed at 77th position. 8 Shobhana Bhartia, Chair, HT Media, was placed at 93rd position. INDIA SIGNS SCHEME ON TAX EVASION AND CORRUPTION India in June 2016 signed a Europe-led scheme that seeks to clampdown on tax evasion and corruption by committing to automatically exchange information on 20
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beneficial ownership. India joined a group of nearly 40 nations that are signatories of a scheme. INDIA-US INKED 8 MOUS
deforestation-free. The step was taken after a committee of MPs recommended imposing regulations to ensure the state did not contribute to deforestation of the rainforest.
India and the United States (US) in June 2016 signed/finalized eight agreements/ Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in various fields including exchange of Terrorist Screening Information, cooperation on Energy Security, co-operation on Wildlife Conservation, Arrangement concerning Unclassified Maritime Information Sharing, Clean Energy and Climate Change among others.
ISRAEL ELECTED TO PERMANENT COMMITTEE OF UN
GLOBAL PEACE INDEX Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in June 2016 released the 2016 Global Peace Index (GPI). It is 10th edition of GPI that measured peace, its causes and its economic value during 2015 for 163 countries.India ranked 141 among the 163 countries with 2.566 GPI score. It held 143th rank in 2014 . Highlights The countries that topped the 2016 GPI for being most peaceful are Iceland (1), Denmark (2), Austria (3), New Zealand (4), Portugal (5), The least peacepul countries are Somalia (159), Afghanistan (160), Iraq (161), South Sudan (162) and Syria (163). NORWAY FIRST COUNTRY TO PROHIBIT DEFORESTATION Norway in June 2016 became the first country to prohibit deforestation.The Norwegian Parliament had pledged to make government's public procurement policy
The United Nations General Assembly in June 2016 elected Israel to chair its Legal Committee, which is also known as the Sixth Committee. The United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee (Legal) is one of the main committees of the United Nations General Assembly. The Sixth Committee is the primary forum for the consideration of legal questions in the General Assembly. The committee has universal membership, which means all member states of the UN are de jure members of the Sixth committee. G7 SUMMIT The 42nd G7 Summit was held at Ise-Shima in Japan in May 2016. During the summit, the member countries discussed a wide range of major global economic and political challenges and approved the G7 Ise-Shima Leaders' Declaration.The summit assumed significance as it was the first one to be held after the adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda by the United Nations in September 2015. The Summit was attended by all the seven members' viz., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and the European Commission (EC).
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WS E N ER K MA
Persons in News
JULY UPDATES DAVID CAMERON The Prime Minister of United Kingdom David Cameron in June 2016 announced his resignation hours after the Brexit vote that favoured leaving the European Union (EU).During the campaign, Cameron-led Conserve Party advocated for remaining with the EU. In the referendum that was held in June 2016, 51.89 percent of the voters preferred to leave the EU.Among the 46.5 million people who registered to vote, only 48.11 percent voted to remain in the grouping. The result must still be approved by the UK Parliament to become effective. GUDNI JOHANNESSON Gudni Johannesson in June 2016 won Iceland's presidential election. The history professor who ran as an independent in the election was able to secure 39.1% of the vote. The president is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage and has limited powers. KIM JONG- UN The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in July 2016 designated top officials of the North Korean regime along with Kim Jong-Un and for their ties to North Korea's notorious abuses of human rights. This is the first time that US has sanctioned North Korean leader over human rights abuses. The measures freeze any property the individuals have in the US and prevent US citizens doing business with them. . KEVIN TURNER Kevin Turner in July 2016 resigned as the Chief
Operating Officer ( COO) of Microsoft . Being the COO, Turner was handling Microsoft's enormous sales operations. He had been at Microsoft for 11 years. Turner would now be joining Citadel Securities as Chief Executive Officer. KAMALA SHIRIN LAKHDHIR Indian-origin diplomat Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir was in June 2016 nominated as the next American Ambassador to Malaysia by US President Barack Obama. LINDA BURNEY Linda Burney, a former teacher, in July 2016 became the first Indigenous woman elected to the House of Representatives (lower house) of the Parliament of Australia. She achieved the fete after claiming victory in the marginal seat of Barton. MALCOLM TURNBULL Malcolm Turnbull in July 2016 was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Australia for another term. 8 He is the 29th and current Prime Minister of Australia.He is the Leader of the Liberal Party. PEMA KHANDU Pema Khandu was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh at Raj Bhawan in Itanagar in July 2016. Governor Tataghata Roy administered the Oath of Office and Secrecy to him. Khandu, 37, also became the youngest chief minister of the country. ROHIT KHANDELWAL India's contestant Rohit Khandelwal won the coveted Mister World 2016 title in July 2016. The grand finale of Mr World 2016 was held at the Southport Theatre & 22
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Convention Centre in Southport, U.K. Khandelwal has become the first Indian and Asian to win the Mr World title at the competition. RADHIKA MENON Captain Radhika Menon in July 2016 was selected for the 2016 International Maritime Organization (IMO) Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. Menon has been selected for the prestigious award for her role in the rescue of seven fishermen from a sinking fishing boat in the Bay of Bengal in June 2015.Captain Menon will also be the first female to receive the IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. 8 Menon is the Master of the oil products tanker Sampurna Swarajya. 8 She is the first woman captain in the Indian Merchant Navy. 8 She was nominated for the award by the Government of India for the rescue of all seven fishermen from the fishing boat Durgamma. RODRIGO DUTERTE Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the Philippines' 16th president in June 2016 inside the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila.. 8 He is known as “Dirty Harry” and often compared to the US presidential candidate Donald Trump. 8 He is a lawyer by profession is nicknamed as 'Digong', 'The Punisher'. SUNIL MITTAL The founder chairman of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Mittal was in June 2016 elected as the chairman of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The voting for the election of chairman was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He became the 51st chairman of the ICC and the third Indian business leader to be elected as the chief of the ICC in its near 100-year history.
8 The International Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business organisation with over 6.5 million members in over 130 countries. 8 It was founded in 1919 under the leadership of its first president Etienne Clementel, a former French minister of commerce. SHASHI KANT SHARMA Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Shashi Kant Sharma has been conferred honorary professorship by the Nanjing Audit University (NAU) in China. It is the only university which is recognised by the Institute of Internal Auditors. Shashi Kant Sharma is a 1976 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre.In July 2014 he assumed office as Member of the United Nations Board of Auditor General for a term of six years. SUDARSHAN SEN Sudarshan Sen has been as Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in place of N S Vishwanathan, who has been elevated as Deputy Governor at the central bank. SUSHILA KARKI Nepal's Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee (PHSC July 2016 unanimously endorsed Sushila Karki as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Karki has become the first woman to lead Nepal's judiciary. She will be appointed to the post by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. VIRGINIA RAGGI Virginia Raggi, a leading member of the populist anticorruption Five Star Movement (M5S), in June 2016 was elected as Rome's first female mayor. Raggi is also the youngest mayor in Rome's history. M5S is a political party which was founded by comedian-turned politician Beppe Grillo.
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JUNE UPDATES ADMIRAL SUNIL LANBA Admiral Sunil Lanba in May 2016 took over as Chief of Naval Staff. 58-year-old Lanba, a specialist in Navigation and Direction, will have the full three-year tenure as the Navy Chief.Lanba succeeded Admiral RK Dhowan. BACIRO DJA Guinea Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz in May 2016 issued a presidential decree naming Baciro Dja as Prime Minister of the country.The presidential decree sparked protests from political opponents, who claimed the appointment as unconstitutional. 8 Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. 8 Guinea-Bissau has a history of political instability since independence, and no elected president has successfully served a full five-year term. BARACK OBAMA Barack Obama became the first incumbent U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack, which demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself. The United States, with the consent of the United Kingdom as laid down in the Quebec Agreement, dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945 killing around 140,000 people including a dozen captured American airmen and thousands of forced laborers from Korea. CR SASIKUMAR CR Sasikumar in June 2016 took over as Managing Director (MD) of State Bank of Travancore (SBT). The State Bank of Travancore is one of the associate banks of State Bank of India (SBI). Sasikumar started his career as a probationary officer with SBI in 1978.State Bank of Travancore is a premier bank of Kerala where it handles its majority of business. DASHAR MAHA KUMBH 'Dashar Maha Kumbh' is being organised on the confluence of sacred rivers Sindhu and Vitasta in
Ganderbal district of Kashmir in June,after a period of 75 years.At the confluence of Vitasta (Jhelum), Krishen Ganga and Sindh (Indus) rivers, there is a Chinar tree known as Prayag Chinar standing on a small island in the middle of the confluence spot surrounded by water on all sides. DESHAUNA BARBER Deshauna Barber, a serving Army Reserve officer of United States (US), was in June 2016 crowned as the Miss USA 2016 at the Miss USA competition 2016 held at the T-Mobile Arena off the Las Vegas Strip. Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA title. DIA MIRZA Bollywood actress Dia Mirza in June 2016 named as the ambassador for Swachh Saathi (student internship) programme. It is a youth-based programme of Swachh Bharat Mission.Dia was selected because she is a youth icon and has been an active campaigner for Swachh Bharat. G. KALYANAKRISHNAN Distinguished scientist G Kalyanakrishnan in June 2016 took over as Chief Executive of Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Hyderabad. NFC products are supplied to the Department of Atomic Energy, the Indian Navy, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and other defence organisations. JAYALALITHAA All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Supremo Jayalalithaa was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in May 2016. Governor Dr K Rosaiah administered the oath of office and secrecy for her.This is Jayalalithaa's second consecutive term as Chief Minister of the state and sixth overall.Her party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) stomped to victory in the state elections, landing 134 of the 232 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly election. JUSTICE RAKESH RANJAN PRASAD Justice Rakesh Ranjan Prasad, the senior-most Judge of the Manipur High Court in June 2016 assumed charge of the Chief Justice of the High Court. KEN LOACH'S 24
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British director Ken Loach's film I, Daniel Blake in May 2016 won the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival.Loach is an English film and television director.
8 Banerjee founded the party All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC or TMC) in 1997 and became its chairperson.
8 His 1969 film Kes was voted the 7th greatest British film of the 20th century in a poll by the British Film Institute.
8 She is often referred to as Didi (meaning elder sister in Bengali).
8 The Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. MOHAMED NASHEED Britain has granted political refugee status to the ousted former Maldivian president.Nasheed was granted permission in January 2016 to leave for the U.K. by the Maldivian Government to undergo a spinal surgery. He was supposed to return to Maldives after the treatment, but remained in London. 8 Mohamed Nasheed is a Maldivian politician, human rights and environmental activist. 8 He was the first democratically elected president of the Maldives and one of the founders of the Maldivian Democratic Party. MUKESH AMBANI Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani was in May 2016 awarded with the prestigious Othmer Gold Medal for his entrepreneurial leadership by the United States based Chemical Heritage Foundation. MARIA SHARAPOVA Maria Sharapova was suspended for two years from Tennis by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in June 2016 for using a prohibited drug. The Russian tennis sensation was provisionally banned in March 2016 after testing positive for meldonium at Australian Open in January 2016.Meldonium is a metabolic modulator that is included under section S4 (Hormone and Metabolic Modulators) of the 2016 WADA Prohibited List, and therefore is also prohibited under the Progrramme. MAMATA BANERJEE Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee was sworn-in as the chief minister of West Bengal for second successive five-year term in May 2016. Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi administered her oath of office and secrecy.This is for the first time that a chief minister will take oath on Red Road.
N. RAMACHANDRAN N Ramachandran, the president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was awarded the prestigious Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in June 2016. He was honoured for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement. NITA AMBANI The founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation, Nita Ambani was in June 2016 nominated as a candidate to be a new member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquartered at Lausanne, Switzerland.The election will be held at the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016. N K CHARI N.K. Chari in May 2016 took over as the Managing Director (MD) of State Bank of Mysore.The State Bank of Mysore is one of the associate banks of State Bank of India (SBI).State Bank of Mysore is a nationalised bank in India, with headquarters at Bengaluru. PHILIP ABRAHAM Indian journalist and Councillor Philip Abraham was in May 2016 elected unanimously as the Deputy Mayor of Loughton town in the United Kingdom. 8 Abraham is a journalist from Kerala and is editor of Kerala Link. 8 He was the first person of Asian origin to be elected to Loughton Town Council. Loughton is a vibrant town within the Epping Forest District Council in Essex. PAWAN CHAMLING Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was in May 2016 conferred with the Yugkavi Siddhicharan Prize by Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.The prestigious literary prize was bestowed upon him for his commendable contributions in promoting Nepali literature in India. PINARAYI VIJAYAN Veteran CPI-M leader Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn-in as 12th Chief Minister of Kerala in May 2016. Governor P 25
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Sathasivam administered his oath of office .He won the 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election as the CPI(M) candidate for Dharmadom constituency. PEDRO PABLO KUCZYNSKI Peruvian economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski defeated his rival Keiko Fujimori with a thin margin to become Peru's next President.The National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) in June 2016 announced that the Peruvian political organization Peruanos Por el Kambio received the most votes representing 50.12% of valid votes. PETER THOMSON The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in June 2016 elected Peter Thomson, Permanent Representative of Fiji, as President of its upcoming 71st session. 8 The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. 8 It is the only organ in which all member nations have equal representation. RAGHAVAN SEETHARAMAN Raghavan Seetharaman, Qatar-based Indian banker in May 2016 was awarded the Green Economy Visionary award.Seetharaman was honoured for his contribution in environment-friendly activities and for promoting green economy for nearly two decades.The banker was presented with the award at the 2016 Union of Arab Banks International Banking Summit held in Rome. 8 Raghavan Seetharaman is the Group CEO of Doha Bank, which is one of the largest commercial banks in Qatar. RAHUL JOHRI Rahul Johri in June 2016 assumed charge as first ever chief executive officer (CEO) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Mumbai.He was appointed on the recommendation of the Justice Lodha Committee. RODRIGO DIGONG DUTERTE Rodrigo Digong Duterte in May 2016 was officially declared to be the president-elect by the parliament of Philippine.He won a landslide victory in the presidential election in May 2016, taking about six million votes more than his competitor. RISHI NAIR
Indian American student Rishi Nair in May 2016 won the prestigious National Geographic Bee competition 2016.As National Geographic Bee champion, Nair received a 50000 US dollars college scholarship and a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. Nair, a sixth grader from Florida, took top honours at the 28th annual National Geographic Bee held at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington DC. RUPA IYER An Indian-American biotechnologist Rupa Iyer was in May 2016 awarded with the University of Houston's Distinguished Leadership in Teaching Excellence Award, the highest teaching award of United States.Iyer was awarded for her sustained and significant contributions to education. She is an Associate Dean at Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Houston's College of Technology. SYAMANTAK PAYRA Indian-American Syamantak Payra, a 15-year-old from Friendswood, Texas, in May 2016 won Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards of 50000 US dollar. He was awarded for developing a low-cost electronically aided knee brace that allows an individual with a weakened leg to walk more naturally. SARBANANDA SONOWAL Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Sarbanand Sonowal was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Assam in May 2016.Sonowal became Assam's second tribal chief minister after Jogen Hazarika in the 1970s. He is also first Chief Minister from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam. SHASHANK S. SHAH Pune-based diabetes specialist Shashank S Shah was conferred with the Vivian Fonseca Scholar Award 2016 in June 2016. He was awarded at the ADA's 76th Scientific Sessions in New Orleans.The award was given by American Diabetes Association (ADA) for his pioneering research on diabetes in South Asia.He also holds a world record for conducting 45 hernia surgeries in 10 hours. TSAI ING-WEN Tsai Ing-wen has been sworn in as the 14th president of Taiwan, becoming the country's first female leader to become president.She succeeds outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou. She is the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which favours independence from China. 26
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APPOINTMENTS JULY UPDATES ANNE HATHAWAY The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in June 2016 appointed Anne Hathaway as global Goodwill Ambassador. Anne Hathaway is an American actress and singer. Hathaway has previously served as an advocate for Nike Foundation. ANIL KUMBLE Former Spinner Anil Kumble was appointed as the head coach of Indian Cricket Team in June 2016. He will hold this position for one year.Kumble's first assignment will be the upcoming away series in the West Indies, where India will play four Test matches.Kumble is the highest wickettaker (1136 wickets) for India till date and third in the international list, behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne. AJAY BHUSHAN PANDEY The Union Government in July 2016 appointed Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the Chief Executive Officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). UIDAI will have to deal with the legal cases involving privacy and parliamentary issues that Aadhaar has been embroiled in.
minister of the war-ravaged country. The announcement comes two months after Assad's Baath party and its allies won the majority of seats in the country's parliament in an election that was considered internationally as a fraud. N.S. VISHWANATHAN NS Vishwanathan is appointed as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).Vishwanathan will succeed Harun R Khan . PAUL ROMER World Bank Group in July 2016 appointed Paul Romer as World Bank Chief Economist with effect from September 2016. Romer is a widely respected economist and a successful entrepreneur. Romer will join the Bank at a critical time when the field of development is transforming under the forces of rapid technological change, globalization, and demography. RAJESH KUMAR CHATURVEDI Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi was in July 2016 appointed as the Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for a five-year term. SANJAY MALIK
8 UIDAI was founded in 2009 under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime with former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani as its chairman.
Nokia in June 2016 announced the appointment of Sanjay Malik as the head of Indian market. Malik will lead customer operations,drive the business growth strategy and superior customer engagement services for the India market.Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications and information technology company. It was founded in 1865.
Dr KINSHUK
SUJOY BOSE
An Indian-American professor Dr Kinshuk was in July 2016 appointed as the Dean of University of North Texas College of Information in the United States with effect from 15 August 2016.
Sujoy Bose was in June 2016 appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).NIIF is a quasi sovereign wealth fund announced in 2015 budget with a corpus of around 40000 crore rupees.
EMAD KHAMIS Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has appointed former Electricity Minister Emad Khamis as the new prime
SUPRIYA SAHU Senior IAS officer Supriya Sahu was appointed as 27
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Director General of Doordarshan in June 2016. She was the power behind the Say no to plastics campaign to protect the eco-system of the hill station, Ooty, during her tenure as District Collector of the Nilgiris district. STEVE ELWORTHY Steve Elworthy, the former South Africa fast bowler in July 2016 was appointed the Managing Director (MD) of the 2019 World Cup, which will be held in England and Wales.Elworthy will oversee the lead-up and running of the 2019 World Cup as well as the Champions Trophy and Women's World Cup. The Champions Trophy and Women's World Cup will be hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2017. THERESA MAY Queen Elizabeth-II appointed Theresa May as the 76th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) in June 2016. She was appointed as prime minister following her election as the leader of Britain's ruling Conservative Party.She became the second women to assume the office of Prime Minister of the UK. The first women prime minister was Margaret Thatcher who was in the office of PM from 1979 to 1990. YASMIN SOOKA Yasmin Sooka, the South African Indian-origin lawyer and long-time human rights activist, was appointed to chair a UN commission in June 2016.The commission will monitor the human rights situation in South Sudan and make recommendations for their improvement.
JUNE UPDATES ANURAG THAKUR Anurag Thakur was in May 2016 unanimously elected as 34th BCCI President at the board's special general meeting (SGM) in Mumbai. He will serve as President until September 2017. Thakur, who is a BJP MP in Lok Sabha from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur district, is the second youngest BCCI chief. Fateh Singh Gaekwad in 1963 became the youngest BCCI President at the age of 33.Thakur succeeds Shashank Manohar who stepped down from the position to take up the ICC chief's job.
KIRAN BEDI BJP leader and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was appointed as the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Puducherry in May 2016.She was India's first woman to join officer ranks of the Indian Police Service. 8 In 2015, she joined BJP and was the party's chief ministerial candidate during the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections. 8 In 1979, she won the President's Police medal. 8 In 1994, she became the recipient of Ramon Magsaysay Award. MAJOR GENERAL PER LODIN Per Lodin, Major General of Sweden, was in June 2016 appointed as the Head of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). 8 India has always been against the UNMOGIP. It has maintained that the UNMOGIP has been made irrelevant by the 1972 Simla Agreement between Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto that recognises the Kashmir dispute as a bilateral issue. NAVIN AGARWAL Senior IPS officer Navin Agarwal was in June 2016 appointed as Director General (DG)/ Chief Executive Officer (CEP) of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).Navin Agarwal is a 1986 batch IPS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre. ABOUT NATIONAL ANTI DOPING AGENCY (NADA) It was set up as registered society under the Societies Registration Act of 1890 on 24 November 2005 with a mandate for Dope free sports in India.The primary objectives are to implement anti-doping rules as per World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, regulate dope control programme, to promote education and research and creating awareness about doping and its ill effects LIEUTENANT GENERAL S.K. SAINI Lieutenant General SK Saini in May 2016 took over as the 46th Commandant of the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun.Lt Gen Saini is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA). 28
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PATRICIA ESPINOSA CANTELLANO
Government like Legislative, Executive and Judiciary.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in May 2016 appointed Patricia Espinosa Cantellano of Mexico as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Espinosa Cantellano is serving as Ambassador of Mexico to Germany.
SATYA PAL JAIN
8 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty negotiated at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro from 1992. RANU LANGTHASA Ranu Langthasa was unanimously appointed as the chairperson of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) in Assam in June 2016.She also became the first women chairperson to be appointed to the post since the formation of Autonomous Council in 1950s. 8 The NC Hills Autonomous Council can be described as a state in miniature having all the paraphernalia of a
Additional Solicitor General of India and former Parliamentarian Satya Pal Jain was in June 2016 appointed as a part-time member of the 21st Law Commission of India.The appointment will be in addition to his charge as an Additional Solicitor General of India. S K SHARMA Renowned scientist S K Sharma in May 2016 was appointed the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited is a governmentowned corporation of India based in Mumbai. UMANG BEDI Facebook India in June 2016 appointed Umang Bedi as its Managing Director (MD).He is an engineering graduate from the University of Pune. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School.
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DEATHS/OBITUARY JULY UPDATES
JUNE UPDATES
KG SUBRAMANYAN
MANOHAR AICH
Renowned painter and freedom fighter KG Subramanyan passed away in June 2016 following a brief illness in Vadodra. Subramanyan was a versatile painter who blurred the lines between art and artisans by making his mark in pottery, design and terracotta art as well.
Legendary Indian body builder and India's first Mr Universe, Manohar Aich died in June 2016. He was 104 years old. He was famously called Pocket Hercules as he was 4 feet 11 inch tall.He won gold medals for three times in Asian Games.He was the first Indian to win the Mr Universe title post-independence in 1952.
NEIL O'BRIEN Neil O'Brien, a pioneer of quizzing in India and leader of the Anglo-Indian community, died in Kolkata on in June 2016. A former member of Lok Sabha, Neil O'Brien was also a three-time nominated Anglo-Indian MLA in West Bengal and an educationist. RAMCHANDRA CHINTAMAN DHERE Renowned Marathi writer Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere passed away in July 2016 following prolonged illness. Dhere was known for his exhaustive research in folk literature and bhakti tradition of Maharashtra.He received a Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987 for his work Shri Vitthal: Ek MahaSamanvay. XERXES SAPUR DESAI Xerxes Sapur Desai, the man who founded Titan Co Ltd, died in June 2016 following a prolonged illness in Bengaluru. Desai played a key role in introducing India to its first quartz watch in the late 80s when he set up Titan Co. Ltd (part of Tata Sons). After the success in watches, Desai got Tata's approval to start Tanishq, the jewellery business that is now a trusted brand and India's largest jewellery firm.
MUHAMMAD ALI All-time boxing icon Muhammad Ali died in June 2016 in the Phoenix, Arizona, after a 32year battle with Parkinson's disease. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated Personality of the Century by the BBC. 8 He also wrote several best-selling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. 8 Ali remains the only three-time lineal world heavyweight champion; he won the title in 1964, 1974, and 1978. 8 He was nicknamed The Greatest and was involved in several historic boxing matches. MUDRARAKSHASA Distinguished Hindi writer, activist, thinker and cultural personality Mudrarakshasa passed away in June 2016 in Lucknow. He was the editor of Anuvrata, a Calcutta based magazine.He worked as Editor at All India Radio from 1962 to 1976. RAZAK KHAN Razak Khan, one of the best comedians of Bollywood movies, passed away in June 2016 He was popularly known for his roles in movies like Hello Brother, Hungama and Hera Pheri.He made his Bollywood debut in 1993 with Boney Kapoor's production venture Roop ki Rani Choron Ka Raja 30
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AWARDS & HONOURS JULY UPDATES SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Kannada Movie Thithi in June 2016 won two awards Best Film and Best Script Writers - under the Asia New Talent Awards Category at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival.The film premiered at the 68th Locarno International Film Festival and won the Golden Leopard honour in the Filmmakers of the Present category and the Swatch First Feature award. G. D. BIRLA AWARD IIT-Kanpur professor Sanjay Mittal in June 2016 bagged the prestigious G D Birla Award for Scientific Research for 2015.Sanjay Mittal is a Professor of computational fluid dynamics in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IIT-Kanpur.G D Birla Award for Scientific Research was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation. IIFA AWARDS 2016 The 17th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2016 were presented in June 2016 in Madrid, Spain. List of 2016 IIFA Awards Award
Winner
Best Film
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Best Director
Sanjay Leela Bhansali for
GREAT IMMIGRANTS AWARD 2016 IN US Four Indian-Americans, including Google CEO Sunder Pichai, are among 42 US nationals to be honoured with this year's prestigious "Great Immigrants: The Pride of America" award for their inspiring professional accomplishments. The award is given by New York-based Carnegie Corporation on the occasion of Independence Day of United States (4th July ) The other three Indian-Americans are : (I) Hari Sreenivasan, anchor and senior correspondent, PBS NewsHour. (ii) Vikram Malhotra Chairman of the Americas McKinsey & Company. (iii) Bharati Mukherjee National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author. CAINE PRIZE 2016 South African writer, filmmaker and photographer Lidudumalingani Mqombothi in July 2016 won the 17th edition of prestigious Caine Prize 2016 for his short story Memories We Lost.
Ranveer Singh for
8 Caine Prize was established in 2010 in the United Kingdom and was named in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine, former Chairman of Booker Group plc. It is also referred as African Booker.
Bajirao Mastani
JNANPITH AWARD
Bajirao Mastani Best Actor in a Leading Role
2016.The 2016 Local SDG Pioneers is a part of the United Nations Global Compact's Making Global Goals Local Business campaign.Zubaida Bai is an Indian social entrepreneur and engineer.She founded ayzh, a social enterprise which provides technology solutions to rural women.
Best Actress in a Leading Role Deepika Padukone for Piku
UN HONOUR FOR CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE Zubaida Bai, Indian social entrepreneur, in June 2016 was named among the top 10 Local SDG Pioneers for
President Pranab Mukherjee in July 2016 conferred the 51st Jnanpith Award on renowned Gujarati writerDr.Raghuveer Chaudhari at Parliament Library Building, New Delhi. He was 31
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awarded with the India's highest literary honour for the year 2015.His most noted works include novels Amruta, Venu Vatsala and Uparvas. Jnanpith Award is one of the prestigious literary awards in India. The name of award is taken from Sanskrit words Jnana and Pitha which means knowledge-seat. It was instituted in 1961 and is presented by Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain family. The award is given to any Indian citizen who writes in any 22 official languages of India mentioned in VIII Schedule of Constitution of India.
JUNE UPDATES MILLENNIUM TECHNOLOGY PRIZE Technology Academy Finland (TAF) in May 2016 declared American innovator Frances Arnold as winner of the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize.The 1 million euro prize is awarded biennially and Arnold is the first female winner in its 12year history. Biochemical engineer Arnold received the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize in recognition of her discoveries that launched the field ofdirected evolution, which mimics natural evolution to create new and better proteins in the laboratory. MALTI GYAN PEETH PURASKAR 2016 The President of India Pranab Mukherjee in May 2016 presented the Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar for the year 2016.The award was conferred upon 15 teachers from Punjab for their rare contribution in the field of education. 8 The Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar was instituted by Mohinder Singh Syngle Education & Research Society. 8 Every year, government school teachers from Punjab Government's High & Higher Secondary Schools receive this award for their contributions in the field of education. INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in May 2016 won the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). In the final clash played at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore,
Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight runs. Player of the match – Ben Cutting (Sunrisers Hyderabad) Player of the series - Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore). 'SCHOLASTIC ASIAN BOOK AWARD Aditi Krishnakumar, an Indian woman author in Singapore, in May 2016 won the 'Scholastic Asian Book Award'. She was awarded for her 32000-word manuscript "Codex: The Lost Treasure of the Indus". She won the 10000 Singapore dollar award for her manuscript that carried contemporary feel and roots deep into history of India. The manuscript will be published by Scholastic Asia. HARVARD ALUMNI AWARD Bharti Enterprises founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal in May 2016 received 2016 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award. 8 The Group flagship Bharti Airtel is India's largest telecom company and world's third largest mobile operator. SPRINGER THESES AWARD Arnab De - an Indian-American scientist has received the prestigious Springer Theses Award in recognition for his outstanding research in which he developed transgenic mice to study a critical tumor-suppressor called A20. PEN PINTER PRIZE Canadian poet, novelist and environmental activist Margaret Atwood in June 2016 was awarded the 2016 PEN Pinter Prize. She is also the inventor and developer of the LongPen and associated technologies that facilitate the remote robotic writing of documents. 8 She has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times, winning once for her novel The Blind Assassin. 8 A few of her best novels are The Handmaid's Tale, The Robber Bride, The Year of the Flood . 32
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IVORY COAST HIGHEST CIVILIAN AWARD FOR INDIAN PRESIDENT President Pranab Mukherjee in June 2016 was accorded with Grand Cross National Order of the Republic of Cote D'Ivoirie in a simple ceremony at the President's Palace in Abidjan. It is the highest civilian award of Ivory Coast.The President was honoured during his two days visit to the Country.Both the countries signed headquarters agreement for re-establishment of Exim bank regional head quarters in the Ivory Coast. GRAND FUKUOKA PRIZE 2016 Music maestro A R Rahman has been announced as the recipient of Grand Fukuoka Prize 2016 for his outstanding contribution to Asian culture through his music. A R Rahman has been chosen for the honour alongside Philippines historian Ameth R Ocampo (Academic Prize) and Yasmeen Lari from Pakistan (Arts and Culture Prize) by
the secretariat of Fukuoka prize committee. Grand Fukuoka Prize 2016 : Grand Fukuoka Prize, was established by Fukuoka City, Japan, in 1990 with an aim to honour the outstanding work of individuals, groups and organizations working to preserve and promote the unique and diverse culture of Asia. CEAT CRICKET AWARDS 2016 CEAT Cricket Awards 2016 were conferred on the players at Mumbai in May 2016. List of the award winners: Lifetime Achievement Award – Dilip Vengsarkar International Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root International Batsman of the Year – Joe Root International Bowler of the Year – Ravichandran Ashwin Test Cricketer of the Year – Kane Williamson ODI Cricketer of the Year – Martin Guptill T20 Player of the Year – Virat Kohli Indian Cricketer of the Year – Rohit Sharma
200+SELECTION IN FOOD INPECTORS (PRELIMS ) Students Preparing For Mains With R. K. MAHAJAN (Director, Bright Academy)
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IMPORTANT DAYS 1-JULY
NATIONAL DOCTORS' DAY
The 2016 National Doctors' Day was observed on 1 July 2016 across India.The day is observed to honour legendary physician, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy whose birth and death anniversary falls on the same day.Dr Roy was honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1961.Bidhan Chandra Roy was the second Chief Minister of West Bengal.He founded five eminent cities, Durgapur, Kalyani, Bidhannagar, Ashokenagar and Habra. 11-JULY
WORLD POPULATION DAY
World Population Day was observed on 11 July 2016 with theme Investing in teenage girls. The theme focuses on the empowerment of teenage girls. 15-JULY
WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY
The World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) was on 15 July 2016 observed globally with the theme Skills Development to Improve Youth Employment.
18-JULY
NELSON MANDELA INTERNATIONAL DAY
Nelson Mandela International Day was observed across the world on 18 July 2016 to honour the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nelson Mandela (1918-2013). 1-JUNE
WORLD MILK DAY
World Milk Day was observed across the world on 1 June 2016. It is observed to increase awareness on milk and to publicise activities connected with milk and the milk industry.The observance of the day was initiated in 2001 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). India celebrates National Milk Day on 26 November in memory of Dr Verghese Kurien, Father of India's White Revolution.
1-JUNE
GLOBAL DAY OF PARENTS
The Global Day of Parents was observed globally on 1 June 2016. The Global Day provides an opportunity to appreciate all parents in all parts of the world for their selfless commitment to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship.The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2012 and honours parents throughout the world. 4-JUNE
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF INNOCENT CHILDREN VICTIMS OF AGGRESSION
The International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression 2016 was observed across the world in June 2016.The purpose of the day is to acknowledge the pain suffered by children throughout the world who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse.The day affirms the commitment of the United Nations (UN) to protect the rights of children.The day was established on 19 August 1982. 5-JUNE
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
World Environment Day (WED) was observed globally on 5 June 2016 with theme Zero tolerance for the illegal trade in wildlife. The day aims at inspiring more people to take action to prevent the growing strain on Earth's natural systems from reaching the breaking point.The host country for the WED 2016 is Angola. The year's slogan "Go Wild for Life" encourages everyone to spread the word about wildlife crime and the damage it does. It also asks people to challenge all to do what they can to prevent it. 8-JUNE
WORLD OCEANS DAY
The World Oceans Day was observed globally in June 2016 with the theme Healthy oceans, healthy planet. The main focus of this year's theme is on curbing the 34
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plastic pollution. Plastic pollution is a serious threat because it degrades very slowly, polluting waterways for a very long time. In addition, plastic pollution impacts the health of aquatic animals because animals including zooplankton mistake the microbeads for food. 12-JUNE
WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR
The World Day Against Child Labour was observed globally on 12 June 2016 with the theme End child labour in supply chains - It's everyone's business!.This year, the focus for World Day Against Child Labour is on child labour and supply chains. 13-JUNE
INTERNATIONAL ALBINISM AWARENESS DAY
International Albinism Awareness Day was observed on 13 June 2016. The day is observed to recognize the importance of increasing awareness and understanding of albinism in order to fight against global discrimination and stigma against persons with albinism.Albinism is a rare, non-contagious, genetically inherited difference present at birth. 8 Albinism results in a lack of pigmentation (melanin) in the hair, skin and eyes, causing vulnerability to the sun and bright light. Almost all people with albinism are visually impaired and are prone to developing skin cancer.There is no cure for the absence of melanin that is central to albinism. WORLD BLOOD DONORS DAY
14-JUNE
World Blood Donors Day (WBDD) 2016 was observed on 14 June 2016.The theme of the 2016 World Blood Donor Day campaign is Blood connects us all. The slogan for 2016 WBDD is Share life, give blood. The slogan focuses on voluntary donation systems. The day also collides with birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner, who is noted for having distinguished the main blood groups in 1900. 15-JUNE
WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was observed globally on 15 June 2016. The day is observed to voice against abuse and suffering inflicted on older people.The
global population of people aged 60-year and older will more than double, from 542 million in 1995 to about 1.2 billion in 2025.
17-JUNE
WORLD DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION
World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) 2016 was observed across the world on 17 June 2016. Inclusive cooperation for achieving Land Degradation Neutrality was the theme for the 2016 WDCD.The slogan for the day was Protect Earth. Restore Land. Engage People. 19-JUNE
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT
First International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict was observed on 19 June 2016. The day was observed to raise awareness for the need to put an end to conflict-related sexual violence.The term “conflict-related sexual violence” refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization and forced marriage 20-JUNE
WORLD REFUGEE DAY
World Refugee Day was observed on 20 June 2016. It is observed annually to draw attention to the plight of refugees, celebrate their courage and resilience and renew commitment to solve refugee problems. According to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, refugee is a person who fled his or her home and country owing to a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 21-JUNE
WORLD HYDROGRAPHY DAY
World Hydrography Day (WHD) 2016 was observed on 21 June 2016 across the world.The theme for the WHD 2016 was Hydrography - the key to well-managed seas and waterways. The theme tries to focus attention on the fundamental importance of hydrography. 35
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21-JUNE
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA
The International Day of Yoga was on 21 June 2016 observed across the world with the theme Connect the Youth.In India, the Union Government organised the event titled The National Event of Mass Yoga Demonstration at the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh where Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself performed yoga. 8 The idea to celebrate 21 June as the International Day of Yoga was initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2014 during his address to the UN General Assembly (UNGA). 8 The UNGA on 11 December 2014 adopted the resolution to commemorate 21 June as the International Day of Yoga every year. 8 More than 177 countries including USA, Canada, China and Egypt supported this move including 175 nations co-sponsoring the resolution. 23-JUNE
UNITED NATIONS PUBLIC SERVICE DAY
The United Nations Public Service Day is celebrated on June 23 of every year to celebrate the value and virtue of public servants and administrators in building a better world for all. 23-JUNE
DAY OF THE SEAFARER
Day of the Seafarer 2016 was observed across the world on 25 June 2016. The theme for the year is At Sea For All.The theme for the year has a clear link with the 2016 World Maritime Day theme, Shipping: indispensable to the world. 26-JUNE
INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture was observed in June 2016.The day is held annually to speak out against the crime of torture. It also seeks to honor and support victims and survivors throughout the world. 26-JUNE
INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING
International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was observed on 26 June 2016.The day was observed with theme Listen First.
INTERNATIONAL WIDOWS' DAY
The International Widow's Day 2016 was celebrated across the world on 23 June 2016. The day was celebrated to raise awareness on the troubles of widowed women. 23-JUNE
25-JUNE
INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC DAY
The International Olympic Day was celebrated on 23 June 2016. To mark the occasion, over 160 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and sports organizations across the world organised a series of events to spread Olympic values and encourage people to get involved in sports and lead more active lives. The 2016 Summer Olympics host-city Rio de Janeiro unveiled its athletes' village to mark the day. 8 There are three main pillars of the International Olympic Day - discover, learn and move.
29-JUNE
NATIONAL STATISTICS DAY
The 10th National Statistics Day was celebrated in June 2016 across the country with the theme Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.The National Statistics Day is celebrated annually on the occasion of birth anniversary of Late Prof PC Mahalanobis, India's eminent statistician. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute, and contributed to the design of largescale sample surveys 17-MAY
WORLD HYPERTENSION DAY
The World Hypertension Day (WHD) was observed across the world on 17 May 2016 with the theme Know Your Numbers.The WHD 2016 challenge is to screen three million adults. 8 World Hypertension Day (WHD) is an annual initiative of the World Hypertension League (WHL), an affiliated section of the International Society of Hypertension (ISH). 8 The WHD was first inaugurated in May 2005 and has become an annual event ever since. 8 The purpose of the WHD is to promote public 36
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awareness of hypertension and to encourage citizens of all countries to prevent and control this silent killer, the modern epidemic.
22-MAY
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
The United Nations (UN) observed the International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) on 22 May 2016. The theme for the year 2016 is Mainstreaming Biodiversity; Sustaining People and their Livelihoods. 8 This year theme highlights the role of biodiversity in underpinning development. The UN also highlighted that biodiversity is an important crosscutting issue in the message marking the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 8 The United Nations General Assembly, by its resolution 55/201 of 20 December 2000, proclaimed 22 May as the International Day for Biological Diversity. 23-MAY
INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END OBSTETRIC FISTULA
The International Day to End Obstetric Fistula was observed across the world on 23 May 2016 with the theme End fistula within a generation. The day is celebrated to raise awareness about obstetric fistula.
8 Obstetric fistula is one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can occur during childbirth. It is a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum caused by prolonged, obstructed labour without treatment.
29-MAY
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers 2016 was observed on 29 May 2016 with the theme Honouring Our Heroes.The day offers a chance to pay tribute to the Blue Helmets' invaluable contribution to the work of the Organization and to honour more than 3400 peacekeepers who have lost their lives serving under the UN flag since 1948, including 128 in 2015. WORLD NO-TOBACCO DAY 31-MAY World No Tobacco Day is observed across the globe on May 31 every year. It is aimed at encouraging people to abstain from consuming tobacco for 24 hours and raising awareness about the hazardous effects of tobacco consumption on a person's health and well-being. World No Tobacco Day 2016 theme : "Get ready for plain packaging"
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BOOKS & AUTHORS IN NEWS JULY UPDATES A LIFE IN DIPLOMACY - MK RASGOTRA The book titled A Life in Diplomacy, the book was written by former Indian diplomat Maharaja krishna Rasgotra.It is an insider's account of the personalities and policies that shaped Indian diplomacy.M Rasgotra was the Foreign Secretary. He also worked as the Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board between 2005 and 2007. COURAGE & COMMITMENT - MARGARET ALVA This book narrates Alva forty-year career under four Prime Ministers, namely Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. It also tells about her transition from politician to Governor. The Alva narrates her trials and triumphs and controversies that rocked her career as a politician leading to expulsion from Congress Party in 1979. WHO MOVED MY INTEREST RATE - DUVVURI SUBBARAO A book titled Who Moved My Interest Rate? authored by Duvvuri Subbarao, the former Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is released in July 2016. The book gives an account of the dilemmas Subbarao confronted while leading the Reserve Bank through the extraordinary economic and political challenges India and world faced from 2008 to 2013.
RINGSIDE WITH VIJENDER - RUDRANEIL SENGUPTA The book titled Ringside With Vijender authored by Rudraneil Sengupta released in July 2016. The book, published by Juggernaut Books, throws light on the Beijing Olympics bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh's life post his transition to the world of pro boxing. THE GREAT DERANGEMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE UNTHINKABLE -AMITAV GHOSH The Book titled The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable authored by Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh was released in July 2016.The book addresses the challenges of representing the complexity of climate change in literature and the responsibility of writers to document the extreme reality humans are now facing. Amitav Ghosh is an award-winning novelist and essayist whose books include The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, In an Antique Land, Dancing in Cambodia, The Calcutta Chromosome, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide and the Ibis Trilogy: Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and Flood of Fire.
JUNE UPDATES MY FAVOURITE NATURE STORIES - RUSKIN BOND The book titled My Favourite Nature Storiesauthored by famous British author Ruskin Bond was released on in May 2016.In the book, Bond details various encounters with the natural world. 8 He got the Sahitya Academy Award in 1992 for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra, for his published
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work in English.
THE UNSEEN INDIRA GANDHI - DR KP MATHUR
A CALL TO MERCY: HEARTS TO LOVE, HANDS TO SERVE - MOTHER TERESA
The Unseen Indira Gandhi authored by Dr KP Mathur was released in May 2016. Dr KP Mathur was personal physician of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for nearly 20 years till her assassination in 1984.
The book titled A Call to Mercy: Hearts to Love, Hands to Serve. The book is a collection of previously unreleased writings by Mother Teresa.The material in the book offers Mother Teresa's profound yet accessible wisdom on how we can show mercy and compassion in our day-to-day lives.
SUPER 30: ANAND KUMAR Chief Minister Nitish Kumar released the biography of well renowned mathematician and philanthropist Anand Kumar who is best known for his Super 30 programme, which he started in Patna, Bihar in 2002. Super 30 provides free coaching, food and accommodation to 30 students coming from the poorest strata of society. Since 2002, over 350 students from the institute have cracked the IIT-JEE.The book, titled Super 30: Anand Kumar has been written by Canada-based psychiatrist Biju Mathew in association with journalist Arun Kumar.
GUJARAT FILES: ANATOMY OF A COVER UP RANA AYYUB Book titled Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up authored by Rana Ayyub was released in May 2016. The book is an account of an eight-month long undercover investigation by journalist Rana Ayyub, who posed herself as Maithili Tyagi, a filmmaker from the American Film Institute Conservatory to investigate the Gujarat riots.
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88 BOOKS & AUTHORS
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JULY UPDATES AIRCRAFT HTT-40 Public sector aerospace Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in June 2016 unveiled indigenous Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) HTT-40 in Bengaluru.Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40) is two-seater aircraft designed and developed indigenously by the HAL. 8 The aircraft weighs about 2800 kg and has Turbo Prop engine of 950 shp class. WORLD FASTEST SUPERCOMPUTER Chinese supercomputer Sunway TaihuLight with 93 petaflop/second speed was in June 2016 declared as the world's fastest supercomputer. It was revealed in the TOP500 list of supercomputers released at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) in Frankfurt, Germany.In the list China leads with 167 systems and the USA is second with 165. This supercomputer can perform 93 petaflop operations per second. 8 It was developed by the National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology (NRCPC) and installed at the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi. 8 It displaced the Tianhe-2, an Intel-based Chinese supercomputer that has claimed the top spot on the previous six TOP500 lists. 8 Indian Supercomputer SERC,Developed by IISc Bangalore is placed at 109th Position in the list. K2-33B NASA's Kepler Space Telescope and its extended K2 mission allowed astronomers to discover the youngest fully formed exoplanet, K2-33b. The WM Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii also helped in discovery of this new found planet. Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars beyond our sun. 8 The planet K2-33b is nearly 10 times closer to its star than Mercury is to our sun, making it hot. K2-33b is a bit larger than Neptune and whips tightly around its star every five days.
ISRO LAUNCHES 20 SATELLITES Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in June 2016 launched a record 20 satellites in a single mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.ISRO also managed to break its previous record of placing 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008. The 20 satellites including India's latest earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 was launched on-board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C-34. The other 19 satellites were from the US, Germany, Canada and Indonesia as well as two satellites from Sathyabama University, Chennai, and the College of Engineering, Pune. SNOW LEOPARD TO DARJEELING ZOO The Padma Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling received a snow leopard from Dudley Zoological Gardens in London.The leopard, named Makalu.Makalu, who gets his name from the world's fifth highest peak on the south-east side of the Everest, was born at the Black Country zoo. 8 The snow leopard is the National Heritage Animal of Afghanistan and Pakistan. KILOCORE The scientists in June 2016 unveiled a microchip, named KiloCore, containing 1000 independent programmable processors. The chip has been designed by a team at the University of California, Davis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.The KiloCore was presented at the 2016 Symposium on VLSI Technology and Circuits in Honolulu on in June 2016. MUSUDAN BALLISTIC MISSILES North Korea has tested mid-range ballistic missile named "Musudan missile" from its eastern coast.The test marked Pyongyang's fifth and sixth attempt since April to successfully launch its Musudan missile.The Musudan has an estimated range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres. SU-30 In June 2016 the frontline fighter aircraft Su-30 MKI flew with 40
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an 2,500 kg integrated BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that has a range of over 290 kms, making IAF the only air force in the world in possession of such a system.It is the first time in the world that such a heavyweight (2,500 kg) supersonic cruise missile has been integrated on a fighter aircraft.BrahMos is supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. WORLD'S FIRST ELECTRIC ROAD Sweden in June 2016 inaugurated a test stretch of an electric road. The country has become one of the first countries in the world to conduct tests with electric power for heavy transports on public roads. NON-INVASIVE METHOD TO KILL CANCER CELLS Matthew Gdovin, an associate professor in the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Department of Biology, developed a newly patented method to kill cancer cells. 8 Gdovin's research was published in June 2016 in The Journal of Clinical Oncology.The discovery may help people with inoperable or hard-to-reach tumours. 8 The research involved injecting a chemical compound, nitrobenzaldehyde, into the tumour and allowing it to diffuse into the tissue. 8 A beam of light was aimed at the tissue, which caused the cells to become very acidic inside. It forced the cells to commit suicide. 'MY STAMP' SCHEME India Post in June 2016 opened up the ongoing scheme of customized printing of 'My Stamp' for individuals and corporate also. Under the scheme an individual or a corporate entity can get their photo or logo printed inside the postage stamp at a price of 12 lakh rupees. 8 This time there will be 5000 sheets comprising 60000 postage stamps. These stamps can be used for general postal mail. 8 My Stamp has helped India Post to receive two crore rupees in fiscal 2016-17. 8 It is the brand name for personalized sheets of Postage Stamps of India Post. SHIJIAN-16 China in June 2016 launched its second Shijian-16 series satellite. The satellite was carried by a Long March-4B rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in
northwest China.The Shijian-16 satellite will be used for space environment measurements, radiation and its effect as well as technology testing. TORPEDO 'VARUNASTRA' Indigenously developed heavyweight torpedo Varunastra was inducted in the Indian Navy in June 2016. It was handed to the Indian Navy by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.India joined a select group of eight countries having the capability to design and develop heavyweight torpedoes. 8 Varunastra, a versatile naval weapon can be fired from the Rajput class destroyers, Delhi class and all future AntiSubmarine Warfare (ASW) ships capable of firing heavy weight torpedoes. 8 Torpedo is a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead. LCA TEJAS The first squadron of home-grown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was inducted into Indian Air Force (IAF) at the Aircraft System Testing Establishment in Bengaluru in July 2016. The squadron has been named 'Flying Daggers' 45. 8 All squadrons of Tejas will have 20 planes in total, including four in reserve. 8 IAF plans to induct over 80 aircraft with better specifications known as Tejas 1A. 8 The Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is a supersonic, singleseat, single-engine multirole light fighter aircraft that uses fourth generation technologies. BARAK-8 MISSILE SUCCESSFULLY TESTFIRED India in June 2016 successfully test-fired a medium range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) from a mobile launcher in the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur off the Odisha coast.Apart from the missile, the system includes a Multi Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar (MF STAR) for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile.Along with the long range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM), it would be inducted in all the three Services once the user's trials are completed. INS TARASA Indian Navy in June 2016 launched the fourth in the series of Follow-on Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (FO-WJFAC) 41
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called INS Tarasa. It was launched at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata.The name of the ship, like the previously launched FO-WJFACs, is based on the picturesque island in the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal. NETWORKED READINESS INDEX 2016 India was placed at 91st position in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) 2016 that was released by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) in July 2016. The index was released as the part of the WEF's G l o b a l I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y R e p o r t 2 0 1 6 . Singapore leads the Index followed by Finland, Sweden, Norway and the United States. 8 India (91st) was ranked the lowest among the BRICS countries- Russia (41st), China (59th), South Africa (65th) and Brazil (72nd). TRAI LAUNCHES MYSPEED APP The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in July 2016 launched MySpeed mobile application for measuring real time mobile Internet speed of consumers.This is the first application to be launched under the Digital India initiative which is directly trying to tackle the issue of poor data speeds. Y-20 AIRCRAFT China inducted its largest indigenously-built transport aircraft Y-20, marking a crucial step in military aviation technology for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that allows the world's largest force to transport cargo and troops over long distances in diverse weather conditions.
near Bhimili. PETRAPOLE INTEGRATED CHECK POST INAUGURATED Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in July 2016 jointly inaugurated the Petrapole Integrated Check Post (ICP).Petrapole-Benapole is an important land border crossing for India-Bangladesh trade as more than 50% of the India-Bangladesh trade passes through Petrapole.It is located near Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. 2016 WORLD'S HOTTEST YEAR The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in July 2016 announced that global temperatures for the first six months of 2016 broke many records. It means that 2016 is on the track to be the world's hottest year on record. 8 The WMO stated that Arctic Sea ice melted early and fast, which is another indicator of climate change. 8 June 2016 marked the 14th consecutive month of record heat for land and oceans and the 378th consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th century average. 8 Carbon dioxide concentrations have passed the symbolic milestone of 400 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere so far in 2016. 8 The average temperature in the first six months of 2016 was 1.3°C (2.4°F) warmer than the pre-industrial era in the late 19th century.
WHO DECLARES INDIA AS TETANUS FREE
JUNE UPDATES
The World Health Organization (WHO) in July 2016 declared India as Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus free. WHO presented certificates to the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda.Reducing maternal and neonatal tetanus to less than one case per 1 000 live births in all 675 districts has helped improve access to immunization, antenatal care services and skilled birth attendance in the most vulnerable populations.
WORLD'S LARGEST SINGLE ROOFTOP SOLAR POWER PLANT IN AMRITSAR
INS KARNA COMMISSIONED Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba in July 2016 commissioned INS Karna in Vishakhapatnam. INS Karma is a dedicated base for Marine Commandos (MARCOS), which is a Special Operation Forces of Indian Navy.INS Karna is located on the premises of INS Kalinga
World's largest Single Rooftop Solar Power Plant with capacity of 11.5 MegaWatt (MW) was inaugurated at Dera Baba Jaimal Singh at Beas, in Amritsar, Punjab. This is the largest Solar Power Plant spread over 82 acres of rooftop in single campus on multiple roofs with installed capacity of 19.5 MW. 8 The plant has been set up with the cost of 139 crore rupees. 8 Union Government in December 2015 revised the target of 20000 MW of solar power to be achieved by 2022 to one lakh MW of solar power in the same time. PRITHVI-II MISSILE India in May 2016 successfully test fired indigenously 42
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developed Prithvi-II missile from the Chandipur, off Odisha coast.The surface-to-surface missile was fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range. 8 It weighs 4600 kilogram and has a strike range of 350 kilometer. 8 It is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines. 8 It is the first missile to be developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP). 8 IGMDP was started in early 1980 and ended in 2008.The missiles developed under the program were Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash and Nag. WORLD'S FIRST ROBOT LAWYER - ROSS US-based law firm Baker Hostetler in May 2016 hired the world's first robot lawyer ROSS to assist the company and its various teams in legal research. 8 ROSS has been built by ROSS Intelligence and is built upon IBM cognitive computer Watson. 8 With the support of Watson's, lawyers can ask ROSS their research question. 8 The ROSS reads through the law, gathers evidence, draws inferences and returns highly relevant, evidencebased answers. WORLD'S FIRST SCANNING HELIUM MICROSCOPE Australian researchers built the world's first scanning helium microscope (SHeM). 8 It would enable scientists to study human, animal and plant samples, as well as pharmaceutical drugs and computer chips in their true state. 8 It is expected to provide new insights into structures at a microscopic level. 8 It will be useful in major industries such as solar energy, defence, explosives and information technology.
INDIA'S FIRST REUSABLE SPACE SHUTTLE, RLV-TD LAUNCHED Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in May 2016 successfully launched its maiden indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) from Sriharikota ,Andhra Pradesh. After launch from the Sriharikota spaceport, it glided back onto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal. The vehicle re-
entered the atmosphere after reaching a height of over 70 km.The mission, known as the hypersonic flight experiment, lasted about 10 minutes. 8 The Re-Usable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) is considered as a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully reusable vehicle. That is, it can put satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter atmosphere. 8 It is very similar to the US space shuttle. INS TARMUGLI Fast Attack Craft INS Tarmugli was in May 2016 commissioned into Indian Navy.INS Tarmugli will be based in Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh) and will be deployed for coastal patrol and surveillance operations along the East Coast of India. BRAHMOS MISSILE The Indian Air Force (IAF) in May 2016 successfully testfired the land-attack version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. It was test fired from a defence base in the western sector at the Pokaran in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. 8 BrahMos missile was developed by an Indo-Russian joint venture (JV) after the two countries signed an agreement in February 1998. 8 It is the fastest missile in the world which has a flight range of up to 290 kilometers and carries a conventional warhead of 200 kilograms to 300 kilograms. ARUSH COMMISSIONED The Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) ARUSH was commissioned in May 2016 by the Coast Guard Commander (Western Seaboard) Additional Director General SPS Basra at Kochi. The ship has been named ICGS ARUSH that means first ray of sun. ARUSH is the seventeenth ship in the series of twenty Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs), designed and built by M/s Cochin Shipyard Limited. TRAI LAUNCHES DND SERVICES MOBILE APPLICATION The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in June 2016 launched DND Services Mobile Application for telecom subscribers to register their complaints against pesky calls and SMSes. The new mobile application will help people in easily
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registering complaints and help the authority in monitoring such activities. It will ease filing of complaints and also help us in monitoring action taken by telecom operators on complaints. 3D-PRINTED AIRCRAFT THOR Airbus in June 2016 displayed the world's first 3D-printed aircraft THOR at the International Aerospace Exhibition in Schoenefe.The drone THOR is short for Test of High-tech Objectives in Reality and it resembles a large, white model airplane.Is the world's first 3D-printed aircraft with just 3 parts.It is windowless, weighs 21 kilo grams (46 pounds) and less than four metres (13 feet) long.Except the electrical elements, all other parts are printed (3D) from a substance called polyamide. EXERCISE DESERT EAGLE-II Exercise Desert Eagle II, which was the second in the series of bilateral exercises between Indian Air Force (IAF) and United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAE AF), was concluded in June 2016.This was a ten-day air combat exercise in which the IAF and the UAE Air Force undertook air exercises from Al-Dhafra Air Base, Abu Dhabi . EXERCISE ANACONDA-16 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members and partners in June 2016 launched Anaconda-16 Exercise, the biggest ever joint military exercise in Poland.The drill is part of NATO's exercise program and is being held just weeks before NATO's summit in Warsaw that is expected to decide that significant numbers of NATO troops and equipment will be based in Poland and in the Baltic states. INTERNET SAATHI Internet search engine Google and Tata Trusts' joint initiative Internet Saathi was launched in June 2016 in Kolkata, West Bengal.The initiative aims at reducing the digital gender gap in rural areas of India such as Purulia, where girls have now been trained to use the Internet and teach others in turn. 8 Internet Saathi aims at empowering women and their communities by providing basic training on the usage and benefits of the internet. MALWARE INFECTION INDEX 2016 Microsoft Asia in June 2016 launched its Malware Infection Index 2016 (MII2016). The index identifies the key malware threats and ranks markets in Asia Pacific.The index MII2016, revealed Pakistan as the location with the highest malware encounters followed by Indonesia, Bangladesh,
Nepal and Vietnam respectively. India stands at No. 8 in region.Top three most encountered malware include Gamarue,Skeeyah and Peals BEIDOU NAVIGATION SATELLITE China in June 2016 launched its 23rd satellite it the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). The satellite launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province will support China's global navigation and positioning network.The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is being developed as an alternative to US GPS. KEPLER-1647B Scientists have discovered a Jupiter-like planet, Kepler1647b, orbiting a system of two stars, making it the largest such cosmic body ever found.The planet Kepler-1647b, located in the constellation Cygnus, was discovered by astronomers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre and San Diego State University (SDSU) in the US. 8 Researchers said that the Kepler-1647 is 3700 light-years away and about 4.4 billion years old, roughly the same age as the Earth. 8 The planet was discovered by using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, 8 The stars are similar to the Sun, with one slightly larger than our home star and the other slightly smaller. MALABAR 2016 India, the United States and Japan in June 2016 began the annual exercise Malabar 2016. This is the 20th edition of Malabar Exercise.Malabar 2016 is conducted with the harbour phase at Sasebo and with the sea phase in the Pacific Ocean. 8 This year, four Indian ships participated in the exercise including INS Satpura, INS Sahyadri, INS Shakti and INS Kirch. 8 The US Navy was represented by ships from CTF 70 of the USN 7th fleet, which is based at Yokosuka, Japan. 8 The Malabar exercise began as a joint naval exercise between the United States and India back in 1992. COMPUTEX Asia's largest technology trade show COMPUTEX was held at Taipei in May 2016. It is attracting more than 1600 companies from 30 countries to showcase their latest products.This became the biggest trade show with the highest number of nations participating in last five years.
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‡‰
Š Sports World
‹
ISSF WORLD CUP
JULY UPDATES RIO 2016 OFFICIAL SLOGAN The Rio 2016 organising committee revealed the official slogan, A New World, for the first Olympic and Paralympic Games in South America.
in June 2016
Shooter Jitu Rai in June 2016 won silver in the 10 m Air Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup held in Baku, Azerbaijan.It is the second medal in a World Cup this season for Rai, who had won the free pistol gold in the first World Cup in Bangkok.Brazilian shooter Felipe Almeida Wu won the gold medal. 8 Jitu Rai is an Indian shooter of Nepalese origin.
The slogan was unveiled by Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), at a special ceremony held at Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca, Brazil. 8 A new world will be the front and center message that will be transmitted around the world in the lead-up to and during the 2016 Games. 8 The slogan was chosen to show the desire of Rio 2016 for a better world. 8 The creation of a slogan is a tradition of each Olympic Games. Previous Olympic mottos included Welcome home for Athens in 2004, One world, one dream for Beijing in 2008, and Inspire a Generation for London in 2012. ARCHERY WORLD CUP The Indian mixed recurve team of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das in June 2016 won silver at the Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey.In the final clash the Indian team lost to South Korea . HERO HOCKEY CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2016 Australia in June 2016 won Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London by defeating India. Australia claimed the Champions Trophy title for the 14th time.Germany defeated Great Britain to win the bronze medal. Best player: Tobias Hauke (Germany) player: Harmanpreet Singh (India).
ˆ†
Best junior
8 He competes in the 10 metre air pistol and 50 metre pistol events. 8 He became the first person to have won two medals at a single world cup for India. 8The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986. COPA AMERICA FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT Chile in June 2016 won the Copa America football tournament. In the final clash played at MetLife Stadium, Chile defeated Argentina 4-2 through penalties shootout. 8 Golden Ball: Alexis Sanchez (Chile) Golden Boot: Eduardo Vargas (Chile) Copa America, formerly known as the South American Football Championship is an international men's football tournament contested between national teams from CONMEBOL and CONCACAF. It is the oldest international continental football competition. ISSF WORLD CUP India's Ace shooter Sanjeev Rajput in June 2016 clinched the silver medal for India in men's 50-metre rifle 3 position event of the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Ajerbaijan.Croatia's Petar Gorsa won the gold medal. This was India's second medal of the competition and of the same colour as well, after pistol ace Jitu Rai's silver winning effort in the men's 10m air pistol earlier in the competition. CHAMPIONS TROPHY HOCKEY TITLE The Argentina women's team in June 2016 won the 2016 Champions Trophy Hockey title in London, the UK 45
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after the Netherlands. CANADA OPEN GRAND PRIX BADMINTON TITLE Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth in July 2016 clinched the Canada Open Grand Prix Badminton Men's Singles title at Calgary.Praneeth defeated Lee Hyun II of Korea Men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also grabbed Men's doubles title at the tournament. AMUL TO SPONSOR INDIAN CONTINGENT AT RIO OLYMPICS 2016 India's largest food products marketing organization Amul has announced its sponsorship of the Indian contingent at the biggest multi-sport event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.It should be noted that Amul had earlier sponsored the Indian contingent at the London 2012 Olympic Games.Amul based at Anand in the state of Gujarat was formed in 1946. It is a brand managed by a cooperative body, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF). 2016 WIMBLEDON Category Winner
Runner-up
Men's
Andy Murray
Milos Raonic
Singles
(Great Britain)
(Canada)
Women's Serena Williams(United Singles
States)Serena equalled
Angelique Kerber (Germany)
Steffi Graf's open era record of 22 Grand Slam titles. Men's
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Julien Benneteauand
Doubles
Mahut (France)
Édouard Roger-Vasselin (France)
Women's Serena Williams and
Timea Babos (Hungary)
after a heavy tackle from Dimitri Payet in the eighth minute but played on before being replaced in the 25th minute. Man of the Match:Pepe (Portugal) SENIOR NATIONAL SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIP The 73rd Senior National Squash Championship held from 12 July – 17 July 2016 concluded in Mumbai, Maharashtra.Dipika Pallikal Karthik (World no. 19) dethroned defending champion Joshna Chinappa to regain the women's title.Top seed Saurav Ghosal defeated fourth seed Harinderpal Singh Sandhu SYED NAYEEMUDDIN Mohun Bagan in June 2016 announced that it will honour country's only Dronacharya football coach Syed Nayeemuddin with the Mohun Bagan Ratna. 8 Syed Nayeemuddin is an Indian football coach and former player. 8 As a player, he captained the Indian national team that won a bronze medal at the 1970 Asian Games. 8 He won the South Asian Football Federation Cup by beating the Maldives 8 He is the only sports-person to win both the Arjuna and Dronacharya Awards for football. SHAMINDA ERANGA International Cricket Council (ICC) in June 2016 suspended Sri Lanka's fast bowler Shaminda Eranga from bowling. He was suspended after an assessment of his bowling action. NICO ROSBERG
Doubles
Venus Williams
Mixed
Heather Watson (Britain) and
Anna-Lena Groenefeld
doubles
Henri Kontinen (Finland)
(Germany) and Roberto
Nico Rosberg of Germany in June 2016 won the European Grand Prix Formula 1 championship in Baku, Azerbaijan.The Mercedes driver overcame Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany in the final race.
Farah (Colombia)
LIONEL MESSI
and Yaroslava Shvedova (Russia)
EURO 2016 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP Portugal in July 2016 lifted the Euro 2016 football championship. In the final clash played at Saint-Denis in Paris, Portugal defeated France 1-0.Substitute Eder scored in extra-time to give Portugal a win at their first major international title despite losing captain and talisman Cristiano Ronaldo to injury. Ronaldo, Portugal's all-time leading scorer went down
Lionel Messi, the Barcelona star, in June 2016 announced his plans to retirement from international football.The 29-year-old has played four finals for his Argentina that includes the 2014 World Cup final and three Copa America finals. 8 He made his senior international debut in 2005, is his country's all-time top scorer, with 55 goals from 113 appearances. 46
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8 He is the only footballer in the history to win five FIFA Ballons d'Or, four of which he won consecutively His major honour with Argentina is the 2008 Olympic gold.
also became the first driver to win the British Grand Prix three times in a row. MISBAH-UL-HAQ
Javeline thrower Annu Rani in July 2016 bettered her national record with a 59.87m throw at the 56th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Hyderabad.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq in July 2016 scored 110 against England at Lord's.The 42 years and 47 days old cricketer became the oldest captain to score Test hundred.Misbah is also the oldest visiting player to play a Test on English soil in the last 31 years. He is the current Test captain of the Pakistan national cricket team.
LEWIS HAMILTON
VIJENDER SINGH
Lewis Hamilton in July 2016 won the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.The Austrian Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race.
Vijender Singh, the boxing starfrom India, in July 2016 clinched the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title at the Thyagraj Stadium, New Delhi. Vijender defeated former WBC European champion Kerry Hope.
ANNU RANI
GURPREET SINGH SANDHU Indian footballer Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in July 2016 became the first Indian to play in Europa League. Sandhu was named in Norwegian club Stabaek FC's squad for their Europa League qualifying match against Welsh Premier League side Connah's Quay Nomads FC.
Virender, took all 10 rounds to dismantle the Australian Hope and record his seventh straight win in the circuit. Singh also became the country's first-ever professional boxing title holder. The win also helped him to climb to 15th in the world in his category.
JUNE UPDATES
NIRANJAN MUKUNDAN Para swimmer Niranjan Mukundan won eight medals, including three gold medals, at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) U-23 World Games.The games concluded in July 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic. DIPA KARMAKAR Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar was named a 'Gymnaste de Classe Mondaile' (World class gymnast) by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).She received the official letter confirming the distinctionfrom the federation in July 2016.With this, she also became the first-ever Indian gymnast to receive the honour. She is an Indian artistic gymnast from Agartala, Tripura. 8 In April 2016, Karmakar became the first female Indian gymnast ever to secure an Olympic berth She is the first woman in the gymnast history to land the Produnova, one of the most dangerous vaults. LEWIS HAMILTON Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in July 2016 claimed the 2016 British Grand Prix title of Formula One at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, United Kingdom.He
WOMEN'S RELAY TEAM BREAKS NATIONAL RECORD The Indian 4x100m women's relay team in May 2016 broke the 18-year-old national record to finish in 4th position at the IAAF World Challenge held in Beijing, China.The China A and the China B team grabbed the first and third position respectively while Japan finished second. FC BARCELONA WINS LA LIGA Barcelona FC in May 2016 retained the Spanish league title La Liga with 3-0 score against Granada in the final match. Luis Suárez finished as top scorer, being the first player apart from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to do so since the 2008–09 season. It is Barcelona FC's fifth straight win and eighth league title in 12 seasons. FEDERATION CUP FOOTBALL TITLE Mohun Bagan in May 2016 clinched the Federation Cup title for the 14th time. In the final played at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, Bagan defated Aizwal FC 5-0.The Federation Cup is an annual knockout style club football tournament in India. It has started in 1977. 47
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UBER CUP BADMINTON TOURNAMENT
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2016
Chinese women badminton team in May 2016 won the Uber Cup title. In the final played at the Kunshan Sports Centre Gymnasium in Beijing, the host country defeated South Korea .
Real Madrid in May 2016 won the 2016 European champions title. In the titled clash, Real Madrid defeated their city rivals Atletico Madrid via a penalty shoot-out .This was Madrid's 11th European Champion title.
It was the host country's third triumph in a row since 2012 and overall it won the title for 14th time since it first started competing in the Uber Cup in 1984.
WOMEN'S WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS
India won the bronze of the Uber Cup tournament after they suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of defending champions China in the semifinals. The Uber Cup is the World Team Championships for Women and it was first held in 1956-7. It is held once in every three years. Since 1984, the Cup is held bi-ennially.
Indian boxer Sonia Lather in May 2016 won the silver medal at the AIBA Women's World Championships in Astana. She was defeated by the gold medalist Mesiano Alessia of Italy 2-1. FRENCH OPEN 2016 French Open concluded in June 2016. It was held at the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, France. Winners of 2016 French Open.
THOMAS CUP BADMINTON TOURNAMENT
Category
Winner
Runner-up
Denmark in May 2016 won the 2016 Thomas Cup badminton tournament. In the final match played at Kunshan, China, the Danish team defeated Indonesia. Denmark is also the first European nation to win the Thomas Cup.The Thomas Cup also known as Men's World Team Championships is an international badminton competition. It was first staged in 1948-49
Men's
Novak Djokovic
Andy Murray
Singles
(Serbia)
(the UK)
Women's
Garbine Muguruza
Serena Williams
Singles
(Spain)
(the USA)
Men's
F Lopez and M
M Bryan and
Doubles
Lopez (Spain)
B Bryan (the USA)
Women's
C Garcia and K
E Makarova and
Doubles
Mladenovic (France) E Vesnina (Russia)
Mixed
Leander Paes (India) Ivan Dodig
Doubles
and Martina Hingis
(Croatia) and
(Switzerland)
Sania Mirza (India)
INDIA BIODIVERSITY AWARD 2016 Pakke Tiger Reserve in May 2016 received the 'India Biodiversity Award 2016' in one of its four categories in Mumbai. The reserve is in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. The Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme of the Pakke Tiger Reserve was awarded the prize under Conservation of threatened speciescategory. EUROPA LEAGUE TITLE Spanish's oldest football club Sevilla in May 2016 won the 2016 UEFA Europa League title. To win the title, it defeated Liverpool Football Club (FC) 3-1 in the final match held at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland. 8 The UEFA Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup, is an association football competition. 8 It was established in 1971 by the Union of European Football (UEFA). 8 It is considered the second most important international competition for European clubs, after the UEFA Champions League.
MEN'S HOCKEY JUNIOR WORLD CUP 2016 The International Hockey Federation (FIH) in June 2016 announced that men's Hockey Junior World Cup 2016 will be played in the Indian city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.The men's Hockey Junior World Cup 2016 will be played in December 2016.The event will feature 16 of the world's best junior men's teams. The women's Hockey Junior World Cup will take place in Santiago, Chile . FORBES HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES LIST Forbes in June 2015 released the list of 2016 World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes. The list has been topped by soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo with earnings of 88 million US dollars. 48
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Lionel Messi ranks No. 2 with earnings of 81.4 million US dollars. Roger Federer is the top-earning athlete in an individual sport with 67.8 million US dollars AUSTRALIAN OPEN SUPER SERIES BADMINTON Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal in June 2016 won the women's title of the Australian Open Super Series Badminton tournament. Saina defeated Chinese Sun Yu. Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus won the men's Australian Open Badminton Super series titles. INDIAN MEN'S 4X400M RELAY TEAM MADE NEW NATIONAL RECORD The Indian men's 4x400m relay team in June 2016 created a new national record, clocking 3:02.17 at the International Sprint and Relay Teams Cup at Erzurum, Turkey. INDIA ZIMBABWE ODI SERIES India in June 2016 won the three-match One Day International (ODI) series against Zimbabwe 3-0.
coach of Indian Cricket team for Zimbabwe tour. Before this appointment he worked as assistant coach (batting) for the team at the World T20 Cup in March and April 2016, under team director Ravi Shastri. ALASTAIR COOK England cricket captain Alastair Cook in May 2016 became youngest Cricketer to score 10000 test runs. Cook, who is 31 years old, achieved the fete in test against Sri Lanka It was his 128th Test. The previous record was held by Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar who reached the landmark score against Pakistan at Eden Gardens in 2005.Cook, the leading Test run-scorer of England, is the 12th player in the history to score 10000 Test runs and only the second opener. The first was Sachin Tendulkar. LEWIS HAMILTON Lewis Hamilton in May 2016 won the 2016 Monaco F1 Grand Prix. He emerged victorious in a close battle with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Lewis Hamilton is a British Formula One racing driver from England.
Man of the series: Lokesh Rahul PANKAJ ADVANI India's ace cueist Pankaj Advani in May 2016 won the Asian 6-Red snooker title. To win this tile for the first time, he defeated top-seeded Malaysian Keen Hoh Moh in the finals held in Abu Dhabi.Advani became the first in the world to hold both world and continental titles in 6-Red snooker at the same time. AMIT KUMAR SAROHA Indian para athlete Amit Kumar Saroha clinched gold medal in men's club throw (F-51) at the 2016 French Open Athletics Championship in Paris. The French Open Athletics Championship was part of his preparation for Rio 2016. The athlete has already qualified for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. SANJAY BANGAR
He is the only driver in the history of the sport to have won at least one race in each season he has competed to date. NUWAN KULASEKARA Sri Lanka seam bowler Nuwan Kulasekara announced his retirement from Tests with immediate effect in June 2015. He continues his career in limited over cricket.The 33-year old seamer played 21 Test matches for Sri Lanka and picked up 48 wickets since his debut in April 2005. LEWIS HAMILTON Mercedes racing driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in June 2016 won the Formula 1 Canada Grand Prix title. The present win in Montreal was the fifth in his career and the second in a row.He is a British Formula One racing driver from England..
Sanjay Bangar was in May 2016 appointed as the head
Join Best Coaching For
CTET Teacher Eligibility Test
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BANKING JULY UPDATES STATE BANK OF INDIA INNOVATION START-UP FUND
FLOATS
IT
State Bank of India (SBI) in June 2016 floated 200 crore rupees IT Innovation Start-up Fund to assist start-ups in the fintech space.The fund will consider assistance of up to 3 crore rupees to a firm registered in India for promoting their business innovations using technology in financial services. RBI PUBLISHES PAYMENT SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS IN INDIA
AND
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in June 2016 released the “Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision2018”. The vision reiterates the aims of building a “lesscash” society by encouraging greater use of electronic payments by all sections. 8 The objective is to ensure that a robust payments infrastructure is established in the country to increase accessibility, availability, interoperability and security. 8 The broad contours of Vision-2018 revolve around 5Cs – Coverage, Convenience, Confidence, Convergence and Cost. 8 To achieve these, Vision-2018 will focus on four strategic initiatives such as responsive regulation, robust infrastructure, effective supervision and customer centricity. 8 With increasing use of technology-based innovative payment products, the strategic initiatives under Vision2018 are expected to reduce paper-based instruments significantly. It will lead to accelerated growth in mobile banking and other modes of electronic payments. SBI SECURES USD 625 MILLION FROM WORLD BANK India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) and the World Bank have signed an agreement worth 4,200 crore rupees (USD 625 million) to support grid-connected rooftop solar programme (GRPV) in the country.Under GRPV programme, at least 400 MW solar capacity will be
created across the country.The programme will help the government to faster achieve its target to generate 40 gigawatt (Gw) of electricity from the widespread installation of rooftop solar photo-voltaic panels. SBI LAUNCHES DIGITAL OFFERINGS The country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), has launched 3 new digital offerings on the occasion of 61st State Bank Day (observed on 1st July). SBI-Flipkart Partnership: SBI has partnered with Flipkart to offer its consumers the facility of pre-approved EMI Facility on purchases. Under this partnership SBI will provide overdraft facility to prequalified set of customers for transacting on Flipkart for a minimum purchase of Rs. 5000. SBI Mingle : It is social media banking platform for Facebook and Twitter users. Using SBI Mingle, its customers can do a host of banking services like checking balance and requesting mini statements on their Facebook or Twitter accounts. SBI Digital Villages : This initiative aims to transform villages into cash less eco-system by adopting them. In its first stage of the initiative, SBI has adopted 21 villages to be moved on the digital platform. It plans to bring 100 villages under this initiative across the country by 2017. SBI INKS MOU WITH IIT BOMBAY State Bank of India (SBI) in July 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE).The MoU was signed to promote innovation by start-ups in the financial sector.The deal also aims to help evaluate start-ups operating out of SINE or those being promoted by SINE for early stage funding within the bank's norms.
JUNE UPDATES HDFC BANK LAUNCHES SMARTUP FOR START-UPS HDFC Bank Ltd. in May 2016 launched SmartUp solution. It is a first-of-its-kind dedicated platform for start50
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ups to fulfill all their banking needs.The SmartUp is tailored to meet all the requirements of a start-up, offering banking and payment solutions, along with advisory and forex services. SBI TO MERGE 5 SUBSIDIARIES, BHARATIYA MAHILA BANK WITH ITSELF The SBI in May 2016 informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that it is seeking in-principle sanction of the Union Government to enter into negotiation with its 5 subsidiaries and Bharatiya Mahila Bank for acquisition.India's largest lender is planning to acquire the businesses including assets and liabilities of the following 5 subsidiary banks and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank – 1. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur 2. State Bank of Hyderabad 3. State Bank of Mysore 4. State Bank of Patiala 5. State Bank of Travancore SBI first merged associate State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008. Two years later, in 2010, State Bank of Indore was merged. Though there are apprehensions that the proposed consolidation will result in job losses, the following positive outcomes are expected from the merger. 8 It will resolve the non performing assets (NPAs) issue to a large extent 8 In terms of assets, the combined entity will help India to figure in the top 50 largest banks in the world. In 2015, SBI was at the 52nd place in the world in terms of assets. Post-merger, it will be figured at the 45th position. ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BRANCH AT AHMEDABAD
BANK
FIRST
Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in May 2016 announced to open its first branch in India at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. IDB is headquartered at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The plans to set up the branch at Gujarat is part of MoU signed between India's EXIM Bank and IDB during Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2016. As part of the MoU a 100 million dollar line-of-credit was to be given to facilitate exports to IDB's member countries. YES BANK GETS NOD FOR RAISING FDI LIMIT TO 74% The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Yes Bank's request for an increase in the foreign investment limit to 74 per cent from the existing limit of 41.87 per cent without any sub-limits entailing FDI
inflows of USD1 billion (Rs 6,885 crore).Yes Bank cofounded by Rana Kapoor in 2004 is the fifth largest private sector Bank and only Greenfield Bank licence awarded by the RBI in the last two decades.The bank has 630 branches across the country. INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK The Union Cabinet in June 2016 approved setting up of the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) as a Public Limited Company under the Department of Posts, with 100% Government of India (GOI) equity. These banks will be established at an expense of 800 crore rupees and rolled out in the entire country in a phased manner. The IPPB will obtain banking licence from RBI by March 2017 and by September 2017. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) 8 It will allow all citizens of India, especially the 40% of the country's population that is outside the ambit of formal banking in the country will benefit from this project. 8 Its services will be available across the country through 650 payments bank branches, linked post offices and alternative channels riding on modern technology including mobiles, ATMs, PoS/m-PoS devices etc and simple digital payments. 8 It will create the largest bank in the world in terms of accessibility and in time, will encourage the move towards a less cash economy. SCHEME FOR SUSTAINABLE STRUCTURING OF STRESSED ASSETS The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in June 2016 issued the guidelines on the Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets.The guidelines were issued with an aim to further strengthen the lenders' ability to deal with stressed assets and to put real assets back on track. Highlights 8 RBI formulated the Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A) as an optional framework for the resolution of large stressed accounts. 8 The S4A envisages determination of the sustainable debt level for a stressed borrower. 8 The scheme is applicable to those projects that have started commercial operations and have outstanding loan of over 500 crore rupees.
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BUSINESS & ECONOMY JULY UPDATES FDI RADICAL CHANGES IN INDIA The Union Government in June 2016 radically changed the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy regime with the objective of providing major impetus to employment and job creation in India. 8 Radical Changes for promoting Food Products manufactured/produced in India: To permit 100 percent FDI under government approval route for trading in respect of food products manufactured in India. 8 FDI in Defence Sector up to 100%: FDI beyond 49% has been permitted through government approval route, in cases resulting in access to modern technology. FDI limit for defence sector has also been made applicable to Manufacturing of Small Arms and Ammunitions covered under Arms Act, 1959. 8 Review of Entry Routes in Broadcasting Carriage Services: 100 percent FDI allowed under automatic route for Teleports, Direct to Home, Cable Networks and Mobile TV. 8 Pharmaceutical Sector: 100% FDI under automatic route in Greenfield pharma, FDI up to 100% under government approval in Brownfield pharma and 74% FDI under automatic route in Brownfield pharmaceuticals. 8 Civil Aviation Sector: To permit 100% FDI under automatic route in Brownfield Airport projects. In Scheduled Air Transport Service and regional Air Transport Service, it has now been decided to raise FDI limit to 100%. For NRIs, 100% FDI will continue to be allowed under automatic route. 8 Private Security Agencies: FDI up to 49% is now permitted under automatic route in this sector and FDI beyond 49% and up to 74% would be permitted with government approval route. 8 Establishment of branch office, liaison office or project office: No approval from Reserve Bank of India or separate security clearance would be required in cases where FIPB approval or license/permission by the
concerned Ministry has already been granted. 8 Single Brand Retail Trading: It has been decided to relax local sourcing norms up to three years and a relaxed sourcing regime for entities undertaking Single Brand Retail Trading of products having cutting edge technology. INDIA DEVELOPMENT UPDATE 2016-WORLD BANK The World Bank Group in June 2016 released the midyear edition of India Development Update 2016: Financing Double-Digit Growth. The report finds that India's economy expanded at a faster pace in FY 2016. Highlights 8 It expects India's economic growth to be at 7.6 percent in 2016-2017, followed by a modest acceleration to 7.7 percent in 2017-2018 and 7.8 percent in 2018-2019. 8 Uttar Pradesh spent over one-third of its additional resources on health and education. Rajasthan and Kerala stood out by spending the equivalent of over 70 percent of additional resources on health, education and infrastructure. WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT 2016 The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in June 2016 released a report entitled World Investment Report 2016 – Investor Nationality: Policy Challenges.While the USA surpassed Hong Kong and China in terms of FDI inflows in 2015 with 380 billion US dollars, India continues to be at the 10th position with 44 billion US dollars. Highlights 8 FDI inflows: Top 10 countries in terms of FDI inflows in decreasing order - The USA, China, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil, Canada and India. 8 Global investment trends: The flows jumped by 38 per cent to 1.76 trillion US dollars, their highest level since the global economic and financial crisis of 2008–2009. 8 Regional investment trends: Developing Asia saw 52
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FDI inflows increase by 16 per cent to 541 billion US dollars – a new record. TECH MAHINDRA ACQUIRES BIO AGENCY Technology services provider Tech Mahindra Ltd (TechM) in June 2016 acquired UK-based digital transformation firm The BIO Agency Ltd.The acquisition was carried out in an all-cash deal for an enterprise value of up to 45 million pounds. WORLD BANK APPROVES $201.50 MILLION FOR TECHNICAL EDUCATION The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors in June 2016 approved 201.50 million US dollars for Technical Education Quality Improvement Project III (TEQIP III) in India to improve the quality of engineering education in select Indian states. Two Components of the Projects are a)Improving quality and equity in engineering institutes in focus states b)System-level initiatives to strengthen sector governance and performance 7TH PAY COMMISSION APPROVED Union Cabinet in June 2016 approved the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. The salaries and arrears, effective from 1 January 2016, will be made applicable now.
8 Short service commissioned officers will be allowed to exit the armed forces at any point in time between 7 to 10 years of service. 8 It recommends that House Rent Allowance (HRA) be paid at the rate of 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the new Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively. The rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent respectively when DA crosses 50 percent. 8 It recommended abolition of all non-interest bearing advances and increased the limit for interest-bearing advances for buying home from 7.5 lakh rupees to 25 lakh rupees. 8 It recommends that in case of death in the line of duty, the force personnel of CAPFs should be accorded martyr status, at par with the defence forces personnel. 8 The commission headed by Justice AK Mathur submitted its report to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 19 November 2015. 8 This implementation of the recommendations will put an additional burden of 1.02 lakh crore rupees on the exchequer annually or nearly 0.7percent of GDP. BIRLA FASHION ACQUIRES FOREVER 21
8 The commission recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees.
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) in July 2016 acquired global clothing brand Forever 21 in the Indian market for 26 million US dollars.
8 The minimum pay for government employees is recommended to be set at 18000 rupees per month.
LOGISTIC PERFORMANCE INDEX 2016
8 The maximum pay is recommended to be 225000 rupees per month for Apex Scale and 250000 per month for Cabinet Secretary and others presently at the same pay level.
World Bank in July 2016 released the Logistics Performance Index 2016 titled 'Connecting to compete: 2016: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy.' The 2016 Logistics Performance Index (LPI) allows for comparisons across 160 countries.
8 The increase in pay will be 16 percent, increase in allowances will be 63 percent and increase in pension will be 24 percent. 8 The rate of annual increment for employees will be 3 percent. 8 One Rank One Pension proposed for civilian government employees on line of OROP for armed forces. 8 Ceiling of gratuity enhanced from 10 lakh rupees to 20 lakh rupees and ceiling on gratuity will be raised by 25 percent whenever DA rises by 50 percent.
8 Germany tops the 2016 rankings and is followed by Luxembourg, Sweden, Netherlands. United States was placed at 10th Position. Mainland China was placed at 27th position. 8 India's ranking jumped from 54 in 2014 to 35 in 2016. GOOGLE ACQUIRES MOODSTOCKS Search Giant Google in July 2016 acquired Moodstocks, a startup based out of Paris that develops machinelearning based image recognition technology for smartphones. Moodstocks' application programming interface (API) for 53
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developers are described as the Shazam for images.The company has developed technology that aids smartphones in identifying the objects captured by their cameras. TERRAPIN - 3 ACQUIRES YATRA ONLINE Yatra Online, Inc. and Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corporation in July 2016 entered into a definitive merger agreement.The transaction values Yatra at an enterprise value of 218 million dollars (1458 crore rupees). Yatra in its statement said that it intends to be listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol "YTRA" following completion of the transaction. INDIA AND ADB SIGN 100 MILLION US DOLLAR LOAN AGREEMENT The Union Government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in July 2016 signed a 100 million US dollars loan agreement to strengthen key irrigation and drainage system and improve water management in the Vennar sub-basin of the Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu. 8 The financing will be used to strengthen embankments of six major irrigation water channels in the Vennar system and rehabilitate 13 irrigation pumping schemes. Flood forecasting and warning systems will be installed and a flood risks map drawn up to help communities respond more effectively to extreme events. INCOME DECLARATION SCHEME The Union Government in July 2016 revised the time schedule for making payments under the Income Declaration Scheme 2016.A minimum amount of 25 percent of the tax, surcharge and penalty can be paid by 30 November 2016 and further amount of 25 percent by 31 March 2017. The balance amount can be paid on or before 30 September 2017. SOFT BANK TO ACQUIRE ARM HOLDINGS Japan's Softbank in July 2016 agreed to acquire ARM Holdings, the U.K. based semiconductor firm, in a deal worth more than 32 billion US dollar.The deal is the first major cross-border transaction in Britain since it voted to exit the European Union in June 2016.
JUNE UPDATES APPLE OPENED DEVELOPMENT OFFICE IN HYDERABAD Apple Inc. in May 2016 opened a new Development Office in Hyderabad, Telangana. The office was formally opened by Apple's CEO Tim Cook.The facility will focus on development of Maps for Apple products, including iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.This investment will accelerate Maps development and create up to 4000 jobs. INDIA, WORLD BANK MILLION AGREEMENT
SIGNS
US$
100
Union and Karnataka Government in May 2016 signed 100 million US dollar loan and project agreement with World Bank to support 'Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernization project'.Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) is the implementing agency of the project. 8 The project will be implemented over a period of six years, initially in the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad, with provision for other eligible cities to join the project at a later date. PA N D E M I C FACILITY
EMERGENCY
FINANCING
World Bank Group in May 2016 launched the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) to protect poorest countries against deadly pandemics.The PEF is an innovative and fast-disbursing global financing mechanism. It will accelerate both global and national responses to future outbreaks with pandemic potential.The major epidemics covered under the facility include new influenza pandemic virus A, B and C, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Marburg, Crimean Congo, Rift Valley, Lassa fever, etc. NATIONAL GDP PROVISIONAL ESTIMATES BY CSO The Central Statistical Office (CSO) in May 2016 released the provisional estimates of national GDP for 2015-16. It pegged GDP growth at 7.9 percent in Quarter 4 of 2015-16 and 7.6 percent in the whole of 2015-16. 54
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Fiscal Deficit: It stands at 3.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015-16 Revenue Deficit: It also showed a significant improvement due to increase in Capital Expenditure of the Central Government. Revenue Deficit 2.5 percent in 2015-16. Gross tax collection: It showed 17 percent growth as compared to Fiscal 2014-15 and also showed an improvement up to 10.74 percent of GDP (tax-GDP ratio) in 2015-16 as compared to 10.06 percent in 2013-14. INDIA TO DOUBLE INVESTMENT IN CLEAN ENERGY RESEARCH India in June 2016 announced its plan to double the investment in Clean Energy Research in next five years. India is investing 72 million US dollars in Clean Energy Research and it seeks to double it to 145 million dollars.The announcement was made along with other MI partner countries who also released plans to double the clean energy research and development funding over the next five years.Mission Innovation (MI) was launched in November 2015 by 20 participating countries, including India, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris-Le Bourget, France. INDIA SIGNED AGREEMENT SERVICE WITH WORLD BANK
ON
BUS
India has signed USD 9.2-million grant agreement with the World Bank under the World Bank-Global Environment Facility (GEF) Program for the Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project to improve the efficiency of the transport and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) will be the implementing agency of the GEF for the project. The total cost of the programme is USD 113 million, out of which USD 9.2 million will come as a grant from the World Bank and USD103.07 million will be funded by the Centre, state and city governments for the funding of buses and ancillary infrastructure. MICROSOFT TO ACQUIRE LINKEDIN FOR $26.2 BILLION
Microsoft Corporation and LinkedIn Corporation in June 2016 announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement.Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn for 196 dollar per share in an all-cash transaction valued at 26.2 billion dollar, inclusive of LinkedIn's net cash. However, LinkedIn will retain its distinct brand, culture and independence. TATA TO ACQUIRE WELSPUN Tata Power Co. Ltd in June 2016 agreed to acquire renewable energy company Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt. Ltd.Tata Power took the step in a bid to grow its clean energy portfolio to 2.3 gigawatts (GW). It is the largest transaction in renewables space in India. The acquisition is being made at an enterprise value of 9249 crore rupees. WOMEN WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE The USA Women's Senior National Team in June 2016 won gold at the FINA Women Water Polo World League Super Final. The team defeated Spain in the championship match in Shanghai, China.Australia defeated China for the bronze medal. ABOUT FINA International Swimming Federation (FINA) is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competition in Aquatics.It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. GRD INDEX ON EASE OF DOING BUSINESS India has jumped 13 positions from last year to rank second among 30 developing countries when it comes to ease of doing business as per 2016 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) released by Londonbased business consultancy A T Kearney. Highlights 8 India's retail sector has expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 8.8 per cent between 2013 and 2015, with annual sales crossing the USD 1 trillion mark. 8 India has also become the world's fastest growing economy. India is the world's second largest internet market 55
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700 OBJECTIVE CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR IBPS-PO, SSC & OTHER COMPETITIVE EXAMS
OBJECTIVE GK
1. Name the first Indian who has been honoured with the IAF Hall of Fame award 2016? a) Shubhkaran Yadav b) Amal Deka c) Joseph Matthew d) Udupi Ramachandra Rao 2. What was the theme of the 2016 International Day of Families that is celebrated annually in May? a) Men in charge? Gender equality and children's rights in contemporary families b) Advancing Social Integration and Intergenerational Solidarity c) Families, healthy lives and sustainable future d) Families and Persons with Disabilities 3. Who of the following won his first Italian Open Men's Singles Tennis title? a) Roger Federer b) Andy Murray c) Novak Djokovic d) Rafael Nadal 4. Which indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence interceptor missile was test fired from the complex of Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast? a) Ashwin b) Prithvi-II c) Agni-I d) Akash 5. Who of the following won Italian Open Women's Singles Tennis title? a) Victoria Azarenka b) Ana Ivanovic c) Maria Sharapova d) Serena Williams 6. Which Indian Justice was appointed as deputy chairman of FIFA's Governance Committee in May 2016? a) Jagdish Sharan Verma b) P. Sathasivam c) Mukul Mudgal d) Altamas Kabir 7. Which four minute documentary film on girl child education from India has been invited for special screening at the 42nd Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), Washington DC? a) Atmaja b) Beti c) Kanya d) Duhita 8. Who of the following women's squash team was the winner of the 18th Asian Team squash championships played at Taipei in Chinese Taipei? a) Indian team b) Malaysian team c) Pakistani team d) Hong Kong team 9. The Union Government decided to replace 5-year plans with
15-year vision documents which for the first time will include a) Communal peace b) Regional Development c) Internal Security & Defence d) Climate Change 10. Who among the following was appointed as a current player representative in the ICC Cricket Committee for a 3year term? a) Rahul Dravid b) Mahela Jayawardena c) Anil Kumble d) Mark Taylor 11. Who was re-elected as the chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee for another 3-year term until 2018? a) Shashank Manohar b) Anil Kumble c) Tim May d) Ravi Shastri 12. What was the theme of the 2016 World Telecommunication and Information Society Day that is observed annually on 17 May? a) Telecommunications and ICTs: Drivers of innovation b) Broadband for Sustainable Development c) ICT Entrepreneurship for Social Impact d) None of the above 13. Name the South Korean author who won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize for her novel 'The Vegetarian'. a) Ann Goldstein b) Han Kang c) Elena Ferrante d) Orhan Pamuk 14. Who of the following is not a part of the three-member Indian women's archery team who were named for the Rio Olympics? a) Deepika Kumari b) Bombayla Devi c) Laxmirani Majhi d) Dola Banerjee 15. Name the new fund that will be launched at UN World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey in May 2016. a) Education is waiting b) Educate the deprived c) Education Cannot Wait d) None of the above 16. Who was sworn in as the acting Chief Justice of Tripura High Court? a) Justice Tinlianthang Vaiphei b) Justice Deepak Kumar Gupta c) Justice Dinesh Maheshwari d) Justice Vineet Saran 56 2
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17. British Royals launched the Heads Together campaign to tackle stigma of a) HIV/AIDS b) Mental health c) Disability d) Suicide 18. The scientists of which country built the world's first scanning helium microscope to study human, animal and plant samples in pristine form? a) Germany b) Canada c) New Zealand d) Australia 19. Which country launched the Yaogan-30 remote sensing satellite on board the Long March 2-D rocket? a) Japan b) South Korea c) China d) Malaysia 20. Which country won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, the longest-running annual international TV song competition? a) Ireland b) Ukraine c) Sweden d) France 21. Who was recently appointed the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court? a) Justice Deepak Gupta b) Justice Vaiphie c) Justice Kumar Vyomkesh d) Justice Navin Sinha 22. Identify the pair that won the 2016 Italian Open women's doubles title. a) Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis b) Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic c) Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci d) Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik 23. Who of the following Indian peacekeepers will not be honoured with Dag Hammarskjold Medal by UN International Peace Keeping Organisation? a) Head Constable Shubhkaran Yadav b) Subedar Jagjeevan Ram c) Rifleman Manish Malik d) Havildar Amal Deka 24. Name the person who will head the five member committee that was constituted by government to give recommendations on the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) roadmap for the future. a) Sumit Bose b) Arvind Subramanian c) Urijit Patel d) NK Singh 25. India held the first round of Maritime Security Dialogue with which country? a) Japan b) China c) United States d) Bangladesh 26. State-run power producer NTPC Limited formed Joint
Venture with which company to revive plants of the Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL)? a) Oil India Corporation b) Coal India Limited c) Indian Oil Corporation Limited d) Engineer India Limited 27. Who of the following is the first Chief of Air Staff to fly the indigenously designed and produced Light Combat Aircraft Tejas? a) Pradeep Vasant Naik b) Arup Raha c) Norman Anil Kumar Browne d) Fali Homi Major 28. Name the athlete who created history by breaking the national record in women's 3000m steeplechase event. a) Anjum Chopra b) Sudha Singh c) Lalita Babar d) Geeta Singh 29. Identify one of the discoverers of Neptune's rings who died recently. a) Andre Brahic b) William Hubbard c) Zard William d) None of the above 30. The SBI proposed to merge which public sector bank with itself along with its 5 associate banks? a) Bharatiya Mahila Bank b) Andhra Bank c) Bank of Baroda d) Union Bank of India 31. Which bank launched the SmartUp platform to offer banking and payment solutions to start-ups? a) ICICI Bank b) HDFC Bank c) State Bank of India d) Axis Bank 32. Researchers of which American university developed world's first zika virus clone? a) University of Pennsylvania b) Harvard University c) Massachusetts Institute of Technology d) University of Texas 33. Which Indian artist won prize at the 2016 UN poster contest on N-disarmament? a) Neelima Mehta b) Anjali Chandrashekar c) Rani Sharma d) Sudesh Naik 34. What was the theme of World Hypertension Day(WHD) that was observed across the world on 17 May 2016? a) Take care of your Heart! b) Note your pulse rate c) Know your numbers d) None of the above 35. Name the former Union Minister from BJP who opened the account for BJP in the Assembly Election 2016 for the first time in the Kerala. a) S Sreesanth b) Kunnam Rajasekharan
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c) O Rajagopal d) Pinnrayi Vijayan 36. Name the Indian state that inaugurated the world's largest single rooftop solar power plant with capacity of 11.5 MegaWatt (MW). a) Haryana b) Gujarat c) Punjab d) Tamil Nadu 37. Which of the following state was not the part of meeting that was called by Prime Minister to access drought and water scarcity situations? a) Tamil Nadu b) Andhra Pradesh c) Uttar Pradesh d) Jharkhand 38. The United States (US) Senate on 18 May 2016 approved a bipartisan emergency funding of what amount to combat the Zika virus in 2016 and 2017? (a) 1.9 billion US dollar (b) 1.1 billion US dollar (c) 1.2 billion US dollar (d) 2.5 billion US dollar 39. Who was recently appointed the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change? a) Christiana Figueres b) Noeleen Heyzer c) Patricia Espinosa Cantellano d) None of the above 40. The Indian 4x100m women's relay team recently broke the 18-year-old national record at IAAF World Challenge. The event was held in which of the following cities? a) Amsterdam b) Beijing c) Antwerp d) Berlin 41. Which Mobile app platform signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to benefit Safai Karamcharis? a) FlipKart b) Ola c) Amazon d) Uber 42. The World Cities Report 2016, Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures was released by which organisation? a) World Health Organisation b) United Nations economic and social council c) UN-Habitat d) Population Council 43. Which Indian car model failed the crash tests conducted by Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP)? a) Honda Amaze b) Hyundai Eon c) Maruti Brezza d) Nissan Sunny 44. Which platform was launched by Income Tax (IT) department to fast track taxpayer grievances? a) e-suraksha b) e-nivaran c) e-sewa d) e-kalyan 45. Who of the following was sworn-in as the first female president of Taiwan?
a) Eric Chu b) Tsai Ing-wen c) Ma Ying-jeou d) Wu Po-hsiung 46. Name the cyclonic storm over the west central Bay of Bengal that will strike Andhra Pradesh coast. a) ROANU b) ASHOBAA c) Lehar d) HUDHUD 47. The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda launched Centre for Environmental Health. The centre is a joint initiative between which two foundations? a) Public Health Foundation of India and the FICCI b) Public Health Foundation of India and the Teri University c) Public Health Foundation of India and the Tata Institute of Social Science d) FICCI and the Tata Institute of Social Science 48. President Pranab Mukherjee launched a software solution named Intelligent Operations Centre in Rashtrapati Bhavan. The software is designed by a) Accenture b) IBM c) Wipro d) None of the above 49. Which of the following political parties emerged triumphant in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election? a) AIADMK b) DMK c) INC d) BJP 50. The 27th series of CORPAT was conducted between the Indian Navy and a) Sri Lankan Navy b) Japanese Navy c) French Navy d) Indonesian Navy 51. Who has been appointed as the new Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology? a) Virendra Singh b) Jagmohan Sharma c) Rakesh Kumar Mishra d) None of the above 52. Name the Indian journalist who was elected unanimously as the Deputy Mayor of Loughton town in the United Kingdom on 19 May 2016. a) V K Krishna Menon b) Omana Gangadharan c) Raj Rajendran d) Philip Abraham 53. Name the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was appointed as the Ambassador of India to Romania. a) Ashok Chauhan b) AVS Ramesh Chandra c) Rupesh Tiwari d) Sagar Rajora 54. Name the Noted Gujarati folk singer and Padma award winner who passed away in May 2016. a) Bhikhudan Gadhvi b) Diwaliben Bhil c) Sudhir V Shah d) Dahyabhai Shastri
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55. Name the Indian-American biotechnologist who was awarded with the University of Houston's Distinguished Leadership in Teaching Excellence Award in 2016? a) Rita nair b) Nazeeba Abraham c) Rupa Iyer d) Sheela Sharda 56. Which Union Territory released the draft bill on granting Statehood status to it? a) Chandigarh b) Puducherry c) NCT Delhi d) Andaman & Nicobar Islands 57. In which city Apple Inc. will be setting up an iOS App Design and Development Accelerator? a) Bengaluru b) Hyderabad c) Mumbai d) Kolkata 58. In this city Apple Inc. opened a Development Office to develop Maps for Apple products? a) Chennai b) Hyderabad c) Thiruvananthapuram d) New Delhi 59. Which State government has proposed to the Centre for amending the NDRF norms for heat wave victims? a) Gujarat b) Maharashtra c) Andhra Pradesh d) Madhya Pradesh 60. Which Indian athlete bagged his/her second gold by winning the women's 200 metres race at the Taiwan Open Athletics Championships? a) Anil Kumar Prakash b) Dutee Chand c) Shiny Abraham d) Tintu Lukka 61. Market regulator tightened the norm for this category of instrument to check money laundering? a) Forward Contracts b) Future Contracts c) Participatory Notes d) Options 62. International Museum Day was observed on 18 May 2016 with the theme a) Museums and Cultural Landscapes b) Museums for a Sustainable Society c) Museum collections make connections d) Museums (memory + creativity = social change) 63. Who was elected as the Chief Minister of Kerala by the Left Democratic Front that secured majority in the Assembly elections? a) V S Achuthanandan b) Oomen Chandy c) Pinarayi Vijayan d) AK Antony 64. Which State Government released PEHAL, a vision document for raising education standards? a) Uttarakhand b) Himachal Pradesh c) Punjab d) Rajasthan
65. Union Government on 20 May 2016 launched an indigenously developed affordable faecal incontinence management system. It is called as a) Qora b) Zora c) Kora d) Nora 66. The US House of Representatives approved a legislation to upgrade defence ties with this country on par with its NATO allies. a) Israel b) Pakistan c) India d) China 67. Turrialba volcano which erupted recently is in which of the following nations? a) Chile b) Costa Rica c) Australia d) Mexico 68. Who of the following was elected as 34th BCCI President at the board's special general meeting (SGM) in Mumbai? a) Shashank Manohar b) Fateh Singh Gaekwad c) Anurag Thakur d) Ajay Shirke 69. Who of the following was appointed as BCCI Secretary? a) Fateh Singh Gaekwad b) Anurag Thakur c) Ajay Shirke d) None of the above 70. Who of the following is the youngest BCCI President appointee? a) Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan b) Anurag Thakur c) Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad d) Madhavrao Scindia 71. Who was appointed by the President as the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Puducherry? a) Kiran Bedi b) Ajay Kumar Singh c) Virendra Kataria d) Kapil Mishra 72. Which of the following statement in relation to India's indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) that was launched by ISRO is wrong. a) It can put satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter atmosphere b) The final version of the RLV will take off around 2030 c) It was built at the TATA Advanced Materials Limited d) The double delta-winged RLV-TD is almost 6 times smaller than final version 73. What was the theme of the 2016 International Day for Biological Diversity, which is observed annually on 22 May? a) Mainstreaming Biodiversity; Sustaining People and their Livelihoods b) Biodiversity for Sustainable Development c) Island Biodiversity 74. Who was awarded the Othmer Gold Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership 2016? a) Vijay Mallaya b) Gautam Adani
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c) Mukesh Ambani d) Anil Ambani 75. Name the oldest Olympic champion of Hungarian Waterpolo team who died recently. a) Sandor Taricsb) Bonnie Blair c) Jesse Owens d) Eddie Eagan 76. Which country won the 2016 Thomas Cup badminton tournament? a) China b) The Netherlands c) Denmark d) Indonesia 77. Name the football club that won the 2016 Federation Cup title for the 14th time. a) Aizwal FC b) Mohun Bagan c) Bengaluru FC d) Sporting Clube de Goa 78. Which multilateral agency launched the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility? a) World Bank b) International Monetary Fund c) New Development Bank d) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank 79. Which country won the Uber Cup badminton tournament held in Kunshan, China? a) India b) South Korea c) Indonesia d) China 80. Who was appointed by the Union Government as the head of committee on defence expenditure? a) N K Singh b) D B Shekatkar c) Prakash Singhd) H R Nagendra 81. With which Arab country India signed 4 MoUs/Agreements on defence cooperation? a) Oman b) Yemen c) Saudi Arabia d) Kuwait 82. Who among the following won the 2016 Asian 6-Red snooker title? a) Pankaj Advani b) Aditya Mehta c) Keen Hoh Moh d) Kamal Chawla 83. Which State Government launched the Smart Village programme to improve public facilities in rural areas? a) Rajasthan b) Punjab c) Telangana d) Gujarat 84. With which country/countries India signed a transit agreement to facilitate seamless transport of goods? a) Pakistan b) Afghanistan c) Iran d) Both (b) and (c) 85. National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned use of light and heavy diesel vehicles, which are more than 10 years old, in six major cities of which state? a) Andhra Pradesh b) Bihar
c) West Bengal d) Kerala 86. Which cancer-causing chemical was found in bread samples tested in Delhi by Centre for Science and Environment? a) Potassium Bromate b) Butylated Hydroxytoluene c) Sodium Benzoate d) Sodium Nitrite 87. The Union Government in May 2016 imposed a complete ban on Indian citizens travelling to which war struck country? a) Vietnam b) Kuwait c) Libya d) Egypt 88. Who has been appointed the Chairman and Managing Director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited? a) S K Sharma b) K C Purohit c) Vijay Dedhwal d) None of the above 89. Which film won the 2016 Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival? a) Dheepan b) I, Daniel Blake c) Marty d) The Wind That Shakes the Barley 90. Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for opening an Ayurvedic centre in which of the following countries? a) Japan b) Britain c) Maldives d) China 91. Who created a new record by climbing the Mount Everest for seventh time? a) Lhakpa Sherpa b) Arunima Sinha c) Malavath Poorna d) G R Radhika 92. Union Government signed 100 million US dollar loan and project agreement with World Bank to support Urban Water Supply Modernization project of which state? a) Karnataka b) Gujarat c) Maharashtra d) Telangana 93. Who of the following was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Kerala? a) Kodiyeri Balakrishnan b) Ramesh Chennithala c) Pinarayi Vijayan d) VS Achuthanandan 94. The United Nations World Humanitarian Summit was held in which of the following cities? a) Berlin b) Paris c) Istanbul d) New Delhi 95. Which of the following cricketers was recently appointed the brand ambassador of F45 India? a) Sachin Tendulkar b) Virat Kohli c) Steve Smith d) Brett Lee
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96. Who recently took over as the 46th Commandant of the Indian Military Academy? a) Lt. General SK Saini b) Lt. General Balwant Singh Negi c) Lt. General Thakur Mahadeo Singh d) Lt. General DS Hooda 97. Who authored the book titled A Call to Mercy: Hearts to Love, Hands to Serve? a) Mother Teresa b) Dalai Lama c) Barack Obama d) Malala Yousafzai 98. Name the Pink Panther star that died recently. a) David Bowie b) Nick Menza c) Burt Kwouk d) Morley Safer 99. Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) recently announced to open its first branch in India in which state? a) Gujarat b) Maharashtra c) Haryana d) Kerala 100. The Union Cabinet recently approved the financial restructuring of which public sector undertaking (PSU)? a) Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation Limited b) Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited c) Madras Fertilizers Limited d) Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited 101. Bharatvani portal launched by Union Ministry of Human Resource Development provides for a) Online repository of dictionaries b) Information relating to International Day of Yoga-2016 c) Online repository of classical songs d) Cultural heritage of the country 102. The Draft Model Rules 2016 released by Union Government for effective implementation of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 will repeal the existing Model Rules of which year? a) 1978 b) 1994 c) 2002 d) 2007 103. The findings of India's first ever Passenger Satisfaction Survey were recently released. The survey was conducted at a) Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport b) Indira Gandhi International Airport c) Chennai International Airport d) Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport 104. Name the American engineer who won the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize. a) Stuart Parkin b) Frances Arnold c) Arnold Frances d) Shuji Nakamura 105. The Union Cabinet recently gave ex-post facto approval to
MoU signed between India and Maldives in the field of a) Health Sector b) Technology c) Tourism d) Defence 106. Which of the following Hollywood celebrities has been recently appointed visiting professor at the London School of Economics? a) Johnny Depp b) Robert Downey, Jr. c) Natalie Portman d) Angelina Jolie 107. Which country is currently hosting the 21st BXM Cycling World Championship? a) Colombia b) Argentina c) Venezuela d) Peru 108. 20 Nirbhaya buses fitted with Vehicle Tracking System, CCTV cameras and panic buttons were launched by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari belongs to the transport corporation of which state? a) Gujarat b) Bihar c) Rajasthan d) Delhi 109. Union Cabinet gave its ex-facto approval to the Amendment to The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 for incorporation of how many IITs? a) Four b) Six c) Seven d) Ten 110. Which of the following statement in regard to the Draft Model Rules 2016 for implementation of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 is wrong? a) Prescribes time bound procedures for determination of age b) Children between 15-18 years of age in conflict with law will not be sent to jail c) Provide detailed follow-up for monitoring of rehabilitation of the child d) All government hospitals to constitute permanent medical boards for rehabilitation 111. The maximum sum assured under EPFO insurance scheme has been increased from 3.6 lakh rupees to what rupees? a) 5 lakh rupees b) 6 lakh rupees c) 7 lakh rupees d) 7.5 lakh rupees 112. Which of the following state recently launched Ujala scheme in one of its city to distribute LED bulbs to the people? a) Karnataka b) Odisha c) Rajasthan d) Gujarat 113. Identify the veteran communist leader who died on 24 May 2016? a) AB Bardhan b) Noorul Huda
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c) KC Mathew d) None of the above 114. With which country did China signed an agreement to build its first nuclear reactor? a) America b) Pakistan c) India d) Sudan 115. Name a week long initiative launched by the Ministry of Railways to showcase achievements during last two years. a) Rail Humsafar Saptaah b) Rail Humsafar Hafta c) Week of Rail Humsafar d) None of the above 116. Name the Indian para-athlete who clinched gold medal in the men's club throw F-51 event at the 2016 French Open Athletics Championship. a) Amit Kumar Saroha b) Devendra Jhajharia c) Sumit Kohli d) Devendra Thakur 117. The Union Government approved establishment of a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in which state? a) Karnataka b) Chhattisgarh c) Odisha d) Jharkhand 118. Who of the following is the author of the book Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up? a) Rana Ayyub b) Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk c) Husain Haqqani d) Kartar Lalvani 119. Name the Indian-American student who won the 28th annual National Geographic Bee held at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington DC? a) Saketh Jonnalagadda b) Kapil Nathan c) Karan Menon d) Rishi Nair 120. Name the seventeenth Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) that was commissioned into Indian Navy at Kochi in May 2016? a) ICGS Siddhantb) ICGS Surya c) ICGS ARUSH d) ICGS Vikrant 121. Identify the Construction Company for which Union Cabinet gave its approval for financial restructuring in May 2016 a) Hindustan Steel Works Construction Limited b) Reliance Steels Pvt limited c) Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited d) None of these 122. Identify the Union Ministry to which the Committee for the evolution of a National Education Policy submitted the report containing its recommendations. a) Home Affairs
b) Defence c) Human Resource Development d) Earth Sciences 123. Who was appointed as the head coach of Indian Cricket team for Zimbabwe tour in May 2016? a) Sanjay Bangar
b) Rahul Dravid
c) Ravi Shastri
d) Saurav Ganguly
124. Which s the first Union Territory (UT) to sign the 24x7 Power for All document which aims to provide each household access to electricity by 2019 on 27 May 2016? a) Andaman & Nicobar
b) Lakshadweep
c) Daman & Diu
d) Puducherry
125. The number of states that signed the '24x7 Power For All'Documents as in May 2016. a) 18 States
b) 28 States
c) 22 States
d) 10 States
126. Who was appointed as fielding coach to Indian Cricket team by BCCI in May 2016? a) Jhonty Rhodes
b) Tom Moody
c) Ajay Jadeja
d) Abhay Sharma
127. Who was appointed as team manager to team for Zimbabwe tour by BCCI in May 2016? a) Koka Ramesh
b) Rahul Dravid
c) MSK Prasad
d) Javagal Srinath
128. Identify the portal that was designed to promote and mainstream Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) in India launched in May 2016. a) www.zne.com b) www.nzeb.in c) www.netzero.co.in
d) None of these
129. Name Tiger Reserve that received the India Biodiversity Award 2016 in Mumbai in May 2016. a) Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve b) Melghat Tiger Reserve c) Pakke Tiger Reserve
d) Manas Tiger Reserve
130. In which category did Pakke Tiger Reserve won the India Biodiversity Award 2016 in May 2016? a) Sustainable use of biological resources, b) Successful models for access and benefit sharing c) Biodiversity Management Committees
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d) Conservation of Threatened Species 131. Identify the Programme of the Pakke Tiger Reserve that was awarded India Biodiversity Award 2016 in May 2016. a) Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme b) Reserve adoption Programme c) Conservation of Biodiversity Programme d) None of these 132. Identify the Land-attack version of the missile that successfully test-fired by Indian Air Force in May 2016. a) Agni IV Ballistic missile b) BrahMos supersonic cruise missile c) Dhanush Ballistic missile d) Prithvi-II Ballistic missile 133. Identify the country with which India signed agreement to develop BrahMos missile in February 1998. a) America
b) Japan
c) Russia
d) Korea
134. Who was the Indian origin who received 2016 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award in May 2016? a) Laxmi Mittal
b) Bobby Jindal
c) Sam Richards
d) Sunil Bharti Mittal
135. Identify the state government that got into the Limca book of records for its household survey in May 2016? a) Telangana
b) Andhra Pradesh
c) Kerala
d) Karnataka
136. Who of the following was adjudged as the player of the match in the final match of 2016 Indian Premier League? a) Chris Gayle b) Ben Cutting c) Virat Kohli d) Chris Gayle 137. Who of the following was adjudged as the player of the series in the final match of 2016 Indian Premier League? a) Chris Gayle b) Ben Cutting c) Virat Kohli d) Chris Gayle 138. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar inaugurated second submarine assembly workshop at a) Hindustan Shipyard b) Cochin Shipyard c) Mazagon Dock Limited d) Kattupalli Shipyard 139. Nine-coach Spanish train Talgo's trial run was conducted on which rail route?
a) Bareilly-Moradabad route b) Mathura-Palwal route c) Mumbai-Delhi route d) Ranchi-Patna route 140. Name the football club that won 2016 European Champions League. a) Real Madrid b) Atletico Madrid c) Barcelona d) Manchester United 141. Name the discus thrower from India who recently qualified for the Rio Olympics 2016. a) Vikas Gowda b) Krishna Poonia c) Seema Punia d) Harwant Kaur 142. Who was recently appointed the Ambassador of India to Romania? a) Jignesh Jadav b) Vitthal Kumar c) Romesh Chandra d) A V S Ramesh Chandra 143. The 17th Asian Junior Athletics Championships will be held in which of the following countries? a) Vietnam b) Japan c) China d) Indonesia 144. What was the theme of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers 2016 that is observed annually on 29 May? a) Honouring Our Heroes b) Together for Peace c) A Force for Peace. A Force for Change. A Force for the Future d) None of the above 145. Name the person who won the world's highest marathon on Mount Everest. a) Bed Bahadur Sunuwar b) Robert Celinski c) Angtharkay d) Pasang Dawa Lama 146. Ministry of Railways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up Kalpana Chawla Chair on Geospatial Technology for Indian Railways with which University? a)
PEC University of Technology
b) Panjab University c) University Institute of Engineering and Technology d) Chitkara University 147. Which of the following statement in regard to the Draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2016 that released by Union Government 63 2
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c) G.M.P Reddy
is wrong? a) Creating a legal, economic, and social environment against trafficking b)
Provides for State Anti-Trafficking Committee to be headed by State Home Minster
c) Creation of Special Courts by State Government d) Creation of Anti-Trafficking Fund for welfare and rehabilitation of victims of trafficking 148. Name the Cricketer who became the youngest Cricketer to score 10000 test runs. a) Alex Hales
b) Alastair Cook
c) Joe Root
d) James Anderson
149. Name the Indian music composer who was awarded with the Japan's Fukuoka prize 2016. a) Pritam
b) Vishal and Shekhar
c) AR Rahman
d) Himesh Reshamiya
150. Which country hosted the 42nd G7 Summit in May 2016? a) Germany
b) Italy
c) Japan
d) Canada
151. Who won the silver medal in 2016 Women's World Boxing Championships in 57-kg category? a) Sonia Lather
b) Mesiano Alessia
c) MC Mary Kom
d) Wang Yuyan
152. Which city hosted the 2016 Women's World Boxing Championships? a) Astana (Kazakhstan) b) Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) c) Dushanbe (Tajikistan) d) Tashkent (Uzbekistan) 153. Who became the first wheelchair athlete to complete a mile-long race in less than three minutes?
d) Suroj Sengupta
156. Name the Bollywood actor who recently became the Goodwill Ambassador for the LEPRA India organisation that fights against diseases like leprosy. a) Shahrukh Khan
b) Vivek Oberoi
c) Salman Khan
d)
R Madhavan
157. The World No Tobacco Day 2016, which was observed, recently campaigned on which of the following topics? a)
Get Ready for Plain Packaging
b) Stop Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products c) Stop Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products d) Both (a) and (b) 158. The World Milk Day that is observed annually on 1 June was first celebrated by UN Food and Agriculture Organization in 2001
b) 2005
c) 2010
d) 2012
a)
159. The age of superannuation of all doctors of Central Health Services was extended to which age by Union Government? a) 62 Years
b) 63 Years
c)
d) 70 Years
65 Years
160. Which of the following state decided to raise the retirement age of state government doctors as per the age of doctors of Central Health Services as notified by Union Government? a)
Haryana
c) Gujarat
b) Punjab d) Himachal Pradesh
161. The Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme 2016 that came into effect on 1 June 2016 was incorporated as which chapter of the Finance Act, 2016?
a) Jeff Adams
b) David Weir
a) Chapter VII
b) Chapter IX
c) Choke Yasuoka
d) Rawat Tana
c)
d) Chapter XII
154. Name the Formula One driver who won the 2016 Monaco F1 Grand Prix.
Chapter X
162. Who of the following was appointed as the Finance Secretary?
a) Lewis Hamilton
b) Daniel Ricciardo
a) Ratan Watal
b) Hasmukh Adhia
c) Nico Rosberg
d) None of the above
c) Shaktikanta Das
d)
155. Who was recently appointed the Director General of West Bengal Police? a) Raj Kanojia
b) Surajit Kar Purkayastha
Ashok Lavasa
163. Who of the following was appointed as a member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) by President Pranab Mukherjee? 64 2
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a) Chhatar Singh
b) Bhim Sain Bassi
c) David R Syiemlieh
d) Manbir Singh
164. Who was appointed as the Additional Director-General of CRPF in May 2016? a) Sudeep Lakhtakia
b) Bhima Agarwal
c) Ashok Chauhan
d) Kovid Hooda
165. Who became the first Indian to play top-tier European football league match? a) Gurpreet Singh Sandhu b) Subrata Pal c) Robin Singh
d) Syed Rahim Nabi
166. Who was named as the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year and also International Batsman of the Year 2016? a) AB de Villiers
b) Virat Kohli
c) Joe Root
d) Steve Smith
167. Who was officially declared to be the president-elect by the parliament of Philippine? a) Maria Leonor Leni Robredo b) Rodrigo Digong Duterte c) Benigno Aquino III
172. India and Morocco recently launched a chamber to accelerate the pace of economic development between the two nations. The chamber is termed as a) India-Morocco Chamber of Industry and Commerce b)
India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry
c) India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce d) India-Morocco Chamber of Industries 173. The Government of India and the World Bank recently signed an agreement to improve efficiency of City Bus Services. The agreement was signed under which of the following programmes? a) World Bank-Global Facility Programme b) World Bank-Global Commutation Facility Programme c)
World Bank-Global Environment Facility Programme
d) None of the above 174. Gotthard Base Tunnel, world's longest railway tunnel, was recently inaugurated in which country? a)
b) France
Switzerland
c) Cambodia
d) Germany
175. Who assumed the office of Secretary in the Union Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs on1 June 2016?
d) None of These 168. Who was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award in the CEAT cricket awards 2016? a) Kapil Dev
b) Anil Kumble
c) K Srikanth
d) Dilip Vengsarkar
169. Who of the following Cricketer's name will be used by Kerala Government in a campaign against drug and liquor abuse in the state? a) Sachin Tendulkar
b) Virat Kohli
c) MS Dhoni
d) Rahul Dravid
170. What percent government equity will be available in India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) that will be set up under the Department of Posts? a) 60 percent
b) 70 percent
c) 90 percent
d) 100 percent
171. Hamid Ansari recently visited which of the following countries to strengthen bilateral ties with India? a) Morocco
b) Japan
c) Philippines
d) Malaysia
a) Ashok Lavasa
b) Sanjay Kumar Srivastava
c) Rajinder Khanna
d)
Prabhas Kumar Jha
176. Where was the Asia's largest technology trade show COMPUTEX was started in May 2016? a) Tokyo
b) Newyork
c)
d) Moscow
Taipei
177. Identify the first ever national plan that was released in India to make it disaster resilient in June 2016. a)
National Disaster Management Plan
b) Five year plan c) National Action Plan d) None of these 178. India signed MoU to enhance cooperation on energy security, clean energy and climate change with which country? a) The United States b) Japan c) France d) Brazil 179. India's joining the Hague Code of Conduct (HCoC) against 65 2
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Ballistic Missile Proliferation increased the number of signatories' to a) 111 b) 126 c) 138 d) 176 180. Which of the following country is not a signatory of Hague Code of Conduct (HCoC) against Ballistic Missile Proliferation? a) Albania b) China c) Libya d) Benin 181. Parliament of which country passed a resolution recognising the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces during First World War (1915) as genocide? a) United States b) Germany c) France d) England 182. Name the country that has signed a Memorandum of Agreement to open its International Arbitration Centre in India. a) Singapore b) United States c) Germany d) France 183. Who was appointed as the Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on 1 June 2016? a) Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya b) Justice MM Kumar c) Justice RM Lodha d) Justice Sathasivam 184. Who was appointed as the President of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 1 June 2016? a) Justice Sathasivam b) Justice MM Kumar c) Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya d) Justice RM Lodha 185. Name the port that bagged National Award for Excellence in Cost Management for the year 2015 on 2 June 2016. a) Chennai Port b) Kandla Port c) VO Chidambaranar Port d) Ennore (corporate) Port 186. What is the name of the mega luxury cruise vessel that was called at the Cochin Port for a 2-day stop-over in its circuit of Dubai-Muscat-Kochi-Penang-Singapore on 3 June 2016? a) Harmony of the Seas b) Freedom of the Seas c) Independence of the Seas d) MV Ovation of the Seas 187. Name the rare happening in the space when a pair of distant galaxies happens to be in the perfect position
relative to Earth. a) Einstein Ring b) Black Hole c) White Patch d) None of these 188. The 7th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7) and Mission Innovation (MI) countries meet was held in which city in June 2016? a) New Delhi b) San Francisco c) Berlin d) Paris 189. Name the Sri Lankan Cricketer who announced retirement from Tests with immediate effect on 1 June 2016? a) Lasith Malingab) Nuwan Kulasekara c) Rangana Herath d) Dinesh Chandimal 190. Identify the organization that was granted affiliation by the Commonwealth Boxing Council (CBC) on 2 June 2016. a) Pakistan Boxing Council b) Indian Boxing Council c) Asian Boxing Council d) Thailand Boxing Council 191. Name the state that unfurled the second largest National flag of 291 foot-high on 2 June 2016. a) Andhra Pradesh b) Bihar c) Delhi d) Telangana 192. Who assumed charge as first ever chief executive officer (CEO) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Mumbai on 1 June 2016? a) Shasank MAnohar b) Anurag Thakur c) Rahul Johri d) Rajiv Shukla 193. Name the boxing legend who died after a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease on 3 June 2016. a) Muhammad Ali b) Mike Tyson c) Roberto Duran d) Roy Jones.Jr 194. Who was appointed as Director General (DG)/ Chief Executive Officer (CEP) of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on 3 June 2016? a) Sanjay Mishra b) Navin Agarwal c) Saurav Ganguly d) Anil Kumble 195. Where was Asia's largest annual security forum ShangriLa Dialogue was inaugurated on 3 June 2016? a) Tokyo b) Hongkong c) Singapore d) New Delhi 196. Where did Haryana Government launch Asia's First Gyps Vulture Reintroduction Programme at Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre on 3 June 2016? a) Panipat b) Rohtak c) Rewari d) Pinjore 197. Identify the birds that were released in to the wild by the Union Environment Minister and Haryana Chief Minister
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from Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre in Haryana on 3 June 2016. a) Himalayan Griffons b) Forest owlet c) Spoon-billed Sandpiper d) White-rumped vulture 198. How was Afghan-India Friendship Dam that was inaugurated by Inidan PM Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on 4 june 2016 was called earlier? a) Afghan Dam b) Salma Dam c) Kharzi Dam d) None of these 199. Name the highest civilian award of Afghanistan was conferred on Indian PM Narendra Modi on 4 June 2016. a) Afghanistan award b) Amir Amanullah Khan Award c) Presidential Medal of Freedom d) None of these 200. India announced at the Mission Innovation Meet to double the investment in clean energy research in how many years? a) 2 b) 3 c) 4 d) 5 201. India on 2 June 2016 signed MoU for co-operation in Information Technology and promotion of traditional handicrafts with which country? a) Tunisia b) Morocco c) Algeria d) Egypt 202. Name the Tamil actor-director, known for movies Anbe Sivam and Annanagar First street, who died recently. a) Balu Anand b) Balu Swamy c) Revathy Ananth d) None of the above 203. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently approved a new broad gauge line between Mau Station and Tarighat Terminal station. What will be the total length of the line? a) 49 kilometers b) 65 kilometers c) 22 kilometers d) 51 kilometers 204. Identify the Qatar-based Indian banker who was recently awarded the Green Economy Visionary Award. a) Ajay Banga b) Amitav Ghosh c) Raghavan Seetharaman d) Bimal Jalan 205. Who has launched a mobile application for telecom subscribers to register their complaints against pesky calls and SMSes? a) Ministry Of Communications and Information Technology b) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India c) Both (a) and (b) d) None of the above 206. Which country has recently gifted 2000 bicycles to poor
dalit girls in Nepal to encourage them to enrol in schools? a) India b) Bhutan c) China d) United States of America 207. Name the former Eden Gardens curator who recently passed away. a) Raghunath Sahay b) Prabir Mukherjee c) Angelo Matthews d) Partho Mukerjea 208. Who of the following was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Puducherry? a) Shah Jahan b) M Kandasamy c) V Narayanasamy d) Mukul Wasnik 209. Name the South Asian Games gold medallist Indian judoka who qualified for the Rio Olympic Games under 90kg weight category. a) Midhun Jith b) Avtar Singh c) Najib Aga d) Rajwinder Kaur 210. Name the state that launched Right to Public Grievance Redressal Act to disposal of peoples' complaints or redressal of grievances from Government officials within 60-days. a) Haryana b) West Bengal c) Bihar d) Delhi 211. Name the state assembly that passed the Ease of Doing Business Bill, 2016. a) Assam b) Delhi c) Meghalaya d) Bihar 212. India in June 2016 signed seven agreements in various fields including assistance in custom matters, skill development and recognition of qualifications and health with which country? a) Qatar b) Afghanistan c) Tunisia d) Iran 213. Who of the following won the 2016 French Open Men's singles title? a) Roger Federer b) Andy Murray c) Novak Djokovic d) Rafael Nadal 214. 2016 World Environment Day was observed on 5 June 2016 with theme a) Zero tolerance for the illegal trade in wildlife b) Raise Your Voice Not the Sea Level c) One Planet. Consume with Care. d) Wetlands for our Future – Sustainable Livelihoods 215. Who was recently appointed as the Managing Director of State Bank of Mysore? a) N.K. Chari b) CR Sasikumar c) Raghunath Sahay d) None of the above 216. Which state has recently become the first Indian state to
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give pension and food benefits to transgender people? a) Assam b) Odisha c) Maharashtra d) Telangana 217. Who was recently appointed as the Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore? a) N.K. Chari b) Raghunath Sahay c) CR Sasikumar d) None of the above 218. Identify the chemical compound for which NASA scientists located 39 unreported and major human-made sources of its emissions across the world. a) Sulphur dioxide b) Hydrogen Monoxide c) Ethyl Chloride d) Methanol 219. Where Airbus did displayed the world's first 3D-printed aircraft THOR at the International Aerospace Exhibition? a) Sydney b) Schoenefe c) Colombo d) Berlin 220. Who was the first Indian woman to be nominated for International Olympic Committee? a) Shiela Dixit b) Smriti Irani c) Nita Ambani d) Anjum Chopra 221. Who was awarded the prestigious Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)? a) Arvind Kejriwal b) Sarbanand Sonowal c) Milkha Singh d) N Ramachandran 222. Who was the first Indian to win the Mr Universe title who died on 5 June 2016 in Kolkata at the age of 104? a) Manohar Aich b) Mahashta Murasi c) MuraliManohar Deora d) None of these 223. Who was named as the ambassador for Swachh Saathi (student internship) programme? a) Dia Mirza
b) riyanka Chopra
c) The Global Entry Programme d) The American Expedia 226. At which University did the scientists unlock a crucial part of the mystery as to how the DNA can replicate and repair itself? a) The University of Sheffield b) The University of London c) The University of California d) The Delhi University 227. Who was recently appointed as Managing Director for Adobe South Asia? a) Umag Bedi
b) Rajveer Kaushal
c) Kulmeet Bawa
d) Manohar Sharma
228. As per a High Power Committee that submitted its report to Union Ministry of Urban Development an estimated package of 19762 crore is required to decongest traffic of which of the following cities? a) Delhi
b) Mumbai
c) Kolkata
d) Varanasi
229. The Delhi Government recently announced implementation of its solar policy, which aims at installation of 1 GW solar power capacity by a) 2020
b) 2019
c) 2021
d) 2025
230. Which state government is planning to launch medical insurance of two lakh rupees for BPL families?
c) Aishwarya Rai Bachcha d) Sania Mirza
a) Maharashtra
b) Uttar Pradesh
224. Name the unusual astronomical object that was formed when two galaxies are exactly aligned and was discovered by an international team of astrophysicists.
c) Jharkhand
d) Bihar
a) Thompson Watermelon
231. According to the Ministry of Railway all the railway coaches will have bio-toilets under 'Clean Railway – Clean India' initiative by which year?
b) Optical Einstein ring
a) 2020
b) 2019
c) Cylindrical Constellation
c) 2021
d) 2018
d) None of these 225. What is the other name of the America's International Expedited Traveller Initiative to which India became the ninth country to enter into an agreement? a) The America Entry Programme
232. The International Olympic Committee approved a white tiger named 'Soohorang' as the mascot for 2018 winter Olympics which will be hosted by a) Japan
b) South Korea
c) China
d) India
b) Washington-California Expedia 68 2 JIGYASA/JULY/AUGUST/2016/31
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233. What was India's rank in the biannual Good Country Index 2015? a) 67
b) 68
c) 69
d) 70
234. Identify India's renowned sand-artist who won a gold medal in the World Sand Art Championship in Bulgaria. a) Sudarsan Pattnaik
b) Rahul Arya
c) Anjali Chandrashekhar
d) None of them
235. Swachh Yug campaign was launched by the Union Government to make gram panchyats along this river open defecation free. a) Godavari
b) Brahmaputra
c) Narmada d) Ganga 236. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 7 June 2016 approved 1.5 billion US dollar loan to which country? a) India b) China c) Sri Lanka d) Pakistan 237. What was the theme of World Oceans Day that was observed on 8 June 2016? a) Wave the heat b) Healthy oceans, healthy planet c) Let Oceans breathe d) Oceans: Life Providers 238. Which State government became the first Indian state to launch the App on Air Quality Index? a) Uttar Pradesh b) Delhi c) Rajasthan d) Punjab 239. Who took charge as the Director of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA)? a) Shahid Rasool b) Sidharth Lingwal c) Arjun Arya d) Kshitij Kapoor 240. Name the Mobile App that was launched by Union Government to enhance the employment of trained youth in solar PV technology. a) Surya Mitra b) Soumitri c) Shresta d) None of these 241. Name the country that decided to cut off Internet access for government work stations within a year for security reasons. a) Russia b) Maldives c) Singapore d) Sri Lanka 242. Name the country where 1st Yoga Championship was organised by India. a) Iran b) Egypt c) Japan d) Malaysia
243. Which mission demonstrated the technology that is needed to build a space-based gravitational wave observatory? a) Mars Orbiter Mission b) Apollo Mission c) Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) d) LISA Pathfinder mission 244. Who was appointed as the head of one-man judicial commission by the Uttar Pradesh Government to probe violence in Mathura in early June 2016? a) Prakash Singh b) Mirza Imtiyaz c) Akhilesh Ranjan d) Mahesh Kumar Singla 245. Who wrote the book titled The World in 2050- Striving for a more just, Prosperous and Harmonious Global Community? a) Harinder Kohli b) K P Mathur c) Rana Ayyub d) Husain Haqqani 246. Who topped the 2016 Forbes World's Highest-Paid Female Athlete list? a) Maria Sharapova b) Serena Williams c) Ronda Rousey d) Danica Patrick 247. Name the famous theatre personality and co-founder of theatre group Awishkar who passed away recently. a) Bhakti Barve b) Radhika Mohan c) Seema Parab d) Sulabha Deshpande 248. Which country conferred its highest civilian honour Amir Amanullah Khan Award on Prime Minister Narendra Modi? a) Bahrain b) Afghanistan c) Saudi Arabia d) Bangladesh 249. With which country India held the Desert Eagle II bilateral military exercise? a) Saudi Arabia b) United Arab Emirates c) Kuwait d) China 250. Name the Indian-origin professor who was recently awarded the Regius Professorship by Queen Elizabeth II. a) Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya b) Sri Prakash Lohia c) Manoj Punjabi d) Aishveryaa Nidhi 251. Internet search engine Google and Tata Trusts' joint initiative Internet Saathi was recently launched in which of the following states? a) Rajasthan b) West Bengal c) Jharkhand d) Madhya Pradesh 252. Which of the following cricket grounds will host India's first pink-ball multi-day cricket match? a) Wankhede Stadium b) M.A. Chidambaram Stadium 69 2
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c) Eden Gardens d) Feroz Shah Kotla Ground 253. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members and partners on 6 June 2016 launched Anaconda-16 Exercise in which country? a) Vietnam b) Russia c) France d) Poland 254. India signed loan agreement of 12 crore US dollars with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve irrigation and water management infrastructure of which state? a) Karnataka b) Odisha c) Himachal Pradesh d) Delhi 255. Name the Rio Olympics-bound Indian track and field athlete, who won a silver medal in 800 meters in the Josef Odlozil Memorial Athletics Meet in Prague, Czech Republic. a) Dutee Chand b) Tintu Luka c) MR Poovamma d) Lalita Babar 256. Name the legendary Nepali musician and composer of Nepal's national anthem, who died recently. a) Amber Gurung b) Gopal Yonzon c) Narayan Gopal d) Aruna Lama 257. Who topped the 2016 list of Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women? a) Angela Merkel b) Hillary Clinton c) Janet Yellen d) Christine Lagarde 258. Which of the following Indian women is not included in the 2016 list of Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women? a) Arundhati Bhattacharya b) Chanda Kochhar c) Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw d) Nita Ambani 259. Which Indian city will host the men's Hockey Junior World Cup 2016? a) New Delhi b) Patna c) Hyderabad d) Lucknow 260. Who was recently appointed the Managing Director of Facebook India? a) Kirthiga Reddy b) Kulmeet Bawa c) Umang Bedi d) None of the above 261. Which state recently became the first Indian state to launch a green-concept based State Data Centre? a) Uttar Pradesh b) Himachal Pradesh c) Kerala d) Rajasthan 262. Which country is hosting month-long UEFA Euro 2016 football championship? a) Germany b) Switzerland c) France d) Poland 263. Name the teenager from Tamil Nadu who became first Indian to clinch the Mumbai Mayor's International Open
Chess Tournament. a) Subramanian Arun Prasad b) NR Visakh c) Magesh Panchanathan d) Sandipan Chanda 264. Name the eminent scientist who recently took over as Chief Executive of Nuclear Fuel Complex. a) G Kalyanakrishnan b) N Saibaba c) Vishay Rao d) None of the above 265. Name the Indian-American author who won the 2016 International DUBLIN Literary Award for his novel Family Life. a) Mindy Kaling b) Akhil Sharma c) Subhash Kak d) Ashok Das 266. Who emerged victorious in the Peru's 2016 Presidential Election? a) Keiko Fujimori b) Alejandro Toledo c) Pedro Pablo Kuczynski d) Ollanta Humala 267. Name the Raging Bull actress who died recently. a) Julie Newmar b) Irish McCalla c) Jane Russel d) Theresa Saldana 268. Who was appointed as the head of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan in June 2016? a) Major General Delali Johnson b) Major General Per Lodin c) Major General Polly barber d) Major General Lucas Peterson 269. Name the Bengal off-spinner who announced his retirement in June 2016, ending a first-class cricket career of 17 years? a) Saurasish Lahiri b) Writtick Chatterjee c) Ashish Magotra d) Manoj Tiwary 270. Who of the following tennis star was suspended from Tennis for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF)? a) Anna Kournikova b) Maria Sharapova c) Ana Ivanovic d) Caroline Wozniacki 271. Who was presented with the USIBC Global Leadership Award by the PM Narendra Modi in Washington DC? a) Jeff Bezos b) Sunder Pichai c) Mark Zuckerberg d) Satya Nadella 272. Which European country launched the 'SAIP' smart phone app to alert users on terror attacks and other disasters? a) France b) Germany c) Belgium d) Greece 273. Who topped the Forbes 2016 World's Highest-Paid Athletes List?
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a) Cristiano Ronaldo c) Floyd Mayweather Jr
b) Tiger Woods d) Lewis Hamilton
c)
274. Name the giant hot Jupiter exoplanet tidally spinning up its parent star was found by International team of astronomers. a)
PAN-Jupiter
b)
HATS-18b
c)
HANS-39GH
d)
None of these
275. Name networks for whose establishment National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) inked a Memorandum of Agreement with the Andhra Pradesh Food Processing Society on 9 June 2016.
Jharkhand
a)
John Davidson
b)
Gordie Howe
c)
Dick Irvin
d)
Bob McKenzie
282. Name the project under which Scientists of Iceland found a technique to trap carbon dioxide (CO2) in deep underground by turning it into rock. a)
The Carbonrock project
b)
The Carbosilt project
Smart City Networks of Andhra Pradesh
c)
The CarbFix project
b)
State Capital Network of Andhra Pradesh
d)
None of these
283. Who topped the 2016 World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes list that was released by Forbes in June 2016
c) Smart Agribusiness Platform Networks of Andhra Pradesh None of these
276. Name the project for whose commercialization the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) signed a license agreement with Chaturbhuj Pharmaceutical Co in June 2016. a)
Swachh Bharath Abhiyan b)
MNEGRA
c)
Make in India
Ayush-82
d)
st
277. Who was appointed as a part-time member of the 21 Law Commission of India in June 2016? a)
Kapil Sibal
b)
Satya Pal Jain
c)
Ram Jethmalani
d)
None of these
278. Who presided over a presentation that proposed amendment to Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) in June 2016? a)
Narendra Modi
b)
c)
Ashok Gajapathi Raju d)
Arun Jaitley Manohar Parrikar
279. Identify the rank that India secured among the 163 countries with 2.566 GPI score in the 2016 Global Peace Index. a)
143
b)
126
c)
8
d)
141
280. Where did Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the weekly Champaran Satyagrah Express in June 2016? a)
Motihari
b)
Ranchi
Rourkela
281. Who was the legendary Canadian ice hockey player, who died on 10 June 2016 after a lengthy illness?
a)
d)
d)
a)
Cristiano Ronaldo
b)
Michael Jordan
c)
Floyd Mayweather `d)
Novak Djokovic
284. Who are the only two women to make the cut in the 2016 World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes list for the second straight year in 2016? a)
Serena Williams and Venus Williams
b)
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova
c)
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza
d)
Serena Williams and Martina Hingis
285. Identify the review that provides high-quality objective and globally consistent data on world energy markets of 2015 released on 8 June 2016. a)
World Energy Review
b)
OPEC Review of World Energy
c)
BP Statistical Review of World Energy
d)
None of these
286. Which of the following teams won the FINA Women Water Polo World League Super Final? a) China b) Australia c) Brazil d) USA 287. Which of the following state became first state in India to have an open government data portal? a) Arunachal Pradesh b) Delhi c) Sikkim d) Goa 288. Who has been chosen as India's flag bearer at Rio 71 2
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Olympics? a) Abhinav Bindra c) Leander Paes
b) Saina Nehwal d) Gagan Narang
289. Which of the following countries became the first country in the world to ban deforestation? a) Belgium b) Norway c) Denmark d) Switzerland 290. Name the veteran journalist and former editor of The Times of India who died recently. a) Inder Malhotra b) KK Katiyal c) Jignesh Jadhav d) None of the above 291. Who of the following won the women's title of the 2016 Australian Open Super Series Badminton tournament? a) Yihan Wang b) Saina Nehwal c) Sun Yu d) Ratchanok Intanon 292. Name the place of United States where mass shooting occurred at a gay nightclub in which at least 51 people were killed, including the gunman. a) Naples b) Orlando c) Miami d) Tampa 293. Who of the following won the men's title of the 2016 Australian Open Super Series Badminton tournament? a) Hans-Kristian Vittinghus b) Jeon Hyeok-Jin c) Son Wan-Ho d) Lee Dong-keun 294. Name the country that launched its 23rd satellite for its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). a) China b) Russia c) Germany d) United States 295. Who headed the taskforce appointed to address agrarian issues that submitted its report to Maharashtra government? a) Kishore Tiwari b) Vijay Javandhiya c) DB Shekatkar d) H R Nagendra 296. International Albinism Awareness Day that was observed in June 2016 was adopted by UNGA via a resolution adopted in the year? a) 2002 b) 2009 c) 2012 d) 2014 297. Name the former captain of England Cricket team who died in June 2016 at the age of 89. a) Archibald Ackroyd b) Albert Alderman c) Donald Carr d) Thomas Armstrong
298. Name the Veteran Scottish singer who received the Knighthood in Queen's Birthday Honours list. a) Justin Welby b) Rod Stewart c) Alastair Cook d) Peter Phillips 299. Name the noted playwright and actor who died in June 2016 and was considered to be the father of the Bhramyaman or Mobile Theatre of Assam. a) PB Acharya b) Sarbananda Sonowal c) Krishna Roy d) Achyut Lahkar 300. What was the theme of World Day Against Child Labour 2016? a) No To Child Labour-YES To Quality Education b) End child labour in supply chains - It's everyone's business! c) Prevent child labour - Your Ii'l help can make difference d) Child protection – Let's end child labour! 301. Who of the following assumed charge as the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court? a) Justice Deepak Guptaz b) Justice Rakesh Ranjan Prasad c) Justice Navin Sinha d) Justice Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela 302. Who of the following was appointed as the first woman chairperson of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) in Assam? a) Ranu Langthasa b) Mamoni Raisom Goswami c) Sourabhee Debbarma d) Kamalika Ghosh 303. The Central Port Authorities Act 2016 drafted by Ministry of Shipping will replace the Major Port Trust Act of the year? a) 1956 b) 1963 c) 1978 d) 1991 304. Which state government served Leave India notice to eight Chinese nationals working under a Thai company at the Dhamra Port of the State? a) Odisha b) Gujarat c) Maharashtra d) Andhra Pradesh 305. Who of the following will handle the portfolio of Delhi Transport Ministry held by Gopal Rai who was removed from it during a reshuffle that took place within the state government? a) Satyender Jain b) Naresh Yadav 72 2
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c) Sanjeev Jha
d) Nitin Tyagi
306. Which country's President ordered an unannounced inspection of its Armed Forces during which the readiness of military arsenals will be assessed? a) China b) Japan c) North Korea d) Russia 307. Who won the 2016 Canada Grand Prix of Formula 1 title? a) Lewis Hamilton b) Sebastian Vettel c) Valtteri Bottas d) Nico Rosberg 308. What is the name of the service launched by the Indian Railways to provide for baby food items at stations and children's menu items on trains? a) Sishu Sewa b) Janani Sewa c) Kishor Sewa d) Tarun Sewa 309. Union Government constituted a five member team to assess the existing water bodies, farm pond and other sources of irrigation in the selected districts of which state? a) Maharashtra b) West Bengal c) Uttar Pradeshd) Rajasthan 310. What was the theme of the 2016 World Blood Donors Day that was observed in June 2016? a) Thank you for saving my life b) Safe blood for saving mothers c) Give the gift of life d) Blood connects us all 311. What was the slogan of the 2016 World Blood Donors Day that was observed in June 2016? a) Share life, give blood b) Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters c) Every blood donor is a hero d) None of the above 312. Microsoft Corporation recently announced that it is going to acquire which of the following professional social networking websites? a) Makerbase b) Xing c) LinkedIn d) Jobcase 313. Tata Power Co. Ltd recently signed an agreement to acquire which of the following renewable energy companies? a) Welspun Renewables Energy Private Ltd b) A2Z Group c) Anwell Technologies d) Suzlon Energy 314. Ratan Tata recently invested in which of the following e-
ticketing companies? a) VIVA c) Odyssey
b) Kyazoonga d) Yapsody
315. Name the bollywood actress, who was nominated for 2016 Teen Choice Awards. a) Priyanka Chopra b) Shilpa Shetty c) Anushka Sharma d) Kangana Ranaut 316. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day observed globally on 15 June 2016 was adopted by UNGA via a resolution adopted in the year? a) 2002 b) 2009 c) 2011 d) 2014 317. A Jupiter-like planet, Kepler-1647b, orbiting a system of two stars was found by the scientists in which constellation? a) Telescopium b) Cygnus c) Camelopardalis d) Orion 318. Who was recently elected as the President of 71st session of United Nations General Assembly? a) Mogens Lykketoft b) Andreas Mavroyiannis c) Peter Thomson d) None of the above 319. The United Nations General Assembly recently elected which of the following countries as Chair of UN Sixth Committee, also called Law Committee? a) India b) Israel c) Turkey d) Italy 320. Union Government approved a series of measures for the abatement of pollution and for the conservation and preservation of lakes in which city? a) Panji b) Bengaluru c) Lucknow d) Dehradun 321. According to a new research led by the University of Southampton, identify the kind of fossils that provide evidence of the number of species that can exist on Earth. a) Snail-like fossils b) Grape-like fossils c) Spongy Fossils d) Popcorn-like fossils 322. Name the Florida based bank which will become the first US bank to issue credit card for use in Cuba by Americans. a) Stonegate Bank b) Wells Fargo Bank c) SunTrust Bank d) USAmeri Bank 323. What is the title of the report released jointly by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and INTERPOL on environmental crime? a) The Environmental Crime Report b) The Rise of Environmental Crime 73 2
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c) The End of Environmental Crime d) The Fall of Environmental Crime 324. What is the name of the solitary dwarf galaxy – touted to be the most isolated galaxy – that was captured by the Hubble Telescope? a) Milkyway b) Hot Jupiter c) UGC 4879 d) None of these 325. Who became the first Indian Cricketer to score a century in his debut ODI Match? a) KL Rahul b) Robin Uthappa c) Manish Pandey d) Md Azharuddin 326. Name the project on the River Ganga that is being developed between Allahabad and Haldia covering a distance of 1620 kms to enable commercial navigation. a) Pavitra Ganga Project b) Jal Marg Vikas Project c) Holy Ganga Project d) Ganga Vikas Project 327. In which districts did the Telangana government ordered to set up a Pharma City on 12500 acres of land? a) Nalgonda and Hyderabad b) Khammam and Karimnagar c) Rangareddy and Mahbubnagar d) Medak and Warangal 328. Name the renowned Hindi writer who died in June 2016 and was the Editor at All India Radio from 1962 to 1976? a) Mudrarakshasa b) Rakesh Pandey c) Rajesh Rastogi d) Sumit Maggo 329. Which three countries participated in the Malabar Exercise 2016? a) France, Italy and Japan b) United States, China and India c) India, United States and Japan d) China, Sri Lanka and United States 330. India on 13 June 2016 signed three bilateral agreements to strengthen co-operation with which country? a) China b) Vietnam c) Ghana d) Sweden 331. Which country launched the world's largest and most powerful vessel project 22220 dubbed Arktika? a) Russia b) Germany c) Ukraine d) France 332. The House of Commons of which country voted for gender neutral national anthem? a) Britain b) South Korea c) United States d) Canada 333. Who was adjudged as the Man of the Series of threematch One Day International (ODI) series between India and Zimbabwe?
a) Lokesh Rahul b) Yuzvendra Chahl c) Jasprit Bumrah d) Axar Patel 334. Which App was launched by Union Ministry of Human Resource Development for volunteer work at government schools? a) SuryaMitra b) RajVayu c) Vidyanjali d) Vidyashram 335. Name the American Literary Translator who passed away recently and worked on Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. a) David Ball b) Gregory Rabassa c) Armine Kotin Mortimer d) Peter Sean Woltemade 336. Name the second European country that ratified the Paris Agreement, a deal on curbing global warming reached in 2015 by 195 countries. a) Hungary b) Britain c) Germany d) France 337. Which Bank became the first Indian bank to get merged with its subsidiaries? a) Union Bank of India b) Oriental Bank of Commerce c) State Bank of India d) Central Bank of India 338. Which country's Court of Appeals upheld net-neutrality rules that prohibit broadband carriers from playing favourites or blocking competing online services? a) India b) United States c) Britain d) Germany 339. Name the scheme under which the Ramayana and Krishna Circuit will be developed in different states of India. a) Swadesh Darshan Scheme b) Prashad Scheme c) Scheme for Cultural Heritage of Himalayas d) None of the above 340. With which country's scientists Indian scientists will be associated in the project envisaged to release underwater robots into the Bay of Bengal to predict the Indian monsoon? a) The US b) Britain c) Germany d) France 341. Who was appointed as the Managing Director and Head of Institutional Banking of DBS Bank India? a) Lalit Mittal b) Niraj Mittal c) Joy Basu d) None of the above 342. Which state recently launched Child Labour Tracking
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System to keep a track of rescued child labour for their proper rehabilitation? a) Bihar b) Uttar Pradesh c) Assam d) Maharashtra 343. Name the island of Gujarat that was in news recently for getting power after 70 years of Independence. a) Pirotan b) Jamnagar c) Piram d) Shiyal Bet 344. Name the Hollywood actor who was recently appointed as the goodwill ambassador of UN Women. a) Anne Hathaway b) Angelina Jolie c) Emma Stone d) Jessica Alba 345. Identify the mammal that was recently declared extinct primarily due to human-induced climate change. a) Rattus norvegicus b) Kangaroo rodents c) Bramble Cay melomys d) Great Reef pure melomys 346. With which country India has collaborated in implementing 'Water4Crops' project? a) Japan b) European Union c) United States d) Israel 347. What is the mantra suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve tax administration in the country? a) RESPONSIVE b) RAPID c) PARDA d) PARDARSHI 348. Name the River of Maharashtra that will be made pollution free under 'Namami Chandrabhaga' project. a) Tapti b) Krishna c) Godavari d) Bhima 349. Name the instrument of NASA on its Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) that helped them to measure methane emissions from a single, specific leaking facility on Earth's surface. a) Lockheed L-1011 b) Mongoose-V microprocessor c) Beacon Monitor d) Hyperion spectrometer 350. Which national aquarium in United States announced its plan to develop an Oceanside dolphin sanctuary for marine mammals including dolphins? a) National Aquarium, Baltimore b) National Aquarium, Washington, DC c) UnderWater World Guam - Tumon d) Miami Seaquarium 351. Name the Indian-origin diplomat who was nominated as the American Ambassador to Malaysia in June 2016?
a) Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir b) Imran Yousuf c) Bharat Suresh Joshi d) Sayonara Luxton 352. Name the yesteryear Odia actress who passed away recently and was conferred with the prestigious Jayadev Purashkar in the year 2000. a) Suryamayee Mohapatra b) Megha Ghosh c) Yukttaa Rakshit d) Manimala Devi 353. Name the 41-year-old British woman MP from the opposition Labour Party who was killed after being shot and stabbed in her constituency in northern England. a) Constance Markievicz b) Jo Cox c) Nancy Astor d) Viscountess Astor 354. In which state the Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal launched the Ujala Scheme in June 2016? a) Goa b) Rajasthan c) Haryana d) Uttar Pradesh 355. Who was recently awarded the 2016 PEN Pinter Prize? a) Margaret Atwood b) Raif Badawi c) Jhumpa Lahiri d) Akhil Sharma 356. With which country did India signed two MoUs on capacity building for civil servants and centre of excellence in IT? a) Morocco b) Namibia c) South Africa d) Nigeria 357. Who became the third Indian in 100 years to get elected to the post of chief of Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce? a) Mukesh Ambani b) Ratan Tata c) Sunil Mittal d) Ajim Premji 358. Union Home Ministry approved the proposal of which state to form Central Marine Police Force? a) Maharashtra b) West Bengal c) Kerala d) Gujarat 359. What was the theme of the 2016 World Day to Combat Desertification, which was observed recently? a) Inclusive cooperation for achieving Land Degradation Neutrality b) Protect Earth. Restore Land. Engage People. c) Attainment of food security for all through sustainable food systems d) Conserving land and energy = Securing our common future 360. What was the slogan for the 2016 World Day to Combat Desertification, which was observed recently? a) Inclusive cooperation for achieving Land Degradation Neutrality b) Protect Earth. Restore Land. Engage People. c) Attainment of food security for all through sustainable food systems d) Conserving land and energy = Securing our common future 75 2
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361. What is the slogan for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games? a) Welcome home b) One world, one dream c) A New World d) Inspire a Generation 362. Name the former Indian football team coach who will be honoured with the Mohun Bagan Ratna. a) Stephen Constantine b) C.K. Vineeth c) Sanjoy Sen d) Syed Nayeemuddin 363. Name technology giant that was selected as the technical partner to build a mobile Application (app) for HRD's SWAYAM platform. a) Microsoft b) Infosys c) Tech Mahindra d) Reliance 364. Identify the fund that was floated by State Bank of India (SBI) to assist start-ups in the fintech space. a) Technology Development Fund b) IT Innovation Start-up Fund c) Innovation Development Fund d) None of these 365. In which inaugural ceremony did Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined, the five-point charter for tax administrators, RAPID? a) Duraiappah stadium b) Vidhyanjali Programme c) Rajasva Gyan Sangam d) None of these 366. Which country won Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London? a) India b) Pakistan c) Germany d) Australia 367. Name the Ministry that released a Yog Geet (Song) in connection with the celebration of International Day of Yoga–2016. a) Union Ministry of AYUSH b) Union Ministry of Home Affairs c) Union Ministry of HRD d) Union Ministry of Civil Aviation 368. With which country did India signed two MoUs on capacity building for its civil servants and to set up of centre of excellence in ICT-. a) Ivory Coast b) Namibia c) Kenya d) Fiji 369. Name the team that announced the detection of gravitational waves for the second time, the flexing of space and time caused by the black hole collision on 15 June 2016. a) ISRO team b) NASA team
c) LIGO team d) ESA team 370. Name the project that was published in Science Magazine with a proposal to synthesize entire human genome from scratch. a) Human Genome Project-Read (HGP- Read) b) Human Genome Project-Connect (HGP- Connect) c) Human Genome Project- Correct (HGP- Correct) d) Human Genome Project-Write (HGP-Write) 371. Name the draft policy that was released to encourage new technologies, methods and way-outs involving combined operation of wind and solar PV plants. a) National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy 2016 b) National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 c) National Power Hybrid Policy 2016 d) None of these 372. Who was appointed as Director General of Doordarshan on 15 June 2016? a) Aparna Vaish b) Supriya Sahu c) Sangeeta Goel d) Veer Jain 373. Name the city that replaced Hyderabad in smart city list of Telangana state. a) Warangal b) Khammam c) Karimnagar d) Mahbubnagar 374. Who won the 2016 European Grand Prix Formula 1 championship? a) Nico Rosberg b) Sebastian Vettel c) Lewis Hamilton d) Sergio Perez 375. Name of the Mobile application that was launched to enhance consumer connect with the Urban Power Distribution sector. a) URJA b) GARV c) Vidyut Pravah d) UJALA 376. Who won the 2016 US Open Golf Championship? a) Dustin Johnson b) Anirban Lahiri c) Lee Westwood d) Jeev Milkha Singh 377. Tata Advanced Systems and Boeing jointly laid the foundation of a new production facility in this city. a) Hyderabad b) Bengaluru c) Chennai d) Gurugram 378. This US-based university created World's first 'KiloCore' microchip containing 1000 independent programmable processors a) Massachusetts Institute of Technology b) Yale University c) Columbia University d) University of California 379. Name the players of Indian mixed recurve team that won
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silver at the 2016 Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey. a) Bombayla Devi and Atanu Das b) Laxmirani Majhi and Jayanta Talukdar c) Deepika Kumari and Mangal Singh Champia d) Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das 380. Name the special initiative that was launched by India and South Korea to promote and facilitate Korean Investments in India. a) Korea Plus b) Multiply Korea c) Korea in India d) None of the above 381. International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict that was observed on 19 June 2016 was adopted by UNGA via a resolution adopted in the year? a) 2009 b) 2011 c) 2013 d) 2015 382. World Refugee Day that was observed on 20 June 2016 was adopted by UNGA via a resolution adopted in the year? a) 1951 b) 1996 c) 2001 d) 2013 383. Name the Sri Lankan cricketer who was suspended from bowling due to illegal bowling action by International Cricket Council? a) Rangana Herath b) Shaminda Eranga c) Nuwan Pradeep d) Lasith Malinga 384. Which state announced free admission for Divyang students in government institutes? a) Assam b) Gujarat c) Bihar d) Uttar Pradesh 385. Which team won the National Basketball Association (NBA) title? a) Portland Trail Blazers b) Golden State Warriors c) Cleveland Cavaliers d) Buffalo Braves 386. Which Hybrid Electric Research Plane was unveiled by NASA in June 2016? a) S-62 b) B-78 c) X-57 d) F-42 387. Who was appointed as the President of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the term 2016-17? a) Dinesh B Patelb) Ashok P Patel c) Bipin R Patel d) Rohit J Patel 388. Name the village of Nepal after whom a Martian crater was named by the International Astronomical Union. a) Paslang b) Langtang c) Thame d) Bhaktapur 389. Name the populist anti-corruption Five Star Movement (M5S) activist who was elected as the first female mayor of Rome. a) Valeria Valenteb) Chiara Appendino
c) Giorgia Melonid) Virginia Raggi 390. Name of the Kannada movie that won best film award under the Asia New Talent Awards Category at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival. a) Thithi b) Kanche c) Sairat d) Gamyam 391. Identify the supercomputer that was declared as the fastest in the world by the TOP500 List? a) Tianhe-2 b) Sunway TaihuLight c) PARAM Yuva-II d) Titan 392. Which Indian Energy Company agreed to buy Welspun Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd for 1.4 billion US dollars? a) Essar Power b) Reliance Energy c) Lanco Infratech d) Tata Power 393. Name the state that has decided to establish model madarasas with modern education in every district. a) Bihar b) Rajasthan c) Himachal Prasdesh d) Assam 394. The TOP500 list declared SERC as the fastest supercomputer in India. It is located in a) IISc, Bangalore b) IIT-Delhi c) IIT-Kanpur d) C-DAC 395. Who headed the Expert committee that submitted its report on the Specific Relief Act, 1963 to Union Government? a) Amit Kapur b) Anand Desai c) Arghya Sengupta d) Neelima Babhade 396. Name the chemical whose use was banned as a food additive by Union Government. a) Potassium bromate b) Potassium iodate c) Potassium nitrate d) All of the above 397. Name the renowned politician-turned-educationalist and founder of the Sathyabama Engineering College who died recently? a) MG Ramachandran b) Jeppiaar c) Srinivasan Kr d) Satyachandaran 398. Which of the following state launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana? a) West Bengal b) Odisha c) Assam d) Andhra Pradesh 399. What is the name of world's First 1000-Processor Chip that was developed by University of California? a) KiloCore b) Chipset c) SwitchCore d) 486SX chip 400. Name the Volcano in Iceland dubbed as the Gateway to Hell that may explode in near future according to experts. a) Hekla b) Katla c) Eldgja d) Hengill 77 2
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401. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released a commemorative silver coin on the occasion of 300th Martyrdom Day of a Sikh General. Name him. a) Dilawar Singh Babbar b) Jaswant Singh Khalra c) Fateh Singh d) Banda Singh Bahadur 402. Which exoplanet, touted to be the youngest of all exoplanets, was discovered by NASA through Kepler Space Telescope and extended K2 mission? a) HATS-18b b) Kepler 452b c) 55 Canceri e d) K2-33b 403. Who of the following is part of Indian World War I heroes who became part of Britain's new digital archive? a) Risaldar Badlu Singh b) Sepoy Chatta Singh c) Naik Darwan Singh Negi d) All of the above 404. Union Government asked all state governments to link Aadhaar with caste and domicile certificates of school students studying in class a) Class V b) Class VI c) Class VII d) Class IX 405. Name the country whose satellite was not part of launch of 20 satellites in a single mission of ISRO. a) US b) Germany c) Canada d) Myanmar 406. The book 'Ace Against Odds' was in news recently. It is the autobiography of a) Sania Mirza b) Leander Paes c) Sania Nehwal d) Mahesh Bhupathi 407. Identify the former Indian diplomat who authored the book 'A Life in Diplomacy'? a) Shivshankar Menon b) M K Rasgotra c) Shyam Saran d) Natwar Singh 408. Which multilateral agency/agencies released the World Investment Report 2016? a) UNCTAD b) World Bank c) International Monetary Fund d) UNDP 409. As per the World Investment Report 2016, this country received maximum FDI in 2015? a) The USA b) India c) China d) Switzerland 410. As per the World Investment Report 2016, what was India's global ranking in 2015 in terms of FDI inflows? a) Seventh b) Eighth c) Ninth d) Tenth 411. Which State's postal circle on 2nd International Day of Yoga released Information booklet, “Stamps on Yoga” and
“stamps on Suryanamaskarams”? a) Telangana b) Andhra Pradesh c) Bihar d) Jammu & Kashmir 412. Max Life and Max Financial Services agreed to merge with which life insurance company? a) Bharti AXA b) ICICI Prudential c) HDFC Life d) Bajaj Allianz 413. What was the theme of International Yoga Day 2016? a) Yoga for Harmony and Peace b) Feed your Soul with Yog c) Connect the Youth d) Yoga: Inspiration for Joyful Living 414. Which State became the first Indian state to launch Mukh Mantri Hepatitis C Relief Fund? a) Maharashtra b) Haryana c) Punjab d) Tamil Nadu 415. Which Indian Bank was named in Hall of Shame list 2016 that listed Banks funding Cluster Bomb Makers? a) Union Bank of India b) Axis Bank c) State Bank of India d) HDFC Bank 416. Who of the following was adjudged as the Man of the Series of the three-match T20I series between India and Zimbabwe? a) Lokesh Rahul b) Yuzvendra Chahl c) Barinder Sran d) Kedar Jadhav 417. Name the Olympian and iconic long jumper from India who resigned as President of the Kerala Sports Council. a) Shiny Abraham b) Anju Bobby George c) Anjali Bhagwat d) KM Beenamol 418. Name the renowned Qawwal from Pakistan who was shot dead in Karachi, Pakistan. a) Ghulam Farid Sabri b) Amjad Sabri c) Aziz Mian d) Maqbool Ahmed Sabri 419. Who was recently appointed as the India Country Manager and MD of global payments platform PayPal? a) Anupam Pahuja b) Nikesh Arora c) Ken Miyauchi d) None of the above 420. What was the theme of the World Hydrography Day 2016 that was observed on 21 June 2016? a) Our seas and waterways - yet to be fully charted and explored b) Hydrography - the key to well-managed seas and waterways c) Hydrography - much more than just nautical charts d) Hydrography - underpinning the Blue Economy 421. Who was recently appointed the President and Chief Operating Officer of SoftBank Group? a) Anupam Pahuja b) Nikesh Arora 78 2
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c) Ken Miyauchi d) None of the above 422. As per Mercer's 2016 Cost of Living Survey, which of the following cities topped the list of most expensive cities? a) Hong Kong b) Zurich c) Johannesburg d) Mumbai 423. Name the professional footballer who recently was recognized as the leading goal scorer for Argentina. a) Sergio Aguero b) Carlos Tevez c) Gabriel Batistuta d) Lionel Messi 424. Which Indian Company acquired UK-based digital transformation firm The BIO Agency Ltd in June 2016? a) Reliance Infocom Ltd b) Tech Mahindra Ltd c) Infosys Ltd d) Wipro Limited 425. Name the Editor-in-Chief of Ananda Bazaar Patrika (ABP) who resigned in June 2016? a) Anirban Bhattacharya b) R Rajagopalan c) Aveek Sarkar d) Rajat Kapoor 426. Name the noted Telangana poet and lyricist who died in June 2016 and was famous for his song Ooru manadi ra, ee vada manadi ra. a) Dandepalli mandal b) Guda Anjaiah c) K Venkateshwar d) T Ragannagudem 427. Who resigned as the Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SoftBank Group (SBG) in June 2016? a) Masayoshi Son b) Tanmay Bharadwaj c) Nikesh Arora d) Moon Khetarpal 428. Which state on 21 June 2016 approved the minority status to Jew community? a) Gujarat b) Kerala c) Bengaluru d) Maharashtra 429. Which organisation released the India Development Update 2016: Financing Double-Digit Growth? a) International Monetary Fund b) United Nations Organisation c) World Bank Group d) Asian Development Bank 430. Name the country that on 23 June 2016 signed a ceasefire deal with rebels ending five decade conflict. a) Colombia b) Syria c) Ukraine d) Egypt 431. A group of scientists recently developed world's first 1000-processor computer chip. The chip has been named as a) KiloCore b) KiloChip c) CoreChip d) None of the above 432. What is the theme for the Day of the Seafarer 2016? a) Shipping: indispensable to the world
b) Sea For All c) All For Sea d) Over the Horizons 433. Who of the following won the Calder Memorial Trophy for the year 2015-16? a) Shayne Gostisbehere b) Connor McDavid c) Anthony Duclair d) Artemi Panarin 434. The Union Government launched first of its kind Pilot Programme in the country to run two wheelers on which of the following fuels? a) CNG b) LPG c) Biodiesel d) Propane 435. Indian ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni emulated the record of which cricketer of captaining the national team in 324 international matches? a) Stephen Fleming b) Ricky Ponting c) Graeme Smith d) Graham Gooch 436. International Olympic Committee denied wildcard entry to which boxer in Rio Olympic? a) George Foreman b) Adrien Broner c) MC Mary Kom d) Danny Garcia 437. Name the two Indian boxers who qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics in June 2016. a) MC Mary Kom and Shiv Thapa b) Vijender Singh and Shiv Thapa c) Manoj Kumar and Vikas Kirshnan d) Vikas Krishnan and Vijender Singh 438. Which Indian chess player won the best women's player award in the Eurasian Blitz chess tournament held in Kazakhstan? a) Tania Sachdev b) Koneru Humpy c) D Harika d) Padmini Rout 439. The pound sterling fell in value with Britain voting in favour of exiting European Union (EU). This was the lowest since which year? a) 1975 b) 1985 c) 1995 d) 2005 440. This Central Asian city hosted the 2016 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit. a) Tashkent b) Astana c) Bishkek d) Dushanbe 441. International Olympic Day 2016 was celebrated on this day. a) 25 June b) 24 June c) 23 June d) 22 June 442. Which State Government launched the NTR Anna Canteen Scheme to provide subsided food?
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a) Telangana b) Andhra Pradesh c) Kerala d) Tami Nadu 443. Identify the UK Prime Minister who announced resignation hours after the Brexit vote that called for leaving the European Union. a) Ed Miliband b) David Cameron c) Nicola Sturgeon d) Boris Johnson 444. With which country India signed a MoU to enhance cooperation in skill development sector? a) Germany b) Australia c) Switzerland d) Norway 445. The Country's Parliament unanimously passed the Right to Information (RTI) bill with amendments. a) India b) Sri Lanka c) Britain d) Pakistan 446. Name the South African Indian-origin lawyer and longtime human rights activist was appointed to chair a UN commission to monitor the human rights situation in South Sudan. a) Yasmin Sooka b) Godfrey Musila c) Kenneth Scott d) None of the above 447. The country banned its citizens from working in strife-torn Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Name it. a) Israel b) Sri Lanka c) Maldives d) Nepal 448. Union Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Centre will make a state as the hub of exporting petroleum products to South Eastern countries. Name the state. a) Assam b) Gujarat c) Andhra Pradesh d) Maharashtra 449. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the execution works in 20 smart cities from which city of India. a) Bombay b) Delhi c) Pune d) Chennai 450. The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) President and incumbent Jammu & Kashmir, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti won the Assembly by-poll from which place? a) Anantnag b) Beerwah c) Kupwara d) Sopore 451. The city where the first Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will be held is a) Beijing b) New Delhi c) Tokyo d) Kathmandu 452. Who of the following has authored the book, Half- Lion: How Narasimha Rao Transformed India?
a) Vinay Sitapati b) MK Rasgotra c) KP Mathur d) Neil Jordan 453. With Inclusion of India, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) became a group of how many nations? a) 29 b) 35 c) 48 d) 52 454. Which of the following team won the 2016 Copa America football tournament? a) Argentina b) Chile c) Costa Rica d) Brazil 455. International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was observed on 26 June 2016 with theme a) Drugs is not child's play b) Make health your 'new high' in life, not drugs c) Drugs: treatment works d) Listen First 456. International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict that was observed on 26 June 2016 was adopted by UNGA in the year? a) 1981 b) 1987 c) 1997 d) 2003 457. Who was awarded with Golden Glove award at the 2016 Copa America football tournament? a) Claudio Bravo b) Javier Mascherano c) Lionel Messi d) Alexis Sanchez 458. Which of the following films won the 2016 International Indian Film Academy Award for Best Film at the award ceremony held at Madrid, Spain? a) Piku b) Masaan c) Bajrangi Bhaijaan d) Bajirao Mastani 459. China recently launched its first Dark Sky Reserve in which of the following regions of Tibet? a) Lhasa b) Ngari Prefecture c) Nagqu Prefecture d) Shannan 460. Who was recently appointed by Nokia as the head of Indian market? a) Sanjay Malik b) Sandeep Girotra c) Vivek Bahri d) None of the above 461. Which one of the following countries remained neutral during the voting on India membership to 48-nation Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG)? a) China b) Brazil c) South Africa d) Turkey 462. Which one of the following states leads in providing skill training to urban poor as per a data released by the Union Ministry of Urban Development? a) Maharashtra b) Karnataka
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c) Tamil Nadu d) Gujarat 463. Name the state that declared that all natural calamities will be treated as state disaster. a) Maharashtra b) Bihar c) Odisha d) Uttar Pradesh 464. Who of the following won Iceland's presidential election? a) Halla Tomasdottir b) David Oddsson c) Gudni Johannesson d) Olafur Ragnar Grimsson 465. Which of the following is not the part of 5Cs contours of Payment Banks: Vision-2018 that was released by RBI in June 2016? a) Coverage b) Convenience c) Convergence d) Capability 466. Which of the following is not the part the strategic initiatives to achieve 5Cs of Payment Banks: Vision-2018 that was released by RBI in June 2016? a) Responsive regulation b) Robust infrastructure c) Effective supervision d) Customer Enhancement 467. Name the stronghold of the Islamic State (IS) terror group that was seized by the Iraqi army. a) Falluja b) Raqqa c) Mosul d) Misrata 468. Name the footballer who announced his retirement from international football. a) Lionel Messi b) Cristiano Ronaldo c) Neymar d) James Rodriguez 469. Name the founder of Titan Co Ltd who died in June 2016? a) Krishnamurthy Narayanan b) Xerxes Sapur Desai c) Bhaskar Bhat d) Nandan Nilekani 470. Which state Government launched Kalinga Siksha Sathi Yojana (KSSY)? a) Madhya Pradesh b) Maharashtra c) Odisha d) Kerala 471. Who was appointed as the CEO of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) in June 2016? a) Shaktikanta Das b) Sujoy Bose c) Arvind Chaudhary d) Kailash Yadav 472. Name the anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug designed for type 2 Diabetes mellitus that was released by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) a) BGR-56 b) BGR-34 c) BGR-20 d) BGR-11 473. Name the Indian social entrepreneur who was recently
named among the 2016 Local SDG Pioneers, which is a part of the United Nations Global Compact. a) Zubaida Bai b) Farzana Chowdhury c) Sonia Rao d) Rahul Sahay 474. Which of the following countries recently inaugurated world's first electric road? a) Germany b) Sweden c) Finland d) Britain 475. Which of the following countries was not elected as nonpermanent UNSC members by United Nations General Assembly? a) Ethiopia b) Bolivia c) Sweden d) Chad 476. Name the prominent Tamil saint poet whose statue was unveiled in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. a) Thiruvalluvar b) Subramania Bharati c) Kambar d) Bharathidasan 477. Name India's ace shooter who clinched the silver medal for India in men's 50-metre rifle 3 position event of the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Ajerbaijan. a) Sanjeev Rajput b) Gagan Narang c) Chain Singh d) Jitu Rai 478. Name the organisations/institutions that inked a MoU with Coal Supplying companies and Power Utilities for quality analysis of coal being supplied to power utilities by coal companies. a) CSIR and CIL b) CIMFR and CIL c) CSIR and CIMFR d) None of the above 479. Exercise Jalrahat for Flood Relief is a Joint Initiative of Armed Forces and which state? a) Assam b) Bihar c) Gujarat d) Uttarakhand 480. Who headed the 7th Pay Commission whose recommendations were approved by the Union Cabinet? a) Vivek Rae b) Ratin Roy c) Meena Agarwal d) AK Mathur 481. Who was recently appointed as the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India to succeed Harun R Khan? a) NS Vishwanathan b) S S Mundra c) Raghubar Desai d) None of the above 482. Which country was ranked 1st in the Human Capital Report 2016 released recently? a) Canada b) USA c) Finland c) Japan 483. Which country will host the 2019 Copa America football championship? a) Argentina b) Peru
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c) Uruguay d) Brazil 484. Which policy was approved by Union Cabinet in June 2016 to attract private sector in exploration of minerals? a) National Policy for the Exploitation of Mineral Resources b) National Mineral Exploration Policy c) Mineral Policy 2015 - Resurgent India d) Policies on Mining and Mineral based Industries 485. Name the Naga rebel leader who died in June 2016 and was chairman of Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah). a) Thuingaleng Muivah b) P Chuba Ozukum c) S S Khaplang d) Isak Chishi Swu 486. Who was appointed as the head of New Health Emergencies Programme by World Health Organisation (WHO) in June 2016? a) Peter Salama b) Samantha Power c) Sacha Llorenti d) John Ashe 487. The Indigenously developed Varunastra that was inducted in the Indian Navy is a a) Heavyweight Torpedo b) Anti-Submarine Warfare ships c) Submarine d) Airborne Missile 488. Zoological Survey of India's project on studying impact of climate change on animal world in the Himalayas will not be conducted in which state? a) West Bengal b) Himachal Pradesh c) Uttarakhand d) Jammu and Kashmir 489. Who was sworn in as Philippines' president? a) Jejomar Binay b) Leni Robredo c) Bongbong Marcos d) Rodrigo Duterte 490. Which country launched its second Shijian-16 series satellite? a) China b) Japan c) South Korea d) North Korea 491. Name the scheme of India Post under which an individual or a corporate entity can get their photo or logo printed inside the postage stamp. a) Stamp Me b) Print Stamp c) My Stamp d) None of the above 492. Name the state that has opened an exclusive Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF). a) Andhra Pradesh b) Telangana c) Karnataka d) Chhattisgarh 493. Name the Governor of Tripura who has taken the additional charge as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh
during JP Rajkhowa's absence due to leave. a) Keshari Nath Tripathi b) Ram Naik c) Padmanabha Acharya d) Tathagata Roy 494. The Reserve Bank of India recently announced to study which technology to reduce the use of paper currency? a) Blockchain b) Chainblock c) Swingchain d) None of the above 495. Who has been recently appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Suzuki Motor Corp? a) Osamu Suzukib) Toshihiro Suzuki c) Michio Suzuki d) None of the above 496. India successfully test fired a new surface-to-air missile, from an Integrated Test Range at Chandipur that was jointly made between India and a) Germany b) Israel c) Japan d) Russia 497. The women team of which country won record seventh Champions Trophy title of Hockey? a) Argentina b) India c) Australia d) Germany 498. US embassy launched a scholarship program for women of which country? a) Myanmar b) Afghanistan c) Sri Lanka d) Bangladesh 499. The first squadron of home-grown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was inducted into Indian Air Force (IAF) at the Aircraft System Testing Establishment in a) Bengaluru b) Sulur c) New Delhi d) Chandigarh 500. Name the journal that published the study that claims that the hole in the Earth's ozone layer over Antarctica is healing. a) Nature b) PLOS ONE c) Science d) Astrophysical Journal 501. Which Portal was launched by Railways Ministry for employees' grievances redressal? a) UPBHOGTA Portal b) NIVARAN portal c) SAMANVAY Portal d) SWAYAM Portal 502. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified rules for calculating Fair Market Value (FMV) of assets located in India under which Act? a) Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 b) Wealth tax Act, 1957 c) Customs Act, 1962 d) Income-tax Act, 1961
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503. The Union Minister for Human Resource Development Smriti Zubin Irani launched which web portal for District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs)? a) EasyShiksha b) Prashikshak c) Vidya Lakshmi d) Sakshat The Interim Administrative Cell of the International 504. Solar Alliance (ISA Cell) signed declaration to promote solar energy globally with which international organisation? a) United Nations b) International Monetary Funds c) World Bank d) Asian Development Bank Which state recorded the highest number of foreign 505. tourist visits in 2015 as per the data released by the Ministry of Tourism? a) Uttar Pradesh b) Maharashtra c) Tamil Nadu d) Kerala Which state recorded the highest number of domestic 506. tourist visits in 2015 as per the data released by the Ministry of Tourism? a) Uttar Pradesh b) Maharashtra c) Kerala d) Tamil Nadu 507. As per Supreme Court directive which of the following section of society is not included under the third gender category (transgender)? a) Eunuchs b) Bisexuals c) Jogappas d) Kothis 508. Name the famous futurist and author of the famous book Future Shock who died recently. a) Alvin Toffler b) Stanislaw Lem c) Mahdi Elmandjra d) Raymond Spencer Rodgers 509. Who was appointed as the Acting Director General of Police (DGP), Meghalaya? a) S K Jain b) Rajiv Mehta c) Mukul Sangma d) Raghvendra Awasthi 510. Up to what sum now the Minister-in-charge of the concerned ministry can now approve the non-plan expenditures? a) 150 crore rupees b) 250 crore rupees c) 400 crore rupees d) 500 crore rupees 511. Name the footballer who recently became the first Indian to play in Europa League. a) Gurpreet Singh Sandhu b) Sunil Chhetri c) Robin Singh d) Arnab Mondal 512. Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu recently
became the first Indian to play in Europa League. He was named in which of the following Norwegian clubs? a) Aalesund b) Sandefjord c) Stabaek d) Levanger 513. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports recently granted recognition to Paralympic Committee of India. Who is the President of the committee? a) S.P. Sanghwan b) Rao Inderjit Singh c) J. Chandrashekar d) Dinesh Kumar Upadhyay 514. A Rapid Rural Police Response System was recently launched in which of the following states? a) Haryana b) Bihar c) Punjab d) Maharashtra 515. The Exercise RIMPAC 2016 recently began at which of the following places? a) Hawaii b) California c) Bali d) Tokyo 516. The 2016 National Doctors' Day that was observed recently is observed to honour which of the following legendary physicians? a) Sushruta b) Ronald Ross c) Kadambini Ganguly d) Bidhan Chandra Roy 517. What is the theme of the Exercise RIMPAC 2016 that recently began at Hawaii? a) Competent, Adaptive, Partners b) Competent, Skilled, Partners c) Capable, Adaptive, Partners d) None of the above 518. Which of the following companies has become the official sponsor of Indian contingent to the Rio Olympics 2016? a) Coca-Cola b) Mother Dairy c) Cadbury d) Amul 519. Name the Pacific military exercise that recently commenced in Hawaii. a) Indra b) Exercise RIMPAC c) Exercise Capable, Adaptive, Partners d) None of the above 520. India has ranked at which position in the World Bank Group's Logistics Performance Index 2016? a) 54th b) 26th th c) 28 d) 35th 521. Which country has topped the Logistics Performance Index 2016 released by the World Group? a) Luxembourg b) Germany c) Sweden d) South Africa 522. Which state has recently banned e-cigarettes?
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a) Kerala b) Nagaland c) Assam d) Bihar 523. What was the theme of the 2016 International Day of Cooperatives that was observed recently? a) Driving Recovery through Co-operative Enterprise b) Co-operatives and Employment Promotion c) Peace-building through Co-operatives d) Co-operatives: The power to act for a sustainable future 524. Kerala government banned e-cigarette in the state. Which of the following was the first state of India to ban these electronic cigarettes? a) Kerala b) Punjab c) Maharashtra d) Karnataka 525. Name the state that signed an MoU with China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) Company to develop a new industrial township in the state at an expense of 5 billion dollar. a) Punjab b) Telangana c) Andhra Pradesh d) Haryana 526. Who of the following became the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the House of Representatives of Parliament of Australia? a) Neville Bonner b) Aden Ridgeway c) Linda Burney d) Joanna Lindgren 527. Name the Indian badminton player who won the 2016 Canada Open Grand Prix Badminton Men's Singles title. a) B Sai Praneeth b) B Sumeeth Reddy c) Manu Attri d) None of the above 528. Who won the 2016 Canada Open Grand Prix Badminton Men's Doubles title? a) Adrian Liu and Toby Ng b) Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy c) Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen d) None of the above 529. The first meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency commenced recently in which of the following cities? a) New Delhi b) Pune c) Mumbai d) Visakhapatnam 530. Which ministry is hosting the first meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency that commenced recently in Visakhapatnam? a) Union Power Ministry b) Ministry of External Affairs c) Ministry of Urban Development d) Ministry of Labour and Employment
531. Who won the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix that was held recently in Spielberg, Austria? a) Nico Rosberg b) Lewis Hamilton c) Max Verstappen d) Kimi Raikkonen 532. Name the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner who passed away recently. a) Klas Pontus Arnoldson b) Christian Lange c) Elie Wiesel d) Jane Addams 533. Name the Indian who has been posthumously conferred the Bharat Gaurav Award in London recently. a) Gagan Punjabib) Manish Malik c) Rakesh Kumar d) Neerja Bhanot 534. What is India's rank in Logistics Performance Index 2016 released by the World Bank? a) 54 b) 35 c) 25 d) 15 535. Which country topped the Logistics Performance Index 2016 released by the World Bank a) The United States b) China c) Germany d) Singapore 536. Which one of the following ministers was elevated to the rank of Cabinet Minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government? a) Kiren Rijiju b) Ram Shankar Katheria c) Prakash Javdekar d) Sanwar Lal Jat 537. Which one of the following minister was not dropped from the Council of Ministers during the recent reshuffle of the Union Cabinet? a) Nihalchand b) Manuskhbhai D Vasva c) M K Kundariya d) Kiren Rijiju 538. The Juno spacecraft which successfully entered the Jupiter orbit recently belonged to which space agency? a) National Aeronautics and Space Administration b) European Space Agency c) Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency d) China National Space Administration 539. Who was elected as the speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly? a) Kagodu Thimmappa b) JB Jayachandra c) KJ George d) KB Koliwad 540. Name the Indian para-athlete who won eight medal including three gold at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports U-23 World Games in Prague, Czech Republic. a) Niranjan Mukundan b) Devendra Jhajharia 84 2
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c) Rajinder Singh d) HN Girisha 541. Name the veteran communist leader and former World Peace Council president who passed away recently. a) Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao b) AB Bardhan c) Romesh Chandra d) KC Mathew 542. By 2020 Indian pharmaceutical market is expected to become the sixth largest in the world with a worth of a) 5 billion dollar b) 6 billion dollar c) 7 billion dollar d) 8 billion dollar 543. NASA recently gave its approval to New Horizons mission to investigate a mysterious object in Kuiper Belt. Name the mysterious object. a) 2014 MU69 b) 2014 MU68 c) 2015 MU69 d) 2014 MV69 544. Who recently took over as the Director of ISRO Inertial Systems Unit? a) Madhavan Nair b) Madhav Dhekane c) Shailesh Nayak d) None of the above 545. Name the Indian javeline thrower who set a new national record at the 56th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships. a) Suman Devi b) Sharmila Kumari c) Annu Rani d) None of the above 546. Name the Indian port that became first port in India to implement logistics data tagging of containers. a) Paradip Port b) Mormugao Port c) Tuticorin Port d) Jawaharlal Nehru Port 547. Name the first actress to play the role of Lois Lane in Superman who died recently. a) Noel Neill b) Claudette Colbert c) Barbara Stanwyck d) Jane Wyman 548. Name the footballer who recently was conferred Shan-EMohammedan. a) Mohammed Salim b) Prasun Banerjee c) Subrata Paul d) Bhaichung Bhutia 549. World's largest Charkha (spinning wheels) that was unveiled at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), New Delhi is made of the teak wood of which country? a) Burma b) Sri Lanka c) Nepal d) Ukraine 550. Union Cabinet approved MoU in the field of Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation approved with which country?
a) Mauritius b) Mozambique c) Portugal d) Tanzania 551. Name the NASA's spacecraft that recently entered Jupiter's orbit to understand the origin and evolution of the planet. a) Juno b) Cape Canaveral c) Galileo d) New Horizon 552. The Union Cabinet recently approved The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016 to be introduced in the Parliament. The bill will facilitate the changing of the names of which two high courts? a) Bombay High Court and Calcutta High Court b) Bombay High Court and Madras High Court c) Calcutta High Court and Madras High Court d) Bombay High Court and Gauhati High Court 553. Name the online healthcare start-up that recently acquired diagnostic labs aggregator Medd. a) Health 2.0 b) eKincare c) 1mg Technologies d) Medibox Technologies 554. The Union Cabinet recently approved which of the following scheme for providing short term crop loan to farmers? a) Dividends Subvention Scheme b) Interest Subvention Plan c) Interest Subvention Scheme d) None of the above 555. Which one of the following minister was given the Defence portfolio as Ministers of state in the Council of Ministers during the recent reshuffle of the Union Cabinet? a) Nihalchand b) Manuskhbhai D Vasva c) MK Kundariya d) Subhash Ramrao Bhamre 556. Union Cabinet in 5 July 2016 approved redevelopment of seven General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) colonies in which city of India? a) Mumbai b) Bangalore c) Delhi d) Shimla 557. Name the state that approved the proposal of levying 6% entry tax on goods brought to local areas for consumption after purchase under e-commerce. a) Delhi b) Madhya Pradesh c) Chhattisgarh d) Karnataka 558. Dunya Maumoon resigned as Foreign minister of which country over government's hasty decision to implement the death penalty? a) Maldives' b) China c) Indonesia d) Ukraine 559. India's first commercial dispute resolution centre and
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commercial court was inaugurated in which state? a) Chhattisgarh b) Delhi c) Punjab d) Andhra Pradesh 560. Name the two-wheeler maker that inked a wage settlement pact with its permanent workers at its Gurgaon Plant, entailing a hike of 12500 rupees spread over three years. a) Bajaj Auto b) India Yamaha Motor c) TVS Motor Company d) Hero MotoCorp Ltd 561. Name the noted music director who co-composed in many films with his uncle including Mahua who died in Mumbai. a) Om Prakash Sonik b) Master Sonik c) Mahendra Kapoor d) None of the above 562. Name the South African writer who won the 2016 Caine Prize? a) Lesley Nneka Arimah b) Tope Folarin c) Bongani Kona d) Lidudumalingani Mqombothi 563. The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) unveiled India's first Centre of Excellence focused on Internet of Things (CoE- IoT) at which place? a) Delhi b) Pune c) Bengaluru d) Chandigarh 564. Which Paris-based startup was acquired by Google in July 2016? a) Cloudhopper b) Moodstocks c) Hotspots.io d) ZipDial 565. Who was re-elected as the Chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council? a) Jayant Pati b) Vasant Davkare c) Ravindra Phatak d) Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar 566. Which bank launched India's first full-fledged digital banking service for small-and medium enterprises? a) HDFC Bank b) State Bank of India c) Bank of Baroda d) ICICI Bank 567. Which of the following country signed the controversial “anti-terrorist” legislation adopted by the lower and upper houses of parliament in June 2016? a) Russia b) France c) Germany d) United States 568. Which of the following state launched the second phase of Haritha Haram programme of government in the state? a) Telangana b) Andhra Pradesh c) Gujarat d) Jharkhand 569. Name the state government that has decided to conduct a
'Smart Pulse Survey' for collecting socio-economic data of 1.48 crore households in the state? a) Gujarat b) Telangana c) Andhra Pradesh d) Jharkhand 570. Identify the Indian artistic gymnast who was named a 'Gymnaste de Classe Mondaile' (World class gymnast) by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). a) Payel Bhattacharjee b) Dipa Karmakar c) Pranati Das d) Meenakshi 571. Name the state that in July 2016 expanded its Council of Ministers by inducting 10 new faces in his cabinet. a) Maharashtra b) Gujarat c) Delhi d) Bihar 572. Which European city hosted the NATO Summit 2016? a) Warsaw b) Berlin c) London d) Paris 573. The 2nd Anti-Drug Working Group meeting of Heads of Drug Control Agencies of BRICS countries was held in a) Mumbai b) Kolkata c) Hyderabad d) New Delhi 574. The Odisha Government decided to double the prize money of UNESCO Kalinga Prize to a) 30000 US dollars b) 40000 US dollars c) 50000 US dollars d) 60000 US dollars 575. Which Indian city is hosting the Woodpecker Environment and Wildlife Film Festival? a) Mumbai b) Varanasi c) Shimla d) New Delhi 576. It is with this country India jointly announced MoUs/Programme in four areas of bilateral cooperation. a) Brazil b) Germany c) South Africa d) Canada 577. Which State Government announced 14.5% fat tax on pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and tacos sold through branded outlets? a) Maharashtra b) Kerala c) Andhra Pradesh d) Punjab 578. Recently, a team of international astronomers for the first time have sighted a Jovian planet orbiting a triple star system. The planet has been named as a) HD 131399Ab b) HD 131399Bc c) HD 131399Cdd) HD 131399De 579. In which of the following Oceans the Typhoon Nepartak originated recently? a) Arctic Ocean b) Pacific Ocean c) Indian Ocean d) Atlantic Ocean 580. Which country is organizing international industrial
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exhibition - INNOPROM 2016? a) China b) Germany c) Russia d) India 581. Which State/UT Government approved the new Slum and Jhuggi-Jhopdi rehabilitation policy? a) Delhi b) Uttar Pradesh c) Bihar d) Puducherry 582. Who was appointed as the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA)? a) NS Vishwanathan b) Sujoy Bose c) Madhav Dekhane d) S K Kohli 583. Which country won the Euro UEFA 2016 football tournament? a) Portugal b) France c) Germany d) Italy 584. Who of the following won the men's singles title of 2016 Wimbledon? a) Roger Federer b) Milos Raonic c) Andy Murray d) Novak Djokovic 585. Who of the following won the women's doubles title of 2016 Wimbledon? a) Serena Williams and Venus Williams b) Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova c) Sania MIrza and Martina Hingis d) Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic 586. Who of the following won the women's singles title of 2016 Wimbledon? a) Angelique Kerber b) Venus Williams c) Serena Williams d) Yaroslava Shvedova 587. Who was sworn-in as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh? a) Tathagata Roy b) Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa c) Keshari Nath Tripathi d) Ram Naik 588. Who recently was endorsed by Nepal's Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? a) Sushila Karki b) Kalyan Shrestha c) Sushila Shrestha d) None of the above 589. Who recently was selected for the 2016 International Maritime Organization Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea? a) Christopher Leon b) Radhika Menon c) Sushila Karki d) None of the above 590. Who won the 2016 British Grand Prix title of Formula One? a) Max Verstappen b) Nico Rosberg c) Lewis Hamilton d) Sebastian Vettel
591. Name the first professional full-time football coach of India who died recently. a) Syed Abdul Rahim b) Stephen Dutt c) Amal Dasgupta d) Amal Dutta 592. What is the theme of the 2016 World Population Day? a) Investing in teenage girls b) Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies c) Investing in girls d) None of the above 593. Which of the following cities will host the 2020 European Aquatics Championships? a) Amsterdam b) Budapest c) Berlin d) Copenhagen 594. Who of the following was conferred the 51st Jnanpith Award by President Pranab Mukherjee? a) Bhalchandra Vanaji Nemade b) Kedarnath Singh c) Pratibha Ray d) Raghuveer Chaudhari 595. Which of the following statements in regard to the agreements that were signed between India and Kenya during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit is/are true? a) Revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) b) Bilateral agreement on exemption of Visa for holders of Diplomatic passports c) MoU on Defence Cooperation d) Agreement on Cooperation in Arts and Culture 596. Name the nationwide fortnightly programme that was recently launched by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. a) Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight b) Intensified Dengue Control Fortnight c) Intensified Malaria Control Fortnight d) None of the above 597. Who has been appointed as the full-time Chairman of Oil India Ltd.? a) P K Sinha b) Utpal Bora c) D Rajkumar d) S Varadarajan 598. Who has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited? a) B P Tayal b) Utpal Bora c) Sanjay Gupta d) None of the above 599. Who recently was chosen for the Advertising Agencies Association of India Lifetime Achievement Award? a) R.K. Swamy b) Swamy Hansa c) M.G. Parameswaran d) Srinivasan K. Swamy 600. Former sportsperson Amal Datta passed away recently.
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He was associated with which of the following sports? a) Cricket b) Hockey c) Football d) Polo 601. Who of the following is not part of Indian sportsperson who qualified for Rio Olympics on 11 July 2016? a) Renjith Maheswary b) Anirban Lahiri c) Dharambir Singh d) Mary Kom 602. Which of the following was not part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit during his tour to four African nations? a) Kenya b) Tanzania c) Botswana d) South Africa 603. Name the state that in July 2016 tried to set a world record by planting more than five crore saplings in just ten hours. a) Madhya Pradesh b) Uttar Pradesh c) Bihar d) Telangana 604. Who of the following was the Delhi High Court-appointed observer that submitted its report on Delhi and Districts Cricket Association's functioning during this year's IPL with its observation?' a) Justice Mukul Mudgal b) C K Khanna c) Justice Mirza Imtiyaz d) Anand Desai 605. The biography 'Ringside with Vijender' has been authored by a) Rudraneil Sengupta b) Tarana Khan c) Amal Singh d) Aruna Dhir 606. Permanent Court of Arbitration gave the judgment in favour of the Philippines in the ongoing South China Sea dispute. In this context, which one of the following countries is not party to the dispute? a) Vietnam b) Cambodia c) Myanmar d) Indonesia 607. Which bank acquired the Tamil Nadu-based micro finance company Grama Vidiyal which is touted to be the first such acquisition of a micro finance company by a bank? a) Bandhan Bankb) IDFC Bank c) Yes Bank d) ICICI Bank 608. What is the rank of India in the recently released ICC Test rankings? a) First b) Second c) Third d) Fourth 609. Which Indian cricketer topped the list of all-rounder in the recently released ICC rankings? a) Ravindra Jadeja b) Hardik Pandya c) Ravichandran Ashwin d) Yuvraj Singh 610. Which celebrity topped the list of the World's Highest-
Paid Celebrities of 2016 released by Forbes? a) Taylor Swift b) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. c) James Patterson d) Adele 611. Which of the following Indian celebrities is included in the list of World's Highest-Paid Celebrities of 2016 released by Forbes? a) Salman Khan b) Akshay Kumar c) Priyanka Chopra d) Shekhar Kapur 612. The State Bank of India signed a MoU with which of the following IITs to promote fintech start-ups? a) IIT Lucknow b) IIT Kharagpur c) IIT Delhi d) IIT Bombay 613. India and Bangladesh has recently signed a deal for the construction of coal fired power plant. What is the name of the proposed plant? a) Rampal Power Station b) Kuakata Power Station c) Khulna Power Station d) Ravi Power Station 614. Who recently was appointed the Chief of Congress party in the state of Uttar Pradesh? a) Sheila Dikshit b) Priyanka Vadra c) Raj Babbar d) Ghulam Nabi Azad 615. What is the percentage growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in May 2016 over the period May 2015? a) 1.3 b) 1.4 c) 1.0 d) 1.2 616. Who was given the charge of Union Ministry of Minority Affairs following the resignation of Najma Hepatullah? a) Asifa Khan b) Syed Shahnawaz Hussain c) MJ Akbar d) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi 617. The Centre recently set up a task force comprising senior officers of Border States and paramilitary forces to identify cross border crimes along which internation border? a) Indo-Bangladesh border b) Indo-Pakistan border c) India-Sri Lanka border d) India-Burma border 618. What is the name of the operation that was started to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in South Sudan's capital Juba? (a) Raahat (b) Maitri (c) Checkmate (d) Sankat Mochan 619. Which of the following is not part of the defunct fertiliser units whose revival was approved by Union Cabinet in July 2016? (a) Sindri (b) Barauni
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(c) Gorakhpur (d) Namrup 620. Who of the following was appointed as the second women Prime Minister of United Kingdom? (a) Ruth Davidson (b) Theresa May (c) Andrea Leadsom (d) Nicola Sturgeon 621. Name the historian and author of the famous book 'The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community' who died recently. (a) A.J.P Taylor (b) Eric Hobsbawn (c) William H McNeill (d) Michael King 622. Recently CCEA gave its approval for disinvestment of how much percent of paid up equity of National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC)? (a) 10% (b) 15% (c) 12% (d) 5% 623. Who of the following will head the high-level committee that was constituted to review the minimum support price (MSP) and bonus for pulses? a) Arvind Subramanian b) Anand Desai c) NK Singh d) Prakash Singh 624. Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari left to which country to lead the Indian delegation for the 11th Asia Europe Meeting? a) Mongolia b) Istanbul c) France d) Germany 625. Who was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) in July 2016? a) Ashok Patnaik b) Ravendra Pratap c) Ashutosh Mukherjee d) Shyam Singhal 626. The Union Cabinet in July 2016 approved which scheme to impart fresh training to 60 lakh youths and certify skills of 40 lakh persons acquired non-formally under the Recognition of Prior Learning? a) Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana b) Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana c) Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana d) Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 627. Union Cabinet approved the facilities extended to persons residing in India on long-term visa of certain countries. Which of the following country is not part of this? a) Bangladesh b) Afghanistan c) Pakistan d) Nepal 628. Which train clocked the speed of 180km/hour to become the fastest train in India? a) Gatimaan Express b) Bhopal Shatabdi Express c) Talgo train d) Tejas Express 629. The Department of Posts and Telegraph in association
with which state will deliver holy water, Pushkara jalam, of Krishna River in a bottle to facilitate the devotees who cannot make it possible to attend the approaching Krishna Pushkaralu? a) Telangana b) Maharashtra c) Tamil Nadu d) Andhra Pradesh 630. Which country declared Zika emergency across northern half of the country? a) Brazil b) Peru c) Argentina d) Chile 631. Name the cricketer who became the oldest captain to score a century in a Test match. a) Misbah-ul-Haq b) AB de Villiers c) MS Dhoni d) Steve Smith 632. Name India's Grand Master who won the Fide Women's Grand Prix trophy in Chendu, China. a) Olga Girya b) Koneru Humpy c) Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi d) Harika Dronavalli 633. Name the author of the book titled 'Who Moved My Interest Rate'? a) Raghuram Rajan b) Duvvuri Subbarao c) Y. V. Reddy d) C. Rangarajan 634. Who was recently appointed the Chairman-cumManaging Director of the Jute Corporation of India Limited? a) Y V Murthy b) C. Rangarajan c) K V R Murthy d) None of the above 635. Who headed the SC-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money that submitted its fifth report to the apex court? a) MC Joshi b) Justice MB Shah c) Justice Rajinder Sachar d) Ram Jethmalani 636. Which country was declared as Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus free in July 2016 by the World Health Organization (WHO)? a) Malaysia b) China c) India d) Nepal 637. What was the theme of the World Youth Skills Day 2016? a) Youth skills for work and life in the post-2015 agenda b) Skills Development to Improve Youth Employment c) Youth Employment through Skill Development d) Skilling Youth for Sustainable Goals 638. Who was appointed as the Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in July 2016? a) Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi b) Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur c) Satbir Bedi d) Kailash Singh Yadav
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639. Nasdaq-listed Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corp (TRTL) in July 2016 acquired which Indian travel agency? a) Make My Trip b) TripAdvisor c) Yatra Online d) Expedia.com 640. The SC-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money in its fifth report recommended ban on cash transactions above what limit? a) 1 lakh rupees b) 3 lakh rupees c) 5 lakh rupees d) 10 lakh rupees 641. India in July 2016 signed 100 Million US dollar Loan for Cauvery Delta project in Tamil Nadu with which organisation? a) International Monetary Fund b) World Bank c) United Nations d) Asian Development Bank 642. The SC-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money in its fifth report suggested capping the cash holding of an industry or individual up to what amount? a) 10 lakh rupees b) 15 lakh rupees c) 18 lakh rupees d) 20 lakh rupees 643. The Rare Marbled Map butterfly (Cyrestis cocles) was sighted in Eastern Ghats of which state? a) Odisha b) Tamil Nadu c) Karnataka d) Andhra Pradesh 644. Who of the following will head the RBI constituted inter regulatory Working Group that will study the entire gamut of regulatory issues relating to Fin Tech and Digital Banking in India? a) Nitin Chugh b) AS Ramasastri c) Sudarshan Sen d) Sarat Kumar Malik 645. Which country faced a failed military coup wherein at least 90 people were killed and over 1500 soldiers were detained by a military faction? a) Afghanistan b) Pakistan c) Turkey d) Nigeria 646. In last two years by what magnitude the electricity generation capacity increased in India? a) 46000 MW b) 45000 MW c) 35000 MW d) 36000 MW 647. Which two countries agreed on concrete steps to save the failing Syrian ceasefire? a) The US and Syria b) Syria and Saudi Arabia c) Saudi Arabia and the US d) The US and Russia 648. The Ulaanbaatar Declaration issued recently relates to
which international summit? a) 27th APEC Summit b) 7th BRICS Summit c) 11th ASEM Summit d) 45th NATO Summit 649. Which day was designated as ASEM Day at the recently concluded Asia-Europe Summit in Mongolia? a) 1 May b) 1 March c) 1 April d) 1 June 650. Which historical site in Bihar was declared as the UNESCO's World Heritage Site? a) Bodh Gaya b) Rohtas Fort c) Nalanda Mahavihara d) Vikramasila Monastery 651. In which state the Ramayana month is celebrated in the month of July and August every year? a) Tamil Nadu b) Kerala c) Karnataka d) Andhra Pradesh 652. What is the rank of India football team in the recently released FIFA World rankings? a) 151 b) 162 c) 163 d) 152 653. What is the name of the website launched by Union Government with a view to share the impact of various governance initiatives with citizens in real-time? a) Reaching Last Mile b) Transforming India c) Rejuvenating India d) Door-to-Door India 654. As per the Census 2011, what percentage of disable population in India is literate? a) 51.5 b) 52.5 c) 53.5 d) 54.5 655. With which State did Ministry of Railways in July 2016 signed a Joint Venture Agreement to expand railway network in the State? a) Arunachal Pradesh b) Rajasthan c) Haryana d) Uttarakhand 656. Which state became the first state in India to start a Happiness Department? a) Rajasthan b) Madhya Pradesh c) Uttar Pradesh d) Haryana 657. What is the name of the autobiography of NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin – the second man to land on moon? a) Riding Rockets b) First Man c) The Last Man on the Moon d) No Dream is Too High 658. Who of the following was appointed as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh in July 2016? a) Kalikho Pul b) Pema Khandu c) Tataghata Roy d) Nabam Tuki
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659. India's boxing star Vijender Singh defeated whom to lift the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title at Thyagraj Stadium, New Delhi? a) Andrzej Soldra b) Samet Hyuseinov c) Sonny Whiting d) Kerry Hope 660. Name the Turkish musician who was appointed as the UNESCO Artist for Peace by the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova. a) Markus Stockhausen b) Kudsi Erguner c) Suleyman Erguner d) Nezih Uzel 661. Who of the following won the 73rd Senior National Squash Championship in the women's segment? a) Dipika Pallikal b) Joshna Chinappa c) Bhuvneshwari Kumari d) Anaka Alankamony 662. Who of the following won the 73rd Senior National Squash Championship in the men's segment? a) Harinderpal Singh Sandhu b) Ritwik Bhattacharya c) Saurav Ghosal d) Siddharth Suchde 663. Which website was launched by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in July 2016 to facilitate two-way communication between the government and citizens? a) Skill India Online b) Transforming India c) MyGov.in d) Citizen Portal 664. When is the Nelson Mandela International Day observed every year? a) 2 May b) 19 October c) 26 August d) 18 July 665. Which system was developed by Indian Railways for enhancing the vision of Locomotive Pilots in inclement weather in July 2016? a) SMRT Trains System b) TBOGI system c) TRI-NETRA system d) Spot Your Train 666. Who was appointed as the Chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI) in July 2016? a) Nilamani Sahoo b) Vimal Gupta c) Manoj Prabhakar d) Guruprasad Mohapatra 667. Which country has called for a free trade deal with Britain following its exit from the European Union? a) Australia b) France c) The US d) India 668. Name India's site that was listed in UNESCO's world Heritage sites in mixed category in July 2016. a) khangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim b) Complexe du Capitole, Chandigarh c) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus d) Mountain Railways of India
669. Name India's site that was listed in UNESCO's world Heritage sites in transnational category in July 2016. a) Elephanta Caves b) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus c) khangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim d) Complexe du Capitole, Chandigarh 670. India's first multi city marathon that was flagged off after a ceremony at the Amar Jawan Jyoti is named as. a) India Runs b) United India c) Great India Run d) None of the above 671. Almost a quarter of a million children in parts of Borno state formerly controlled by Boko Haram are suffering from severe malnutrition. Borno is located in which of the following country? a) Congo b) Egypt c) Nigeria d) Mali 672. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has called for a ban on all Russian competitors and officials at the upcoming Rio Olympics and other international sports on the basis of the Investigation Report of whom of the following? a) Richard McLaren b) Grigory Rodchenkov c) Taylor Branch d) Jerry Sandusky 673. Name the rider who won the 5th Red Bull Romaniacs title. a) Graham Jarvis b) Jonny Walker c) Andreas Lettenbichler d) Cyril Despres 674. Name the multinational telecommunications company that recently agreed to acquire the U.K. based semiconductor firm ARM Holdings. a) Bharti Airtel b) Verizon c) Softbank d) Telstra 675. Name the Ayurvedic medicine manufacturer that recently inked a MoU with DRDO's Defence Institute of High Altitude Research to promote cultivation of rare medicinal plants. a) Shri Baidyanath b) Zandu Pharmaceutical Works c) The Himalaya Drug Company d) Dabur India Ltd. 676. Name the country that signed a MoU with Uttar Pradesh government to set up a skill development centre to help farmers. a) The Netherlands b) France c) England d) Russia 677. The recommendation of Lodha Committee on BCCI reforms that was accepted by Supreme Court bars people above which age from being member of BCCI? a) 60 b) 65 c) 70 d) 75 678. Who was appointed as the Chief Economist of World Bank
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in July 2016? a) Justin Yifu Lin b) François Bourguignon c) Nicholas H Stern d) Paul Romer 679. India's first e-court was opened in July 2016 at which High Court? a) Madras High Court b) Hyderabad High Court c) Rajasthan High Court d) Punjab High Court 680. Who was appointed as the Vice-President-Finance for India and South West Asia of Coca-Cola in July 2016? a) Sarvita Sethi b) Sanjeev Kumar c) Venkatesh Kini d) Manoj Prabhakar 681. Name the Indian-origin former Singapore President who was conferred with the Outstanding Member of the South Asian Diaspora award 2016? a) Subadhra Devi Rai b) S R Nathan c) Ron Chandran-Dudley d) Gopinath Pillai 682. Which state government has planned to create 400 hectares of new water area in private land in 2016? a) Odisha b) Jharkhand c) Kerala d) Pondicherry 683. Which of the following statements about the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012 is true that was passed by Rajya Sabha? a) It prohibits employment of children below 14 years in all occupation b) It aligns the 1986 Act with Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 c) It defines children between age group of 13 to 17 years as adolescents d) Union Government can either add or omit any hazardous occupation from the list included 684. Name the state that has decided to celebrate the bicentenary (200 years) of the 1817 Paika revolt against the British Empire in 2016. a) Telangana b) Odisha c) Gujarat d) Tamil Nadu 685. Name the country whose scientists said that it will conduct the world's first Zika vaccine test on humans. a) Canada b) United States c) France d) Britain 686. Name the former Indian hockey player and part of the team that won gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, who died recently. a) Mohammed Shahid b) Abdul Shahid c) Mohammed Shehzad d) Joe Antic 687. Who was recently awarded with the BBC World Service News Komla Dumor Award for 2016?
a) Nancy Kacungira b) Didi Akinyelure c) Dele Olejede d) None of the above 688. Who recently became the first Indian to win the Mr World title? a) Prateik Jain b) Taher Ali c) Rohit Khandelwal d) Inder Bajwa 689. Who was appointed the Managing Director of 2019 Cricket World Cup? a) Colin Graves b) Ian Lovett c) Peter Wright d) Steve Elworthy 690. Who was appointed as the Digital Ambassador of Axis Bank's new product named Multi-Currency Forex Card? a) Purab Kohli b) Upen Patel c) Rannvijay Singh d) Anushka Sharma 691. Name the country that in July 2016 formally announced its wish to rejoin the African Union (AU) 32 years after leaving the organisation. a) Sudan b) Morocco c) Djibouti d) Niger 692. MPs of which country backed in Parliament the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system? a) Israel b) United Kingdom c) France d) North Korea 693. Who of the following officially clinched the Republican nomination for the US President after a state-by-state vote at the Party Convention? a) Ted Cruz b) Bernie Sanders c) Donald Trump d) Hillary Rodham Clinton 694. Who of the following was elected as President of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA)? a) Imran Ansari b) Farooq Abdullah c) Abdul Wahid Tanveer d) Parvez Rasool 695. Name the state whose three cadre IAS officers were empanelled in the rank of the Union Secretary at a time for the first time. a) Telangana b) Gujarat c) Tamil Nadu d) Odisha 696. CCEA in July 2016 approved construction of a new dry dock within which of the following shipyard? a) Mazagon b) Cochin c) Goa d) Hooghly 697. Name the country that in 2016 declared a three-month state of emergency in the country. a) Turkey b) Syria c) Iraq d) North Korea 698. India in July 2016 signed the Air Services Agreement for the first time with which country? a) Ghana b) Mozambique c) Vietnam d) Tunisia
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699. Name the oldest and last litigant of the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri title suit, who died due to heartrelated complications in the temple city of Ayodhya. a) Mohammad Farooq b) Ashhad Rashidi c) Hashim Ansari d) Mufti Hasbullah 700. Union Cabinet approved the incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) under the Companies Act of which year? a) 1956 b) 2008 c) 2013 d) 2014 701. IMF in its revised global economic growth forecast for 2017 lowered world economy growth by what percentage point? a) 0.1 percentage point b) 0.2 percentage point c) 0.9 percentage point d) 1 percentage point 702. Which state/UT introduced an online payment system for licensing and registration of food business operators in the national capital? a) Delhi b) Bihar c) Karnataka d) Punjab 703. Name the state that convened a special session of the Assembly for passing the State Appropriation Bill. a) Uttarakhand b) Arunachal Pradesh c) Kerala d) Bihar 704. Name the state that has decided to consider coffee plantation in 50 thousand hectares of land in the State by 2030. a) Assam b) Kerala c) Tamil Nadu d) Nagaland 705. Who of the following is the author of book, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable? a) Amitav Ghosh b) Vikram Seth c) Amish Tripathi d) Amit Chaudhuri 706. NITI Aayog signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with which organisation to start the Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL) initiative as a part of its flagship programme Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). a) Tech Mahindra b) Intel India c) Infosys d) Tata Consultancy Services 707. The Election Commission of India recently launched NERP 2016 programme across the country. What is the full form of NERP? a) National Electoral Roll Purification b) Nationwide Electoral Roll Purification c) Nation Electoral Roll Purification d) Nationalised Electoral Roll Purification 708. What is the motto of the Election Commission of India for the year 2016? a) Voter keeps the nation united
b) No voter to be left behind c) Vote for united India d) None of the above 709. Who has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Unique Identification Authority of India? a) Vijay Bhushan Pandey b) Ajay Bhushan Pandey c) Jay Bhushan Pandey d) None of the above 710. Which State government constituted a State Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (STAGI) in July 2016? a) Odisha b) Tamil Nadu c) Kerala d) West Bengal 711. Which Company topped the 2016 Fortune 500 list of the world's biggest firms that was released on 21 July 2016? a) China National Petroleum b) Sinopec Group c) Walmart d) State Grid 712. Which Indian Company got the highest ranking in the 2016 Fortune 500 list of the world's biggest firms that was released on 21 July 2016? a) State Bank of India b) Oil and Natural Gas Corp c) Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd d) Indian Oil Corporation 713. Name the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox News Channel who resigned in July 2016? a) Rupert Murdochb) Bill O'Reilly c) Roger Aile d) Chris Wallace 714. Which country topped the inaugural Sustainable Development Goal Index (SDG Index) that was released recently? a) Sweden b) Denmark c) Finland d) Australia 715. What was the rank of India in the recently released inaugural Sustainable Development Goal Index (SDG Index)? a) 110 b) 112 c) 113 d) 114 716. Who will head the committee constituted to prepare a draft plan on Ganga river? a) Justice (retd) MB Shah b) Justice (retd) Girdhar Malviya c) Justice (retd) Bhupendra Yadav d) Justice (retd) SK Das 717. Odisha govt formed a judicial panel for reforms in Jagannath temple management which will be headed by a) Justice (retd) Bimal Prasad Das b) Justice (retd) Girdhar Malviya c) Justice (retd) Bhupendra Yadav d) Justice (retd) SK Das 93 2
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