2016-06-19

1.          Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the country's first solar powered e-boats at the Assi Ghat in the river Ganga, Varanasi.

2.          Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) at Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. It will benefit the poor, especially the women. The scheme aims to provide cooking gas connections to five crore below-poverty-line beneficiaries over the next three years.

3.          Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched a special drive 'One Employee-One EPF' to encourage EPF members to consolidate their multiple accounts.

4.          All four Southern languages - Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia are now the classical languages of India.

5.          India and New Zealand has signed a bilateral air services agreement that would facilitate the operation of direct flights between two countries. The deal was signed in the presence of the President Pranab Mukherjee, who was on a three-day state visit to New Zealand and the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

6.          National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has entered into collaboration with German government for a special programme on 'Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security'. The programme is part of the German government's recently introduced special initiative 'One World, No Hunger' initiative.



7.          Paytm, India's largest mobile payments has partnered with the Wipro ltd, an IT services major, to implement technology infrastructure for its upcoming Payment bank business.

8.          Airtel, the enterprise arm of Bharti Airtel and networking player GBI has announced the partnership to increase its direct reach in West Asian countries.

9.          IT services company Wipro has inaugurated Saudi Arabia's first all women business and technology park (WBP) at the Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh.

10.      Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence has received 15 new industrial licences to manufacture a range of defence equipment.

11.      The Jammu and Kashmir government has signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi for setting up an IIT in Jammu.

12.      Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has reportedly confirmed that he created digital payment system bitcoins and provided technical proof for his claims.

13.      1982 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh Cadre Ajay Mittal took charge as the Information and Broadcasting Secretary. He succeeded Sunil Arora.

14.      The Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg has won the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. It's his fourth-straight win of this season.

15.      Star Indian pugilist Vijender Singh recorded his 5th consecutive victory in Professional Boxing. He defeated Frenchman Matiouze Royer at London's Copper Box Arena via knock-out.

16.      The World Press Freedom Day (3rd May) was observed across the world with the theme Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms - This Is Your Right!

17.      Parliament has passed Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016.  The bill will allow transfer of captive mines from one allotted to another without auction.

18.      Union government has launched an initiative named MICE which is based on meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions for the up gradation of tourism sector in India. As per this initiative, Tourism Ministry allocated funds to the States and Union Territories’ administrations to develop tourism-related infrastructure.

19.      The Union Ministry of Railways and Forest Department of Haryana & Punjab have inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for plantation of trees alongside Railway Track on Railway Land Boundary.

20.      Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has inaugurated an insurance scheme 'Chandranna Bima Yojana' for the working class people. Under the scheme, 5 Crore workers would be covered under the scheme, 5 Lakh would be paid if the Insurer worker met with an accidental fatal and 5 Lakh for Permanent disability and Rs. 3 Lakh for Partial disability.

21.      The ADMM-Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus) Exercise on Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism (Ex MS & CT) has started in Brunei. The nine day exercise seeks to strengthen the strong bilateral ties and extensive maritime interactions between India and ASEAN countries.

22.      An American multinational technology company, Google has acquired a business technology start-up 'Synergyse' founded by an Indian-origin entrepreneur as part of its plans to scale training offerings for Google Apps to its customers and customers' users.

23.      State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has announced the commissioning of a 600 MW coal-based thermal power plant in Madhya Pradesh.

24.      Indian American Sikh woman from California, Harmeet Kaur Dhillon has been elected to an important position in the Republican party at the US national level. She was elected as the newest national committee woman of the Republican National Committee.

25.      Three eminent Indian Born scientists listed in the fifty scientists elected as Fellows of the Royal Society, a premier scientific academy of the U.K and the Commonwealth. They are- Physicist Sriram Ramaswamy, Director of TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad, 2nd - Biochemist Ramanujan Hegde, MRC Laboratory of Microbiology, U.K. and 3rd - Applied mathematician Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, Harvard University.

26.      Future Group’s Chief Executive Kishore Biyani has been appointed managing director of Bharti Retail as part of the reconstitution of the board following their merger pact announced last year.

27.      Rohit Sharma became the Brand Ambassador of world famous Swiss luxury watch maker Hublot.

28.      Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has agreed to become India's Olympic goodwill ambassador, along-with actor Salman Khan and Shooter Abhinav Bindra.

29.      BCCI has nominated Indian Test captain Virat Kohli for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and his teammate Ajinkya Rahane for Arjuna Award. These nominations by BCCI have come after a gap of four years.

30.      Leicester City striker forward Jamie Vardy was named 2015-16 Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers Association (FWA).

31.      The Lok Sabha passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015 for the establishment of funds under the public accounts of Centre and each State towards compensatory afforestation.  The bill seeks to establish the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of India and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of each state.

32.      According to IMF, Financial inequality is highest in India and China among Asia Pacific countries despite the two being among the fastest growing economies.

33.      Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal has introduced a new portal for Contract Labour Payment Management System. The portal provides access to all contract workers, through a Workers Identification Number (WIN), to view their personal details and payment status.

34.      Commerce Ministry has launched a web-based dashboard to provide an easy access to detailed trade data of the country. The dashboard will provide an accurate perspective to the general public on the facts around the trade performance in India.

35.      To mark the 155th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, India will organize a cultural festival in Egypt. It will build the connections between the people of the two countries who share strong cultural bonds.

36.      The world's smallest engine has been created at Cambridge University by UK based researchers. The engine is fueled by lasers and gold and a few billionths of a metre in size, which uses lights to power the engine.

37.      NSE, the national stock exchange is all set to launch a new trade receivable and credit exchange platform for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

38.      An international team of scientists have discovered a trio of Earth-like exo-planets using the TRAPPIST telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory. These planets were found orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth and are likely comparable in size and temperature to Earth and Venus. Scientists have named the ultra-cool dwarf star 2MASS J23062928-0502285 (also known as TRAPPIST-1).

39.      JSW Energy Ltd, led by Mr. Sajjan Jindal has agreed to buy a 1,000 MW power plant of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd’s (JSPL), which is located in Chhattisgarh.

40.      Uber, the online cab service provider has announced its global partnership with the third party payment platform, Alipay. With the help of this partnership, Uber will be able to provide its service in more than 400 cities globally.

41.      Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari has appointed its Chairman Sergio Marchionne as the new CEO with "immediate effect". He replaced 69-year-old Amedeo Felisa.

42.      Sameer Chadha appointed as the partner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KPMG's offshore arm in India.

43.      Nihal Bitla, who was suffering from the rare genetic condition progeria, died in a hospital in Telangana at the age of 15 years. The disease aged him eight times faster than normal children thus shortening his life span.

44.      England's world number one Mark Selby won World Championship title of Snooker. In the final match played in Sheffield, Selby from Leicester defeated China’s Ding Junhui 18-14.

45.      Vice-Admiral Sunil Lanba will be the next chief of the Indian Navy. He will take over from current Navy Chief Admiral R K Dhowan.

46.      The 49th Annual General Meeting of ADB is being held from May 2-5 at Frankfurt, Germany. The Indian Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley has also reach there to attend the ADB's board of governors meet.

47.      The Empowered Steering Committee (ESC) of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) has approved projects for Development of Ghats.  The total estimated cost of the projects is Rs. 2446 crores.

48.      Reliance power is all set to setup a power plant in Bangladesh as it got the approval for the first phase of Reliance Power’s project. As per the approval, the company will set a 3,000 MW gas based power plant.

49.      Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd has became the fourth bank to open its IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) at International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) City. IFSC is the India's first and only financial centre.

50.      IREDA, the state run Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency can be converted into a Green Bank to enable its access funding from overseas banks.

51.      The Minister of state for Finance Jayant Sinha has stated that there were 7,686 willful defaulters owing Rs 66,190 crore to state-owned banks as of December 2015.

52.      Corporation Bank has been awarded ‘excellence award on empowering MSMEs’ by the Federation of Industry, Trade and Services (FITS).

53.      The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced that it will permanently stop producing the 500 euro banknote by the end of 2018.

54.      The University of Montreal researchers created a programmable DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) thermometer that is 20,000x smaller than human hair.

55.      Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Bhupendra Kainthola has been appointed as the Director of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) or a term of 3 years. He replaces Prashant Pathrabe.

56.      Mexican diplomat Patricia Espinosa selected as the next executive secretary of UNFCCC. UNFCCC is United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  She will replace the incumbent Christiana Figueres when her term ends in July.

57.      Late director Yash Chopra, who captured the verdant Swiss valley in his films, has been honoured with a special statue by the Switzerland government.

58.      Seven Indian shuttlers have booked their berth for the upcoming Rio Olympics, scheduled in August.

59.      The Lok Sabha has passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill 2016, which is seen as a “transformational” legislation that will help to improve India’s ranking in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index. It aims to defuse the crisis of the looming bad loans in the banking sector and also to cover individuals, companies, and partnership firms.

60.      Railway Minister of India Suresh Prabhu remotely flagged off two new train services for Jammu and Kashmir from the Rail Bhawan in New Delhi. These trains will play on the Banihal-Baramulla-Budgam route.

61.      Harita-Priya Agriculture Project of Andhra Pradesh has won the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2016 prize in the e-Agriculture category.

62.      The Union Cabinet has apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Qatar for promoting bilateral cooperation in the field of Information Communication Technology (ICT).

63.      The country's largest bank, State Bank of India has launched a mobile payment solution that will enable customers to make digital payments at offline stores by scanning a QR (quick response) code on their smartphones at merchant outlets.

64.      The largest private sector bank of India, ICICI bank has become the first financial institution in the country to tie up with the New Development Bank to explore opportunities around bond issuance, co-financing, treasury management and human resources.

65.      E-commerce marketplace Snapdeal has acquired Gurgaon-based predictive marketing technology startup Targeting Mantra for an undisclosed amount.

66.      Zimbabwe is all set to introduce its own version of US dollars in order to ease a cash shortage in the country.

67.      Google has entered into a partnership with telecommunications major Idea Cellular to offer direct carrier billing in India. Idea users would now be able to make purchases on Google Play Store directly through their postpaid and prepaid accounts.

68.      Indian author and Social Science professor from India Prashar Kulkarni has won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 2016, in the Asia region for his "politically grounded, funny" fiction ‘Cow and Company’ about four men in search of a cow.

69.      Sudhir Yadav, the 1985 batch IPS officer of the Delhi police, was appointed as the new Director-General (DG) of Tihar.

70.      Senior IPS officer Kumar Rajesh Chandra has appointed as chief of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the aviation security wing of the government, over 3 years after the post fell vacant.

71.      Renowned musician Angelique Kidjo along with three inspirational African youth activist movements have been declared the joint winners of the prestigious Amnesty International top 2016 human rights award.

72.      Indian batsman Rohit Sharma has inaugurated India's first sports expo in Pune. It is the first sports expo being held in the country organised by city-based Steps Sports Entertainment Private Limited.

73.      The Indian squad ended their campaign at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup with a creditable fourth place finish in the medal’s table.

74.      Enda Kenny has been re-elected as Ireland's Taoiseach, leading his Fine Gael party into a minority government.

75.      The eight nations composing the South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children, SAIEVAC, are assembling in New Delhi for their 4th Ministerial Meeting.

76.      The Union government has approved Infosys to set up an IT/ITeS special economic zone (SEZ) in Bengaluru in an area spread over 4 hectares.

77.      Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) has launched Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Shaurya at Panaji. It was launched by the Governor of Goa, Mridula Sinha, in the presence of GSl and ICG officials.

78.      Australian state of Victoria, Swinburne University has announced two agreements with India in the area of medical technology to address major health challenges in India.

79.      Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines has agreed to conduct coordinated sea patrols and establish a hotline to combat piracy and kidnappings in waters bordering the three nations. The agreement will be signed by the foreign ministers of the countries in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

80.      India and Japan has decided to exchange sports persons, coaches, experts and administrators to improve the standard of the game between both nations.

81.      India's fifth largest Private sector lender Yes Bank has received a ‘Custodian of Securities’ licence from the markets regulator SEBI to allows the entity to offer custodial services to financial market participants, including FIIs and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).

82.      Facebook and the trade body of Indian IT firms 'National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)' has signed an agreement to build a product design initiative to engage the country's young entrepreneurs into becoming problem solvers and solution builders.

83.      The e-commerce giant Flipkart has partnered with a Bangaluru based social technology company 'MapUnity' to launch its map services

84.      Somnath Ghosh has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Tajikistan.

85.      In Pakistan, former South African cricketer and coach for PSL's Karachi Kings, Mickey Arthur, has been appointed as cricket team's head coach.

86.      Pakistan beat India at the Asian Kabaddi championships in Islamabad, retaining the title.

87.      Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor’s autobiography titled ‘Shashi Kapoor – the Householder, the Star’ was released recently. It is authored by film journalist Aseem Chhabra.

88.      US based private space transport service company, SpaceX has successfully launched Japanese JCSAT-14 communication satellite into the space.

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