Update your IQ with the GK Eduwrap Weekly Edition, loaded with GK updates, Current Affairs and all major happenings across the Globe. With GK Eduwrap you can now confidently crack the IBPS, SSC’s Current Affairs Section. Good Luck!
National:
1. The 4th North East Youth Festival concluded at Majuli in Jorhat district of Assam.
2. State government of Andhra Pradesh issued orders to bring 16 sectors under Schedule III of the AP Infrastructure Development Enabling Act (APIDEA), 2001 with an aim to develop infrastructure in public private partnership (PPP) mode.
3. Nigerian Army launched operations to flush out Boko Haram from Sambisa Forest.
4. President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to re-promulgation of land ordinance for third time as per provisions of Article 123 of Indian Constitution.
5. Maharashtra Government has launched Swachhata Saptapadi scheme on the lines of Union Government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
6. Private insurer Bajaj Allianz on 28 June 2015 launched a weather-based crop insurance scheme for orange crops in Nagpur, Hingoli and Washim districts of Maharashtra.
7. Social networking giant Facebook has added 13 million users in six months to take its user base to 125 million in India, its second-biggest market globally.
8. India and Sweden signed 6 agreements to boost ties and restart the bilateral strategic dialogue. The agreements were inked in presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a state visit to Sweden. Mukherjee is the first ever Indian head of state to visit Sweden.
9. The Union Government formed a committee under the Chairpersonship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to oversee the celebrations of 125th birth anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar, also called Bhim Jayanti which is annually celebrated on 14th April.
10. The Union Government notified the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income as Assets) and imposition of Tax Act, 2015. The Act will come into effect from 1st April 2016. The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015 was introduced in Lok Sabha on 20th March 2015 and was passed by Parliament.
11. Book titled Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji authored by former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari was released.
12. The Union Cabinet gave its approval to the Agreement on Coastal and Maritime Shipping between India and Bangladesh that paves the way for the commencement of coastal shipping between the two countries.
Some features of the Agreement:
» India and Bangladesh shall render the same treatment to the other country’s vessels as it would have done to its national vessels used in international sea transportation.
» It will improve the utilization of port capacities of Indian ports and open up new opportunity for Indian coastal vessels.
» It will help in decongestion of roads especially at the Land custom stations or integrated check posts at the Indo-Bangladesh boarder.
» The Indian ports serving as transshipment ports for Bangladesh cargo will derive benefits by way of enhanced throughput as a result of Indo-Bangladesh coastal trade.
» The River Sea Vessel (RSV) category of vessel is prescribed for coastal shipping to lower construction and operation cost without compromising on the safety of the vessel.
13. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the new Bank Note Paper Line unit of 6000 metric tonne capacity at Security Paper Mill in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh. Another such unit will be soon operationalised in Mysore.
With opening of this, India will become self-reliant in producing Bank Note Paper for big denominations. Earlier, India was considerably dependent on import of bank note paper for currency of big denominations.
He also flagged off the first consignment of one thousand rupees bank note paper made indigenously to Currency Note Press Nashik.
14. Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in West Bengal: West Bengal Minister for Forests Benoy Krishna Barman stated in the legislature that the dwindling population has been caused by the increasing number of hamlets along the reserve. His reply came against the claims by some conservationists that the reserve lost all its tigers and no tiger was sighted in it since 2002.
15. The book Super Economies: America, India, China & The Future of The World written by Raghav Bahl was published in May 2015. He is an Indian businessman best known for his ownership of several television channels, including TV18.
» The book explains the vastly changed nature of the world since the Cold War and predicts what will be the likely changes in the 21st century.
16. Book Ahmedabad: A City in the World authored by Amrita Shah was released. The book is a biography of India’s seventh-largest city Ahmedabad and it’s all too frequent complicity in communal violence.
The author in the book has described the six-hundred year old former textile town in Kaka-style development and sketches Mahatma Gandhi and his struggle against British rule.
17. Gatimaan Express is the first semi high-speed train service that will be launched between Delhi and Agra. The train will run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph and is expected to cover the 200-km distance between both destinations in about 105 minutes.
18. President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to re-promulgation of land ordinance for third time as per provisions of Article 123 of Indian Constitution.
19. Punjab government has announced that year 2015-16 will be will be observed as development year to give further fillip to the all-round development of the state. It was announced by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, in Dhuri Assembly segment of the state.
20. A case was lodged in Barabanki court in Uttar Pradesh against Nestle India over inadequate safety standards of its product Maggi.
» Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (UP FDA) had asked Nestle India to withdraw a batch of Maggi noodles from the market after they had found that it contained high level of lead and Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a taste enhancer.
21. The Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi launched the IAP Health Phone Program in New Delhi. The IAP Health Phone Program is the world’s largest digital mass education program for addressing the malnutrition in women and children.
» This program was developed by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) in partnership with the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, UNICEF and is supported by Vodafone India.
» It is a public-partnership initiative that leverages the increasing penetration of mobile phones in the country to educate over 6 million girls and women between 13 and 35 years of age and their families on better health and nutrition practices by 2018. IAP Health Phone Program aims to tackle the challenge of malnutrition in mothers and children across India.
» Vodafone will enable its customers to view/download the videos free of data charges and on viewing the 4 videos, the user will receive a talk time incentive of 10 rupees. Vodafone will send out approximately 300 million text messages to its subscribers every year to promote the viewing of the four videos. They will partner with social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google to use their exponentially growing channels to reach more-rural and urban-caregivers.
22. The Union Government simplified the defence rules to boost defence manufacturing in the country and encourage foreign players to explore business in India.
» In order to provide a level-playing field to private players, the government withdrew excise and customs duty exemptions enjoyed by the Ordinance Factory Board and defence Public Sector Undertakings.
» It will encourage more private sector firms to collaborate with foreign partners such as Boeing, Airbus and Lockheed Martin and enter the defence equipment manufacturing business.
23. The trial run of Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala direct bus service began on 1st June 2015.
» During its journey, the bus will cross two international checkpoints- Petrapole between West Bengal and Bangladesh and second is Akhuara on Tripura-Bangladesh border. With the launch of the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala direct bus service, the time taken to reach Agartala from Kolkata will be reduced to 17 hours. Earlier, the distance was covered in three days.
» Besides, India and Bangladesh will also announce Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati service during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh.
24. For the first time two patients infected by MERS Virus (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)) died in South Korea. So far, there have been 25 confirmed cases of MERS since a man tested positive following a trip to Saudi Arabia and became the country’s first MERS patient.
Facts about MERS Virus:
» Source: MERS is a betacoronavirus derived from bats. Camels have shown to have antibodies to MERS, but the exact source of infection in camels has not been identified.
» Transmission: It can be transmitted from infected person to others after close contact via a respiratory route. It spread’s in droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
» Symptoms: Fever, Breathing problems, Pneumonia and Kidney failure.
» Treatment: Till date there is no vaccine available to prevent it. However intensive medical care can help patient to breath.
25. Union Government has launched Khoya Paya web platform for people to directly report, track and upload information on missing children. Khoya Paya is joint initiative of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY).
Khoya Paya website has three sections:
» My child is missing- where citizens can report missing children.
» I have sighted a child- where citizens can report sightings and whereabouts of missing children without wasting much time.
» Search a missing child and the found children can also be reported on it.
The reporting to the KhoyaPaya site can be done through text, photographs, videos and other means of transmitting and uploading information.
26. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated phase 1A of metro rail services in Jaipur. With this, the pink city became the sixth city in the country to have metro service after Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata.
» One most important fact of Jaipur metro service is that six out of 24 Metro train operators, that is, 25 percent of metro drivers, are women. Jaipur Metro Rail Project has been developed by Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (JMRCL) which was set up as a wholly owned subsidiary by the Government of Rajasthan.
» In the first phase, the metro will run on 9.6 kilometer stretch covering nine stations from residential area Mansarovar to business hub in Chandpole.
27. Fishing ban along the Western Coast became effective from 1st June 2015. The ban will be in place for 61 days till 31st July 2015 in all the western coast states except in Kerala.
» Kerala decided to stick to the 47-day ban, as in previous years, and allowed its fishermen to continue operating till June 15.
28. India and Belarus signed six agreements to enhance bilateral co-operation. The agreements were signed in presence of President Pranab Mukherjee during his state visit to Belarus.
The signed agreements are:
» Roadmap for India-Belarus Cooperation for strengthening bilateral relations and co-operation in the field of trade, culture and other areas.
» Protocol to amendment to amend the agreement between two countries for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Property (Capital) of September, 1997.
» MoU on Cooperation in the field of Standardization and Information Support: It was signed between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus.
» MoU for cooperation on Broadcasting: It was signed between Prasar Bharati (PB) and the National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (Belteleradiocompany).
» MoU on Bilateral Cooperation between the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Ministry of Finance of Belarus.
» MoU for Manufacturing and Marketing of Light Industry Goods (concern Bellegprom): It was signed between the Union Ministry of Textiles of India and the Belarusian State.
29. India and the United States (US) signed the 2015 Framework for the India-US Defence Relationship. The framework was signed by the Manohar Parrikar, India’s Defence Minister and Ashton Carter, US Secretary of Defence. The framework was signed during the three-day official visit of the Dr. Carter to India.
30. Suresh Kalmadi was conferred with the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) President’s award. He was awarded for his contribution towards the development of athletics in Asian continent. Adille Sumariwala, the President of Athletics Federation of India received the award on behalf of Kalmadi at the function held in Wuhan, China ahead of the start of Asian Athletics Championships.
31. Stempeutics Research Pvt. Ltd. announced that its stem cell drug, Stempeucel, received Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). An orphan drug is a pharmaceutical agent that has been developed specifically to treat a rare medical condition, the condition itself being referred to as an orphan disease.
32. India joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI). The declaration to comply with the provisions of the MCAA was signed in Paris by Mohan Kumar, the Indian ambassador to France.
33. Jharkhand Cabinet approved Jharkhand Special Courts Ordinance 2015. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister Raghubar Das. These Special Courts will be established for speedy trail of corruption cases and will help in creating a corruption-free state. Further these courts will enable prosecution of individuals responsible for hoarding black money and confiscate the illegal acquired property of the guilty.
34. World Bank has approved USD 250 million loan for Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). The project will be funded by loan credit from International Development Association (IDA), a World Bank’s concessionary with a maturity of 25 years, including a 5 year grace period.
35. Around 18 army men were killed and at least 11 injured when militants ambushed their convoy in Manipur’s Chandel district on 4th June 2015. The government has asked the army to launch counter-insurgency operations to trace and eliminate the militants involved in the attack; the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur has also been closed to stop the militants from fleeing to the neighboring country.
36. India’s first of its kind Tier-I Oil Spill Response Centre (OSRC) for Mumbai Port Trust (MBT), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and ONGC’s facilities at Nhava and Uran was inaugurated. It was inaugurated by Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari to tackle pollution and oil spills in and around Mumbai.
37. India has lost a poultry case against United States at World Trade Organization (WTO) after WTO’s Dispute Settlement Board (DSB) ruled that India’s ban on import of poultry meat, eggs and live pigs from US is inconsistent with the international norms.
38. Union Government has signed a loan and project agreement with World Bank to provide $400 million to the Tamil Nadu government for its Sustainable Urban Development Project.
39. Two Indian organizations Indian Army and Indian Railways are among the world’s biggest employers, together employing around 2.7 million people, as per a research published by the World Economic Forum on 17 June 2015.
40. Andhra Pradesh government has decided to form a Cabinet sub-committee named as Krishi Cabinet. This sub-committee will focus on the challenges of the Primary Sector Mission of state government undertaken to make agriculture and its allied activities profitable and sustainable for all-round improvement of the rural economy.
41. Fortune released the 61st edition of list of top 500 companies.
» These Fortune 500 companies account for 12.5 trillion US dollar in revenues, 945 billion US dollar in profits and 17 trillion US dollar in market value and employ 26.8 million people worldwide.
42. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated six mechanical road sweepers on Kalibari Marg, Delhi to effectively control air pollution and keep the city clean.
43. Himachal Pradesh High Court has ruled that the daughters in tribal areas in the state shall inherit the property in accordance with Hindu Succession Act, 1956. This landmark judgment will help to bring a new resolution in the tribal society’s inoder to grant equal rights to the girls and bring down gender disparity.
44. India’s first green police station was inaugurated on the occasion of World Environment Day at Maurice Nagar in north Delhi.
45. Doctors from Texas State of United States have done the world’s first partial skull and scalp transplant from a human donor. This rare medical feat was achieved by team of Doctors from Houston Methodist Hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Center which opens new frontier in transplant surgery.
46. Union Government launched nationwide Jal Kranti Abhiyan. It was launched by Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejunivetion Uma Bharti in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
47. The Mumbai Metro One, a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, has tied up with Domino’s Pizza to introduce “pizza on-the-Go” to commuters, marking one year of operations.
48. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) announced USE and GET PAID scheme, under which people will be paid one rupees for using public toilets. The announced scheme aims to eradicate the practice of open defecation and will help to keep the city clean.
49. Jind and Karnal districts of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh were included in National Capital Region.
» National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) came into being in 1985. The aim of the concept was to develop a metropolitan area around Delhi, so as to divert increasing pressure of population from the region.
50. Cyclonic storm ASHOBAA developed into a cyclonic storm from only a depression that formed over the Arabian Sea. The cyclone is centered at 17.9°N and 67.2°E and is lying about 590 km west-southwest of Mumbai and 470 km southwest of Veraval, Gujarat.
51. The Mangrove Forest Division (MFD) of Bhitarkanika revealed that Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary of Odisha is witnessing an alarming denudation in large tracts of mangrove vegetation. The denudation has been noted among the Avicennia and Excoecaria species, popularly known as Bani and Guan.
52. Indian Railways has changed the timing for the booking of Tatkal tickets, and said that customers can get a refund of upto 50% on cancellation for the same.
53. Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Prakash Javadekar cleared the Coastal Road Project of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
» This project will cover 35.6 km between Nariman Point and Kandivali, along the western seafront. The project will begin in mid-August 2015. The project will help in decongesting Mumbai roads and will also create 91 hectares of green space.
54. Delhi Jal Board vice chairman Kapil Mishra has been named as the new Law Minister of Delhi. Tomar, who quit as Delhi Law Minister, claims to have done his B.Sc. from RML Avadh University, Faizabad. Police have taken him for spot verification and questioning of his degree.
55. India and Bangladesh signed the historical 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) which would settle the 4096-kilometre-long border dispute between the two countries.
» Bangladesh took over 111 enclaves (17160 acres of land) from India’s possession and India received 51 enclaves (7110 acres of land) from Bangladesh. Enclaves are tiny landlocked territories that each country has within the borders of the other nation. The enclaves in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya come under the bill’s ambit.
56. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) found that the fire on the water of Bellandur Lake was caused due to industrial effluents in the water. The findings were published in a study titled, pathetic status of wetlands in Bengaluru: epitome of inefficient and uncoordinated governance.
57. Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) first-ever Jan Aushadhi Generic Drug (JAGD) Store was inaugurated at its headquarters in IP Estate, New Delhi. The store will offer over 118 commonly used drugs at a 10% to 20% lesser price than market value. The store was launched by the Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir.
58. Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejunivetion Uma Bharti launched nationwide Jal Kranti Abhiyan (campaign) from Jaipur, Rajasthan.
» Objective: To consolidate water conservation and management in the country through a holistic and integrated approach involving all stakeholders, making it a mass movement.
59. Andhra Pradesh (AP) circle of India Post decided to sell River Godavari water as GOD-JAL (Godavari Pushkaram Jal) during Pushkaram festival season between 14th July and 25th July 2015. 500 ml of purified GOD-JAL will be duly bottled and purified as per ISI standards and will be delivered at door step for as low a cost as INR 20 per bottle.
» The GOD-JAL will be sold at post offices across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and will be available for citizens who will not be able to take a dip in the river during the Pushkaram festival. The GOD-JAL will be sold through 95 post offices, 2360 sub post offices and 13611 branch post offices of the two states.
60. The High Court of Himachal Pradesh asked the state government to establish separate homes for differently-abled, shelter less, destitute and mentality challenged people. The state government was asked to complete the work within a year.
61. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two road projects worth Rs. 4721 crore, one in Madhya Pradesh and another in Telangana. The projects will be executed under the flagship road building programme National Highways Development Project (NHDP).
62. India, Japan and Australia held their first ever high-level trilateral dialogue in New Delhi. The talks were attended by Indian foreign secretary S. Jaishankar, Japanese vice foreign minister Akitaka Saiki and Australian secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Varghese.
» India accords greater importance to Japan and Australia that is evident from the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to both the countries within six months of coming to the office in order to operationalise his Act East Policy.
63. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued Draft Framework on Issuance of Rupee linked Bonds Overseas. It is intended to permit Indian corporate and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to issue rupee-linked bonds overseas.
64. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched a campaign called Badh Chala Bihar in Patna to collate ideas from the public to produce Bihar@2025. It is a vision document on state’s development between 2015 and 2025.
65. Union Cabinet meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement. The agreement which is similar to the SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) seeks to regulate the vehicular traffic of passenger, personal and cargo amongst BBIN countries. The agreement will be signed at the Transport Minister’s meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan.
66. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 10th June 2015 gave its approval for the proposal to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.
Key Features of Negotiable Instruments:
» Cases of bouncing of cheques can be filed only in a court in whose jurisdiction the bank branch of the payee (person who receives the cheque) lies.
» If a complaint against a person issuing a cheque has been filed in the court with the appropriate jurisdiction, then all subsequent complaints against that person will be filed in the same court, irrespective of the relevant jurisdiction area.
» If more than one case is filed against the same person before different courts, the cases will be transferred to the court with the appropriate jurisdiction.
» It seeks to amend the definition of cheque in the electronic form. While the parent act defines it as a cheque containing the exact mirror image of a paper cheque and generated in a secure system using a digital signature, the amendment bill re-defines it as a cheque drawn in electronic medium using any computer resource and which is signed in a secure system with a digital signature, or electronic system.
67. Amazon, the global e-commerce and cloud services firm opened a Fulfilment Centre near Hyderabad in Telangana.
68. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore upstaged Panjab University as India’s number one university, while IISc and IIT Bombay were the two new entrants in the top 100 of the Times Higher Education University Asia Rankings 2015.
69. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman leaded an Indian delegation for the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2015 which was held at St Petersburg between 18th – 20th June.
70. Indian Railways has named Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express with an immediate effect.
71. State owned telecommunications giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched free pan India roaming scheme.
72. Union Government has launched an Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP) of 1,500 crore rupees as per the mandatory provision under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND), 2010.
73. Bibek Debroy Committee on the restructuring of Indian Railways has submitted its final report to the Union Ministry of Railways.
74. Telangana government has unveiled New Industrial Policy 2015 to boost industrial activity and employment opportunities in the state.
75. Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) was set up in Chennai by the Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and Tamil Nadu state government.
76. Bengaluru to host this year’s ATP Challenger. A $50,000 ATP Challenger men’s tennis tournament is set to be held here in October, the first for the city in 12 years. Matches will be held at the KSLTA stadium courts from October 19 to 25, with India’s top singles players expected to compete. The tournament is likely to see a few world top-100 players in action.
77. A book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi titled Modi –Incredible emergence of a star written in Chinese language by Tarun Vijay was in news on 16 June 2015 as one copy of the book was given to Vice-President M Hamid Ansari.
78. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in June 2015 set up a Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel (MART) at the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) campus, Bengaluru.
79. Ministry of Railways has decided to run Suvidha trains with dynamic fares from July 2015. The decision to run Suvidha trains was taken to address the rush during peak travel seasons.
80. Election Commission of India (ECI) has suspended recognition of the PA Sangma-led National People’s Party (NPP) which was a recognized state party in Meghalaya.
» The recognition of NPP was suspended under para 16A of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 after the party failed to file the election expenditure statement incurred in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
81. State owned telecommunications giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced to set up 40,000 Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) hot spots across the country.
» The project will be entailed with an investment of about 6,000 crore rupees and likely to be completed by 2018.
82. Maharashtra Government has given nod to new Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) policy.
83. A comprehensive book in Dogri language on the Dogri literature of 20th century entitled ‘Beehmi Sadi Da Dogri Da Gadya Sahitya : Ik Jayzaa ’ was released in Jammu and Kashmir.
» The book has been written by a noted Dogri language scholar Dr. Vijay Seth.
» It is based on extensive research work and incorporates five chapters chronologically covering the development of essays, literary sketches, travelogue, memoirs, biographic and autobiographical literature in Dogri.
84. As per recently released Global Peace Index (GPI) for year 2015, India was placed at 143th rank out 162 countries. The report was published by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
Key facts from Global Peace Index 2015:
» Top 10 peaceful countries
Iceland (1st), Denmark (2nd), Austria (3rd), New Zealand (4th), Switzerland (5th), Finland (6th), Canada (7th), Japan (8th), Australia (9th) and Czech Republic (10th).
» Top 10 least peaceful countries
North Korea (153rd), Pakistan (154th), Congo (155), Sudan (156), Somalia (157), Central Africa (158th), South Sudan (159th), Afghanistan (160th), Iraq (161st) and Syria (162nd).
» India’s Neighbors
Bhutan (18th), Nepal (62nd), Bangladesh (84th), Sri Lanka (114th), Pakistan (154th). In 2014, the violent events had cost $14.3 trillion from the global economy.
» It accounted for 13.4% of global GDP. About 50 million people i.e. 0.75% of the current world population are displaced.
» In 2014, deaths from terrorism were reported in 69 countries reported.
» It was up from 60 in 2013 highlighting the increasing use of terror tactics.
» In case of India, violence has cost it $341.7 billion i.e. 4.7% of its GDP in 2014 which is the fourth highest cost in the world.
85. Manipur State Forest Department has decided to translocate a section of critically endangered species of Brow Antlered (Sangai) deer with an aim to save it from extinction.
86. Union Cabinet approved increasing India’s solar power capacity target under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) to 1 Lakh Mega Watt (MW) by 2022.
87. The Madras High Court (HC) has directed the Tamil Nadu Government to make wearing of helmets for two-wheelers compulsory from 1 July 2015 onwards.
88. India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched a Next-Gen Technology Solutions Center of Excellence (CoE) at its campus in Hyderabad.
89. The One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen was recently in news as the scheme is likely to be rolled out ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls 2015.
90. Union Ministry of Finance formed two committees for facilitating implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1st April 2016.
91. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Kharif Crops of 2015-16 season.
92. Book titled Bikhare Khyalat written by Prof Abdul Haq was presented to Vice-President M Hamid Ansari. The book is an Urdu translation of Mohammed Iqbal’s writing in English tilted Stray Reflections.
93. India has been ranked third in Anti-Doping Rule Violations Report for year 2013 released by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
94. Punjab state is celebrating the 350th year of foundation of holy city Sri Anandpur Sahib.
95. HDFC Bank, India’s second-largest private sector lender has launched a 10-second paperless instant loan Scheme for its existing customers.
96. The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma launched the new edition of Atithi Devo Bhava television (TV) commercials starring Aamir Khan as brand ambassador.
97. The Union Government has released the Draft Outline of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme.
98. ISRO has announced to provide navigational support to Indian Railways through GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system.
99. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched a weather alert service named NOWCAST to provide alerts on extreme weather conditions like hailstorm every three hours to over one crore registered farmers on their mobile phones.
» Besides, a web-portal on crop insurance was also unveiled to create awareness and encourage more farmers to insure their crops taking advantage of existing schemes.
100. India has become most attractive investment destination in world after it was ranked first among 110 countries in a ranking of destinations for attractiveness to foreign investors.
101. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address elected heads of 500 civic bodies from across the country.
» PM will inaugurate the three big ticket projects – Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
102. India has set two Guinness world records (GWR) in Rajpath yoga event held on the eve of first International Yoga Day led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Two records are-
» Largest number of participants- 35,985 people had participated in largest yoga demonstration at a single venue i.e. Rajpath yoga event.
» Most number of nationalities at a single event– People of 84 nationalities performed yoga at one place.
» The awards were received by Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik from representatives of Guinness World Records.
103. Haryana Government has launched a Village Mentoring Project (VMP) in a bid to improve healthcare and education of the villagers with a special emphasis on girl child.
» The project was launched in Rajjipur village of Panchkula district of state in collaboration with Indian School of Business (ISB).
104. India and Tanzania have inked various agreements including for cooperation in the field of statistics, hydrography, agricultural science and tourism.
» These agreements were signed in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counter Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete in New Delhi.
105. India was placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in Swiss banks. This was revealed by latest data released by Swiss National Bank (SNB), the central bank of Switzerland, in the fourth week of June 2015.
106. The book Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi’s Assassination was compiled and introduced by Indian civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and published by Tulika Books.
» It is a collection of archival documents of the government and translation of works in Marathi, Guajarati and Hindi related to assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on 30 June 1948.
107. The book Benazir Bhutto: A Multidimensional Portrait was released on 26th May 2015. It was written by Dr Anna Suvorova of Russia.
» The book is devoted to the life and work of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007). She was the first female head of government in a Muslim state.
108. India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) in the third week of June 2015 released a report on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) filing in India during 2013-14. While Maharashtra topped the list of states and Union Territories (UTs), Bengaluru was the top city in IPR filing.
The top five states and UTs:
» Maharashtra (2892), Karnataka (1639), Tamil Nadu (1436), Delhi (1009) and Andhra Pradesh (879).
109. Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has notified an order to make Universal Account Number (UAN) mandatory for all its employers. It will be mandatory for all employers covered under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
110. Maharashtra has officially declared Blue Mormon species as State butterfly as part of state symbols.
About Blue Mormon -
» Blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor) is the second largest butterfly species in terms of size, after the southern birdwing (Troides minos).
» Description: Blue Mormon has black, velvet wings with bright blue spots. The lower ends of its wings are black. Its body has some red spots on one side.
» Distribution: It is only found in (endemic to) Sri Lanka, Western Ghats of Maharashtra, South India and coastal belts of the country.
» In case of Maharashtra, it can be occasionally spotted in its mainland parts of Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra.
111. The Kerala cabinet on Wednesday approved the finalizing of a contract with German tennis icon Steffi Graf to promote ayurveda in the state’s Visit Kerala campaign.
112. Book titled Red Tape to Red Carpet and then some authored by Gina Rinehart was released on 23rd June 2015. The book was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in presence of Australian Minister for trade and investment, Andrew Robb, and former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating.
113. India decided to be a partner country in the major Industrial Fair named INNOPROM 2016 to be held at Yekaterinburg, Russia in July 2016.
114. Rajasthan topped the list of states commissioning grid connected solar power projects in the country with an installed capacity of 1147 megawatt. The list was released by the Union ministry of New and Renewable Energy on 4th June 2015.
115. Maharashtra government has decided to evoke Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act (MPDA), 1981 against those involved in black marketing of essential commodities and sand mafia.
116. Rajasthan has become number one state in the country in terms of total installed capacity of solar energy.
117. The Taygan Lions Park and Skazka zoo in Yalta, Crimea signed an animal exchange agreement with Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram zoo. This agreement signed in the fourth week of June 2015 will allow them to exchange different animals with each other.
118. The Union Cabinet approved renaming of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as Renewable Energy Corporation of India (RECI).
119. Union Government launched the first modernized Anganwadi centre of India at Hasanpur village of Sonepat in Haryana. The centre was inaugurated by Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development (WCD).
» The centre has been set up as part of Nand-Ghar Yojana of Union Government which aims at transforming the anganwadi centres.
120. The Union Cabinet gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.
» The MoC is aimed at establishing a framework for bilateral cooperation in the field of industrial property (IP) with emphasis on capacity building, human resource development and awareness generation.
121. India today pledged $1 billion in assistance to quake-ravaged Nepal for its massive reconstruction programme, asserting that it will strongly stand behind the Nepalese government which is seeking to “wipe the tears” of every Nepali.
122. The Union Cabinet approved setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in the country.
» These new IIMs will be located at Amritsar (Punjab), Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Odisha), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh) and Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
123. India has become most attractive investment destination in world after it was ranked first among 110 countries in a ranking of destinations for attractiveness to foreign investors. The ranking was based on baseline profitability index (BPI) 2015. In this edition of China was placed at the 65th position and US was placed at the 50th.
124. India has topped in the regional inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in South Asia region during year 2014, accounting for 34 billion US dollars investments.
125. The United States (US) Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the nation in a closely divided ruling by a 5 to 4 vote.
126. The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation approved a proposal for setting up a second international airport at Jewar in the National Capital Region.
127. Union Government requested the Chief Ministers of Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan to encourage supply of free milk in the Mid-Day Meal to school children.
» Milk Products will be provided with an aim to increase the nutritional level in the Mid-Day Meal for school children.
128. First phase of Chennai Metro service was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
129. India is fourth largest carbon emitter in the world in terms of per capita emission accounting for 6.6 % of global emissions for the year 2012.
130. Team of British scientists have discovered the first species of Yeti crab from hydrothermal vent systems in Antarctica. Study in this regard was published in the journal Plos One.
International:
1. United States (US) in a landmark decision has removed Cuba from its list of State Sponsor of Terrorism.
2. The book titled The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy was written by Daniel A. Bell. The book seeks to understand the ideals and the reality of Chinese political system. Bell discusses the advantages and pitfalls of political meritocracy of China; he distinguishes between different ways of combining meritocracy and democracy, and argues that China has evolved a model of democratic meritocracy that is morally desirable and politically stable.
3. Muhammadu Buhari assumed the office of President of Nigeria. He became the 5th President of the country by defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 2015 general election. It is the first time in Nigeria’s history that an incumbent President was defeated in an election by the opposition.
4. Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience by Christrophe Jaffrelot was published by Vintage Books. Christrophe Jaffrelot is Research Director at CNRS and teaches South Asian Politics and History at Sciences Po (Paris).
» The 688-pages book is an overview of the contemporary Pakistan which was born as the creation of elite Urdu-speaking Muslims who sought to govern a state that would maintain their dominance.
5. Zoomcar co-founder David Back resigned from his post. Back used to head the company’s marketing and business development division. He will continue to hold his stake and board position in US-based Zoomcar Inc, the parent of Zoomcar India.
6. South Korea and China signed the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Seoul, South Korea. The agreement was signed by the South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.
» It aims to gradually remove tariffs on more than 90% of traded goods between both the countries within 20 years. The pact will also greatly contribute to the economic integration of East Asia, the Asia-Pacific region and the development of the world economy. For this, negotiations for a trilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) amongChina, South Korea and Japan were launched in November 2012.
7. US President Barack Obama signed the USA FREEDOM Act 2015 in law. The USA FREEDOM stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015. With this, the National Security Agency (NSA) lost its authority to collect the phone records of millions of Americans.
8. Amancio Ortega passes Warren Buffett as world’s second richest person in Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
9. The US-based World Justice Project (WJP) released the Rule of Law Index 2015. It provides data on how the rule of law is experienced in 102 countries around the globe.
» India with a score of 0.51 has been placed at 59th position. The index has been topped by Denmark followed by Norway, Sweden and Finland at second, third and fourth place respectively. All the four countries have score above 0.85. On the other hand, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Venezuela are placed at bottom of the index with 100, 101 and 102 rank respectively. All these countries have score of less than 0.37.
10. Chinese cruise ship Eastern Star or Dongfangzhixing capsized in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River in Hubei province. The ship was headed from the eastern city of Nanjing to the southwestern city of Chongqing.
11. Travelers from across the globe have ranked Taj Mahal among the top three landmarks in the world. According to TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travellers Choice Attractions Awards, Taj Mahal was ranked third in the list of top landmarks. The top two places were taken by Machu Picchu in Peru and Angkor Wat in Cambodia respectively.
12. G7 Summit 2015 was held at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, Germany from 7th June to 8th June 2015. This was the 41st G7 summit and the theme for the summit was Think Ahead. Act Together.
» The Summit focused on the global economy as well as on key issues regarding foreign, security, environment and development policy.
The G7 Summit 2015 deliberated on following issues:
» Protection of the marine environment and resources and marine governance.
» Antibiotic resistance, neglected and poverty-related diseases and Ebola.
» Retail and supply chain standards.
» Empowerment of women by giving vocational training.
13. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won Turkey’s parliamentary polls.
14. A study titled Global Population Collapse in a superabundant migratory bird and illegal trapping in Chinasaid that the population of the migratory songbird Yellow-Breasted Bunting (Emberiza aureola) has plunged by 90% since 1980. The bird is disappearing from Eastern Europe, Japan and parts of Russia.
15. African countries have signed a historic The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) that facilitates creation of Africa’s largest free-trade zone. This free-trade zone will cover 26 countries in an area from southernmost tip of African continent i.e. Cape Town (South Africa) to Cairo (Egypt) in the north.
16. An Egyptian court has sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to life in prison and confirmed death sentences against 16 others over charges of conspiring with foreign groups, including the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
17. United Kingdom (UK) celebrated 800 years of signing of Magna Carta on 15th June 2015.
About Magna Carta
» Magna Carta is a Latin word which in English means Great Charter. It is most important document of England signed on 15 June 1215 at Runnymede alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey.
» It had originated as a peace and truce treaty between King John and a group of rebellious barons within his kingdom.
» The document had written promises between King John and his subjects mentioning that the king will govern England and deal with its people according to the customs of feudal law.
» Magna Carta had laid the first steps towards parliamentary democracy and the principle supremacy of law i.e. no one is above the law. It also laid the principle of balance of power between the governed and government.
» Its influence can be seen in other documents across the world including the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on US Constitution and Bill of Rights.
» In case of India, its influence also can be seen on Part III of constitution which contains fundamental rights, described as the magna carta of India which has been derived inspiration from Bill of Rights.
18. As per recently released report by British Petroleum (BP) Energy Company, United States (US) became the world’s largest oil producer in 2014 surpassing Saudi Arabia.
19. Bangladesh Supreme Court’s appellate bench upheld the death sentence of war criminal and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid.
» Decision in this regard was taken by 4-member bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.
20. Japan has passed a law in which the voting age will be 18 years from its current 20 years.
21. Asia Pacific region has overtaken Europe as the world’s second richest region for the first time in terms of global wealth management. It was revealed in recently released report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm.
22. Hong Kong lawmakers rejected Beijing-backed election reform package. The proposal was voted down by 28 votes to eight in the Legislative Council (known as legco) of 70 members.
23. China and Australia signed the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) at Canberra in Australia.
» The agreement was signed by China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and Australia’s Trade Minister Andrew Robb.
24. The world’s first electric passenger aircraft named BX1E was manufactured in China. The aircraft was designed by Shenyang Aerospace University and Liaoning General Aviation Academy located in the northeastern Liaoning Province of China.
25. Taliban militants have captured Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan after heavy fighting with local security forces.
» It is the second district captured by Taliban in the northern Kunduz province which borders Tajikistan. Earlier on 20th June 2015 the militants had captured Chardara district of this province.
26. A commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo was held in Belgium. To mark this occasion several events were in Belgium and United Kingdom to remember the battle which led to defeat of French in June 1815.
27. Japan’s Softbank Corp is to team up with India’s Bharti Enterprises and Taiwan’s Foxconn to invest about $20 billion in solar projects in India as the country steps up efforts to boost the renewable energy sector.
28. To stop human traffickers from bringing migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe, the European Union (EU) launched a three-phase naval operation named EU NAVFOR Med (European Union Naval Force Mediterranean Sea).
29. Pitcairn Island, the world’s smallest country by population, legalized same-sex marriage. The law change was unanimously approved by the local council.
30. The Taliban on Monday launched an attack on the Afghan Parliament, with a suicide car bomber striking at the entrance and gunmen battling police as lawmakers were meeting inside to confirm the appointment of defence minister, police and witnesses said.
» All the six gunmen who attacked Parliament were killed and the gunfire had stopped, the police said.
31. Sri Lanka, China begin joint military training exercise ‘Silk Route- 2015′.
32. Australia announced that it will join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a founding member. It will contribute 930 million Australian dollars (718.5million US dollars) as paid-in capital to the institution over five years and will be the sixth largest shareholder.
33. An unmanned American SpaceX rocket dubbed Falcon-9 broke apart in flames minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 28th June 2015. The accident occurred in only two and half minutes after the launch.
34. Universal’s ” Jurassic World” has become the fastest film to gross $500 million in North America.
Sports:
1. Gurpreet Singh became the 5th Indian to get quota place in shooting for 2016 Rio Olympics.
2. Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman join BCCI advisory committee.
3. Ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari has clinched the bronze medal in the women’s individual Women’s Recurve event at Antalya Archery World Cup held in Turkey.
4. Dilawar Singh of Haryana has won ‘Pedal for Kashmir’ cycling competition, held along the banks of picturesque Dal Lake in Srinagar. During this cycling, Singh piped local champion Mohammad Akbar Khan who came runner up, followed by another local cyclist Mohammad Adil Teli.
5. England professional football player – Rio Ferdinand announced his retirement from football. Ferdinand last played for Queens Park Rangers (QPR) in March 2015. Ferdinand played 81 times for England and was in the squads for the 1998, 2002, 2006 and the 2010 World Cups.
6. Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan won their maiden I-League title in 13 years. In the final clash at Kanteerva Stadium in Bengaluru, Mohun Bagan managed a 1-1 draw against the defending champions Bengaluru FC.
7. Barcelona won Copa del Rey also known as Spanish King’s Cup. In the final clash at the Nou Camp, Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao, 3-1. This was the 27th Copa del Rey title for Barcelona. This was the second title of the season for Barcelona, earlier; it had won La Liga.
8. Gurpreet Singh won a quota place in shooting for the 2016 Rio Olympics by finishing fourth in the Men’s 10 meter Air pistol final at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Munich. Singh succeeded in getting quota place in shooting for Rio Olympics after scoring 154 points in the finals.
9. Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports added names of five women for TOP Scheme who were suspended for anti-doping rule violations between mid-2011 and mid-2013. These five women were named among the 39 athletes who were added to the list. All these women, namely Priyanka Panwar, Ashwini Akkunji, Jauna Murmu, Sini Joseand Mandeep Kaur are 400m runners.
10. Former captain Ravi Shastri was retained as Director of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh starting 10th June 2015 as the BCCI continued its search for a new permanent coach to succeed Duncan Fletcher.
11. Sepp Blatter resigned as President of FIFA amid the corruption scandal that has engulfed the football’s governing body. Blatter has been serving as president of world soccer governing body FIFA since 1998.
12. Inderjeet Singh won gold medal in men’s shot put event in the 21st Asian Athletics Championships. The 21st Asian Athletics Championships is being held at Wuhan, China. Inderjeet heaved the iron ball to a new championship record of 20.41 meter, which he achieved in his fourth attempt. With this, he became the eighth Indian shot putter to win a gold medal in the history of Asian championships.
13. AB de Villiers won as many as five awards, including the South African Cricketer of the Year for a second consecutive time at a gala function, hosted by Cricket South Africa (CSA) in Johannesburg.
» He was named the ODI Cricketer of the Year, Cricketers’ Cricketer of the Year, SA Fan’s Cricketer of the Year and also got the ‘So Good Award’ for scoring the fastest century in the history of ODI cricket against the West Indies in December 2014.
14. Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap ranked 12th in the world, beat the World No. 1 Chen Long of China by 14-21, 21-17, 21-14.
15. Eminent Indian umpire Sundaram Ravi, along with Chris Gaffaney of New Zealand was inducted into the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires for 2015-16. Sundaram Ravi becomes the first Indian after S. Venkataraghavan who was inducted into the elite panel in 2004.
» Both of them were promoted from the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires and replaced New Zealand veteran Billy Bowden and Steve Davis of Australia.
16. India’s Machettira Raju Poovamma and Liksy Joseph have won silver medal each in 21st Asian Athletics Championships held in Wuhan, China.
» Quarter-miler Poovamma won silver medal in women’s 400m finals event by clocking 53.07 secs. China’s Yang Huizhen (52.37 sec) won the gold medal and Anastasiya Kudinova (53.41 sec) of Kazakhstan won bronze medal in this event.
17. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan acquired Carribean Premier League (CPL) T20 teamTrinidad & Tobago (T&T). Hollywood stars Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler already own CPL franchises. Wahlberg owns reigning champions Barbados Tridents, led by Kieron Pollard, while Butler owns Jamaica Tallawahs, captained by Chris Gayle.
18. The book Sourav Ganguly: Cricket, Captaincy and Controversy was written by Saptarshi Sarkar and was published by HarperCollins India.
19. Mercedes racing driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won the 2015 Formula 1 Canada Grand Prix title by winning the final race held in Montreal, Canada.
20. Japanese rising star shuttler Kento Momota and Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon won the men’s and women’s singles respectively of the Indonesia Open Badminton tournament.
21. Rahul Dravid was named as coach of India ‘A’ and Under-19 cricket teams.
22. Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland won his first French Open title of Tennis. In the final clash played at Roland Garros in Paris, Wawrinka defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
23. Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is among Forbes magazine’s 100 highest-paid