Top news Based on The Hindu
First Week of JULY 2012
1. A new National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) is planned on the lines of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
2. The World Heritage Committee, meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, decided to inscribe 39 serial sites of the Western Ghats on the World Heritage List.
3. The Finance Ministry issued a notification to the effect exempting high-end passenger fares and cargo freight from the purview of service tax till September 30.
4. S.K. Thorat panel constituted to review the cartoons used in NCERT books, has ordered deletion of several cartoons.
5. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has made e-filing of income-tax returns mandatory for all assesses whose annual earnings exceeded Rs. 10 lakh during the fiscal 2011-12.
6. Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana (health insurance scheme) was launched in Maharashtra.
7. Supreme Court banned all kinds of commercial and tourism activities within a five-kilometre radius around the Jarawa Tribal Reserve in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
8. Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said that he regretted his country’s defence forces shooting down a Turkish fighter jet on June 22.
9. The Central Government has decided to set up a venture capital fund of Rs.2,000 crore which will promote research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical sector.
10. State Bank of India (SBI), to attract new customers, has done away with the minimum balance criteria for saving banks account.
11. British government banned the Indian Mujahideen (IM) describing it as a threat to national security
12. The Union government appointed Home Minister P. Chidambaram the chairman of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on spectrum to fix the reserve price for spectrum in the 2G auctions scheduled for August.
13. President Pratibha Patil was enrolled biometrically in the National Population Register (NPR). Once collected, the NPR data along with biometrics would be sent to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for UID numbers (Aadhar). The government also proposes to issue Resident Identity (Smart) cards under the NPR. Registration in the NPR is mandatory for all usual residents under the Citizenship Act 1955 and Citizenship Rules 2003.
14. The Obama administration declared Afghanistan the United States’ newest “major non-NATO ally”, an action designed to facilitate close defence cooperation after U.S. combat troops withdraw from the country in 2014.
15. New Chief Minister of Karnataka - Jagadish Shettar (BJP) (Previous CM – Sadananda Gowda).
16. Reserve Bank has launched a website explaining ways to detect counterfeit notes. With a tagline 'Pehchano Paise Ki Boli, Kyunki Paisa Bolta Hai', the website -- www.paisaboltahai.rbi.org.in – gives visual presentation with pointers on currency notes.
17. Over 49 lakh debtors have defaulted in repaying loans totalling more than Rs one lakh crore from various nationalised banks in the country, an RTI query has revealed. The State Bank of India tops the list accounting for 32 percent of the total defaulted amount.
18. Merchant discount rate (MDR) is the fees charged by banks from a businessman for accepting payment through debit or credit cards from their customers. It stands at 2-3 per cent at present. As per the new RBI directive, the fees will not be more than 0.75% of transactions of up to Rs 2,000. For transactions above Rs 2,000, MDR has been capped at 1%, as per the new rules that will be applicable from July 1. But now it has postponed to September 1.
19. National Housing Bank (NHB) and three others have joined hands to form the country's first mortgage guarantee firm which has an initial paid up capital of Rs 120 crore. The other members of the joint venture compan are – Genworth, Asian Development Bank and International Finance Corporation. "IMGC (India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation) will offer mortgage guarantees against borrower defaults on housing loans from mortgage lenders.
20. Reserve Bank allowed holders of pre-paid payment cards, to deposits school and college fees and pay taxes in addition to buying rail and air tickets within the prescribed limit of Rs 10,000. The pre-paid cards, which are convenient alternatives to cash and cheques, are mainly issued by banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) for purchasing goods and services from limited outlets.
21. Morgan Stanley, US bank has received an in-principle approval from the Reserve bank of India (RBI) for a banking license.
22. The Planning Commission is proposing a target of reducing poverty by 10 per cent to less than 20 per cent of the population by 2017, the end of 12th Five-Year Plan.
23. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s World Investment Report for 2012 has named India as the third most desirable destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) behind China and the United States. In 2011, the FDI inflows to India went up to 32 billion dollar.
24. India has allowed foreign direct investment from Pakistan.
25. International Conference held in Tokyo (Japan) to provide Afghanistan 16 billion dollar international aid in next four years.
26. India’s first bio-fuel outlet to be operational in Karnataka soon.
27. Anup Sankar Bhattacharya is the new director of Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).
28. India and South Korea decided to cooperate in the areas of civil nuclear energy and space.
Second Week of July
1. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been termed an “underachiever” by TIME, a top U.S. magazine.
2. Roger Federer regained the Wimbledon trophy in men’s single when he beat Andy Murray in the final.
3. Booking of tatkal tickets will start at 10 a.m., instead of 8 a.m. For two hours, from 10.00 a.m. to 12 noon, no IRCTC agent will be allowed to access the Internet, or authorised to purchase tickets from the reservation counters. Tatkal tickets can be booked only a day in advance of the scheduled journey.
4. Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) clarified that remittances from abroad would not attract service tax. According to World Bank data, India received remittances worth $64 billion in 2011, and emerged as the top recipient of such funds among developing countries.
5. Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) granted permission to MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) to operate as a full-fledged stock exchange. With This approval, MCX-SX would be able to offer additional asset classes such as equity and equity F&O (Futures and Options), interest rate futures and wholesale debt segments.
6. Andhra Pradesh has decided to speed up the 9,564 MW Kovvada Nuclear Power Park (KNP) project in Srikakulam. But local public is protesting against nuclear plant.
7. World farm production must rise 60 per cent by 2050 to meet the needs of a growing population, the U.N. food agency FAO and the OECD said.
8. The Supreme Court of Pakistan gave Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf time till July 25 to comply with its order to write to the Swiss authorities asking them to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
9. Dara Singh and Rajesh khanna passed away.
10.Reserve Bank said it is working on launching plastic currency.
11.On GAAR (general anti avoidance rules), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up a committee headed by Parthasarathi Shome, to prepare fresh norms and to bring "greater clarity" and prepare a roadmap by September 30 for its implementation.
12.The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army launched the nuclear- capable Agni-I missile (range - 700 km) from the Wheeler Island of Odisha coast.
13.From August 1, transfer of funds not over Rs 10,000 from one account to another account through National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system, will attract maximum charge of Rs 2.50 per transaction, RBI said in a notification. Charges for electronic transfer of fund beyond Rs 10,000 but less than Rs 1 lakh will be a maximum of Rs 5 per transaction. At the same time, for electronic transfer of funds beyond Rs 1 lakh to less than Rs 2 lakh, RBI has retained maximum charges of Rs 15 per transaction.
14.Prime Minister of Singapore Mr. Lee Hsien Loong arrived in New Delhi and signed 3 pacts in the field of education ,defence and security. Singapore Prime Minister announced to set up a World class skill development Centre in New Delhi with collaboration of both countries.
15.11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2013 will be held in Cochin (Kerala). Last meeting was held in Jaipur.
16.Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced to provide $74.8 million loan to improve road connectivity in the North East states.
17.Maruti Suzuki India Ltd decided to get into a merger with Suzuki Power train India Ltd. This initiative will help them prepare and meet the increasing demand for diesel vehicles.
18.World Energy Forum will hold its first conference outside its UN headquarters on 22 October 2012 in Dubai. 22 October is observed as world energy day.
19.India and Mozambique signed on Bilateral Security Cooperation agreement.
20.India and Russia have agreed to achieve the 20 billion US Dollars trade target by 2015. The bilateral trade between the countries stood at 9 billion U S Dollars in 2011.
21.9th World Hindi Conference will be held in South African city Johannesburg from 22 to 24 of September this year. The main theme of the conference is Bhasha Ki Asmita Aur Hindi Ka Vaishvik Sandarbh.
Third Week of July
1. IOA (Indian Olympic association) announced that wrestler Sushil Kumar will be the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent at the London Olympics.
2. Inflation declined marginally to 7.25 per cent in June, against 7.55 per cent in May WPI (wholesale price index)
3. Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams, along with her two colleagues, took off for her second space odyssey on a Russian Soyuz rocket, which blasted off successfully from Kazakhstan for a four-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS).
4. South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma became the first woman head of African Union (A.U.) Commission.
5. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has marginally reduced India’s growth projections from 6.8 per cent to 6.1 per cent for 2012 and from 7.2 per cent to 6.5 per cent in 2013. IMF’s World Economic Outlook. Global growth will be at 3.5 per cent in 2012 and 3.9 per cent in 2013.
6. With the Kudankulam nuclear project likely to be commissioned in August, Russia has agreed to extend a $3.4-billion credit for setting up two more 1,000-MW atomic power plants units 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam project at the same site in Tamil Nadu.
7. UN peace mediator for Syria - Kofi Annan.
8. U.S. is close to developing a hypersonic bomber able to reach any target on the globe in under an hour. The military hopes to fly such planes capable of moving at 20 times the speed of sound by 2016. The hypersonic bomber codenamed the X—Plane will travel at Mach 20 (roughly 20,900 kmph).
9. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D. Subbarao, proposed a Producer Price Index (PPI), which would measure the average change over time in the sale prices of domestic goods and services. In its present structure, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) does not capture the price movement of services. In contrast to Consumer Price Index (CPI), PPI measures price changes from the perspective of the seller. Sellers’ and purchasers’ prices differ due to government subsidies, sales and excise taxes, and distribution costs.
10. The Rajasthan government decided to ban the production, storage, distribution and sale of gutkha.
11. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued guidelines allowing overseas individual investors (Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) to invest up to $1 billion in corporate bonds and debt schemes of mutual funds without any lock-in period. As per the existing norms, QFIs are allowed to invest in schemes of Indian mutual funds and Indian equity shares by opening a demat account with a qualified Depository Participant (DP).
12. Retail inflation, based on the consumer price index (CPI), eased marginally to 10.02 per cent in June from 10.36 per cent in May. The rates of price rise for rural and urban areas were 9.74 per cent and 10.44 per cent, respectively.
13. Russia and China vetoed a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would have slapped new sanctions against President Bashar Al Assad’s regime in Syria, while India was among the 11 countries that voted in favour.
14. Terming “serious” the alleged violation of safety norms by HSBC staff members in the country against money-laundering and terrorist financing, India promised to “get to the bottom” of it.
15. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that foreign banks having 20 or more branches in the country will be brought on par with domestic banks for priority sector targets in a phased manner over a maximum period of five years starting April 1, 2013. Foreign banks with less than 20 branches will have no sub-targets within the overall priority sector lending target of 32 per cent.
16. United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee, Vice-President Mohammed Hamid Ansari and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Jaswant Singh will fight Vice-President Election on August 7.
17. A series of trials of anti-tank Nag missile, with focus on the performance of a modified Namica (Nag Missile Carrier) in harsh desert conditions, will be conducted in the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan between July 24 and August 10.
18. A new report by tax researchers (Tax Justice Network) estimates that the amount of black money deposited by a ‘global super-rich elite’ in offshore accounts is as much as $20 trillion — equivalent of the combined GDPs of the U.S. and Japan.
19. Lakshmi Sahgal — freedom fighter and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s comrade in the Indian National Army passed away.
20. The Defence Ministry cleared a proposal to procure 56 transport aircraft, at an estimated price of Rs. 12,000 crore, for the Air Force to replace the ageing Avro planes.
21. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a new category of NBFCs, Non-Banking Financial Company-Factors and stipulated that every company seeking registration as NBFC-Factors would have a minimum net-owned fund (NOF) of Rs.5 crore. Factoring is a financial transaction where an entity sells its receivable to a third-party called a ‘factor’ at discounted prices.
22. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue rupee five denomination coins bearing the emblem of Indian Council Medical Research (ICMR). These coins are being issued to mark the Centenary Year of the ICMR.
23. Home Ministry declined permission to three Iranian banks (Parsian Bank, Bank Kasargad and Eghtesad-e-Novin) to open branches in India due to threat of money laundering and terror financing in banking transactions as cautioned by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
24. Government has initiated revision of base year from 2004-05 to 2011-12 for calculating the gross domestic product (GDP).
25. Food grain production in India will be more than 257 million tonnes in last year as compared to nearly 245 million tonnes the previous year.
26. India extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
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