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CURRENT AFFAIRS 21st DECEMBER – 31st JANUARY

Dr. Pushpak A Pandav

NSGE Page 2

INDIA & WORLD

ADB ink $80 Million Loan Agreement to Improve Urban Services in

Agartala and Aizwal

This loan agreement is the third tranche of a $200 million financing facility of ADB under its

North Eastern Region Capital cities Development Investment (NERCDI) Program.

The loan funds will be used for investments in water supply, sanitation and solid waste

management in Agartala and Aizwal. It will support urban reforms as well as strengthen the

institutional, managerial, and financial capacity of service institutions benefiting nearly a

million people in the two cities.

Under NERCDI, the previous program tranches have provided assistance to five other cities

in the Northeast. They are Aizawl (Mizoram), Shillong (Meghalaya), Gangtok (Sikkim),

Kohima (Nagaland) and Agartala (Tripura).

CERT-In inks cyber security agreements with 3 nations

Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has signed cybersecurity

agreement with its counterparts in Malaysia, Singapore and Japan.

Each signatory country will share knowledge and experience in resolution, detection and

prevention of security related incidents between India and the respective country.

Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) CERT-In is nodal department

under the aegis of Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology that deals

with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing in India. Headquarters: New Delhi.

Objective: To protect Indian cyberspace and software infrastructure against destructive and

hacking activities. Strengthen security-related defence of the Indian Internet domain.

India overtakes Thailand as World’s largest Rice exporter

India has overtaken Thailand as the world’s largest rice exporter in the year 2015 by

shipping (exporting) 10.23 million tonnes of rice.

It has exported 9.8 million tonnes of rice to the world market in year 2015 compared to 10.9

million tonnes in year 2014. Vietnam: It was ranked third largest rice exporter with 6.4

million tonnes. China: It has remained the number one importer country of rice in the year

2015.

India ranks 76 in 2015 Corruption Perception Index

The 2015 CPI was the 21st edition of the annual index and was published by the Berlin-based

corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI).

In this edition, India has scored 38 on a scale from 0 (most corrupt) to 100 (least corrupt).

India has improved in its ranking compared to earlier position of 85 and 94 in 2014 and 2013,

respectively. Top 5 Countries: Denmark (score 91), Finland (score 90), Sweden (89 score),

New Zealand, Netherlands (87 score) and Norway (87 score).

Bottom 5 Countries: Angola (rank 163), South Sudan (rank 163), Sudan (rank 165),

Afghanistan (rank 166), North Korea (rank 167) and Somalia (rank 167). BRICS Countries:

South Africa (rank 61), India (76), Brazil (rank 76), China (rank 83) and Russia (rank 119).

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SAARC Countries: Bhutan (rank 27), India (rank 76), Sri Lanka (rank 83), Pakistan (rank

117), Nepal (rank 130) and Bangladesh (rank 139) and Afghanistan (rank 166).

India, France ink 14 pacts for cooperation various fields

Signed Agreements are Defence: MoU on purchase of 36 Rafale Aircrafts.

Space: Implementation Arrangement between ISRO and CNES on hosting Argos-4 Payload

onboard Oceansat-3 satellite of India. Implementation Arrangement between ISRO and

CNES on a future joint Thermal Infrared earth observation mission. Letter of Intent (LoI) on

France’s (CNES) participation in India’s (ISRO’s) next Mars Mission.

Railways: Joint Venture Shareholding Agreement between Indian Railways and Alstom for

production of 800 electric locomotives in Madhepura plant in Bihar. Agreement between

Indian Railways and French Railways (SNCF) for joint feasibility study for the renovation of

Ambala (Punjab) and Ludhiana (Punjab) railway stations. Food safety: MOU between Food

Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and ANSES in food safety.

Public Administration: Partnership Agreement on Cooperation in Public Administration

between Union Ministry of Personnel & Public Grievances and France.

Cultural exchange: Declaration of Intent (DoI) for conducting Bonjour India (French

festival) in 2017 and Namaste France (Indian festival) in 2016, Cultural Exchange

Programme between both countries for the period 2016-2018

Science & Technology: Arrangement for establishment of an Indo- French Ministerial level

Joint Committee on Science & Technology. Education: MoU between IIT Mumbai and Thales

Systemes Aeroportes for Industry Sponsored Ph.D (Doctorate) Fellowship.

Cooperation Agreement for joint research, teaching, exchange of personnel etc between

IISER, Pune and ENS de Lyon (France). Agreement of Cooperation in the field of Higher

Education & Research between IIT Mumbai and CNRS, TB, UBO, UBS,ENSTA Bretagne,ENIB

(French Universities). Apart from signing these agreements, both countries also discussed

on ways to enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism, security and civil nuclear energy.

First Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India Cooperation Forum held

Manama

The meeting was inaugurated by Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa

and was attended by representatives of 22 Arab League nations. Indian side was

represented by Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and also Foreign Secretary S

Jaishankar.

The forum seeks to provide platform for India’s bid to reach out to West Asian nations (22

Arab League nations) to further strengthen the economic, trade and financial cooperation.

Manama Declaration: Terrorism: The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations and rejected associating it with any religion. They vowed to combat terrorism

and called for developing a collective strategy to eliminate its sources and its funding.

Islamic State: Strongly condemned crimes committed by all terror organisations, especially

those committed by the IS.

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India submits first Biennial Update Report to UNFCCC

BUR has been prepared by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

(UNFCC) under its NATCOM project funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Contains national inventory of Green House Gases (GHG) for 2010 and has been prepared

in accordance with the guidelines of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

6 GHGs in Inventory: Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs),

Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) and Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Five

categories: It covers agriculture, waste and Land-use, Land-use, Change and Forestry

(LULUCF), energy, industrial processes and product use (IPPU),.

India’s emissions: India has emitted around 2,137 million tonnes (mt) of CO2 equivalent

GHGs in 2010.

About 12% of emissions were offset by carbon sink action of croplands and forests.

Thus, total of 1,884.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent GHGs were emitted.

India inks Loan Agreement with World Bank for Bihar Kosi Basin

Development Project

The loan has implementation period of 5 years and Bihar Government is the implementing

agency.

Bihar Kosi Basin Development Project objective is to enhance: (i) Resilience to floods from

Kosi River which is infamously dubbed as sorrow of Bihar and increase agricultural

production and productivity of targeted districts along the river basin. (ii) State’s capacity to

respond promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency. Five components of

Project are: (i) Improving Flood Risk Management. (ii) Augmenting Connectivity. (iii)

Enhancing Agricultural Productivity and Competitiveness. (iv) Implementation Support (v)

Contingent Emergency Response. Primary beneficiaries of this Project: Rural households

and producers in the Kosi River Basin who are regularly exposed to floods.

Cabinet approves MoU between ISRO and Kuwait’s ISR for outer

space cooperation

on cooperation in the exploration of outer space and use of outer space technology for

peaceful purposes. It will include KISR to use data from Indian Remote Sensing (IRS)

satellites for initiating a few research and application projects. Building and launching of

remote sensing and communication satellites of Kuwait on commercial terms and Training

purpose.

Setting up of a Joint Working Group to work out the plan of action including the time-frame

and means of implementing MoU. It will include members from ISRO and KISR. Give impetus

to explore newer research activities and application possibilities in the field of remote

sensing of the earth, satellite navigation, satellite communication, exploration of outer space

and space science.

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Cabinet approves MoU between India and UK in the field of Public

Administration and Governance Reforms

Under this MoU the co-operation will be in areas like sharing good governance practices in

public administration, reducing bureaucracy in service delivery and user led service

design.

It will also be in areas like Government Process Re-engineering, Public Grievance Redress

Mechanism, Building and developing staff capability, Local Government Reforms.

Cooperation in Reforms towards strengthening of social security, Collaboration in strategies

for promotion of ethics in Government will be also part of it.

So far, Union Government has signed similar bilateral MoU with China, Malaysia, Singapore

and also with Brazil and South Africa (trilateral).

World Economic Forum meeting starts in Davos, Switzerland

The annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting has started in Swiss resort of Davos,

Switzerland with participation of political leaders and business from around the world. In

this edition of WEF meeting, the agenda includes the outlook of the global economy and

measures to fight terrorism.

Leaders from about 40 countries and more than 2,500 business people are attending the

meeting. The 4-day conference will cover the discussions on tumbling oil prices and China’s

uncertain economic prospects. It will be also discussing the issue of growing terror threats

in the wake of the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris (France) and influx of migrants

and refugees in Europe. Participants will also discuss environmental issues such as

greenhouse gas emissions. They will also review the latest efforts to improve industrial

production with robotics, artificial intelligence and information technology.

World Economic Forum (WEF) WEF is an international institution founded by Klaus Schwab

that works to improve the state of the world through public-private cooperation. It was

established in 1971 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Motto: Committed to

improving the state of the world It is an independent not-for-profit organization that works

closely with other international organizations. It also works with leaders in the field of

politics, business, academia to set global, regional and industrial

Union Government inks loan agreement with World Bank for

Neeranchal National Watershed Project

The loan credit will support the watershed activities of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee

Yojana (PMKSY) in selected sites in 9 states. These states are Andhra Pradesh,

Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha

and Rajasthan.

World Bank will provide loan of US$ 178.50 million with a maturity of 25 years, including a 5

year grace period.

Neeranchal National Watershed Project is implemented by the Union Ministry of Rural

Development over a six-year period (2016-21) to achieve objectives PMKSY. It will support

the PMKSY in hydrology and water management, agricultural production systems, capacity

building and monitoring and evaluation. It seeks to ensure access to irrigation to every

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farmland (Har Khet Ko Pani) and for efficient use of water (Per Drop More Crop). The project

was approved by the Union Cabinet in October 2015 with a total budget outlay of Rs.2142

crore. Of the total amount Government’s share was of Rs.1071 crore (50%) and the rest 50%

of the World Bank.

WHO declares end of Ebola outbreak in West Africa

WHO’s announcement came with declaration of end disease in Liberia after no positive case

was reported in last 42 days (two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus). Liberia was worst hit

in Western Africa by this deadly outbreak which has killed around 4809 people.

Earlier Sierra Leone was declared free from Ebola transmission in November 2015 and

followed by Guinea in December 2015. Liberia was first declared free of Ebola transmission

in May 2015 but the virus had reappeared twice since then. Ebola outbreak Guinea was

birthplace of deadliest Ebola outbreak in history and was initially centred on country’s

remote south-eastern region of Nzerekore in 2013.

India to join the International Energy Agency – Ocean Energy

Systems

By becoming a member India will have access to advanced Research & Development (R&D)

teams and technologies across the world. India will also become partner in developing test

protocols along with other countries which will in turn help in testing Indian prototypes as

per international requirements and norms.

Earth System Science Organisation – National Institute of Ocean Technology (ESSO-NIOT)

under the aegis of Union Ministry of Earth Sciences will be the nodal agency for the

membership.

Benefits By becoming member of IEA-OES, India (power deficit country) can leverage study

of ocean renewable energies. It will also help to acquire modern technologies to harness

ocean energy and overcome technological challenge due vagaries of the sea ocean energy.

Provide technology to India (tropical country) to harness Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

(OTEC) due to high sea surface temperatures.

IEA Inter-governmental organization established in 1974 as per framework of the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Members: Presently it has 29 member countries. Headquarters (Secretariat): Paris, France.

IEA mandate: To focus on the “3Es” of effectual energy policy: energy security, economic

development and environmental protection. It also seeks to promote alternate energy

sources (including renewable energy), rational energy policies and multinational energy

technology co-operation. It acts as energy policy advisor to 29 member countries and also

non-member countries like China, India and Russia.

Ocean Energy Systems (OES) is an intergovernmental collaboration between countries

which operates under framework established by the IEA in 2001. It seeks to harness energy

from all forms of ocean renewable resources through international cooperation and

information exchange by promoting advance research, development and technologies.

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Union Cabinet approves MoU between India and Maldives for

Health

MoU covers cooperation in Development of human resources in healthcare and setting up of

health care facilities. Exchange and training of medical doctors, health professionals,

officials and experts. Medical and health research development along with management of

healthcare sector and public health services. Procurement of essential and generic drugs

and assistance in sourcing of drug supplies. Health promotion and disease prevention.

India-France military exercise Shakti-2016

Union Cabinet gives nod to Civil Aviation MoU between India and

Singapore

Objective of MoU is to establish mutual cooperation in the field of civil aviation between

both countries. It will cover airports of Jaipur and Ahmedabad to begin with cooperation and

later will be extended to other airports with mutual consent. The include collaboration in

Civil Aviation Sector between both countries will be in the areas of (i) Master-planning and

design (ii) Commercial development (iii) Traffic development Training and development

(iv) Service quality improvement (v) Maintenance, repair and overhaul (vi) Cargo handling

and Management (vii) Operation and management.

Union Cabinet gives nod to MoU with Bangladesh for operation of

traditional haats

The MoU also seeks to establish new Border Haats along the border after identification of

suitable locations in consultation with Bangladesh Government and concerned State

Governments.

The Border Haats in Indian Language means Rural Market. It aims at promoting the well-

being of the people dwelling in remote areas across the borders of two countries.

Though the trade carried in this informal market is not significant in terms of percentage of

bilateral trade, but these local measures help to improve economic well-being of

marginalised sections of society. Presently 4 Border Haats are already operational along

India-Bangladesh border. They are (i) Kalaichar (Meghalaya). (ii) Balat (Meghalaya). (iii)

Kamlasagar (Tripura) (iv) Srinagar (Tripura). In addition, both Governments also have

agreed to further establish 2 Border Haats in Tripura and 4 Border Haats in Meghalaya along

the border.

India, Pakistan exchange lists of nuclear facilities

This exchange is done on 1st of January every year between the two neighbouring countries

that bars them from attacking each other’s atomic facilities. This is the 25th consecutive

exchange of such list between the two countries, the first one having taken place on 1

January 1992. Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations It bilateral

agreement signed between India and Pakistan that bars them from carrying out any surprise

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attack (or to assist foreign power to attack) on each other’s nuclear installations and

facilities.

Union inks Financing Agreement with World Bank to fund education

of minorities

Under this agreement, the credit will be facilitated by the International Development

Association (IDA), World Bank’s concessionary lending arm.

This credit will be in the form of loan which carries a maturity of 25 years, including a 5-year

grace period. The loan funds will be used for interventions under this scheme improve the

employability and performance of minority youth in the labour market. The total project size

is 100 million dollars, out of which 50 million dollars will be available as IDA credit and the

remaining balance funding from the Union Budget.

Nai Manzil Scheme The central scheme is designed to address educational and livelihood

needs of minority communities lagging behind in terms of educational attainments.

It aims to provide educational intervention by giving the bridge courses to the trainees and

getting them Certificates for Class XII and X from distance medium educational system. It

seeks to provide trade basis skill training in four courses at the same time of formal

education, in field of (i) Manufacturing (ii) Engineering (iii) Services (iv) Soft skills. It intends

to cover people in between 17 to 35 age group from all minority communities as well as

Madrasa students.

Narendra Modi inaugurates new building of Afghanistan

Parliament in Kabul.

He also named one block of Parliament as Atal Block after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari

Vajpayee. Prime Minister also handed over 4 Mi-25 attack helicopters to Afghanistan Air

Force symbolising a shift in India’s position on supplying ‘offensive’ equipment.

Afghanistan parliament building was constructed by India at a cost of US 90 million dollars

as a symbol of India’s support to Afghanistan’s democracy and civil reconstruction.

This project along with $300 million Salma dam project (called the India-Afghanistan

friendship dam) in Heart province has generated much goodwill for India.

India, Russia ink 16 pacts to expand cooperation in various sectors

The agreements were signed in the nuclear energy, hydrocarbons, solar energy, railways

and visas sectors. Some of the signed agreements are Agreement on Cooperation in the

field of Helicopter Engineering: It includes joint manufacture of Kamov 226 helicopters on

the lines of Make in India campaign.

Programme of Action Agreed Between for Localization of Manufacturing in India for Russian-

Designed Nuclear Reactor Units: It would felicitate construction of 12 atomic plants with

involvement of local companies in India under the ‘Make-in-India’ programme.

The cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is a cornerstone of the Russia-India

strategic partnership. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on technical cooperation in

railway sector MoU for construction of solar energy plants in India: It was signed between

Solar Energy Corporation of India and Russian Energy Agency regarding.

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MoU for Cooperation for geologic survey, exploration and production of hydrocarbons

onshore and on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation. Similar agreement was also

signed between Rosneft Oil Company of Russia and Oil India Limited and Indian Oil

Corporation Limited.

NATIONAL

Union Government shortlist 20 cities under Smart Cities Mission

The Union Ministry of Urban Development has shortlisted 20 cities from 11 States and Delhi

Union Territory in the list of first batch of Smart Cities Mission.

These shortlisted cities were selected from Smart City Challenge competition in which 97

cities and towns had participated from 23 States and UTs.

State wise Cities: Among the shortlisted 20 Smart cities, 3 are from Madhya Pradesh, 2 each

are from Maharashtra, Rajasthan Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh and 1

each from Odisha, Kerala, Delhi (UT), Assam and Punjab.

20 shortlisted smart cities (Rank wise) are Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Pune, Maharashtra. Jaipur,

Rajasthan. Surat, Gujarat. Kochi, Kerala. Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Solapur, Maharashtra. Davangere, Karnataka. Indore,

Madhya Pradesh. New Delhi Municipal Corporation. Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Kakinada,

Andhra Pradesh. Belagavi, Karnataka. Udaipur, Rajasthan. Guwahati, Assam. Chennai, Tamil

Nadu. Ludhiana, Punjab. Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

PM Narendra Modi launches ‘Start-up India, Stand-up India’ action

plan

The main aim of action plan is to give impetus to innovation and encourage the talent among

young people and remove onerous government regulations and red tape.

Start-up India, Stand-up India action plan Start-up profits to be tax-free for 3 years and also

no labour inspections for 3 years of launch of the venture.

Compliance regime based on self-certification for labour and environmental laws.

Easy exit policy for start-ups with 90 days. Tax exemption to be provided on capital gains if

money is invested in another start up.

Government to create Rs. 10,000 crore corpus fund for development and growth of

innovation driven enterprises.

It will be Rs. 2500 crore a year for four years Liberalised Fast-track mechanism for start-up

patent applications under intellectual property rights protection with 80% cost rebate.

Encouraging startups to participate in public procurement by easing norms of minimum

turnover/experience.

Mobile apps, portal for register start-ups in a day from 1st April 2016. Establishing Credit

guarantee fund and special scheme for women entrepreneurs.

Sector specific incubators 500 tinkering labs, per-incubation and seed funds under the Atal

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Innovation mission Public-private partnership (PPP) model for 35 new incubators, 7 new

research parks, 31 innovation centres at national institutes and 5 new Bio clusters will be set

up to help Biotech Sector. Government to start Atal Innovation Mission to give an impetus to

innovation and encouraging talent among young people by instituting national awards.

Government to promote the provision of core innovation programmes in 5 lakh schools

across the country.

Union Cabinet approves Stand Up India Scheme for women and

SC/ST

The Scheme seeks to facilitate at least two such projects on an average one for each

category of entrepreneur per bank branch. The Stand-up India is component of Start-up

India, Stand up India slogan anchored by Department of Financial Services (DFS) to

encourage greenfield enterprises by Women and SC/ST entrepreneurs.

Features of Stand Up India Scheme It will refinance window through Small Industries

Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with an initial amount 10,000 crore rupees.

Under it, a credit guarantee mechanism would be created through the National Credit

Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC).

It will be the operating agency for the loan. It will provide handholding support to the

borrowers at both pre loan stage and during operations stage. It would seek to increase

their familiarity with factoring services, e-market places and registration with online

platforms as well as sessions on best practices and problem solving.

It would provide women and SC/ST entrepreneurs bank loans repayable up to 7 years.

It would be between 10 lakh to 1 crore rupees for greenfield enterprises in the non-farm

sector. The overall intent is to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to this

under-served population.

For this margin money of the composite loan will be up to 25%. It is expected that this

scheme would benefit atleast 2.5 lakh borrowers and expected date of reaching the target of

approvals is 36 months from the launch of the Scheme.

Union Government launches Ganga Gram Yojana

The Union Government has launched Ganga Gram Yojana to develop 1600 villages in Uttar

Pradesh (UP) situated along the banks of Ganga River. In the first phase of the Ganga Gram

Yojana, 200 villages in UP have been selected. In these selected villages open drains

discharging waste directly into river Ganga will be diverted to sewage treatment facility.

Government will spend one crore rupees on every village under this programme.

It would be mandatory for every household in selected villages to have functional toilets.

Under this programme, these selected villages will be developed under the Sichewal model

(Village in Punjab) which is based on cooperation of the villagers for water management

and waste disposal. Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga

Rejuvenation also deployed the first company of Ganga Task force Battalion to fast track

implementation of Namami Gange Programme.

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President promulgates Enemy Property (Amendment and

Validation) Ordinance, 2016

The Ordinance was promulgated by President as per provisions of Article 123 of

Constitution of India that gives him legislative powers in consultation with Council of Union

Ministers.

Proposed Amendments are Once an enemy property is vested to the Custodian it shall

continue to be vested in him. It shall not revert back to enemy subject or enemy firm due to

reasons such as death of subject or firm ceased to function. The law of succession does not

apply to enemy property. Henceforth there cannot be transfer of any property vested in the

custodian by an enemy till it is disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

Enemy properties In the wake of the two India-Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971, there was

migration of people from India to Pakistan. The properties and companies of such migrated

persons (acquired Pakistani nationality) were confiscated by Union Government under the

Defence of India Rules framed under Defence of India Act. These enemy properties were

vested in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India by the Union Government. In the

Tashkent Declaration (signed in 1966), a clause was included to discuss the return of the

assets and property taken over by either side in connection with the conflict.

Union Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

The Union Cabinet has approved Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, a new crop insurance

scheme to boost farming sector in the country. It is farmers’ welfare scheme that aims to

reduce the premium burden on farmers and ensure early settlement of crop assurance claim

for the full insured sum.

Uniform premium: Farmers will pay uniform premium of 2 per cent for all Kharif crops and

1.5 percent for all Rabi crops. In case of annual horticultural and commercial crops, farmers

will pay 5 per cent premium.

Government will pay balance premium to provide full insured amount to the farmers against

crop loss on account of natural calamities.

Government subsidy: There will be no upper limit subsidy given by Government even if

balance premium is 90 percent.

Capping the Premium: The provision of capping the premium rate has been removed and

farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction. It was removed as it

resulted in low claims being paid to farmers and was mainly done to limit Government outgo

on the premium subsidy.

Use of technology: Government will encourage use of technology especially Smart phones

and remote sensing to a great extent. In order to reduce the delays in claim payment to

farmers, smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting. To reduce

the number of crop cutting experiments remote sensing will be used.

The new Crop Insurance Scheme has been formulated in line with One Nation–One Scheme

theme. It replaces existing two schemes viz. National Agricultural Insurance Scheme

(MNAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) by removing their

inherent drawbacks (shortcomings) and incorporating the best features of all previous

schemes.

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President gives assent to The Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015

to raise the ceiling of a cess as an excise duty on the production of sugar.

The amendment Bill seeks to amend the The Sugar Cess Act, 1982 which provides legal

provision for the imposition of a cess as an excise duty on the production of sugar.

The Bill proposes to increase this ceiling of sugar to Rs 200 per quintal from existing Rs 25

per quintal specified in the principal Act. The principal Act empowers central government to

fix the rate of sugar cess from time to time. Implications of hike in sugar cess It would lead to

increase in the accruals to the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) which in turn would facilitate

rehabilitation and modernisation of sugar mills and thereby helping cane growers. In

present scenario, it will help in revival of stagnant sugar economy by helping cash-starved

mills and sugarcane growers.

Union Cabinet approves amendments of Power Tariff Policy to

promote clean energy

The comprehensive amendments bring required changes for holistic view of the power

sector and also to achieve the objectives of Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) with

the focus on 4 Es.

These 4 Es are: Electricity for all, Environment for a sustainable future, Efficiency to ensure

affordable tariffs, Ensure financial viability and Ease of doing business to attract

investments.

Electricity 24X7 power supply will be ensured to all consumers. In this case state

governments and regulators will devise appropriate power supply trajectory to achieve this.

Micro Grids will provide power to remote unconnected villages.

It will have provision for purchase of power into the grid. People near coal mines will be

provided with affordable power through procurement of power from coal washery reject

based plants. Efficiency Reduce power cost to consumers through expansion of existing

power plants. For reduction in overall power cost, benefit from sale of un-requisitioned

power to be shared.

Through competitive bidding process, transmission projects will be developed in order to

ensure faster completion at lower cost. Creating transmission capacity for accessing power

from across India for lower power cost.

Environment Renewable Power Obligation (RPO): By March 2022, 8% of electricity

consumption shall be from solar energy in order to promote renewable energy and energy

security. Renewable Generation Obligation (RGO): New thermal plants based

coal/ligniteto establish/purchase/ procure renewable capacity.

Transmission charges and losses will be not levied for solar and wind power between inter-

State power transmission. 100% power procurement produced from Waste-to-Energy plants

in order to give big boost to Swachh Bharat Mission. Ease of Doing Business Investments will

be encouraged in coal rich states like West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to

generate employment.

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India’s Grid-linked solar generation capacity crosses 5,000 MW

mark

Presently, Government has set an ambitious plan to achieve 175 Giga Watt (GW) of power

generation capacity from renewable sources by 2022. It includes 100 GW from solar and 60

GW from wind. Under the National Solar Mission (NSM), Union Government increased the

solar power generation capacity addition target by five times from 20,000 MW to 100 GW by

2022. Top grid-connected states Rajasthan (1,264.35 MW). Gujarat (1,024.15 MW). Madhya

Pradesh (678.58 MW). Maharashtra (378.7 MW). Andhra Pradesh (357.34 MW). Telangana

(342.39 MW). Punjab (200.32 MW). Uttar Pradesh (140 MW). Major states lagging behind

West Bengal (7.21 MW). Uttarakhand (5 MW). Haryana (12.8 MW).

Jharkhand first state to sign MoU with Centre for power scheme

UDAY

The MoU will help state government in electrifying remaining 2200 villages in state and

make Union Government’s vision of providing 24×7 electricity supply to all a reality.

Through UDAY Jharkhand will also derive an overall net benefit of approximately 5,300

crore rupees. It will also have significant benefits for JBVNL, as the state government is

taking over 100 percent liabilities of outstanding dues with CPSUs and 75 per cent of the

outstanding debts of JBVNL.

The total number of states that would be joining UDAY Scheme now has risen to 15. The

other states are Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir,

Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Besides, four major states Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha also already have

given their in-principle approval to join UDAY.

Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) The Scheme was launched on 20th November 2015

to help financially stressed Distribution companies (DISCOMs) to supply adequate power at

affordable rates. It aims for financial turnaround and revival of Power DISCOMs and also

ensures a sustainable permanent solution to the problem.

Union Government launches two mobile apps for farmers

Union Government has launched two mobile applications namely Crop Insurance and

AgriMarket Mobile to benefit farmers .

Crop Insurance mobile app: It will help farmers find out complete details about insurance

cover available in their area. It will also help farmers to calculate the insurance premium for

notified crops, coverage amount and loan amount. Farmers can use this app to get details

and information about normal sum insured, premium details, extended sum insured and

subsidy information of any notified crop in any notified area.

AgriMarket Mobile app: It can be used by farmers to get the market prices of crops in the

mandi within 50 km radius of the device. It can automatically tracks the location of person

using mobile GPS and fetches the market prices of crops in those markets.

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CCEA approves Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme

for textile sector

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved introduction of

Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) for technology upgradation of the

textiles industry.

The ATUFS replaces existing Revised Restructured Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme

(RR-TUFS) to give a boost to textile sector under Make in India campaign.

ATUFS targets Employment generation (including women) and global export by

encouraging garment and apparel industry. Promote Technical Textiles which is a sunrise

sector for export and employment creation. Improvement in quality and productivity by

promoting conversion of existing looms to better technology looms.

Two broad categories of ATUFS Apparel, Garment and Technical Textiles sectors would be

provided on capital investment with fifteen per cent subsidy.

However, it will be subject to a ceiling of Rs. 30 crore for entrepreneurs over a period of five

years. Remaining sub-sectors of textile sectors would be provided subsidy at a rate of 10

percent. However, it would be subject to a ceiling of Rs.20 crore.

The amended scheme would attract investment to the tune of one lakh crore rupees in textile

sector and create over 30 lakh jobs.

TUFS was introduced by the Union Government in 1999 to facilitate new technology for

making the Indian textile industry globally competitive and to reduce the capital cost for the

textile industry. The scheme was earlier amended for continuation during the 12th Five year

Plan into Revised Restructured Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme .

Union Cabinet approves Raptor MoU for conservation of migratory

birds of prey

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to sign Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) on

the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia. This MoU is also called as

the ‘Raptor MoU’ under the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS).

With signing it, India will become the 54th signatory to the MoU.

Raptor MoU It is an agreement under Article IV paragraph 4 of the Conservation of

Migratory Species (CMS) and is not legally binding on signatory parties.

The MoU seeks willingness of the signatory states for working for conservation of the raptor

species and their habitats. The Raptors MoU extends its coverage to 76 species of birds of

prey out and an action plan has been formulated that envisages the conservation action for

Raptor species.

Of the total 76 species of birds that fall in Raptor MoU, 46 species occur in India including

vultures, falcons, eagles, owls, hawks, kites, harriers, etc.

Union Government announces central assistance of Rs. 6,794 crore

to three drought-hit states

Union Government has approved financial aid of Rs. 6,794 crore for three states—

Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh affected by drought in year 2015 due to

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deficit rainfall.

Of the total financial aid, government has approved Rs.3,100 crore for Maharashtra, Rs.1,672

crore for Chhattisgarh and Rs.2,022 crore for Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra, which had

declared drought bout 15% of the state i.e. in more than 15,000 villages and had demanded

Rs.4,003 crore in central assistance. Seven other states—Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra

Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh also have been declared drought

this year due to rainfall deficit. In 2015, the drought has affected crops spread over an area

of 19 million hectare in just seven states. In all, 18 states have been recorded deficit rainfall

this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off first prototype pollution

free electric bus for Members of Parliament.

The bus powered by battery has been manufactured in the lines with Union Government’s

flagship Make in India campaign.

The 15-seater eco-friendly bus is coloured in green and blue. It has Go Green message on it.

It is powered by lithium battery developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) and is very economical. The bus is a collaborative effort between the Union Transport

Ministry and Pune-based technology company KPIT. It has been converted from diesel to

electric and will be used to ferry Parliamentarians. The noiseless bus can save carbon

dioxide (CO2) emissions up to 48,000 kg a year. That’s equal to planting 2400 plants

annually and will also save diesel worth Rs. 10 lakh a year.

Union Government launches Sahaj Scheme for online booking of

LPG cylinders

Consumers can book LPG cylinders online through the unified web portal www.mylpg.in

which is available in 13 languages. People can apply online for new LPG connection and

they need not visit to the LPG distributors for it. This facility is available around the clock

and with online or offline payment options. LPG cylinders will be delivered at home even in

their absence. Union government has decided to target of adding 10 crore new LPG

connections by December 2018 to present 16.5 crore connections. For this government has

planned to ease the process of LPG refills and new connections and few of them are

Union Government forms technical group to monitor Zika virus

situation

The Technical expert group has been asked to submit its report soon so that the government

could take steps accordingly.

The high level meeting was also attended by Health Ministry’s officials and representatives

from AIIMS and National Institute of Virology (NIV).

They took stock of the situation in view of the recent outbreak of Zika Virus reported from

Latin American countries. So far not a single case of the virus has been reported in India but

government has strengthened its surveillance system and focusing on its preventives and

preparedness strategies to tackle the spread of virus in the country.

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The Zika virus spread by Aedes mosquitoes ( It also transmit 3 other vector-borne diseases

Chikungunya, dengue and yellow fever). It has has been linked to brain defects in babies

i.e. they born with abnormal condition called microcephaly which can cause brain damage.

Union Cabinet approves Policy on Promotion of City Compost

This policy will help in circulating compost produced from city waste for the purpose of

farming and agriculture.

For increasing production and consumption of City Compost, provision for Market

development assistance of Rs. 1500 per tonne of city compost has been added.

Farmers will be benefitted from lower MRP of city compost as result of Market development

assistance. To ensure that environment friendly quality city compost, eco-Mark standard has

been made mandatory. Fertilizer companies will co-market City Compost along with

chemical fertilizers. For promoting the use of compost, these companies will adopt villages.

It will be mandatory for Public Sector undertakings and Government Departments to use

City Compost for purpose of their horticulture.

Agriculture Universities and other departments will also contribute in demonstration

activities related to use of City compost. In the initial phase, promotion and marketing of city

compost will be done through the existing fertilizer companies. But later, it will be done by

compost manufacturers and other marketing entities after the approval from Department of

Fertilisers. It will also generate employment in urban areas. Prevent the production of

harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs) especially methane (CH4) and toxic material. Thus,

keeping environment and groundwater clean.

Union Government launches River Information System

India’s first River Information System (RIS) was launched by Union Government facilitate

safe and accurate inland waterway navigation. It has been launched in phases and the first

phase will cover 145-km stretch of National Waterways 1 (Phase I- Haldia to Farakka) on the

Ganges River.

Inland Waterway Authority of India (IWAI), a statutory body under the aegis of Union

Ministry of Shipping is implementing the RIS in India.

River Information Services RIS are combination of modern tracking equipment comprising of

hardware and software designed to optimize transport and traffic processes in inland water

navigation. The system has capability to enhance swift electronic data transfer between

mobile vessels and Base stations (on shore) through advance and real-time exchange of

information.

The main aim of the system is to streamline the exchange of information via Very high

frequency (VHF) wireless communication between waterway operators and users.

This system would facilitate: (i) Enhancement of inland navigation safety in ports and rivers.

(ii) Better use of the inland waterways. (iii) Environmental protection. It enables safe and

efficient inland water transport by avoiding risks such as (i) Ship-to-Ship collisions. (ii) Ship-

Bridge collisions. (iii) Groundings. This system has been successfully implemented and is in

operation in countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, China and US. The RIS

system will be later extended upto Varanasi in two more phases and in Phase-II, it will cover

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stretch from Farakka to Patna (410 Km.)

Government inks MoU to implement Action Plan for skill

development in Telecom

The MoU has signed to implement National Action Plan for Skill Development in Telecom

Sector. Under this MoU Both signatories will make concerted joint efforts towards skill

development by facilitating mobilization of financial support for various activities.

The financial mobilization will be under the National Ecosystem for Development of

Telecom.

National Institute for Policy Research Innovation and Training (NTIPRT) will be also

developed for training and skill upgradation in Telecom.

The Ministry also has launched the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna (PMKVY) Rupay

ATM Cum Debit card of Bank of India (BoI). This card will be issued to the students with 1

Lac Rupee PA Insurance Cover.

IBM inks MoU with NRSC to monitor mining activities using

satellite technology

Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) has signed a MoU with the National Remote Sensing Centre

(NRSC) to monitor the mining activities in the country through satellite technology.

As part of the MoU, IBM would set up an exclusive remote sensing cell under the technical

guidance of the NRSC at its offices in Nagpur and Hyderabad.

The remote sensing cell will utilise web-based Bhuvan GIS (Geographic Information System)

services for monitoring mining activities. Initially pilot project will be undertaken to

demonstrate the feasibility of using high resolution satellite imagery in monitoring the

changes over a period of time in select group of mines.

The pilot project will be launched in Odisha and Hospet sector of Karnataka to check and

validate consistency of differential geo positioning system points.

NABARD inks MoU with NRSC for monitoring Watershed Projects

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has signed a Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) with Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for

web-based monitoring of watershed projects. Under this MoU Web-based monitoring will

be undertaken for India-German Watershed Development (IGWDP) projects in three states

viz. Rajasthan, Gujarat and Telangana.

NABARD will use this web-based monitoring technology to address problems of monitoring

watershed projects in remote areas, apart from digitisation of the impact of watershed

interventions for long term usage. It should be noted that NABARD only assists the

watershed projects of Union Ministry of Rural Development by providing funds under

Watershed Development Fund (WDF).

Sex ratio down, literacy rate of women up: NFHS

The first phase of survey was undertaken by Mumbai based International Institute for

Population Sciences under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

NFHS-4 is the first survey in the NFHS series that has collected data from all 29 States and all

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7 Union Territories.

Highlights of the report 11 states and 2 UTs surveyed: In the first phase surveyed

states/UTs are Goa, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim,

Haryana, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (UT), Puducherry

(UT). Female literacy: Women’s literacy has gone up in each of surveyed states and

collectively has increased by 12.15% in these 11 states. Sex ratio: It has significantly

decreased in 9 out of 11 surveyed states of India. On an average, there are 985 females per

1,000 males in 2015-16. Uttarakhand (1,015 females per 1,000 males) and Meghalaya (1,005

females per 1,000 males) are having higher sex ratio and remaining states saw a disturbing

fall in sex ratio. Institutional deliveries: Children delivered in a medical institution under

medical supervision has increased by 32.8%. Madhya Pradesh (54.6%), Karnataka (44.8%)

and Bihar (43.9%) saw a huge rise in institutional deliveries. Child marriages: It has reduced

by 13.17% for females and 6.7% for males in these 11 survey states.

Health concern and Nutrition: Overall health status of Indians has improved and poor

nutrition is less common compared to previous survey. Anaemia cases also have declined,

but still remain widespread. Drinking water, sanitation & cooking fuel: Indian families are

now more inclined to use improved drinking water and sanitation facilities. More than 50%

of households have access to improved sanitation facilities except Bihar and Madhya

Pradesh.

ISRO successfully launches IRNSS-1E satellite

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched India’s fifth navigation

Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) 1E satellite.

The IRNSS-1E weighs 1425 kilogram and has the mission life of 12 years. It equipped with

two types of payloads viz. navigation payload and ranging devices. The navigation payload

will be operating in L5-band and S-band along with and highly accurate Rubidium atomic

clock. It will be mainly used to transmit navigation service signals to the users.

The ranging payload consists of a C-band transponder. It will facilitate accurate

determination of the range of the satellite.

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system (IRNSS) IRNSS consists of constellation of seven

satellites of which three are geostationary and four are non-geostationary. This satellite

system aims to provide real-time data on the position of objects to aid road, air and maritime

traffic. It will also provide mapping and tracking services. It would provide two types of

services viz. Restricted Service (RS) which is an encrypted service provided to authorised

users and Standard Positioning Service (SPS) to all users. IRNSS is similar to other satellite

navigation service providers like US GPS (Global Positioning System), Russia’s Glonass,

Europe’s Galileo, Japan’s Quasi Zenith and China’s Beidou.

SC stays Centre’s notification lifting ban on Jallikattu

The Supreme Court has stayed the Union Government’s notification lifting ban on traditional

bull taming sport Jallikattu during the festival of Pongal in Tamil Nadu.

Earlier on 8th January 2016, MoEF had lifted the four-year-old ban on holding of Jallikattu

ahead of the Pongal festival along with Bullock cart races in Maharashtra.

This notification allowed the exhibition or training of bulls and some other animals, as

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performing animals by following the traditional customs as a part of culture. It also had

added a few guidelines to regulate these sports involving animals as performing animals.

However, the issued notification was against the Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling which had

completely banned use of bulls for Jallikattu (also bull fighting) events or bullock-cart races

across the country. The ban was imposed by SC as it violated provisions of The Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960; fundamental duty Article 51A (g): compassion towards animal;

Article 21 (Right to Life), which prohibits any disturbance to the environment, including

animals as it is considered essential for human life.

IMD changes language in weather forecasting T

he India Meteorological Department (IMD) has changed the languages and also re-defined

terms that are not scientifically precise in weather forecasting.

IMD has reviewed the terminology and factors determining each of these terms based on

supporting observational data. Following are the changes Classification all-India rainfall into

five categories: Normal: ± 10 per cent of the long period average (lpa).

Below normal: Rainfall lower than 10 per cent below average of the lpa.

Above normal: Rainfall greater than 10 per cent above average of the lpa.

Deficient year: Rainfall deficit between 10 and 20 per cent up to 40 per cent of India’s spatial

area. Large deficient year: Rainfall deficit of over 10 per cent across more than 40 per cent of

India’s area. Criteria to classify seasonal rainfall The rules have been changed to classify

seasonal rainfall. IMD has introduced 6 new categories replacing old four rainfall categories

(excess, normal, deficient and scanty).

New categories are Large excess: 60 per cent and above. Excess: between 20 per cent and

59 per cent. Normal: minus 19 per cent to plus 19 per cent; Deficient: minus 20 per cent to

minus 59 per cent. Large deficient: below 60 per cent No Rain: 0 per cent. IMD also has

standardized key terms Heat wave: Temperatures greater than 4.50C above usual

temperatures for the region. Severe heat wave: Temperatures greater than or equal to

470C. Cold wave: Temperatures less than 4.50C above usual temperatures for the region.

Severe cold wave: Minimum temperature is 20C or lower.

Union Government decides to directly shift from BS-IV to BS-VI

Emission norms in 2020

Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has decided to implement the stricter

emission norms of Bharat Stage (BS) VI from 1st April 2020 in a bid to curb vehicular

pollution.

Supreme Court Order Earlier Supreme Court has asked the Union Government to

implement BS-VI emission norms earlier than April 2021 deadline amid concerns on rising

air pollution in the country. Present scenario Presently BS-IV auto fuels are being supplied in

whole of northern India covering states like Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal

Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, parts of Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh. While rest of the

country is being supplied has BS-III grade fuel. The deadline implementation for BS-IV auto

fuels is 2017 across the country.

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Government to roll out DBT scheme for kerosene from April 1, 2016

The scheme in the initial phase will be implemented in selected 26 districts of eight states.

These states are Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra,

Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. Under the scheme People will buy kerosene at

market rate (un-subsidised price) but will get subsidy directly in their bank accounts.

The cash subsidy paid to users under it will be equivalent to the difference between current

Public Distribution System (PDS) price and market rate of kerosene.

During the initial phase, kerosene subsidy will be credited to eligible beneficiaries in

advance to avoid any inconvenience of payment of un-subsidised price.

Google, Railtel launches free public Wi-Fi service at Mumbai

Central Station

With this, Mumbai Central has become the first railway station in India to have free high-

speed Wi-Fi Internet facility. Railwire Wi-Fi Service will be available to any user (passenger)

having Wi-Fi enabled smart phones. Users can easily stream research their destination, surf

high definition video while they’re waiting or save some videos for offline viewing download

e books for the journey.

Security: Users can use this facility after authenticating their cell phone number by entering

a four digit OTP (One Time Password) sent to their smart phone via SMS.

Government constitutes Arvind Panagariya committee to fast-track

bullet train project

Union Government has constituted a committee to fast track the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-

Speed Rail Corridor, meant for connecting two cities with bullet trains.

The committee is tasked to interact with the Japanese counterpart for taking further steps in

implementation of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor.

Members: The committee will be headed by Arvind Panagariya, vice-chairman of the NITI

Aayog. It will also include Railway Board chairman, foreign secretary and secretary

(industrial policy) and secretary in the department of expenditure as its members.

Government constitute Kamlesh Chandra Committee to study wage

structure of Gramin Dak Sevaks

It is one member committee comprising of Kamlesh Chandra, Retired Member of Postal

Services Board. Terms of reference of the Committee The Committee will go into the service

conditions of GDS and suggest changes as considered necessary. Examine the present

system of Branch Post Offices, engagement conditions and existing structure of wage and

enrolments paid to the GDS and recommend necessary changes.

Examine and suggest any changes in the (i) method of minimum qualification for

engagement as GDS. (ii) Conduct and disciplinary rules of GDS, particularly keeping in

view the proposed induction of technology in the Rural Post Offices. Gramin Dak Sevaks:

They are extra-departmental agents recruited by the Department of Post (DoP) to serve in

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rural areas. Presently, DoP has around 2.6 lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks and they have been

demanding pay and facilities at par with regular postal department employees.

Union Government constitutes Shyam Benegal Committee to

revamp Central Board of Film Certification

The committee is tasked to suggest recommendations provide a holistic framework and

interpretation of provisions of Cinematograph Act, 1952 and Cinematograph (Certification)

Rules, 1983. Other Members of the Committee: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Bhawana

Somaaya, Piyush Pandey, Nina Lath Gupta and Joint Secretary (Films) as Member Convenor.

Terms of reference of the Committee The committee is expected to take note of the best

practices in various parts of the world. Recommend broad guidelines under the provisions

of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 for the benefit of the chairperson and other members of the

Screening Committee of CBFC.

Akash missile successfully test fired at Chandipuri in Odisha

Indigenously developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

under the Integrated Guided-Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). The missile has

supersonic speeds ranging from Mach 2.8 to 3.5. It has capability to carry warhead of 60 kg.

It can engage aerial targets up to a range of approximately 25 kms. It is powered by Ramjet-

rocket propulsion system (RRPS) .

Union Cabinet approves raising of 17 Indian Reserve Battalions

The Union Cabinet has approved proposal of raising of 17 Indian Reserve Battalions (IRBs) in

Jammu & Kashmir and 4 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states.

17 IRBs includes 5 battalions in J&K, 4 in Chhattisgarh, 3 each in Jharkhand and Odisha and 2

in Maharashtra. The major thrust in raising these IRBs will be by recruiting local youths.

State Government can relax age and educational criteria if required. In case of 5 IRBs of J&K,

60% of the vacancies for the posts of constables and class IV will be filled from the state’s

border districts. In case of LWE states, 75% of the vacancies of constables will be filled up

from 27 core districts under Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme.

Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme The Union Government had introduced scheme

of Indian Reserve Battalions in 1971. It is a non-plan scheme. The objective of the scheme is

to supplement the efforts of the states to deal with the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) i.e.

naxalite problem effectively. Under it, so far government has sanctioned 153 IRBs in the

various states of which 144 IRBs have been raised. 1 IRB in Jharkhand has been converted

into Specialized Indian Reserve Battalion (SIRB) which is having 2 engineering companies

and 5 security companies

LRSAM Barak 8 Missile successfully tested from INS Kolkata

‘Sahayog – Kaijin 2016’: India and Japan joint Coast Guard exercise

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Nag anti-tank missile successful test fired

The indigenously-built third generation anti-tank missile Nag was successfully test fired at

Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan. It is fire-and-forget anti-tank missile. HeliNa is a

helicopter-launched version of Nag missile. Operational range: 500m to 4km (Land version),

7-10km (Air-launched). Guidance system: Incorporated with advance Active Imaging infra-

red (IIR) seeker. It has been incorporated with HEAT (High explosive anti-tank) warhead

also the top-attack all-weather fire-and-forget system capable of destroying modern tanks

with armoured protection by nullifying their ERA (explosive reactive armour).

BSNL launches 4G services in Chandigarh

State owed telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched the

high speed 4G (Fourth Generation) telecom services at Chandigarh in Punjab circle . With

this launch, BSNL became fifth telecom service provider in India to launch 4G service after

Airtel (1st), Aircel (2nd), Vodafone (3rd) and Reliance Jio (4th).

Reliance Jio launches 4G telecom service

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates 103rd Indian Science Congress

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 103rd edition of the Indian Science Congress

(ISC) on January 3, 2016 in Mysuru, Karnataka.

The theme of this edition of the Congress is “Science and Technology for Indigenous

Development in India.” During the inaugural speech Prime Minister gave a new mantra

comprising five Es – “Economy, Environment, Energy, Empathy and Equity”.

The key speakers of this edition of congress will be Noble laureates Arthur B McDonald

(US), Dan Schetman (Israel), John Gurdan (UK), Serge Haroche (France), David J Gross (US)

and Fields Medalist mathematician Manjul Bhargava.

19th National Conference on e-Governance in Nagpur

This edition of conference has been organised by Department of Administrative Reforms

and Public Grievances (DARPG) in in association with the Government of Maharashtra.

The two day conference aims at discussing various aspects of e-Governance ranging from

Technology Enabled Services to Cyber Security framework. More than 600 delegates have

participated in the conference including 150 delegates from Maharashtra and 250 from other

States and 50 participants from the Private Sector. The Conference also included an

exhibition and brainstorming sessions on-Governance by subject experts.

4th India Africa Hydrocarbons Conference in New Delhi

The two day conference aims at enhancing greater cooperation between India and African

continent in the field of Hydrocarbons. It also seeks to explore opportunities, bridge

boundaries and boost bilateral trade between India and Africa.

4th India Africa Hydrocarbons Conference (IAHC) 22 African nations have participated of

which 9 are represented by their Ministers. These 9 countries are Morocco, Algeria, Liberia,

Mauritius, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea and Senegal.

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Provide a global forum and common platform to African Countries to share their vision and

chart out the road map for extended energy cooperation.

Presently, India is importing close to 75 per cent of its crude oil and is seeking to

diversifying import basket to meet its energy requirements.

In June 2015, Nigeria had stood as the second largest supplier of oil to India. Though Africa

has huge hydrocarbon resources, it lacks capital, technology and ability, experience and

manpower to exploit these resources for future growth.

Government decides to merge Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs

with MEA

MOIA was established in May 2004 as the Ministry of Non-Resident Indians’ Affairs (MNRIA).

However it was renamed Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in September 2004. The

primary task of the MOIA was to connect the Indian diaspora with its motherland by

initiating various programmes. It also focused on developing networks with and amongst the

overseas Indians with the intent of building partnership with the diaspora. The merger is

expected to increase efficiency in MEA’s emergency work abroad especially in various

crisis-prone countries in West Asia. It would also increase MEA staff strength.

ECONOMY

IMF Reforms: India, China, Brazil, Russia get more voting rights

These proposed reforms are the biggest change in the governance of the IMF (lender of last

resort) since it was established after World War II in 1945 after the Bretton Woods

Conference.

Gives boost the representation of emerging economies like India, China, Brazil, Russia and

increases their power and greater say in IMF.

India’s voting rights increased by 0.3% from the current 2.3% to 2.6%. China’s voting rights

increased by 2.2% from current 3.8% to 6 %.

These reforms shifted more than 6% of the quota shares to emerging and developing

countries from the US and European countries.

The doubling of quotas means that the shares (roles) of advanced European and Gulf

countries have been reduced and that of emerging nations particularly China has been

increased. China will have the 3rd largest IMF quota and voting share after the US and

Japan. While, India, Russia and Brazil will also be among the top 10 members of the IMF.

The voting power and quota shares of the IMF’s poorest member countries will be

protected. Under the reform, for the first time IMF’s Executive Board will consist entirely of

elected Executive Directors and it ends the category of appointed Executive Directors.

Currently, US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Canada and Saudi Arabia are

among the top ten members of the IMF.

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Recommendations of RV Easwar Committee on simplification of the

provisions of IT Act, 1961

committee has recommended simplifying provisions related to tax deduction at source

(TDS), tax refunds and claims of expenditure for deduction from taxable income.

It also has suggested several taxpayer-friendly measures to improve the ease of doing

business in the country, accelerate process of tax dispute resolutions and reduce litigation.

Deferring the contentious Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) provisions

and making the process of tax refunds faster. Deletion of a clause in IT Act, 1961 that allows

the IT department to delay tax refund due beyond six months.

In case of delay in refunds levying higher interest. IT department should stop the practice of

adjusting tax demand of a taxpayer against legitimate refunds due whose tax return is under

assessment.

Treat stock trading gains of up to 5 lakh rupees as capital gains and not business income.

TDS rates for individuals must be reduced to 5 per cent from current 10 per cent. Dividend

income should be treated as part of total income.

Exempting non-residents not having a Permanent Account Number (PAN), but seeking to

provide their Tax Identification Number (TIN) for the applicability of TDS at a higher rate.

Most of the working processes of the IT departments should be conducted electronically in

order to minimize direct human interface.

Eligibility criteria under the presumptive tax scheme to be increased to 2 crore rupees from

1 crore rupees to make it easy for small businesses. Such scheme should be also for

professionals.

Recommendations of Deepak Mohanty Committee on Medium-

term Path on Financial Inclusion

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the Report on Medium-term Path on Financial

Inclusion submitted by 14-member committee headed by RBI Executive Director Deepak

Mohanty. It was tasked to suggest plan on several components with regard to payments,

deposits, credit, social security transfers, pension and insurance.

Augment the government social cash transfer in order to increase the personal disposable

income of the poor. It would put the economy on a medium-term sustainable inclusion path.

Sukanya Shiksha Scheme: Banks should make special efforts to step up account opening

for females belonging to lower income group under this scheme for social cash transfer as a

welfare measure. Aadhaar linked credit account: Aadhaar should be linked to each

individual credit account as a unique biometric identifier which can be shared with Credit

information bureau to enhance the stability of the credit system and improve access.

Mobile Technology: Bank’s traditional business model should be changed with greater

reliance on mobile technology to improve ‘last mile’ service delivery.

Digitisation of land records: It should be implemented in order to increase formal credit

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supply to all agrarian segments through Aadhaar-linked mechanism for Credit Eligibility

Certificates (CEC). Nurturing self-help groups (SHGs): Corporates should be encouraged

to nurture SHGs as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

Subsidies: Government should replace current agricultural input subsidies on fertilizers,

irrigation and power by a direct income transfer scheme as a part of second generation

reforms. Agricultural interest subvention Scheme: It should be phased out.

Crop Insurance: Government should introduce universal crop insurance scheme covering

all crops starting with small and marginal farmers with monetary ceiling of Rs. 2 lakhs.

Multiple Guarantee Agencies: Should be encouraged to provide credit guarantees in

niche areas for micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

Unique identification of MSME: It should be introduced for all MSME borrowers and

information from it should be shared with credit bureaus.

Union Cabinet approves creation of a Credit Guarantee Fund for

MUDRA loans

The CGF is expected to guarantee more than 1,00,000 crore rupees worth of loans to micro

and small units in the first instance. Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA Units (CGFMU) will

guarantee loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) to reduce the

credit risk to Banks and other financial intermediaries who are Member Lending Institutions

(MLIs). National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company NCGTC Ltd will manage and operate

various credit guarantee funds and shall be the Trustee of the NCFTC will be a wholly-

owned company of Union Government and shall be constituted under the Companies

Act, 1956 (2013). Under this scheme the guarantee would be provided on portfolio basis

to a maximum extent of 50 per cent of Amount in Default in the MUDRA (SIDBI) Bank

India’s Dinesh Sharma elected to board of directors of AIIB

He has been elected to the 12-member board through a secret ballot.

This is the first board of directors of AIIB in which 57 nations are founding members

including India. The inaugural meeting of the board of the governors of the AIIB also held in

Beijing after its formal launch. The meeting approved by-laws, rules and codes of conduct

for the bank. It should be noted that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is the designated

governor of the AIIB from India. However he was represented by Mr. Sharma at the meeting.

India to be fastest growing economy in 2016: UN Report

The report has projected India’s growth rate by 7.3 % in the year 2016 and 7.5 % in 2017

slightly up from an earlier estimated 7.2 % rate in 2015.

The highest growth rate in India has been attributed to improvement in the macroeconomic

environment with the help of sharp decline in the prices of oil, food and metals.

India to grow at 7.8% in year 2016: World Bank

The Global Economic Prospect report published recently by the World Bank (WB) has

projected a robust 7.8 per cent growth for the Indian economy in the year 2016.

Forecasted growth for India: It will grow at a 7.9 per cent growth in the next two years 2017

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and 2018. India’s stock markets and currency have been largely resilient during bouts of

volatility in global financial markets over the past year. However, there are some downside

risks to India’s growth that are mostly domestic. The progress on land reforms can lead to

investment delays. Among BRICS nations: China will grow at 6.7 per cent in the year 2016

and 6.5 per cent each in next two years 2017 and 2018. Brazil and Russia are expected to

remain in recession during the year 2016 among the major developing economies.

South Asia Region: It has been projected to be a bright spot in the emerging and

developing economies, with growth rate up to 7.3 per cent in 2016.

Government reappoints Urjit Patel as Deputy Governor of RBI for a

second term

As Deputy Governor of RBI, Dr Patel looks after Monetary Policy, Economic Policy Research,

Deposit Insurance, Statistics and Information Management and Right to Information etc.

He had headed committee to review the monetary policy framework and had proposed

monetary policy committee to set interest rates (currently solely decided by the RBI

governor). It also had recommended targeting consumer inflation to control volatile prices

by shifting the current focus away from wholesale prices. Between 2000 and 2004, he had

worked closely with several central and state government high level committees such as,

Task Force on Direct Taxes (TFDT), Advisory Committee (on Research Projects and Market

Studies) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) etc. Current other three Deputy

Governors of RBI are:R. Khan, S.S. Mundra and R. Gandhi.

Union Government abolishes export duty on iron ore pellets

France declares economic emergency

Under the ambit emergency, government has proposed series of economic measures to

boost long-stagnant economic growth and reduce chronic unemployment.

Proposed economic measures are Training half a million jobless workers, greater use of

apprenticeships and aiding companies for hiring young workers.

Updating country’s labour-friendly business model in an increasingly online and border-

free economy. Loosening rigid working time rules including 35-hour workweek and a bonus

of 2,000 euros to small businesses that hire young people.

RBI imposes Rs 1 crore fine on State Bank of Travancore

The monetary penalty was imposed on State Bank of Travancore for violation of its

instructions including reporting of data to Central Repository of Information on Large

Credits (CRILC). Prior to imposing the penalty, RBI had issued a show cause notice to the

bank for not having complied with the directions issued by the bank on submission of

accurate data to the CRILC. Finally RBI came to the conclusion that the bank had violated the

instructions or guidelines issued from time to time after considering the bank’s reply and

information submitted and documents furnished. Central Repository of Information on Large

Credits (CRILC) It has been established by RBI to collect, store, and disseminate data on all

borrowers’ credit exposures. It is mandatory for banks to report all such information under

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it including classification of an account as Special Mention Accounts (SMA) on all borrowers

having aggregate fund-based and non-fund-based exposure of 5 crore rupees and above.

SBI Launches First Dedicated Branch For Startups – SBI InCube

India’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has launched dedicated specialized branch

for start-ups called ‘SBI InCube’ in Bengaluru, Karnataka. SBI InCube The ‘SBI InCube’

branch will cater to the specific financial needs by providing advisory services to the

budding entrepreneurs under one roof It will assist start-ups in cash management,

regulations, taxation, mentoring, foreign exchange and remittances and other financial

services. InCube in its current form will not fund start-ups i.e. it will not provide loans.

However it will give them loans when they turn more mature. Soon SBI will be launching

these branches in Pune and National Capital Region (NCR). SBI Exclusif SBI also has

launched wealth management service ‘Exclusif’ to target the fast-growing affluent segment

in the country. This service will provide customers a dedicated Relationship Manager to take

care of all their banking and investment needs.

ICICI Bank partners with FINO PayTech for payments bank

With this partnership, ICICI Bank joins some of the leading lenders of the country that have

partnered with payments banks. For example, Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) and State Bank of

India (SBI) have picked up stake in payments banks to be floated by Bharti Group and

Reliance Industries respectively.

FINO Paytech along with 10 other entities had received ‘in principle’ licence from the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start a payment bank. ICICI Group has purchased about 16

per cent stake in the FINO PayTech making it one of the largest domestic shareholder.

Presently, RBI regulations allow universal banks to invest up to 30 per cent in payments

bank. RBI regulations also mandate 51 per cent of the equity of the payments bank should be

with domestic entities.

Tech Mahindra launches contactless wallet MoboMoney

MoboMoney has been billed as India’s first commercial NFC ecosystem rollout that would

allow consumers to convert cash into e-cash for making payments.

MoboMoney is a prepaid wallet issued in the form of a Near Field Communication (NFC)

contactless tag that could be used to ‘Tap N Pay’ for goods and services. This facility would

be available on a network of NFC enabled merchant point of sale (POS) machines.

Customers without an NFC-enabled phone also can enjoy this facility to purchase goods.

The e-money loaded into the customer’s digital wallets can then be used make payments,

recharges, make bill payments as well as pay online.

About Near field communication (NFC) NFC is a short-range high frequency wireless

communication technology. It basically is a set of protocols that enable two electronic

devices (one usually us a portable device such as a smartphone) to establish radio data

communication with each other by bringing them closer typically, 10 cm (4 in) from each

other.

RBI extends deadline to exchange pre-2005 notes to June 30, 2016

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STATE

Maharashtra’s first Solar Power operated Mini-Water Supply Plant

commissioned

The first Solar Power operated Mini-Water Supply Plant of Maharashtra was commissioned in

Hingna village of Mouda Taluka in Nagpur district. It will facilitate villagers to get pure water

supply for a very low cost which can easily be borne by the Gram Panchayat.

The unit has been installed in the village on experimental basis by private company Rite

Water Solutions under the supervision of the Zilla Parishad authorities. The system delivers

10,000 Litres of purified water every day and runs completely on solar power for which 1800

Watt panels.

Union Cabinet clears President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh

The Union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recommended imposition

of President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh under Article 356 (1) of the Constitution.

Union Government took this decision after state assembly failed to comply with the

provisions of Article 174 (sessions of the state legislature, prorogation and dissolution) of the

Constitution. As per the provisions of Article 174, the session of state assembly was to be

held in 21st January 2016, six months after the last sitting. But the state assembly failed to

comply with this provision which may led to constitutional breakdown

India’s largest and tallest tricolour hoisted at Ranchi

This flag will remain hoisted for 24 hours and shall be illuminated with the help of twenty

sodium vapour lights at night. It is world’s largest and the highest hoisted Indian flag.

Dimensions of flag: It measures 66 feet in height and 99 feet in width in the proper ratio

2:3. It was hoisted on pole with height of 293 feet. It weighs 80 kg.

Maharashtra government inks MoU with Tata Trust for skill

training of youth

This programme has been undertaken under the state government’s ambitious Kushal

Maharashtra, Rojgaryukt Maharashtra initiative.

Sikkim becomes India’s first fully organic state

Sikkim has formally become India’s first fully organic state after it successfully implemented

organic farming practices on around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land.

The Sikkim Organic Festival 2016 has been organised on the sidelines of the National

Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. On this occasion, PM also

launched three new orchid species developed in Sikkim which is also known as the Land of

Flowers viz. Cymbidium Sardar (named after Sardar Patel), Cymbidium Deen Dayal (named

after Deen Dayal Upaddhyay) and Cymbidium Namo (named after Narendra Modi).

Kerala becomes first state to achieve 100% primary education

Kerala state was able to achieve 100 per cent primary education through its flagship primary

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education equivalency drive Athulyam Scheme. The programme was meant to provide

primary school education to people aged between 15 and 50.

It was launched in March 2013

Telangana becomes first State to make gender education

compulsory at graduate level

state government has introduced bilingual textbook titled ‘Towards a World of Equals’ on a

pilot basis in engineering colleges. These engineering colleges are affiliated to the

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU-Hyderabad).

Features of gender education textbook Discusses gender in its composite form without

limiting itself to crime against women without repeating gender stereotypes.

Haryana Government sets educational qualification for municipal

polls

Proposed qualification Minimum educational qualification for male candidates would be

matriculation while for females it would be middle pass. Male belonging to scheduled caste

should be middle pass and in case of women belonging to scheduled caste must be primary

pass. Candidates should have functional toilet at home and they should not be defaulter of

cooperative bank loans and electricity department.

North India’s first cable bridge named Atal Setu inaugurated in

Jammu and Kashmir

North India’s first cable-stayed bridge named Atal Setu was inaugurated on Dunera-Basohli-

Bhadharwah road in Basohali town in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Basohli Cable-Stayed Bridge is 592-metre long and has been constructed over Ravi River on

Dunera- Basohli-Bhadharwah road. The work of bridge started in September 2011.

It is a joint venture (JV) of Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON) and SP

Singla Construction group. It will provide close connectivity among the three states of

Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Other three major cable-stayed bridges

in the country are: (i) Vidyasagar Setu – Over the Hoogly River in Kolkata (West Bengal). (ii)

Bandra-Worli Sea Link (Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link) – Mumbai (Maharashtra). (iii) New Yamuna

Bridge- Over Yamuna River in Allahabad (Uttar Pradeh).

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AWARDS

Gallantry awards 2016

Ashok Chakra to Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami posthumously.

Kirti Chakra: Subedar Mahendra Singh of 9 PARA (Special Force). Sepoy Jagdish Chand

(Posthumous) of 546 DSC Platoon.

Shaurya Chakra: Colonel Santosh Mahadik (Posthumous) of 41 Rashtriya Rifle (PARA).

Major Praphul Kumar Bhardwaj of 12 PARA (Special Force). Major Sandip Yadav of 55

Rashtriya Rifle (Armed). Major Anurag Kumar of 9 PARA (Special Force). Lieutenant

Harjinder Singh of 3 KUMAON. Naik Satish Kumar (Posthumous) of 21 Rashtriya Rifle

(Guards). Naik Kheem Singh Mehra of 21 KUMAON. Sepoy Dharma Ram (Posthumous) of 1

Rashtriya Rifle (MAHAR).

2016 Padma Awards

10 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 83 Padma Shri Awardees.

Among these awardees 9 are women and 10 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs,

PIOs (include one posthumous) and 4 Posthumous awardees.

The Awards are given in various disciplines- art, social work, public affairs, science and

engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service,

etc.

2016 Padma Vibhushan Awards It is the second highest civilian award. It is awarded for

exceptional and distinguished service. 1 Yamini Krishnamurthi Art-Classical Dance Delhi

2 Rajinikanth Art-Cinema Tamil Nadu 3 Girija Devi Art-Classical Vocal West Bengal

4 Ramoji Rao Literature & Education Andhra Pradesh 5 Dr. Viswanathan Shanta Medicine-

Oncology Tamil Nadu 6 Shri Shri Ravi Shankar Spiritualism Karnataka 7 Jagmohan Public

Affairs Delhi 8 Dr.Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre Science & Engineering Karnataka 9 Avinash Dixit

(Foreigner) Literature & Education United States 10 Dhiru Bhai Ambani (Posthumous) Trade

& Industry Maharashtra

2016 Padma Bhushan Awards It is the third highest civilian award. It is awarded

for distinguished service of high order. 1 Anupam Kher Art-Cinema Maharashtra,

2 Udit Narayan Jha Art-Playback Singing Maharashtra ,3 Ram V. Sutar Art-Sculpture Uttar

Pradesh 4 Heisnam Kanhailal Art-Theatre Manipur, 5 Vinod Rai Civil Service Kerala,

6 Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad Literature & Education Andhra Pradesh,

7 Prof. N. S. Ramanuja Tatacharya Literature & Education Maharashtra ,8 Dr. Barjinder Singh

Hamdard Literature & Education Punjab, 9 Prof. D. Nageshwar Reddy Medicine-

Gastroenterology Andhra Pradesh , 10 Swami Tejomayananda Spiritualism Maharashtra ,

11 Hafeez Contractor Architecture Maharashtra ,12 Ravindra Chandra Bhargava Public

Affairs Uttar Pradesh , 13 Dr.Venkata Rama Rao Alla Science & Engineering Andhra Pradesh,

14 Saina Nehwal Sports-Badminton Telangana ,15 Sania Mirza Sports-Tennis Telangana ,

16 Indu Jain Trade & Industry Delhi ,17 Swami Dayanand Sarawasati (Posthumous)

Spiritualism Utttarakhand ,18 Robert Blackwill (Foreigner) Public Affairs United States ,

19 Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry (NRI/PIO) Trade & Industry Ireland

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2016 Padma Shri Awards It is the fourth highest civilian award. It is awarded for

distinguished service in any field. 1 Prathibha Prahlad Art- Classical Dance Delhi 2

Bhikhudan Gadhvi Art- Folk Music Gujarat 3 Sribhas Chandra Supakar Art- Textile

Designing Uttar Pradesh 4 Ajay Devgn Art-Cinema Maharashtra 5 Priyanka Chopra Art-

Cinema Maharashtra 6 Pt. Tulsidas Borkar Art-Classical Music Goa 7 Dr. Soma Ghosh Art-

Classical Vocal Uttar Pradesh 8 Nila Madhab Panda Art-Film Direction and Production Delhi

9 S.S. Rajamouli Art-Film Direction and Production Karnataka 10 Madhur Bhandarkar Art-

Film Direction and Production Maharashtra 11 Prof. M. Venkatesh Kumar Art-Folk Artist

Karnataka 12 Gulabi Sapera Art-Folk Dance Rajasthan 13 Mamta Chandrakar Art-Folk Music

Chhattisgarh 14 Malini Awasthi Art-Folk Music Uttar Pradesh 15 Jai Prakash Lekhiwal Art-

Miniature Painting Delhi 16 K. Laxma Goud Art-Painting Telangana 17 Bhalchandra Dattatray

Mondhe Art-Photography Madhya Pradesh 18 Naresh Chander Lal Art-Theatre & Cinema

Andaman & Nicobar 19 Dhirendra Nath Bezbaruah Literature & Education Assam 20 Prahlad

Chandra Tasa Literature & Education Assam 21 Dr.Ravindra Nagar Literature & Education

Delhi 22 Dahyabhai Shastri Literature & Education Gujarat 23 Dr.Santeshivara Bhyrappa

Literature & Education Karnatka 24 Haldar Nag Literature & Education Odisha 25

Kameshwaram Brahma Literature & Education Assam 26 Prof. Pushpesh Pant Literature &

Education Delhi 27 Jawaharlal Kaul Literature & Education- Journalism Jammu & Kashmir 28

Ashok Malik Literature & Education Delhi 29 Dr.Mannam Gopi Chand Medicine-Cardio

Thoracic Surgery Telangana 30 Ravi Kant Medicine-Surgery Uttar Pradesh 31 Prof. Ram

Harsh Singh Medicine- Ayurveda Uttar Pradesh 32 Prof. Shiv Narain Kureel Medicine-

Paediatric Surgery Uttar Pradesh 33 Dr.Sabya Sachi Sarkar Medicine -Radiology Uttar

Pradesh 34 Dr. Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale Medicine-Cardiac Surgery Andhra Pradesh 35

Prof. T.K. Lahiri Medicine-Cardio Thoracic Surgery Uttar Pradesh 36 Dr. Praveen Chandra

Medicine-Cardiology Delhi 37 Dr Daljeet Singh Gambhir Medicine-Cardiology Uttar

Pradesh 38 Dr.Chandrasekar Shesadri Thoguluva Medicine-Gastroenterology Tamil Nadu

39 Dr. (Mrs.) Anil Kumari Malhotra Medicine-Homeopathy Delhi 40 Prof. M.V. Padma

Srivastava Medicine-Neurology Delhi 41 Dr. Sudhir V. Shah Medicine-Neurology Gujarat 42

Dr. M. M. Joshi Medicine-Ophthalmology Karnataka 43 Dr John Ebnezar Medicine-

Orthopaedic Surgery Karnataka 44 Dr. Nayudamma Yarlagadda Medicine-Paediatric

Surgery Andhra Pradesh 45 Simon Oraon Other -Environment Conservation Jharkhand 46

Imitiaz Qureshi Other-Culinary Delhi 47 Piyush Pandey Others-Advertising &

Communication Maharashtra 48 Subhash Palekar Others-Farming Maharashtra 49 Ravinder

Kumar Sinha Others-Wildlife Conservation Bihar 50 Dr. H.R. Nagendra Others-Yoga

Karnataka 51 M. C. Mehta Public Affairs Delhi 52 M. N. Krishna Mani Public Affairs Delhi 53

Ujjwal Nikam Public Affairs Maharashtra 54 Tokheho Sema Public Affairs Nagaland 55 Dr.

Satish Kumar Science & Engineering Delhi 56 Dr.Mylswamy Annadurai Science &

Engineering Karnataka 57 Prof. Dipankar Chatterji Science & Engineering Karnataka 58 Dr

Ganapati Dadasaheb Yadav Science & Engineering Maharashtra 59 Prof. Veena Tandon

Science & Engineering Meghalaya 60 Onkar Nath Srivastava Science & Engineering Uttar

Pradesh 61 Sunita Krishnan Social Work Andhra Pradesh 62 Ajoy Kumar Dutta Social Work

Assam 63 M. Pandit Dasa Social Work Karnataka 64 P. P. Gopinathan Nair Social Work

Kerala 65 Madeleine Herman de Blic Social Work Puducherry 66 Srinivasan Damal Kandalai

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Social work Tamil Nadu 67 Sudhakar Olwe Social Work Maharashtra 68 Dr. T.V. Narayana

Social Work Telangana 69 Arunachalam Murugantham Social Work Tamil Nadu 70 Deepika

Kumari Sports-Archery Jharkhand 71 Sushil Doshi Sports-commentary Madhya Pradesh 72

Mahesh Sharma Trade & Industry Delhi 73 Saurabh Srivastava Trade & Industry Delhi 74

Dilip Sanghvi Trade & Industry Maharashtra 75 Dr. Keki Hormusji Gharda Trade & Industry

Maharashtra 76 Prakash Chand Surana (Posthumous) Art -Classical Music Rajasthan 77

Saeed Jaffrey (NRI/PIO/Posthumous) Art-Cinema UK 78 Michael Postel (Foreigner) Art-

Archaeology France 79 Salman Amin Sal Khan (NRI/PIO) Literature & Education US 80 Hui

Lan Zhang (Foreigner) Others-Yoga China 81 Predrag K. Nikic (Foreigner) Others-Yoga

Serbia 82 Dr.Sundar Aditya Menon (NRI/PIO) Social Work UAE 83 Ajaypal Singh Banga

(NRI/PIO) Trade & Industry US

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan awarded 2016 Central Banker of the

Year

The award has been bestowed upon him by the The Banker, a monthly publication of

Financial Times Group. This award celebrates the officials and bankers who have best

managed to stimulate growth and stabilise their country’s economy.

Madhya Pradesh selected for Krishi Karman Award for year 2014-15

It has produced record 328 lakh tonnes in the mentioned period compared to 280 lakh

tonnes 2013-14 period. Earlier the state had won this award in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The state will get an amount of five crore rupees along with Krishi Karman award.

Chhattisgarh: Chosen for achieving growth in production of pulses. West Bengal: Chosen

for good agriculture production. Odisha: Chosen for being the best performing state in

overall foodgrains production among category-II states.

Krishi Karman awards are given to Best performer States for raising country’s food grain

production. These awards were instituted in 2010-11 for recognising the meritorious efforts

of the states in foodgrains production. It comprises of three awards for total food grain

production and four awards for production of crops that constitute the food grain viz. rice,

wheat, coarse cereals and pulses.

Gujarati litterateur Raghuveer Chaudhary selected for 2015

Jnanpith Award

Raghuveer Chaudhary Born: 5 December 1938 in Bapupura near Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He

is novelist, poet, critic and a Gandhian and his talent has been influenced by works of

Gowardhan Ram Tripathi , Kaka Kalelkar and Suresh Joshi.

His work: He has authored more than 80 books and some of his notable novels include

Amrita, Venu Vatsala, Purvarang and Laagni Samjyaa Vinaa Chuuta Padvanu.

He also had worked as a columnist for numerous newspapers such as Sandesh, Janmabhumi,

Nirikshaka and Divya Bhaskar.

Awards and Honours: He has received numerous accolades including Sahitya Acadmi

Award for his novel Trilogy Uparvaas in 1977.

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3 PIOs awarded Australia’s highest civilian award

They have been selected for their contribution in the fields of physics, engineering and

medicine.

Three PIOs are Chennupati Jagadish: He has been conferred with the award for his

eminent service to physics and engineering, particularly in the field of nanotechnology.

Jay Chandra: He has been conferred with the award for hi significant service to medicine in

the field of ophthalmology and eye care programs.

Sajeev Koshy: He is a dentist in Melbourne and has been conferred with the award for his

service to dentistry in the State.

DAVA project bags 2015 eASIA award for trade facilitation

The Drug Authentication and Verification Application (DAVA) project of The Department of

Commerce has won the 2015 eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation category.

The award was announced by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation (APCTF) and Tehran

based (Iran) Electronic Business. DAVA project was launched by Union Government in June

2015. It seeks to create an integrated platform for implementation of the Track and Trace

system for exporters and domestic markets of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals.

Actress Rekha conferred 2016 Yash Chopra Memorial Award

Ankita Anand wins 2015 Lorenzo Natali Media Prize

Anuradha Roy wins 2016 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

EPFO wins National Award on e-Governance for UAN (Universal

Account Number)

Vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyam conferred 2015 Sangita Kalanidhi

Nitish Kumar selected for K Veeramani Social Justice Award

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IMPORTANT DAYS

22nd December: National Mathematics Day

24th December: National Consumer Day

25th December: National Good Governance Day

4th January: World Braille Day

14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas held in New Delhi

On this occasion it was announced Government is considering issuing of Aadhaar cards to

non-resident Indians (NRIs).

Mandatory for women workers going to Gulf countries to go through government agencies

in order to ensure they are not duped by recruiting agents or firms.

It was the first limited edition of the PBD after government had decided to limit the

conference as a biannual event.

About Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas PBD is being held annually since 2003 by MOIA to foster

greater interaction between the Indian Diaspora and Indian government. It provides the

diaspora a single platform to put forth their issues and grievances before the government

and in turn government can leverage their resources in nation building activities. It is held

annually on 9 January to mark the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India i.e.

on 9 January, 1915.

10 January: World Hindi Day

January 12: National Youth Day

India celebrates 67th Republic Day

French President Francois Hollande was chief guest of Republic Day function.

With this he beamce 5th highest dignitary from France to be Chief Guest of Indian Republic

Day parade.

The Parade was led by Lieutenant General Rajan Ravindran.

In the parade, women empowerment was seen as women contingent of CRPF participated in

the parade. Apart from this, women officer’s contingents of Indian Nay, Air Force and Coast

Guard also participated as 2nd in command.

For the first time in the history of Republic Day parade foreign contingent participated.

It was 76-member contingent 35th Infantry Regiment of the French Army led by Lt Col Paul

Bury. During the parade, country’s diverse cultural and social traditions, military prowess

and achievements in different fields were showcased. Indian Army’s missile firing

capability, Mobile Autonomous Launcher of the BrahMos Missile System, Infantry Combat

Vehicle BMP II Sarath, T-90 Bhishma tank were also displayed. Indian airforce also showed

its might with C-17 Globemaster, 5 Jaguar Deep penetration strike aircraft, 3 Sukhoi Su-30, 5

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MiG 29 and other fighter choppers during fly.

Army’s dog squad from the Remount Veterinary Corps also took part in the parade after a

gap of 26 years. For the first time in the history of parade, the tableau of ex-servicemen of

Army veterans was displayed in the parade. The tableaux from 6 Central Ministries and 17

states and departments also displayed the varied historical, cultural and architectural

heritage of the country.

25 JAN EC celebrates 6th National Voters’ Day across India

Theme for year 2016 is Inclusive and Qualitative Participation. Observances To mark this

day, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi also released the book titled Belief in

the Ballot and presented the first copy to the President. National Voters’ Day was initiated in

2011 to commemorate the foundation day of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Significance of Day: This day marks the foundation day of ECI which came into existence on

25th January 1950. This day is also utilized to spread awareness among voters regarding

effective participation in the electoral process.

UN designates 5th November as World Tsunami Awareness

PERSONALITIES

150th birth anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai

150th birth anniversary of great freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai, also known as Punjab Kesri

is being celebrated 28th January 2016.

He was born on 28 January 1865 in Dhudike (now Moga district) of Punjab.

He was lawyer by profession and had practiced his legal profession for few years but later

curtailed it to focus on all his efforts to the freedom struggle.

He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari meaning The Lion of Punjab and also known as

Sher-E- Punjab in Punjabi for his contribution to the freedom movement.

Freedom Movement: He was part of the Lal Bal Pal trio of assertive nationalists that

included Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal from 1905 to 1918.

Lal Bal Pal trio had advocated the Swadeshi movement involving the boycott of all imported

items and the use of Indian-made goods in 1907 during the anti-Partition agitation in Bengal

which began in 1905.

He was also associated with the foundation of Punjab National Bank in 1895 and later

Lakshmi Insurance Company. President of INC: In 1888 and 1889 he was a delegate to the

annual sessions of Indian National Congress (INC) and was elected as its President in the

Calcutta Special Session of 1920.

Social Work: In 1921, he had founded Servants of the People Society, a non-profit welfare

organisation, in Lahore, which shifted based to Delhi after partition, and has branches in

many parts of India.

Arya Samaj: He also had helped to establish the nationalistic Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School

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and became a follower of Dayanand Saraswati (founder of the Arya Samaj). His books: As an

author he had written many books which includes The Story of My Deportation (1908), Arya

Samaj (1915), The United States of America: A Hindu’s Impression (1916), Unhappy India

(1928) etc. Death: He died on 17 November 1928 after sustaining serious injuries in lathi

charge carried by the police when he leading a non-violent protest against the Simon

Commission.

J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passes away

Former CJI SH Kapadia passes away

Veteran Bollywood actress Sadhna passes away

Eminent Marathi poet Mangesh Padgaonkar passes away

Renowned Classical Danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai passes away

Giorgi Kvirikashvili elected as Prime Minister of Georgia

Tsai Ing-wen elected as first female President of Taiwan

Filippo Grandi takes charge as UN High Commissioner for

Refugees

Amitabh Kant appointed CEO of NITI Aayog

RK Mathur sworn in as 8th Chief Information Commissioner

Devender Kumar Sikri appointed as Chairman of CCI

Dr. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey appointed as Chief Commissioner for

Persons with

Gurdeep Singh appointed as CMD of NTPC

Justice Sanjay Mishra appointed as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh

Atulesh Jindal appointed as new chairman of CBDT

Noted Hindi writer and journalist Ravindra Kalia passes away

Sailesh appointed as Registrar General and Census Commissioner

NSGE Page 37

SPORTS

Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis win 2016 Australian Open title of

Tennis

PV Sindhu wins 2016 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold Badminton

title

Lionel Messi wins 2016 FIFA Ballon d’Or award

Stan Wawrinka wins 2016 Chennai Open title

Pranav Dhanawade hits world record by scoring 1009 runs at school

level tournament

India won 2015 SAFF football championships

Gujarat wins maiden Vijay Hazare title

BCCI Annual Awards 2014-15

Recipients of 2014-15 BCCI Awards

C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award: Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani.

Polly Umrigar Award: Virat Kohli.

Lala Amarnath Award for Best all-rounder in Ranji Trophy: Jalaj Saxena (Madhya

Pradesh).

Lala Amarnath Award for Best all-rounder in Domestic Limited-Overs Competitions:

Deepak Hooda (Baroda).

Madhavrao Scindia Award Highest Scorer in Ranji Trophy: Robin Uthappa (Karnataka).

Madhavrao Scindia Award Highest Wicket-Taker in Ranji Trophy: R Vinaykumar

(Karnataka).

Madhavrao Scindia Award Highest Wicket-Taker in Ranji Trophy: Shardul Thakur

(Mumbai).

Chidambaram Trophy Best Under-23 Cricketer: Almas Shaukat (Uttar Pradesh).

Chidambaram Trophy Best Under-19 Cricketer: Anmolpreet Singh (Punjab).

Chidambaram Trophy Best Under-16 Cricketer: Shubman Gill (Punjab).

Chidambaram Trophy Best Woman Cricketer (Sr): Mithali Raj (Indian Railways).

Chidambaram Trophy Best Woman Cricketer (Jr): Devika Vaidya (Maharashtra).

Best Umpire In Domestic Cricket: O Nandan

Best Overall Performance: Karnataka State Cricket Association.

NSGE Page 38

Steve Smith named ICC Test cricketer of Year for 2015

With this, Smith became the 4th Australian and 11th overall player to win the prestigious

award named after Sir Garfield Sobers. He was also adjudged the Test Cricketer of the

Year for 2015.

South Africa’s ODI captain AB de Villiers was named the ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2015

for the second time in a row .

ICC Emerging player of the year: Josh Hazlewood (Australia).

Best T20 performance of the year: Faf du Plessis (South Africa).

Spirit of Cricket award: Brendon McCullum (New Zealand).

ICC Associate player of the year: Khurram Khan (UAE).

Umpire of the year: Richard Kettleborough (England).

Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year: Meg Lanning (Australia).

T20I Women’s Cricketer of the Year: Stefanie Taylor (West Indies).