january current affairs

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GK Power Capsule – January 2015 (The Hindu Review)
1. RBI cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to
7.75 per cent. RBI’s growth estimate for 2014-15
is 5.5 per cent.
a. Bank Rate – 8.75 % (0.25% Decreased)
b. Cash Reserve Ratio – 4 % (Unchanged)
c. Statutory Liquidity Ratio – 22 % (Unchanged)
d. Repo Rate – 7.75 % (0.25% Decreased)
e. Reverse Repo Rate – 6.75 % (0.25% Decreased)
f. Marginal Standing Rate – 8.75 % (0.25%
Decreased)
2. United Nation Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
appointed Indian sociologist Saraswathi Menon in
peace-building panel.
3. Filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani was appointed as the
Chairman of Central Board of Film
Certification. Nihalani will succeed Leela Samson.
4. Nepali Congress leader Deep Kumar Upadhyay
was appointed as Nepal's ambassador to India.
5. Hari Shankar Bramha was appointed as the new
Chief Election Commissioner. Brahma succeeds
V.S. Sampath.
6. Anupam Shrivastava was appointed as CMD of
BSNL.
7. Arvind Panagariya took charge as Vice-Chairman
of NITI Aayog. He became the first vice-chairman
of the National Institution for Transforming India
(NITI) Aayog, which replaced the Planning
Commission on 1 January 2015. NITI Aayog
comprises of Prime Minister as chairperson, one
vice-chairman, two full-time members, four ex-
officio members (Union ministers) and three
special invitees.
8. Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar was appointed as
Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO). Kiran Kumar became eighth Chairman of
ISRO after succeeding K Radhakrishnan.
9. Senior bureaucrat Sindhushree Khullar was
appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of NITI
Aayog with effect from 1 January 2015. She will
serve the position for one year.
This GK Capsule has been prepared by Career Power Institute Delhi (Formerly Known as Bank Power). This
has been prepared on the basis of news and events appeared in The Hindu Newspaper in the month of
January 2015.

10. Krishan Kant Paul was sworn in as the sixth
Governor of Uttarakhand. He succeeded Governor
Aziz Qureshi.
11. Atul Khare was appointed as the United Nations
Under-Secretary-General, Department of Field
Support.
12. Sutirtha Bhattacharya took charge as Coal India
Limited’s full-time Chairman and Managing
Director.
13. Modibo Keita was appointed as the Prime
Minister of West African nation Mali.
14. R. Koteeswaran took charge as new Chairman and
Managing Director of public sector Indian
Overseas Bank.
15. R K Srivastava took over as the new chairman of
Airports Authority of India.
16. A.K. Mittal was appointed as the Chairman of
Railway Board. He succeeded Arunendra Kumar.
17. Senior IAS officer S Bhattacharya was appointed
as the Chairman and Managing Director of Coal
India Ltd.
18. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh adopted
Pachim Bekeli Gaon Panchyat under Sansad
Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY). Pachim Bekeli Gaon
Panchyat is located in Kamrup district of Assam.
19. Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath demitted his office
as Chief Election Commissioner on 15 January
2015.
20. Leela Samson resigned as Chairperson of Central
Board of Film Certification.
21. Actor Amitabh Bachchan was presented with the
Social Media Person of the Year Award 2015 by
the Internet and Mobile Association of India.
22. The United States Department of State designated
Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan’s chief Maulana
Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Fazlullah, as a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
23. Union Government removed Avinash Chander,
the Chairman of Defence Research and
Development Organization (DRDO).
24. Pallewatte Gamaralalage Maithripala Yapa
Sirisena (Maithiripala Sirisena) was sworn-in as
the 7th President of Sri Lanka. Leader of the
United National Party Ranil Wickramasinghe took
the oath as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
25. Larry Page, the chief executive officer and co-
founder of Google was named as the Business
person of the Year for 2014 by Fortune magazine.
26. Koppillil Radhakrishnan retired as the Chairman
of Indian Space Research Organisation.
27. Koppillil Radhakrishnan featured in the Top 10
List of Journal Nature.
28. Prime Minister of Bhutan Lyonchhen Tshering
Tobgay visited India from 10 January to 18
January 2015. He also attended the Vibrant
Gujarat Summit 2015.
29. Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
visited South Korea on 28 December 2014 to
attend the 8th India-Republic of Korea (RoK) Joint
Commission meeting held in Seoul. The Meeting
was co-chaired by Sushma Swaraj and Yun Byung-
se, Minister of Foreign Affairs (FM) of South
Korea.
30. Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz passed
away. After the death of Abdullah bin Abdulaziz,
his brother and Crown Prince Salman bin
Abdulaziz Al Saud was named as the new king.
31. Actor and comedian Taylor Negron died.
32. Hollywood actress, Luise Rainer died at her home
at London. She won the Oscars for The Great
Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937).
33. Veteran British actor David John Ryall died.
34. Noted Hindi poet Nand Chaturvedi died.
35. The oldest litigant in the Babri Masjid case
Mohammad Farooq passed away.
36. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Chairman R.K.
Tyagi was conferred with the JGBS-Top Rankers'
Excellence Award for CEO of the year 2014.
37. 21st Screen Awards were announced at Mumbai.
Shahid Kapoor for Haider and Priyanka Chopra
for Mary Kom won the Best Actor Award for Male
and Female category respectively. Best Film
award was given to film Queen, while its Director
Vikas Bahl won the Best Director award. Hema

Malini was honoured with Lifetime Achievement
Award.
38. Sanskrit scholar Prabhu Nath Dwivedi was named
as the winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award 2014
for Sanskrit language.
39. The Mars Orbiter Mission Team of Indian Space
Research Organization won the 2015 Space
Pioneer Award in the Science and Engineering
category.
40. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan received the
Governor of the Year Award for 2015.
41. The director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, MYS
Prasad was selected for the Vikram Sarabhai
memorial award 2015.
42. Amitabh Bachchan was honoured with the Yash
Chopra Memorial Award.
43. Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, Ex-Foreign Minister
of Pakistan, authored a book titled Neither a
Hawk nor a Dove.
44. Hindi novel Farishta was in news after its author
Kapil Isapuri accused the makers of film PK of
plagiarism.
45. The Red Sari, an unauthorized biography of
Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, was
released by Roli Books. The book has been
written by Spanish author Javier Moro.
46. Book titled The Indian Parliament – A Critical
Appraisal was released by Vice President Hamid
Ansari. The book is authored by Prof. Sudha Pai
and Avinash Kumar.
47. Malawi witnessed flash floods due to heavy
torrential rain.
48. AirAsia flight number QZ8501 went missing with
162 people on board en route from the
Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore on 28
December 2014. Indonesian searchers discovered
the wreckage of plane by using Sonar equipment
also spotted some bodies floating with the debris
in the Java Sea off the Indonesian part of Borneo.
49. 7th Vibrant Gujarat Summit was held from 11
January to 13 January 2015 in Gandhinagar,
Gujarat.
50. 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2015 concluded in
Gandhinagar Gujarat. The chief guest of the 13th
PBD was Guyana President Donald Ramotar. The
theme of 2015 PBD was Bharat ko jano and
Bharat ko mano.
51. 102nd Indian Science Congress was held from in
Mumbai. The theme of the ISC was Science and
Technology for Human Development.
52. The International Hindi Conference will be hosted
by New Jersey in April 2015.
53. 8th India-Republic of Korea Joint Commission
Meeting was held in Seoul on 29 December 2014.
The meeting was co-chaired was by Union
External Minister of India Sushma Swaraj and
Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea Yun
Byung-se.
54. International Labour Organisation released a
report titled World Employment and Social
Outlook – Trends 2015. By 2019, more than 212
million people will be out of work, up from the
current 201 million.
55. Anti-poverty charity Oxfam released study tittled
Wealth: Having it all and wanting more. The study
highlighted that the wealthiest 1% will soon own
more than the rest of the world's population by
2016. Currently, 85 billionaires have the same
wealth as the bottom half of the world’s
population.

56. The first of the indigenously-built Light Combat
Aircraft Tejas was handed over to the Indian Air
Force. LCA Tejas was handed over to the Air Force
after Initial Operational Clearance-II. It is
expected that the aircraft will receive its Final
Operational Clearance by December 2015.
57. Union Government decided to launch Operation
All Out against Bodo militants.
58. The four member high-level committee headed by
Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanium was
appointed to review environmental laws.
59. The Lunchbox was nominated for British
Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
Awards 2015 under non-English best film
category. The Lunchbox, starring Nimrat Kaur and
Irrfan Khan is directed by Ritesh Batra.
60. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated a state-of-the-art
museum Dandi Kutir opposite Mahatma Mandir in
Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
61. The Interview, an American political comedy film,
is produced by Sony Pictures and directed by Seth
Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The film centers on a
plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-
Un.
62. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna made it to
Guinness Book of World Records. Indian Banks
opened 11.50 crore accounts under the Pradhan
Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana in a short span of five
months. Out of the total account opened, 5.68
crore accounts (49.37 %)belonged to male and
5.82 (50.63%) crore account belonged to females.
63. All-women contingent of Indian army will march
for the first time on 2015 Republic Day parade.
64. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released
Commemorative Postage Stamps to mark 100
Years of Mahatma Gandhi’s Return from South
Africa to India. A set of two Commemorative
Postage Stamps were released during the 13th
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The coins are of denomination of 100 rupees and
10 rupees, while the stamps are of value of 25
rupees and 5 rupees.
65. Kailash Satayarthi dedicated his Nobel Peace
Prize to the Nation. The medal was presented by
Satyarthi to the President at a ceremony held at
the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
66. Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly
magazine, was in news due to attack by terrorist.
The magazine has been under threat since 2006,
the year when it published cartoons on Prophet
Mohammad.
67. Jangmi, a tropical storm made landfall in
northeastern Mindanao Island of Philippines.
68. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a small
deposit scheme Sukanya Samridhi Yojana for girl
child under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
campaign. Yojana will enable parents to open
bank accounts of girls who are under 10 years of
age. Account will fetch an interest rate of 9.1
percent and provide income tax rebate. It can be
opened at any time from the birth of a girl child
till she attains the age of 10 years with a
minimum deposit of 1000 rupees and maximum
of 1.5 lakh rupees. The account will remain
operative for 21 years from the date of opening of
the account or marriage of the girl child after
attaining 18 years of age. To meet the
requirement of higher education expenses, partial
withdrawal of 50 percent of the balance amount
will be allowed after the girl child has attended 18
years of age.
69. The Union Ministry of Urban Development
launched the National Heritage Development and
Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) that seeks to
preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage
of the country. In the initial phase of HRIDAY, 12
heritage cities have been identified.
70. Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu
inaugurated India’s first compressed natural gas
(CNG)-powered train on the Rewari – Rohtak link
of Northern Zone.
71. President Pranab Mukherjee signed the
Ordinance that amends’ Citizenship Act, 1955.
The ordinance provides life-long Indian visa

facility to Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and
exempts them from appearing before the local
police station on every visit.
72. IRDA was renamed as Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority of India.
73. The President of India Pranab Mukherjee
appointed the Governors of Mizoram,
Uttarakhand and Meghalaya. Governor of
Uttarakhand Aziz Qureshi was transferred and
appointed as Governor of Mizoram for the
remainder of his term. Meghalaya Governor Dr
Krishan Kant Paul was transferred and appointed
as Governor of Uttarakhand for the remainder of
his term. Krishan Kant Paul will continue to hold
the additional charge of the office of the Governor
of Manipur, till further orders. Keshari Nath
Tripathi, Governor of West Bengal, will take
additional charge as the Governor of Meghalaya in
addition to his own duties, till further orders.
74. The Union Cabinet approved promulgation of an
ordinance that amends the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act,
2013. It removes Consent Clause (CC) and Social
Impact Assessment (SIA) for acquiring land for
five purposes, but compensation and
rehabilitation and resettlement packages will be
applicable as per the new Land Acquisition Act for
acquiring land for these purposes. The five cases
include National security, Defence, Rural
infrastructure including electrification, Industrial
corridors and Building social infrastructure
including PPP where ownership of land continues
to be vested with the government.
75. Union Government launched Madan Mohan
Malviya National Mission on Teachers and
Teaching.
76. The World Bank has approved $ 75 million credit
for the Andhra Pradesh Rural Inclusive Growth
Project.
77. Online marketplace Snapdeal has partnered India
Post to jointly work on bringing thousands of
weavers and artisans from Varanasi through its
website.
78. For the first time in history, the BJP has more
State legislators than the Congress across the
country. With over 1,000 MLAs, the BJP has gone
from being regionally concentrated to
geographically widespread.
79. SEBI has passed an order providing the exit to
Bangalore Stock Exchange as a stock exchange.
80. National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) 2011-12
data on Nutritional Intake shows that per capita
calorie consumption rose to 2099 kilocalories per
day in rural areas and 2058 kilocalories per day in
urban areas. Both numbers are still below a
Planning Commission benchmark of 2,400
kilocalories per day.
81. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader Raghuvar Das
was sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand in
Ranchi.
82. Congress celebrated its 130th Foundation Day.
83. Amending the rules for voluntary disclosure of
assets and liabilities by government employees
under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, the
Department of Personnel and Training has made
revealing of foreign bank deposits mandatory.
The form for the disclosure has thus been
changed and the deadline extended by four
months from December 31.

84. Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh summoned
Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and
conveyed India’s “strong concern” at the lack of
“effective action” by Pakistani prosecuting
authorities to keep Mumbai attack mastermind
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in custody.
85. The Delhi Government Transport Department
modified the law governing radio taxis plying in
the Capital, paving the way for the return of web-
based services, such as Uber, after weeks of
deliberations post the rape of a 27-year-old MNC
executive.
86. The Union Cabinet approved infusion of Rs.60
crore in Industrial Finance Corporation of India
(IFCI) Ltd. to make it a government company. It
would raise the shareholding of the Centre to 51
per cent.
87. After Lucknow, Metro rail will run in Kanpur,
Agra, Meerut and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
88. President gave his assent to the setting up of the
National Judicial Appointments Commission as a
constitutional body. The commission gives the
executive an equal role in the appointment of
judges to the highest judiciary. The NJAC has the
Chief Justice of India as chairperson and two
senior-most judges of the Supreme Court as
members, apart from the Union Law Minister and
two eminent personalities, one of whom would be
nominated from among the Scheduled Castes, the
Scheduled Tribes, minorities, the Other Backward
Classes or women.
89. A.K. Mittal was appointed as the new Chairman of
Railway Board succeeding Arunendra Kumar.
90. Government announced splitting the post of
Chairman and Managing Director into two for the
public sector banks.
91. Government’s fiscal deficit at the end of
November touched almost 99 per cent of the
target for the entire year.
92. Modi government set up NITI Aayog (National
Institution for Transforming India) in place of the
Planning Commission. The Prime Minister will
head the new institution tasked with the role of
formulating policies and direction for the
government. Its governing council will comprise
the Chief Ministers and the Lieutenant Governors
of Union Territories. The Prime Minister will
appoint the Aayog’s Vice-Chairperson and Chief
Executive Officer.
93. After taking action against the international
environment group Greenpeace, the government
has clamped down on four American NGOs
working in the same field — Avaaz, Bank
Information Centre (BIC), Sierra Club and 350.org.
94. After Uttar Pradesh, the Bihar government has
decided to give Aamir Khan-starrer PK
entertainment tax exemption.
95. Krishan Kant Paul will be sworn in as the sixth
Governor of Uttarakhand on January 8. The
current Uttarakhand Governor, Aziz Qureshi,
would be transferred to Mizoram.
96. The Reserve Bank of India extended the deadline
for submission of applications for licensing of
Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks to
February 2.
97. Sixty-six wild tiger deaths were reported in the
country in 2014.
98. The Centre has extended the Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act, 1958 declaring Assam as a
‘disturbed area’ for another year beyond
November 3.
99. U.S. imposed new sanctions on North Korea in
retaliation for a cyber attack on Hollywood studio
Sony Pictures.
100. The Union Cabinet approved the largest ever
telecom spectrum auction that is targeted to fetch
at least Rs.64,840 crore from the sale next month.
101. The eurozone slipped into deflationary territory
in December for the first time since the height of
the financial crisis in 2009.
102. ICICI Bank launched the country’s first contactless
debit and credit cards that use the near-field
communication technology.

103. SEBI proposed e-IPO norms, where investors can
bid for shares through Internet and eventually on
mobiles, while already listed public sector
undertakings (PSUs) will be provided a ‘fast-
track’ route for share sales to meet the
disinvestment targets. Under the new norms, SEBI
has proposed to drastically cut the timeline for
listing of shares within 2-3 days of the IPO, as
against 12 days currently.
104. The shareholders of Kotak Mahindra Bank and
ING Vysya have approved the amalgamation of
ING Vysya with Kotak Mahindra Bank.
105. Jammu and Kashmir came under Governor’s rule
with no political party coming forward and
staking claim to form the government and
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah asking
to be relieved as caretaker Chief Minister.
106. SunEdison Inc, the U.S.-headquartered solar
energy services firm, and India’s Adani Group
have come together to invest $4 billion or Rs.
25,000 crore in setting up one of the world’s
largest solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing
facility in Gujarat.
107. The Government of Gujarat, the Government of
India and the World Bank have entered into a
tripartite agreement in support of Gujarat’s
‘swachhta abhiyaan’ and smart city initiatives.
108. The government informed the Supreme Court of
its decision to accept the Election Commission's
recommendation to allow Non-Resident Indians
to vote from overseas through e-postal ballots or
proxy voting.
109. Ramesh Abhishek has been given a three-month
extension as the Chairman of the Forward
Markets Commission.
110. According to World Bank report, India will catch
up with China’s growth at 7 per cent in 2016–17.
World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice
President Kaushik Basu told “China’s growth will
remain high, but it will begin to taper very gently,
reaching 6.9 per cent in 2017”.
111. Wholesale inflation inched up to 0.11 per cent in
December from zero per cent in November on the
back of a surge in food prices.
112. The Indian Olympic Association-appointed Games
Technical Conduct Committee gave the all clear
signal to Kerala for the conduct of the 35th
National Games from January 31 to February 14.
113. Even as fuel retailers announced a Rs. 2.42 per
litre cut in the price of petrol and Rs. 2.25 a litre in
that of diesel, the Centre notified a Rs. 2 per litre
hike in the excise duty on both.
114. The Union Cabinet cleared the third phase of
auction of FM radio channels, expected to fetch
Rs. 550 crore to the government.
115. India has taken strong exception to the European
Parliament’s resolution accusing India of “a
serious breach of human rights” in its treatment
of two Italian marines accused of killing two
Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in
February 2012.
116. BJP declared India’s first woman IPS officer Kiran
Bedi as its chief ministerial candidate in Delhi.
117. Rajni Kothari, preeminent political theorist and
activist, died.
118. Mali’s Health Minister says the West African
country is Ebola-free after recording no new cases
for 42 days, the period required for the World

Health Organization to declare an outbreak
officially over.
119. Microfinance company Bandhan Financial
Services is set to get Rs.1,600 crore equity
infusion from the International Finance
Corporation (IFC) and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign
wealth fund.
120. The Reserve Bank of India asked banks to notify
the Base Rate, or the minimum lending rate, at
least once in every three months based on the
cost of funds.
121. The International Monetary Fund in its World
Economic Outlook report, has projected India to
grow at 6.5 per cent in 2016, overtaking China
whose growth was forecast to slow down to 6.3
per cent.
122. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the
Guinness Book of World Records had recognised
the achievements made under the Pradhan Mantri
Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the biggest financial
inclusion initiative in the world.
123. The seven-month ban on Indian mangoes,
imposed last year by the European Union, has
been lifted well in advance of the deadline set for
the ban, which was originally till December 2015.
124. The first full-year budget of the Modi government
will be presented on February 28, five days after
the budget session of Parliament begins on
February 23.
125. The Centre decided to give flexibility to State
governments to set retail price of PDS sugar that
has been kept unchanged at Rs. 13.50 per kg since
2002.
126. Switzerland assured India of full cooperation on
tax information exchange and agreed to discuss
the issue of black money stashed in Swiss banks.
127. Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri won the
$50,000 DSC Prize for Literature, one of South
Asia’s top literary awards for her book, The
Lowland.
128. RBI asked banks to disclose more information on
lending rates and fees on their websites, “for
promoting transparency in the operations of the
banks.” These guidelines will come into effect
from April 1, 2015.
129. Microsoft has taken the wraps off a new version
of Windows 10, and a new wearable 3D gadget it
calls the HoloLens.
130. Government will release next month a new series
of Consumer Price Index (CPI) with 2012 as base
year for computing the retail inflation rate.
131. Foreign exchange reserves jumped by a massive
$2.66 billion to touch an all-time high of $322.135
billion in the week ended January 16.
132. US President Barack Obama arrived on a two-day
visit during which both sides will seek to break
the deadlock in operationalising the civil nuclear
pact, firm up a defence cooperation agreement
besides broadening ties in areas like trade and
investment. Obama will be the first US President
to grace the Republic Day parade as the Chief
Guest.
133. Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked bankers to
speed up the process of linking all Jan Dhan bank
accounts to Aadhaar and indicated that these
accounts would be used for providing credit,
insurance and pension services in the second
phase of the scheme.
134. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued
draft regulations to facilitate full mobile number
portability (MNP) which is to come into effect
from May 3.
135. Ahead of the Budget, the Expenditure
Management Commission, headed by Bimal Jalan,
has recommended to the government that it cut
fiscal deficit to 3.6 per cent of the GDP during
2015-16.
136. Perhaps for the first time, petrol in India costs
more than the superior jet fuel (ATF) used in
aeroplanes, as the government has levied a record
excise duty on the fuel used in two-wheelers and
cars. A litre of petrol in Delhi costs Rs 58.91 per
litre. On the other hand, ATF is priced at Rs 52.42
a litre.

137. World Bank said it will commit USD 1 billion in
the Narendra Modi government’s Swachh Bharat
(Clean India) campaign.
138. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
approved the fair and remunerative price (FRP)
of sugarcane — payable by sugar mills for the
2015-16 season — to be fixed at R230 per quintal,
as compared with R220 for the 2014-15 season.
139. In a bid to augment supply of environment
friendly fuel, the government allowed private
manufacturers of bio-diesel to sell it directly to
consumers like Indian Railways.
140. The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government in
Haryana which has ambitious plans to promote
yoga and ayurveda in a big way has appointed
yoga guru Ramdev its brand ambassador.
141. Indian economy is likely to expand by 6.4 per cent
this year, according to a United Nations report.
142. The Supreme Court asked a group of major
companies — including Reliance
Communications, Bharti Infratel, Ambuja Cement,
Ultratech Cements, Reliance Infratel, Vodafone
Essar South, Adani Wilmar and Dalmia Cements
— to pay up 50% of the tax demanded by the
Rajasthan government by way of entry tax for
now.
143. Retail inflation moved up marginally to 5 per cent
in December as prices of some food items,
including fruits and vegetables, increased.
144. Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said his
ministry will come out with a brand new
“simplified and time-bound” defence
procurement procedure (DPP) by March 2015
that will help smoothen defence procurement.
145. RBI said dilution of government holding in public
sector banks (PSBs) might not be sufficient for
meeting Basel III capital adequacy norms. It has
been reported recently that the government is
contemplating scaling down their holdings in
PSBs to 52%.
146. The Narendra Modi government has reportedly
raised the solar generation target five-fold from
the earlier target of 20,000 MW in 2022 envisaged
in the Solar Mission.
147. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the
‘ICICI Digital Village’ to the nation at an event
which was organised to celebrate the ICICI
Group’s 60 years of ‘partnering India’ in its
progress. It has created the ‘ICICI Digital Village’
at Akodara in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat.
148. LPG consumers across the country will from 1st
January get cash subsidy directly into their bank
accounts so that they buy the cooking fuel at
market price. Domestic LPG users will get Rs 568
in the bank account the moment they join the
Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG, which
has now been renamed PAHAL. PAHAL or
‘Pratyaksh Hanstantarit Labh’ was rolled out in 54
districts from November 15 and will extend to
rest of the country from January 1.
149. Following the tradition, the winners of Padma
Awards 2015 announced on the eve of India's
66th Republic Day.
Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian
Awards of the country. The awards are conferred
in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan,
Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

Padma Vibhushan:
S.
No.
Name of the
Awardee
Discipline State /
Domicile
1. Shri L. K. Advani Public
Affairs
Gujarat
2. Shri Amitabh
Bachchan
Art Maharashtra
3. Shri Prakash
Singh Badal
Public
Affairs
Punjab
4. Dr. D. Veerendra
Heggade
Social Work Karnataka
5. Shri Mohammad
Yusuf Khan alias
Dilip Kumar
Art Maharashtra
6. Shri Jagadguru
Ramanandacharya
Swami
Rambhadracharya
Others Uttar
Pradesh
7. Prof. Malur
Ramaswamy
Srinivasan
Science and
Engineering
Tamil Nadu
8. Shri Kottayan K.
Venugopal
Public
Affairs
Delhi
9. Shri Karim Al
Hussaini Aga
Khan (Foreigner)
Trade and
Industry
France/UK
Padma Bhushan:
S.
No.
Name of the
Awardee
Discipline State /
Domicile
1. Shri Jahnu
Barua
Art Assam
2. Dr. Vijay
Bhatkar
Science and
Engineering
Maharash
tra
3. Shri Swapan
Dasgupta
Literature and
Education
Delhi
4. Swami
Satyamitranand
Giri
Others Uttar
Pradesh
5. N. Gopalaswami Civil Service Tamil
Nadu
6. Dr. Subhash C.
Kashyap
Public Affairs Delhi
7. Dr. (Pandit)
Gokulotsavji
Maharaj
Art Madhya
Pradesh
8. Dr. Ambrish
Mithal
Medicine Delhi
9. Smt. Sudha
Ragunathan
Art Tamil
Nadu
10. Shri Harish
Salve
Public Affairs Delhi
11. Dr. Ashok Seth Medicine Delhi
12. Shri Rajat
Sharma
Literature and
Education
Delhi
13. Shri Satpal Sports Delhi
14. Shri
Shivakumara
Swami
Others Karnataka
15. Dr. Kharag Singh
Valdiya
Science and
Engineering
Karnataka
16. Prof. Manjul
Bhargava
(NRI/PIO)
Science and
Engineering
USA
17. Shri David
Frawley
(Vamadeva)
(Foreigner)
Others USA
18. Shri Bill Gates
(Foreigner)
Social Work USA
19. Ms. Melinda
Gates
(Foreigner)
Social Work USA
20. Shri Saichiro
Misumi
(Foreigner)
Others Japan
Padma Shri
S.
No
Name of the
Awardee
Discipline State /
Domicile
1. Dr. Manjula
Anagani
Medicine Telangana
2. Shri S. Arunan Science and
Engineering
Karnataka
3. Ms. Kanyakumari
Avasarala
Art Tamil Nadu
4. Dr. Bettina
Sharada Baumer
Literature and
Education
Jammu and
Kashmir
5. Shri Naresh Bedi Art Delhi
6. Shri Ashok Bhagat Social Work Jharkhand
7. Shri Sanjay Leela
Bhansali
Art Maharashtr
a
8. Dr. Lakshmi
Nandan Bora
Literature and
Education
Assam
9. Dr. Gyan
Chaturvedi
Literature and
Education
Madhya
Pradesh
10. Prof. (Dr.) Yogesh
Kumar Chawla
Medicine Chandigarh
11. Smt. Jayakumari
Chikkala
Medicine Delhi
12. Shri Bibek Debroy Literature and
Education
Delhi

13. Dr. Sarungbam
Bimola Kumari
Devi
Medicine Manipur
14. Dr. Ashok Gulati Public Affairs Delhi
15. Dr. Randeep
Guleria
Medicine Delhi
16. Dr. K. P. Haridas Medicine Kerala
17. Shri Rahul Jain Art Delhi
18. Shri Ravindra Jain Art Maharashtr
a
19. Dr. Sunil Jogi Literature and
Education
Delhi
20. Shri Prasoon Joshi Art Maharashtr
a
21. Dr. Prafulla Kar Art Odisha
22. Ms. Saba Anjum Sports Chhattisgar
h
23. Smt. Ushakiran
Khan
Literature and
Education
Bihar
24. Dr. Rajesh Kotecha Medicine Rajasthan
25. Prof. Alka Kriplani Medicine Delhi
26. Dr. Harsh Kumar Medicine Delhi
27. Shri Narayana
Purushothama
Mallaya
Literature and
Education
Kerala
28. Shri Lambert
Mascarenhas
Literature and
Education
Goa
29. Dr. (Mrs.) Janak
Palta McGilligan
Social Work Madhya
Pradesh
30. Shri Veerendra Raj
Mehta
Social Work Delhi
31. Shri Tarak Mehta Art Gujarat
32. Shri Neil Herbert
Nongkynrih
Art Meghalaya
33. Shri Chewang
Norphel
Others Jammu and
Kashmir
34. Shri T. V.
Mohandas Pai
Trade and
Industry
Karnataka
35. Dr.Tejas Patel Medicine Gujarat
36. Shri Jadav Molai
Peyang
Others Assam
37. Smt. Bimla Poddar Other Uttar
Pradesh
38. Dr. N. Prabhakar Science and
Engineering
Delhi
39. Dr. Prahalada Science and
Engineering
Maharashtr
a
40. Dr. Narendra
Prasad
Medicine Bihar
41. Shri Ram Bahadur
Rai
Literature and
Education
Delhi
42. Ms. Mithali Raj Sports Telangana
43. Shri P. V.
Rajaraman
Civil Service Tamil Nadu
44. Prof. J. S. Rajput Literature and
Education
Uttar
Pradesh
45. Shri Kota Srinivasa
Rao
Art Andhra
Pradesh
46. Prof. Bimal Roy Literature and
Education
West Bengal
47. Shri Shekhar Sen Art Maharashtr
a
48. Shri Gunvant Shah Literature and
Education
Gujarat
49. Shri Brahmdev
Sharma (Bhaiji)
Literature and
Education
Delhi
50. Shri Manu Sharma Literature and
Education
Uttar
Pradesh
51. Prof. Yog Raj
Sharma
Medicine Delhi
52. Shri Vasant Shastri Science and
Engineering
Karnataka
53. Shri S. K.
Shivkumar
Science and
Engineering
Karnataka
54. Ms. P. V. Sindhu Sports Telangana
55. Shri Sardara Singh Sports Haryana
56. Ms. Arunima Sinha Sports Uttar
Pradesh
57. Shri Mahesh Raj
Soni
Art Rajasthan
58. Dr.Nikhil Tandon Medicine Delhi
59. Shri H. Thegtse
Rinpoche
Social Work Arunachal
Pradesh
60. Dr.Hargovind
Laxmishanker
Trivedi
Medicine Gujarat
61. Shri Huang
Baosheng
(Foreigner)
Others China
62. Prof. Jacques
Blamont
(Foreigner)
Science and
Engineering
France
63. Late Shri Syedna
Mohammad
Burhanuddin (Pos
thumous)
Others Maharashtr
a
64. Shri Jean-Claude
Carriere
(Foreigner)
Literature and
Education
France
65. Dr. Nandrajan
“Raj” Chetty
(NRI/PIO)
Trade and
Industry
USA
66. Shri George L. Hart
(Foreigner)
Others USA

67. Jagat Guru Amrta
Suryananda Maha
Raja (NRI/PIO)
Others Portugal
68. Late Shri Meetha
Lal Mehta
(Posthumous)
Social Work Rajasthan
69. Ms. Tripti
Mukherjee (NRI/P
IO)
Art USA
70. Dr. Dattatreyudu
Nori (NRI/PIO)
Medicine USA
71. Dr. Raghu Rama
Pillarisetti (NRI/P
IO)
Medicine USA
72. Dr. Saumitra
Rawat (NRI/PIO)
Medicine UK
73. Prof. Annette
Schmiedchen
(Foreigner)
Literature and
Education
Germany
74. Late Shri Pran
Kumar Sharma
alias Pran
(Posthumous)
Art Delhi
75. Late Shri R.
Vasudevan
(Posthumous)
Civil Service Tamil Nadu
150. 66th Republic Day Celebrations
India celebrated its 66th Republic Day and showcased
before the chief guest US President Barack Obama and
the world its military might and cultural diversity with a
splendid display of land and naval weaponry, fighter
and reconnaissance aircraft.
Obama was the first ever US President to attend the
parade as Chief Guest on the second day of his three-day
visit, as light rains and overcast skies failed to dampen
the enthusiasm of thousands of spectators who
gathered along the Rajpath to watch the pomp-filled
spectacle.
Smartly attired all-female units from the Army, Navy
and Air Force marched for the first time in this year’s
parade, as the country’s military hardware with
carnival-style floats featuring achievements in diverse
fields as well as tribal dancers and traditional music
rolled past in a show of ‘unity in diversity’.
In a departure from tradition for the Chief Guest at the
Republic Day parade, Obama arrived in his own highly-
secured bomb-proof vehicle, ‘The Beast,’ at Rajpath.
A highlight of this year’s parade was the display for the
first time of the recently acquired long-range maritime
surveillance and anti-submarine P-8I aircraft and the
long-range advanced MiG-29K fighter plane.
Prime Minister Modi’s “Make in India” campaign to
boost the country’s manufacturing industry and create
much-needed jobs was featured in one of the tableaus.

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