Monthly Banking and Current Affairs E-book

General Awareness
3September 2016Banking & Current Affairs Update
NATIONALNATIONAL
Government launches Nationwide Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight: The
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on 11 July 2016, launched a nationwide
Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF) to decrease infant mortality caused
by diarrhoea. The programme aims at covering over 80% of children (of the 10 crore
children below five years of age) affected by diarrhoea across India. The children
will be administered ORS by the ASHA workers. As per the statistics, 13 children
under the age of five die as a result of diarrhoea every hour in India.
India’s first Commercial Court & Disputes Resolution Centre inaugurated in
Chhattisgarh: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singhand Justice Madan
B. Lokur of the Supreme Court of India, on 2 July 2016, inaugurated India’s first
commercial dispute resolution centre and commercial court at Naya Raipur,
Chhattisgarh.
RajyaSabha passes Child Labour Amendment Bill, 2012: The RajyaSabha, in
July 2016, passed the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill,
2012 that seeks to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) (CLPR)
Act, 1986. It prohibits employment of children below 14 years in all occupation or
processes except where the child helps his family after school, with the provision
for imprisonment up to two years for any violation. It was made in light to the
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
Rajasthan becomes first state to introduce minimum wages for part-time workers:
Rajasthan, in July 2016, became the first state in the country to introduce minimum
wages for part time workers. The state government has made it mandatory to pay
50% of the prescribed a day minimum wage to a person who works for less than
four hours in a day. With the notification, part time workers now come under the
Minimum Wages Act 1948.
DRDO, IITs in propulsion technology centres pact: The Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO), on 10 July 2016, signed an agreement with
IIT-Bombay and Madras to establish a bi-nodal ‘Centre of Propulsion Technology’
(CoPT) at the two institutions. The initiative is aimed at achieving synergy between
DRDO and Indian Institutes of Technology for channelizing the research efforts
towards developing products and related critical aerospace technologies.
Gujarat has 5 among top 10 cleanest railway stations, Bihar dirtiest: According
to a recent passenger feedback survey on cleanliness carried out by the railway
ministry, the cleanest
railway stations in the
country are in Gujarat
and the dirtiest in Bi-
har and UP. Among
the 10 cleanest sta-
tions in the order of
ranking are Beas,
Gandhidham, Vasco
Da Gama, Jamnagar,
Kumbakonam, Surat,
Nasik Road, Rajkot,
Salem and Ankle-
shwar. Five stations
in Gujarat -- Gand-
hidham, Jamnagar,
Surat, Rajkot and An-
kleshwar-- are among the top 10.
Union Cabinet approves the establishment of AIIMS at Gorakhpur: The Union
Cabinet, on 20 July 2016, gave its approval for the establishment of new All
India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. The
institute will be established under the PradhanMantriSwasthyaSurakshaYojana
(PMSSY). Under this scheme, AIIMS have been established in Bhubaneshwar,
Bhopal, Raipur, Jodhpur, Rishikesh and
Patna. Later on 27 July 2016, the Union
Cabinet approved the establishment of
an All India Institute of Medical Science
(AIIMS) at Bhatinda in Punjab under
the PMSSY.
World's largest charkha unveiled
at IGI airport: The world’s largest
Charkha (spinning wheel) was unveiled
at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi
International Airport (IGI), New Delhi
by Union Minister for MSME Kalraj
Mishra on 5 July 2016. The idea behind
displaying the world’s biggest charkha
at the country’s busiest airport is to
highlight India’s quest to foster an
egalitarian society as demonstrated by
Mahatma Gandhi.
PM Modi unveils foundation
stone for the revival of fertilizer
unit at Gorakhpur: Prime Minister
NarendraModi,on22July2016,unveiled
the foundation stone for the revival of
gas based Gorakhpur Fertilizer Plant
at Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. The
plant is implemented by Hindustan
UrvarakRasayan Limited, which is a
joint venture between the Coal India
Limited (CIL) and the NTPC Limited.
India ranks 110th on Sustainable
Development index: India, in July 2016,
ranked a low 110 out of 149 nations in
the Sustainable Development Index
assessed in terms of achievements on
the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Sustainable Development Solutions
Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann
Stiftung launched the Sustainable
Development Goal Index to provide
a report card for tracking Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) progress
and ensuring accountability. Sweden
topped the chart, followed by Denmark
and Norway at the second and third
positions respectively.
Rank Country Score
1 Sweden 84.5
2 Denmark 83.9
3 Norway 82.3
4 Finland 81.0
5 Switzerland 80.9
6 Germany 80.5
7 Austria 79.1
8 Netherlands 78.9
9 Iceland 78.4
10 United Kingdom 78.1

General Awareness
4 September 2016 Banking & Current Affairs Update
CSIR ranked World's 12th Best Government Institute: The 2016 report of the
prestigious Scimago Institutions Rankings, in July 2016, ranked the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as the 12th Best Government Institutions
in the world. CSIR is the only Indian organization to have found a place among the
top 100 global institutions. As per the report, the Top 5 Government Institutions in
the World are: National Center for Scientific Research (France); Chinese Academy
of Sciences (China); Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (Germany);
Max Planck Society (Germany); Spanish National Research Council (Spain).
PashudhanBimaYojana launched in Haryana: Haryana Government on 29 July
2016 launched PashudhanBimaYojana in Jhajjar. It will provide insurance cover
to cattle breeders in the state at different premium rates for different animals.
Insurance cover will be provided at a premium of 100 rupees for cows, buffaloes,
bulls, camels. Insurance cover will be provided at a premium of 25 rupees for
sheep, goat and pig for a period of three years. Under it, the insurance companies
would give compensation in case of death of animal (cattle).
ECI launches National Electoral Roll Purification 2016: The Election Commission
of India (ECI) on 20 July 2016 announced that launch of National Electoral Roll
Purification (NERP) 2016 programme across the country. The programme was
launched to improve health of Electoral Rolls (ERs) and to optimize the Polling
Station (PS) location and area across the country. The motto of ECI for the year
2016 is No voter to be left behind.
Government approves 1601 crore rupees for Himayatprogramme in J&K: The
Union Government on 26 July 2016 approved nearly 1600 crore rupees for Jammu
and Kashmir under skill development initiative 'Himayat'. The allocated fund
will be invested in training 1.24 lakh local youths in vocational courses. Himayat
is a training-cum-placement programme for unemployed youth in Jammu and
Kashmir. Under which youth of the state will be provided short-term training, in
a range of skills for which there is good market demand.
Parliament passes Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016: The RajyaSabha
on 18 July 2016 passed the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016. The Bill
seeks to establish a Regional Centre for Biotechnology in Faridabad, Haryana.
This will be an institution of education, training and research, under the auspices
of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
in the National Capital Region. It also confers upon it the status of an institution
of national importance.
India’s first Water Metro launched in Kochi:
Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan, on 23
July 2016, launched Kochi Water Metro project
in Kochi, Kerala. It is the first ever Water Metro
project in the country. German Development
Bank,KreditanstaltfürWiederaufbau (KfW)is
funding 85 million euro for the project. The Water Metro will link various islands
to the mainland.
NDMC signs MoU with NEERI to develop sewage treatment plants: The New
Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), on 21 July 2016, signed a MoU with National
Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to develop 12 sewage
treatment plants (STP). The barren lands that have no use under NDMC areas will
be developed into green areas under the same project.
Netherlands-UP signs agreement for setting up skill development centre for
farmers: The Netherlands and Uttar Pradesh on 14 July 2016 signed a MoU to
set up a skill development centre to help farmers. The MoU would ensure that
farmers get information on food processing as well as along with use of modern
techniques to boost production of sugarcane, potato, dairy development and
flowers. Besides, the Dutch government would also help in cleaning the Yamuna
in Agra and in sewage treatment.
Madhya Pradesh becomes first state to approve setting up of Happiness
Department: Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on 15 July 2016 gave its nod to set up
Happiness Department in the state. With this approval, Madhya Pradesh became
the first state of the country to set up
such a Department. Apart from the
department, the cabinet also decided
to establish a state Happiness Institute
under the Happiness Department.
Initially it will have a budget of three
crore 60 lakh rupees.
Second phase of Haritha Haram
programme launched in Telangana:
The second phase of Haritha Haram
programme of Telangana government
was launched in the state on 8 July 2016.
It envisages increasing the present 24%
tree cover in the State to 33% of the total
geographical area of the State. Under
this program, ministers, legislators,
officialsbesidesalargenumberofschool
children and MGNREGA workers have
been asked to take up plantations across
the state.
Union Cabinet approves Transgender
Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill,
2016: The Union Cabinet, on 20 July
2016, approved The Transgender
Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill,
2016 to protect transgenders from
discrimination. The Bill will benefit a
large number of transgender persons,
mitigate the stigma, discrimination and
abuse against this marginalized section
and bring them into the mainstream of
society.
LokSabha passes Institutes of
Technology (Amendment) Bill,
2016: The LokSabha, on 25 July 2016,
passed the Institutes of Technology
(Amendment) Bill, 2016 that seeks to
amend the Institutes of Technology Act,
1961, which declares certain Institutes of
Technology as institutions of national
importance. The Bill seeks to add six
new Indian Institutes of Technology
(IITs) in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh,
Palakkad in Kerala, Goa, Dharwar in
Karnataka, Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, and
Jammu. It also seeks to bring the Indian
School of Mines, Dhanbad within the
ambit of the Act.
LokSabha passes Lokpal and
Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2016:
The LokSabha, on 27 July 2016,
passed the Lokpal and Lokayukta
(Amendment) Bill, 2016 for amending
the existing Lokpal and Lokayukta Act,
2013 that provides Lokpal (at Centre)
and Lokayukta (at States) statutory
backing to inquire into allegations
of corruption against certain public
functionaries and for related matters.

General Awareness
The bill amends section 44 of the 2013 Act and says that every public servant shall
make a declaration of his assets and liabilities in such form and manner as may
be prescribed.
Strategic Forces Command exempted from the ambit of RTI Act, 2005: The
Strategic Forces Command (SFC), which forms part of the National Command
Authority (NCA), was on 30 July 2016 added to the Second Schedule of the
Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005. It has been brought under sub-section (2) of
Section 24 of the RTI. The Section 24 of the RTI exempts security and intelligence
establishments from its purview.
Indo-U.S. expedition discovers natural gas in Indian Ocean: India’s Oil Ministry
and the U.S. Geological Survey recently made the
discovery of large, highly enriched accumulations of
natural gas hydrate — an icy form of the fuel — in the
Bay of Bengal. This is the first discovery of its kind in
the Indian Ocean that has the potential to be producible.
● Gas hydrates are considered as vast resources of natural gas and are known to
occur in marine sediments on continental shelf margins.
● Gas hydrate resources in India are estimated at 1,894 trillion cubic meters and
these deposits occur in Western, Eastern and Andaman offshore areas.
● By nature, this gas is mostly methane.
India carries out Operation SankatMochan for its citizens in South Sudan:The
Union Government, on 13 July 2016, started the operation 'Sankat Mochan' to
evacuate its citizens stranded in South Sudan's capital Juba. Two C-17 military
transport aircrafts were pressed into service to make the evacuation.The operation
undertaken by Indian Air Force (IAF) was headed by Minister of State for External
Affairs General (retd.) VK Singh.
Pokhara-New Delhi direct bus service launched: The first direct bus service
between Pokhara (Nepal) and New Delhi (India) was launched in July 2016 to
connect South Asia’s two important cities. The bus service was launched as per
the Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) signed between both countries during Prime
Minister NarendraModi’s Nepal visit in 2014.
Guwahati hosts 2016 BRICS Youth Summit: The 2016 BRICS Youth Summit was
held in Guwahati, Assam, in July 2016. The theme of the summit was “Youth as
bridge for Intra-BRICS Exchanges”. It saw the participation of officials and youth
of the delegation from BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa.
India signs $1 billion deal with the US for procuring four Poseidon-8I aircraft:
India, on 27 July 2016, signed a one-billion-dollar deal with the US defence and
aerospace major Boeing for procuring four long-range maritime surveillance and
anti-submarine warfare aircraft, Poseidon-8I. Incidentally, India is P-8I's first
international customer and was also Boeing's first military sale to India.
MoU between India & Mauritius in the field of Rural Development & Poverty
Alleviation approved: The Union Cabinet on 5 July 2016 approved signing of a
MoU between India and Mauritius in the field of Rural Development and Poverty
Alleviation. The MoU will help to establish a framework for cooperation between
the National Development Unit, Prime Minister's Office of Mauritius and the Union
Ministry of Rural Development in the sphere of rural development.
India becomes first contributor to UN Trust Fund for sexual abuse victims: The
United Nations Department of Field Support (DFS), on 22 July 2016, announced
that India provided 100000 US dollar for the Trust Fund in support of victims of
sexual exploitation and abuse. With this, India has become the first country in the
world to make a contribution to the Trust Fund.
India-Thailand hold Maitree Exercise:
The Indo-Thailand Military Exercise
Maitree concluded on 29 July 2016 at
Krabi, Thailand. The aim of the joint
exercise was to train contingents of
both the armies on the conduct of
counter terrorist operations in an urban
environment.
India-Bangladesh inauguratePetrapole
Integrated Check Post: Prime Minister
of India NarendraModi and the Prime
Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina
on 21 July 2016 jointly inaugurated the
PetrapoleIntegrated Check Post (ICP).
It is an important land border crossing
for India-Bangladesh trade as more than
50%oftheIndia-Bangladeshtradepasses
through Petrapole. Petrapole ICP is the
second ICP on the India-Bangladesh
border after the Agartala ICP at the
Agartala-Akhaura land border.
India, ADB sign 100 Million US dollar
loan agreement for Cauvery Delta
project: The Union Government and
the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
on 14 July 2016 signed a 100 million US
dollars’ loan agreement to strengthen
key irrigation and drainage system
and improve water management in the
Vennar sub-basin of the Cauvery delta
in Tamil Nadu. The financing will be
used to strengthen embankments of
six major irrigation water channels in
the Vennar system and rehabilitate 13
irrigation pumping schemes.
WHO declares India as Maternal and
Neonatal Tetanus free: The World
Health Organization (WHO) on 14 July
2016 declared India as Maternal and
Neonatal Tetanus free. Previously in
May 2016, WHO certified India yaws-
free after a team of experts verified
interruption of disease transmission in
the country. India is the first country
under the 2012 WHO neglected tropical
diseases (NTD) roadmap to eliminate
yaws. Yaws is a chronic bacterial
infection that affects the skin, bones
and cartilages.
India and Bangladesh sign deal
for Rampal gas station: India and
Bangladesh on 12 July 2016 signed a
landmark deal for the construction of
Rampal Power Station, a 1320 megawatt
coal fired power plant. The Rampal
PowerStationisthebiggestprojectunder
bilateral cooperation. The Bangladesh-
India Friendship Power Company
Limited (BIFPCL), the joint venture
enterprise, signed the deal with Bharat
Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).

General Awareness
SUPREME COURT
SC Bench asks Centre to take over Adarsh building from housing society: The
31-storey scam-tainted Adarsh apartments, built at Colaba in posh South Mumbai,
for Kargil war heroes and war widows, will not be demolished for the time
being with the Supreme Court on 22 July 2016 asking the Centre to secure it after
taking possession from the housing society. Earlier, the High Court had ordered
demolition of the apartments and had sought initiation of criminal proceedings
against politicians and bureaucrats for “misuse” of powers, holding that the tower
was illegally constructed.
Rs 24,000 crore raised as building cess lying idle: SC: The SC, on 1 July 2016,
slammed the Centre and states for doing nothing to improve the condition of poor
construction workers despite collecting Rs 24,000 crore as construction cess to be
solely spent on workers' welfare. The Centre had informed Parliament in December
that states had collected Rs 24,014.51 crore as construction cess till September
30, 2015 but spent only Rs 4,255.57 crore out of it. Under the Building and Other
Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996, real estate developers have to pay
1% of the total cost of construction of the building as cess. The cess is levied to
augment resources of the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
SC orders restoration of NabamTuki government in Arunachal Pradesh: The
five-judge Constitutional bench of the SC, on 13 July 2016, unanimously restored
Congress Government led by NabamTuki in Arunachal Pradesh. For this purpose, it
also quashed the KalikhoPul government that came into power on 19 February 2016
afterGovernorJPRajkhowaordereddismissalofNabamTukiledgovernmentofthe
state. It was the first time that the Supreme Court used its power of judicial review
to restore a government when
its successor government was
in place.
SC allows rape victim to
abort 24-week-old fetus:
The SC, on 21 July 2016,
allowed a rape victim based in
Mumbai to abort her 24-week-
old abnormal fetus after the
Centre clarified that a 20-
week cap on termination of
pregnancy is not applicable if
the pregnant woman’s life is
found to be in grave danger.
The victim had challenged
Section3(2)(b)ofthe1971Act.
The Bench said termination of
the pregnancy in this case was
permissible under the Act.
INTERNATIONAL
WHO declares Brazil free of measles: The World Health Organization (WHO),
on 26 July 2016, declared Brazil free of measles. The step was taken after no case of
the disease was registered in 2015. From 1985 to 2000, Brazil saw no domestic cases
of measles, although it broke out in 2013 in the northeastern states of Pernambuco
and Ceara. Measles is a highly contagious infection caused by the measles virus.
Turkey declares three-month state of emergency: Turkey’s President
RecepTayyipErdogan, on 20 July 2016, declared a three-month state of emergency
in the country in response to the failed coup that happened on 15 July 2016. The
coup was attempted by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces against the
incumbent Justice and Development Party.
Quarter of a million children severely malnourished in Borno state, Nigeria:
UNICEF, on 19 July 2016, said that almost a quarter of a million children in parts
of Borno state, North-East Nigeria, are
suffering from severe malnutrition and
risk death. The humanitarian crisis
is caused due to Boko Haram that is
controlling the state since 2013.
Peru declares Zika emergency: The
Peru Government, on 13 July 2016,
declared Zika health emergency across
the northern half of the country. The
emergency was declared after 102
people were found be infected with
the virus, 34 of which were pregnant
women. Zika virus is a member of the
virus family Flaviviridae and the genus
Flavivirus. It is spread by daytime-
active Aedes mosquitoes.
PCA rules in favor of The Philippines
on South China Sea: The Hague-based
Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA),
on 12 July 2016, ruled in favor of the
Philippines in a maritime dispute on
South China Sea, saying that China do
not have legal basis to claim historic
rights to the bulk of the Sea. It found that
China had caused severe harm to coral
around the site of its artificial islands.
It had also violated its obligation to
preserve and protect fragile ecosystems.
US sanctions North Korean leader Kim
Jong-Un for human rights abuses: The
US Department of the Treasury’s Office
of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), on
6 July 2016, designated top officials of
the North Korean regime along with
Kim Jong-Un and for their ties to North
Korea’s notorious abuses of human
rights. This is the first time that US has
sanctioned North Korean leader over
human rights abuses. The designated
ones include ten other individuals, and
five entities.
Spratly
Islands
Spratly
Islands
Paracel
Islands
Paracel
Islands
South China
Sea
Scarborough
Shoal
Scarborough
Shoal
VietnamVietnam
China
PhilippinesPhilippines
MalaysiaMalaysia
BruneiBrunei
KBK InfographicsKBK graphicsInfo
Hainan
(China)
IndonesiaIndonesia
Malaysia Indonesia
Malaysia
Vietnam
Brunei
Malaysia
Philippines
China
TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan
South China Sea Dispute
Area claimed by China
200 nautical mile
exclusive economic zone as per
United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
Disputed islands
MalaysiaMalaysia
IndonesiaIndonesia

General Awareness
SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY/ENVIRONMENT
SPACE
SpaceX launches unmanned Dragon cargo capsule to International space
station: SpaceX, in July 2016, launched its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule to the
International Space Station, carrying a key piece of equipment that was lost in 2015
due to rocket explosion. With this, SpaceX now has five successful rocket landings
to its name. The first occurred in December 2015, when a Falcon 9 first stage came
back to Cape Canaveral during a commercial satellite launch.
NASA's Juno Spacecraft successfully enters Jupiter’s orbit: Juno spacecraft
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), on 4 July 2016,
successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit. Juno's main aim is to understand the origin
and evolution of Jupiter. The spacecraft will also investigate the existence of a
solid planetary core, map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the amount
of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere and observe the planet's auroras.
NASA extends New Horizons mission to Kuiper Belt:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA), in July 2016, gave its approval to the New
Horizons mission to investigate a mysterious object
deep in the Kuiper Belt. The mission will explore the
mysterious object known as 2014 MU69. New Horizons
is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as a
part of NASA's New Frontiers program.
ENVIRONMENT
IMD to use a supercomputer to forecast monsoon with Dynamical Model: The
Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), in July 2016, announced that India
Meteorological Department (IMD) will use a supercomputer to forecast India’s
annual summer monsoon. The forecast made by a supercomputer will be based
on a dynamical monsoon model. It will be operational from 2017. The dynamical
model is also known as the Coupled Forecast System.
IUCN declares Bornean orangutan critically endangered: Bornean orangutan, a
primate species was recently declared critically endangered by the International
Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The Bornean
orangutan is a primate species native to the island of Borneo. It is found only in the
wild in Sumatra island (Indonesia) and Borneo in the Malaysian states of Sarawak
and Sabah and Kalimantan.
HEALTH
Brazilian scientists discover another type of Zika-
transmitting mosquito: Brazilian researchers, on 21
July 2016, announced to have found another species
of mosquito, which is able to transmit the Zika virus
to humans. The scientists found the presence of the
Culexquinquefasciatus mosquito infected by the
Zika virus in three out of 80 groups of mosquitoes
analysed up until now. The 80 groups were from the metropolitan area of Recife,
Brazil.
Canada to conduct world's first Zika vaccine test on humans: Researchers at
Universite Laval, a Canadian University in Quebec City, in July 2016, said that
it will conduct the world's first Zika vaccine test on humans. The vaccine that is
under development will be tested on humans in the near future. Until now, vaccines
have been tested on mice. The Zica virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted
primarily by Aedes mosquitoes.
DEFENCE
India’sMarineCommandos’baseINSKarnaiscommissioned:ChiefofNavalStaff
Admiral Sunil Lanba, on 12 July 2016, commissioned INS Karna in Vishakhapatnam.
INS Karma is a dedicated base for Marine Commandos (MARCOS), which is a
Special Operation Forces of Indian
Navy. INS Karna is located on the
premises of INS Kalinga near Bhimili.
India's first Integrated Defence
Communication Network launched:
India's first Integrated Defence
Communication Network (DCN) was
recently launched by Defence Minister
ManoharParrikar at the South Block
in New Delhi. The network enables
the Army, the Air Force, the Navy
and the Special Forces Command
to share situational awareness for a
faster decision-making process. It is
the first tri-service communication and
IT network of the Armed Forces. The
network has been fully designed and
developed in India by HCL Infosystems.
IndigenouslybuiltLCATejasinducted
in Indian Air Force: The first squadron
of home-grown Light Combat Aircraft
(LCA) Tejas was inducted into Indian
Air Force (IAF) at the Aircraft System
Testing Establishment in Bengaluru
on 1 July 2016. The squadron has been
named ‘Flying Daggers’ 45. State-run
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
handed over the first two Tejas aircraft
to the Air Force. The Light Combat
Aircraft Tejas is a supersonic, single-
seat,single-enginemultirolelightfighter
aircraft that uses fourth generation
technologies. It was co-developed by the
Aeronautical Development Agency in
cooperation with the Bengaluru-based
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
TECHNOLOGY
TRI-NETRA System developed for
enhancing the vision of locomotive
pilots in inclement weather: The
Ministry of Railways on 17 July 2016
developed the TRI-NETRA system on
locomotives for enhancing the vision of
Locomotive Pilots in inclement weather.
TRI-NETRA stands for Terrain imaging
for diesel dRiversINfra-red, Enhanced
opTical&Radar Assisted system. TRI-
NETRA system will be made up of
high-resolution optical video camera,
high sensitivity infra-red video camera

General Awareness
and additionally a radar-based terrain mapping system. These three components
of the system act as three eyes (Tri-Netra) of the locomotive pilot.
Solar Impulse 2 completes first round-the-world journey: The first round-the-
world solar powered flight by Solar Impulse 2 was completed on 26 July 2016
after the aircraft landed successfully in Abu Dhabi. After landing the plane, pilot
Bertrand Piccard was greeted outside the cockpit by his Solar Impulse partner and
fellow pilot Andre Borschberg. The aircraft is uniquely powered by 17,248 solar
cells that transfer energy to four electrical motors that power the plane's propellers.
It runs on four lithium polymer batteries at night.
CSIR-CMERI develops Solar Power Tree for generation of
electricity: Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science
and Technology and Earth Sciences, on 22 July 2016 launched
the Solar Power Tree in New Delhi. The Solar Power Tree has
been developed by the CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering
Research Institute (CSIR-CMERI), a constituent laboratory
of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The
product harnesses solar energy for producing electricity with
an innovative vertical arrangement of solar cells.
Aquila Internet drone completes first test flight: Facebook Inc, on 22 July 2016,
announced the successful completion of the test flight of a solar-powered drone
named Aquila. The social media giant believes that Aquila will help to extend
Internet connectivity to every corner of the planet.
Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant attains criticality: The second reactor of
Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) attained criticality on 10 July 2016.
At present, India operates 21 reactors that can generate 5780 MW of electricity
besides giving the country its atomic weapons. Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant
is a nuclear power station in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
PERSONALITIES
NEWSMAKERS
Linda Burney becomes first indigenous woman elected to Australian lower
house: Linda Burney, a former teacher, on 2 July 2016, became the first Indigenous
woman elected to the House of Representatives (lower house) of the Parliament of
Australia. She achieved the fete after claiming victory in the marginal seat of Barton.
With this, she joined first aboriginal MP Ken Wyatt of the conservative Liberal
Party who was elected in 2010. Olympian Nova Peris was the first indigenous
woman in the upper house of the Parliament.
Luke Aikins achieves special feat: Luke Aikins, a skydiver with 18000 jumps,
on 30 July 2016 jumped from 25000 feet (7620 meters) without a parachute or a
wingsuit. With this he became the first man in the world history to dive from
mid-tropospheric altitude and land safely without a parachute or a wing suit or
anything else that might help him stop or slow his descent.
Michel Barnier appointed to negotiate Brexit:
The European Union’s executive on 27 July 2016
appointed Michel Barnier, former French Financial
Services Commissioner, as its Chief Negotiator
for the United Kingdom’s exit from the bloc. In
June 2016, Didier Seeuws, a Belgian diplomat,
was appointed as head of a Brexit task force by
the European Council. Barnier is a French Union
for a Popular Movement (UMP) politician and Vice President of the European
People's Party (EPP).
Paul Romer appointed as World Bank Chief Economist: The World Bank Group,
on 18 July 2016, appointed Paul Romer as World Bank Chief Economist with effect
from September 2016. Romer is a widely respected economist and a successful
entrepreneur. Romer is currently a professor at New York University (NYU),
Director of NYU’s Marron Institute of Urban Management, and a professor of
economics at NYU's Stern School of Business. Before joining NYU, Romer taught at
Stanford University’s Graduate School
of Business.
SushilaKarki becomes first woman
Chief Justice of Nepal: Nepal’s
Parliamentary Hearing Special
Committee (PHSC) on 10 July 2016
unanimously endorsed SushilaKarki as
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
With this, Karki has become the first
woman to lead Nepal’s judiciary.
Yuriko Koike is elected as the first
woman mayor of Tokyo: Former
Japanese Defence Minister Yuriko
Koike was, on 31 July 2016, elected as
the first woman governor of Tokyo, the
capital city of Japan. Koike garnered
more than 2.9 million votes in the
election, defeating her opponents,
Hiroya Masuda and ShuntaroTorigoe,
by a wide margin.
APPOINTMENT
SanjivPuri appointed as Chief
OperatingOfficerofITCLtd:SanjivPuri
was, on 25 July 2016, appointed as the
Chief Operating Officer of Kolkata-
based ITC Ltd. He will be responsible
for running day-to-day operations of the
company as COO, a position created for
the first time at ITC.
Zee Learn appoints Debshankar
Mukhyopadhyay as CEO: Zee
Learn, education branch of Essel
Group, on 6 July 2016 appointed
DebshankarMukhyopadhyay as Chief
Executive Officer (CEO). Essel Group is
among India’s most prominent business
houses with a diverse portfolio of assets
in media, packaging, entertainment,
education etc.
Pema Khandu sworn-in as Arunachal
Pradesh Chief Minister: PemaKhandu
was sworn-in as the
Chief Minister of
Arunachal Pradesh at
Raj Bhawan in Itanagar
on 17 July 2016. With
this, he became the youngest chief
minister of the country. He has replaced
NabamTuki, who resigned from the
post after stepping down as leader of
the Congress Legislature Party on 16
July 2016.
Government appoints Ajay Bhushan
Pandey as the CEO of UIDAI: The
Union Government, on 21 July 2016,
appointed Ajay BhushanPandey as
the Chief Executive Officer of Unique
Identification Authority of India

General Awareness
(UIDAI). UIDAI, founded in 2009, is the organisation behind the Aadhaar, a
12-digit unique number, linked with an individual’s demographic and biometric
information.
Ashok Patnaik is appointed as CEO of NATGRID: The Union Government, on
13 July 2016, appointed Ashok Patnaik as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the
National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID). The NATGRID is a centralised agency
which stores sensitive personal information on citizens from almost two dozen
agencies to be made available for counter-terror investigations.
Buddha Rashmi Mani appointed as National Museum director: Noted
archaeologist Buddha Rashmi Mani was, on 25 July 2016, appointed as Director
General of National Museum for three years or till attaining the age of 70 years.
Earlier, he had supervised the excavation work in the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-
Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya in 2003.
GuruprasadMohapatra appointed as the Chairman of AAI: Odisha-born
bureaucrat GuruprasadMohapatra was, on 15 July 2016, appointed as the Chairman
of Airports Authority of India (AAI) with effect from 19 July 2016. Mohapatra is a
1986 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre. Prior to the recent posting, he was posted
as Joint Secretary in Union Ministry of Commerce.
Kinshuk appointed as the Dean of an American university: Indian-American
Professor Dr. Kinshuk was, on 12 July 2016, appointed as the Dean of University
of North Texas College of Information in the United States. He had, since 2010,
served as an associate dean at Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada, where he
helped lead the Faculty of Science and Technology.
MadhavDhekane takes over as ISRO Director: Noted scientist MadhavDhekane,
on 1 July 2016, assumed the office of Director at ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU),
Department of Space, at Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Dhekane
is the seventh director of IISU. The ISRO Inertial Systems Unit is a research and
development unit of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is located
in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It specialises in inertial sensors and systems in
satellite technology.
Malcolm Turnbull becomes Australian PM: Malcolm Turnbull
was, on 19 July 2016, sworn in as the Prime Minister of Australia
for another term. He is the 29th and current Prime Minister of
Australia and the Leader of the Liberal Party. He assumed both
offices after defeating Tony Abbott in a leadership election on 14
September 2015.
Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi appointed as Chairman of CBSE: Rajesh Kumar
Chaturvedi was, on 14 July 2016, appointed as the Chairman of the Central Board
of Secondary Education (CBSE) for a five-year term. Chaturvedi is a 1987- batch
IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre.
Theresa May becomes the new British PM: Queen Elizabeth-II, on 13 July 2016,
appointed Theresa May as the 76th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK)
following her election as the leader of Britain's ruling Conservative Party. With this
appointment, she became the second women to assume the office of Prime Minister
of the UK after Margaret Thatcher who was in the office of PM from 1979 to 1990.
She succeeded David Cameron who resigned from the post following Brexit vote.
Britons on 22 June 2016 voted to exit the European Union.
RESIGNATION
Kevin Turner resigns as COO of Microsoft: Kevin Turner, on 7 July 2016, resigned
as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Microsoft with effect from 31 July 2016.
Turner would now be joining Citadel Securities as Chief Executive Officer.
KP Oli resigns as Nepal PM: Nepal's Prime Minister, Khadga Prasad Oli, on 24
July 2016 resigned from his office ahead of a no-confidence vote. Oli tendered
his resignation after two key ruling alliance partners -- Madhesi People's Rights
Forum-Democratic and RashtriyaPrajatantra Party -- decided to support the no-
confidence motion tabled against him by the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-
Maoist Centre led by Prachanda.
DEATH
Abdul SattarEdhi: Eminent Pakistani
philanthropist, social activist, ascetic
and humanitarian Abdul SattarEdhi
died in Karachi on 8 July 2016. He
was the founder and head of the Edhi
Foundation in Pakistan and was known
as Angel of Mercy, Pakistan’s ‘Father
Teresa’
Arundhati Ghose: Former Indian
diplomat ArundhatiGhose passed away
in New Delhi on 26 July 2016. She was
the first Permanent Representative
of India to the UN Offices in Geneva.
She served as the Head of the Indian
delegation that participated in the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty (CTBT) negotiations at the
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva
in 1996.
James Alan McPherson: American
author James Alan McPherson passed
away in Iowa City, USA, on 27 July
2016. In 1978, he won the Pulitzer
Prize for fiction for his short story
collection Elbow Room, becoming
the first African-American to win the
Pulitzer for fiction.
Mahashweta Devi: Mahashweta Devi, a
colossal figure in Bengali literature and
a respected social activist, passed away
in Kolkata on 28 July 2016. In a literary
career spanning over half-a-century,
she wrote over 120 books. Most of her
works centred on the lives of the poor
and the downtrodden. She was the
author behind award-winning Hindi
films Rudaali and HazaarChaurasi
Ki Maa. Few of her noted stories are
AranyerAdhikar (The Occupation of
the Forest), Agnigarbha (Womb of Fire),
Dhowli, BashaiTudu, Dust on the Road,
Till Death Do Us Part,Old Women, etc.
she won the SahityaAkademi award
(1979), the Padma Shree (1986), the
Jnanpith (1997), the Magsaysay award
(1997) and the Deshikottam award in
1999.
Mohammed Shahid: Mohammed
Shahid, one of the greatest names in
Indian hockey, died on 20 July 2016 due
to severe liver condition and kidney
failure. Shahid was the part of the
Indian hockey team that won the gold
medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
He was a member of the team that won
the silver at the 1982 Asian Games and
bronze at the 1986 Asian Games.

General Awareness
N.G. Prasada Rao: Distinguished agricultural scientist Neelamraju Ganga Prasada
(NGP) Rao, fondly referred to as the Father of Hybrid Sorghum, passed away in
Hyderabad on 27 July 2016. He is well-known for basic and applied research in
breeding and agronomy of several dryland crops. Due to his efforts, sorghum
hybrids CSH1 CSH5 and CSH9 became popular and were cultivated in over 8 to
10 million hectares.
AWARDS/HONOURS/DISTINCTIOINS
AAAI confers Lifetime Achievement Award 2016 on SrinivasanSwamy:
Srinivasan K Swamy, popularly known as Sundar, was conferred with the 2016
Lifetime Achievement Award by the Advertising Agencies Association of India
(AAAI) on 29 July 2016. He is a veteran of almost four decades in the advertising
industry.
UNESCO adds 17 Le Corbusier projects to World Heritage List: Heritage
body UNESCO, in July 2016, added 17 projects by
20th-century French architect Le Corbusier to its list of
internationally significant architecture sites, including
the Unitéd'Habitation housing in Marseille – arguably
the most influential Brutalist building of all time. The
17 architectural sites that have been added to the World
Heritage List are spread across seven countries. They
were built over 50 years by the Swiss-born French
architect. They include the Complexe du Capitole in Chandigarh, India, where Le
Corbusier collaborated with his cousin and fellow architect and designer Pierre
Jeanerette to build and furnish an entire government city. The National Museum
of Western Art in Tokyo, Japan, the House of Dr. Curutchet in La Plata, Argentina,
and the Unitéd'Habitation in France are among the other buildings on the list.
Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016: Two Indians including social activist Bezwada
Wilson and musician ThodurMadabusi Krishna won the prestigious Ramon
Magsaysay Award 2016 on 26 July 2016. Bezwada Wilson was recognized
for asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity. TM Krishna was
recognized for ensuring social inclusiveness in culture. He is a Carnatic music
vocalist. The other four awardees are: ConchitaCarpio Morales (Philippines);
DompetDhuafa (Indonesia); Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (Japan);
Vientiane Rescue (Laos)
Bharat Gaurav Award for Milkha Singh: Kolkata’s football club East Bengal, on
26 July 2016, announced that the 2016 Bharat Gaurav Award, also known as Pride
of India Award, will be conferred on legendary athlete Milkha Singh. Singh. He
was honoured with the prestigious award on the East Bengal Foundation Day (1
August 2016).
West Bengal wins All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project Award
2015: West Bengal was, in July 2016, selected for the All India Coordinated Rice
Improvement Project Award 2015. This is the first time the state will be receiving
this award. Earlier, West Bengal won the Krishi Kamran Puraskar for three
consecutive years. The state has been selected for the award for its achievement in
four key areas that include scientific research for seeds. The state government has
also bagged the award for the second position for participating in International
Agriculture and Horticulture Expo. It was held for three days from July 22 to 24
at PragatiMaidan in Delhi.
Sangita Kalanidhi Award 2016: The Madras Music Academy, on 24 July 2016,
chose versatile violinist A. Kanyakumari for its coveted SangitaKalanidhi Award
for the year 2016, making her the first woman violinist to get the award in the
history of the Music Academy.
MahanayakSamman conferred on Bappi Lahiri: BappiLahiri, the renowned
music director and singer, was conferred with West Bengal’s MahanayakSamman
awards on 24 July 2016 by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nazrul Mancha.
BappiLahiri was awarded for his outstanding performances over the years. The
MahanayakSamman awards were instituted in 2012 in the memory of Bengali
matinee idol Uttam Kumar.
PATA Awards: Kerala Tourism, on
21 July 2016, won two Gold Gongs
at the Pacific Asia Travel Association
(PATA) Awards in recognition of its
trend setting marketing initiatives,
which have given a boost to the state's
profile as a must-visit destination.
The awards were in the categories
of Travel Advertisement Broadcast
Media and E-Newsletter, which were
grabbed by the successful Visit Kerala
television commercial campaign and the
popular Kerala Tourism E-Newsletter,
respectively.
Turkish musician KudsiErguner
becomes UNESCO Artist for Peace
2016: Turkish musician KudsiErguner
was, in July 2016, appointed as the
UNESCO Artist for Peace by the
Director-General of UNESCO, Irina
Bokova. He is a musician, player of
the ney (reed flute), musicologist, and
composer. He was appointed after the
opening ceremony of the 40th session of
the World Heritage Committee (WHC)
held in Istanbul, Turkey.
Indian wins Google Community
Impact Award: Advay Ramesh, a
Class 10 student from Chennai, on 19
July 2016, won the prestigious Google
Community Impact Award from Asia,
a theme based award part of Google
Science Fair 2016. Ramesh bagged
the award for creating FishErmen
Lifeline Terminal (FELT) hand-held
terminal. FELT uses the Standard
Position Services (SPS), an open service
without encryption provided by the
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite
System, to enhance fishermen's safety
and productivity at the sea.
BBCWorldNewsKomlaDumorAward:
Nigerian journalist DidiAkinyelure,
on 19 July 2016, won the BBC World
Service News KomlaDumor Award for
2016. Akinyelure is the second recipient
of the award, which was established to
honour Ghanaian BBC World News
presenter KomlaDumor.
RohitKhandelwal becomes first Indian
to win Mister World title: India's
RohitKhandelwal won the coveted

General Awareness
Mister World 2016 title at the Southport Theatre & Convention Centre in Southport,
U.K, on 19 July 2016. With this, he became the first Indian and Asian to win the
Mr. World title at the competition.
51stJnanpith Award conferred on Dr. RaghuveerChaudhari: President Pranab
Mukherjee, on 11 July 2016, conferred the 51stJnanpith Award for the year 2015
on renowned Gujarati writer Dr. RaghuveerChaudhari at Parliament Library
Building, New Delhi. With this, he became the fourth Gujarati literary artist to
receive the prestigious award. RaghuveerChaudhari’s most noted works include
novels: Amruta, VenuVatsala and Uparvas.
Indian woman wins IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea: Captain
RadhikaMenon of India was, on 7 July 2016, selected for the 2016 International
Maritime Organization (IMO) Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea for her role
in the rescue of seven fishermen from a sinking fishing boat in the Bay of Bengal
in June 2015. She will become the first female to receive the IMO Award for
Exceptional Bravery at Sea. The award will be presented to Menon on 21 November
2016 at IMO Headquarters in London, United Kingdom. Ms. Menon is the Master
of the oil products tanker SampurnaSwarajya. She is the first woman captain in
the Indian Merchant Navy.
2016 Caine Prize: South African
writer, filmmaker and photographer
LidudumalinganiMqombothi, on 5 July
2016, won the 17th edition of prestigious
Caine Prize 2016 for his short story
Memories We Lost. He was awarded 10000 Euros and a month at Georgetown
University in the US as a writer-in-residence. The winning story explores a difficult
subject of tackling schizophrenia.
B C Roy National Awards for 2008, 2009 and 2010: President Pranab Mukherjee,
on 1 July 2016, presented the Dr. B. C. Roy National Awards for 2008, 2009 and
2010 on the occasion of Doctors' Day. The B.C. Roy Awards were instituted by the
Medical Council of India in 1976 in memory of renowned physician and former
West Bengal Chief Minister Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.
SPORTS
Dipa Karmakar named World Class Gymnast by IGF:
Indian gymnast DipaKarmakar was, in July 2016, named a
‘Gymnaste de ClasseMondaile’ (World class gymnast) by the
International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). With this, she
became the first-ever Indian gymnast to receive the honour.
Dipa rose to recognition when she won a bronze medal at the
2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games becoming the first Indian female gymnast
to do so. Dipa Karmakar qualifies for vault finals in Rio Olympics.
Wrestler NarsinghYadav finally clears the dope test: Indian wrestler
NarsinghYadav, in July 2016 failed a dope test when he tested positive for
methandienone — a banned anabolic steroid in an out-of-competition test
conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). Later on 1 August 2016,
NADA gave a clean chit to him, allowing him to participate in the Rio Olympics.
Vijender Singh wins WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title: Indian boxing
star Vijender Singh, on 16 July 2016, defeated former WBC European champion
Kerry Hope of Australia to win the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title at
the Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi.
Dronavalli winsFide Women’s Grand Prix trophy: India's Grand Master
HarikaDronavalli, on 14 July 2016, defeated Russia’s Olga Girya to win the Fide
Women’s Grand Prix trophy in Chendu, China. This was the first Grand Prix Chess
title for the Grand Master from Guntur.
ICC relaxes Decision Review System for LBWs: The International Cricket Council
(ICC), on 2 July 2016, approved a change to the DRS (Decision Review System)
playing condition relating to the LBW “Umpire’s Call”. The decision will allow
changes to the decision review system which will make it easier to overturn not-
out LBW decisions.
Neeraj Chopra wins gold inWorld
Athletics championships: Indian
javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, on 23
July 2016, won gold in the IAAF World
Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz,
Poland. With this, he managed to set a
new world record (U-20) of 86.48m. This
was India’s first-ever gold in any World
athletics championships.
Praneeth wins 2016 Canada Open
Grand Prix: Indian shuttler B
SaiPraneeth, on 3 July 2016, clinched the
Canada Open Grand Prix Badminton
Men’s Singles title at Calgary. Praneeth
defeated Lee Hyun II of Korea 21-12,
21-10. On the other hand, men's doubles
pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth
Reddy also grabbed Men’s doubles title
at the tournament.
Misbah-ul-Haq becomes the oldest
captain to score Test hundred: Pakistan
captain Misbah-ul-Haq, on 14 July 2016,
scored 110 against England at Lord's,
becoming the oldest captain to score
Test hundred at the age of 42 years and
47 days.
Kohli becomes first Indian captain to
score double century outside India:
India test team captain ViratKohli, on
22 July 2016, became the first Indian
captain to score a double century
outside India. Kohli scored 200 runs
against West Indies on day two of the
first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards
stadium in North Sound.
Muralitharan, Lohmann, Morris and
Rolton to be inducted into Cricket
Hall of Fame: The International
Cricket Council (ICC) on 27 July 2016
announced that MuttiahMuralitharan,
Karen Rolton, Arthur Morris and
George Lohmann will be inducted
into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
With the announcement, off-spinner
Muralitharan becomes the first Sri
Lankan player to be inducted into the
Hall of Fame.
Lewis Hamilton wins 2016 Austrian,
British and German Grand Prix: Lewis
Hamilton, on 3 July 2016, won the 2016
Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull
Ring in Spielberg, Austria. Later in July
2016, he also won the British Grand Prix
title of Formula One at the Silverstone
Circuit in Silverstone, United Kingdom
and the 2016 German Grand Prix held
in Hockenheimring.

General Awareness
Patna Pirates wins Pro Kabaddi League Season 4: Patna Pirates, on 31 July 2016,
won the fourth edition of Pro Kabaddi League by defeating Jaipur Pink Panthers
37-29 at Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad, Telangana. With this win, Patna Pirates
became the only team to lift the trophy twice in the tournament’s history of four
editions.
India to host Kabaddi World Cup in October 2016: International Kabaddi
Federation on 31 July 2016 selected India to host The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup.
The World Cup featuring 12 countries is scheduled to be held in October 2016.
Andy Murray and Serena Williams win 2016 Wimbledon: The 2016 Wimbledon
Championships took place at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in
Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, in July 2016. The winners of Wimbledon
are as follows:
Category Winner Runner-up
Men’s Singles Andy Murray (Great Britain):
became the first British man to
win multiple Wimbledon singles
titles since Fred Perry in 1935.
Milos Raonic (Canada)
Women's Singles Serena Williams (United States):
Serena equalled Steffi Graf's
open era record of 22 Grand
Slam titles
A n g e l i q u e K e r b e r
(Germany)
Men's Doubles Pierre-Hugues Herbert and
Nicolas Mahut (France)
Julien Benneteau and
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
(France)
Women's Doubles Serena Williams and Venus
Williams
Timea Babos (Hungary)
and Yaroslava Shvedova
(Russia)
Mixed doubles Heather Watson (Britain) and
Henri Kontinen (Finland)
Anna-Lena Groenefeld
(Germany) and Roberto
Farah (Colombia)
Dipika Pallikal wins73rd Senior National Squash Championship:
DipikaPallikalKarthik dethroned defending champion JoshnaChinappa to regain
the women's title of 73rd Senior National Squash Championship that was held in
Mumbai, Maharashtra, in July 2016. In the men’s category, SauravGhosal won
the title.
NiranjanMukundan wins eight medals in IWAS World Games: Para swimmer
NiranjanMukundan won eight medals, including three gold medals, at the
International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) U-23 World Games that
concluded in Prague, Czech Republic, on 3 July 2016.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu becomes first Indian to play in Europa League: Indian
footballer Gurpreet Singh Sandhu recently became the first Indian to play in
Europa League. Sandhu was named in Norwegian club Stabaek FC's squad for
their Europa League qualifying match against Welsh Premier League side Connah's
Quay Nomads FC.
Portugal wins Euro 2016: Portugal, on 10 July 2016, lifted the Euro 2016 football
championship, defeating host France in the final played at Saint-Denis in Paris.
Steve Elworthy appointed Managing Director of 2019 World Cup: Former South
Africa fast bowler Steve Elworthy was, on 19 July 2016, appointed the Managing
Director (MD) of the 2019 World Cup, which will be held in England and Wales.
In his new role, Elworthy will oversee the lead-up and running of the 2019 World
Cup as well as the Champions Trophy and Women's World Cup.
SC accepts Lodha panel recommendations on BCCI reforms: The Supreme Court
of India, on 18 July 2016, accepted major recommendations of the Lodha Commit-
tee on reforms in BCCI including a bar on ministers and civil servants and those
above 70 years of age from becoming its members. However, the apex court left
it to the Parliament to decide whether it should come under RTI and if betting on
the game should be legalized.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
India Rising: Fresh Hope, New Fears:
by Ravi Velloor: This book chronicles
India's journey in the decade before
Prime Minister NarendraModi's rise.
Courage & Commitment: An
Autobiography: by Margaret Alva: Via
this book, Congress leader Alva narrates
her forty-year career under four Prime
Ministers, namely Indira Gandhi,
Rajiv Gandhi, PV NarasimhaRao and
Manmohan Singh.
Who Moved My Interest Rate? by
Duvvuri Subbarao: The book is
authored by Duvvuri
Subbarao, the former
Governor of Reserve
Bank of India (RBI).
Subbarao’s term as
the Governor of the
RBI from 2008 to 2013
saw a turbulent period
for the world and for
India. The global financial crisis erupted
within a week of his assuming office.
Ringside with Vijender: Rudraneil
Sengupta:The book throws light on
the Beijing Olympics bronze medallist
boxer Vijender Singh's life post his
transition to the world of pro boxing.
Artist Anita Gopalan gets PEN/Heim
grant: Translator and artist Anita
Gopalan was, on 28 July 2016, awarded
the 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund
GrantforherEnglishtranslationofHindi
novel “Simsim” by GeetChaturvedi.
Ms. Gopalan is the second Indian
translator to be selected for the grant.
PEN America is a renowned literary
organisation of the United States.
MISCELLANEOUS
NalandaMahaviharaentersUNESCO’s
World Heritage Site list: The ruins of
ancient NalandaMahavihara (also
known as old Nalanda University) of
Bihar was, in July 2016, included in
the List of UNESCO’s World Heritage
Site. It is the second site in Bihar after
Bodhgaya’s Mahabodhi temple to be
accorded UNESCO’s World Heritage
Site tag.
‘Ramayana month’ begins in Kerala:
Kerala,on16July2016,startedobserving
Ramayana month in the temples. In
Malayalam it is termed as the Ramayana
Masam. The Ramayana Month starts

General Awareness
with the commencement of Malayalam month ‘Karkidakam’. During this month,
the temples and homes of the state reciteAdhyatmaRamayanamKilippattu written
by medieval devotional poet ThunjathEzhuthachan for the 30 days. Ezhuthachan
is regarded as the father of Malayalam literature.
Railway Minister flags off Tripura Sundari Express: Railway
Minister Suresh Prabhu, on 31 July 2016, flagged off maiden
broad-gauge train service between Agartala and Delhi, ‘Tripura
Sundari Express’. The train will run weekly between Agartala
and AnandVihar in Delhi. It will have commercial stoppages
at 16 stations and cover a distance of 2461 kms in 46 hours
and 50 minutes.
Remnants of India's one of the oldest port discovered in Goa: A team of
scientists from Goa based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) on 15 July
2015 discovered the remnants of a historically important port on Goa’s Zuari river
which is expected to be amongst the oldest signs of human trade on the central
west coast. The port is supposed to have existed between 1000 to 3500 AD which
makes it India’s oldest port.
NBAGR confers rare and singular species genetic recognition tag to Kendrapara
sheep: The National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR), in July 2016,
conferred rare and singular species genetic recognition tag to the threatened breed
of Kendrapara sheep found in Odisha. Kendrapara sheep is found only in coastal
Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts of Odisha. Locally it is called kujimendha.
The sheep carries FecB mutation gene, which is responsible for prolificacy (multiple
babies in same delivery) or multiple birth syndrome.
India’s first e-court opened at Hyderabad High Court: India’s first e-court
(paperless court) was, in July 2016, opened at High Court of Judicature at
Hyderabad which is the common high court for the states of Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana. It was inaugurated by Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur
who heads the e-Committee of the Supreme Court.
Puri holds 139th RathaYatra of Lord Jagannath: The 139thRathaYatra of Lord
Jagannath was held in Puri, Odisha, in July 2016. The nine-day-long RathaYatra
saw a congregation of more than 10 lakh devotees from India and abroad. The
annual festival was celebrated on AshadhaShuklaPakshaDwitiya.
Odisha government to celebrate bicentenary of 1817 Paika revolt: Odisha
Government on 19 July 2016 decided to celebrate the bicentenary (200 years)
of the 1817 Paika revolt against the British Empire in 2016An Amar Jyoti Pillar
will be installed at Barunei hills, the site from where the rebellion began. Paikas
(a martial race) had first raised the banner of revolt against the British Raj on 29
March 1817 at Barunei near Khurda. The Paiks rose in rebellion under their leader
BakshiJagabandhu and, projecting Lord Jagannath as the symbol of Oriya unity.
IMPORTANT DAYS
1 July: National Doctors’ Day: The 2016 National Doctors’ Day was observed on
1 July 2016 across India. The day is observed to honour legendary physician, Dr.
Bidhan Chandra Roy whose birth and death anniversary falls on the same day.
11 July: World Population Day: World Population Day was observed on 11 July
2016 with theme, Investing in teenage girls’
15 July: World Youth Skills Day: The World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) was, on
15 July 2016, observed globally with the theme of ‘Skills Development to Improve
Youth Employment’.
18 July: Nelson Mandela International Day: Nelson Mandela International Day
was observed across the world on 18 July 2016 to honour the former South African
President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nelson Mandela (1918-2013).
28 July: World Hepatitis Day
29 July: International Tiger Day
30 July: United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons
30 July: International Day of Friendship
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RBI Updates
1414 Banking & Current Affairs UpdateSeptember 2016
RBI slaps Rs 27 crorepenalty on 13 banks for FEMA violations: In a major
crackdown for FEMA violations and KYC lapses, RBI, on 27 July 2016, imposed Rs
27-crore penalty on 13 public and private sector banks for “violation of regulatory
directions/instructions/guidelines, among other things, on KYC norms”. The
banks are: Bank of Baroda (Rs 5 crore), Punjab National Bank (Rs 3 crore), Syndicate
Bank (Rs 3 crore), UCO Bank (Rs 2 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 2 crore), Allahabad
Bank (Rs 2 crore), Canara Bank (Rs 2 crore), IndusInd Bank (Rs 2crore), SBBJ (Rs
2 crore), Bank of India (Rs 1 crore), Corporation Bank (Rs 1 crore), RBL Bank (Rs 1
crore) and SBM (Rs 1 crore). Besides, eight other banks — Axis Bank, Federal Bank,
ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, OBC, Standard Chartered Bank, SBI and Union
Bank of India — were advised to put in place appropriate measures and review
them from time to time to ensure strict compliance with KYC requirements and
FEMA provisions on an ongoing basis. The scrutiny in the 21 banks examined the
alleged irregularities in opening and monitoring of accounts including violations
under FEMA provisions.
Finance Ministry rejects RBI plea for FEMA exemption for Tata-DoCoMo deal:
The Finance Ministry, in July 2016, rejected RBI plea for exempting Tata-DoCoMo
deal from foreign exchange Act. The ministry said the two firms had entered into
a share buyback contract in contravention of prevalent law and the case will now
have to be legally settled.
The Tat-DoCoMo Tangle
● Japan’s largest mobile phone firm NTT DoCoMo had in November 2009
acquired 26.5 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices for about Rs 12,740 crore. This
was as per a 2008 understanding that in case it exits the venture within five
years, it will be paid a minimum 50 per cent of the acquisition price.
● The Tata-DoCoMo buyback contract was signed despite RBI rules barring
pre-set buyback pricing.
● The RBI had in 2007 come out with regulations barring pre-determined share
buyback contracts, he said, adding the Tata-DoCoMo contract was signed
despite RBI FEMA rules barring such deals.
● DoCoMo in April 2014 decided to exit the joint venture that struggled to grow
subscribers quickly. It sought Rs 58 per share or Rs 7,200 crore from Tatas.
But the Indian Group offered Rs 23.34 a share in line with RBI guidelines that
states that an international firm can only exit its investment at a valuation “not
exceeding that arrived at on the basis of return on equity”.
● The Japanese firm dragged Tatas to international arbitration where it won a
USD 1.17 billion award.
Reliance Defence gets RBI nod to exit CDR: Reliance Defence and Engineering,
in July 2016, received RBI approval to exit the corporate debt restructuring (CDR)
package. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure has acquired nearly 35 per
cent in PipavavDefence and Offshore Engineering Co, which has been renamed
as Reliance Defence and Engineering. In December 2015, Reliance Infrastructure
completed the open offer made to PipavavDefence, taking its overall holding in
the company to nearly 35 per cent. The open offer was made through Reliance
Defence Systems Pvt. The exit from CDR is expected to lead to greater financial
flexibility and business opportunities for PipavavDefence, enabling the company
to contribute to the security of the country and pursue the Make in India and Skill
India programmes in an even more significant manner.
RBI eases norms for individual investor’s access to G-Sec market: To facilitate better
access for individual retail investors to the government securities (G-Secs) market,
the RBI, on 28 July 2016, announced that individuals holding demat accounts will
soon be able to access secondary markets in securities via its negotiated dealing
system-order matching (NDS-OM). It decided to facilitate access to NDS-OM by
the retail segment comprising individual investors having demat accounts with
depositories — National Securities Depository (NSDL) and/or Central Depository
Services (India) (CDSL), desirous of participating in the G-Sec market, by using
their demat accounts for their transactions and holdings in G-Sec.
● Any individual investor who maintains a demat account with either of the
depositories would be eligible to avail of these services. Initially, this access
would be facilitated through any
of the existing NDS-OM Primary
Members, who also act as Depository
Participants for NSDL and/or CSDL
● The operational details of the scheme
will be issued by the Clearing
Corporation of India separately.
● The guidelines will be effective from
August 16, 2016.
RBI eases liquidity coverage norms
for banks: To help banks meet the
liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) norm,
the Reserve Bank of India on 21 July
2016 said government securities up to
9 per cent of their deposits under the
Facility to Avail Liquidity for Liquidity
Coverage Ratio (FALLCR) will be
reckoned as High Quality Liquid Assets
(HQLA) as against 8 per cent hitherto.
The objective of the LCR is to promote
short-term resilience of the liquidity
risk profile of banks. It does this by
ensuring that banks have adequate
stock of unencumbered HQLA that can
be converted easily and immediately
into cash in private markets to meet
their liquidity needs for a 30 calendar
day liquidity stress scenario.
● The LCR is aimed at improving the
banking sector’s ability to absorb
shocks arising from financial and
economic stress, whatever the source,
thusreducingtheriskofspilloverfrom
thefinancialsectortotherealeconomy
● Besides the FALLCR, the assets
allowed as Level 1 HQLAs for the
purpose of computing the LCR of
banks, inter alia, include government
securities in excess of the minimum
statutory liquidity ratio (SLR)
requirement and G-Secs to the
extent allowed by the RBI under the
Marginal Standing Facility (currently,
2 per cent of the bank’s deposits).
Government asks RBI to give loans to
Exim Bank: The RBI, on 22 July 2016,
received a proposal from the Commerce
and Industry Ministry to use a part of
forex reserves to give long-term loans at
low-interest rates to the Export Import
Bank of India. RBI offered the unutilized
amount under its limit of $5 billion
sanctioned to the India Infrastructure
Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) as a long-
term loan to Exim Bank.
RBI asks banks to exchange up to 20
soiled notes for free: In an effort to
improve customer service, the RBI on 14
July 2016 asked banks to exchange up to
20 pieces of soiled currency notes with
a maximum value of Rs. 5,000 over the

RBI Updates
1515Banking & Current Affairs Update September 2016
counter free of charge. However, if the number of notes to be exchanged is more than
20, banks can levy service charge. The facility of exchanging mutilated or imperfect
notes is available at designated bank branches and also non-chest branches. In case
notes are presented in bulk (where the number exceeds 20 pieces or Rs. 5,000 in
value per day), banks will accept them, against receipt, for value to be credited later.
NS Vishwanathan takes charge as RBI Deputy Governor: NS Vishwanathan,
on 4 July 2016, took over as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. His
appointment followed the completion of HR Khan’s two-year extension as Deputy
Governor. As Deputy Governor, Vishwanathan will look after the Department of
Banking Regulation, Department of Co-operative Banking Regulation, Department
of Non-Banking Regulation, Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation,
Financial Stability Unit, Inspection Department, Risk Monitoring Department and
Secretary’s Department.
● Including Vishwanathan, the RBI has four Deputy Governors. The other Deputy
Governors are Urjit Patel, R Gandhi and SS Mundra.
RBI notifies rates for small saving schemes for Q2: RBI, on 7 July 2016, notified the
interest rates for different small savings schemes for the quarter ending September.
Interest rate on savings deposit is 4 per cent, while for 5-year recurring deposit and
5-year senior citizens’ savings scheme is 7.4 per cent and 8.6 per cent, respectively.
On the basis of the decision of the government, interest rates for small savings
schemes, like Public Provident Fund Scheme and KisanVikasPatra, are notified
on quarterly basis.
● Public Provident Fund Scheme earns interest rate of 8.1 per cent and
KisanVikasPatra 7.8 per cent (110 months’ maturity period).
● The interest rate on SukanyaSamriddhi Account Scheme is 8.6 per cent.
RBI Central Board holds meet in Bengaluru: The Central Board of RBI, on 7 July
2016, held a meeting in Bengaluru with RBI Governor Raghuram G Rajanpresiding.
The board meeting, which took place after a span of seven years, witnessed
discussions among other issues, macroeconomic developments and two other
specific areas of operations of the Reserve Bank of India, namely, the Reserve Bank’s
budget and constitution of Monetary Policy Committee. The Board also reviewed
the activities for Payment and Settlement System for the year ended March 2016
and discussed the draft Annual Report for 2015-16.
JPMorgan Chase & Co gets RBI approval to open 3 new branches: JPMorgan
Chase & Co, on 1 July 2016, announced to have received RBI’s approval to open
three more branches in the country. The bank will open new branches at New Delhi,
Devanahalli (near Bengaluru) and Paranur (near Chennai) in the next few months.
JPMorgan Chase
● JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a multinational banking and financial services holding
company headquartered in New York City.
● he company was formed in 2000, when Chase Manhattan Corporation merged
with J.P. Morgan & Co.
● It is one of the Big Four banks of the United States, along with Bank of America,
Citigroup, and Wells Fargo.
● It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's sixth largest bank by
total assets, with total assets of US$2.35 trillion.
No exchange of pre-2005 notes from 1 July 2016: The RBI, on 30 June 2016, said
that there will be no exchange of pre-2005 notes from1 July 2016. Banks will no
longer exchange notes introduced prior to 2005. If anyone has such notes he would
need to approach one of the 20 offices of the Reserve Bank of India directly to get
such notes exchanged. From July 1 onwards, the facility for members of public to
exchange the pre-2005 notes will be available only at the following offices of RBI:
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai,
Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai,
Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
RBI allows foreign players to hike stake in Axis, IDFC Bank: RBI, on 16 July 2016,
allowed foreign investors to up their stakes in Axis Bank and IDFC Bank to up to
74 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/
Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) can now invest from existing 62
per cent up to 74 per cent of the paid-up capital of Axis Bank under the Portfolio
Investment Scheme (PIS). In the case of IDFC Bank, FIIs/RFPIs can now invest
from the existing 24 per cent up to 46
per cent of the paid-up capital of the
bank under PIS. The hike in foreign
investment limit in Axis Bank follows
permission granted by the government
to raise foreign shareholding ceiling to
74 per cent.
RBI allows foreign investors to buy
PNB shares: RBI, on 8 July 2016, lifted
the almost seven-year-old restriction
on fresh purchase of shares of state-
owned Punjab National Bank by foreign
investors. The apex bank notified that
the aggregate foreign share holdings by
foreign institutional investors/NRIs /
PIOs/FDI and others under Portfolio
Investment Scheme (PIS) in PNB have
gone below the prescribed threshold
caution limit stipulated under the extant
FDI policy. Hence, the restrictions
placed on the purchase of shares of PNB
were withdrawn.
● Reeling under bad loans, PNB posted
the largest quarterly loss by any
public sector lender at Rs 5,367 crore
for the fourth quarter ended March
31, 2016.
● A three-fold surge in provisioning for
bad loans, including those extended
to power discoms and for foodgrain
purchase in Punjab, were the main
drag on the bank's performance and it
expects the pain to continue for some
more time.
RBI survey finds 30 per cent of ATMs
non-functional: An RBI survey has
found that 30 per cent ATMs of public
sector banks and 10 per cent belonging
to private banks were non-functional.
The major reasons for non-functioning/
mal-functioning of ATMs noticed
in the survey were -- technical snag,
non - availability of network, power
failure and non-availability of cash.
The RBI had recently conducted a
"representative sample survey" of about
4,000 ATMs situated in metro, semi-
urban, urban and rural areas across the
country. At May 2016 end, there were
102779 on-site ATMs of banks besides
111492 off-site ATMs across the country.
RBI sets up SudarshanSen-headed
Working Group on Fin Tech and
Digital Banking: RBI, on 14 July 2016,
constituted an inter regulatory Working
Group (WG) to study the entire gamut
of regulatory issues relating to Fin
Tech (financial technology) and Digital
Banking in India. It will view the
growing significance of Fin Tech
innovations and their interactions with

RBI Updates
the financial sector as well as the financial sector entities. The 13-member working
group will be headed by SudarshanSen, the executive director of RBI. It has been
asked to submit its report within six months from the date of its first meeting.
Earlier on 26 April 2016, the Financial Stability and Development Council - Sub
Committee (FSDC - SC) at its meeting decided to set up such a Working Group
to look into and report on the granular aspects of Fin Tech and its implications.
RBI has achieved desired 'neutral' liquidity in Q1: India Ratings Research: In its
research report released on 4 July 2016, India Ratings Research said that RBI has
successfully turned the banking system to 'neutral' from a high cash crunch zone
three-four months ago, a move that will help consumers derive faster benefits
from the central bank's policy rate cuts. The RBI has achieved its desired 'neutral'
liquidity in the first quarter itself, mainly on account of Rs 80,000 crore OMO (open
market operation) purchases in the past three months and a reduction in cash in
circulation in June 2016.
● OMO (purchase or sale) is a mechanism through which the central bank infuses
or sucks out cash into the system.
● The cash crunch in the system was as high as Rs 1.4 lakh crore during the February-
March period, the fag end of the financial year FY16. In the last week of June, the
system was marginally cash surplus, in the range of Rs 19,700-31,700 crore.
RBI to monitor banks on customer rights: As per news reports of 20 July 2016,
Reserve Bank will shortly start monitoring banks on issues relating to customer
rights in five broad areas. RBI had asked the banks to have their board-approved
plans in place by June 30, 2016.
RBI Charter of Customer Rights
● The Reserve Bank of India had, on 3 December 2014 released a Charter of
Customer Rights, which enshrines broad, overarching principles for protection
of bank customers and enunciates the ‘five’ basic rights of bank customers.
● The 5 basic rights of customer rights are: (i) Right to Fair Treatment; (ii) Right
to Transparency; Fair and Honest Dealing; (iii) Right to Suitability; (iv) Right to
Privacy; and (v) Right to Grievance Redress and Compensation.
● The Reserve Bank had also advised the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the
Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) to formulate a “Model
Customer Rights Policy” encapsulating the principles enshrined in the Charter.
● Initially, all the scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and urban co-
operative banks were to prepare their own Board approved policy incorporating
the five basic rights of the Charter which, among other things, would contain a
monitoring and oversight mechanism for ensuring adherence.
RBI relaxes rule for Basel III liquidity coverage ratio: RBI, on 21 July 2016,
relaxed Basel III-mandated liquidity coverage ratios for banks, allowing the sector
to apply an additional one percentage point of the deposits they currently hold
as government bonds under their statutory liquidity ratios (SLR). Banks can now
apply up to 11 percent of their deposit base held as SLR - or government securities
that banks must hold with the RBI - from 10 percent earlier when calculating their
liquidity coverage ratios to meet Basel III requirements.
● Liquidity coverage ratio is a capital measure mandated under Basel III norms
requiring banks to maintain highly-liquid assets, including government
securities, to meet any sudden short-term outflows.
Government extends non-competitive bidding facility in Treasury Bills to
individuals: With a view to encouraging wider participation and retail holding
of Treasury Bills, and in line with the announcement made in the first bi-monthly
Monetary Policy Statement 2015-16, the Government of India, in consultation
with Reserve Bank of India, in July 2016, extended the non-competitive bidding
facility in Treasury Bills to the individuals. For retail investors, the allocation will
be restricted to a maximum of 5 percent of the aggregate nominal amount of the
issue, within the notified amount as specified by the Government of India, or any
other percentage determined by the Reserve Bank of India. The bills will be issued
for a minimum amount of Rs. 10,000 and in multiples of Rs. 10,000 thereof.
RBI imposes Monetary Penalty on UCO Bank: RBI, on 28 July 2016m imposed a
monetary penalty of Rs. 10 Million on UCO Bank for contravention of its instructions
relating to opening of current account and providing bill discounting facilities to
account holders without having any borrowing facility with the bank resulting
in siphoning of funds. This penalty was imposed in exercise of powers vested in
the Reserve Bank under the provisions
of Section 47(A)(1)(c) read with Section
46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act,
1949,takingintoaccounttheviolationsof
the instructions/ directions/guidelines
issued by the Reserve Bank from time
to time.
RBI hosts Supervisory College for
Bank of Baroda and Bank of India:
Meetings of the Supervisory Colleges
of Bank of Baroda and Bank of India
were held at Mumbai on July 25 and
26, 2016 respectively. S.S. Mundra,
Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of
India inaugurated the proceedings
of the colleges. 23 supervisors from
thirteen overseas banking supervisory
authorities participated in the
Supervisory College of Bank of Baroda.
26thHalfYearlyReportonManagement
of Foreign Exchange Reserves: RBI, on
20 July 2016, released the 26th half
yearly report on management of foreign
exchange reserves with reference to
end-March 2016. RBI had, in February
2004, started a process of compiling
half yearly reports and placing them in
the public domain for bringing about
more transparency and enhancing
the level of disclosure in relation to
management of the country’s foreign
exchanges reserves. The position of
foreign exchange reserve as on July 08,
2016 is as under:
US $ billion
Foreign Exchange Reserves
(i+ii+iii+iv)
361.9
i. Foreign Currency Assets
(FCA)
337.4
ii. Gold 20.6
iii. Special Drawing Rights
(SDR)
1.5
iv. Reserve Tranche Position
(RTP)
2.4
RBI signs MoU with the National
Bank of Cambodia: RBI recently signed
a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) on “Supervisory Cooperation
and Exchange of Supervisory
Information” with National Bank
of Cambodia.The MoU was signed
by H.E Kim Vada, Director General
of Banking Supervision, on behalf
of National Bank of Cambodia and
Mrs.MeenaHemachandra, Executive
Director, on behalf of Reserve Bank of
India.

Banking & Business Development
BANKING
Government infuses Rs 22,915 crore capital into 13 PSU banks: The Government,
on 19 July 2016, provided Rs 22,915 crore capital to 13 PSU banks including SBI,
PNB and IOB to enhance their lending operations and enable them to raise more
money from the market. This is the first tranche of capital infusion for the fiscal
and more funds would be provided in future depending upon the performance of
PSU banks. According to the Union Finance Ministry, 75 per cent of the amount
collected for each bank was released to provide liquidity support for lending
operations as also to enable banks to raise funds from the market. The capital
infusion exercise for the current fiscal is based on an assessment of need as assessed
from the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of credit growth for the last
five years, banks' own projections of credit growth and an objective assessment
of the potential for growth of each PSBs
● Finance minister ArunJaitleyin Budget 2016-17 had proposed to allocate Rs
25,000 crore towards recapitalization of PSU banks.
● Under Indradhanush roadmap announced by the government in 2015, the
government will infuse Rs 70,000 crore in state banks over four years while
they will have to raise a further Rs 1.1 lakh crore from the markets to meet their
capital requirements in line with global risk norms Basel-III.
● In line with the blueprint, PSU banks are to get Rs 25,000 crore each in 2015-16
and 2016-17 fiscal. Besides, Rs 10,000 crore each would be infused in 2017-18
and 2018-19.
Finance Ministry asks banks to hike credit flow to small farmers by 10 per cent
every year: The Union Ministry of Finance, in July 2016, asked public sector banks
(PSBs) to increase the credit flow to small and marginal farmers by 10 per cent
every year and remove regional imbalances in disbursal of agriculture credit in
the country. It asked PSBs to take innovative measures such as financing of joint
liability groups and producers organisations of small and marginal farmers.
Bank Lending and Small Farmers
● As per the Agriculture Census (2010-11), out of the 138 million farming holdings
in the country, 117 million (85 per cent) are small and marginal holdings covering
about 43 per cent of net sown area.
● The credit extended by domestic scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) to small
and marginal farmers was less than 6 per cent of ANBC (adjusted net bank
credit) as of March 2015.
● The revised guidelines on Priority
Sector Lending issued by the RBI
focus on credit to small individual
farmers as a new sub-target of 8 per
cent for small and marginal farmers
(to be achieved in a phased manner
— 7 per cent by March 31, 2016 and
8 per cent by March 2017) has been
introduced to help in increasing the
flow of credit to small and marginal
farmers.
● The target for agriculture credit for
the year 2016-17 has been fixed at Rs
9,00,000crore.
● The credit flow to agriculture in 2015-
16 was Rs 8,77,224crore as against the
target of Rs 8,50,000 crore.
● Gross advances of PSU banks grew by
4 per cent from Rs 49.17 lakh crore as
of March 2015 to Rs 51.16 lakh crore
by March 2016.
Banks likely to disburse Rs 1.80 lakh
crores under MUDRA in 2016-17:
MUDRA CEO JijiMammen, on 19 July
2016, said that banks are expected
to disburse Rs 1.80 lakh crore as
aloan under
Micro Units
Development
and Refinance
Agency Yojana
during the current fiscal (2016-17). In
2016-17, the government has set a target
of Rs 1.80 lakh crore to be disbursed
under the MUDRA. So far during the
first quarter, the banks have disbursed
Rs 25,000 crore.
● Under the PradhanMantri Mudra
Yojana (PMMY), loans ranging from
Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh are provided
to small entrepreneurs.
● As of now, three products available
under the PMMY are Shishu,
Kishorand Tarun, to signify the
stage of growth and funding needs
of the beneficiary micro-unit or
entrepreneur.
● Union Minister of State for Finance
SantoshGangwar informed the
RajyaSabha on 26 July 2016 that the
government target of giving loans to
the tune of Rs 1.22 lakh crore through
Mudra Bank has been surpassed and
a new target of Rs 1.8 lakh crore has
been set for the current financial year.
Banks' gross NPA levels to be at 8-8.5
per cent in FY17: ICRA: Domestic rating
agency ICRA, on 14 July 2016, said that
gross non-performing loans of banks
are nearing peak levels and may be in

therange of 8-8.5 per cent by March-end 2017. Banks' gross bad loans stood at
7.7 per cent as on March 2016. It added asset quality is not expected to improve
substantially in near term.
Highlights of ICRA Report on NPA levels of banks
● The report said credit growth is likely to be in the range of 11-12 per cent in
2016-17, primarily driven by retail and other smaller ticket loans. In the last
fiscal, banks' aggregated deposits grew by merely 6.4 per cent as against 10.3
per cent in 2014-15.
● According to the agency, deposit growth will be in the range of 10-11 per cent
in the current fiscal.
● The report said relaxations in Basel III norms in March 2016 improved state
PSBs tier-1 capital by 30-100 basis points.
● Despite relaxations, infusion of Rs 25,000 crore by the government and low
credit growth, state-run banks' capitalisation remained low with aggregated
tier 1 at around 9.1 per cent as on March 2016.
● PSBs will need Rs 40,000-50,000 crore tier 1 capital raising in this fiscal as
against as against government capital infusion plan of Rs 25,000 crore.
● Over the next three financial years, state-owned banks will need tier 1 capital
of Rs 1.7-2.1 trillion.
SBI, associates merger by March end 2017: Even as
employees of public sector banks went on one-day strike
on 29 July 2016 to protest State Bank of India’s plans
to merge its associate banks, SBI chairman Arundhati
Bhattacharya said merger process will be completed by
March end 2017. SBI plans merge its five associate banks
and BharatiyaMahila Bank with itself. The proposed
merger will likely create one of the largest lenders in Asia, with an asset base of
Rs 37 lakh crore.
● SBI has five associate banks — State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank
of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of
Hyderabad.
● Of these, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad are unlisted.
Government seeks applications for Bankruptcy Board chief: The union
government recently sough applications for the post of Bankruptcy Board Chairman
and its three whole-time members. The Board is being set up under the Insolvency
and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 – approved by Parliament as well as notified by
the government in May 2016. The board would have ten people, including the
chairperson.
● Composition of the Bankruptcy Board: There would be three ex-officio
members, one person nominated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and five
people- including three whole time members – to be nominated by the central
government.
● Three ex-officio members would represent the Ministries of Finance, Corporate
Affairs and Law. Only those officers at the level of joint secretary and above
would be on the board.
● A person joining as the chairperson can either opt for pay as admissible to a
secretary in the government or get a consolidated monthly salary of Rs 4,50,000.
● In the case of whole time members, they would have the choice to get pay as
admissible to an additional secretary or take home a consolidated salary of Rs
3,75,000 per month.
IndusInd Bank opens international banking unit at GIFT City: IndusInd Bank,
in July 2016, opened International banking unit (IBU) at the International Financial
Services Centre (IFSC) in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) to
meet the requirements of offshore banking operations from India.
UBS retains positions as world’s biggest private bank:A study by wealth
management researcher Scorpio Partnership, on 14 July 2016, showed that UBS,
Switzerland's biggest bank, kept its ranking as the world’s biggest private bank
in 2015. With $1,737.5 billion of assets under management, UBS retained its
highly-prized first place in 2015, staying
nearly $300 billion ahead Bank of
America Merrill Lynch which replaced
Morgan Stanley in second place. UBS,
Switzerland’s biggest bank, saw a 1
per cent fall in managed assets in 2015,
while BofA Merrill Lynch’s managed
assets dropped 2 per cent and Morgan
Stanley’s fell 2.8 per cent.
HDFC Bank’s AdityaPuri named
thebest banking CEO in Asia: In the
All-Asia Executive Team rankings
2016, released by Institutional Investor
magazine in July 2016, AdityaPuri, the
chief executive and managing director
of the second largest private sector
lender HDFC Bank, was ranked as
the best banking CEO in Asia by the
investor community. The bank’s chief
financial officer SashiJagdishan has
been ranked as the best CFO, apart from
getting ranked as the best IR company
as well, thereby making it the most
honoured one in the magazine.
Government allows Axis Bank to
raise foreign stake to 74 per cent: The
government, on 5 July 2016, approved
Axis Bank’s proposal to raise foreign
shareholding to 74 per cent, which is
expected to bring in capital inflow of
around Rs 13,000 crore into the country.
With the approval, foreign direct
investment to the tune of Rs 12,973.14
crore will be received in the country
with an estimated creation of 6,000 to
7,000 jobs over the next three years.
In Maharashtra a bank branch serves
9,515 people: RBI data: As per RBI’s
recently released handbook of statistics
on Indian states, Maharashtra had
11,810 offices of commercial banks in
2015, about double the number it had in
1990, just before economic liberalization
started. The fastest growth among
bigger states (not counting Union
territories and the Northeast) was
Haryana, where branches increased by
nearly three-and-a-half times and Delhi,
where they went up nearly two times.
That number of branches translates into
105 branches per million population in
Maharashtra (using the 2011 Census
figures). This is below the national
average of 108 branches per million
people.

● Goa tops this metric with 459 branches followed by Punjab at 217 and Himachal
Pradesh at 214.
● In Maharashtra, each bank office serves 9,515 people compared to the all-India
average of 9,280 people.
● In Goa, each branch serves only 2,178 people.
● On the other extreme, in Manipur, 20,696 people have to make do with one branch
and in Bihar (including Jharkhand), 15, 278 people are serviced by one bank.
ICICI Bank, BoB exit Cibil, TransUnion's holding rises to 77%: With NPA-
saddled banks trying to raise money from sale of non-core assets, global credit
information company TransUnion has raised its stake in its Indian subsidiary Cibil
to 77.1 per cent by buying out ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda's holding in it. The
American company's holding, which earlier stood at 66.1 per cent, has now risen
to 77.1 per cent.
Banks to consider aresolution of HCC loans under S4A: Banks recently decided
to consider the resolution of the stressed debt of infrastructure firm HCC under the
Reserve Bank of India’s Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).
● Under S4A scheme, the debt of the company will be bifurcated into two parts
— sustainable debt, which cannot be less than 50 per cent of existing debt and
will have to be serviced over the same terms as that of existing facilities.
● The other unsustainable part of the loan can either be converted into equity/
redeemable optionally convertible preference share or optionally convertible
debentures, with clearly spelt out terms.
SBI, World Bank sign $ 625 million deal for solarprogramme: SBI and the World
Bank recently signed an agreement worth USD 625 million (around Rs. 4,200
crore) to support India in order to meet the mammoth power requirement while
protecting the environment. The World Bank will help the SBI in financing Grid
Connected Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic (GRPV) projects at competitive rates. This
in turn will catalyse the market and support the government to faster achieve its
target to generate 40 GW of electricity from widespread installation of rooftop
solar photo-voltaic panels.
E-BANKING & E-COMMERCE
Flipkart acquires online fashion portal Jabong: Flipkart-owned Myntra, on 26
July 2016, acquired Jabong from Global Fashion Group, a move that will mark
further consolidation in India’s booming e-commerce industry. Myntra, which
itself was acquired by Flipkart in 2014 in an estimated Rs 2,000 crore deal, will have
access to a combined base of 15 million monthly active users. This acquisition will
strengthen Flipkart Group's position in Fashion and Lifestyle segment to compete
with Amazon Fashion in India.
● Jabong is among India’s major fashion multi-brand e-store with more than
1,500 on-trend international high-street brands, sports labels, Indian ethnic and
designer labels and over 1,50,000 styles from over a thousand sellers.
● Jabong was founded in 2012. In September 2014, its investor, Rocket Internet
merged Jabong with four other online fashion retailers in Latin America, Russia,
the Middle East, South-east Asia and Australia to create Global Fashion Group
(GFG).
● According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, e-tailing has grown
at 57 per cent year-on-year, moving from Rs 24,046 crore to Rs 37,689 crore
between the December 2014 and December 2015. This is further estimated to
touch Rs 72,639 crore by theend of 2016.
Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corporation acquires Yatra Online: Yatra Online, Inc.
and Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corporation, on 14 July 2016, entered into a definitive
merger agreement. The transaction values Yatra at an enterprise value of 218
million dollars (1458 crore rupees). Yatra in its statement said that it intends to
be listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol "YTRA" following
completion of the transaction. The combined company will continue to be led by
Yatra's experienced management team under the leadership of chief executive and
co-founder DhruvShringi.
NASSCOM unveils India’s first Centre of Excellence on Internet of Things:
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) on 7
July 2016 unveiled India’s first Centre of Excellence focused on Internet of Things
(CoE-IoT) at its Startup Warehouse in
Bengaluru. The centre is a joint initiative
between the Department of Electronics
and Information Technology (DeITY),
Education and Research Network
(ERNET) and NASSCOM. It is also
supported by Accenture, Cisco, Intel,
HCL Technologies, Qualcomm, TCS
and L&T Technology Services, among
others.
SBI launches social media banking
platform SBI Mingle: SBI, on 1 July
2016, launched SBI Mingle, a social
media banking platform for Facebook
and Twitter users. The platform was
launched by SBI Chairman Arundhati
Bhattacharya, on the occasion of
61stState Bank Day.
TRAI launches Myspeed App to
measure real time mobile internet
speed: The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India
(TRAI) on 5 July 2016
launched MySpeed
mobile application for
measuring real time
mobile Internet speed of consumers.
The app is a kind of crowd-sourcing
initiative to check network performance
of all the mobile operators. This is the
first application to be launched under
the Digital India initiative which is
directly trying to tackle the issue of poor
data speeds.
Freecharge leads Snapdeal’s Capital
Assist: India’s fastest growing digital
paymentsplatformFreechargeisleading
a massive expansion of Snapdeal’s
merchant lending program- Capital
Assist. The Capital Assist program will
now be managed by Freecharge, under
which all the financial services are
being consolidated, putting Freecharge
on the path of becoming a payments
and financial services powerhouse.
Under the new arrangement, sellers on
Snapdeal, Shopo and Freecharge will be
able to access working capital in a time
efficient and cost effective manner to
grow their businesses.
Snapdeal’s Capital Assist
● Capital Assist, launched by Snapdeal
in August 2014 has been a trailblazer
in a new technology-led era of
financial services.
● The program enables banks and
NBFCs to provide working capital
to sellers based on their performance
and track record at Snapdeal’s
marketplace.

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