The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 was passed by the President, providing for an anti-corruption ombudsman to investigate corruption charges against public officials. The Act came into force on January 16th, 2014. A vote-on-account will be presented on February 17th instead of a full budget, as general elections will be held in May. A vote-on-account deals only with expenditures for the initial months of the new fiscal year until a new government is formed, whereas a budget includes receipts and expenditures along with tax proposals.

1. 1
GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014

2. General Awareness
MARC 2014
CH
Yea 2014
ar:
Vol. 2, Issue 09
2
A PUBLICAITON O GYANM EDUC
OF
CATION &
TRAINING IN
NSTITUTE PVT. LTD.
L
SCO 13-14-15, 2ND FLO
OOR, SEC 34-A, CH
HANDIGARH
CON
NTENTS
SEC
CTION – A
CURRENT A
AFFAIRS
From Novem
mber to
January 2
2014
SEC
CTION – B
NA ONA N WS
ATIO AL NEW
PRESIDENT APPROVES LOKPAL ACT
P
T
1-28
BULLET N
NEWS
From August t October
to
29-38
(See Article on Page – 25)
n
444 SAMPLE M
4
MCQS FOR
SSC (CGL) EXAM
39-64
SEC
CTION – E
LATEST GK BYTES
K
65-87
FIGURES TO REMEMB
BER
REP RATE
PO
8.00%
8
REV
VERSE REPO RAT
TE
7.00%
7
MA
ARGINAL STANDI
ING
FAC
CILITY RATE
STA
ATUTORY LIQUIDITY
RAT
TIO
CAS RESERVE RAT
SH
TIO
9.00%
9
BAS RATE(s)
SE
(of various banks)
JANUAR 2014
J
RY
The much talke
T
ed-about Lokpa and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 has been pa
al
3,
assed by the
President. The Bill provides f creation of an anti-graft ombudsman to investigate
P
for
o
corruption charg against pu
c
ges
ublic functionaries including th Prime Minist
he
ter, Ministers
and Members o Parliament. Among other provisions, th Bill makes it incumbent
a
of
he
upon States to make within a year their ow law for set
u
wn
tting up Lokayu
uktas on the
lines of the Lokpal. The Act ha come in to f
as
force from 16th January, 2014
4.
SEC
CTION – C
BAN RATE
NK
23%
4.00%
4
9.00%
9
9.80% –
9
10.25 %
INDIA RANK IN
A’S
N
Env
vironment Perfor
rmance Index
155th
Ind for Nuclear S
dex
Safety
23rd
Ind of Economic Freedom
dex
120th
Ran in Energy Usa
nk
age
69th
Eas of Doing Busin
se
ness (Forbes)
98th
Cor
rruption Perception Index
94th
Wo Prosperity In
orld
ndex
106th
Eas of Doing Busin
se
ness (World Bank)
134
th
rd
Glo
obal Hunger Inde 2013
ex
63
Human Capital Inde
ex
78th
Glo
obal Gender Gap Index
101st
Glo
obal Competitiven
ness Index
60th
Cor
rruption Risk Ind
dex
69th
Human Development Index 2013
136th
Ind
dia’s Rank in IMF
F
8th
JAPANESE P VISITS IN
J
PM
NDIA
Shinzo Abe, Jap
S
panese Prime M
Minister was the Chief Guest at
t
the Republic Day Parade. The two cou
.
untries decided to
d
in
ntensify defenc and maritim cooperatio but made little
ce
me
on
headway in wr
h
rapping up the much-anticip
e
pated civil nuc
clear
deal. As part o growing tra
d
of
ade and econo
omic links, Japan
announced a lo of $2 billion for the expansion of the D
a
oan
Delhi
Metro project. The two c
M
countries also announced the
expansion of th bilateral cu
e
he
urrency swap a
arrangement from
$15
$ billion to $5 billion.
50
H
NEW DELHI HOSTS 12TH PBD CONV
N
VENTION
The 12th editio of Pravasi B
T
on
Bharatiya Diva (PBD) Conve
as
ention was he from 7-9
eld
January, 2014 at Vigyan B
J
4
Bhawan New Delhi. This ye
ear’s theme wa “Engaging
as
Diaspora: Connecting Across G
D
Generations”. Malaysian Min
nister for Natur Resources
ral
and Environme
a
ent, G Palanive who is pres
el,
sident of the M
Malaysian Indian Congress
(MIC), was the chief guest at this year’s PBD
D.
The
T PBD is the world's larges annual gathe
e
st
hering of people of Indian orig aimed at
e
igin
enhancing netw
e
working and re
einforcing comm
mmercial linkage
es. January 9 was chosen
as
a the day to c
celebrate this o
occasion since it was on this day in 1915 th Mahatma
hat
Gandhi, the gre
G
eatest Pravasi, returned to Ind from South Africa, led Ind
dia
h
dia’s freedom
struggle and ch
s
hanged the lives of Indians fo
es
orever.
KOREAN PRE
K
ESIDENT VI
ISITS INDIA
A
Park Geun-hye, President of South Korea, the country’s first
P
,
s
woman president, visited Indi on a four-da state tour. Nine
w
ia
ay
pacts in wide-ra
p
anging fields in
ncluding cyber space cooper
r
ration
were inked b
w
between two countries to promote bila
ateral
re
elations.
INDIA BECO
I
OMES POLIO FREE
O
India has comp
pleted three ye
ears without re
eporting any case of polio. I is only the
It
second time in the history that a disease is being eli
s
n
iminated in In
ndia through
im
mmunisation a
after small pox in May 1980. However, o
x
officially the W
World Health
Organisation (W
O
WHO) will certi India as po
ify
olio-free on February 11 afte the last of
er
ra
andom sample picked up wo
es
ould be tested.
PRESIDENT OF MALDIV
P
VES VISITS I
INDIA
Abdulla Yame
A
een Abdul Gay
yoom, Preside of Maldives visited India to strengthen
ent
th cooperation amongst the two countrie India sanct
he
n
e
es.
tioned a $25-m
million credit
fa
acility to Maldiv for financin imports from India.
ves
ng
m
2
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4

3. EXIM BANK TO PROVIDE CREDIT TO VIETNAM
Export-Import Bank has agreed to provide a Line of Credit
of $ 19.50 million to Vietnam for financing eligible goods,
machinery, equipment, works and services including
consultancy services from India for the purpose of financing
two projects in Vietnam. Line of credit allows borrowers to
draw on the credit as and when required.
SUPER JUMBO A-380 LANDS IN INDIA
Govt. has allowed super jumbo A-380 aircraft to fly into
India. The move may benefit Indian tourism, but may harm
Indian carriers as the fares offered by foreign airlines having
A-380 aircraft will be much lower.
INDIA LOW ON ECONOMIC FREEDOM
The Index of Economic Freedom-2014 ranks India 120th
globally and 25th among 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific
region, mentioning that India continues to suffer from low,
but improving levels of economic freedom. The Index rates
186 countries in 10 categories of economic performance
such as rule of law, regulatory efficiency, limited
government and open markets. Hong Kong and Singapore
finished first and second in the rankings for the 20th
straight year.
‘NIRBHEEK’- PISTOL FOR WOMEN
A-380 has capacity to accommodate over 850 passengers in
economy class configuration and 555 passengers in threeclass configuration.
Over a year after the brutal Delhi gang rape incident, the
Indian Ordnance Factory has come out with “Nirbheek”, a
.32 bore light-weight (500gram) revolver designed
especially for women to defend themselves from assault.
GLOBAL CEOs VIEW INDIA POORLY
INDIA LAST IN PROTECTION OF IPRs
A survey of 1,344 CEOs, across 68 countries conducted by
global audit giant Pricewaterhouse Coopers asking them to
select the three countries that would contribute largely to
their overall growth, India fared slightly poorer than last
year as only 7 per cent of CEOs reposed their trust in India,
compared with 10 per cent last year.
‘JEEVAN RAKSHA PADAKS’ ANNOUNCED
Govt has announced Jeevan Raksha Padak for 37
people for their meritorious act of bravery in saving human
lives. They are of three types - Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha
Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and Jeevan Rakhsa
Padak.
NATIONAL YOUTH FESTIVAL AT LUDHIANA
The 18th National Youth Festival held in Ludhiana from
January 12 to 16. The festival is held on the occasion of the
birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on January 12,
which is observed as the National Youth Day. The theme of
the Festival this year is 'Youth for Drugs Free World'.
JAINS – THE SIXTH MINORITY COMMUNITY
The Jain community of around 50 lakh people has been
accorded minority status by the central government under
section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act,
1992. This will enable them to avail of special benefits in
government schemes and programmes. The Jains is the
sixth community to have minority status after Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis.
WORLD’S LONGEST PLATFORM AT GORAKHPUR
A newly built railway platform at Gorakhpur has been
declared as the longest railway platform in the world,
spanning 1,355.40metre. Till now, the record was held by
the 1,072.5 metre long platform at Kharagpur in W. Bengal.
INDIA LOW ON NUCLEAR SAFETY
In the Nuclear Materials Security Index 2014 released by
the US-based think-tank Nuclear Threat Initiative, India has
been ranked 23rd , below its two nuclear-armed neighbours
– Pakistan and China – in the list of 25 countries with a
weak nuclear material security in the world. India received
41 out of 100 points, against 64 by China and 46 by
Pakistan.
A report by the Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) of
the US Chamber of Commerce has placed India at the
bottom of 25 countries in terms of protection and
enforcement of intellectual property practices. The list is
topped by the USA.
INDIA 155TH IN ENVIRONMENT PERFROMANCE
India has been ranked at a low 155th position in a list of
178 countries compiled by the 2014 Environmental
Performance Index that places countries on how well they
perform on high-priority environmental issues. The list is
topped by Switzerland.
JAIPUR LITERATURE FESTIVAL
The seventh edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival, a mega
annual gathering of litterateurs started on 17th January in
Jaipur with a keynote speech by Nobel Laureate Amartya
Sen. The festival saw about 240 authors in 175 sessions.
VOTE-ON-ACCOUNT ON FEB 17
As the nation prepares to seek fresh mandate, regular
budget for the year 2014-15 will not be presented as
scheduled in February end. Instead, Finance Minister will
present the vote-on-account for 2014-15 on February 17 in
the Lok Sabha. Similarly, an interim railway budget will be
presented on February 12.
VOTE-ON-ACCOUNT vs. BUDGET
This year, a vote-on-account would be presented instead of
a full budget because general elections will be conducted in
May. Since the present government would not have enough
time in hand to vote for a full budget before the
commencement of the new financial year, a vote-onaccount would ensure that sufficient funds are at the
disposal of the government to allow it to run the
administration of the country until a new government takes
over.
WHAT IS VOTE-ON-ACCOUNT
Vote-on-account deals only with the expenditure side of the
government's budget. The government gives an estimate of
funds it requires to meet the expenditure that it incurs
during the first three to four months of an election financial
year until a new government is in place.
2
GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014

4. The present gove
ernment will ha to obtain t sanction of
ave
the
f
e
or
s
cur
e
the Parliament fo an amount sufficient to inc expenditure
on various items for a part of th year. This a
he
approval by the
e
DE
ECEMBE 2013
ER
PAR
RLIAMENT PASSES LO
OKPAL BILL
L
Par
arliament to wit
ithdraw money from the Con
y
nsolidated Fund
d
of India is known as Vote-on-Ac
f
n
Account.
DI
IFFERENCE IN VOTE ON AC
N
CCOUNT AND BUDGET
D
A v
vote-on-accoun is different from an interim Budget as it
nt
m
t
is a statement o only expend
of
ditures while th budget is a
he
mplete set of accounts, incl
luding both ex
xpenditure and
d
com
rec
ceipts. Unlike a full Budget, the vote-on-acc
t
count does not
t
twe the prevail
eak
ling tax rates. Also, it cannot announce any
t
y
new schemes.
w
WH VOTE-ONHY
-ACCOUNT AN NOT A FULL BUDGET
ND
In an election year (like the present one), the ruling
e
g
vernment gene
erally opts for a vote-on-acco
ount instead of
f
gov
a f budget. Wh technically it is not man
full
hile
y,
ndatory for the
e
gov
vernment to p
present a vote-on-account, b it would be
but
e
ina
appropriate to impose policie that may o may not be
es
or
e
acc
ceptable to the incoming go
e
overnment taking over in the
e
sam year.
me
WH APPROVE IT
HO
ES
In an election ye
ear, the Budgets may be pre
esented twice—
—
st
vote-on-accoun for a few mo
nt
onths and later
r
firs to secure a v
in full. As a conv
vention, a vote
e-on-account i treated as a
is
rmal matter an passed by Lok Sabha without discussion.
nd
for
It is passed by L
Lok Sabha afte the general discussion on
er
l
n
e
neral and Railw
way) is over a
and before the
e
the Budget (Gen
dis
scussion on dem
mands for gran is taken up.
nts
FO HOW LONG IS VOTE-ON
OR
G
N-ACCOUNT V
VALID
The vote-on-acco
ount is normally valid for two months and is
y
s
et
n
in operation till the full Budge is passed. But during an
ection year, it m be extend for a period of more than
may
ded
d
n
ele
two months if it is anticipated that the main demands and
o
n
d
the Appropriation Bill will take lo
e
n
onger than two months to be
o
e
pas
ssed by the Ho
ouse.
So
ource: Moneyc
control.com, Da
ate: 24-01-201
14
The Nationa Capital Re
nal
egion Planning Board, has
g
s
approved th inclusion of Jind and Kar
he
f
rnal districts of
Haryana in th National Cap
the
apital Region, N
NCR.
Central Vigil
ilance Commis
ssion (CVC) to celebrate 50
o
0
years of its e
existence (Feb.1964)
India’s first M
Mono Rail start operation in Mumbai
ts
India signs labour cooper
ration agreeme with Saud
ent
di
Arabia to co
over about a quarter of the 28 lakh Indian
q
n
expatriates w
working there.
Asia’s bigges botanical garden will com up on 153
est
g
me
3
hectares of area near the Khandwa rese
e
servoir, in Naya
a
Raipur, Chha
attisgarh.
India and Is
srael have agr
reed to set up a $40 million
p
n
joint fund to support technological ventures for
or
consolidating and strengthe
g
hening economic ties.
ic
Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wang
g
ngchuck and his
s
wife Queen Jetsun Pema were in India on a five-day
a
y
official visit.
Foundation stone laid for Global Centr for Nuclear
r
tre
r
Energy at Ja
assaur Kheri in district Jhajjar, Haryana.
d
,
UGC- Unive
versity Grants Commission celebrates its
ts
Diamond Jub
bilee on comple
etion of its 60 y
years.
After two years of debate, a ser
r
ries of fasts un death by
nto
socia activist Ann Hazare, th Lokpal Bill finally was
al
na
he
cleared by the Parliament, opening the way for
e
estab
blishment of the anti-corruption watchdog that will have
in its purview even the office of the Prime Minister. The
s
n
f
development signa an end to 45-year-old run of the
als
o
contr
roversial Bill initiated in 1968 by former Pr
8
rime Minister
Indira Gandhi.
a
IND WINS TH DEAL AT WTO MEET
DIA
HE
In a major victory for India, the 9th Ministerial Conference
of W
WTO held in Bal Indonesia ag
li,
greed to allow countries to
provide subsidy on staple food crops without a threat of
any
punit
tive action, a concession t
that salvaged the current
round of world trad talks from t
d
de
the brink of co
ollapse. The
pact is estimated to add $ 1 trillio to global trade and add
o
on
ross the worl
ld.
The agr
reement has
21million jobs acr
ons
rmers will feel secure that
ensured that millio of poor far
MSP being give by the gov
en
vernment will n be called
not
the M
into q
question intern
nationally
The W
World Trade O
Organization (W
WTO) deals wit the global
ith
rules of trade bet
s
tween nations Its main fu
s.
unction is to
ensu that trade f
ure
flows as smoot
thly and freely as possible.
y
Direc
ector General: Roberto Azev
l:
vado; Member 159
rs:
IND
DIAN RIGHTS UPHELD O KISHENG
S
ON
GANGA
The International Court of Arbitration (ICA) has upheld
a’s
ert
m
India right to dive water from the Kishenganga river for
powe generation in Jammu and Kashmir with t condition
er
n
the
that India must also release a minimum of 9 cumecs of
9
er
Kishenganga Hydro Electric
water into the rive below the K
ect
Proje (KHEP) at all times to maintain the environment
down
nstream.
JAPA
ANESE ROYA
YALTY VISIT INDIA
TS
Japan
nese Emperor A
Akihito and Em
mpress Michiko visited India
for a landmark we
eek-long trip, some 53 year after they
rs
visite this country as Crown Princ and Princess
ed
ce
s.
MMR SLIPS DOW TO 178
R
WN
The maternal mort
tality ratio (MM
MR) — numbe of women
er
who die of pregnan
ncy-related causes per 1,00,00 live births
00
— ha come down to 178 in 2010
as
0-12, from 212 in 2007-09.
2
Keral has the lowe MMR at 66 while Assam tops the list
la
est
6
with MMR of 328.
3
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4

5. LE
ESSER SLUM DWELLERS IN 2012
M
S
The latest National Sample Survey Organ
nization (NSSO)
)
rep
port shows tha the number of slum house
at
eholds in urban
n
are is coming d
eas
down. The surv
vey, conducted between July
d
y
and December 2
d
2012, projected total slum d
d
dwellings at 88
8
lak compared to 1.3 crore hou
kh,
o
useholds in 201
11.
FA IN NUMB
ALL
BER OF HOM
MELESS PEO
OPLE
Film 'Liar's Dice directed by Geetu Mohand
F
ce,
das, selected
in
i the competit
ition category a the prestigio Sundance
at
ous
Film Festival in USA.
F
n
The
T Sankirtana — ritual singi
a
ing, drumming and dancing
g
of
o Manipur h
has been add
ded to UNESC
SCO's list of
"intangible her
ritage".
India and San Marino, a tiny country within Italy,
I
an
signed a Tax I
s
Information Ex
xchange Agree
ement (TIEA)
for
f exchange o banking and ownership info
of
d
formation
Govt has clear a services and investme deal with
G
red
s
ent
10-member As
1
Asean group a part of Co
as
omprehensive
Economic Coop
E
peration Agreem
ement (CECA).
Double Taxatio Avoidance A
D
on
Agreement-DTA signed
AA
with
w Macedonia a small coun north of Gr
ia,
ntry
Greece.
NO
OVEMBE 2013
ER
‘BHA
ARAT RATNA FOR SACH
A’
HIN AND PR
ROF RAO
Nu
umber of home
eless people across the country has come
a
e
dow by 8.8 per cent, from abo 19.4 lakh in 2001 to 17.7
wn
out
7
lak in 2011, s
kh
says latest Ce
ensus 2011 d
data. Though
h
homeless in rura areas declined by 28.4 pe cent, it was
al
er
s
cou
untered by 20.5 per cent incr
rease in urban areas.
Ce
ensus defines h
homeless house
eholds as those which do not
se
ot
live in buildings or census hou
e
uses but live i the open or
in
roa
adside, on pav
vements, in hum
me-pipes, unde flyovers and
der
d
sta
aircases, or in places of worship, man
ndaps, railway
y
pla
atforms, etc.
IN
NDIA RANKS 69TH IN EN
S
NERGY USAG
GE
The Global Energ Architecture Performance Index Reportgy
e
2014 prepared b World Econo
by
omic Forum ha placed India
as
a
at 69th position i the ranking of economies o the basis of
in
on
f
the ability to d
eir
deliver secure, affordable and sustainable
,
e
ene
ergy. Norway t
topped the Inde rankings, fo
ex
ollowed by New
w
Zea
aland and Fran
nce.
IN
NDIA 98TH FO DOING BUSINESS
OR
B
Ind has been ra
dia
anked 98th in the Forbes list of world's best
t
t
cou
untries for doing business Ireland top
s.
pped the list,
,
followed by New Zealand and Hong Kong.
H
Th best country for business was determin by grading
he
y
s
ned
g
14 nations on 11 different factors -- pr
45
n
t
property rights,
s,
inn
novation, tax
xes, technolo
ogy, corrupti
tion, freedom
m
(pe
ersonal, trade and mone
e
etary), red t
tape, investor
or
pro
otection
an
nd
stock
market
performance.
IN
NDIA RANKS 94TH IN CO
S
ORRUPTION
Ind has been ranked among the world's highly corrupt
dia
g
t
nat
tions at the 94 spot (same as in 2012) in a global list of
4th
f
177 countries compiled by Transparency Inte
7
ernational. The
e
list ranks Denmark and New Ze
t
ealand as the cleanest, while
e
Somalia emerged as the most corrupt.
d
c
UN
NEMPLOYME
ENT CROSSE 13%
ES
The Labour M
Ministry report on 'Youth employmentt
t
unemployment scenario, 2012-13’ has revealed that
rate in the co
ountry during 2012-13 was
s
unemployment r
timated to be 1
13.3 per cent fo the age grou 15-29.
or
up
est
nent scientist P
Prof C.N.R. Ra and cricket icon Sachin
ao
Emin
Rame Tendulkar have been aw
esh
warded the hig
ghest civilian
awar of India - Th Bharat Ratna
rd
he
a.
Prof C.N.R. Rao is an emin
f.
o
nent scientist and a well
recog
gnized interna
ational author
rity on solid state and
mate
erials chemistry He has publ
y.
lished over 1,4
400 research
pape and 45 book
ers
ks.
Sach R Tendulk - a living legend in cricket who has
hin
kar
inspir millions ac
red
cross the globe Playing for l
e.
last 24 years
from the young a
age of 16 yea
ars, Tendulkar has played
cricke across the w
et
world and won laurels for our country. He
r
has b
been a true am
mbassador of In
ndia in the worl of sports.
ld
Bhar Ratna is highest civil a
rat
award of India. Started in
a.
1954 it is given in recognitio of exceptio
4,
n
on
ional service
/perf
formance of th highest ord in any fiel of human
the
der
eld
ende
eavour. The re
ecommendation for the awa are made
ns
ard
by th Prime Minist himself to t President. The number
he
ter
the
of aw
wards is restrict to a maxim
cted
mum of three in a particular
n
year. The awardee receives a cer
.
e
rtificate and a medallion. It
does not carry any monetary rew
s
y
ward.
NO MORE INDO
O-BANGLADE
ESH PASSPO
ORT
Pursu
uant to the signing of the Re
evised Travel A
Arrangements
(RTA with Bangladesh, Govt. h
A)
has decided to discontinue
o
issua
ance of India-Bangladesh P
Passport (IBP) with effect
from November 15, 2013.
,
WHA IS IBP: Th India-Bang
AT
The
gladesh Passpo (IBP) was
ort
introd
oduced as a spe
pecial travel doc
ocument in Aug
gust, 1972 to
facilit
itate travel bet
etween India a
and Bangladesh only. Over
h
the y
years, the Ce
entral Governm
ment delegated powers to
d
State Governments of Assam, Ar
e
s
runachal Prade
esh, Manipur,
Megh
halaya, Mizoram Nagaland, Tripura & We Bengal to
am,
est
issue IBPs.
e
4
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4

6. E C NOT IN FA
AVOUR OF OPINION PO
O
OLLS
UNI
ICEF DRIVE AGAINST OPEN DEFECA
ATION
UK PM VISIT INDIA
K
TS
S C RULES AGAI
INST FREQU
UENT TRANS
SFERS
Ele
ection Commiss
sion has asked the government to enact a
d
law banning the r
w
release of resu of election related opinion
ults
n
polls after the notification of elections has been made.
f
s
Barring BJP, all m
major political parties had wr
ritten to EC for
r
ban on opinion po
n
olls.
David Cameron, Prime Minister
of UK met Prime Minister
anmohan Singh at New Delh
h
hi,
Ma
on his way to Co
olombo to atten
nd
Heads
Commonwealth
of
overnment Mee
eting. Focus of
Go
the
e
meeting
on
o
was
strengthening the trade ties.
e
IN
NDIA IS TOP INVESTMENT CHOICE
P
A s
survey of 1,60 senior exec
00
cutives across more than 70
0
cou
untries by glob professional services firm Ernst & Young
bal
g
(EY shows that India has jum
Y)
mped ahead of China and the
e
US as the most attractive inve
S
estment destina
ation, followed
d
by Brazil, while C
China is at third place.
FIRST ICP OP
PENS ON BAN
NGLADESH BORDER
Ind
dia’s second in
nternational st
tandard multi-u
use Integrated
d
Check Post (ICP) and the first along the Bang
)
gladesh border
r
has been opened to people at Akhaurah in Tripura. The
s
d
t
e
firs such ICP is at Attari in Punjab along the Pakistan
st
s
g
n
border.
RE
ETREAT CER
REMONY ON BANGLA BO
ORDER
The first joint ret
treat ceremony of the Border Security Force
y
e
(BS and the Bo
SF)
order Guard Bangladesh (BGB was held on
B)
n
No 6 at Petrop
ov
pole-Benapole in West Beng
gal’s North 24
4
Par
rganas district and Jessore district of Bangla
adesh.
FINANCIAL AI FROM JA
ID
APAN
Jap
pan will provid an assistanc of Rs 1,958 crore to India
de
ce
a
for campus deve
r
elopment at IIT Hyderabad (1129cr) and
d
inv
vestment promo
otion in Tamil Nadu (829cr).
JA
AILED PERSO
ONS CAN CO
ONTEST ELECTIONS
Taking note of th amendment made to the Representation
he
t
n
of the People Ac treating per
ct
rsons in lawfu custody in a
ul
crim
minal case as a voter, the Supreme C
s
Court has also
o
allo
owed persons in jail to cont
test elections, going back on
n
the July 10 judg
eir
gment.
DE
EFENCE AGR
REEMENT WITH VIETNA
W
AM
Ind has extend
dia
ded a 100 mi
illion dollar lin of credit to
ne
o
Vie
etnam for defe
ence purchases and also sig
gned eight key
y
agr
reements to as
ssist Vietnam in modernisatio and training
on
g
of its defence and security force
d
es.
AG
GREEMENT W
WITH VIETN
NAM FOR PR
RISONERS
Ind and Vietna have signed an agreeme to facilitate
dia
am
ent
e
tra
ansfer of sente
enced prisoner languishing in jails in the
rs
e
two countries. The agreeme
o
ent will enable prisoners to
e
o
spe their remaining sentence in their own c
end
e
country.
In an effort to raise awareness ag
n
e
gainst open de
efecation and
relate health issu
ed
ues, UNICEF has launched a nationwide
socia media campaign named ‘Take the P
al
Poo to Loo’.
According to UNICE around 626 million people in India are
EF,
6
e
ed
in
force to defecate i the open.
In a path-breaking verdict, the S
Supreme Court has sought
t
nd
ivil
nd
an en to frequent transfers of ci servants an suggested
a fixe tenure to in
ed
nsulate them f
from political interference.
It ask govt. to is
ked
ssue necessary directions for this purpose
within three months
s.
IND FARES P
DIA
POORLY IN ‘PROSPERIT
TY’
In the 'Prosp
perity Index'
ranking of 14 countries
42
compiled b
by Londonbased Legatu Institute,
um
India slipped
by
five
places to 106th spot, way
6
below
neighbouring
n
Bangladesh, Nepal and
Sri Lanka, largely due to
poor 'safety and security' environm
ment. Norway tops the list,
follow
wed by Switze
erland. The In
Index evaluates nations in
es
eight categories, including edu
t
ducation, healt economy,
lth,
safety and security.
ty
y.
IND RANKS 1 TH IN ‘DO
DIA
134
OING BUSIN
NESS’
As p the World Bank’s report 'Ease of Doi
per
t
ing Business
2014 India ranked 134th in the lis of 189 econo
4’
st
omies, below
neigh
hbouring countries China (9
96), Nepal (10
05), Pakistan
(110) and Bangla
)
adesh (130). The list is topped by
Singa
apore. The ra
ranking is done on the basi of various
ne
is
param
meters such a ease of sta
as
tarting a busin
ness, getting
vario permits an permissions getting loan tax rules
ous
nd
s,
ns,
and t
trade regulatio etc.
ons
44th Internatio
4
ional Film Fest
stival of India (IFFI) 2013
held in Goa fro November 2 th to 30th. Ja
h
om
20
apan was the
country in focu for this festiv
c
us
val.
India has contr
I
tributed over US 11 million to various UN
SD
bodies for deve
b
elopment activi
vities for the yea 2014.
ear
India declared free from H5N Avian Influen (bird flu)
I
d
N1
enza
as
a no cases ha been report in the last 3 months.
ave
rted
India and Belg
I
gium have agre to strength
eed
hen, promote
and
a develop re
enewable energ cooperation
gy
India to provid Rs 100 crore as a grant t Bhutan for
I
de
es
to
their Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP).
t
c
n
World Agricultu Forum Con
W
ture
ngress 2013 an Agri-Tech
nd
Trade Fair held at Hyderabad Nov. 4-7.
T
d
d,
NEWS FROM STA
N
M
ATES
JANUAR 2014
J
RY
KAR
RNATAKA TO
OPS IN MIDD
DAY MEAL S
SCHEME
Karna
ataka has topped the firs ever rankin of state
st
ng
governments on the basis of their perfor
f
rmance and
imple
ementation of the midday m
meal scheme with a total
score of 77.79 per c
e
cent, followed by Punjab- 76.
.81%.
5
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4

7. OD
DISHA TOPS IN SJSRY PERFORMAN
S
P
NCE
Min
nistry of Housin & Urban Po
ng
overty Alleviatio has selected
on
d
Od
disha as the Be State for providing self e
est
p
employment to
o
urb
ban poor unde SJSRY (Swa
er
arna Jayanti S
Shahari Rojgar
r
Yoj
jana) during 2012-13. Under the Scheme, p
r
persons in BPL
L
cat
tegories are pr
provided bank finance for bus
f
usiness projects
ts
up to Rs. 2 lakh.
p
5 NEW CHEIF MINISTER
RS
Vasu
undhara Raje
e:
Rajast
than
Arvin Kejriwal
nd
New D
Delhi
Shiv
vraj Singh Cho
ouhan: Madhy Pradesh
ya
Dr. R
Raman Singh:
Chattis
sgarh
KE
ERALA GETS TOP TOURI
S
ISM AWARD
D
Kerala Tourism has become firs organization in India to win
st
n
e
ysses Award fo Innovation i Public Policy
or
in
y
the ‘UNWTO Uly
and Governance for creating innovative initiatives for
nd
e’
r
sus
stainable development of the world renowned backwater
e
r
res
sort of Kumara
akom. The aw
ward was given at the annual
n
Un
nited Nations World Touris
sm Organisat
tion (UNWTO)
)
Aw
wards for Exce
ellence and Inn
novation in To
ourism held at
t
Ma
adrid in Spain.
FO
OREST PROM
MOTION PRO
OJECT IN ODISHA
Od
disha has launc
ched 'Ama Jang Yojana' (AJ to enhance
gal
JY)
e
for
rest cover in the state. The AJY (my forest project)
T
)
sch
heme focuses on forest restoration, promotion of
s
f
sus
stainable mana
agement of for
rest jointly by g
govt and forest
t
dep
pendent comm
munities.
‘FR
REE’ TREATM
MENT FOR ACID/RAPE VICTIMS
A
All the governme and private hospitals in t
ent
e
the Delhi have
e
en
o
mmediate and free" medical
bee directed to provide "im
tre
eatment to the victims of acid attack or rap
d
pe. Further, no
o
aci attack or rap victim can be denied trea
id
pe
atment if taken
n
to a private hospital or nursin home citing it is a police
ng
g
e
cas
se.
UT
TTARAKHAN PASSES LOKAYUKTA BILL
ND
L
A
Utt
tarakhand beca
ame the first State to adopt the provisions
S
s
of the recently passed Lokpal Act by passing the
y
e
Utt
tarakhand Lok
kayukta Bill-20
014. The new Bill provides
w
s
mo powers to the ombudsm
ore
man and covers all, including
s
g
the Chief Minister
e
r.
JO
ONBEEL MEL CELEBRAT
LA
TAED IN AS
SSAM
The historical cu
ultural event- Jonbeel Mela was held in
a
n
Ass
sam. The mel is a very un
la
nique event wh
here both tribal
and non-tribal pe
d
eople of Assam and Meghal
m
laya practice a
bar
rter system fo exchanging agricultural produces in a
or
g
fes
stive manner at the end of the Assamese Magh Bihu
u
per
riod (Makara S
Sankranti).
Bihar has an
nnounced a bo
onus of Rs 250 per quintal on
0
n
procurement of paddy, pu
t
ushing the MSP to Rs 1560 a
P
quintal, high
hest in the coun
ntry.
Pu L
Lalthanhawla:
Mizora
am
NO
OVEMBE 2013
ER
DEN
NMARK TO R
RESTORE HE
ERITAGE BUILDINGS
The National Museum of Denmar has offered to renovate
rk
and preserve a total of 116 herit
tage buildings, constructed
in the 18th and 19t centuries, lo
e
th
ocated on the banks of the
river Hooghly in W
West Bengal. There was a large Danish
settle
ement at Seram
mpore on the b
banks of the H
Hooghly from
1755 to 1845 befor the arrival of the British in India.
5
re
f
MOR NREGA D
RE
DAYS IN ODI
ISHA
In
the
recently
one and flood
dcyclo
affec
cted districts o
of
Ganja
am,
Puri,
Mayu
urbhanj
and
d
Balas
sore in Odisha
a,
Gove
ernment
ha
as
agree to increase
ed
man-days
unde
er
Maha
atma
Gandh
hi
Natio
onal Rural Emp
ployment Guara
antee Scheme (MGNREGS)
to 15 from existing norm of 100 days.
50
g
WB AND ADB TO SUPPORT ODISHA
O
T
World Bank and the Asian Develo
d
opment Bank h
have assured
a fina
ancial assistanc of $ 313 mn to Odisha gov
ce
n
vernment for
resto
oration and rehabilitation in cy
yclone Phailin h areas.
hit
AFSPA EXTENDED IN NE ST
TATES
Govt. has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
d
in As
ssam and in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh and
e
s
Megh
halaya for six more months w.e.f. Nov 4, considering
,
the c
current situation in these state
n
es.
Sikkim declare as the best region to visi in 2014 in
S
ed
t
sit
the
t Best in Tra
ravel list 2014 by the global travel guide
Lonely Planet.
L
The Hornbill Festival held in Kohima, N
T
Nagaland to
celebrate and p
c
promote rich tr
ribal culture of Nagaland.
f
DECEMB
D
BER 2013
3
Krishna Kanta Handiqui: State Ope
a
:
en University
y
(KK
KHSOU), the o
only State Open University in the Northeast,
n
,
has been conf
s
ferred the international ‘
‘Excellence in
n
Ins
stitutional Achievement’ awar for 2011-2013 by Canadard
bas Commonw
sed
wealth of Learni (COL).
ing
Arunachal Prad
desh is fast tur
rning into a pro
oducer of large
e
car
rdamom, a sou
ught-after spice
e.
6
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4

8. GOVERNMENT
INITIATIVES
JANUARY 2014
RASHTRIYA KISHOR SWASTHYA KARYAKRAM
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched
Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (National Adolescent
Health Programme) to comprehensively address the health
needs of the nearly 243 million children forming over 21 per
cent of India’s population. It envisages that every village
with 1,000 persons will select peer educators and train them
to discuss issues of adolescent health — from nutrition and
gender-based violence to substance abuse and mental
health — with their friends from the community.
The programme defines an adolescent as a person within
10-19 years of age, in urban and rural areas, includes both
girls and boys, married and unmarried, poor and affluent,
whether they are in school or out of school.
WAQF DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Following the recommendations of the Sachchar Committee,
Govt has set up the National Waqf Development Corporation
Limited for the development of Waqf properties for the
community welfare, jointly with the State Waqf Boards.
“Waqf” means the permanent dedication of any movable or
immovable property for any purpose recognised by the
Muslim law — auspicious, religious or charitable, by a
person professing Islam. The donar is called “Wakif”. Such
property cannot be alienated, mortgaged or transferred
without the prior permission of the Waqf Board.
INDIA INCLUSIVE INNOVATION FUND
Govt. has launched the India Inclusive Innovation Fund
(IIIF), with the initial corpus of Rs 500 crore. The ministry
of small and medium enterprises would provide Rs 100
crore and the rest would come from banks and FIIs. The
fund will invest in innovative, sustainable and profitable
ventures that also address social needs in areas of
healthcare, food, nutrition, agriculture and education.
PAN CARDS TO HAVE ‘ADDRESS’ ALSO
The procedure for PAN card allotment will undergo a change
with effect from 03.02.2014 as now in addition to
submitting self-attested copies of Proof of Identity and Date
of Birth; applicants will have to submit Proof of Address
also. They will also be required show original of these
documents for verification of copies.
NREGA TO INCLUDE SANITATION PROJECTS
With a view to address the widespread problem of open
defection, Govt. has decided to widen the scope of its
flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to include works relating to
rural sanitation in collaboration with the Nirmal Bharat
Abhiyaan (NBA). This interlinking is aimed at accelerating
sanitation coverage in rural areas and providing privacy and
dignity particularly to women.
NUHM LAUNCHED IN BANGALORE
The ambitious National Urban Health Mission (NUHM),
aimed at providing adequate and efficient urban public
health delivery system for the urban poor, was launched in
Bangalore. It will cover 779 urban areas with over 50,000
population by March 2015 across the country. The central
government will share 80 per cent of the cost to implement
the programme.
MBBS SEATS UP BY 10,000
The government has decided to increase the number of
MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) seats
in the country by 10,000 by upgrading existing state and
central government medical colleges.
NEW SYSTEM FOR DECIDING TRPs
The Union Cabinet has approved a new comprehensive
regulatory framework for TV rating agencies for release of
TRPs (Television Rating Points). The guidelines propose to
make it mandatory for rating agencies to have a sample size
of not less than 50,000 households for audience
measurement as against 9,500 at present. The visual media
seeks advertisements and their rates on the basis of TRPs.
CABINET APPROVES RAIL TARIFF AUTHORITY
Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to constitute a Rail
Tariff Authority, RTA to advise the Railway Ministry on fares.
The RTA will recommend fare revision taking into account
input cost and volatile market condition. However, the
recommendations will not be mandatory for railways as only
the Railway Board can fix the tariff.
INDEX LAUNCHED FOR HOUSING ACTIVITY
Govt. has launched the Housing Start Up Index (HSUI) to
measure level of house construction activity. The HSUI is a
joint initiative of the National Building Organisation and the
Reserve Bank. It tracks the number of houses being
constructed every year across the country.
150 DAYS IN NREGA FOR TRIBALS
The Ministry of Rural Development has agreed to provide an
additional 50 days of employment beyond the stipulated 100
days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for some 14 lakh Scheduled
Tribes (ST) households living in forest areas who have
received land rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
NEW AGENCY FOR WIND POWER
Ministry for New and Renewable Energy is making efforts
for setting up a National Offshore Wind Energy Agency to
explore the potential of generating power through wind
energy. The agency will explore wind generation potential
in the offshore areas of the country.
MINIMUM PENSION TO BE Rs 1000
The government has approved a proposal to pay formal
sector workers a minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000,
benefiting over 27 lakh pensioners. Those who get less
than Rs 1,000 a month include 22 lakh member pensioners
and 5 lakh widows as on March 31, 2013. There are total
about 44 lakh pensioners.
7
GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014

9. NE POLICY FOR YOUTH
EW
H
Go
overnment has adopted a new policy to emp
w
power youth to
o
imp
prove their pa
articipation in priority areas of education,
,
skill
developm
ment
and
entrepreneurship,
besides
s
par
rticipation in p
politics and gov
vernance. The new National
e
Youth Policy (NY
YP-2014) would replace NYP 2003 that is
d
Ps
cur
rrently in force The policy takes into ac
e.
ccount the fact
t
tha the youth in India, ag
at
ged between 15-29 years,
,
con
nstitutes 27.5 per cent of the population or about 33
n
3
cro persons, m
ore
making the cou
untry one of th youngest in
he
n
the world.
e
HI
IGH TECH SU
UPPORT FOR WOMEN F
FARMERS
The ministry of rural developm
ment has gone high tech to
e
o
em
mpower wome
en under its flagship pro
ogramme, the
e
National Rural Liv
velihood Missio
on. It has tied up with Digital
Gre
een, a global NGO in rural development, to document
,
t
bes agricultural practices and disseminate th
st
d
hese to all rural
agr
ricultural house
eholds headed by women.
MU
ULTI-SECTO
ORAL NUTRI
ITION PROG
GRAMME
The Centre has approved the rollout of the Multi-sectoral
e
utrition Program
mme to addres the problem of maternal
ss
ms
Nu
and child underd
-nutrition in th country. Th programme,
he
he
,
rec
commended by the Prime Minister’s National Council on
y
M
n
Ind
dia’s Nutrition Challenges in 2010, will be im
2
mplemented in
n
200 high-burden districts in two phases at an estimated cost
0
o
t
of Rs. 1,213.19 crore.
To encourag school ch
age
hildren to exp
plore scientific
c
discoveries, 100 innovation hubs will be set up by the
n
e
e
National Inno
novation Counci in the country by 2017.
il
ry
Indian Railw
ways captured a new territor when a rai
ory
il
engine rolled into the ca
ed
apital of Aruna
achal PradeshItanagar from Harmutty in Assam’s North Lakhimpur.
m
h
DECEMB
D
BER 2013
3
CO
ONSTITUTIO
ONAL STATU FOR JAC
US
Govt has agreed to
o
constitutional
grant
d
status to the proposed
Judicial Appointments
s
Commission (JAC) for
r
appointment
and
d
transfer of judges to
o
that
its
s
ensure
e
composition cannot be
through
an
n
altered
legislation.
ordinary
Acc
cording to the proposal, Artic 124 A of th Constitution
cle
he
n
will define the co
omposition of JAC while Art
ticle 124 B will
fine its function
ns.
def
NA
ATIONAL CA
ANCER INST
TITUTE IN HARYANA
The Centre has c
cleared a propo
osal for setting up of National
at
of
Cancer Institute a Badhsa village in Jhajjar o Haryana at a
st
crore.
cos of Rs 2035 c
Ca
ancer is emerg
ging as a maj public hea
jor
alth concern in
n
Ind where 11 lakh new case are diagnos every year
dia,
ses
sed
ar
and the mortality rate is 5.5 lak per year.
nd
y
kh
CEN
NTRE LAUNC
CHES ANTI N
NAXAL OPER
RATION
A fou day anti-Na
ur
axal operation involving clos to 40,000
se
secur
rity personnel was launche on 26th D
ed
December in
Chha
attisgarh, Jhark
khand, Maharas
shtra and othe states with
er
an aim to strike at t root of Mao formations and cadres.
the
oist
s
This is for the first time that bot central and state forces
t
th
oordinated ope
eration to flush out Naxals
h
have launched a co
from their interior h
hotbeds.
DISA
ABILITIES B
BILL PASSED BY THE CA
D
ABINET
The U
Union Cabinet has approved the Rights of Persons with
Disab
bilities Bill, raising the rese
ervation for P
Persons with
Disab
bilities (PWD) from three at present to fiv per cent.
t
ve
The disabled will get the be
enefit at all government
educational instituti
ions and jobs.
NRE
EGA SUPPOR FOR TOIL
RT
LETS / HOUSES
Every NREGA job c
y
cardholder who plans to build a toilet in
o
his h
house will get a contribution of Rs 10,000 from NREGA
funds Further, th
s.
hey will also g wages for constructing
get
their own house if i is being built under Indira A
it
t
Awaas Yojna
or an other such g
ny
govt housing pr
roject.
CAB
BINET PASSE TELANGA
ES
ANA BILL
The Union Cabine has cleared a parliamentary Bill for
et
d
creat
tion of Telanga state. The country’s 29th state would
ana
h
be c
carved out of 10 distrcits of Andhra Pradesh. The
f
ream
maining 13 dis
stricts will co
ontinue in the bifurcated
e
Andh Pradesh. The Bill has n
hra
now been sen to Andhra
nt
Prade Assembly t obtain their view.
esh
to
Govt has launc
G
nched e-inclusio project to m
on
make people
e-literate, aim
e
ming to make at least one individual in
every househo e-literate.
e
old
NO
OVEMBE 2013
ER
DEV COMMITTE TO REVIE NREGA W
V
EE
EW
WAGES
Minis
stry of rural development has appoint
ted a new
comm
mittee chaired by S Mahendra Dev, Vice-C
Chancellor of
the I
Indira Gandhi Institute of D
Development R
Research, to
prepa a fresh in
are
ndex that would lead to mo generous
ore
wage revisions und the Mahat
e
der
tma Gandhi Na
ational Rural
Employment Guara
antee Act (Nre
ega).
Wages under the
s
flagship scheme are based on the CPI-agricultu labourers
e
ure
(CPI-AL) measure, which has a ba year of 198
ase
86-87 and is,
there
efore, considere as outdated
ed
d
NCIP MADE COMPULSORY FOR STATES
Centr has directe the state g
re
ed
governments to implement
o
the n
new National Crop Insuranc Programme (NCIP) for
ce
e
comp
pulsory coverag of all the lo
ge
oanee farmers. The NCIP,
also known as Ras
shtriya Fasal B
Bima Karyakram has been
m,
erging the Pilot Weather Based Crop
formulated by me
rance Scheme Pilot Modif
e,
fied National Agricultural
Insur
Insur
rance Scheme, Pilot Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme.
NAT
TIONAL INST
TITUTE OF D
DISASTER R
RESPONSE
Govt. has decided t establish Na
to
ational Institute of Disaster
e
htra on the outskirts of
Response (NIDR) in Maharash
ptee, district N
Nagpur to train the personne of National
n
el
Kamp
Disas
ster Response Force, central and state forc and units
ces
from foreign countr
ries.
8
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4

10. RA
ASHTRIYA U
UCHCHATAR SHIKSHA A
R
ABHIYAN
The Cabinet Com
mmittee on Eco
onomic Affairs has approved
d
e
hiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a
the Rashtriya Uchchatar Sh
Centrally Sponsored Scheme (C
CSS) for reform
ming the state
e
n
cation system by improving the quality,
g
,
run higher educ
qua
antity and dist
tribution of Universities and c
colleges across
s
the country.
e
Prasaar Bha
arati to launc a separate TV channe
ch
te
el
“Prabha” spe
ecially for Aruna
nachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
ECONO
E
OMIC IN
NDICA
ATORS
S
JANUA
ARY 2014
4
RB PROJECTS GROWTH AT BELOW 5%
BI
The Reserve Ban says that gr
nk
rowth of GDP is expected to
o
fall below 5 per cent in 2013l
-14 in absence of pick-up in
e
n
ma
anufacturing se
ector, but likely to recover to 5.5 per cent in
y
n
the next financial year. In the first half of 201
e
l
f
13-14, the GDP
P
gro
owth was at 4.6 per cent.
6
GD MAY GRO PAST 5% - MOODY’S
DP
OW
%
Mo
oody's Analytic a division of Moody's Co
cs,
o
orporation says
s
tha India’s GDP growth will be in the 5 to 5.5 per cent
at
P
b
o
t
ran through 20
nge
014, before he
eading north of 6 per cent in
f
n
2015. The uptu will be led initially by e
urn
d
exports, which
h
sta
arted to lift from mid-2013, and then later in 2014, by an
m
a
n
upt
turn in the inve
estment cycle.
W B PROJECT 4.8% GRO
TS
OWTH THIS YEAR
S
A k World Ban report - Glo
key
nk
obal Economic Prospects, has
s
rep
ported that Ind
dia’s economy may expand 6.2% in 201415, after hitting a 11-year low of 4.8% in the current year,
,
e
,
dow from last y
wn
year's 5%. "Gr
rowth in India will be led by
y
rec
covery in glob demand an an increas in domestic
bal
nd
se
c
inv
vestment," the report said but warne that these
e
d,
ed
e
for
recasts faced downside risks from the gener election in a
f
ral
few months that could potentia undermine the sustained
w
ally
e
d
rev
vival of busines confidence and investment
ss
a
t.
IM PERKS UP GROWTH RATE TO 4.4
MF
P
4%
The Internationa Monetary Fu
al
und (IMF) has raised India's
s
gro
owth forecast for the curren fiscal to 4.4 per cent, up
nt
4
p
fro earlier estimate of 3.8 percent, thank to a normal
om
p
ks
mo
onsoon and imp
proved exports
s.
IIP SHRINKS BY 2.1 PER CENT
Fac
ctory productio in Novemb
on
ber slumped f
further as the
e
out
tput contracte to a six-m
ed
month low of 2.1 per cent,
,
sha
arper than Oct
tober's decline of 1.6 per cen due to weak
nt,
k
fes
stive demand a sluggish inv
and
vestment activi
ity.
CO
ORE SECTOR UP BY 1.7 PER CENT
R
Ou
utput of core in
nfrastructure in
ndustries rose 1.7 per cent in
n
No
ovember compa
ared to the sam month in 2
me
2012 when the
e
rat of growth w 5.8 per ce
te
was
ent. The outpu of the eight
ut
t
sec
ctors — coal, crude oil, oil refinery, natu
ural gas, steel,
,
cem
ment, electricit and fertilise — had con
ty
ers
ntracted by 0.6
6
per cent in Octob
r
ber.
EXP
PORTS UP BY 3.49 PER C
Y
CENT
Expo
orts rose 3.49 p cent in Dec
per
cember from a year ago to
$26.3 billion while imports fell 15.25 per cen to $36.49
35
e
nt
billion yielding a t
n,
trade deficit o $10.14 billio compared
of
on
with $9.22 billion in November.
n
FDI DOWN BY 3
36.6 PER CE
ENT
Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into In
ndia declined
by 36 percent in October to $1
6.6
1.23 billion compared with
$1.94 billion a year ago. Total FD inflows in th first seven
4
r
DI
he
mont for the cur
ths
rrent fiscal yea were $12.6 billion, down
ar
15 % from last yea $14.79 billion for the sam period.
ar’s
me
Forex reserves decreased by $1.20 billion to $292.08
F
s
n
billion for the week ended January 17, t
b
the RBI data
showed.
s
UN
U World Ec
conomic Situat
tion and Pros
ospects 2014
(WESP) report projected In
(
rt
ndia’s growth rate at less
than 5.3 per ce for this yea
t
ent
ar.
DE
ECEMBE 2013
ER
GDP GROWS BY 4.8% IN 2ND QR
P
Y
The economy grew at a
fas
ster pace of 4.8 per cent in
8
the second quarter (ending
e
Sep
ptember 30th
h), primarily
due to improved performance
e
of agriculture d
driven by a
bump monsoon a exports. Th country’s gro domestic
per
and
he
oss
produ (GDP) had expanded by 4 per cent in the previous
uct
4.4
April-June quarter o this fiscal an 5.2 per cent in the Julyof
nd
t
Septe
ember quarter last fiscal.
PLG COMM LIKE TO LOWE GROWTH RATE
G
EY
ER
H
Cons
sidering the l
lower-than-exp
pected growth of Indian
h
econo
omy, Planning Commission is of the view t
s
that the 12th
Plan's growth target could be lo
s
owered to aro
ound 7.5 per
cent from 8 per cen fixed current
nt
tly. During the first year of
e
the 1
12th Plan, India economy gr
a's
rew by only 5 p cent, the
per
slowe in a decade. In the first half (April-Se
est
t
eptember) of
2013
3-14, the econo
omy grew by ju 4.6 per cent
ust
t.
Asian Developme
ent Bank ha projected that India is
as
likely to record 4.7% growth in F 14 which will improve to
y
%
FY
5.7% next year.
%
NO
OVEMBE 2013
ER
NCA
AER LOWERS GROWTH RATE
S
Think tank Nationa Council of A
k
al
Applied Econom Research
mic
(NCA
AER) has lower
red country's g
growth rate to 4.8-5.3 per
o
cent range in the current fiscal due to slowd
down in key
ufacturing and services sector
rs.
manu
OEC PUTS IND
CD
DIA’S GROW
WTH AT 3.4%
%
Paris-based Organisation for Ec
conomic Co-op
peration and
Deve
elopment (OEC
CD) has said I
Indian econom will grow
my
just 3.4% in the c
current financia year. Thes estimates
al
ese
are b
based on marke prices, and are not strictly comparable
ket
y
with India's official statistics that measure econ
l
t
nomic output
at fac costs.
actor
9
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4

11. S& WARNS I
&P
INDIA OF LO
OWER RATING
Considering a ma
arked slowdow in India’s re growth and
wn
eal
d
its effect on the government's debt dynamics and ability to
s
o
imp
plement reform global ratin agency Stan
ms,
ng
ndard & Poor's
s
has warned of a likely down
s
ngrade in 201 if the new
14
w
gov
vernment fails to reverse Ind
dia's low growth. However, it
t
con
nfirmed India’ current cred rating at B
’s
dit
BBB-/A-3, with
h
neg
gative outlook.
.
JANUA
ARY 2014
4
AM
MRITSAR-KO
OLKATA IND
DUSTRIAL C
CORRIDOR
Spinning off a m
massive infras
structure and manufacturing
g
zon the Union Cabinet has approved sett
ne,
ting up of the
e
Am
mritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corr
ridor (AKIC) an formation of
nd
f
the AKIC Develop
e
pment Corpora
ation (AKICDC) The Corridor
).
r
is proposed to b developed in a band of 1
be
n
150-200 km on
n
either side of th Eastern Ded
he
dicated Freight Corridor in a
t
pha
ased manner. I would compr
It
rise a belt of at least 5.5 lakh
h
sq km in the seve states of Pu
en
unjab, Haryana Uttarakhand,
a,
,
Utt Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Ben
tar
d
ngal.
IN
NDIA’s INTERNATIONAL TRADE CO
L
ORRIDOR
Ind
dia, Banglades China and Myanmar have decided to
sh,
o
dev
velop a joint t
trade corridor that will inclu
ude developing
g
mu
ulti-modal tran
nsport, such as road, rail, w
s
waterways and
d
airw
ways, joint power projec
cts and telec
communication
n
net
tworks. The co
orridor will run from Kunmin (a metro in
n
ng
n
sou west China to Kolkata, linking Mandala in Myanmar
uth
a)
l
ay
r
as well as Dhaka and Chittagong in Banglades
sh.
NE SET OF R
EW
REGULATIONS FROM SE
EBI
SEBI has come out with a stricter set of settlement
e
t
pro
ocedures and a framework fo providing re
or
efunds to small
inv
vestors hit by irregularities in the markets. For collective
n
.
e
inv
vestment (mon
ney-pooling) schemes, SEBI has advised
s
I
d
tha all transactio should be conducted through cheque,
at
ons
e
,
dra or other ba
aft
anking channe but not in cash. Further,
els
,
SEBI has been empowered to order searc and seizure
o
ch
e
ope
erations during investigations of financial irr
g
s
regularities.
FIRST FDI IN MULTIBRAN RETAIL
ND
The Foreign Inve
estment Promotion Board has approved UKs
bas
sed Tesco Plc's proposal to enter the India multi-brand
an
d
ret segment in joint venture with Tata Gro
tail
n
oup company Tre Hypermark Ltd, with an initial inves
ent
ket
a
stment of US$
$
110 million (abou Rs 680 crore
0
ut
e).
Tes is the firs global retaile to apply fo multi- brand
esco
st
ler
or
d
ret
tailing after the government allowed 51 p cent FDI in
he
t
per
n
the segment in S
e
September last year.
y
24
4X7 TRADE F
FROM WAGA BORDER
AH
R
Aft a 16-mont gap, India and Pakistan resumed their
ter
th
r
tra talks by an
ade
nnouncing a se
eries of steps, including 24x7
7
tra
ade activity at the Attari-Wagah bor
rder, allowing
g
mo
ovement of co
ontainer cargo, opening of b
,
bank branches,
,
issuing more business visas and having a non-discriminatory
d
y
arket access (N
NDMA) program
mme in both countries.
ma
EPFO PERKS UP INTEREST TO 8.75%
O
P
The retirement fun body EPFO(Employees Pro
nd
ovident Fund
Organisation) has d
decided to incre
ease the rate o interest on
of
provident fund dep
posits from 8.5% at present t 8.75% for
%
to
2013
3-14, a move th will benefit about 5 crore subscribers.
hat
10 % STAKE SA IN IOC
ALE
A pan of ministers has approved the sale of a 10 per cent
nel
d
stake in state re
e
efiner Indian Oil Corp to two state
o
explo
oration firms, O and Natural Gas Corp Ltd a Oil India
Oil
and
Ltd. The sale may raise around Rs. 5,000 cror to narrow
re
govt’ budget defici
’s
it.
POS
SCO GETS GR
REEN NOD
South Korean giant Posco has wo environmental clearance
h
t
on
to bu Rs 52,000 crore steel pla in Odisha, ending eight
uild
ant
years of wait for a project that would involve the largests
ever foreign direct investment in India. The ste giant had
eel
inked a pact with O
d
Odisha governm
ment in June 20 to set up
005
the p
plant on 4,004 acres of land.
INCENTIVES FO INDUSTR
OR
RIAL CLUSTE
ERS
With a view to boost manufa
acturing sector, govt has
exten
nded the bene
efits of the Nat
tional Manufac
cturing Policy
throu
ughout the co
ountry wherev
ver industry c
can organise
itself into clusters a adopt a self regulatory mo
and
odel.
AIR
RCRAFT MRO PART OF IN
O
NFRASTRUC
CTURE
RBI has d
decided that
for the purpose of
external
commercial
borrowings
(ECB),
'Maintenanc
ce, Repairs
and Overha (MRO) of
aul’
aircrafts will be treated
as a part of airport
t
infras
structure. This will give a boost to the M
MRO industry
which currently has an annual turnover of over $
h
s
$800 million.
WOR
RLD BANK A
AID FOR SAN
NITATION
The W
World Bank ha approved a $500 million c
as
credit for the
Rural Water Supply and Sanitatio (RWSS) Pro
y
on
oject for Low
Incom
me States (Assam, Bihar Jharkhand and Uttar
r,
Prade
esh) to improve piped water s
e
supply and san
nitation.
$700MN ADB LO
OAN FOR IN
NFRA DEVEL
LOPMENT
The A
ADB has agree to provide $
ed
$700 million loa under the
an
Accel
lerating Infras
structure Inve
estment Facility in India
(AIIF to support the government's efforts t accelerate
FI)
to
infras
structure growt
th.
$100MN ADB LO
OAN TO MEG
GHALAYA
In its first loan to India for boo
s
osting educatio and skills,
on
Asian Development Bank has agre to provide $100 million
n
t
eed
loan for the pr
roject -- Supporting Hum
man Capital
Deve
elopment in M
Meghalaya for providing voc
cational and
educational training to youth.
g
As
A per a UN re
report, India re
eceived $ 28 b
billion as FDI,
ranking 16th among the to 20 global economies
r
top
receiving the most FDI in 2013.
r
e
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4
10

12. DECEMB
D
BER 2013
3
IN
NDIA TO BEC
COME 3RD LA
ARGEST ECO
ONOMY
Ind is likely to o
dia
overtake Japan in 2028 to be
n
ecome the third
d
larg
gest economy in the world after China and United States,
,
acc
cording to Lo
ondon-based economic cons
e
sultancy CEBR
R
(Ce
entre for Econo
omics and Business Research In the 2013
h).
3
lea
ague table, Ind is at the 11 place with a GDP of USD
dia
1th
D
1.7 billion. and it will claim 3rd spot with GDP of USD 6,560
7
t
P
0
bill
lion by 2028.
IN
NDIANS ARE CONFIDEN OF THEIR ECONOMY
E
NT
R
Acc
cording to a study by glob research firm Ipsos, has
bal
s
ran
nked India as the seventh most economically confident
t
cou
untry in the w
world. Indians feel confide about their
ent
r
eco
onomy due to prospects of healthy farm output and
o
o
m
d
narrowing current account deficit.
d
The survey of 24
4
cou
untries is topp
ped by Saudi Arabia, followed by Germany,
A
d
,
Sw
weden and Cana
ada.
The Asian De
Development Ba (ADB) has agreed to lend
ank
d
$176 million to extend the first metro train line in
n
t
o
n
Jaipur.
NOVEMB
N
BER 2013
3
WEF JOINS HA
ANDS WITH CII
H
The World Econo
omic Forum has joined ha
h
ands with the
e
Confederation of Indian Indus
f
stry (CII) to jo
ointly organise
e
the India Econom Summit as well as other in
e
mic
w
ndustry specific
c
pro
ojects in India in coming year
rs.
FO
OUR TAX HAV
VENS TO SHAR TAX INFOR
RE
RMATION
In a big boost in the fight against black money, four
k
r
ove
erseas territor
ries - Liechten
nstein, Isle of Man, British
f
h
Vir
rgin Islands a
and Cayman Islands -where Indians are
I
e
e
sus
spected to hav stashed illic funds, have agreed to do
ve
cit
e
o
aw with bankin secrecy way by allowing automatic tax
way
ng
ys
x
info
ormation excha
ange with India
a.
India has a
allowed Bangla
adesh to impo motorcycles
ort
s
through the land route as against sea ro
oute at present,
t,
to reduce the transportatio costs.
he
on
BANKI
B
ING & FINA
ANCE
JANUAR 2014
J
RY
REP RATE HIK
PO
KED TO 8 PE CENT
ER
The Reserve Bank hiked key polic interest rate by 0.25%
cy
es
to tame inflation. T repo rate, what banks pa to borrow
The
ay
mone from the RB to meet thei short-term re
ey
BI
ir
equirements,
was increased t
to 8% from 7.75% p
m
per annum.
Cons
sequently, the reverse repo r
rate stands adj
justed at 7.0
per c
cent, and the m
marginal stand
ding facility (MS rate and
SF)
the B
Bank Rate at 9. per cent. The move would tighten the
.0
d
mone supply there making ho
ey
eby
ome, automobi and other
ile
loans costlier and m further dam
s
may
mpen industrial growth.
PRE 2005 NOTE TO BE WI
E
ES
ITHDRAWN
Reserve Bank has a
advised that all banknotes iss
sued prior to
2005 will be withdr
5
rawn after Mar 31, 2014 a they have
rch
as
lesse security features as co
er
ompared to n
notes issued
there
eafter. Banks have been asked to start exchanging
these notes. Public can easily iden
e
ntify such notes as they the
s
year of printing is not mentioned on them. In notes issued
d
after 2005, year of printing in a small font is v
f
visible at the
middle of the botto row. From July 01, 2014, however, to
om
excha
ange more than 10 pieces of `500 and `1000 notes,
non-c
customers will have to furn
l
nish proof of identity and
residence to the bank.
At pr
resent, currency notes in deno
cy
nominations of Rs 5, 10, 20,
50, 1
100, 500 and 1,000 are issu
sued. As per th RBI data,
he
7,351 crore pieces of currency n
51
s
notes were in c
circulation as
on 3
31st March 201 Of this, 14 per cent w
013.
4.6
were Rs 500
notes and 5.9 per c
es
cent Rs 1,000 n
notes.
MOR COMMITTEE SUBMITS ITS REPOR
R
S
RT
The Committee on Comprehens
n
sive Financial Services for
Small Businesses a
and Low Incom Households headed by
me
s
Dr. N
Nachiket Mor su
ubmitted its fin report on D
nal
December 31,
2013 The Reserve Bank had ap
3.
e
ppointed the C
Committee to
propo
ose measures for achieving financial in
s
nclusion and
increased access t financial se
to
ervices.
The Committee
e
propo
osed the follow
wing to be achie
eved by Januar 1, 2016:
ry
(i) P
Provide each I
Indian resident above the age of 18 with
t
an
a individual U
Universal Electro
onic Bank Acco
ount (UEBA).
The
T account would provide ci
itizens with acc
cess to credit
and
a investment options.
(ii) S up widely distributed E
Set
y
Electronic Paym
ment Access
Points offering deposit and withdrawal facilities at
P
g
d
reasonable cos
r
st,
(iii) P
Provide each low-income h
household various credit,
investment and deposit products at a reaso
i
d
onable price,
and
a
(iv) P
Provide every customer the legally protec
cted right to
receive suitable financial serv
r
e
vice.
EXC
CLUSIVE BAN FOR SMA CUSTOM
NK
ALL
MERS
The Mor committe set up by the RBI has called for
ee
y
estab
blishing differe
entiated lender including one for small
rs,
busin
nesses and low
w-income house
eholds. The ba for small
ank
busin
nesses, called the 'paymen
nts banks', will focus on
providing primary s
services to the people.
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4
11

13. PATEL PANEL FOR ‘CPI’ AS POLICY ANCHOR
The Urjit Patel (Dy. Governor, RBI) committee on monetary
policy framework has proposed setting up of a monetary
policy committee (MPC) that will be headed by the RBI
governor and should be accountable for achieving inflation
target set by it. The target should be to bring the retail
inflation rate down at 4 per cent with a band of +/- 2 per
cent. Committee also recommended that retail inflation
should be measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and
not by the wholesale prices.
NEW NORMS FOR BANK GOLD LOANS
RBI has advised banks that amount of loans sanctioned by
them against pledge of gold jewellery should not exceed
75 per cent of the value of the gold. The gold will have to
be valued at the average of the closing price of 22 carat
gold for the preceding 30 days as quoted by the India
Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd.
GOLD LOAN TERMS RELAXED
The Reserve Bank has allowed banks to permit bullet
payment of gold loans of up to Rs.1 lakh provided the
period of the loan does not exceeds 12 months.
Bullet repayment means a lump-sum payment for the entire
loan amount paid at the time of maturity.
RBI SEEKS MORE POWER FOR KEY RATES
The Reserve Bank has asked the government to amend laws
to empower the central bank with powers to regulate
benchmark rates. The move comes in the wake of the Libor
scandal in Europe where regulators have penalized leading
banks for 'fixing' the benchmark London Interbank Offered
Rate by providing misleading quotes.
RBI ALLOWS MORE RUPEE PAYMENTS
Reserve Bank has allowed payments from abroad in Indian
rupees to utility service providers, tax payments, and EMI
payments in India with a view to expand the scope of crossborder inward remittances. Cross-border inward remittance
is a Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) where remittances
are received in India through exchange houses situated in
gulf countries, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
INFLATION BONDS FROM RBI
Reserve bank has announced issuance of Inflation Indexed
National Savings Certificates (IINSC) to offer an inflation
savvy investment option to primarily individuals and HUFs.
These are 10 year Bonds with floating interest rate that will
be equal to the inflation rate as per CPI plus 1.50% p.a. The
interest will not be paid but will be compounded every 6
months. A limit of Rs 5 lakh per applicant per annum has
been kept to exclude high value applicants.
DEPOSITOR EDUCATION & AWARENESS FUND
The Reserve Bank has decided to establish a fund to be
called ‘Depositor Education and Awareness Fund’ by taking
over amount lying in unclaimed deposit accounts. The Fund
would be used for promotion of depositors’ interests.
An ‘unclaimed deposit account is one where there are no
operations for ten years or more.
SBI JOINS ’YOUTUBE’, TWITTER
State Bank of India has strengthened its social media
presence with the launch of its channel on popular video
sharing website Youtube and said it will also be launching its
handle on the micro-blogging site Twitter soon. Youtube
channel will help it connect with the young and
technologically savvy customers. Sbi has already launched a
dedicated Facebook page in November.
NEW PROVISIONING NORMS FOR BANKS
RBI has directed that from April 1, Banks will have to follow
new rules for setting incremental provisioning and capital
requirements for their exposures to entities with unhedged
foreign currency exposures. The provisioning requirements
will be calculated as per the ratio of likely loss due to
foreign exchange movement to a company's earnings before
interest and depreciation (EBID).
PROTECTION AGAINST ONLINE FRAUD
As per the revised code approved by the Banking Codes and
Standards Board of India (BCSBI) in December, 2013, bank
customers who have been victims of electronic / online
fraud will have to be compensated for such loss unless the
bank can prove that the fraud occurred due to negligence
on part of the customer.
POST OFFICES TO GET ATMs
India Post will install as many as 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh
micro-ATMs at the post offices across the country by
September 2015. The postal department has 1.55 lakh post
offices, of which 90% are in villages, offering savings
account to people across the country.
CCS CAN COLLECT THIRD PARTY CHEQUES
RBI has allowed Banks to consider collecting account payee
cheques drawn for an amount not exceeding Rs 50,000 in
the accounts of co-operative credit societies provided the
payees of such cheques are the constituents of these
societies. As per RBI norms, banks are not allowed to credit
account payee cheques to the account of any person other
than the payee named therein.
RBI has constituted an expert committee under the
chairmanship of P. J. Nayak (former Chairman of Axis
Bank) to review governance of boards of banks.
Govt. has revised its target upwards for opening new
bank branches to 10,000 a year, from 7000 a year at
present.
Axis Bank has become the first domestic private sector
bank to have a branch in China.
Prizm Payment Services has launched ‘Money Spot’, a
chain of 10, 000 white label ATMs, under licence from
the RBI.
DECEMBER 2013
BANK BUSINESS SHOWS GOOD GROWTH
Bank deposits grew 17 per cent year-on-year to Rs.75.24
trillion on December 13, 2013, from Rs.64.31 trillion in the
same period last year, due to higher mobilisation, driven by
the RBI’s special swap window for Foreign Currency NonResident (Banks) or FCNR (B) deposits. Advances during the
same time increased by 14.9 per cent to Rs. 57.01 trillion
from Rs. 49.61 last year.
GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
12

14. CURRENCY ARRANGEMENT WITH NEPAL
Nepal and India have agreed in principle to allow circulation
of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 denomination Indian bank notes
within Nepalese territory, ending a ban in place for over a
decade.
Doha Bank became the first Qatari bank to get the
license from RBI to start operations in India, with first
branch in Mumbai.
M3 money supply rose by annualised 15.1 percent as
on December 13 to Rs 92.06 trillion.
Govt approved the enhancement of the bilateral
currency swap arrangement between the RBI and Bank
of Japan to $ 50 billion, up from $ 15 billion at present.
NOVEMBER 2013
BHARTIYA MAHILA BANK STARTS
On the 96th birthday of late Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh inaugurated the first branch of the first
all-woman bank - ‘Bhartiya Mahila Bank’ in Mumbai. Headed
by Usha Ananthasubramaniam, the bank will have initial
corpus of Rs 1,000 crore with seven branches in major cities
to start with. The bank will have unique products designed
for women and devote special attention to the funding
needs of over 60 lakh self-help groups. The bank will also
cater to limited number of male customers.
LOAN TO WOMEN SHGs @ 7%
The Reserve Bank has directed public sector banks to
provide credit to women self help groups at a rate of 7
percent per annum so as to get the benefit of interest
subvention scheme under the Swarnajayanti Gram
Swarozgar Yojana (Aajeevika) scheme.
‘MEDIUM’ UNITS UNDER PRIORITY SECTOR
The Reserve Bank has allowed banks to treat loans given to
medium manufacturing enterprises after Nov. 13 as priority
sector advance, in its efforts to provide enhanced liquidity
support to the medium and small enterprises. A medium
manufacturing enterprise is one where the investment in
plant and machinery is more than Rs.5 crore but does not
exceed Rs.10 crore.
BANKS MAY PAY MONTHLY INTEREST
As all commercial banks are now on core banking platforms,
RBI has decided to give banks the option to pay interest on
savings deposits and term deposits at intervals shorter than
quarterly intervals i.e. monthly or fortnightly intervals.
Presently, banks are not allowed to pay interest on savings
and term deposits at less than quarterly intervals.
RBI SIGNS MOU WITH AUSTRALIA-NZ LAND
The Reserve Bank has signed cooperation agreement with
central banks of Australia and New Zealand for exchange of
information. The MoUs provide a formal, yet legally nonbinding, channel for information exchange between the
Central Banks of two countries.
TAKEOVER ALLOWED TO FOREIGN BANKS
The Reserve Bank has permitted wholly-owned subsidiary
(WOS) of foreign banks to acquire domestic private sector
banks as well as set up branches anywhere in the country.
It also allowed foreign bank subsidiary to list on local stock
exchanges. However, foreign bank subsidiary will not be
allowed to hold more than 74 per cent equity in the private
banks they may acquire.
NRI REMITTANCES UP BY 27%
Between January and September this year, remittances by
non-resident Indians (NRIs) saw a 27 per cent jump at $ 6.5
billion (Rs 39,991.9 crore in present valuations) as against 7
per cent growth during the same period last year.
‘M-PESA’ FROM VODAFONE AND ICICI
Telecom major Vodafone India and ICICI Bank have
launched mobile money transfer and payment service 'MPesa' in Assam and other North Eastern states. Using their
'M-Pesa' account, customers, at their convenience, can
deposit and withdraw cash from designated outlets, transfer
money to any mobile phone / bank account in the country.
BANKS TO CHARGE FOR SMS ON USAGE BASIS
The RBI has asked banks to charge customers for
transaction SMS alerts on the basis of usage, instead of
present practice of imposing a fixed fee, to ensure equity
and fair deal to customers.
BANKS TO USE ‘AADHAAR’ FOR CARDS
In order to ensure security in card- based payment
transactions taking place at point of sale (PoS) terminals or
at ATMs, the Reserve Bank has advised banks that they may
adopt Aadhaar as additional authentication or move to EMV
(Euro pay MasterCard Visa) chip and pin technology. Banks
will have to issue chip-based cards by November 30.
The Reserve Bank has directed all regional rural banks
to follow the minimum 9% capital adequacy rule from
this year, marking the end of their transitory phase.
DEFENCE, SCIENCE
& TECHNOLOGY
JANUARY 2014
MEGA NAVAL MEET MILAN 2014 AT ANDAMAN
A total of 16 navies from the Indian Ocean region are
participating in 'MILAN 2014', the biennial international
naval exercise conducted by the Indian Navy in Andaman &
Nicobar Islands between February 5 and 9 for promoting
friendship, understanding between participating navies.
ICGS ‘ABHINAV’ JOINS COAST GUARD
Indian Coast Guard Ship Abhinav, the third in a series of 20
Fast Patrol Vessels being built by the Cochin Shipyard, has
been inducted in to service at Kochi base of Indian Coast
Guard on Kerala coast.
INS ARIHANT READY FOR SEA TRIALS
India’s first indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine,
INS Arihant is now ready for sea trials. During the trials, all
systems, including its ballistic missiles, will be tested before
the submarine is finally commissioned into the Navy.
GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
13

15. Sahayog - Kaijin 2014 Joint exercis held by the
4’:
se
e
Indian Coast Guard and its Japanese co
st
it
counterpart, off
ff
the Kochi coa Kerala.
oast,
Agni-IV: I
India successf
fully test-fired its nuclear
d
rcapable stra
ategic missile, with a strike r
w
range of about
ut
4,000 km, fro a test rang off the Odish coast.
rom
ge
ha
Prithvi-II:
India successfully t
s
test-fired it’s
’s
indigenously developed nu
y
uclear-capable missile having
g
a strike rang of 350 km, from a test rang in Odisha.
ge
fr
ge
The Mount
tain Strike Corps, aimed at countering
C
g
China, raised by holding a "flag hoisting ceremony of
d
g"
59 Division a Ranchi - its headquarters in Jharkhand.
at
h
n
DOW
WNLOAD 44 MOVIES IN
4
NSTANTLY
Scien
ntists in the British Telec
com jointly w
with French
netw
working equipm
ment company have achieved the fastest
d
ever broadband speeds of 1.4 te
erabits per seco
ond, enough
ansmit 44 high-definition mov
vies at once on the existing
n
to tra
fibre network in Lon
ndon.
Indian Council for Medical Re
I
l
Research has de
eveloped two
low cost glucos (sugar) mon
l
ose
nitoring devices and testing
es
strips, Suchek and Quickcheq for diabetic pa
s
q
patients.
DE
ECEMBE 2013
ER
‘TEJ
JAS’ JOINS I
INDIAN AIR FORCE
R
IN
NDIA JOINS ‘CRYO CLUB WITH GSL
B’
LV-D5
On 5th January, the Indian Space Research Organisation
n
S
h
n
(IS
SRO) successfu launched the Geosynchro
ully
t
onous Satellite
e
Lau
unch Vehicle-D5 (GSLV-D5), carrying 1,982 kg
g
com
mmunication s
satellite GSAT-14, from Sriha
arikota, Andhra
a
Pra
adesh and plac
cing it in orbit at an apogee of 36,000 kms
s
abo earth. D5 s
ove
stands for 5th developmental flight.
d
Th GSLV is a t
he
three-stage eng
gine rocket. Th first stage is
he
s
fire with solid fu the second with liquid fue and the third
ed
uel,
d
el
d
is the cryogenic engine. With this, India joi
c
oined the “cryo
o
clu
ub”, a select g
group of spac
acefaring nation having the
ons
e
cru
ucial cryogenic engine techno
c
nology, which i necessary to
is
o
car heavy sate
rry
ellites. The oth 5 nations having such a
her
cap
pability are the US, Russia, France, Japan a China.
e
Fr
and
DR
RDO LAUNCHES ‘DHRUV
VA-3’
De
efence Researc and Development Organis
ch
sation (DRDO)
)
has launched India's high per
s
rformance com
mputing system
m
'Dh
hruva-3’. It h
has been de
eveloped by t
the Advanced
d
Nu
umerical Rese
earch and Analysis Group (ANURAG),
A
,
Hy
yderabad, for p
promoting critical application for defence
ns
e
res
search and dev
velopment, par
rticularly in adv
vanced aircraft
t
des
signing.
JO
OINT INDO F
FRENCH SAT
TELLITE
Ind and France are working on building t
dia
e
the third IndoFre
ench satellite d
designed for climate change studies. The
c
e
e
two countries hav already laun
o
ve
nched two sate
ellites - MeghaTro
opiques in 2011 and the SARA
AL-AltiKa in 2013.
SU
UPERCOMPU
UTER PARAM YUVA-II developed by
M
y
the Centre for D
e
Development of Advanced C
o
Computing (CDA rated 1st in India and 44th in the wo
AC)
4
orld among the
e
mo power effici
ost
ient computers by the Green 500 List.
s,
n
After more than thr decades of work, India’s indigenously
r
ree
f
built Light Combat Aircraft Tejas has finally be
s
een inducted
into the Indian Air Forc
n
ce on Dece
ember 20.
The single-seat, single-engine, lightweight, high-agility
supersonic fighter aircraft has s
speed of Mach 1.6 (1350
h
km/h
hr). It will repla the recentl retired MiG-2 aircraft.
ace
ly
21
India test-fired its nuclear-capab Agni-III ballistic missile
a
ble
with a strike range of over 3,000 km from Odish coast
ha
Indian Air Forc has bid farew to MiG-21 FL – its first
I
ce
ewell
1
supersonic com
s
mbat jet aircra that served it for over
aft
d
five
f decades.
India has signe a mega con
I
ned
ontract of $1.01 billion with
1
USA for six more C-130J "Super Hercu
U
cules" jumbo
military cargo a
m
aircrafts.
India offers to train Sri Lanka Navy officers
I
an
rs.
CEN
NTRE FOR EA
ARTH SCIEN
NCE STUDIES
S
The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal fo the Union
d
or
Minis
stry of Earth Sc
ciences to take over the Cen
e
ntre for Earth
Scien
nce Studies (C
CESS), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The
centr will carry out multidisciplinary research in the frontier
re
n
areas of solid ear
s
rth science an provide se
nd
ervices on a
natio
onwide scale.
CHINA LANDS V
VEHICLE ON MOON
N
China for the first time, success
a,
sfully landed a lunar probe
Chan
ng'e-3 on the M
Moon — the fi
irst country to do so since
1976 A lunar prob carrying the “Jade Rabbi or Yu Tu
6.
be
it”
rover landed in the Bay of Rainb
r
e
bows, or Sinus Iridum, on
s
the M
Moon’s surface 12 days af
e,
fter the Chang
g’e-3 probe.
China is the third co
a
ountry to do so after America and Russia.
o
a
TRA
ACES OF WAT
TER ON MAR
RS
A US space agenc rover rambling on the dr surface of
S
cy
ry
Mars has for the first time discove
ered evidence o what used
of
to be a freshwater lake. Though no water is p
e
r
present now,
yet the conditions were right for the lake for m
microbial life,
perha 3.6 billion y
aps
years ago.
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4
14

16. NE USERS UP BY 20%
ET
P
Dri
iven by growth in Internet us
h
sage through m
mobile phones,
,
tot Net subscrib base in the country incre
tal
ber
e
eased by 20.38
8
per cent to re
r
each 198.39 million in quarter ending
g
September 30. T
Total telecom subscriber base at the end of
s
e
f
e
,
n
the quarter was 903.09 million, out of which 873.36 million
we mobile subs
ere
scribers.
NOVEMB
N
BER 2013
3
IN VIKRAMA
NS
ADITYA JOIN INDIAN NAVY
NS
India successfu test-fired i nuclear-cap
I
fully
its
pable surface
to
t surface ball
llistic missile Dh
Dhanush from a naval ship.
It
I has a range of 250 kilomet .
ters
India success
I
sfully test-fire its nuclea weaponsed
ar
capable, surfa
c
ace-to-surface Agni-1 missile for its full
e
range of 700 k from Whee Island, off the Odisha
r
km
eeler
ff
coast.
c
Pakistan succe
P
essfully test-fir
red its surface to surface
e
missile - Hatf I (Nasr) with a range of 60 k
m
IX
km.
ISRO LAUNCHES ‘MANGALYAA SUCCESS
O
AN’
SFULLY
India first interpla
a’s
anetary spacec
craft under ISRO’s Rs 430
crore Mars Orbite Mission (Ma
e
er
angalyaan) wa launched
as
succe
essfully on boa PSLV- C25 from the Sat
ard
5
tish Dhawan
Space Centre in Sriharikota, AP, o Nov. 5. Th spacecraft
on
he
will travel around 7 million km t reach near M
780
to
Mars by Sep.
2014 to carry out scientific exp
4
t
periments and search for
d
evide
ence of life on t red planet.
the
ISTR
RAC TAKES OVER THE ‘MOM’
The long-awaite USD 2.3 billion aircraf carrier INS
ed
ft
S
kramaditya wa inducted into the Ind
as
dian Navy in
n
Vik
Sev
verodvinsk, Ru
ussia on 16th Nov. The mam
N
mmoth 44,500ton
nne warship w commission
was
ned by Defenc Minister A K
ce
Antony at the Sev
vmash Shipyar Russia. A re
rd,
e-fitted version
n
of a Russian ship formerly cal
p,
lled Admiral Go
orshkov, it will
be based at nava base INS Kad
al
damba at Karwar, Karnataka.
Ind
dia’s first aircra carrier was INS Vikrant, procured from
raft
s
m
Eng
ngland. It was d
decommissione on 31st Janu
ed
uary, 1997 and
d
con
onverted into a naval museum at Mumbai.
m
Ind
dia’s second ai
ircraft named INS Virat was procured from
I
m
Eng
ngland and is cu
urrently in serv
vice.
Ind is now mak
dia
king another ai
ircraft carrier in
indigenously by
y
the name INS Vik
e
krant. It tested waters recent
d
tly.
IN
NDO US JOIN NAVAL EX
NT
XCERCISE
The Indian and US navies con
nducted their a
annual Malabar
r
join exercises in the Bay of Be
nt
n
engal, off the coast of Tamil
Nadu, from Nov. 5 to 11 Nov. The exercis will include
.
ses
e
er
rations from aircraft carriers,
,
gun-firing, fighte combat oper
mbating terror
rism and maritime interdiction operations
s
com
exe
ercises.
BR
RAHMOS TES
STED BY INDIAN ARMY
Y
The Indian Army tested an ad
y
dvanced versio of BrahMos
on
s
sup
personic cruis
se missile sy
ystem (block III variant)
)
suc
ccessfully at th Pokhran te range in Ra
he
est
ajasthan. The
e
290
0-km range BrahMos flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach and
a
d
car
rries a convent
tional warhead of up to 300 k The missile
kg.
e
can be launched from multiple platforms inclu
n
p
uding land, sea,
,
sub
b-sea and air.
President p
presented th
he prestigious Presidentia
s
al
Standards to two squadro of Indian A Force - 220
o
ons
Air
0
Squadron an 32 Squadron at Halwara, P
nd
n
Punjab.
Pragati Mis
issile, the new tactical surf
ew
rface-to-surface
e
missile based on the Prah
ed
haar missile, w
with a range of
60-170 kms.
Monit
toring and na
avigation of th spacecraft under Mars
he
Orbit
ter Mission w
will be done by the Bang
galore-based
track
king centre, IS
STRAC (ISRO Telemetry, T
Tracking and
Comm
mand Network ISTRAC will now be the n
k).
l
nerve centre
of the mission and communicate w the spacec
e
with
craft, correct
its c
course and co
ommand it th
hroughout the life of the
space
ecraft.
HINI ROCKE LAUNCHE BY VSSC
ET
ED
ROH
Vikra Sarabhai S
am
Space Centre (
(earlier known as Thumba
Equa
atorial Rocket Launching-TE
ERL Station) at Thumba,
Keral
la, celebrated its golden jubilee on N
Nov. 21 by
launc
ching the Rohin Sounding Ro
ni
ocket.
BIR RINGING STATION A KULLU
RD
AT
Hima
achal Pradesh has set up we
estern Himalay
ya’s first Bird
Ringi
ing Station a Salropa in the prestig
at
n
gious Great
Hima
alayan Nationa Park in Kullu. Birds ar put on a
al
re
meta
allic ring having a unique nu
g
umber and Bom
mbay Natural
Histo Society (BN
ory
NHS) stamp to identify and es
establish their
speci
cies.
CLIC PHOTOS WITH THE SPEED OF L
CK
LIGHT
An inexpensive m
multi-purpose 'nano-camera that can
a'
opera at the spee of light has been develope by a team
ate
ed
ed
of re
esearchers Mas
ssachusetts Ins
stitute of Techn
nology, USA.
The $ 500 camera could be used in medical imaging and
collision-avoidance detectors for cars and se
r
everal other
purpo
oses.
WOR
RLD’S FASTEST SUPER COMPUTER
R
Tianh
he-2, a superc
computer deve
eloped by Chin
na’s National
Unive
ersity of Defen Technology Guangzhou, retained its
nse
y,
,
position as the wor
rld’s fastest sys
stem with a per
rformance of
33.86 petaflop/s (q
6
quadrillions of c
calculations per second) on
the L
Linpack benchm
mark.
OGAN XIX’ – A remote-sen
nsing satellite launched by
‘YAO
China on board its carrier rocket Long March 4C from the
a
launc center in north China's Sha
ch
anxi Province.
GEN
NERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
4
15

17. ‘MAVEN’ – NASA’s MISSION TO MARS
FACEBOOK TO START ‘TRENDING’
CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS HIT RECORD HIGH
LABOUR AND FAMILY REFORMS IN CHINA
NASA has launched its latest orbiter to Mars –‘MAVEN’ (Mars
Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) to hunt for clues about
why the Red Planet lost much of its atmosphere. MAVEN is
the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding
the Martian upper atmosphere.
In an annual report on greenhouse gases, the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that concentrations
of carbon dioxide (CO2) grew more rapidly reaching a
record high in 2012, compared to average rise over the past
decade. As a result, the warming effect on the climate has
increased by almost a third since 1990.
ATM LAUNCHED FOR ‘BITCOINS’
The world's first publicly accessible ATM machine which can
exchange digital currency - bitcoins - for any official
currency has been launched in Canada jointly by two firms
Bitcoiniacs and Robocoin.
INTERNATIONAL
JANUARY 2014
USA REELS UNDER EXTREME COLD WAVE
The coldest, most dangerous blast of polar air in decades‘polar vortex’ gripped the US Midwest and adjoining East
and South eastern Canada. Temperatures crashed down to
-30 to -40 degree C, causing very heavy widespread snow
and deadly freezing conditions since the start of the year,
claiming several lives. Icy roads and strong blizzards created
travel chaos, with thousands of flights canceled or delayed.
US GOES IN FOR STIMULUS TAPERING
In view of improving job prospects and surge in housing
activity, the U.S. Federal Reserve has announced the
commencement of the tapering of its massive asset
purchase programme, widely known as quantitative easing
(QE). The programme involved massive purchases of long
term maturity bonds, $85 billion every month to expand
money supply to stimulate and support the economy. The
latest move reduces such purchases by $10 billion to $75
billion, starting from January, 2014.
Popular social networking site Facebook will roll out a new
feature called ‘Trending’ — akin to a tool on Twitter — for
its users to know the most popular topics being discussed
on the site. The list will appear near the top of the righthand column of the news feed.
China has formally abolished its controversial labour camps
“re-education” system and loosened family planning
restrictions from ‘one’ child norm to ‘two’ child norm. Under
the re-education through labour system, accused can be
held for up to four years without a trial. This year, around
1.6 lakh people were held in some 260 labour camps.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to make
military service compulsory for all adult males aged
between 18 and 30, but kept it optional for women.
Latvia has become 18th country to adopt Euro as its
currency. Its earlier currency was ‘Latvian Lats’.
Greece takes over the Presidency of the European
Union Council. (not the presidentship)
DECEMBER 2013
JORDAN ENTERS UN SECURITY COUNCIL
Jordan has been elected as a non-permanent member of
the UN Security Council for filling a seat that fell vacant
after Saudi Arabia declined to join the Council to protest the
world body’s failure to end the Syrian and Israeli-Palestinian
conflicts.
YUAN REPLACES EURO IN POPULARITY
China’s Yuan currency, also called Renminbi – RMB, has
overtaken the Euro to become the second-most used
currency in trade and finance in world. Market share of
Yuan usage grew to 8.66 per cent in October, still much
behind the leading currency US dollar which has a share of
81.08 per cent.
COLDEST PLACE ON EARTH AT –93.2C
A remote region in East Antarctica has set a new record for
the coldest place on earth, with temperatures dipping to a
bone-chilling minus 93.2 degrees Celsius. The coldest
permanently inhabited place on Earth is northeastern
Siberia, where temperatures in the towns of Verkhoyansk
and Oimekon dropped to a bone-chilling -67.8 C in 1933.
WEF MEET HELD AT DAVOS
44th annual meeting of World Economic Forum – WEF held
at Davos, Switzerland was attended by over 2,500
participants from almost 100 countries, including 1,500
business leaders. This year's theme was ‘The Reshaping of
the World: Consequences for Society, Politics & Business'.
CHINA’s GDP GROWS AT 7.7%
China's economy, the world’s second-largest, has shown
signs of stabilizing as 2013's growth rate matched that for
2012. The GDP growth rate for the quarter ending
December 31, 2013 was pegged at 7.7%. Though it was
lower than 7.8% in the previous quarter, yet it was still
higher than the government's target rate of 7.5%.
The Roots of
Education are Bitter,
But the Fruit is Sweet.
GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
16

18. NOVEMBER 2013
BRICS International Competition Conference held in
New Delhi to discuss various issues and challenges in
competition enforcement in BRICS countries.
The 13th meeting of the Council of Ministers of the
Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation
(IOR-ARC) held on November 1 in Perth, Australia.
US Congress in Washington celebrated its first ever
Diwali festival amidst chanting of Vedic mantras by a
Hindu priest and lighting of the traditional "diyas".
The Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas was organized in
Sydney, Australia by the High Commission of India and
the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
Global Islamic Economic Summit held at Dubai
IRAN AGREES WITH WEST ON NUCLEAR ISSUE
After prolonged negotiations, Iran has agreed to curb some
of its nuclear activities as per a deal signed at Geneva with
the P5+1 group (the U.S, the U.K., France, Russia, China
and Germany). The deal will last for six months, opening
way for a permanent agreement.
THE DEAL: Iran agreed to halt enrichment of Uranium to
medium-grade (20%) purity, (which can be further enriched
to weapons-grade level relatively easily), and give better
access to UN inspectors. In return, the main sanctions on
oil and banking that have crippled the Iranian economy will
be lifted, leading to the eventual normalisation of relations
between Iran and the U.S. for the first time since the 1979
Islamic revolution.
COMMONWEALTH MEET HELD AT COLOMBO
22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
(CHOGM) 2013 was held at Colombo, Sri Lanka (15-17 Nov)
with the participation of 67 leaders from the Commonwealth
nations. The Summit was inaugurated by Prince Charles of
England as the representative of Queen Elizabeth, Head of
Commonwealth. The theme for CHOGM 2013 was “Growth
with Equity; Inclusive Development”. Shri Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India did not participate in the Summit.
WARSAW CLIMATE MEET 2013
The Warsaw Climate Change Conference 2013 concluded on
Nov. 23 at Warsaw, Poland under the aegis of UNFCCC
(United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).
The conference has two parts – COP-19 (Conference of
Parties) and CMP-9 (COP Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto
Protocol). No major decisions could be taken at this meet
due to lack of concurrence of the participating countries.
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT IS NO. 1 IN WORLD
Russian President Vladimir Putin takes the top spot
on Forbes’ ranking of “The World’s Most Powerful People” as
he continues to solidify control over Russia and the
international stage. President Barack Obama slipped to
second place, from the number one spot, followed by
General Secretary, Communist Party of China Xi Jinping.
‘APPLE’ IS THE TOPMOST BRAND
IT giant Apple has topped the 'World's
Most Valuable Brand List' compiled by
'Forbes' magazine with a brand value
of $104.3 billion followed by Microsoft,
Coca-Cola, IBM and Google, among
the top five.
FIRST EUROPE - ASIA RAIL LINK
The world's deepest underwater railway tunnel was opened
under the Bosphorus strait, Turkey, connecting two
continents – Asia and Europe, by rail for the first time.
Almost a mile of the 8.5-mile (13.6km) tunnel linking two
parts of Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, is immersed under
56 metres (184ft) of water. The project is named The
Marmaray link, by combining the Sea of Marmara with "ray,"
meaning rail in Turkish.
PERSONS IN NEWS
JANUARY 2014
ANAND SINHA: Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India
was in news as he retired from the service. He was looking
after the new bank license process.
ANEES SALIM: Kerala-based writer won The Hindu Prize
for Best Fiction 2013 for his novel Vanity Bagh for consistent
writing and humour and imagination. The Prize recognises
the contribution of Indian writers to literary culture.
CYRUS MISTRY: Mumbai-based author-journalist won the
prestigious $50,000 DSC prize for South Asian literature for
his book Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer narrating the painful
lives of members of the small Zoroastrian community of
corpse carriers. The Prize was given at the Jaipur Literature
Festival.
SACHIN TENDULKAR: Legendary cricketer was placed
fifth on a list of 30 most admired persons on the planet
compiled by by YouGov for The Times by surveying almost
14,000 people. The list was topped by Microsoft founder
Bill Gates.
GEN. BIKRAM SINGH: Indian Army Chief took over as
the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC), a body of
three service chiefs with the senior-most among them
heading it.
ASHA KHEMKA: A Bihar born eminent educationist has
been awarded one of Britain's highest civilian award-Dame
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE),
making her the first from the community to earn the honour
in past 83 years. The Damehood is in recognition of her
services to the deprived areas of the West Midlands as
Principal of West Nottinghamshire College for last 8 years.
MEERA
CHANDRASEKHAR:
An
Indian-American
university professor of physics and astronomy has been
honoured with the top US teaching award “Baylor
University's 2014 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great
Teaching”. The award carries the single largest monetary
reward of $250,000.
GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014
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