July 2015 news bits

July 2015
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Daily GK Update -
1st July 2015
1. Digital India huge
opportunity for health,
education: Anil Agarwal
i. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's 'Digital India' drive
will open up huge
opportunities in health and
education for rural areas,
creating a large number of
jobs.
ii. The initiative aims to
digitally deliver all the
essential services to
citizens and transform
India into a digitally
empowered society and
knowledge economy by
leveraging IT.
iii. Agarwal, who heads the
mining giant Vedanta
Resources Plc, is the Non-
Executive Chairman of
Sterlite Technologies Ltd
which is involved majorly
in laying the optical fibre
network to connect 2.5
lakh gram panchyats.
iv. It is undertaking Fiber-
to-the-Home (FTTH)
deployment in India to
enable high speed
broadband connectivity
and is developing several
transmission infrastructure
projects spanning over
5,000 Circuit Kms across
India.
2. World Bank approves
$650 mn loan for Eastern
Freight Corridor
i. The World Bank said on
Wednesday it had cleared a
$650 million loan for a
huge Indian freight rail
corridor that will span
1,840 kms (1,140 miles)
across the northern
heartland of the country.
ii. Construction of the
Eastern Dedicated Freight
Corridor will help speed up
the carrying of goods
between Ludhiana in the
western region and
Kolkata in the east, and is
part of a series of new
freight lines the World
Bank says India needs to
ease congestion on its
network.
iii. The loan is the third
from the World Bank to
help fund the freight
corridor. Last year the
bank approved a $1.1
billion outlay and in 2011
$975 million.
iv. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's
government, banking on
big investment in
infrastructure to boost the
economy, approved a $137
billion investment plan for
the railways in February.
3. BHEL commissions
Sudan's largest power
project
i. State-owned power
equipment maker Bhel
today said it has
commissioned Sudan's
largest power plant.
ii. Bhel has executed this
project on Engineering,
Procurement and
Construction (EPC) basis.
It has designed,
manufactured, supplied
and installed the complete
power project (4 units of
125 MW each) including
associated civil works.
iii. The project uses crude
oil from South Sudan as
fuel, for which Bhel has
designed special boilers.
All the major equipment
for the project -- boilers,
steam-turbines, generators,
Controls &
Instrumentation (C&I),

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transformers -- have been
manufactured in-house.
iv. The company has also
constructed a canal from
the White Nile River to
supply water for the
project. The project is
funded by the India's Line
of Credit of USD 350
million.
v. The Kosti plant is Bhel's
largest oil-fired thermal
power plant in the overseas
market. It is also Bhel's
first crude oil fired thermal
power plant in Africa and
comes on the heels of the
successful completion of
Bhel's 28 MW Nyaborango
Hydro project in Rwanda.
4. SBI partners with
MakeMyTrip for travel
biz
i. In its series of digital
initiatives and tie-ups,
State Bank of India,
country‘s largest bank,
partnered with online
travel company
MakeMyTrip.com to
capitalise on the business
opportunities of the
booming e-commerce and
m-commerce ecosystem.
ii. The alliance includes
partnership with personal
banking unit for consumer
facing propositions –
including EMIs on
purchase of holidays &
international travel,
customized travel products
like Forex cards and travel
products that inspire SBI
customers to travel.
iii. It also includes
partnership with SME &
Acquiring Business --
MMT suppliers, such as 2-
3 star hotels, franchisees,
Trade & Travel partners
will get access to SBI
products, loans, bank
guarantees, PoS payment
instruments at preferential
rates and partnership with
cards for promoting card
usage which will help in
pushing the agenda of a
less cash economy.
iv. MakeMyTrip
constitutes about 46% of
the bookings in the online
space and a lot of product
work is being done in the
$22-23 billion travel
industry ecosystem.
5. Shimla Rs 643 Cr
water scheme cleared for
World Bank funding
i. Chief Minister Virbhadra
Singh here disclosed that a
Rs 643 crore project for
augmenting the water
supply to the growing hill
city had been approved by
the union government.
ii. The project got the
union finance ministry nod
yesterday (29.6.2015) and
it would be placed before
World Bank for funding
purposes, said a
government spokesman.
PC Dhiman, additional
chief secretary, on behalf
of the state attended the
meeting.
iii. The loan component
would be Rs 514 crore and
the state government
would be contributing Rs
129 crore for funding the
project.
iv. The new project
involves lifting water from
Kol Dam reservoir on
River Satluj and it would
meet the water needs of
Shimla municipal
corporation as well
suburban areas under the
special planning area.
6. Railway Minister
Suresh Prabhu
Inaugurates Integrated
Security System in
Mumbai
i. Union Railway Minister
Suresh Prabhu inaugurated
the Integrated Security
System (ISS) at 6 railway
stations in Mumbai,
Maharashtra. The system
was inaugurated
Chhatrapati Shivaji
Terminus (CST), Dadar,
Kurla and Lokmanya Tilak
Terminus (LTT), Kalyan
and Thane.
ii. The ISS is advanced

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security systems that aims
at improving security on
Railway premises and also
ensure safety of the people
and avert terror attacks in
extreme case. The system
has a total of 118 CCTV
cameras. They will beam
the live images of railway
stations under its coverage
on six monitors.
iii. In the first of the
project which was
completed in June 2015 it
covered four stations CST,
Dadar, Kurla and LTT.
iv. The second phase is
expected to be completed
by December 2016. Apart
from this, he also
inaugurated a modified
foot over bridge (FOB) to
facilitate passenger
movement at Diva.
7. Matti Makkonen,
Father of SMS
technology passes away
i. Finnish telecom engineer
and father of messaging
service (SMS) technology
Matti Makkonen passed
away following serious
illness.
ii. He was 63. In 1984, he
had pioneered the idea of
sending messages via
mobile networks but failed
to patent it was merely
idea and was not actual
implementation.
iii. Matti Makkonen was
born on 16 April 1952 in
Suomussalmi, Finland. He
had graduated as an
electrical engineer from
the Oulu technical college
in 1976.
iv. He had served as vice
president of PTL and was
actively involved in the
development of the GSM-
technology from 1984 to
1988. In 1989, he was
appointed as President of
the mobile communication
unit which was later
renamed as Telecom
Finland.
v. he was awarded The
Economist‘s Innovation
Award in the computing
and telecommunications
category.
8. Abhijeet Gupta wins
19th Commonwealth
Chess Championship
i. Former world junior
champion and
Grandmaster Abhijeet
Gupta won the 19th
Commonwealth Chess
Championship.
ii. He won the gold medal
after settling for a quick
draw with his opponent
Arghyadip Das in the ninth
and final round played at
Mumbai, Maharashtra.
iii. In this Chess
Championship, Arghyadip
Das came second winning
the silver medal and M R
Lalith Babu won the
bronze medal in men‘s
section.
iv. In the women‘s section,
Padmini Rout won the gold
medal. While S
Vijayalakshmi and S
Meenakshi won silver and
bronze medal respectively.
In this championship both
Vijayalakshmi and
Meenakshi had won the
last six games.
1. Union Government hiked
national floor-level
minimum wage to 160
rupees per day
i. The Union Government in
June 2015 increased the
national floor-level minimum
wage (NFLMW) to 160
rupees per day from 137
rupees per day. The new rate
will be effective from 1 July
2015.

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ii. If states revise their
minimum wages as per the
new NFLMW, the decision is
expected to benefit millions
of workers in the scheduled
employments in the
respective state jurisdictions.
iii. It was implemented for
the first time in 1996 on the
basis of the recommendations
of the National Commission
on Rural Labour (NCRL)
under the Minimum Wages
Act, 1948.
iv. It is a non-statutory
measure and after every
revision, the State
Governments are persuaded
to fix minimum wages such
that in none of the scheduled
employments, the minimum
wage is less than NFLMW.
2. Greece becomes first
developed nation to default
IMF debt
i. Greece has become the first
developed nation to default
on International Monetary
Fund (IMF) debt. It has
defaulted on a 1.7 billion
dollars payment to IMF.
ii. The deadline for debt
payment was missed by
Greece after Eurozone
Finance Ministers refused to
extend its bailout. They had
refused the bailout after
Greece rejected the proposal
given International Monetary
Fund (IMF), European
Central Bank (ECB) and the
European Commission (EC).
Apart from this, ECB also
has frozen its liquidity
lifeline to Greek banks.
iii. It should be noted that
Greece is now formally in
arrears and there are fears
that this could put Greece at
risk of shifting back to its old
currency Drachma by leaving
the Euro. This may increase
in the cost of imports of
Greece leading to increase
inflation further worsening its
economic crisis.
iv. The Greece crisis may
depreciate the value Euro
which may led investors to
invest in Gold and Dollar to
be on the safer side. In this
case it may appreciate value
of dollar and make it stronger
as compared to Indian rupees.
3. Prof. Sanjeev Galande
selected for G D Birla
Award for Scientific
Research 2014
i.
Prof. Sanjeev Galande has
been selected for the
prestigious G D Birla award
for Scientific Research 2014.
He has been selected for his
significant contribution and
his pioneering research in the
field of Epigenetics and
Molecular Cell Biology.
ii. Presently, he is a professor
at the Indian Institute of
Science Education and
Research (IISER), Pune and
also leading a team of
scientists in studying various
aspects of gene
iii. Galande had obtained
doctorate in biochemistry
from Indian Institute of
Science (IISc), Bangalore in
1996. He is also a

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postdoctoral fellow at the
Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory in the US. He is
pioneer for establishing the
Centre of Excellence in
Epigenetics at IISER.
4. Cuba becomes first
nation to eliminate mother-
to-child HIV and syphilis:
WHO
i. Cuba has become the first
country in the world to
eliminate mother-to-child
transmission of HIV and
syphilis. It was announced by
the World Health
Organisation (WHO).
ii. Cuba was able to achieve
this milestone with the help
and efforts of WHO and the
Pan American Health
Organisation (PAHO).
iii. Since 2010, WHO/PAHO
are working with partners in
Cuba and other American
countries to implement a
regional initiative to
eliminate mother-to-child
transmission of HIV and
syphilis.
iv. Services under this
initiative were provided as
part of an equitable,
accessible and universal
health system. It included
services like maternal and
child health programs and
integrated programs for HIV
and sexually transmitted
infections.
5. 'Mhara Gaon - Jagmag
Gaon' scheme launched in
Haryana
i. Haryana government today
announced to launch a
voluntary scheme 'Mhara
Gaon - Jagmag Gaon', aimed
at providing 24-hour
uninterrupted power supply
to rural domestic consumers
and improving electricity bill
collections in order to reduce
"huge" accumulated losses of
power utilities.
ii. Announcing the scheme
here, Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar said the
state has become first in the
country to launch such an
"innovative" scheme.
iii. Explaining the scheme,
the Chief Minister said at
present rural consumers were
being supplied electricity for
only 12 hours daily.
iv. The consumers in these
310 villages falling under
these 83 feeders would now
be urged to install their
meters outside their houses
and get their old electricity
wires replaced with insulated
wires, the chief minister
said.
6. Dr Anup K Pujari joins
as Secretary, MSME
i. Dr Anup K Pujari has been
appointed Secretary of
Ministry of Small and
Medium Enterprises (MSME)
here on Wednesday.
ii. He succeeds Shri Madhav
Lal who superannuated on
June 30, 2015. Before joining
the Ministry of MSME,
Pujari was holding the charge
of Secretary, Mines.
iii. Born in 1956, Pujari is a
post-graduate from the
University of Boston, and a
Doctorate in Economics. He
has served the Central and
Karnataka Government in
various capacities.

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iv. Shri Balvender Kumar
took over the charge from Dr.
Anup K Pujari IAS (KN:
1980) who is now the
Secretary Ministry of Micro
Small and Medium
Enterprises.
7. NASA unveils prototype
of plane to fly on Mars
i. NASA has unveiled a
boomerang-shaped aircraft
that could be the first to take
flight on Mars to look for
potential landing sites for
future manned mission to the
red planet.
ii. The Prandtl—m will be
released at about at 100,000
feet altitude, which will
simulate the flight conditions
of the Martian atmosphere,
said Al Bowers, NASA
Armstrong chief scientist and
Prandtl—m programme
manager.
iii. The tests could validate
how the aircraft works,
leading to modifications that
will allow it to fold and
deploy from a 3U CubeSat in
the aeroshell of a future Mars
rover.
Daily GK Update -
3rd July 2015
1. Govt releases socio-
economic and caste census
for better policy-making
i. The socio-economic and
caste census (SECC) 2011 on
Friday painted a grim picture
of rural India, indicating that
one out of three families
living in villages is landless
and depends on manual
labour for livelihood.
ii. The SECC 2011, also the
first paperless census
conducted on hand-held
electronic devices by the
government, said 23.52%
rural families have no literate
adult above 25 years,
suggesting a poor state of
education among rural
masses.
iii. The census, carried out in
640 districts under the aegis
of the rural development
ministry, was released jointly
by finance minister Arun
Jaitley and rural
development minister
Chaudhary Birendra Singh.
iv. According to the census,
there are a total number of
24.39 crore households in
the country, of which 17.91
crore live in villages. Of
these, 10.69 crore
households are considered
as deprived.

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2. Nationwide Mobile
Number Portability goes live
i. The countrywide Mobile
Number Portability (MNP)
has become a reality today.
This means mobile
subscribers can now keep
their existing mobile phone
numbers even while shifting
between states and circles.
ii. The move lays the first
stone for the government's
'One nation, One number'
plan and is sure to benefit
millions of people across the
country.
iii. Earlier, the deadline to
rollout full MNP was May 2,
2015. This was, however,
extended by two months
after the Cellular Operators
Association of India asked for
an extension from the
telecom department.
iv. With about 3 million intra-
circle MNP requests every
month, more than 157
million subscribers have
ported to other operators as
of April, according to Trai
data.
3. Airbus to build military
choppers in India with
Mahindra
i. Europe's Airbus Group and
India's Mahindra Group have
struck a deal to build
helicopters jointly as they bid
to win an expected wave of
orders from the country's
armed forces, the companies
said in a statement on Friday.
ii. The two groups will form a
joint venture in the coming
months, aiming to become
the first private
manufacturer of helicopters
in India, the statement said.
It did not say how much the
two will invest.
iii. India is in the midst of a
huge upgrade of its armed
forces — analysts forecast it
will spend $250 billion over
the next decade — and
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi wants to encourage
more indigenous
manufacturing to end India's
position as the world's
largest arms importer.
iv. Airbus Helicopters, part of
Airbus Group, is joining
forces with Mahindra after
talking to several Indian
companies that are investing
hundreds of millions of
dollars to capitalise on the
government's push to build
arms at home.
4. SBI launches initiative to
speed up home loan
applications
i. Country's largest lender
State Bank of India today
launched an initiative to
provide doorstep services
and expedite home loans
application process.
ii. The initiative known as
'Project Tatkal' will help get
the loan within 10 days after
receipt of application form
and relevant supporting
documents, the bank said in
a release.
iii. The implementation will
be done at large centres with
sizable home loan business.

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iv. The bank has also recently
introduced an online
customer acquisition
solution (OCAS) for instant e-
approval of home loan
applications.
5. Indian-American
professor R Paul Singh
named for 2015 World
Agriculture Prize laureate
i.
R Paul Singh, Indian-
American professor has been
selected for 2015 World
Agriculture Prize laureate.
ii. The award was announced
at the annual Global
Confederation for Higher
Education Associations for
Agriculture and Life Sciences
(GCHERA) conference held at
the Holy Spirit University of
Kaslik, Lebanon.
iii. Singh is known for niche
research areas of agricultural
sector such as freezing
preservation, energy
conservation, post-harvest
technology and mass
transfer in food processing.
iv. He had earned a
bachelor’s degree in
agricultural engineering form
Punjab Agricultural
University. He had
completed his doctorate
from Michigan State
University, US.
6. Indian-American teacher
Darshan Jain receives US
Presidential Award
i.
Darshan Jain, an Indian-
American teacher has been
selected for prestigious
Presidential Award for
Excellence in Mathematics
and Science Teaching.
ii. He was named for the
award by President Barack
Obama along with 107
Mathematics and Science
teachers across US. All of
them were chosen for
shaping America’s success
through their passion for
Math and Science.
iii. Presently Darshan Jain is
director of mathematics at
Adlai E. Stevenson High
School in Lincolnshire,
Illinois. Previously, he had
taught mathematics at this
institute for eight years.
iv. US Presidential Award is
awarded annually to
outstanding science and
mathematics teachers from
across US from K-12
(kindergarten through 12th
grades). The award carries
monetary prize of US 10000
dollars.
7. Union Government
launches web portal for
issuing green clearance
Category B projects
i. Union Government has
launched a web portal for
online submission of
applications for environment
clearance by State
Environment Impact
Assessment Authorities
(SEIAA) for Category B
projects.
ii. It was launched by Union
Minister of State for
Environment, Forest and
Climate Change Prakash
Javadekar in New Delhi on
the occasion of Digital India

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Week. Soon after the launch
of the web portal, nineteen
states instantly have joined
it.
iii. The environment
clearance web portal raises
the levels of transparency
and accountability as the
clearances will be monitored
and carried out effectively on
a real time basis. It will also
help to reduce pendency for
maintaining the rigours of
Environment Clearance
process.
iv. It should be noted that
applications for Environment
Clearances under Category
‘B’ projects under EIA
notification, 2006 comes
under State government for
approval purpose.
Daily GK Update - 4th
July 2015
1. Guinness Book Recognises
Madhya Pradesh’s World
Record in Washing Hands
i. The Guinness Book of
World Records has
recognised a record created
in Madhya Pradesh on
‘World Hand washing Day’ in
2014.
ii. The mega hand washing
event was held on 15
October 2014 to create
awareness about hygiene by
washing hands with soap.
iii. It was organised in all the
51 districts of Madhya
Pradesh in over 13 thousand
places. In it more than 12
lakh 78 thousand students
had washed their hand
simultaneously.
iv. This record broke the
earlier the world record
which was jointly held by
Argentina, Peru and Mexico.
The joint record in three
countries was created on
October 14, 2011 in which
7,40,870 people had washed
their hands simultaneously
at different locations.
2. President of India receives
first copy of book 'Uniki'
i. The President of India, Shri
Pranab Mukherjee received
the first copy of the book
'Uniki' in Hyderabad today
(July 3, 2015). The book has
been written by Shri Ch
Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of
Maharashtra. The President
received the book from Shri
K Chandrashekar Rao, Chief
Minister of Telangana who
formally released it.
ii. Speaking on the occasion,
the President appealed to
the people of both the states
of Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana to work in close
harmony, so as to ensure
sustainable development
and betterment of the
people of the country and
help it earn its rightful place
in the comity of nations. He

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said that we all belong to
India.
iii. He stated that we need to
remember that we can
choose our friends but
cannot choose our
neighbours. Therefore, it is
us for decide whether we
should live in harmony and
peace with our neighbours.
iv. He stated that the title,
'Uniki', which means
Existence, evokes a
philosophical view of the
issues and events that have
been written about in this
book.
3. C D Balaji took charge as
Director of the Aeronautical
Development Agency
i. Commodore C D Balaji
(Retd) on 3 July 2015 took
charge as the Director of the
Aeronautical Development
Agency (ADA) and
Programme Director of the
Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
ii. He succeeded P S
Subramanyam, Distinguished
Scientist, who
superannuated on 30 June
2015.
iii. Prior to this appointment,
Balaji, an outsatnding
scientists, was Project
Director of the LCA’s naval
version. He was
commissioned into the
Indian Navy's engineering
branch in September 1978
and since then, he has
specialised in the Naval
Aviation Arm.
iv. He served as an Air
Engineer Officer of INAS 310
(Alize aircraft) for about 3
years embarking the Aircraft
Carrier Vikrant. He joined
ADA on deputation in 2002
to work on the development
of a naval version of the light
fighter. In December 2006,
he left the Navy and fully
moved to ADA.
v. Based in Bengaluru, ADA is
the premier multi-agency
body spearheading the
development of combat
aircraft for the Air Force and
the Navy- among them is the
LCA and the proposed
Advanced Medium Combat
Aircraft AMCA.
4. BSNL rolls out pre-paid
card linked mobile wallet
i. BSNL launched a pre-paid
card linked mobile wallet
service on Friday which
allows customers to transfer
cash, pay for services as well
as withdraw cash of up to Rs
1 lakh.
ii. The wallet service, Speed
Pay, allows a customer to
load money even if he does
not have a bank account. The
money loaded in the wallet
can be transferred to an
account and even withdrawn
at branches or at BSNL
outlets.
iii. Loading money into a
mobile wallet from a bank
account is an option. BSNL
customers who don't have
bank accounts can also load
money at any BSNL retail
outlet and ask the retailer to
recharge their mobile wallet
account and pay for various
services.
iv. There will be one-per cent
transaction charge if money
from the wallet is transferred
to other bank accounts or a
there is cash withdrawal.

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5. 4 Indian-Americans
honoured with Great
Immigrants award 2015 in
United States
i. Four Indian-Americans
have been honoured
withprestigious Great
Immigrants, The Pride of
America award 2015. They
are among 38 distinguished
personalities from more than
30 countries around the
world who have been
honoured with this year’s
award.
ii. The award is given by New
York-based Carnegie
Corporation on the occasion
of Independence Day of
United States i.e. 4th July.
Preet Bharara: US Attorney,
Southern District of New
York.
Rakesh Khurana: Dean of
Harvard College and Marvin
Bower Professor of
Leadership and
Development.
Madhulika Sikka: Vice
President and Executive
Editor of .Mic.
Abraham Verghese:
Physician, Professor and
Author.
6. Solar Impulse completes
epic flight to Hawaii
i. Solar Impulse, the
aeroplane that is powered
only by the sun, has landed
in Hawaii after making a
historic 7,200km flight across
the Pacific from Japan.
ii. The distance covered and
the time spent in the air -
118 hours - are records for
manned, solar-powered
flight. The duration is also an
absolute record for a solo,
un-refuelled journey.
iii. Mr Borschberg's time
betters that of the American
adventurer Steve Fossett
who spent 76 hours aloft in a
single-seater jet in 2006.
iv. Solar Impulse's slow
speed, light weight and 72m
wingspan put significant
constraints on the type of
weather the vehicle can
handle, and that first sortie
was aborted after just one
day in the air because of a
fast developing cold front
ahead of it.
7. Former CJI Y K Sabharwal
passes away
i. Former Chief Justice of
India Y K Sabharwal passed
away here last evening. 73-
year-old Justice Sabharwal is
survived by two sons Chetan
and Nitin. The cremation will
take place today.
ii. Justice Sabharwal was CJI
from November 1, 2005 to
January 13, 2007.
iii. He was elevated as an
additional judge of the Delhi
High Court in 1986 and
became its permanent judge
in April 1987.
iv. From Delhi High Court, he
went to Bombay High Court
as chief justice before being
appointed as a judge of the
SC on January 28, 2001.
v. Justice Sabharwal
delivered several important
judgements including the
verdict in January 2006, that
held the dissolution of Bihar
Assembly as illegal and
unconstitutional.

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Daily GK Update - 5th
and 6th July 2015
1. C-DOT launches solar
powered, long distance WiFi
hotspots
i. As part of the 'Digital India
Week', Centre for
Development of Telematics
(C-DOT) on Monday
launched four new products
including solar powered Wi-
Fi and long distance Wi-Fi.
ii. The solar powered Wi-Fi
hotspots can be used for
smart cities, rural schools or
panchayats, extending
broadband connectivity
remote/ unconnected places.
It can also be used in ship to
ship communications in deep
seas.
iii. The state-of-the-art
telecommunication
technology developer that
launched long-distance Wi-
Fi, said such technology can
be used for operator sharing,
support to link redundancy in
case of failure of one radio/
link.
iv. Apart from these, C-DOT
also launched Next
Generation Network solution
that will address the needs of
the changing telecom
scenario and would enable
smooth transition from Time
Division Multiplexing (TDM)
to Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP).
2. Uttar Pradesh first to
have vehicle tracking system
i. Uttar Pradesh State Road
Transport Corporation
(UPSRTC) has become the
first State transport
corporation to have a vehicle
tracking system for inter-city
buses, which has led to a
reduction in accidents and
deaths as drivers are wary of
crossing the speed limits.
ii. In a passenger-friendly IT
initiative, UPSRTC is also in
talks with Delhi Transport
Corporation and State
transport undertakings in
Haryana, Rajasthan and
Himachal to have a common
bus travel card, apart from
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
iii. This is to ensure that the
smart cards used by UPSRTC
passengers (issued by State
Bank of India and ICICI Bank)
become interoperable with
these Metro rail systems and
buses, said Meshram at a
PHDCCI event here.
3. India women’s hockey
team arrive to grand
welcome
i. Having all but booked a
berth in next year’s Rio
Olympics, Indian women’s
hockey team arrived in New
Delhi early morning to a
grand welcome amidst
beating of drums and loud
cheers.

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ii. India women’s team’s lone
Olympic appearance was at
Moscow in 1980. Effectively,
India’s fifth spot should
secure them an Olympic
Games ticket when the
countdown to allocate spots
takes place.
iii. Indian women’s team
skipper Ritu Rani said they
will begin their preparations
for the Olympics instantly
even though they still await
an official confirmation from
the International Hockey
Federation (FIH)
iv. Three teams — The
Netherlands, South Korea
and Australia have secured
their Rio de Janeiro tickets,
but South Korea have already
earned an Olympic slot by
winning the Asian Games
gold medal.
4. Tata Teleservices appoints
Anuraag Srivastava as CFO
i.
Telecom service provider
Tata Teleservices today
announced the appointment
of Anuraag Srivastava as its
Chief Financial Officer with
immediate effect. Prior to
taking up the new role,
Srivastava served Indus
Towers as Senior Vice-
President of Internal Audit
and Assurance.
ii. He brings with him over 20
years of experience as a
finance professional with
leadership roles in finance
and consumer goods and
telecom businesses across
multiple geographies,
including India, the US and
South Asia.
iii. Tata Teleservices has
established itself as a trusted
and one of the most relied
upon innovative telecom
brands in the country and is
rapidly scaling its businesses
across the markets,
Srivastava said.
5. E-filing of ITR: Aadhaar
can be linked for easier
processing
i. Last week, the finance
ministry announced the
commencement of the
electronic filing of income
tax returns for 2015-16. The
department had notified the
revised forms two weeks
back, after the earlier forms
were criticised for seeking
unwieldy additional details
on taxpayers' foreign travel
and dormant bank accounts.
ii. starting this time, the ITR
forms now have a space for
Aadhaar card holders to
provide their Unique
Identification Numbers.
iii. The tax department has
also introduced the new
three-page simplified form
called ITR-2A for those who
may own more than one
residential property , but do
not have any capital gains.
iv. Most of these sites have a
freemium model, where the
basic ITR-1 filing is free.
However, for the more
complicated filings such as
for small businesses and

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personal CA assistance, you'll
have to pay.
6. Lewis Hamilton wins 2015
Birtish Grand Prix of F1
i. Mercedes driver Lewis
Hamilton of Britain won 2015
Birtish Grand Prix of Formula
One (F1). This was his fourth
victory of the season and his
second of Birtish Grand Prix.
ii. With this victory Hamilton
became second British F1
driver to win Birtish Grand
Prix two times after David
Coulthard.
iii. The drivers ranking after
British Grand Prix 2015
 Lewis Hamilton
(Britain) of
Mercedes.
 Nico Rosberg
(Germany) of
Mercedes.
 Sebastian Vettel
(Germany) of Ferrari.
 Felipe Massa (Brazil)
of Williams.
7. US wins Women’s FIFA
World Cup for 3rd time
i. United States (US) won the
2015 FIFA Women’s World
Cup. It is overall third world
cup title of US. In the World
Cup final match played at
Vancouver, Canada US
defeated Japan by 5-2 goals
score.
ii. US captain and skipper
Carli Lloyd scored three
goals. Lauren Holiday and
Tobin Heath scored one goal
each.
iii. The important awards in
women world cup :
Golden Ball Award: Carli
Lloyd (US), Amandine Henry
(France), Aya Miyama
(Japan).
Golden Boot Award: Celia
Sasic (Germany), Carli Lloyd
(US), Anja Mittag (Germany).
Golden Glove Award: Hope
Solo (US).
8. Chile wins Copa America
title 2015 of football for first
time
i. Chile won South America’s
most prestigious football
trophy, the Copa America
title 2015 for the first time. It
is Chile’s first ever
international trophy in
Football. In the final match
played at Santiago de Chile,
the hosts defeated 14 times
champion Argentina by 4-1
goals in the penalty shootout
as regular match had ended
in a goal-less draw.
ii. In the penalty shootout
Matías Fernández, Arturo
Vidal, Alexis Sanchez and
Charles Aránguiz of Chilean
team scored 1 goal each.
While from Argentina team
only Lionel Messi scored goal
in the penalty shoot.
iii. The Copa America (means
America Cup in Spanish and
Portuguese) title is an annual
international football
competition.It is played
between the men’s national
football teams of South
American Football
Confederation (CONMEBOL).

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Daily GK Update
- 7th July 2015
1. ICRISAT unveils $300
phablet for farmers
i. Farmers now can have
customised tips on their
phablet on the kind of
agricultural inputs they might
require for their field.
ii. Based on the specific soil
health of their small chunks
of lands, scientists at the
International Crops Research
Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT) and Government
of Telangana would send
timely messages to the
farmers through the phablet.
iii. The Hyderabad-
headquartered ICRISAT
launched the Green Phablet,
priced at $300 (about Rs.
18,600), for farmers in
Telangana. The institute
would maintain servers to
safe keep the information.
And even if a user loses his
device, he would be able to
get back the information in no
time.
iv. ICRISAT Director-General
David Bergvinson signed a
tripartite agreement on
Tuesday with the
Departments of Agriculture
and Information Technology
to collaborate in transforming
agriculture using digital
technologies.
v. Addressing a gathering
later, Telangana IT Minister
KT Rama Rao said that there
was a need to bring down the
cost of the device to Rs.
10,000 to make it affordable
for farmers.
2. Rajasthan might emulate
Maharashtra's 'Jal Yukt
Shivar Abhiyan'
i. Impressed with the
progress of Maharashtra's
'Jal Yukt Shivar Abhiyan,'
Rajashtan may also adopt
the state's flagship water
conservation and Integrated
water management scheme.
ii. Aiming to learn more about
the state's water conservation
programme, a delegation
from Rajasthan, comprising a
minister and senior
bureaucrats are on
Maharashtra tour and will
visit a few sites where the
project is currently
underway.
iii. "Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan
is an ambitious program of
Chief Minister Devendra
Fadnavis and he has toured
almost each and every
district to visit the project
sites," Pankaja Munde,
minister for water
conservation said.
iv. Meanwhile, after
successfully involving people
in implementing the scheme,
Munde is considering to
organise a 'Jalchetana Yatra'
across the state from 2nd
October.
3. Inshore patrol vessel
Rani Durgavati joins Indian
Coast Guard
i. Inshore patrol vessel Rani
Durgavati was inducted into
the Coast Guard here on
Friday at a ceremony where
the Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief of the

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Eastern Naval Command,
Vice-Admiral Satish Soni,
was the chief guest.
ii. Vice-Admiral Soni said
coastal security had
undergone a sea change
after 26/11, and added that
all agencies were important
partners in preparedness.
However, the Coast Guard
was the most important one
in coordinating with various
agencies. He described Rani
Durgavati as "another arrow
in the quiver of the Coast
Guard.‖
iii. Rani Durgavati, the third in
a series of five inshore patrol
vessels of the Coast Guard,
is named after the legendary
Gond Queen who defeated
the army of Baz Bahadur of
the Mughal Army.
iv. Hindustan Shipyard Ltd
which had built 174 ships and
repaired 2,000 vessels
across the range, including
submarines.
4. President Pranab
Mukherjee Inaugurates
'Nakshatra Vatika'
i. President Pranab
Mukherjee today inaugurated
a 'Nakshatra Vatika' in the
gardens of Rashtrapati
Nilayam in Hyderabad, one of
the Presidential Retreats. He
took a round of the garden
and watered a plant
representing 'Surya' or the
Sun God.
ii. He was accompanied by
Governor of Telangana and
Andhra Pradesh E S L
Narasimhan and Telangana
Deputy Chief Minister
Mohammad Ali, an official
release said.
iii. The garden will be open to
public along with other
gardens of the Nilayam in the
first week of January 2016.
The layout of 'Nakshatra
Vatika' has been developed
in various geometrical
combinations corresponding
to the Sree Chakra of Vedic
astrology on a 0.91 acre plot.
iv. Each square is planted
with a particular tree or plant
variety that represents the
respective planet and is
placed as per the
astronomical direction. The
first inner circular band is
divided in 12 small circles at
parts of 30A each
corresponding to the 12
Rashi (zodiac sign). Each
has a plant that represents
the particular zodiac sign.
5. India skipper Mithali Raj
completes 5000 runs in
women's ODIs
i. Skipper Mithali Raj scripted
a new chapter in the history
of Indian women's cricket as
she became the first from the
country and overall second to
reach the 5000-run milestone
in one-day internationals.
ii. Her stylish unbeaten knock
of 81 in Bengaluru on
Monday guided the team to
an eight-wicket victory over
New Zealand, thereby
leveling the five-match series
2-2.
iii. With the help of her pivotal
innings, India chased down
the target of 220 only in 44.2
overs. Before Mithali, only
English woman Charlotte
Edwards had completed
5000 runs in ODIs.
iv. Mithali fabulous innings
was decorated with 10 well-
timed boundaries. However,
Harmanpreet Kaur's fireworks
of 32 runs in 25 balls, with
the help of four boundaries
and two giant sixes, also
entertained the crowd.
Harmanpreet ended the
match with a straight six off
spinner Leigh Kasperek.

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6. IDBI signs refinance
agreement with Mudra
Bank
i. State-run IDBI Bank today
said it has signed an
agreement with Mudra Bank
for refinancing of loans given
to small enterprises.
ii. As per the agreement, the
Bank will offer credit facilities
up to Rs 10 lakh to micro
enterprises, at a competitive
interest rate under Pradhan
Mantri Mudra Yojana
(PMMY) and Mudra will be
providing refinance
assistance to the bank for
eligible sanctioned loan
cases.
iii. The refinance scheme will
be implemented through all
the branches of the lender.
iv. Last week, Bank of
Maharashtra had also signed
an agreement with Mudra
Bank for refinancing of loans
given to new entrepreneurs
and small businesses.
7. China nominated Jin
Liqun, former Chinese
Finance Minster, for the
post of AIIB President
i. Former Finance Minster of
China Jin Liqun was in news
as on 6 July 2015 he was
nominated by China to be the
first president of the Beijing-
backed Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB).
ii. At present, Jin (65) is
Secretary General of AIIB's
interim secretariat. Earlier, he
has held positions at the
World Bank and was the first
Chinese national to serve as
a vice president at the Japan-
controlled Asian
Development Bank (ADB).
iii. Before joining AIIB in
2014, Jin was chairman of
China International Capital
Corporation, one of the
mainland's largest investment
banks. He holds a master's
degree in English Literature
from the Beijing Foreign
Studies University and was a
Hubert Humphrey Fellow in
Boston University's
economics graduate
programme.
iv. The nominations for the
post of president can be sent
by the regional members by
31 July 2015 and the name of
the president-designate will
be finalised at the 6th Chief
Negotiators' Meeting of the
AIIB founding members in
August 2015.
8. Renowned Urdu novelist
Abdullah Hussain passed
away
i. Renowned Urdu novelist
from Pakistan Abdullah
Hussain died on 4 July 2015
in Lahore after battling with
blood cancer. He was 84.He
is survived by his wife, a son
and a daughter.
ii. He authored the bestseller
and critically acclaimed novel
Udas Naslain, it is considered
as a masterpiece of Urdu
literature. His other famous
novels are Baagh, Nadaar
Loag and short stories Faraib
and Nashaib. Hussain was
also awarded with the Prime
Minister's Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2015
for his work.
iii. Hussai was born as
Mohammad Khan on 14
August 1931 in Gujrat,
Punjab Province of Pakistan.
He did his schooling and
graduation from Zameendar
College of Pakistan.

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Daily GK
update: 8 July
2015
1. According to World Bank
Report "MGNREGA"
world’s largest public
works programme
i) World Bank has ranked the
Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Gurantee
Act (MGNREGA) as the
world‘s largest public works
programme.
ii) It was revealed in recently
released World Bank Group‘s
report titled ‗The State of
Social Safety Nets 2015‗.
Report Highlights MGNREGA
(under Ministry of Rural
Development) provides social
security net to 182 million
beneficiaries i.e. almost 15
per cent of the India‘s
population.
iii) Mid-day meal scheme
(under Ministry of Human
Resource Development) has
been classified as biggest
school feeding programme. It
benefits around 105 million
beneficiaries.
iv) Janani Suraksha Yojna
(Under Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare) is top-most
social security programme
with conditional cash
transfers. It has 78 million
beneficiaries.
v) Indira Gandhi National Old
Age Pension Scheme (under
Ministry of Rural
Development) is the second-
largest unconditional cash
transfer social security
progamme in the world. Five
middle-income countries
running the world‘s largest
social safety net programmes
are India, China, South Africa
and Ethiopia.
2. UGC grants heritage
status to 19 colleges
i) UGC has approved for
financial assistance to 19
colleges for conserving
campuses and specialised
courses related to heritage
ii) The colleges which have
been granted the status
include St.Xavier‘s College,
Mumbai; CMS College
Kottayam; St Joseph College,
Trichy; Khalsa College,
Amritsar; St Bede‘s College,
Shimla, Christ Church
College in Kanpur, Old Agra
College, Agra; Meerut
College, Meerut and Langat
Singh College in Bihar‘s
Muzaffarpur.
iii) Others which have figured
in the list are Govt.Brennan
College, Kerala; University
College in Mangalore, Cotton
College in Guwahati,
Midnapore college in West
Bengal, Govt Medical
Science in Jabalpur, Deccan
Education Society‘s
Fergusson College in Pune,
Hislop college in Nagpur,
Govt. Gandhi Memorial
Science College in Jammu,
Kanya Mahavidyalya in
Jalandhar and St Xavier‘s
College in Kolkata.
3. Infosys signs multi-year
agreement with Deutsche
Bank.
i) Infosys, India‘s second
largest IT services exporter,
on Wednesday announced
that it has signed a multi-year
agreement with Deutsche
Bank.

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ii) Under the terms of the
deal, Infosys will provide
services like development,
application maintenance,
digital and mobility, package
implementation and testing
services across the Deutsche
Bank Group, Infosys press
release said.
iii) ―Deutsche Bank is
committed to applying
innovative technology to
enhance its efficiency and
service to clients. Working
with Infosys will help the bank
to achieve these goals,‖ Kim
Hammonds, Global Chief
Information Officer, Deutsche
Bank said.of the company
unless it is required by law.
iv) Deutsche Bank‘s Supplier
Partnership Program was
successfully launched in
June 2014 to concentrate the
most strategic vendors based
on business impact across all
categories of the bank.
4. BRICS Central Banks
Sign Forex Reserves Pool
Pact.
i) The five major emerging
national economies, known
by the acronym BRICS, were
a step closer to setting up a
$100 billion pool of mutual
reserves by signing an
―operational agreement‖
ii) The pool would be drawn
on by the central banks of
Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa whenever
they suffered a shortage of
dollar liquidity, helping them
maintain financial stability,
Russia‘s central bank said.
iii) The Bank of Russia in
Moscow. The central banks
of Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa have signed
an operational pact to set up
a pool of foreign exchange
reserves.
iv) Financial stability has
been Moscow‘s sore point
over the past year as the
Russian economy has
slipped into recession, while
the country has lost access to
global capital markets, due to
Western sanctions, and has
had to drain billions of dollars
from its reserves.
5. Ashok Haldia appointed
MD and CEO of PTC India
Financial Services
i) PTC India Financial
Services said on Wednesday
that Ashok Haldia was
appointed the company‘s
new Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer.
ii) Haldia has been a part of
the company‘s board as a
whole-time director for the
last seven years. Prior to
joining PTC India Financial
Services, Haldia served as a
Secretary in the Institute of
Chartered Accounts of India.
He has also been a member
of several Central
Government committees.
iii) Dr. Ashok Haldia is Whole
Time Director of PTC India
Financial Services Limited. A
member of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of
India, Institute of Company
Secretaries of India and the
Institute of Cost and Works
Accountants of India. Dr.
Ashok Haldia has diversified
experience of project
financing and industrial
financing policy, public sector
policy reforms, evaluation
and management, power
sector reform, restructuring
and financing.
6. K7 Computing signs pact
with ICT Academy
i) K7 Computing Pvt. Ltd, a
Chennai-based provider of
safe and secure computing
experience, has signed a
memorandum with ICT
Academy of Tamil Nadu to
jointly conduct 12 power
seminars across the state
and ICT awareness week in
six cities.
ii) The seminar will be held in
Chennai, Coimbatore,
Madurai, Tiruchirapalli,
Salem and Tirunelveli and
will highlight the importance
of cyber security and the
latest developments within
that spectrum, says a press
release from K7.
iii) The academy, a
Government of India,
Government of Tamil Nadu

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and Industry initiative, has
introduced a platform for all
the stakeholders to discuss
improving the industry-
institute interaction on the
key issues.
7. India, Kazakhstan launch
first drilling at Satpayev oil
block of OVL
i) India and Kazakhstan
launched the first exploratory
drilling at Satpayev oil block
owned by India‘s ONGC
Videsh Limited (OVL) and
Kazakhstan company
KazMunaiGaz. It was jointly
launched by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and
Kazakhstan premier Karim
Massimov in Astana, Kazakh
capital.
ii) Satpayev oil block is an
offshore field located in the
Northern Caspian Sea. It has
potential reserves estimated
at 1.8 billion barrels crude oil
and natural gas.
1. eMudhra launches eSign
Services
i. eMudhra Limited, a leading
certifying firm in the country
for digital signatures
launched first of its kind
eSign services in the country
as part of the Digital India
Vision.
ii. ESign is an online
electronic signature service
which can facilitate an
Aadhaar holder to digitally
sign a document within
seconds. The signatures
generated by eSign are
legally valid and secure
under the Information
Technology Act, 2000
iii. As part of the Digital India
Vision, Prime Minister
launched eSign services in
the country on July 1st.
iv. ESign can "revolutionise"
the way business and
governance is conducted in
the country and pave the way
for a digital transformation
into a paperless environment,
eMudhra said in a statement.
v. By using eMlocker along
with eSign, one can store
documents such as PAN
cards, Aadhaar cards,
electricity bills or any other
documents electronically.
2. Satish Pillai, new MD &
CEO of CIBIL
i. Credit Information Bureau
India Ltd (CIBIL), India‘s
leader in credit information,
has appointed Satish Pillai as
its new Managing Director
and Chief Executive Officer
on Thursday.
ii. Pillai succeeds Arun
Thukral who retires this year
after a decade. Satish Pillai
has been serving CIBIL in the
capacity of Chief Operating
Officer for more than four
years where he was
responsible for product
development and bureau
operations.
iii. Earlier, Pillai led
TransUnion‘s operations in
India overlooking the creation
of the solutions team that
supported generic and
custom analytics and
decisioning technologies,
including the launch of the
CIBIL TransUnion Score-
India‘s first generic scoring
model, CIBIL said in a
statement.

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iv. CIBIL, India‘s largest
credit information bureau,
maintains credit information
on more than 406 million
consumer accounts and 22
million business accounts
and has a membership base
of over 1400 banks and credit
institutions.
3. Lord Kamlesh Patel
becomes first British-Asian
appointee to ECB Director
i. Professor Lord Kamlesh
Patel has become the first
British Asian to be appointed
as Director of England and
Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
ii. He succeeds Lord Morris
of Handsworth, who had
stepped down after 11 years
as an ECB Director. Lord
Patel was born to Indian
parents in Nairobi, Kenya. He
later had moved to United
Kingdom. He hails from
Bradford and is a leading
voice on health, social care
and community cohesion in
UK.
iii. Presently, he is Labour
Peer in the House of Lords
and professor at the
University of East London.
He is also Chair of the
Bradford Teaching Hospitals
NHS Foundations Trust and
is a former Chairman of the
Mental Health Act
Commission.
iv. He had played cricket for
number of local clubs and
was allrounder. He had
retired in 1998 from cricket
after taking all 10 wickets in a
league game. He formerly
had worked for the Yorkshire
Cricket Academy as a part-
time coach.
4. Union Government
appoints Sriram
Kalyanaraman as MD and
CEO of NHB
i. Union government has
appointed Sriram
Kalyanaraman as the
Managing Director (MD) and
Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of National Housing
Bank (NHB) for a period of
five years.
ii. With this he became the
first person from private
sector to be appointed as
head of a public sector
financial institution.
iii. Presently, Kalyanaraman
is director-business
development Equifax Credit
Information Services. Prior to
joining Equifax, he was
Director, Business Clients
and Asset Products at
Deutsche Bank India.
iv. NHB is apex regulator for
housing finance sector and a
wholly owned subsidiary of
Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
5. Indian Railway’s
launches Mobile ticketing
app for suburban
commuters in Mumbai
i. Indian Railways launched a
mobile ticketing application
for unreserved tickets for
commuters in Western
Railway. It was launched by
Union Railway Minister
Suresh Prabhu. This mobile
ticketing service will cover 35
stations between the 123 km
long Churchgate -Dhauroad
and facilitate a hassle free
travel for lakhs of daily
passengers in Mumbai.
ii. The app is based for both
Android and Windows
platforms and it can be
downloaded from Google
Play Store or Windows Store
by the user.
iii. The app provides
necessary on-screen alerts to
guide the passenger during
the booking process.
Payment for booking the
ticket can be done through

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railway wallet feature in the
App. Passenger will get ticket
confirmation screen after
booking the ticket.
6. Sanjeev Nandan Sahai
appointed as Delhi's new
Home Secretary
i. Senior IAS officer Sanjeev
Nandan Sahai was today
appointed as the new Home
Secretary of Delhi, ending a
bitter tussle between
Lieutenant Governor Najeeb
Jung and the AAP
government.
ii. The order appointing
Sahai, a 1986 batch Union
Territory cadre officer, was
issued by Union Home
Ministry, official sources
said.
iii. Sahai's name was zeroed
in as a compromise
candidate for the high post
after continuous tussle
between the LG and the
Arvind Kejriwal-led
government.
iv. Pal was removed by the
AAP government after he
signed a notification
appointing Joint
Commissioner of Delhi Police
M K Meena as new chief of
Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB)
following Jung's order.
7. Essar Oil signs pact to
sell 49% stake to Russia's
Rosneft
i. Russian oil firm Rosneft
will buy 49 per cent stake in
Essar Oil, the firm that owns
India's second biggest oil
refinery, for an undisclosed
amount, the Ruia-owned firm
said on Thursday.
ii. The proposed transaction
is conditional upon various
factors such as due diligence,
determination of the
transaction price, execution
of definitive transaction
documents and receipt of
requisite approvals
iii. Also, a Long Term Crude
Oil Supply Agreement by the
two firms in was signed in
Ufa, Russia for import of 10
million tonnes a year of crude
oil for a period of 10 years.
iv. This contract has been
signed in pursuance to the
Key Terms executed
between the two companies
in December 2014 at New
Delhi.
8. Indian athletes win more
than 150 medals at World
Police & Fire Games
i. Indian athletes put up an
impressive show at the 2015
World Police & Fire Games
which concluded here on
Sunday, winning more than
150 medals.
ii. Hosts United States won
by far the most medals,
1,777, including nearly 700
golds. Canada finished
second with nearly 430
medals.
iii. The Indian athletes‘s tally
included 89 golds and 50
silvers. They competed in
only seven sporting
categories: athletics,
wrestling, boxing, judo,
archery, swimming and
shooting.
iv. Kaur, an assistant sub
inspector with Punjab Police,
earned 5 gold medals in the
track and field events,
winning every event she
competed in. CRPF‘s Mishra,
who was taking part in her
fifth Police & Fire Games,
won an impressive 6 golds
and 2 silvers in swimming
events.

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1. India gets full membership
of Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation
i. India today bagged the full
membership of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation
(SCO) along with Pakistan.
ii. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi congratulated Pakistan on
joining the SCO.
Modi is on a three-day visit to
Russia to attend the BRICS and
SCO summits
iii. Indian PM Narendra Modi
has accepted an invitation from
his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz
Sharif to attend a regional
summit in Islamabad next year.
2. Bharat Electronics-made
Akash inducted into Indian
Air Force
i) Defence PSU Bharat
Electronics made Akash
inducted into Indian Air
Force.
ii) BEL, the nodal agency and
supplies major sub-systems,
today at a ceremony held at
Air Force Station, Gwalior,
handed over the missile
system.
iii) Akash is a great success
story of the ‗Make in India‘
initiative and Bharat
Electronics Limited is proud
to be a part of it. Barring a
few electronic components,
every bit of Akash has the
‗Made in India' tag. Almost 92
per cent of the total cost of
inputs is sourced within India.
iv)The induction of Akash into
the Indian Air Force was
marked by the symbolic
handing over of the ‗key‘ of
the weapon system by S K
Sharma, Chairman and
Managing Director, BEL, to
the Defence Minister,
Manohar Parrikar, who in turn
handed over the key to Air
Chief Marshal Arup Raha,
Chief of the Air Staff. S
Christopher, Director
General, DRDO, was
present. The ceremony was
also attended by senior
dignitaries of the Ministry of
Defence, Indian Air Force,
DRDO and Defence PSUs.
3. Russian cosmonaut
Gennady Padalka sets
record for spending
longest time in space
i. Russian cosmonaut
Gennady Padalka has set a
Guinness World Record for
spending longest time in
space with a total of 804 days
as on July 2015. With this he
broke the previous record of
803 days, nine hours and 41
minutes set by Russian
cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev
(now retired) across six
missions from 1998 to 2005.
ii. Gennady Padalka was
selected as a cosmonaut
candidate at the Gagarin
Cosmonaut Training Center
in 1989.
iii. Currently, he is the
commander of the
International Space Station
(ISS) which is orbiting the
Earth. He is associated with
ISS from 2000 and had taken
part in various space
expeditions.
iv. Padalka is going to return
to Earth in September 2015.
When he will return to Earth,
he would have spent record
total 877 days or around 2.5
years in space.

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4. Uttarakhand gets India’s
first earthquake early
warning system
i. Uttarakhand became first
Indian state to install a
system to detect earthquakes
and disseminate warnings.
The first system has been
installed in its capital
Dehradun which will issue
warnings 1-40 seconds
before earthquakes of
magnitude 5 or more occur.
ii. The system is designed
and manufactured by Italian
firm, Space Dynamics which
already has installed it in
Japan, Italy and US.
iii. The system is
incorporated with sensors
which are capable to detect P
(Primary) and S (Secondary)
waves generated during an
earthquake. It is capable to
detect the harmless P wave,
which travels faster than the
S wave for advance warning.
iv. The second system will be
established at Pithoragarh in
the Kumaon region of
Uttarakhand. According to
the Bureau of Indian
Standards (BIS), Uttarakhand
falls under seismic zone V
i.e. High-Risk Seismic Zone.
Apart from it, Jammu and
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,
Rann of Kutch (Gujarat),
Northern Bihar and Andaman
& Nicobar Islands also fall
under this seismic zone.
5. State Bank of Travancore
(SBT) has launched the
‘SBT NRI Family Card'
i. State Bank of Travancore
(SBT) has launched the ‗SBT
NRI Family Card,‘ a prepaid
card for resident Indians –
family
member/dependent/acquaint
ance of NRIs.
ii. The prepaid card can be
used for cash withdrawals
through ATM, online
payments and POS (point of
sale) payments at merchant
establishments. Jeevandas
Narayan, Managing Director,
launched the card at a
function held at the NRI
Premium Banking Branch of
the bank here.
iii. A card holder in India can
now easily receive
remittances from an NRI by
way of periodic recharge
through the NRI‘s internet
banking account.
6. Exim Bank, BRICS
member development
banks ink MoU with New
Development Bank
i. Export-Import Bank of India
(Exim Bank) today said it has
signed a multilateral
agreement to cooperate with
New Development Bank
(NDB) along with other
member development banks
of BRICS nations.
ii. New Development Bank
(NDB) is promoted by the
BRICS nations -- Brazil,
Russia, India, China, and
South Africa. The agreement
was signed between Exim
Bank Chairman and
Managing Director
Yaduvendra Mathur and
Chairpersons or Presidents
of other member
development banks of BRICS
in Ufa, Russia during the
BRICS Summit 2015, a bank
release said.
iii. Exim Bank also signed a
cooperation agreement with
Brazilian Development Bank
(BNDES).This MoU is aimed
at sharing of knowledge,
information and best
practices; capacity building of
personnel, including project
development skills; promotion
of joint events, research and
programmes; development of
effective and sustainable
financing solutions for
projects of mutual interest,
7. PM Modi proposes ‘Das
Kadam: Ten Steps for the
Future’ for BRICS nations
The 10 steps (10 kadam)
suggested by PM Modi are:
1. Trade fair
2. Railway Research Centre
3. Cooperation among
supreme audit institutions
4. Digital Initiative
5. Agricultural Research
Centre
6. State/Local Government's
Forum
7. Cooperation amongst
cities in field of Urbanisation
8. BRICS Sports Council
9. Annual Sports Meet
10. BRICS film festival

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India will be hosting the 8th
BRICS summit in 2016
Daily GK
update: 11th
July 2015
1. Isro's PSLV rocket
powers five British
satellites into orbit
i. India ferried five British
satellites into orbit on its
space warhorse PSLV-C28
that blasted off from Isro‘s
Satish Dhawan Space Centre
at Srikarihota in Andhra
Pradesh on Friday night.
ii. The rocket blasted off
sharp at 9:58pm from the first
launch pad with five satellites
together weighing around
1,440kg, marking the space
agency's heaviest
commercial mission so far.
iii. The five international
satellites were launched as
part of the arrangement
entered into between DMC
International Imaging
(DMCii), a wholly owned
subsidiary of SSTL, UK and
Antrix Corporation Limited.
iv. These satellites can image
any target on the Earth's
surface every day. Major
application areas include
surveying the resources on
earth and its environment,
managing urban
infrastructure and monitoring
disasters.
v. The last such major launch
by Isro was on June 30, 2014
when France's SPOT 7
satellite weighing 714kg was
carried by a PSLV rocket.
2. On World Population
Day, Indians number
1,274,234,538
i. On World Population Day,
Indians numbered
1,274,234,538 at 2.30 p.m.
on Saturday, constituting an
estimated 17.23 percent of
the overall global inhabitation
of humans, as per data
available with an independent
socio-economic statistical
organisation.
ii. According to Indiastat.com,
which compiled secondary
level socio-economic
statistical information on India
based on official figures, the
numbers were based on data
from the National
Commission on Population
and the US Census Bureau.
iii. India has been forecast to
overtake China as the most
populous country by 2028, as
per official estimates. But the
government also says that
population growth rate of the
country has declined
significantly from 21.54
percent for the decade of
1991-2000 to 17.64 percent
during 2001-11.
iv. Out of 36 states and Union
territories, 24 have reached
population stabilisation.
3. Nationwide model
science labs programme
launched by Dr A P J Abdul
Kalam
i. To inculcate scientific
temperament among
students, government has
proposed to set up ‗model
science labs‘ across the
country, beginning with the
North East region. The labs
aim to ignite passion and
nurture spirit of enquiry and
creativity for mathematics
and science in students
between 6-18 years of age.

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ii. The initiative would be
launched through the
Department of Science and
Technology, HRD Minister
Smriti Irani said while
addressing a gathering of
students through video-
conferencing during the
launch the Rashtriya
Avishkar Abhiyan programme
in New Delhi. ―Let us begin
with North East by setting up
one model lab for school
children.
iii. Former President APJ
Abdul Kalam launched the
programme in the presence
of Minister of State of HRD
Ram Shankar Katharia,
Development of North
Eastern Region and
Department of Space
Jitendra Singh, Science and
Technology Minister Harsh
Vardhan.
4. MPEDA launched
mobile-based applications
to help farmers capture
data through mobile
i. The Marine Products
Export Development
Authority (MPEDA) on 9 July
2015 launched two mobile
based applications to help
farmers get prices on shrimp
and capture data on
aquaculture through mobile.
Moreover, MPEDA also
revamped its website and
launched an online
registration portal for
exporters.
ii. MPEDA is a nodal agency
for promotion of marine
exports from India under
Union Ministry of Commerce
and Industry.
iii. With this application,
MPEDA will provide price
related market information of
Vannamei shrimp and BT
shrimp to farmers over SMS
on a missed call to a
predetermined number. On
receipt of the missed call,
information on price of
Vannamei shrimp and BT
shrimp for different grades in
major markets like Japan,
USA and EU will be provided
by SMS.
iv. The authority also
launched a mobile
applications named mKRISHI
that will provide an easy tool
for book keeping, advisory
services and weather
informations. It is an Android
mobile application which has
been developed by MPEDA
and TCS Innovation Lab,
Mumbai (as part of its CSR
initiative).
5. Prince Saud al-Faisal,
World’s longest serving
Foreign Minister passes
away
i. Prince Saud al-Faisal,
former foreign minister of
Saudi Arabia passed away in
United States. He was 75. He
was the Saudi kingdom‘s
foreign minister for 4 decades
(from 1975 to 2015). He had
retired in April 2015 and was
succeeded by Adel al-Jubeir.
ii. He had served under four
Saudi kings and had
advanced the kingdom‘s
foreign policy, especially after
the 9/11 attacks in US. It
should be noted that he was
world‘s longest-serving
foreign minister.
iii. Saud al-Faisal was son of
King Faisal and was born on
2 January 1940 in Taif near
Mecca. In the 1960s, he
started his career as
consultant for Petroleum
Ministry of Saudi Kingdom.
6. Famous Hollywood actor
Umer Sharif passed away

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i. Actor Omar Sharif, famous
for his title role as Doctor
Zhivago in the Oscar-winning
film, has died at the age of
83. Egyptian state television
reported.
ii. Sharif‘s agent also
confirmed his death revealing
that the actor, who played a
wide range of dashing and
dignified characters, had
been suffering from
Alzheimer‘s disease.
iii. Sharif was one of the few
Arab actors who succeed to
make it to Hollywood. He won
international fame and an
Oscar-nomination for best
supporting actor for his role in
the 1962 film ―Lawrence of
Arabia‖ with Peter O‘Toole.
7. Record-breaking Rabada
helps Proteas crush
Bangladesh
i. Kagiso Rabada became
only the second man in
history to claim a hat trick on
debut as South Africa
thrashed Bangladesh by
eight wickets in a rain-hit first
one-day international in
Dhaka on Friday.
ii. Rabada finished with 6-16,
the best ever one-day haul by
a debutante, as Bangladesh
were folded 160 in 36.3 overs
after the hosts opted to bat
first on a rain-soaked pitch at
the Sher-e-Bangla National
Stadium.
iii. Rabada, selected ahead of
experienced Morne Morkel,
struck in the third ball of his
second over when he sent
the off-stump of opener
Tamim Iqbal cartwheeling.
Daily GK update :
13th July 2015
1. India, Kyrgyzstan ink 4
pacts during Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit
i. India and Kyrgyzstan have
signed 4 pacts/ agreements
to enhance bilateral
cooperation between the two
nations. These agreements
were inked during the two-
day visit of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to Kyrgystan
as part of his official visit to 5
Central Asian countries and
Russia.
ii. Agreement on Defence
Cooperation: It was signed to
deepen cooperation between
both countries in matters
relating to security, defence,
military education and
training. It also covers
provisions to conduct of joint
military exercises, exchange
of military instructors,
exchange of experience and
information and observers
etc.
iii. MoU and Cooperation in
the field of Elections: It was
signed to deepen cooperation
in matters relating to
legislation on elections and
referendums. It also covered
rights of elections process
stakeholders, modern
systems and technologies as
well as other issues of
election administration.
iv. MoU on cooperation in the
sphere of Standards: Seeks
to strengthen and enhance
technical cooperation in the
fields of conformity
assessment, standardization
and sharing of expertise on
mutual trade.

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v. Agreement on Cooperation
in Culture: To deepen cultural
cooperation between both
countries in areas such as
preservation of cultural
heritage, theatre, youth
festivals and organisation of
folk arts.
2. India, Turkmenistan ink 7
pacts to enhance regional
cooperation & connectivity
i. India and Turkmenistan
have signed 7 pacts/
agreements to enhance
bilateral cooperation between
the two nations. These
agreements were inked
during the two-day visit of
Modi to Turkmenistan as part
of his official visit to 5 Central
Asian countries and Russia.
ii.Following are the list of
agreements :
MoU on Supply of Chemical
Products: It was signed
between the India‘s
‗Rashtriya Chemicals and
Fertilizers Limited‘ and the
Turkmenistan‘s
Turkmenhimiya‘.
MoU on Foreign Service
Institutes of both nations and
it was signed between
Foreign Service Institute of
the Ministry of External
Affairs of India and Institute
of International Relations of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Turkmenistan.
Agreement on Cooperation in
the field of Sports: It was
signed between Union
Ministry of Youth Affairs And
Sports of India and State
Committee for Sport of
Turkmenistan.
Programme of Cooperation In
Science And Technology: It
was signed between both
governments for the period of
two years viz. 2015-2017.
MoU on Cooperation in Yoga
and Traditional Medicine: It
was signed between
respective entities of both
governments. MoU on
Cooperation in the Field Of
Tourism: It was signed
between respective entities of
both governments.
Agreement in the field of
Defence: It was signed
between respective entities of
both governments.
3. Tata Steel’s West Bokaro
Division conferred with
Golden Peacock
Environment Management
Award 2015
i. Tata Steel's West Bokaro
Division was on 11 July 2015
conferred with the Golden
Peacock Environment
Management Award
(GPEMA) 2015 in New Delhi.
It was presented by the
Union Environment, Forest
and Climate Change Minister
Prakash Javadekar to Sanjay
Rajoria, General Manager of
West Bokaro, Tata Steel of
Jharkand.
ii .Tata Steel won the coveted
award for its responsible
environmental practices and
resource management while
upgrading the skills of
employees through training
as new technologies evolve.
iii. GMR Hyderabad
International Airport Ltd has
been declared as the winner
of ‗Golden Peacock
Award (GPEMA)‘ for the year
2015 for achievements in the
field of environment
management at Rajiv Gandhi
International Airport.
iv. Golden Peacock
Award is annual award and
presented for attaining
significant achievements in
the field of Environment
Management during the
previous year. It is awarded
to manufacturing as well as
service organizations both in
the Public and Private
domain located in India.
v. Krishnapatnam Port ,
recognized as one of India's
largest ports and ranked
amongst world's finest ports

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connecting the eastern and
western parts of the world,
has been bestowed with the
Golden Peacock
Award.
vi. Yes Bank received the
2014 award.
4. SBI partners with
bankbazaar.com
i. State Bank of India (SBI),
the largest bank in India, has
partnered online financial
product aggregator
‗bankbazaar.com‘ along with
the bank‘s subsidiary SBI
CAP Securities.
ii. Under this arrangement,
the bank will be able to
display its home loan
products on bankbazaar.com,
generate leads and provide
door-step delivery, thus
improving the response time.
Bankbazaar.com offers end
to end solutions to the home
loan seekers from getting the
customised quotes,
comparison of the offers and
submission of online
application to SBI
iii. This partnership will help
the bank to provide yet
another online platform to the
prospective tech savvy home
loan borrowers to apply for
SBI Home Loans online. iv.
The tie up with
bankbazaar.com also
highlights SBI‘s strategy to
augment its Home Loan
portfolio by leveraging digital
channels and increasing its
presence in the digital/online
space, it added.
5. Miss USA 2015: Miss
Oklahoma Olivia Jordan
Wins the Crown!
i. Miss Oklahoma, Olivia
Jordan, won big at the 2015
Miss USA pageant on
Sunday, July 12, beating out
50 women to win the crown.
ii. Jordan, 26, made it
through the fierce rounds of
the competition, sliding into
the Top 15 after preliminary
events and captivating
viewers as she worked it in
the live show's bikini and
evening gown rounds.
iii. The Oklahoma native
impressed during the
question portion of the
competition, which was held
in Baton Rouge, La. She
spoke first on the issue of
race relations in the United
States, stressing the need for
improved dynamics, and later
went on to name Oprah and
Harriet Tubman as two
women she would like to see
on the $10 bill.
iv. Jordan was followed in the
top five by first runner-up
Miss Texas Ylianna Guerra,
second runner-up Miss
Rhode Island Anea Garcia,
third runner-up Miss Nevada
Brittany McGowan, and
fourth runner-up Miss
Maryland Mamé Adjei.
6. Green Signals: Ecology,
Growth, and Democracy in
India written by Jairam
Ramesh
i. The
book Green Signals: Ecology,
Growth, and Democracy in
India was in news in the
second week of July 2015. It
was written by former Union
Environment and Forest
Minister (Independent
Charge) Jairam Ramesh.
ii. It unveils the story of
environmental policy making
in India from the perspective
of a pivotal decision maker.

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iii. It chronicles India's
environmental decision-
making since the 1991
movement, telling the story of
how, for the first time, the
doors of the environment
ministry were opened to
voices, hitherto unheard, into
the policy-making process.
iv. At present, Jairam
Ramesh is Chair of the
Future Earth Engagement
Committee, a research
platform on global
sustainability. He is also a
member of the Rajya Sabha
from Andhra Pradesh.
7. Indigenously developed
Nag anti-tank missile
tested from helicopter
platform
i. In fresh trials, India has
test-fired its indigenously
developed Nag anti-tank
guided missile, which can hit
a target upto seven km, from
a helicopter at a firing range
in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
ii. Three-round trial of
helicopter-launched Nag
(HeliNa) missile were
conducted yesterday at the
Chandhan firing range.
iii. HeliNa is a helicopter-
launched version of Nag and
has been developed by the
Defence Research and
Development Organisation
(DRDO) under the Integrated
Guided Missile Development
Programme (IGMDP).
iv. The missile was aimed at
hitting targets at varied
distances of upto 7 km.
8. Isro's Gagan Satellite-
Based Navigation System
Launched
i. India on Monday launched
its satellite-based air
navigation services, thereby
joining a select league
comprising the US, Europe
Union (EU) and Japan which
have similar systems. Civil
Aviation Minister Ashok
Gajapati Raju dedicated the
services to the nation in a
ceremony in New Delhi.
ii. The system - known as
Gagan or global positioning
system (GPS) aided geo-
augmented navigation
system - is intended to
provide accurate navigation
services over the Bay of
Bengal, South East Asia,
Indian Ocean, Middle East,
and African regions.
iii. Gagan works by
augmenting and relaying data
from GPS satellites with the
help of two augmentation
satellites and 15 earth-based
reference stations.
iv. Gagan also fills a vital gap
between EU's "European
Geostationary Navigation
Overlay Service" (EGNOS)
and Japan's "Multi-functional
Satellite Augmentation
System" (MSAS) coverage
areas.
9. Mumbai Ranji cricketer
Hiken Shah suspended by
BCCI
i. Mumbai Ranji cricketer
Hiken Shah has been
suspended by the BCCI with
immediate effect after being
found guilty of breaching
BCCI‘s Anti-Corruption Code.
His involvement in any form
of cricket, affiliated with the
BCCI stands suspended till
the time the disciplinary
committee of the BCCI
passes appropriate orders.
ii. The BCCI press release
says that Hiken Shah made a
corrupt approach to one of
his colleagues - Pravin
Tambe of IPL franchise
Rajasthan Royals before the
2015 edition of the IPL.
iii. Tambe had immediately
informed the incident to his
franchise team. Rajasthan
Royals followed the process
of informing the incident to
the Anti Corruption Unit of the
BCCI. Based on the
information, BCCI President,
Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya,
instructed ACU to conduct an

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immediate inquiry into the
matter.
iv. Hiken Shah has played 37
First-class matches in which
he has scored 2160 runs at
42.35 with six hundreds and
eight fifties. He has played
six ODIs and T20Is each and
averages 15 and 32.40
respectively. Last year, he
lost his place in the Mumbai
Ranji side and earlier this
year in January, he was
unhappy with his omission.
Daily GK update :
14th July 2015
1. IPL scam: Apex court
suspends Rajasthan Royals,
CSK for two years.
i. The Supreme Court-appointed
Justice R.M. Lodha Committee
on Tuesday suspended Indian
Premier League (IPL) teams
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)and
Rajasthan Royals (RR) from the
League for two years.
ii. The committee on Tuesday
also imposed sanctions on
Gurunath Meiyappan, and Raj
Kundra who were the face of
these IPL franchises respectively
and were found to have indulged
in betting activities. It declared
them ineligible for participation
from cricket activities for life.
iii. The committee has stressed
that the betting activities of
these individuals had brought
the game of cricket, BCCI and
IPL into disrepute.
iv. The Lodha committee was
formed by the Supreme Court in
its judgment in the IPL betting
case on January 22. This
judgment confirmed the
Supreme Court-appointed
Justice Mukul Mudgal
committee's findings and held
Mr. Meiyappan and Mr. Kundra
guilty of betting.
2. Legendary music composer
MS Viswanathan passes away.
i. Legendary music director MS
Viswanathan, who had scored
music for over 1,000 films,
passed away at his residence
early this morning following
illness.
ii. 88-year-old Viswanathan was
being treated at a private
hospital here for geriatric
problems. The music director is
survived by four sons and three
daughters.
iii. Born in Palakkad in Kerala,
Viswanathan had scored music
for over 1,000 films, some of
them in association with his
partner Ramamurthy. Later they
parted ways.
3. Noted artist Sayed Haider
Raza conferred with France’s
de la Lgion dHonneur.
i. Noted artist Sayed Haider
Raza was conferred with highest
French Civilian Award

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Commandeur de la Lgion
dHonneur (the Legion of
Honour).
ii. Raza was bestowed with this
award for his peerless
achievements in transcending all
boundaries, forging ties between
France and India and for
continuing artistic quest
straddling nations, religions,
cultures and philosophies.
iii. Born in 1922 in Madhya
Pradesh. He started his artistic
career at the age of 12.
iv. la Lgion dHonneur (the
Legion of Honour) is the highest
civilian award given by the
French Government.
4. India and Georgia signed
MoU for cooperation in field
of Election Management
i)India and Georgia on 13 July
2015 signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for
cooperation in the field of
election management and
administration. The MoU was
signed by Chief Election
Commissioner of India Nasim
Zaidi and Tamar Zhvania,
Chairperson, Central Election
Commission, Georgia.
ii) Till now, Election
Commission of India has signed
twenty MoUs with Election
Management Bodies and
international organizations
across the world.
iii) Major purpose of the MoU
between India and Georgia:
a) Promotion of exchanges of
knowledge and experience in
electoral processes
b) Exchange of information,
materials, expertise and training
of personnel
c) Production and distribution of
materials pertaining to electoral
systems, voting technology,
voters‘ education and awareness
d) Participation of women and
minorities in electoral process.
5. IT department launched
OTP to e-file Income Tax
i) The Income Tax (IT)
Department on 13 July 2015
launched One Time Password
(OTP) based e-filing verification
system for taxpayers. This OTP
will help in ending the practice
of sending paper
acknowledgement, called ITR-
V, through post to the I-T
Central Processing Centre
(CPC) based in Bengaluru.
ii) The facility can be accessed
using internet banking, Aadhaar
number, ATM and email.Central
Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)
in its notification said that any
taxpayer, whose income is 5
lakh rupees or below per annum
and has no refund claims, can
straightaway generate the
'Electronic Verification Code'
(EVC) for e-filing and
validating their Income Tax
Return (ITR) through their
registered mobile number and e-
mail id with the department.
iii) Once logged in on the
banking portal, the taxpayer will
be sent the EVC to his mobile
number provided in the official
e-filing web portal of the
department which they will put
in their ITR for final
submission.
6. MoD and MSDE signed
MoU to increase employability
of ex-servicemen.
i)The Union Ministry of
Defence (MoD) and Union
Ministry of Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)
on 13 July 2015 signed a
Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to facilitate strategic
partnership on skill development
and entrepreneurship.
ii) The MoU was signed by the
Defence Secretary Shri G
Mohan Kumar and his
counterpart from MSDE Shri
Sunil Arora. The MoU will
provide impetus to use the skills
of servicemen for the country
when they retire from the Armed
Forces.
iii) The MoU will be a harbinger
of skill development in the
country that will align the

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Armed Forces and the civilian
field.
7. Lt General Man Mohan
Singh Rai appointed as Vice-
Chief of Indian Army
i) Lieutenant General Man
Mohan Singh Rai was on 13
July 2014 appointed as the Vice-
Chief of the Indian Army. Rai
will succeed Lt Gen Philip
Campose, who will
superannuate the office on 31
July 2015.
ii) Presently, Rai is working as
the Eastern Army Commander.
He is from the Corps of
Engineers and is an alumnus of
National Defence Academy,
Khadakwasla. He was
commissioned from the Indian
Military Academy (IMA),
Dehradun, on 15 December
1976.
8. Former BSFI president
Pashupatinath Roy died.
i)Former Billiards and Snooker
Federation of India (BSFI)
President Pashupatinath Roy
died on 13 July 2015 following
a cardiac arrest at a private
hospital in Kolkata. He was 76.
ii) Roy was also the president of
West Bengal Badminton
Association for more than five
decades after he toook over
charge from his father B K Roy
in late 1960's.
iii) He also served BSFI in
various capacities. He was the
secretary and advisor at BSFI
for some time and later went on
to join the Asian body of the
game as Secretary and President.
9. Operation Talaash for
missing Dornier ends.
i) Thirty-five days after a Coast
Guard aircraft on a surveillance
sortie disappeared off the
Chennai coast with three crew,
the search operation has been
―terminated‖ after recovery of
human remains, parts of the
plane and personal effects.
ii)―Eighty per cent of the
aircraft‘s parts have been
retrieved, besides human bones
and wrist watches from the sea
bed,‖ I G Coast Guard S P
Sharma said here today, adding
the search operation was
―terminated‖ last night.
iii) The authorities have called
the families of the crew for
carrying out DNA tests for
identification of the deceased
and collecting the remains and
personal effects.
1. PM Modi launches 'Skill
India' campaign
i) Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Wednesday launched
the 'Skill India Mission' in the
national capital. The Prime
Minister will formally launch
the National Skill Development
Mission, unveil the new
National Policy for Skill
Development and
Entrepreneurship 2015 and roll
out on all-India flagship scheme.

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ii) Narendra Modi‘s ambitious
Skill India Mission targets 40.2
crore workers by 2022 .Pushing
ahead with its ambitious Skill
India mission, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will launch
'Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana' on Wednesday to create
skilled manpower at grass-root
level by providing them
vocational, technical and skill
development education.
iii)These include a redesigned
Model Skill Loan Scheme, Skill
Card for persons certified under
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana and the new National
Policy for Skill Development.
2.Boeing, Tata Advanced
Systems ink aerospace
partnership deal.
i) A collaboration in aerospace
and defence manufacturing and
potential integrated systems
development opportunities has
been inked between Tata
Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL)
and Boeing. The deal will
include unmanned aerial
vehicles.
ii) The framework agreement
was signed by Shelley Lavender,
President of Boeing Military
Aircraft, and Sukaran Singh,
Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer of TASL.
iii) TAL has also provided
ground support equipment for
the C-17 Globemaster III
strategic airlifter.
3. India’s first railway-line
built under PPP model
inaugurated in Gujarat
i) Minister of Railways Suresh
Prabhu on 14 July 2015
inaugurated the broad-gauge
railway-line between
Gandhidham and Tuna-Tekra
Port in Gujarat by flagging off a
goods train.
ii) The rail line is India‘s first
railway-line built with private
sector participation under Non-
Government Railway (NGR)
Policy 2012 of Indian Railways.
The rail line has been built at a
cost of approx 185 crore rupees
for M/s Kandla Port Trust (KPT)
to bring about better and faster
rail connectivity to Port of Tuna
& Tekra.
iii) The rail-line between
Gandhidham, a town in Kutch
district of Gujarat, and Tuna-
Tekra Port, a port 20-km west of
Kandla in Gulf of Kutch, was
funded by M/s Kandla Port
Trust (KPT) and Western
Railway Zone of Indian
Railways coordinated and
pioneered it.
4. Maharashtra assembly
passed Guarantee of Public
Services Bill, 2015
i)Maharashtra legislative
assembly on 14 July 2015
passed the Maharashtra
Guarantee of Public Services
Bill, 2015. The bill was
unanimously passed by the
assembly in the absence of
Congress and NCP members.
ii)Features of the Bill
• It empowers citizens to avail
their rights in stipulated time
with less efforts and cost.
• It will pave way for curbing
corruption, bringing
transparency and empowering
citizens.

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• It ensures essential services are
delivered in a time-bound
manner and at nominal charges.
• In case of failure in delivery in
the stipulated time, the
government employee will be
penalized for default, which
ranges between 500 rupees to
5000 rupees.
iii) It provides for three-tier
Appellate Authorities with first
two being Government Officials
or Designated Officers and third
will be a Right to Service
Commission.
5. Skill Development Ministry
inks pact for using Railway
infra for training.
i)Ahead of the Prime Minister‘s
launch of the Skill India
Mission on Wednesday, the
Railways has tied up with the
Ministry of Skill Development
to offer ‗sparable‘ space for
training in its infrastructure,
such as wayside stations,
railway training centres, railway
schools and institutes.
ii)An agreement in this regard
was signed here on Tuesday
between the Railway Ministry
and the Skill Development
Ministry. ―Our schools can be
made available and our
employees can teach as part of
their social duties,‖ said Railway
Minister Suresh Prabhu, adding
that the Railways otherwise will
have a ‗limited role‘ to play.
iii) The Railways already has
300 training centres and 150
schools, of which about 70 per
cent have optical fibre cable
network connections
6. Andromeda acquires
apnapaisa.com in stock and
cash deal.
i) Andromeda, one of the
country's largest loan
distributors, has acquired the
apnapaisa.com, an online loan
solutions space in a stock and
cash deal, the company said.
ii) Apnapaisa.com, promoted by
Harsh Roongta, a personal
finance professional, has worked
with several financial lending
institutions.
iii) Andromeda's acquisition of
apnapaisa is in line with the
increasing trend of digitization
and the tech-edge that apnapaisa
brings would drive the growth of
Andromeda
7. Krishnapatnam Port
receives Golden Peacock
award for environment
management
i)Krishnapatnam Port in Andhra
Pradesh has been awarded
Golden Peacock environment
management award for its
achievements and initiatives in
the field of environment.
ii) The award was presented
during the 17th World Congress
on Environment Management to
C Sasidhar, Managing Director
of Krishnapatnam Port by Union
Environment Prakash Javadekar
in New Delhi.
iii) Green initiatives of
Krishnapatnam Port are
Plantation of over 20 lakhs trees
within the port and more than
50,000 trees in the surrounding
villages, Installation of solar
lights in the port and solar water
heaters in the employee colony,
Establishing gas connections for
villagers so as to discourage
them from cutting of mangroves
as fuel wood.
8. Iconic musician Joan
Sebastian passed away
i) Iconic Mexican musician Joan
Sebastian passed away on 13
July 2015 after battling bone
cancer for more than 15 years in
Juliantla, Mexico. He was 64.
He was also known as El Rey
del Jaripeo (the King of
Mexican Rodeo).
ii) Born as Jose Manuel
Figueroa, he was best known for
his sentimental love songs such
as Secreto de Amor and Tatuajes

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On Billbord‘s Regional Mexican
Albums chart, he placed 10 hit
albums at No 1 position, second
only to Vicente Fernandez with
15 hit albums. He was also
honoured by Billboard multiple
times, first with Hall of Fame
honors at the 2006 Billboard
Latin Music Awards and then
Voice Award at the 2013
Billboard Mexican Music
Awards.
iii)He won seven Latin Grammy
Awards and five Grammy
Awards, making him the most
awarded Mexican performer in
Grammy's history.
1. RBI constitutes Deepak
Mohanty Committee to
frame action plan on
financial inclusion
i. Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has constituted a
committee to prepare a 5
year action plan to spread the
reach of financial services
across country to unbanked
population. The committee
will be headed by RBI
executive director Deepak
Mohanty and comprise total
of 14 members
ii. It will review the existing
policy of financial inclusion,
including customer protection
framework and supportive
payment system. In this
regard it will take into account
the recommendations made
by various committees set up
earlier.
iii. Suggest a monitorable
medium-term action plan for
financial inclusion. It will
cover various components
including payments, credit,
deposit, social security
transfers, pension and
insurance. Articulate the
underlying institutional and
policy framework for financial
inclusion. Cover financial
literacy and consumer
protection, as well as delivery
mechanism of financial
inclusion.
iv. For this the committee will
encompass both households
and small businesses, with
more emphasis on rural
inclusion including group-
based credit delivery
mechanisms.
2. Kumbh Mela Begins in
Nashik, Thousands Take
Holy Dip
i. Simhastha Kumbh Mela,
the largest congregation of
faith in the world, began
today with the traditional
ceremony of hoisting of flags
and thousands of people
taking a holy dip in
Kushawart and Ramkund in
Godavari river in the two
towns.
ii. The festival, known as the
largest peaceful gathering,
occurs once in 12 years as
per Hindu calendar and is
marked by participation of
'sadhus' from different
denominations (akhadas),
and lakhs of devotees.
Kumbh is also known for the
religious pomp and colourful
processions.
iii. The festival will last for 58
days till August 11. On the
occasion of flag-hoisting at
Trimbakeshwar, a Naval
chopper showered rose
petals on the sea of humanity
that has gathered for the
mega event.
iv. After the ceremony,
thousands of people who
have come to Nashik from
different parts of the country

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took a dip at Kushavart teerth
(pond) located near the
temple of Lord Shiva.
3. Varanasi chosen as 'city
of music' by UNESCO
i. In a development set to
tremendously boost its age-
old traditions, Varanasi has
joined the global bandwagon
of UNESCO "Cities of Music"
under the Creative Cities
Network.
ii. It has been chosen in the
music category under
UNESCO's "field of
excellence" plan. The fields
of excellence are classified
into categories of literature,
film, music, craft and folk art,
design, media arts and
gastronomy
iii. The inclusion in the
network has also paved way
for representing the cultural
heritage of the holy city on
the world stage through the
UNESCO project. It will not
only provide a fillip to tourism,
but will also give a chance to
local artists and musicians to
visit countries that are a part
of this network
iv. Nine cities — Glasgow in
the UK, Hanover and
Mannheim in Germany,
Ghent in Belgium,
Hamamatsu in Japan,
Brazzaville in the Republic of
Congo, Bogota in Columbia,
Seville in Spain and Bologna
in Italy — are a part of
UNESCO "Cities of Music".
4. FM Arun Jaitley tries to
improve BJP-SAD ties,
launches HRIDAY for 12
cities in Amritsar
i. Jaitley choose Amritsar to
launch the "National Heritage
City Development and
Augmentation Yojana " (
HRIDAY) for 12 cities in the
country.
ii. Government of India has
sanctioned ` . 69.31 crore as
100% grant for Amritsar city.
iii. The Union Finance
Minister said that Punjab,
being a cradle of Indian
civilization, was all set to lead
the country in the arena of
agriculture and defense for
which it was aptly known as
the sword arm and granary of
the nation.
iv. Making a strong case for
the farmers, Chief Minister
Parkash Singh Badal said
that it was the high time to
redress the grievances of
beleaguered peasantry,
which was on cross roads
due to the apathy of the
previous Congress
governments at the Centre.
5. Agri Ministry launches 3
portals
i. The Centre launched three
new websites for farmers
here on Wednesday aimed at
making organic farming
certification, fertiliser quality
checks and disbursal of soil
health cards easier. The
portals, developed by
National Informatics Centre,
are part of the existing
schemes.
ii. The ‗Participatory
Guarantee System‘ portal will
help small and marginal
farmers engaged in organic
farming to secure certification
after checks for compliance
to standards are carried out.
iii. The ‗Soil Health Card‘
portal has been developed to
register soil samples and
record tests results along
with fertiliser
recommendations to create a
national database on soil
health for future use in
research.
iv. The ‗Fertiliser Quality
Control System‘ portal will
collate results of drawn
samples of imported
fertilisers helping both
consumers and importers
with analysis reports.
6. Net neutrality report:
Fate of Airtel's zero rating
plan left to TRAI
i. Airtel had launched Airtel
Zero under which it offered a
platform for content owners,

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e-commerce players, and
start-ups to offer free data
access to users. This was
seen to be against the
principles of net neutrality by
some sections as it allowed
free access to only those
companies which had
resources to partner with
Airtel.
ii. The Committee, after
consideration of all opinions
expressed by Net Neutrality
proponents and network
operators, feels that there are
a multitude of possibilities in
designing tariff plans and it
would not be possible to
either pre-think all
possibilities or determine its
validity with respect to Net
Neutrality principles.
iii. The Committee proposed
that tariff plans (including
zero rating plans) be dealt
with in the following ways: (i)
Ex-ante determination —
Before a licensee launches
any tariff plan, the same
would need to be filed before
TRAI within a reasonable
period prior to the launch of
the plan. TRAI would
examine each such tariff filing
carefully to see if it conforms
to the principles of Net
Neutrality and that it is not
anti-competitive by distorting
consumer markets.
iv. Such a filing requirement
would include a deemed
approval clause, if the
regulator does not decide
within a reasonable period.
This would ensure balance of
interests, protecting the
liberty of service providers to
design specific tariff plans
attuned to specific customer
demands and at the same
time ensure that the
principles of Net Neutrality
are not breached.
Daily GK update
: 17th July 2015
1. India and Canada sign
MoU in the field of Civil
Aviation.
i. The Union Cabinet, chaired
by the Prime Minister Shri
NarendraModi, has approved
the signing of Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU)
betweenIndia and Canada in
the field of Civil Aviation.
ii. MoU will help in deepening
the bilateral cooperation and
enhancing theexperience and
technical knowledge in the
field of Civil Aviation between
Indiaand Canada.
iii. The two countries shall
have a cooperation
programme in the areas of
safetyof aircraft operations
and related issues that will
provide more up-to-
dateknowledge to the
Directorate General of Civil
Aviation to make it familiar
withbest international
practices and latest
International Civil
AviationOrganisation‘s safety
oversight programme
requirements.
2. IBM, IIM-B, Catalyst
complete women’s
leadership development
programme.
i. IBM on Friday today
announced the graduation of
the first group of students
from Tanmatra, an
innovative, cross-industry
women's leadership
development program
conducted in collaboration
with The Indian Institute of
Management, Bangalore (
IIM-B) and Catalyst India
WRC.

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ii. Thirty high-potential
women from industries
including IT, banking,
pharma, and manufacturing
completed Tanmatra (which
means potential in Sanskrit).
The 10-month program was
open to organisations across
the country and trained a
select group of women with
at least 12 years of work
experience, IBM said in a
press statement.
iii.This course helps prepare
women for leadership in the
Indian business community
and offers a common
platform to network with
industry leaders.
3. Haryana government
named Parineeti Chopra as
its Brand Ambassador for
'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.'
i. Haryana Government
named Parineeti Chopra as
its brand ambassador for
Modi's pet 'Beti Bachao-Beti
Padhao' campaign to
promote the cause of girl
child.
ii. Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao'
campaign, aimed at ensuring
survival, protection and
empowerment of the girl
child, was launched by Prime
Minister Modi from Haryana's
Panipat in January this year.
The state has one of the
worst sex ratios in the
country.
4. India inks $250-million
loan pact with World Bank
for Andhra Pradesh
Disaster Recovery project.
i. India has inked a financing
agreement with World Bank
(WB) to raise US 250 million
dollars financial assistance
for Andhra Pradesh Disaster
Recovery Project (APDRP).
ii. The motive of this project is
Objective: To restore,
enhance resilience and
improve public services,
livelihoods and environmental
facilities in targeted
communities of Andhra
Pradesh.
iii. It also seeks to increase
the capacity of the state to
promptly and effectively
respond to crisis or
emergency.
iv. It includes approximately 3
million populations in 4
heavily impacted districts of
state viz. Srikakulam,
Visakhapatnam,
Vizianagaram and East
Godavari.
5. Union Cabinet gives nod
to redevelop 400 major
railway stations.
i. Union Cabinet meeting
chaired by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi approved the
redevelopment of 400 major
railway stations.
ii. This approval will enable
the Union Ministry of
Railways to accelerate the
redevelopment of ‗A-1‘ and
‗A‘ category railway stations
across the country. These
stations generally are located
in major cities, metros,
pilgrimage centres and
important tourist destinations.
iii. These major railway
stations will be redeveloped
under a new a unique
method which is form of
public procurement of ideas
called the Swiss Challenge. It
will also encourage
innovative ideas from
interested parties without any
additional extra cost from the
Railways.
iv. Under this initiative, major
stations will be redeveloped

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by leveraging real estate
development of land and air
space in and around the
stations. It also includes
permitting commercial
development of real estate by
the Zonal Railways.
6. ICC ODI Rankings: India
retain 2nd spot after clean
sweep over Zimbabwe
i. India have retained their
2nd position in the latest ICC
ODI Rankings which were
released today.
ii. its 3-0 series victory over
Zimbabwe, India has
maintained its second place
ranking and still remains 14
points adrift of Australia who
leads the field on 129 points
iii. Australia retained the top
notch in ICC ODI Rankings.
7. Neeraj Kumar appointed
chief security advisor for
ICC World T20 2016.
i. Former Delhi Police
Commissioner Neeraj Kumar
was appointed as the Chief
Advisor of Security and anti
corruption unit (ACSU) of
BCCI for next year‘s T20
World Cup to be hosted by
India.
ii. Kumar was already roped
in by the BCCI for a one-year
period in the anti-corruption
unit during the IPL.
iii. The Board of Control for
Cricket in India announced
the names of the organising
committee for the mega
event with Dr M V Sridhar as
the General Manager for
Cricket Operations,‖ the
BCCI said in a
statement.
Daily GK update
: 18th July 2015
1. India and Myanmar to
strengthen defence ties
i. India and Myanmar have
announced plans to
strengthen their defence
cooperation during a joint
consultative commission
(JCC) meeting held in New
Delhi. This meeting was
chaired by Union External
Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj and Myanmar‘s
Foreign Minister Wunna
Maung Lwin.
ii. Both countries to work
together on effective border
management especially on
the issue of cross-border
insurgency and terrorism.
India has reaffirmed to
provide defence assistance
program as part of its
Goodwill Diplomacy to
Myanmar in order to
modernise their Armed
Forces.
iii. Investments of Indian
companies in sectors like
power, ports, agro-industries,
mining, forest products,
construction industry,
highways, consumer goods,
oil and gas, manufacturing,
plantation, hospitality and ICT
will be encouraged.
iv. Recently, defence
cooperation between both
neighbours has grown after
changes in political reforms
of Myanmar under President
Thein Sein, which has made
them less reliant on China.

July 2015 news bits

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