Current Affairs MCQ (May 2016)

1. The 42nd G7 summit in 2016 was held in which country?
[A]Japan 
[B]Canada
[C]France
[D]Germany   
ANS : a) japan

2. Which state has been ranked first in overall performance for implementation of MGNREGA?
[A] Goa
[B]Meghalaya
[C]Punjab
[D]Tripura
ANS : d) tripura

3. What is the range of advanced version of BrahMos missile, which was recently successfully tested by Indian Air Force(IAF)?
[A]290 km
[B]320 km
[C]450 km
[D]250 km
ans : a) 290km

4. Which committee has been constituted to boost cashless transaction?
[A] Nachiket Mor committee
[B] Shanta Kumar committee
[C]HR Khan committee
[D]Neeraj Kumar Gupta committee.
Ans : d) neeraj kumar gupta committee

5. The Valmiki National Park is located in which state of India?
[A]Rajasthan
[B]Madhya Pradesh
[C]Bihar
[D]Gujarat.

Important Current Affairs Capsule Quiz of OCTOBER NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2015 CAPSULE

Download PDF Here

•

OCTOBER

•

1.  India will host G20 summit in ......... ?
Ans- 2018 (2016 to China and in 2017 Germany)
2. Which country / territory flag was raised at United Nations for the first time in october?
Ans- Palestine
3. The International Day of Older Persons (IDOP) was  observed across the world with the theme Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment ?
Ans- 1 October 2015
4. . World Vegetarian Day was observed on........?
Ans- 1 October 2015
5. What is the Full form of FATCA?
Ans- foreign account tax compliance act
6. Who was appointed as BCCI President ?
Ans-Shashank Manohar
7. Who has won the 2015 Right Livelihood Award ?
Ans-Inuit and Arctic activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier of Canada
8. Who has emerged as world’s largest cotton producer ?
Ans- India
9. Which Bank has become the first institution worldwide to launch m-Visa, a card-less and device-less solution to make the payments ?
Ans- ICICI Bank
10. India's first solar powered district court inaguratedby Prime Minister at which place ?
Ans- Khunti, Jharkhand
11. Who have won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of neutrino oscillations ?
Ans- Japan's Takaaki Kajita and American Arthur B. McDonald
12. Who have won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine-2015 ?
Ans- one half jointly to William C Campbell (Ireland) and Satoshi Omura (Japan) for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites and the other half to Youyou Tu (China) for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria.
13. DRDO inaugurated world’s highest Research Centre at which Place ?
Ans- Chang La, Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir at 17600 feet
14. . India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at which rate according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) ?
Ans-7.5 per cent
15. Who won 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry ?
Ans-Sweden's Tomas Lindahl, the US-based Paul Modrich and Turkish-born Aziz Sancar for work on mapping how cells repair damaged DNA.
16. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conference 2016 will be held at which place ?
Ans- New Delhi from 8 January to 10 January 2016.
17. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at which rate

Union Budget 2016-17

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley listed 'nine pillars' including tax reforms, promoting ease of doing business and ensuring fiscal discipline, that will transform India.

Unveiling the Budget 2016-17, he said the pillars also include emphasis on governance reforms.

The other pillars, he added, include focus on agriculture and rural areas with a view to doubling farm income by 2022.

Besides, he said, government will lay greater emphasis on social sectors, education and skill building and job creation for building a knowledge based and productive economy.

The government, Jaitley said, will also focus on infrastructure investment, financial sector reforms, fiscal discipline and tax reforms to reduce compliance burden.

Current Affairs Quiz

1. “Woodwinds of Change” is the autobiography of which in the below list famous personalities?
A) Ravi Shankar
B) Hari Prasad Chaurasia
C) Zakir Hussain
D) Kishan Maharaj

2. “World AIDS Day” is observed on?
A) 3-Dec
B) 4-Dec
C) 1-Dec
D) 7-Dec

3. “The Eternal City” is a nick name of ________?
A) Rome
B) Athens
C) Jerusalem
D) Venice

“4. The Free Thinker’s Prayer Book” book was written by?
A) K. N. Raghavan
B) Khuswant Singh
C) Sudhendra Kulkarni
D) Bhavna Singh

Ans. 1.a; 2.c; 3.a; 4.b

Current Affairs India - 26-27 February 2016

1. The Economic survey was presented by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The survey predicted GDP growth rate in the range of 7 to 7.75% for financial year 2016-17, which will be the highest in the world. It said government will meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.9% of GDP.

The survey also called for more economic reforms, subsidy cuts and fiscal consolidation in order to improve India's macro-economic condition. Overall, it presented an optimistic picture of Indian economy during global economic slowdown. As per the report, increase in wages recommended by the 7th pay commission will not destabilise prices and will have little impact on inflation.

2. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved to establish Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) in NITI Aayog with appropriate manpower in order to implement of Missi

Railway Budget 2016-2017

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented his second rail budget this year. He kept the fares unchanged.  In his budget speech, he said that for this budget he owes its inspiration to vision of PM Modi who said: "My vision is to make railways backbone of India’s progress & economic development."

He outlined the 3 pillars of strategy - raise new revenues, raise productivity and efficiency and revamp the processes. He also said that the Core objective is to become engine of economic growth, create employment and provide customer service.

So now let’s see what Mr. Prabhu had for the citizens of India. Here are the highlights of the Rail Budget 2016:

What is current account deficit? What are the features of India’s current account deficit?

The current account of country shows its profile in goods and services trade. Technically, the current account of the balance of payments explains the money value of goods and service (services is contained under invisibles) exported and imported by the country during an accounting period.

To understand the Current Account Deficit (CAD), we should have an idea about Balance of Payments.

What is balance of payments (BoP) account?

Usually citizens and companies of a country make several types of transactions with other countries. Basically, there are three types of transactions: trade in goods, trade in services (or in a broader sense invisibles) and capital transactions.  

Balance of payment account of India is a systematic statement of all economic transactions between the residents of India and the residents of the rest of the world in an accounting period (say one year).

The BoP as a classification format, classifies the BoP account into two:

• Current account transactions that involves exports and imports of goods and services (services are incorporated under invisibles). And
• Capital account transactions that involve the flow of investable money to and from India.

What are the components of current account?

Current account has two components – exports and imports of goods and export and imports of invisibles (include services). Hence the current account has two subcomponents:

1. Merchandise trade account ( for exports and imports of goods) and
2. Invisible account ( for services, remittances and income)

Merchandise trade account: gives the money value of India’s exports and imports of goods. When we often mention exports and imports, it is about the merchandise account.

Invisible account: indicate India’s

 (a) Service exports and imports (software exports, tourism revenues, etc, various service imports)

(b) Remittances (private remittances from abroad and payment to foreign countries)

(c) Income (income earned by MNCs from their investment in India).

India’s current has some common trends during many years. First is that the country has a strong trade deficit. This means that exports of goods are significantly lower than imports of goods. Second, India has a reasonably good invisible surplus (because of software exports and remittance inflows). But for most years, the trade deficit will be higher than invisible surplus.  This in turn produces a current account deficit for the country in most years.  

The following table shows a typical current account situation for India. Minus sign indicates deficit whereas the plus sign indicates surplus.  

The Current Account

                                                                                  In US $ billion

  1. Trade balance (A+B)                                                  -190

  2. Invisible balance(C+D)                                     +100

  3. Current account balance (1+2)                               -90

The table shows that the country has a current account deficit of $ 90 billion.

(The figures in the table are approximation of the 2012-13 figures for India; Source: RBI)

          

As per the table, India had a trade deficit and invisible surplus for the year. Considerable invisible surplus helped India to offset most of the big trade deficit. But since the invisible surplus was lower than trade deficit, the current account of the country registered a deficit of $90 bn.

Since, balance of payment indicates transactions with other countries, it holds some extra importance. Most importantly the transactions are done through foreign currencies. We call such currencies as hard currencies or international reserve currencies (eg. US $). Hence, the export and imports of goods and services or capital inflow or outflow that takes place from and to India are expressed in terms of US $ in India’s balance of payment account.

Daily GK Update: 3rd September, 2015

1. Union Government released 2000 crore rupees to EPS-95 as contribution for 2015-16

i. The Union Government on 1 September 2015 released 2000 crore rupees to Employee Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS-95) as its contribution for the year 2015-16.

ii. Further, a sum of 250 crore rupees was contributed as grant-in-aid for providing minimum pension of 1000 rupees to the pensioners of EPS-95.

iii. The additional grant-in-aid became necessary as the Union Government directed the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in September 2015 to provide for guaranteed minimum pension of 1000 rupees per month.

iv. Employee Pension Scheme (EPS)-95 came into effect on 16 November 1995 and the scheme was launched under the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

v. It applies to the employees of all factories and other establishments to which the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 applies.

vi. The Union Government and employers contribute 1.16 percent and 8.33 percent of the monthly wages of the members respectively.

vii. Under the scheme, monthly benefits for superannuation/ retirement, disability, survivor, widow(er), children is provided and the amount of pension is based on average salary during the preceding 12 months from the date of exit and total years of employment.

vii. It also provides for minimum pension on disablement and also provides for past service benefit to participants of erstwhile Family Pension Scheme, 1971.

2. NSE seals pact with Stock Exchange of Mauritius for synergy

i. NSE today announced that it has formalised a memorandum of understanding with the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) to facilitate co-operation between the two exchanges. 

ii. "We have entered into an MoU with the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) with the objective of fostering a deeper and more strategic relationship between the two institutions, facilitating development of channels for knowledge sharing and developing mutual synergies for growth and development," NSE said in a statement here. 

iii. SEM started its operations in July 1989 as a domestic equity-centric exchange and has since seen an overhaul of its operational and regulatory framework to become one of the leading bourses in Africa and a multi-asset class international exchange. 

iv. SEM operates a multi-currency capital raising, listing and trading platform in four international currencies, namely USD, euro, pound sterling and ZAR. 

v. The areas of co-operation under the MoU will encompass education, training and knowledge transfer in securities markets, product development and indice creation as well as capacity development in surveillance and investigation. 

vi. Anerood Jugnauth, the Prime Minister of Mauritius, and S Bhadain, Minister of Financial Services, along with other dignitaries, met the NSE delegation on this occasion. 

3. Forward Markets Commission to be merged with SEBI with effect from 28 Sept 2015

i. Union Government on 28 August 2015 notified the merger of commodities market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Its merging will be effective from 28 September 2015. 

ii. For this purpose, the government repealed the Forward Contracts Regulation Act (FCRA) 1952 and made a way to shift the Regulation of Commodity Derivatives Market to SEBI under Securities Contracts Regulation Act (SCRA) 1956.

iii. An official press release said, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget speech, had announced the merger of FMC with the capital market regulator SEBI to strengthen the regulation of commodity futures market.

iv. A unified regulator for commodities and capital markets will help streamline monitoring of commodity futures trading and curb wild speculations.

4. ABB elevates India head Bazmi Husain as global chief technology officer 

i. ABB has elevated Bazmi Husain, managing director of ABB India, as the global chief technology officer, the Swiss-engineering major announced Wednesday. 

ii. Husain, a power and automation expert who has been with ABB for 30 years, will take over the new position in the beginning of 2016. He will be the first Indian on this position. Prior to him, Ravi Uppal had occupied a top position at ABB group level as the president of global markets. Uppal is now the managing director and chief executive officer of Jindal SteelBSE 1.40 % and Power. 

iii. The $42 billion-ABB said that the company will appoint a new head for India operations soon. Husain will now report to Group CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer.

iv. Heads of research and development operations at the group and division level as well as ABB's venture capital arm, ABB Technology Ventures would be reporting to Husain. ABB spends $1.5 billion annually on R&D and employs some 8,500 technologists. 

5. ICICI Lombard in bancassurance tie-up with CSB

i. ICICI Lombard General Insurance has tied up with Catholic Syrian Bank(CSB) for sale of its products through 431 branches of the bank.

ii. Through the bancassurance tie-up, the company will able to offer general insurance solutions to the bank's customer base in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The 94-year-old Kerala-based bank has a strong presence in the southern and western parts of the country.

iii. The bank had distribution network of 431 branches across 15 states and 4 union territories as on December 31, 2014. ICICI Lombard would be able to offer its risk solutions to the bank's customer base of 16 lakh clients (as on December 31, 2014). 

iv. The bank's focus is on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and retail client segments apart from NRI customers.

6. West-Central Railway becomes first zone to eliminate Unmanned Level Crossings

i. The West-Central Railway (WCR) zone headquartered in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh has become the first Railway Zone in Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings.

ii. The target was achieved after all 118 unmanned level crossings of WCR zone were eliminated in phase manner by August 31, 2015. 80 crossings were eliminated in the financial year 2014-15 and the remaining 38 crossings were eliminated in August 2015.

iii. This target was achieved by constructing 33 Limited Height Sub Ways (LHs) and manning of 30 level crossings.

iv. It is a being considered as a big success in the safety initiative of Indian Railways as unmanned railway crossings continue to remain a deathtrap in India as alone it had killed 126 people in 2014-15.

GK Update: 1st September, 2015

RBI declared SBI and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 31 August 2015 declared State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) in line with the D-SIB Framework released by the RBI on 22 July 2014.

ii. These banks have been identified as D-SIBs based on the methodology provided in the D-SIB Framework and data collected from banks as on 31 March 2015.

iii. Further, these banks have been put under associated bucket structure as required under the D-SIB Framework and each bucket corresponds to the higher loss absorbency requirements that they would be required to hold from January 2016.

iv. As a result, SBI has been put under Bucket 3 with additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) requirements as a percentage of Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs) placed at 0.6percent.

v. On the other hand, ICICI Bank has been put under Bucket 1 with additional CET1 requirements as a percentage of RWAs placed at 0.2 percent.

Union Government releases Rs 2,000 crore for Employees’ Pension Scheme 

i. Union Government has released 2,000 crore rupees to Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995 as its contribution for the year 2015-16. 

ii. This contribution is in addition to the 250 crore rupees contributed by the government as grant-in-aid in the EPS in order to provide minimum pension of 1,000 rupees to pensioners under the scheme. 

iii. In September 2015, Government had assured EPS pensioners a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month. In order to meet this assurance it was necessary for the Government to infuse additional amount as grants-in- to sustain the continuance of the minimum pension. 

IS damages ancient Temple of Bel in Syria’s Palmyra 

i. Islamic State (IS) militant group has destroyed part of historical Temple of Bel in the ancient site of Palmyra in Syria. 

ii. The ancient temple was dedicated to the Palmyrene gods and was one of the best preserved parts of the historical sites of Palmyra. 

iii. Earlier in August 2015, IS militant group had destroyed the ancient Temple of Baalshamin in same region of Palmyra.

Highest mountain of North America Mt McKinley renamed as Denali

i. The highest mountain of North America was on 28 August 2015 renamed as Denali instead of its existing name Mt McKinley by US President Barack Obama. This designation will now recognize the sacred status of Denali to generations of Alaska Natives.

ii. The mountain, which sits in the 6 million-acre Denali national park, has been known as Denali in Alaska since 1975. Now officially, the Denali name will be used by all and it will also take effect for all federal usage and on all official maps.

Tejinder Pal Singh named as Australian of the Day by Commonwealth Bank

i. An Indian-origin driver in Australia Tejinder Pal Singh was on 31 August 2015 named as Australian of the Day by Commonwealth Bank of Australia for feeding the homeless in Darwin for the past three years.

ii. He dedicated the last Sunday of every month to feed the poor and homeless in northern Darwin after his night shift as a cabbie. He cooked around 30 kg of Indian food to feed the homeless. The free lunch comprises chickpeas, rice and vegetarian curry.

CSO released estimates of GDP for April-June quarter of 2015-16

i. Central Statistical Office (CSO) on 31 August 2015 released the estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the April-June quarter of 2015.

ii. As per the estimates, India grew by 7 percent during the first quarter of the 2015-16 financial year. Thus, India remained the fastest growing major economy of the world for a second straight quarter.

India had overtaken China as the world’s fastest growing major economy in the January-March quarter, growing 7.5 per cent against China’s 7 per cent.

Highlights of the CSO estimates

GDP at constant (2011-12) prices in Q1 of 2015-16 is estimated at 27.13 lakh crore rupees as against 25.35 lakh crore rupees in Q1 of 2014-15, showing a growth rate of 7.0 percent. In terms of GVA it is 7.1 percent.

The economic activities which registered growth of over 7 percent in Q1 of 2015-16 over Q1 of 2014-15 are manufacturing, trade, hotels and transport & communication and services related to broadcasting and financial, insurance, real estate and professional services.

Growth in other areas: agriculture, forestry and fishing (1.9), mining and quarrying (4.0), electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services (3.2), construction and public administration, defence (6.9) and other services (2.7).

Gross Capital Formation (GCF) rate, a barometer for investments, continued to decline. It was down to 27.8 per cent from 29.2 per cent in April–June 2014.

L C Goyal appointed as CMD of India Trade Promotion Organisation

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 August 2015 approved the appointment of L C Goyal as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Indian Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO).

ii. Prior to the present appointment, he retired as the secretary of the Union Home Ministry. He was a 1979 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.mbly also passed a resolution welcoming the Peace Accord signed between the Union Government and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN)-IM.

GK Update - 23rd August, 2015

R Gandhi committee of RBI recommends conversion of UCBs into regular banks 

i. A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) committee has recommended conversion of Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) with business size of 20,000 crore rupees or more into regular banks. 

ii. This recommendation was given by the High Powered Committee on UCBs headed by RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi in its report. 

Recommendations 

• Conversion of UCBs will not be compulsory for large UCBs and they can continue the way they operate currently in terms of asset size and balance sheet. 
• Large UCBs can convert themselves into commercial banks in order to minimise the systemic risk. 
• For conversion, smaller UCBs with business size of less than 20,000 crore rupees who are willing to convert to Small Finance Banks can apply to the RBI. 
• Licenses for conversion to operate as UCBs will be issued to well-managed and financially sound cooperative credit societies having a minimum track record of 5-years. 
• With the conversion, UCBs will be allowed to grow and proliferate further to meet the objective of financial inclusion. 

A P Shah Committee recommends MAT relief to FIIs 

i. Union Finance Ministry appointed committee chaired by retired SC judge A P Shah has recommended that Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) should not be imposed on FIIs retrospectively for the period preceding 1st April 2015.

ii. This recommendation is considered as a big relief to FIIs as government had exempted them from MAT starting April 1, 2015 in the Union Budget for 2015-16 but had not made the clarification retrospective imposition. 

iii. In its report committee has mention that there is no legal basis for levying 20 per cent MAT on past capital gains of FIIs. 

Background 

a. Union Finance Ministry had appointed this 3 member Committee on the issue of levying MAT on capital gains made by FIIs retrospectively. 

b. Members of Committee: 

• A P Shah (Chairman), 
• Dr. Girish Ahuja 
• Dr. Ashok Lahiri. 

c. The committee was constituted after the tax department had sent legal notices to 68 FIIs demanding around six hundred crore rupees as MAT dues of previous years. This had raked up a MAT controversy within FIIs and they had moved to court challenging this tax imposition.

Eminent Sanskrit Scholar and Indologist NR Varhadpande passed away

i. Varhadpande was famously known for his book titled Aryan Invasion: A Myth that exposes fallacy of Aryan invasion and is considered as one of the most profound works in changing the course of ancient Indian history. 

ii. An ardent student of Psychology, Varhadpande worked as the Chief Psychologist with the Ministry of Defence and was instrumental in devising various Psychological tests for the armed forces personnel. 

Noted academician Amitabh Mattoo appointed as Advisor to J&K CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

i. Noted academician and former Vice-Chancellor of the Jammu University Amitabh Mattoo was on 21 August 2015 appointed as Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister (CM) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Mattoo will have the status of a Cabinet Minister.

ii. Born in Srinagar, Mattoo has been the Chief Executive Officer and inaugural Director of the Australia India Institute and Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Golfer Aditi Ashok first Indian to win Ladies British amateur stroke-play Championship 

i. Ace Indian golfer Aditi Ashok won the prestigious Ladies British amateur stroke-play Championship 2015 at Leeds, United Kingdom. 

ii. With this victory she became first woman and youngest player from India to win this Championship. 

iii. In her wining game, Aditi shot a four-day total of 11-under 285 (comprising 71, 73, 70, 71) at the par 74 at the Moortown Golf Club, Leeds. 

iv. The 17-year-old Bengaluru based golfer earlier had won the prestigious St. Rule Trophy in July 2015. She also had finished second in the 2015 European Women’s Amateur Championship. She also had claimed the overall title called ‘The Nicholls Trophy’ and ‘Dinwiddy Trophy’ which are given for the under-18 golfer with lowest score.

Former Australian Cricketer Arthur Morris passes away 
i. Former Australian Cricketer Arthur Morris passed away. He was aged 93.
ii. He was an opener and is regarded as one of Australia’s greatest left-handed batsmen.
Morris is best known as member of Don Bradman’s 1948 ‘Invincibles’ team which made an undefeated tour of England.
iii. He had retired from international cricket at the age of 33.
iv. Morris was the first Australian batsman to score centuries in both innings of his first-class debut at the age of 18 years. He was born in Sydney on 19 January 1922.

CURRENT AFFAIRS - 23 JULY 2015

1. Puducherry city first to get Smart city nomination

i. Puducherry city has emerged as the first nomination to be received by the Urban Development Ministry for a Smart City Mission. In this regard, Government of Union Territory of Puducherry has nominated its capital city for inclusion in the Union Government’s flagship 100 Smart Cities Mission.

ii. It also has forwarded the nomination along with all the forms and documents as required in the Stage-1 of ‘City Challenge’ competition.

iii. The nomination was forwarded based on the recommendations of the High Powered Steering Committee (HPSC) constituted as per the guidelines of mission. It was headed by Chief Secretary of UT and had overseen the process of first stage intra-state competition.

Since 2011, Puducherry Municipal Corporation (PM) has achieved 18 per cent improvement in provision of household sanitary latrines. Internal revenue generation has continuously increased by 14 per cent over the past three year period of 2012-13 to 2014-15.

2. 14 States, UTs achieve literacy rate of 80%: Government

i. Union Government has announced that 14 States and Union Territories (UTs) have achieved or exceeded the literacy rate of 80 percent. It was announced by Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

ii. 14 States and UTs are:  Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, NCR of Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu.

iii. Union Government’s flagship scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has helped to improve literacy rate. For implementing the scheme, Centre has helped the States and UTs. The literacy of adults has been covered under the Saakshar Bharat Programme.

iv. It was also announced that 10 States and UTs have also been able to reduce gender gap to 10 per cent or less. These states are Punjab, Chandigarh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

3. National Broadcasting Day observed across the country

i. National Broadcasting Day was observed on 23 July 2015 across the country. It is on this day in 1927, the Indian Broadcasting Company started radio broadcasting from Bombay station.

ii. To mark the day, All India Radio (AIR) organized a symposium on the subject Creation of New India and Broadcasting Medium in New Delhi.

iii. Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, speaking at the symposium, highlighted the role of Prasar Bharati in taking news of public interest to the length and breadth of the country and said that government is committed to the autonomy of Prasar Bharati.

iv. Broadcasting in India began in July 1923 with programmes by the Radio Club of Mumbai. According to an agreement of 23 July 1927, the private Indian Broadcasting Company LTD (IBC) was authorized to operate two radio stations; the Mumbai station began on 23 July 1927, and the Calcutta station followed on 26 August 1927.

4. Conakry named as World Book Capital for 2017 by UNESCO

i. Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea, was on 21 July 2015 named as the World Book Capital for 2017 by United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO). The decision was made by an international committee of experts on 30 June 2015 during a meeting.

ii. The selection committee singled out Conakry for the quality and diversity of its programme, in particular for its focus on community involvement as well as for its well-structured budget and clear development goals with a strong emphasis on youth and literacy.

iii. The World Book Capital is selected every year by the international organizations that represent the three major sectors of the book industry:

• The International Publishers Association (IPA)
• The International Booksellers Federation (IBF)
• The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
• The year for awarding World Book Capital starts on 23 April, which is celebrated as World Book and Copyright Day.

5. CCEA extends CCTNS deadline to March 2017

i. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has extended the deadline for implementation of Crime and Criminals Tracking network and Systems (CCTNS) project till March 2017.

ii. Decision in this regard was taken by CCEA meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra on the proposal forwarded by Union Ministry of Home Affairs. CCEA also approved additional five years phase for operation and maintenance of the CCTNS up to March 2022.

iii. It is an ambitious online system and central citizen portal that will link all state-level citizen websites under single platform which will provide a number of citizen friendly services. The services will include reporting a crime, police verification for passports, linkages with UIDAI, transport database and National Population Register.

iv. By computerising the functioning of police stations, prosecution directorates, prisons and forensic laboratories. It will also ensure smooth data exchange among these various systems along with e-court systems which are already functioning throughout the country.

6. World University Games no-show: AIU hands three-year ban to archers and coach, wants money back

i. Cracking the whip on the three archers who missed the bronze medal play-off during the recently-concluded World University Games, the Association of Indian Universities has banned them and their coach for three years, besides asking them to return the money spent on them.

ii. The compound team trio did not turn up at the bronze medal play-off against Italy in the July 3-14 World University Games at Gwangju in South Korea, thereby forfeiting the match.

iii. The inquiry report was examined, it was found/observed that athletes and official of the Indian contingent failed to turn up for participation in the prestigious event.

iv. the AIU did not furnish the reason why the athletes could not reach the archery competition venue on time. The AIU had also asked for a report from R K Sharma who had accompanied the Indian contingent to Korea.

7. Finger lickin' train food: KFC partners with IRCTC to start delivery system for passengers

i. The fast food chain has tied up with the IRCTC to start a delivery system for passengers. From 20 July onwards, a person travelling on train can order KFC meal, while booking ticket through IRCTC, under e-catering service initiatives, KFC said in a statement.

ii. this facility is available only on 12 trains passing through New Delhi railway station. However, it will be expanded to Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad (Kacheguda) and Bangalore (Yeshwantpur) stations over the next 10 days, the statement added.

iii. Consumers will have to visit the IRCTC website or call on 18001034139 (Toll Free) to place their order. A password will then be sent by KFC to the consumer’s mobile phone which will have to be mentioned at the time of delivery.

iv. IRCTC is looking to expand its culinary network by attempting to get joints such as Cafe Coffee Day, Barista and even Subway in the fold. IRCTC in its effort to offer better fare at stations is talking to Cafe Coffee Day, Pizza Hut, Barista Coffee, Subway and Jumboking Vadapav, urging them to open eateries at stations.

8. Archie Comics cartoonist Tom Moore dies at 86

i. Tom Moore, the cartoonist who brought to life the escapades of Riverdale residents in Archie comics has passed away. He was 86.

ii. Moore, who began drawing cartoons while in the US Navy during the Korean War, died early Monday morning while in ospice care in his hometown of El Paso, his son Lito Bujanda-Moore told The Associated Press yesterday.

iii. Moore drew Archie Andrews and his friends on and off from 1953 until he retired in the late 1980s. Annual sales of the comic regularly surpassed half a million during the 1960s, according to the El Paso Times.

iv. After retiring, Moore kept tabs on Archie, and disagreed when the comic book company decided to kill off the character. The El Paso Museum of Art displayed some of Moore's work and his vast comic collection about 20 years ago.

9. R.D. Burman: The Prince of Music written by Khagesh Dev Burman

i. Book titled R.D. Burman: The Prince of Music authored by Khagesh Dev Burman was released on 27 June 2015, the day when the music world celebrated the 76th birth anniversary of Rahul Dev Burman.

ii. The author through the book has tried to look into almost every aspect of R.D Burman like his childhood in Kolkata, his failure in studies, his beginning as an assistant to his father SD Burman as well as his rise as a musician. It also looks into his downfall due to ill-health and some bad decisions.

iii. The book also reveals the fact about number of songs and tunes of Burman, which remained unused. It says that there are songs which remained unreleased or shelved films, like two songs in unreleased film Raj and two songs of the unreleased Abhi Abhi remained shelved.