general knowledge & current affairs

by Nilesh Chavan 7775082412

Current Affairs & General Knowledge


How to Prepare for Current Affairs?

• Watch National News Channels• Daily Read Newspapers like The Hindu, TOI &

ET• Use social Networking websites like Facebook,

Gmail• Refer Magazines• Discuss in group •


Areas in GKNational InternationalBanking & FinanceAwardsSummitBooks & AuthorsScheme & Plans launchedLeaders Visited IndiaSports Important days


Methodology

• Who • Where• What • When


ExampleHousing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Bank set World record for Blood collection in a single day. The blood donation camp organised by HDFC Bank on 6 December 2013 was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.Who - HDFCWhere- India What – Blood CollectionWhen- 6 Dec 13


Example

• April 8: Heena Sindhu, the Indian shooter clinched the World‘s Number One spot in 10 meters air pistol event. By achieving this fete, she became the first Indian pistol shooter to be ranked at the top position in the list.

• Who- Heena Sindhu• Where-• What- No. 1 in 10 metre pistol• When- 8th April 2010


Example

• May 15 Raghuram Rajan, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that plastic currency notes will be launched in 2015 after field trials.


How to remember Important days?• March ‐• March 4 World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation‐• March 8 International Women’s Day‐• March 13 World Kidney Day‐• March 15 World Disabled Day‐• March 15 World Consumer Rights Day‐• March 21 World Forestry Day‐• March 21 International Day for the Elimination of Racial ‐

Discrimination• March 22 World Water Day‐• March 23 World Meteorological Day‐• March 24 World TB Day‐


Make abbreviations to remember..

• March 4 World Day of the Fight Against ‐Sexual Exploitation-4 FASE

• March 8 International Women’s Day- ‐ 8W• March 13 World Kidney Day- ‐ 13K• March 15 World Disabled Day- ‐ 15D• March 15 World Consumer Rights Day- ‐ 15CR


• March 21 World Forestry Day- ‐ 21F• March 21 International Day for the- ‐ 21 ERD

Elimination of Racial Discrimination• March 22 World Water Day- ‐ 22WA• March 23 World Meteorological Day- ‐ 23M• March 24 World TB Day- ‐ 24T


Link all the shortcuts with each other

• By making sentence• By making poem• By relating it with yourself


Lets try

• March• 4 FASE 8W 13K 15D 15CR 21F 21 ERD 22WA

23M 24T


• April ‐• 5th April National Maritime Day‐• 7th April World Health Day‐• 10th April World Homoeopathy Day (Birth day of Samuel Hanimen)‐• 14th April World Aeronautics and Cosmology Day‐• 14th April Ambedkar’s Birth Anniversary‐• 17th April World Hemophilia Day‐• 18th April World Heritage Day‐• 21st April Indian Civil Service Day‐• 22nd April Earth Day‐• 23rd April World Books and Copyright Day‐• 24th April Panchayat Divas‐


• MAY• May 1: International Labour Day/ Maharashtra Day• May 3: World Press Freedom Day/ International Energy• May 8: World Red Cross Day/ World Thalessemia Day• May 9: Victory day• May 11: World Technology Day• May 12: International Nurses Day• May 13: National Solidarity Day• May 14: World Migratory Day• May 17: World Telecommunication Day/• May 21: Anti – Terrorism Day• May 24: Common Wealth Day• May 29: Mount Everest Day• May 31: Anti – Tobacco Day


Banking & FinanceMay 25 In 2014, Foreign Exchange Reserves increased by 15.5 billion US dollar - RBI May 22 RBI extends loan tenure for exporters to 10 years. The Reserve Bank of India allowed banks to provide loans to exporters with tenures of up to 10 years.


May 21 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made easy the gold import norms under the 20: 80 Scheme.

May 15 Raghuram Rajan, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that plastic currency notes will be launched in 2015 after field trials.


May 6 The Reserve Bank of India allowed minors above the age of 10 to open and operate savings bank accounts independently

May 1 The deadline for switching to new format bank cheques under the cheque truncation system (CTS) ended on 30th April 2014.Transactions with cheques that have magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) and not CTS technology will from 1 may 2014 be delayed, with banks likely to take four days or more from the date of deposit to credit the amount.


April 26: State Bank of India (SBI) has signed an MoU with Enable India, a non-profit organisation, to train persons with disabilities towards economic independence.

April 25: Now, RBI to solely decide which loan is an NPA:Gujarat High court

April 16: The country‘s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a financing scheme for women fashion boutique owners. ‗Boutique Financing‘, the scheme is designed to offer working capital expenses as well as term loan for boutique owners.


April 15: State Bank of India launched Tablet (Tab) Banking service for opening Savings Bank accounts and giving in-principle housing loan approval at the customer‘s doorstep.

April 14: HDFC Bank sets Guinness record in blood collection


April 11: SBI has launched its twitter account. April 3: IDFC and Bandhan Financial Services

Private Ltd have got ‗in-principle‘ nod by the Reserve Bank of India to set up banks, from a field of 25 aspirants.


April 2 : RBI adopts new CPI as key measure of inflation.

March 28: Canara Bank has opened its 6000th ATM at Vikasa Soudha (Secretariat Building), Bangalore.

March 26: Kotak Mahindra Bank launched its online social account integrated with Facebook and Twitter.


March 25: Bank of India (BoI) launched Instant Money Transfer (IMT) scheme in Mumbai.

March 22: The Government of India divested its 9 percent stake in Axis Bank on 21 March 2014. The divestment resulted into generation of 5500 crore rupees.

March 22: The RBI has decided to utilise unclaimed bank deposits, which are estimated at 3,650 crore rupees for education and awareness of depositors. The apex bank has announced the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme for the purpose.


March 2: Indian Bank has bagged national award for excellence in lending to micro enterprises for 2012-2013, for the consecutive second year.

March 2: Corporation Bank has bagged the awards for lending to MSE (micro and small enterprises) and to micro enterprises from the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) for 2012-13.


Feb 28: Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram inaugurated the country‘s first post office savings bank ATM at the Head Post Office in Thyagaraya Nagar, Chennai.

Feb 22: Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), the first all-women bank, tied with New India Assurance to launch health insurance products for women account holders of the bank.


Feb 8: For greater adoption of mobile banking in the country, a Reserve Bank of India panel has recommended that all mobile network operators (MNOs) load single mobile banking application on all new SIMs (subscriber identification modules), which use encrypted SMS (short messaging service) for transaction processing.


Feb 7: The Reserve Bank has issued ‗certificate of authorisation‘ to four non-bank entities, including Tata Communications Payment Solutions and Muthoot Finance, to set up White Label ATMs (WLAs) in the country.

Jan 30: The Reserve Bank of India has doubled the sub-limit for foreign investment in government securities, to USD 10 billion by long-term investors.


Jan 28: The Reserve Bank said the growth is expected to fall below 5 per cent in 2013-14 in absence of pick-up in manufacturing sector, but likely to recover to 5.5 per cent in the next financial year.

Jan 24: Vakrangee Ltd has received the Reserve Bank of India‘s final authorisation of the White Label ATM licence.


Jan 24: State Bank of India strengthened its social media presence with the launch of its channel on popular video sharing website Youtube.

Jan 17: Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) and SBI Cards have joined hands for roll-out of credit cards to customers of India‘s first women-focused commercial bank


Jan 14: Corporation Bank will launch ‗Corp Micro Plus‘, a special campaign for micro enterprises from January 17 to March 31.

Jan 8: Bharatiya Mahila Bank, the first all-women bank, signed an agreement with Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for financing students pursuing chartered accountancy.


Jan 3: Targeting young individuals, public sector Indian Overseas Bank today launched ‗Connect Card‘, a new ATM cum Debit card in association with VISA that can be used for e-commerce across five lakh merchant outlets.

Jan 2: Canara Bank, as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR), has launched ‗Udaan‘ in Jammu and Kashmir in co-ordination with NSDC (National Skill Development Corporation) and the Government of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).


Economics

May 30 Union Government of India on 30 May 2014 signed a credit agreement of 165 million US dollar with World Bank for Maharashtra Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (MRWSSP).

May 30 The Union Government of India on 30 May 2014 signed a credit agreement of 121.20 million US dollar from the World Bank for the Uttarakhand Decentralized Watershed Development Project (UDWDP).


May 27 Special Investigation Team is set up to unearth black money chaired by Justice MB Shah.

May 27 India's CAD to rise to 2.6% of GDP in FY15: Goldman

May 13 India will overtake Japan to become the world’s third largest oil consumer behind the US and China by 2025, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.


May 8 RuPay, India’s indigenous card payment network launched by President Pranab Mukherjee is developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

April 29: The 28-member European Union (EU) imposed a temporary ban on import of Alphonso mangoes and four vegetables from India. The ban will come into effect from 1 May 2014.


April 2: The Reserve Bank of India adopted the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the key measure of Inflation. It was adopted in the first bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2014-15.

March 19: Gujarat has been ranked number one in a list of India's 20 largest states in terms of ―economic freedom‖.

The index on ―economic freedom‖ takes into account governance, growth, citizens‘ rights, and labour and business regulations.


March 7: North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) launched a new health scheme Stri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna for women.

March 5: The government has decided to hike interest rates on fixed deposit schemes offered by post offices by up to 0.2 per cent-from 8.2 percent to 8.4 percent.


March 5: Assam became the first state in India to observe State Child Protection Day.

Feb 27: The largest 130-MW Solar Power Plant of India Welspun Solar MP Project was launched at Bhagwanpur in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh. It is also the Asia's Largest Solar Power Plant.


Feb 20: The government decided to convert 7,200 kilometres of state roads into national highways.

Feb 19: Minister for Minority Affairs K Rehman Khan inaugurated country‘s first Minority Cyber Village in Chandoli in Alwar district of Rajasthan.


Feb 7: After the direct benefit transfer project, the Government is now planning to usher in a Direct-To-Home (DTH) scheme to plug leakages and handover pensions, work wages and other entitlements directly to beneficiaries across the country.

Feb 1: India has joined the elite group of nations when the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) was commissioned into the Indian Navy at INS Hansa in Panaji. This is the third such facility in the world, after the United States and Ukraine.


Jan 19: Global Retail giant Wal-Mart registered a new entity called Wal-Mart India Private Ltd in India to enter the lucrative multi-brand market in India. Wal-Mart India Private Ltd was registered as a new entity with Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Jan 13: Retirement fund body EPFO decided to increase the rate of interest on Provident Fund deposits to 8.75 percent for 2013-14.


Jan 9: The government has decided to retain the policy of allowing 100 per cent FDI in the existing pharma firms.


Nation

May 28 PM Mr. Narendra Modi created a new Ministry of Skill development and Entrepreneurship. It was created recognizing the importance of skill development in India.

May 26 Narendra Modi took oath as 15th Prime Minister of India, with 24 Cabinet and 21 Ministers of State

May 24 Malavath Poorna of Andhra became youngest woman to climb Mount Everest.


May 14 The Odisha government has signed an agreement with the TiE Silicon Valley as part of its efforts to develop the state as an IT hub and attract US investment.

April 30: According to World Bank Report released on 29th April 2014, India has displaced Japan to become the world's third biggest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). US is on top with 17.1%, China is on second number with 14.9% then India is on third number with 6.4%. India has replaced Japan to be on number 3


April 27: On 27th April 2014, India successfully test-fired an anti-ballistic missile named as Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV). It was tested at Wheeler Island in Balasore district of Odisha.

April 11: "The Accidental Prime Minister: the making and unmaking of Manmohan Singh", a memoir authored by Sanjaya Baru was released on 11th April 2014.


April 10: A new online security threat which can impact online safety of internet users has been identified and is named as "Heartbleed". This threat can result into compromising of confidential information.

April 7 : 7th April 2014 was a great day for the capital of Arunachal Pradesh - Itanagar, which got its first passenger train. Train was having total 10 passengers and two goods compartments with a diesel engine.


April 3: Election Commission has selected Amir Khan as its national icon for the Lok Sabha elections 2014.

April 1: Mr P Naik (The Chief Electoral Officer) launched SMS based service named "Polling at your Fingertips" in Shillong, Meghalaya.


March 15: An arrest warrant was issued against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges after her fresh indictment by US prosecutors who accused her of ―illegally‖ underpaying and ―exploiting‖ her domestic maid.

March 11: India has committed 8.5 billion rupees to Bhutan for Small Development Project for the country‘s the 11th Five Year Plan.


March 6: India, Sri Lanka and Maldives held National Security Advisor-level meeting on maritime security cooperation in New Delhi

March 6: In Nepal, a joint military excise between India and Nepal is on at Saljhandi in Rupandehi district.

March 1: Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India released a book entitled Akbar, The Aesthete in New Delhi.


Feb 28: The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) introduced the country‘s first electric zero-emission bus in the city.

Feb 26: The Supreme Court issued non bailable arrest warrant against Sahara Chief Subrata Roy for his failure to appear before it in connection with the case in which his two companies have been directed to refund Rs 20,000 crore to investors.


Jan 23: Nation celebrates the 117th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Jan 19: India test-fired nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile with a range of 4000 kilometers from Wheeler Island in Dhamra of Odisha Coast

Jan 7: Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan has said the Jain community will be added to the list of national minority communities.


Jan 5: INS Vikramaditya enters Indian Navy's area of operation. INS Vikramaditya (R33) is a Project which entered into service with the Indian Navy in 2013. The ship has been renamed in honour of Vikramaditya, a legendary 1st century BC emperor of Ujjain, India.


SPORTS

May 4 Indian Cricket Player Virat Kohli has reclaimed the No. 1 position in the latest ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen.

May 3 India's Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black clinched their first WTA title of the season beating Eva Hrdinova and Valeria Solovyeva in the women doubles final of the Portugal Open tennis.


May 1- 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games are to be held from 16th to 28th August 2014 in Nanjing, China

April 26: Grand Master Adhiban won silver medal at the Asian Continental Chess Championship held in Sharjah. With this silver he got an entry in the World Chess Cup 2015 that will be held at Baku, Azerbaijan


April 22: Chitra Magimairaj of India won the World Women‘s Senior Snooker Championship at Leeds, Britain. She played the final match against Alena Asmolava of Belarus.

April 15: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) established a Sport Integrity Unit to investigate the cases related to fraud in sports. Betting and Match fixing are the most common cases of sports fraud.


April 8: Heena Sindhu, the Indian shooter clinched the World‘s Number One spot in 10 meters air pistol event. By achieving this fete, she became the first Indian pistol shooter to be ranked at the top position in the list.

March 29: World number two air pistol shooter Heena Sidhu continued her impressive form as she clinched a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning, USA, the feat taking her closer to the numero uno spot in her event.


March 27: Olympian and former India captain Jude Felix was appointed coach of the National men‘s hockey team.

March 11: Pooja Ghatkar asserted the Indian supremacy against tough Chinese competition by clinching the gold in women‘s air rifle in the seventh Asian air gun championship in Kuwait City.


March 5: Graeme Smith, the South African cricket team Captain announced that he will retire from international cricket at the end of the test match against Australia at Newlands. Smith is the longest serving captain for South Africa in international cricket.

March 2: South Africa lift the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2014.


International

May 10 India-born Hinduja brothers, Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja, have emerged as the richest men in Britain with a net wealth of 11.9 billion pounds (about $20 billion). Their current fortune is up by 1.3 billion pounds during last year to make them on first spot.

April 17: Astronomers announced that they have discovered an Earth-size planet which was named Kepler-186f.


May 22 The 2014 edition of the "SIMBEX 14" series of annual bilateral naval exercises between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), is being conducted in the Andaman Sea from 22 May to 28 May 14.

April 6: US President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American Sunil Sabharwal to a key administration post as US Alternate Executive Director at IMF.


April 1: Japan announced a Rs 15,000-crore official development assistance ( ODA) loan for five projects in India, including expansion of Delhi Metro and works related to wind and solar energy. Japan and India signed the ODA loan agreement for five projects totalling more than Rs 15,000 crore.


April 1: On 1st April 2014, President of World Bank Mr Jim Yong Kim announced at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington that the bank would nearly double its lending capacity to boost support for middle countries like India, Brazil, China, Mexico and Indonesia. It is part of efforts of World Bank to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030.


March 21: World Forestry Day or International Day of Forests is celebrated worldwide every year on 21st of March at the international level in order to increase the public awareness among communities about the values, significance and contributions of the forests to balance the life cycle on the earth.


March 15: Rajeev Suri, the head of Nokia's telecoms network equipment division, is likely to become the Finnish group's next chief executive following the sale of its handset business to Microsoft.

March 9: The success of Aam Aadmi Party in India seems to have crossed boundaries and inspired people in Pakistan, where a party has been launched with the same name. A group led by Arslan-ul-Mulk, a rights activist from Gujranwala, has registered Aam Admi Party (AAP) with the Election Commission of Pakistan.


Feb 15: G-4 Director Generals for UN Affairs met in New Delhi. During the meet, the four G-4 nations namely Brazil, Germany, India and Japan also conducted an Outreach Seminar on UNSC Reform on 12 February 2014.

Feb 11: Indian-origin Mathew Martoma, convicted for his role in the most lucrative insider trading scheme in US history involving $275 million, will be sentenced in June and could face about 20 years in prison.


June

• Nelson Mandela International day• 06.06.2014: UN General

Assembly declared July 18th as Nelson Mandela International day. Mandela was the first South Africa’s president. He died on 5th December at the age of 95.

general knowledge & current affairs

Education

plastic currency

indian pistol

bharatiya

indian shooter

mart india

current affairs

corporation

key measure