Important Current Affairs

Romesh Sharma - Important Current Affairs May 2015 Capsule with PDF
by Romesh Sharma - Testbook Blog - https://testbook.com/blog
Important Current Affairs May 2015 Capsule with PDF

by Romesh Sharma - Tuesday, June 02, 2015
https://testbook.com/blog/important-current-affairs-may-2015-capsule-with-pdf/
Important Current Affairs May 2015 Capsule

Person in News
C N R Rao
Eminent scientist C N R Rao was conferred with Japans highest civilian award for his
outstanding contributions to science and Indo-Japanese science coperation.
Achal Kumar Jyoti
Achal Kumar Jyoti, a former Gujarat Chief Secretary, was appointed as the Election
Commissioner, filling one of the two vacancies in the three-member body.
Born on January 23, 1953, Jyoti will have a tenure of nearly three years, when he will turn
65.
An EC or a CEC has a tenure of six years in office or till he or she attains the age of 65
years, whichever is earlier.
From April 19, when Nasim Zaidi took over as the CEC till today, he was the only
member in the poll body.
Swami Atmasthanand Maharaj
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Swami Atmasthanand Maharaj, president
of Ramakrishna Math and Mission Order whom he considers his guru.
Sanjita Pradhan
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US President Barack Obama has nominated an IIT alumni to his advisory commission
on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).
Obama announced the nomination of Sanjita Pradhan, an MBA from the Indian
Institute of Technology, along with other nominations for several key administration post.
Shashi Kapoor
Veteran Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor was conferred with the prestigious Dada Saheb
Phalke award by Union Minister Arun Jaitley at Prithvi theatre in Mumbai.
Kapoor made his debut as a leading man in the 1961 film Dharmputra and went on to
appear in more than 116 films during 60s, 70s and until the mid 80s.
Some of his memorable films include Deewar, Kabhie Kabhie, Namak Halal,
Kaala Pathar and others.
His best known performances as child artist were in Aag (1948) and Awaara (1951),
where he played the younger version of the character played by Raj Kapoor. Shashi
Kapoor also worked as assistant director in the 1950s.
He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 2011.
He is the 46th recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award to receive this honour for his
outstanding contribution to the growth and development to Indian Cinema.
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is Indias highest award in cinema. It is presented
annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an
organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
First presented in 1969, the award was introduced by the Government of India to
commemorate Dadasaheb Phalkes contribution to Indian cinema.
The first recipient of the award was actress Devika Rani, who was honoured at the 17th
National Film Awards.
Rahul Yadav
A week after withdrawing resignation, Housing.com Chief Executive Rahul Yadav in a surprise
move decided to allot all his personal holding in the company worth Rs 150-200 crore to the
employees.
Yadav holds the highest shares among the founding team, which is now down to nine
members from 12 when Housing began operations in 2012.
Started by 12 IIT-Bombay graduates, Housing is a map-based real estate portal which
helps people rent, sell and buy houses. Besides, SoftBank and Nexus Venture Partners, its
other investors include Helion Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures and Falcon Edge.
Arun Shrivastava
The government appointed Arun Shrivastava as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
of Syndicate Bank, nearly nine months after the arrest of its CMD S K Jain in a graft case.
Draupadi Murmu
Draupadi Murmu has been sworn in as the first woman Governor of Jharkhand.
Murmu succeeds Syed Ahmed, who will take over as the Governor of Manipur.
A two-time BJP MLA from Odisha, Ms Murmu was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik
cabinet when the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ruled the state with the support of Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP).
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She headed the BJPs Mayurbhanj district unit in Odisha and had represented Rairangpur
in the Odisha assembly.
Harkeert Singh Saini
An 44-year-old Indian-American policeman has been awarded the prestigious Top Civilian
Supervisor of the Year award for his efficient services to the Houston Police department in the
US state of Texas.
Harkeert Singh Saini received the award from Police Chief Charles A McClelland And
Houston Mayor Anise Parker during a function held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel here
earlier this week.
Saini, a police records supervisor has been working for the Houston Police
department for the last 15 years.
S S Ahluwalia
Former Union minister and BJP MP S S Ahluwalia was appointed chairman of a Joint
Committee of Parliament that will go into the provisions of the controversial land acquisition
bill.
Ahluwalia is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Darjeeling in West Bengal.
The 30-member Joint Committee of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha would submit its report
on the first day of Monsoon Session on the bill which has already been passed by the
Lower House.
Tathagata Roy
Veteran BJP leader from West Bengal Tathagata Roy sworn in as the Governor of Tripura.
Earlier, Padmanabha Balkrishna Acharya, the Nagaland Governor who had been
discharging additional duty for Tripura, was given a farewell by the State government.
V Shanmuganathan
Senior BJP leader V Shanmuganathan was sworn-in as the Governor of Meghalaya at the Raj
Bhavan here.
Meghalaya was without a permanent governor for over four months.
Shanmuganathan is a post-graduate and an M Phil in political Science.
Akhil Amar
US President Barack Obama has named an Indian-American professor from Yale
University as a member of the prestigious National Council on Humanities.
The nomination of Akhil Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at the
university since 2008, was announced yesterday by Obama along with other key
administration positions.
Parvinder Singh Batth
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An Indian-origin councillor took charge as the mayor of Britains Wokingham Borough

Council, the first-ever Sikh to hold this position.
Parvinder Singh Batth, a Conservative party councillor has served his local borough of
Wokingham in Berkshire in southeast England as deputy mayor, took over the role from
councillor UllaKarin Clark and will serve till 2017.
John Nash
US mathematician John Nash, who inspired the Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind,
has died in a car crash with his wife, police have said.
The mathematician is renowned for his work in game theory, winning the Nobel Prize for
Economics in 1994.
His breakthroughs in maths and his struggles with schizophrenia were the focus of the
2001 film.
Even this week, Nash received the Abel Prize, another top honour in the field of
mathematics.
Nashs famous equilibrium has grown to be perhaps the most important idea in economic
analysis and has found application in fields as diverse as computing, evolutionary biology
and artificial intelligence.
Manoj Mishra
Government has appointedManoj Mishra as Chairman and Managing Director of
state-run National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL).
Shri G Mohan Kumar
Shri G Mohan Kumar took over as the new Defence Secretary, succeeding Shri RK
Mathur, who laid down office yesterday.
Belonging to the 1979 batch of IAS, Odisha cadre, Shri Mohan Kumar is a postGraduate in Chemistry and an MBA from UK. He has worked in various ministries and
departments including Steel, Water Resources, Rural Development, Fisheries, Export
Development and VAT Administration.
Shri Mohan Kumar was the Secretary, Defence Production since 01 September 2014
before taking over as the Defence Secretary.
Pradip Baijal
Yet another book has come out damming the previous UPA government with former TRAI
Chairman Pradip Baijal alleging that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had warned
him of harm if he did not cooperate on 2G telecom licenses.
This is for the second time that the former chairman of the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (Trai) has chosen to speak through a book, the latest being, The
Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power and Private Enterprise A
Practitioners Diary.
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Nirbhay Sharma
Lt General (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma was sworn-in as the Governor of Mizoram at the Durbar
Hall of Raj Bhavan here.
He is the eighth Governor of Mizoram after the then state Governor Vakkom
Purushothaman resigned on July 12 last year in protest against being transferred
to Nagaland.
Selvin Christopher & GS Reddy
The Modi government appointed radar specialist Selvin Christopher and missile scientist GS
Reddy as the DRDO chief and Scientific Adviser to the defence minister, respectively.
Christopher who heads the Bengaluru-based Centre for Airborne Systems and the
project to develop airborne early warning and control systems will be the secretary,
department of defence research and development as well as director general of the Defence
Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).
The new scientific adviser to defence minister, G Satheesh Reddy is the director of the
Hyderabad-based Research Centre Imarat (RCI), the missile avionics hub of DRDO that
is considered the brainchild of former president APJ Abdul Kalam.
George Yeo
Former Foreign Minister of Singapore George Yeo will be the new Chancellor of the Nalanda
University, the External Affairs Ministry announced today, over two months after Nobel laureate
Amartya Sen withdrew his candidature to the post for a second term.
Veena Jain
The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry appointed Veena Jain as director general
(news) in Doordarshan in place of Akshay Rout and, in an unusual move, directed her to report
directly to the ministry.
Jain, an additional secretary rank official, will also hold charge as officer on special duty
overseeing the ministrys new media wing and social media cell.
DD DG (news) is one of the most influential positions in the public broadcaster. Both DD and
AIR are media wings that function under Prasar Bharati.
Pradeep Kumar Sinha
Power Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha was appointed as the next Cabinet Secretary of the
government.
He will succeed Ajit Seth who has been holding the position for the last four years.
Mr Sinha, a 1977-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been asked to take over
as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Cabinet Secretariat, an official release said.
The Cabinet secretariat is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. The administrative head
of the secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio chairman of the Civil Services
Board.
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National Affairs
Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar witnessed four-hour long naval manoeuvring
between Indian Navy and its French counterpart off Goa coast- the concluding day of Varuna
The exercises had began on April 23 off Goa coast with around 16 hours of practise
between both the navies to understand each others strength, and also sync the
understanding during the emergency times.
The French side is headed by aircraft carrier Carrier Charles de Gaulle, two destroyers
namely Chevalier Paul and Jean de Vienne, replenishment tanker Meuse and a maritime
patrol aircraft Atlantique 2.
While Indian side has aircraft carrier INS Viraat, destroyer Mumbai, stealth frigate
Tarkash, guided missile frigate Gomati, replenishment tanker Deepak, submarine Shankul
and a few Fast Attack Craft.
Extending his wishes on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Information and
Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley called on all to rededicate themselves to upholding the
constitutional principles of independent, free and pluralistic media.
Indian Army inducted the first regiment of the indigenously-developed Akash surface-to-air
missile system.
Akash Missile System is an indigenously developed supersonic short range surface-to-air
missile system with the capability to engage a wide variety of aerial threats like aircrafts,
helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles up to a maximum range of 25 km and upto an
altitude of 20 Km.
The system is capable of simultaneously engaging multiple targets and is capable of
providing comprehensive short range missile cover to the vulnerable assets in the field
force of the Army.
It employs command to line of sight guidance and relies on sophisticated radars and
control systems to guide the missile to its targets.
The weapon system has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO).
With 96% indigenous content, the state-of the art weapon system is a glowing
manifestation of the Honble PMs Make-in-India initiative.
Superstar Salman Khan was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to five years
imprisonment in the 2002 hit-and-run case but escaped being sent to jail after the Bombay High
Court granted him interim bail till May 8 when it will hear his plea against conviction.
The high court granted interim relief to the 49-year-old actor on the ground that he had
been handed over only a 2-page operative part of the sessions court verdict and not a
detailed order explaining the reasons for his conviction.
India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran for developing the Chabahar
port that aims to improve trade connectivity between Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
Chabahar port is located in Sistan-Balochistan Province on Irans southeastern coast
and is of great strategic utility for India, which will get sea-land access route to
Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan.
The port will be used to ship crude oil and urea, saving India transportation costs.
India intends to lease two berths at Chabahar for 10 years. The port will be developed
through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) which will invest USD 85.21 million to convert
the berths into a container terminal and a multi-purpose cargo terminal.
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Government has approved National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) for planning, monitoring and
implementing policies related to smart (power) grid activities, Parliament was informed today.
NSGM entails implementation of a smart electrical grid based on state-of-the art
technology in the fields of automation, communication and IT systems that can monitor
and control power flows from points of generation to points of consumption.
The total outlay for NSGM activities for 12th Plan is Rs 980 crore with a budgetary
support of Rs 338 crore.
Although Indias near-term growth outlook has improved, its medium-term prospects remain
constrained by longstanding structural weakness, the IMF said, describing the country as a new
bright spot in Asia.
With higher political certainty improved business confidence, reduced external
vulnerabilities and lower commodity prices, real GDP is forecast to rise to 7.2 per cent in
FY 2014/15, accelerating to 7.5 per cent in 2015/16.
India successfully test-fired an advanced version of the BrahMos land-attack cruise missile from
the Car Nicobar Islands as it revalidated the weapons precision strike capability.
The BrahMos missile has been jointly developed by India and Russia.
The multi-mission missile, having a range of 290-km and a Mach 2.8 speed, is capable of
being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against sea and land targets.
The air version BrahMos is being readied for flight trials soon on Indian Air Forces
Su-30MKI strike fighter.
A strategically important new Naval base INS Sardar Patel was commissioned
in Porbandar, which Navy chief K. Dhowan said will help boost security of Gujarats 1600-km
coastline.
Gujarat has a coastline of 1600 km interspersed with 43 ports. Of these, besides Kandla
being a major port, 11 are intermediate and 31 are minor ports. The ports of Gujarat handle
300 million tons of cargo annually, which is 43% of the total maritime trade handled by
the various ports of India.
The name Sardar Patel has been chosen to signify the role of Vallabhai Patel, the first
Deputy PM and Home Minister of India, one of the founding fathers of India.
For a cleaner River Yamuna, the National Green Tribunal announced that every household
in Delhi will have to pay environmental compensation every month.
The compensation to be paid would be directly proportional to the property or water tax,
whichever is higher, paid by a particular household.
In case of households in unauthorised colonies which do not pay property tax or water bill,
the amount would be 100 to Rs. 500.
The payment of the environmental compensation would be added to electricity bills,
water bill and the property tax demand in order of preference by the respective
departments which will transfer the money to NCT, Delhi.
Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Bill
The Cabinet approved the new Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Bill which aims at
curbing the generation of domestic black money.
The Bill provides for prosecution and aims to act as a major avenue for blocking
generation and holding of black money in the form of benami property, especially in real
estate.
The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2015 provides for attachment
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and confiscation of benami properties and also fine with imprisonment. This is one more
initiative to fight the menace of black money inside the country,
New Urea Policy 2015
The government approved a new urea policy aiming to increase domestic production by 2
million tonnes and reduce its subsidy bill by over Rs 4,800 crore annually, but decided not
to raise retail prices.
The maximum retail price (MRP) of urea for farmers has been left untouched at Rs 268
per bag of 50 kgs, excluding local taxes. Farmers would have to pay an additional Rs 14
per bag for neem-coated urea.
The Cabinet today approved a comprehensive New Urea Policy 2015 for the next four
fiscals with multiple objectives of maximising indigenous urea production and promoting
energy efficiency in urea units to reduce the governments subsidy burden.
Indias urea production has remained stagnant at 22 million tonnes (MT) annually and the
country has to import about 8 MT to meet the domestic demand.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis pet Ganga cleaning and protection programme was cleared
and given a whopping Rs 20,000 crore budget, a four-fold increase over the money spent in the
last three decades for the rivers conservation.
The Supreme Court laid down guidelines for publication of government advertisements to
avoid the misuse of public funds for plugging the ruling party and glorifying politicians.
One guideline suggests that the photographs of only three dignitaries should be allowed on
government adsthe President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
The court spelt out the guidelines in response to public interest litigation filed by two nonprofit organizations, Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, which
sought court directions to restrain the central and state governments from using public
funds on government advertising.
Ignoring concerns of the intelligence agencies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced
that India will grant e-visas to Chinese tourists, making it the 77th country to get such a
facility.
India and China agreed to seek a political solution to the border dispute at the earliest as Prime
Minister Narendra Modi asked Beijing to reconsider its approach on some issues and
announced CBMs like e-visa for Chinese tourists and operationalisation of hotline between two
militaries.
Modi, who held talks with his counterpart Li Keqiang, pushed for clarifying
the LAC without prejudice to our position on the boundary question, saying a shadow
of uncertainty always hangs over the sensitive areas of the border region as neither side
knows where the LAC is in these areas.
India and China today signed a record 24 agreements in key sectors, including in
railways and education, on day two of Prime Minister Narendra Modis first visit to the
communist neighbour.
Protocol for setting up Consulates-General at Chengdu and Chennai besides an MoU on
consultative mechanism for cooperation in trade negotiations were among the 24
agreements signed in the presence of Modi and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang
An action plan between the Indian Railways and China National Railways on enhancing
cooperation in the railway sector was also signed.
Other key agreements are on developing China India think tanks, maritime cooperation
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and ocean sciences.

Four agreements were signed on sister-state and sister city relations between Karnataka
and Sichuan province; Chennai and Chongqing; Hyderabad and Qingdao; and Aurangabad
and Dunhuang.
An agreement on setting up a Mahatma Gandhi skill centre in Ahmedabad was also
signed besides a broadcast tie-up for Doordarshan and Chinas state-run CCTV.
Agreements on education exchange programme, on mining and minerals, skill
development, tourism and vocational education also figured on the list.
Two MoUs between Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Yunnan Minzu
University and another with Fudan University were signed on the establishment of a
Yoga college and centre for Gandhian and Indian studies, respectively.
India announced a USD one billion credit line to Mongolia for infrastructure development as
they upgraded their ties to Strategic Partnership and agreed to deepen defence cooperation
besides exploring potential for tie ups in areas like the civil nuclear sector.
The government has allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the growth of Department of AYUSH and
launched an independent National AYUSH Mission aimed at capacity building for the sector.
The government has not only created the new portfolio AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and
Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) but has also allocated Rs 5,000 crore for
the same, Union Minister of State for AYUSH Sripad Naik informed.
Ayurveda is quite popular, being practised throughout the country, including tribal and
remote areas where other modes of therapies are not readily available.
South Korea decided to provide USD 10 billion to India for infrastructure, development of smart
cities, railways, power generation and other diversified areas as the two countries agreed to
upgrade their bilateral relationship to a Special Strategic Partnership.
India and South Korea inked seven agreements, including on avoidance of double
taxation and formalising consultations between National Security Councils of the two
nations, to boost bilateral ties.
The agreements were signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with South
Korean President Park Geun-hye in Seoul
The India-South Korea Double Taxation Avoidance Convention signed in 1985 has
been revised with a view to avoiding the burden of double taxation on taxpayers in the two
countries.
The two nations also agreed to cooperate in audio-visual co-production.
The agreement in this regard is being signed under the provisions of India-South
Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and would enable coproduction of films, animation and broadcasting programmes.
The two nations also signed an MOU for cooperation between the National Security
Council Secretariat of India and the Office of National Security of South Korea.
This would formalise consultations between National Security Councils of the two
countries in a number of areas.
The agreement envisages cooperation in areas such as renewable energy, smart grids and
power information and technology, transmission and distribution of electric power, energy
efficiency and storage system.
Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare assumed as President of
the 68th World Health Assembly, at Geneva.
Addressing the plenary session of the Health Assembly as President of the World Health
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Assembly, he said that the Assembly is an opportunity for the member states to take stock
of the health challenges faced by humanity, while at the same time, prioritize and
strategize our combined efforts.
India announced that it would contribute $2.1 million to the World Health
Organisation (WHO) as a reflection of its commitment to the global health body and its
mandate.
The Fourth Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette of Project-28, christened Kavaratti,
was launched at a glittering ceremony held at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers
Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata.
The four ships of Project-28 built by GRSE, Kolkata have been designed indigenously by
the Directorate of Naval Design.
Designed by the Directorate of Naval Design and built by the GRSE, INS Kavaratti is the
last of the four anti-submarine warfare class stealth corvettes being built under Project
28 (P-28).
The corvette has a displacement of 3,300 tonnes, is 109.1 metres in length and measures
13.7-m at beam.
The vessel is propelled by four diesel engines to achieve speed in excess of 25 knots and
has an endurance of more than 3,400 nautical miles, a release by the GRSE said.
Kavaratti is well-equipped to fight in nuclear, chemical and biological warfare conditions
owing to its weapons and its sensor suite is predominantly indigenous.
Government sanctioned proposals for setting up 30 new cold chains in the country with a total
investment of Rs 724.9 crore.
The Food Processing Ministry provides financial assistance of up to Rs 10 crore for these
projects.
The total capacity of these projects will be 1.12 lakh tonnes of cold storage and 11.10
lakh litres of milk per It would attract an investment of another Rs 470 crore. It will also
result in addition of 209 reefer or refrigerated container vehicles.
A total of 138 integrated cold chain projects were approved by the government, out of
which 108 have been sanctioned so far, and remaining 30 are sanctioned today.
Once all these 138 cold chain projects become operational, it will add 4.76 lakh tonnes of
storage capacity and 118 lakh litres per day milk processing capacity and 810 reefer
vehicles.
The Union Cabinet has approved Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) continuation
programme of fifteen operational flights of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C36 to PSLVC50, thus enabling the launch of satellites required for Earth Observation, Navigation and Space
Sciences along with the possibility of clinching commercial launch service contracts.
The total fund requirement is Rs 3090 crore and includes the cost of fifteen PSLV
vehicles, Programme Elements, Programme Management and Launch Campaign.
With the recent successful launch of PSLV-C26 on October 16, 2014, PSLV has
completed three developmental and 25 operational flights and the last 27 flights have been
successful.
AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa was sworn in for the fifth time as Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu amid celebrations by party cadres and supporters all over the state.
She returns to power nearly eight months after she was forced to quit over corruption
charges.
Jayalalithaa took the oath in the name of God in Tamil in a simple function held at the
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University of Madras Centenary Auditorium in Chennai. Twenty-eight other ministers also

took oath in a brief ceremony.
Indigenously-built guided missile stealth frigate INS Satpura and anti-submarine corvette INS
Kamrota are participating in SIMBEX-15, a bilateral naval exercise with Singapore, a statement
said.
SIMBEX-15 was held between May 23-26, 2015.
The annual bilateral exercise SIMBEX started in 1999.
India expects the strategic Chabahar port, which will give sea-land access to Afghanistan
bypassing Pakistan, to be operational by December next year, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari
said.
The AAP government has approved mandatory GPS on all public transport vehicles. This will be
in effect from June 1, said a senior official. The decision comes months after the transport
department, which has been extending the deadline for mandatory GPS, announced that all
passenger vehicles will need it in order to get their fitness certificates renewed.
Reaching out to farmers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for their prosperity
and development of villages, saying it was directly linked to the progress of the country.
Launching DD Kisan Channel, which would provide information about best agricultural
practices and related content, the Prime Minister said that agriculture had so far been a
neglected field and there was a need to make it vibrant and dynamic.
The DD Kisan channel is being dubbed as the first of its kind in the world by officials,
who say that it would cover agriculture, rural areas and also areas like horticulture, food
processing and animal husbandry.
IT industry lobby group Nasscom launched Nasscom Cyber Security Task Force, which aims
to make India the hub for cyber securityrelated research, training and products. The development
comes nearly three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted the domestic IT
industry and youth to help address the global cybersecurity challenge.
The task force has proposed four working groups focused on industry development, policy
enablement, technology development and skill development.
Recommendations from these groups will enable the task force to come up with a
comprehensive cybersecurity plan for the country.
The Centre welcomed Tripura governments decision to lift AFSPA saying there was no need
for the state government to take the consent of the central government while taking the move.
AFSPA provides unlimited powers to security forces to shoot at sight, arrest anybody
without a warrant, and carry out searches without consent. All this knowing that they
wouldnt face any legal action for any action undertaken under the act.
The central act was first enforced in Tripura on 16 February, 1997 when terrorism was at
its peak in the state, which shares an 856-km border with Bangladesh.
Ever since it was enforced in Tripura, the Act, as per its provisions, was reviewed and
extended after every six months.
In a traditional ceremony, US-educated Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wodeyar, the
adopted son of Pramoda Devi Wodeyar, was crowned as the titular head of the erstwhile Mysuru
royal family.
The Wodeyar dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Mysuru from 1399 to 1947, the last king
being Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, who ruled from 1940 until Indian independence in
1947 when he acceded his kingdom to the dominion of India, but continued as the
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Maharaja until India became a Republic in 1950.

An advanced version of the indigenously developed Pinaka Mark-II rocket was successfully testfired from Armys Chandan firing range near Pokhran using a multi-barrel launcher.
Jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the
Indian Army, this multi-barrel rocket launcher has high operational mobility, flexibility
and accuracy as the major characteristics, which give the weapon an edge in modern
artillery warfare for the Indian Armed Forces.
Pinaka-I has already been inducted into the Army and was also put into field testing for
assessing its capability during the Kargil war. Its quick reaction time and high rate of fire
gives an edge to the Army during low-intensity warlike situation.
Himachal Pradesh has emerged as first the state in the country to start Aadhaar based Payment
System (ABPS) and payments amounting Rs 76.53 crore have been made through this system till
date since the scheme was launched on October 2, 2014, Rural Development Minister Anil
Kumar said.
International Affairs
TheNepal earthquake that has claimed around 6,300 lives so far, was caused due to tectonic
activities in sub-continental thrust which passes through Patna in India to western part of
Kathmandu, said an expert.
In the biggest event boxing has staged in years, Floyd Mayweather defeated Manny
Pacquiao by unanimous decision after 12 rounds to improve his professional record to 48-0 and
unify the world welterweight titles.
Mayweather remains undefeated via unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it
116-112 and the other 118-110.
The legendary bout termed as Fight of the Century was played at iconic MGM Grand,
Las Vegas. This fight was also the highest watched and most revenue generating with
almost 400 million dollars of all time.
The US has handed over to Pakistan 14 combat aircraft, 59 military trainer jets and 374 armoured
personnel carriers, which were earlier used by American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The altitude of the Kathmandu Valley has risen by 80 centimetres after the devastating
earthquake struck Nepal last month, the Survey Department said.
Prime Minister David Cameron won a stunning majority in Britain, Conservatives led by
48-year-old charismatic Cameron saw the party come back to power with 327 seats, in the
650-member parliament.
The main opposition Labour Party suffered the second successive defeat winning only
232 seats, forcing its prime ministerial candidate Ed Miliband to quit as party leader.
Mhairi Black, the freshly elected lawmaker from Scotland, is all of 20 years old. she
made history by becoming the youngest lawmaker in UK history since the 17th century.
The World Health Organization says Liberia is now free of Ebola after going 42 days twice
the maximum incubation period for the deadly disease without any new cases.
Liberia is one of three West African countries at the center of the largest epidemic by far
of Ebola since the disease was first reported in 1976.
Liberias neighbors, Guinea and Sierra Leone have also had outbreaks and are still
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reporting cases.
More than 11,000 people have died of Ebola in the three countries, according to WHO
statistics.
North Korea has successfully test-fired a newly developed underwater ballistic missile which it
describes as a world level strategic weapon, the official Korean Central News
Agency (KCNA) reported.
Leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test himself.
Development of a submarine-launched missile capability would take the North Korean
nuclear threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula.
India-born Nikesh Arora was appointed as president of Japans SoftBank Corp and has been
named as a potential successor to CEO Masayoshi Son.
The report in Fortune said the move comes as Son and SoftBank are battling to improve
profitability at US carrier Sprint Corp, which they bought in 2013 for more than USD 20
billion.
Arora, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology in Varanasi and Northeastern
University, was hired to run a newly created unit called SoftBank Internet and Media Inc,
reporting directly to Son.
Apart from being the largest investor in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba
Group, SoftBank has plans to invest USD 10 billion in Indias potentially huge but underdeveloped online retail market.
Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri has been sworn in as the chairman of the National Indian Gaming
Commission, becoming the first Indian-American to occupy this top position in the US.
Karan Menon, a 14-year-old Indian-American student, has won the prestigious National
Geographic Bee competition in the US, in which the top three positions were bagged by Indianorigin contestants.
Of the 10 finalists, seven were of Indian-origin. In addition to winning the title of National
Geographic Bee champion, Menon received a USD 85,000 college scholarship, lifetime
membership in the National Geographic Society and an expedition for two to the
Galapagos Islands aboard the Lindblad ship National Geographic Endeavour.
US President Barack Obama has nominated General Mark Milley as the next Army chief of
staff and Admiral John Richardson as the next chief of naval operations, Defense
Secretary Ashton Carter said.
Deposed Egyptian Prez Mohammed Morsi and over 100 members of Muslim
Brotherhood were sentenced to death by a court here in a mass jail break in 2011.
The incident took place during the January 2011 revolution when more than 20,000
prisoners escaped from three Egyptian prisons. The uprising had led to the ouster of then
Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak.
As India pressed China to open its markets for Indian IT firms, technology
major Infosys announced establishing its first overseas centre outside India in China with an
investment of about USD 120 million to tap in the burgeoning Chinese market.
Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria had entered the Unesco World Heritage
site of Palmyra after seizing the town next to the ancient ruins, reports say.
The ruins at Palmyra, a Unesco world heritage site just to the south-west of the town, are
one of the regions most renowned historic sites and there are fears the extremists will
destroy them as they have done after taking major archaeological sites in Iraq.
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Palmyra is famous for its 2,000-year-old towering Roman-era colonnades and before the
war, thousands of tourists a year visited the remote desert outpost, also known as
the Bride of the Desert.
Ireland has voted by a huge majority to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first country
in the world to do so by popular vote in a move hailed as a social revolution and welcomed around
the world.
Some 62% of the Irish Republics electorate voted in favour of gay marriage.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked Southeast Asian nations to deal with the causes
behind a growing humanitarian crisis that has forced thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar and
Bangladeshi migrants to flee by sea, leaving many still stranded in boats.
China, the worlds biggest gold producer, has set up a gold sector fund involving countries along
the ancient Silk Road which is expected to raise $16.1 billion.
The fund, led by Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), is expected to raise an estimated 100
billion yuan ($16.1 billion) in three phases, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. It is
said to be the largest fund set up by China.
China is the worlds largest gold producer, and also a major importer and consumer of
gold.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has announced that 90%
of the worlds declared chemical weapons stockpiles have been destroyed.
This includes stocks of unitary weapons, such as sulfur mustard, and primary precursor
chemicals for producing deadly nerve agents, like sarin. All destruction activities have
been completed in a safe manner.
The process to complete the elimination of Cold War-era stockpiles in Russia and
the United States is well under way and is scheduled to be completed before the end of
2020 and 2023, respectively.
The Chemical Weapons Convention has 190 States Parties, with six States Angola,
Egypt, Israel, Myanmar, North Korea and South Sudan still outside the Convention.
Angolas and Myanmars parliaments recently approved joining the Convention, and both
countries are expected to soon become States Parties.
Economy
Private lender Federal Bank has tied up with the countrys largest life insurer, LIC, for
implementation of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyothi Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), the life insurance
scheme announced by the Centre for savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50
years.
The scheme will be launched, along with one pension scheme (Atal Pension Yojana) and
non-life scheme Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, by the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in Kolkata on May 9, a bank release said.
The insurance scheme provides for a life cover of Rs 2 lakh at an annual premium of Rs
330.
Railways has not been able to meet its operational cost of passenger services during the last five
years, incurring a loss of nearly Rs 11,000 crore over this period, according to a report by
the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
The CAG in its latest report tabled in Parliament said the state-run transporter incurred
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losses in all category of passenger classes barring the AC 3-Tier.

After providing bank accounts to 15 crore unbanked people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
launched three social security schemes, including an insurance cover for less than Re 1 per day,
and said that the poor need empowerment, not aid.
Modi said Rs 15,800 crore has been deposited in the 15 crore Jan Dhan accounts opened
in four months and the scheme to provide cooking gas subsidy directly into bank accounts
of beneficiaries has helped stop pilferages and leakages worth hundreds of crores of
rupees.
Modi said 80-90 per cent people in the country neither have insurance cover nor any
possibility of pension.
While the three schemes will come into force from June 1, the Prime Minister said that in
the first seven days of the trail-run, banks have enrolled 5.05 crore people, including 42
lakh from West Bengal.
The schemes Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan
Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) were
simultaneously launched at 115 locations throughout the country. .
The Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana will offer a renewable one-year life
cover of Rs 2 lakh to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50 years,
covering death due to any reason, for a premium of Rs 330 per annum.
The Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana will offer a renewable one-year
accidental death-cum-disability cover of Rs 2 lakh for partial/permanent disability to all
savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-70 years for a premium of Rs 12 per
annum per subscriber.
Atal Pension Yojana will focus on the unorganised sector and provide subscribers a
fixed minimum pension of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000 or Rs 5,000 per month,
starting at the age of 60 years, depending on the contribution option exercised on entering
at an age between 18 and 40 years.
The government has promised to co-contribute 50% of total contribution or Rs 1000 per
annum whichever is lower, for the first five years. Subscribers without any social security
and who don pay income tax will get this added benefit.
The schemes would come into effect from June 1, 2015.
Eminent banker K V Kamath will be the first president of USD 100 billion BRICS Bank which
will provide infrastructure loans to emerging nations, rivalling multilateral lenders such as World
Bank and IMF.
Kamath, 67, will have a five year term at the bank, which is likely to be operationalised
within one year as New Development Bank being set up by the five nation
grouping, BRICS, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi
Kamath is the non-executive Chairman of the Indias largest private sector bank ICICI.
Besides, he is also the non-executive chairperson of the IT bellwether Infosys.
Leaders of the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
(BRICS) had last year reached an agreement to establish the New Development Bank,
with its headquarters in Shanghai. As per the agreement, India got the right to nominate
the first president.
The BRICS nations account for nearly USD 16 trillion in GDP and 40 per cent of the
worlds population.
The bank will start with an initial paid-in-capital of USD 50 billion with each BRICS
15 / 30
country contributing USD 10 billion, while its authorised capital is USD 100 billion.
The Constitution amendment bill providing for the roll-out of the long-pending Goods and
Services Tax (GST) was referred to a Select Committee after the opposition forced the
government in the Rajya Sabha where it lacks majority.
Google will build its largest campus outside the US in Hyderabad at an investment of Rs 1,000
crore, according to Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao.
The Reserve Bank of India directed bank boards to deliberate on seven critical themes including
business strategy, risk, financial report and their integrity, customer protection, financial inclusion
and human resources as prescribed by the P J Nayak committee.
The central bank in its first bi-monthly monetary policy statement had proposed to do
away with the calendar of reviews and instead, replace it with the seven critical themes.
The banks would as part of business strategy would have to discuss the development of
new products, competitiveness of individual businesses and review businesses in relation
to targets.
Risk management policies concerning credit, operational, market, liquidity risks,
assessing the independence of the risk function, said the RBI.
The second-largest private lender HDFC Bank launched co-branded medical benefits card
with Apollo Hospitals, which allows corporates to disburse medical allowances to their
employees.
With the HDFC Bank-Apollo Medical Benefits Cards, corporates can load the specified
allowance onto the card each month, which can be used by employees for medical
expenditure Visa/MasterCard outlets.
The card comes with a free accidental death insurance of Rs 3 lakh and accident
hospitalisation insurance of Rs 30,000 apart from discounts at Apollo network including
Apollo Hospitals, Apollo Pharmacies, Apollo Clinics and Apollo Whit.
The Madhya Pradesh government inked an agreement with online shopping major Snapdeal to
sell Mrignayni brand products to give a global platform to the states weavers and handicrafts.
State Bank of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with e-commerce
player Amazon to develop payment and commerce solutions for customers and small businesses.
The SBI, countrys largest lender, will also provide loans to SME customers who supply
products to Amazon to help them increase their operations.
The bank may also look at selling its financial products on Amazon in near future.
The World Bank has offered a credit of 250 million dollars to the Government of Bihar for
its school education reform.
The Government of Bihar is implementing a wide-set of reforms to improve the quality of
education given to children at the elementary level.
A Committee headed by Justice A.P. Shah to look into the issue of Minimum Alternate
Tax (MAT) on Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) constituted.
To Examine the Matter Relating to Levy of MAT on FIIS for the Period Prior to 01
April 2015 among others and give its recommendations expeditiously.
The Income Tax Department had sent notices to 68 foreign institutional
investors (FIIs) demanding Rs 602.83 crore as MAT dues of previous years. This has
raked up a big controversy, with FIIs moving higher court challenging the MAT demand.
The committee will examine all the related legal provisions, judicial/quasi judicial
pronouncements.
16 / 30
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Budget 2015-16 has exempted FIIs from paying
MAT with effect from April 1, 2015.
Worlds largest steel maker ArcelorMittal and SAIL inked a pact to jointly set up a steel plant in
India for the fast growing automotive sector.
India is forecast to become the worlds fourth largest automobile manufacturing nation by
2020, growing from approximately 3.5 million units today to over 7 million units.
Customers of State Bank of India (SBI) can now use their debit cards on PayPal for buying
products from overseas websites. The countrys largest bank announced a partnership with digital
payments firm, PayPal, on Thursday, enabling this.
The partnership will also allow SBIs Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME)
customers to use PayPals secure payment solutions.
SBI has also entered into an arrangement with Snapdeal for financing its
sellers. E-commerce space is growing very fast and meets the aspirations of the next
generation of customers and small businesses.
Snapdeal has one lakh sellers on board as of now for SBI to pick and choose for
financing. The bank plans to give maximum Rs 1 crore loan without collateral to
manufacturers and up to Rs 25 lakh loan without collateral to traders
The government has cleared 21 foreign direct investment (FDI) deals worth Rs 281 crore but
deferred Kotak Mahindra Banks proposal to hike foreign investment limit in the bank to 55 per
cent.
FDI proposals under approval route are cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion
Board (FIPB). However, those proposals involving investment of more than Rs 3,000
crore are given final clearance by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA).
The proposal of pharma firm La Renon Healthcare to invest Rs 100 crore in a
brownfield project was cleared by the FIPB in its meeting on April 30.
The inter-governmental panel, chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary, also cleared Blue
Dart Expresss proposal to acquire shares in Blue Dart Aviation Ltd and hike
shareholding to 74 per cent from 49 per cent. This would entail investment between Rs
52.8 crore to Rs 69 crore.
The proposal of Quickjet Cargo Airlines to increase foreign shareholding in the company
to 74 per cent from 62.34 per cent has also been cleared. The deal will entail FDI worth Rs
14.40 crore.
Forever Living Imports (India) Pvt Ltds Rs 18.30-crore proposal to undertake single
brand retailing of Forever brand products in India has also been approved by the board.
The FIPB has, however, deferred 12 proposals including that of Mumbai-based Kotak
Bank for increasing the aggregate foreign investment limit in the bank to 55 per cent.
The Centre has set up a committee under the Chairmanship of former Finance Secretary Vijay
Kelkar to revisit and revitalize the public private partnership (PPP) model of infrastructure
development.
This committee has been asked to submit its report in three months.
The terms of reference of the committee are review of the experience of PPP policy,
including the variations in contents of contracts and difficulties experienced with particular
conditions, if any; Analysis of risks involved in PPP projects in different sectors and
existing framework of sharing such risks between the project developer and the
17 / 30
Government, thereby suggesting optimal risk sharing mechanism.

The government has said that FIPBs approval will not be required for merger and acquisitions in
sectors where FDI is allowed under automatic route, a move aimed at further improving the ease
of doing business in the country.
The circular also said that government permission will not be required for issuing ESOPs
(Employees Stock Option Plan) in sectors under automatic route.
Currently, foreign investment is permitted either through the automatic route or the
government approval route.
The move is aimed at making it easier for doing business in India. India currently
ranks 142 out of the 189 countries on Ease of Doing Business
The initiative is aimed at clarifying the grey areas in the foreign direct investment (FDI)
policy.
Inter-ministerial body FIPB clears investment proposals of up to Rs.3,000 crore.
The government has notified amendments to the Companies Act, which makes it easier to do
business and provides for stricter penalties for fraud cases.
The amendments, which were passed by Parliament earlier this month, have been made to
the Companies Act, 2013, mainly to deal with board resolutions, utilisation of unclaimed
dividends and setting-up of a firm among others as well as to bring the law in tune with the
global standards.
The Act has removed threshold limit for minimum capital required for formation of private
or public sector firm.
For setting-up a private company, new Act has done away with the norms of Rs 1
lakh minimum capital requirement and Rs 5 lakh in case of a public sector unit.
With regard to trying fraud cases, the new norms said that all cases under the Companies
Act cannot be tried by a special court and that only serious offences will go to such courts,
while the others would be tried by normal magisterial court.
The controversial requirement of filling foreign travel and dormant bank account data has been
dropped in the new 3-page ITR forms introduced by the Indian Finance Ministry, which
extended the deadline for filing returns to August 31.
These ITRs will replace the 14-page form that were notified earlier this year, triggering a
major controversy with individuals, industrialists and MPs saying the tax filing would
become cumbersome as those forms sought unnecessary details including foreign trips and
bank accounts.
The salaried individuals and those persons without any business or professional income are
required to file I-T returns in either ITR-1 or ITR-2 by July 31 every year.
Banking & Finance
The RBI put in place a new framework to check loan frauds including by way of early warning
signals at banks and red flagging of accounts, while swindlers will have no access to further
banking finance.
Besides, the central bank will set up a Central Fraud Registry that can be accessed by all
banks to identify borrowers having committed frauds with any bank in the past.
The CBI and the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) will also share their
databases with banks.
The concept of a Red Flagged Account (RFA) is being introduced in the current
18 / 30
framework as an important step in fraud risk control, RBI said in guidelines for banks to
deal with loan frauds.
No restructuring or grant of additional facilities may be made in the case of RFA or fraud
accounts.
Countrys largest lender State Bank launched a RuPay Platinum debit card in association
with National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI).
The card offers various benefits like 5 per cent cash back on utility bills, complimentary
airport lounge access, personal accident death and permanent total disability insurance
cover of Rs 2 lakh, among others.
NPCI will soon launch international RuPay debit cards allowing its customers to use
them outside the country besides issuing RuPay credit cards by January 2016.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has inked a pact with India to provide a loan worth USD
31 million for sustainable water resource management in river basins in Karnataka.
The programme will improve irrigation efficiency in three river basins in the state, saving
1,700 million cubic meters of water that could be used on an additional 160,000 hectares
of farm land.
Reserve Bank directed banks to mandatorily issue a duly signed acknowledgement to pensioners
upon receiving life certificate from them.
RBI said it was receiving complaints from central and state government pensioners and
their associations that they were being deprived of regular payment of pension as the banks
misplaced their life certificates.
Further, it said banks may also enter the details of life certificate in their CBS immediately
on receipt and issue a system generated receipt to pensioners.
As per RBI guidelines, all pensioners are required to furnish a life certificate to the
pension disbursing bank every year in November for continuance of their pension.
This certificate can be submitted at any branch of the pension paying bank.
Also, the government in September 2014 launched a scheme for introduction of Aadhaar
based digital life certificates known as Jeevan Pramaan.
Axis Bank, the countrys third largest private sector bank now facilitates instant transfer of
money on various social media channels like Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Email list and phone
contact list.
The banks Ping Pay service competes with other banks digital products like ICICI
Banks Pockets and HDFC Banks Chillar.
The person to person funds transfer through Ping Pay would happen via NPCIs
Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and currently the transaction limit is at Rs50,000
per day.
Ping Pay users can register through their registered mobile numbers and for sending
money can associate their Axis Bank internet banking credentials or ATM/ Debit Card to
send money.
The users can choose any social application and select the name of the person to whom
funds are to be transferred. The beneficiary receives an SMS/ notification informing
receipt of funds.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced a 10 per cent or 5
paise reduction in charges for transactions on its inter-bank ATM network.
The Reserve Bank-promoted body, whose inter-bank network, the National Financial
Switch (NFS), witnesses the largest transaction volume, has reduced the charges to 45
19 / 30
paise on an increase in volumes and efficiency, the Corporation said.

The NFS has over 400 member banks and connects over 1.92 lakh ATMs. The switching
fee is charged to issuing banks for approved transactions. The reduction in charges is
applicable from May 1, the statement read.
Relaxing norms, the Reserve Bank said customers can use card for contactless payments
without PIN authentication for transactions up to Rs 2,000 across all merchant categories.
In recent past, RBI had received requests for waiver of requirement of the additional
factor of authentication (AFA) so as to foster innovative payment products/processes as
also enhance the convenience factor in certain types of card transactions.
After examining the trade-off between security and convenience in card
transactions, RBI had sought public comments on relaxation in AFA in case of small
value card present transactions using Near Field Communication (NFC) contactless
technology.
The limit of Rs 2,000 per transaction will be the limit set across all categories of merchants
where contactless payments will be accepted.
Beyond this transaction limit, the card has to be processed as a contact payment and
authentication with PIN (AFA) will be mandatory, RBI added.
PIN is acronym for Personal Identification Number.
State Bank of India joined its private sector rivals to launch contactless credit and debit cards
using latest near field technology (NFC).
Called the SBI inTouch cards, these contactless debit and credit cards are more secure
and hassle-free to use at merchant outlets or ATMs and use the NFC technology which
enables users to make payments by waving or tapping the card near the contactless reader
instead of swiping or dipping it.
Private lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have already launched such NFC cards.
The bank has said that the contactless card will come with emergency replacement facility
anywhere in the world and will have a fraud liability cover of Rs 1 lakh.
Indias largest private sector lender ICICI Bank is set to expand its Chinese presence with the
opening of a branch this weekend in Shanghai, Chinas biggest city and a major global financial
hub.
The Reserve Bank asked Urban co-operative banks to appoint nodal officers for
implementation of the governments flagship scheme, Atal Pension Yojana (APY), which
provides for a minimum pension of Rs 1,000-5,000, depending upon contribution.
The APY, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month, is focused on
all citizens in the unorganised sector, who join the National Pension System (NPS),
administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
The minimum age of joining APY is 18 years while the maximum age is 40 years.
This means that minimum period of contribution by any subscriber under APY would be
20 years or more.
The government would also co-contribute 50 per cent of the total contribution or Rs 1,000
per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber account, for a period of 5 years
(2015-16 to 2019-20).
ICICI Bank launched voice recognition service which authenticates customers based on their
speech patterns and allows them to execute banking transactions through the banks call centre in
a quick, secure and convenient manner.
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The-first-of-its kind service by a bank in the country, it is available to over 33 million

customers of its savings account and credit card.
With the voice recognition technology in place, customers are no longer required to enter
their card numbers, PIN and answer security questions to authenticate themselves.
Their voice will now act as the password for banking transactions through the call centre.
The voice recognition technology works on voice prints, which are unique to an
individual. It comprises more than 100 characteristics including voice modulation, speed,
accent, pronunciation which are impossible to imitate, thereby enhancing security.
The bank stores the customers unique voice print against his account and matches it
whenever he calls from his registered mobile number, offering a seamless experience to
the customer.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated a new production line here at Hoshangabad (M.P)to
manufacture currency paper, saying it symbolises the beginning of the Make In India initiative
and would ensure high-denomination notes are printed on locally-made paper.
Currently, currency notes of larger denominations are printed on imported paper though
ink used is mostly produced within the country, the Minister said.
Jaitley made these comments after inaugurating the New Bank Note Paper Line with an
annual capacity of 6,000 tonnes at the Security Paper Mill (SPM).
Hoshangabad was chosen as the centre for producing paper for printing currency notes
several decades ago by Morarji Desai, who was the then Finance Minister and later
became the Prime Minister.
However, it produced paper for printing of currency notes of smaller denominations only.
With the development of new facilities at Hoshangabad and also Mysore, it would be
possible to produce currency printing paper in adequate quantity to meet the need of the
nation.
The Bank Note Paper Line facility at Mysore will have a capacity of 12,000 tonnes and
is expected to be commissioned by the year end.
This will also reduce possibility of diversion of the paper supplied by foreign countries to
other destinations for the purpose of generating fake currency, the Ministry said.
Private sector lender HDFC Bank is the only Indian entity to find a place among the top 100
most valuable brands globally, along with Apple, Google, Microsoft, IBM and Facebook.
HDFC Bank is ranked at 74th position in the BrandZ list compiled by Millward
Brown, a global research agency, in association with WPP.
As per the report, the bank is the Indias most valuable brand with a value of USD 14
billion.
Apple tops the chart with a brand value of USD 246.9 billion, followed by Google with
USD 173.6 billion and Microsoft with USD 115.5 billion.
Sports
5th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2015
The tournament concluded with a win for Railway Sports Promotion Board who clinched the
title of the 5th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2015 (Division A) by
defeating Hockey Jharkahnd with a huge margin of 12-2 at Saifai, Uttar Pradesh
Whereas,Hockey Punjab settled for the bronze medal by beating Madhya Pradesh
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Hockey Academy 2-0.

BNP Paribas Istanbul Open
Roger Federer won his 85th ATP World Tour title Sunday at the inaugural TEB BNP Paribas
Istanbul Open, beating third seed Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 7-6(11).
As winner, Federer took home 80,000 Euros and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points.
Cuevas earned 42,100 Euros and 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points.
Gagan Narang
Gagan Narang won the bronze medal in the 50m Rifle Prone Event of the ISSF World Cup at
Fort Benning in USA, earning himself a quota place for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Narang, who won the bronze in 10m Rifle at the London Olympics, shot 185.8 overall
to secure third place behind gold medallist Michael McPhail (208.8 points) of USA and
Ole Kristian Bryhn (206.3) of Norway. The other quota place from the event went to
McPhail.
Italian Open title
Mens Title Winner
Top seed Novak Djokovic warmed up for the French Open with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-3
victory over Roger Federer to claim his fourth Italian Open title on Sunday.
Novak Djokovic continued his rich vein of form Sunday when he lifted the Internazionali
BNL dItalia trophy for a fourth time.
The World No. 1 clinched his fifth title of the season with victory over No. 2-ranked Roger
Federer 6-4, 6-3 in the Rome final. Djokovic is now 19-20 lifetime in their FedEx ATP
Head2Head series.
Womens Title Winner
Russian third seed Maria Sharapova came from a set down to beat Spains Carla Suarez
Navarro 4-6 7-5 6-1 and win her third Italian Open title.
Joe Root and Charlotte Edwards have been named England mens and womens
cricketers of the year for 2014-15.
The Yorkshire batsman scored 1,135 Test runs at an average of nearly 95 since the twomatch series against Sri Lanka at the start of last summer, including four scores of 149 and
above, with a top score of 200 not out against Sri Lanka at Lords. He also made three oneday international centuries.
The womens captain, Charlotte Edwards, enjoyed another remarkable year to win the
womens team award for the second consecutive year.
She averaged above 75 in ODIs and nearly 60 in Twenty20 internationals over the past 12
months as England secured ODI series victories against India and New Zealand, alongside
T20 series wins against South Africa and New Zealand.
Indian Premier League 2015
Mumbai Indians outclassed Chennai Super Kings in every department of the game to win
the Indian Premier League 2015.
After scoring 202 runs, Mumbai Indians halted Chennai Super Kings on 161/8 to claim
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their second Indian Premier League title since 2013.

Mumbai became the third side after Chennai and Kolkata Knight Riders to win
the IPL on more than one occasion.
Indian boxers rounded off a brilliant run at the Doha International Tournament, winning four
gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the event .
Commonwealth Games silver medalist L Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg),
Manish Kaushik (60kg), and Manoj Kumar (64kg) won the gold medals.
The silver medal went to Gaurav Bidhuri (52kg), while Mandeep Jangra (69kg) and Vikas
Krishan (75kg) bagged bronze medals.
CEAT Cricket Awards
Classy middle order batsman Ajinkya Rahane today won the CEAT Indian Cricketer of the
Year award while former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara clinched the International
Cricketer of the Year honour at a ceremony.
Former India captain Kapil Dev, who led the country to the first of two World Cup titles in 1983,
was conferred with the International Lifetime Achievement Award at the 19th edition of the
awards.
Rohit Sharma,was given a special award for his record-breaking 264 made against Sri Lanka in
an ODI at Kolkata
The awards honour the best of the cricketers based on their performances in international
cricketing in all formats Test, ODI and T20 as rated by the CEAT Cricket ratings (CCR) for
the year 2014 2015.
List of award winners:
International Lifetime Achievement Award Kapil Dev
International Cricketer of the Year Kumar Sangakkara
Indian Cricketer of the Year Ajinkya Rahane
International Batsman of the Year Hashim Amla
International Bowler of the Year Rangana Herath
T20 Player of the Year Dwayne Bravo
Popular Choice Award Kieron Pollard
Special Performance of the Year Award Rohit Sharma
Domestic Cricketer of the Year R Vinay Kumar
Young Player of the Year Deepak Hooda.
Awards
worlds Best Airport for the year 2014
Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been adjudged the worlds best
airport for the year 2014, under the category of handling 25 to 40 million passengers per annum.
Airports Council International (ACI) presented the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award to
IGIA at a ceremony of the ACI Annual General Assembly on the 28th of last month in Jordan.
The Delhi airport scored 4.90 on a scale of 5 points measured by 300 members of the ACI ASQ
benchmarking programme.
ASQ is the key to understanding how to increase passenger satisfaction and improve business
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performance.
National Florence Nightingale Awards
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the National Florence Nightingale
Awards to nursing personnel today (May 12, 2015) on the occasion of International Nurses
Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President said that the conferment of the National Florence Nightingale Awards is a fitting
tribute to the iconic Lady with the Lamp.
The Health Ministry had instituted the awards in 1973 as a mark of recognition for the meritorious
services of nurses.
Until 2014 a total of 306 nurses were decorated with this award. This year, 35 nursing personnel
conferred with the awards.
The Award carries Rs 50,000 cash, a certificate, a citation certificate and a medal.
Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing, was born on May 12, 1820 and hence this day
is celebrated as International Nurses Day all over the world.
UKs Encore Award
Kolkata-born writer Neel Mukherjees The Lives of Others has won the UKs Encore
Award for the best second novel.
The 10,000 pounds prize, first awarded in 1990, fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes by
celebrating the achievement of outstanding second novels, often neglected in comparison to the
attention given to promising first books.
Mukherjees first novel A Life Apart was published in 2010. The Lives of Others was
shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize and the Costa Novel Award.
Pt. Haridutt Sharma Award
The Vice President of India Shri Hamid Ansari conferred the Pt. Haridutt Sharma Award in
the field of Journalism, Writing and Social Services to Smt. Anurradha
Prasad, Editor-in-Chief, News-24 Channel at a function here today. Addressing on the occasion,
the Vice President opined that the Media persons should always do news reporting in an impartial
and responsible manner with objectivity.
He congratulated Smt. Anurradha Prasad for her outstanding contribution in the field of Media
and said that she has maintained the dignity of Journalistic profession in her professional career.
Haridutt Sharma was a renowned journalist and eminent writer. In his memory, this Annual
award is given in the field of Journalism, Writing and Social Services for the outstanding
contribution in their respective field. The Award consists of Cash prize of Rs. 51000/-, Citation,
Trophy, Shawl and Souvenir.
2015 Man International Booker prize
The 2015 Man International Booker prize was awarded to the Hungarian writer Laszlo
Krasznahorkai at a ceremony at the V&A in London on May 20.
The literary prize, worth 60,000 is awarded to a living author of any nationality who has
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published fiction either in English or in English translation.

Unlike the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction, the Man Booker International Prize, which
is awarded once in two years, is in recognition of a writers body of work and overall contribution
to fiction rather than to a single novel.
His novels include Satantango (1985, English translation 2012), The Melancholy of Resistance
(1989, English translation 1998), and Seiobo Down Below (2008, English translation
2013). Satantango was later adapted for the cinema in collaboration with the Hungarian
filmmaker Bela Tarr.
Radcliffe fellowship of Harvard University
Two Indians from Indian Institute of Science and University of Delhi have been named for the
prestigious Radcliffe fellowship of Harvard University.
Shivani Agarwal from Indian Institute of Science and Maharaja Pandit from University of
Delhi are among 50 scholars, scientists and artists who will begin their one-year fellowships along
with 48 at the Radcliffe Institute in September 2015, a media release said.
Considered as one of the most prestigious honors for faculty, only three per cent of applicants
were accepted this year.
Shivani, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Fellow has been selected for learning to make
choices in the era of big data.
Pandit, the Hardy Fellow, has been selected for his project life in Himalaya.
68th Cannes International Film Festival
Indian filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywans project Masaan, centred around a group of people
in Varanasi, was awarded the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award at
the 68th Cannes International Film Festival.
The film and its director also won the Most Promising Newcomer Award in the Certain Regard
section of the festival.
National Spelling Bee contest
Indian American kids maintained their complete dominance in the annual Scripps National
Spelling Bee contest by winning the prestigious competition for the eighth year in a row.
Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam were declared co-champions; a feat achieved
by Indian Americans for the second consecutive year.
In 2014, Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe were declared the joint winners.
Indian American Cole Shafer-Ray from Oklahoma bagged the third spot.
This is the eighth successive year that Indian Americans have won the prestigious competition
and 13th in the last 16 years,starting 1999 when Nupur Lala won the nerdy word crown.
Reports
2015 Mothers Index
Save the Children released the 2015 Mothers Index, which ranks 179 countries according to
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five factors related to maternal health, female political participation, economic status, educational
attainment and childrens health, to indicate in which country it is best to be a mother.
In commemoration of Mothers Day, the 16th annual report, this years State of the Worlds
Mothers report is published under the title The Urban Disadvantage.
Norway rose to the top of the list while Somalia remained last for the second year in a row.
Best countries for mothers:
Norway
Finland
Iceland
Denmark
Sweden
Worst countries for mothers:
Somalia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Central African Republic
Mali
Niger
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI)-2015
India has moved up 13 notches to 52nd position on a global list of countries in terms of their
travel and tourism competitiveness, but ranks worse than its emerging market peers like China,
Brazil, Russia and South Africa.
The list has been topped by Spain, which is followed by France, Germany, US, UK, Switzerland,
Australia, Italy, Japan and Canada in the top ten.
Of the large emerging markets, China (17th) and Brazil (28th) made it into the top 30, whereas
Russia, South Africa and India ranked 45th, 48th and 52nd, respectively.
Forbes worlds 10 biggest consumer financial services firms
Mortgage lender HDFC has emerged as the only Indian company among the worlds 10 biggest
consumer financial services firms, after giants like American Express, Visa and Mastercard.
HDFC is ranked 7th on the list, compiled by business magazine Forbes, where American
Express is placed on the top followed by Capital One Financial, Visa, Discover Financial
Services and Orix in the top-five. Mastercard is ranked sixth.
HDFC is followed by CIT Group of the US at eighth position, Taiwans Hua Nan Financial at 9th
and Chinas Franshion Properties is at the 10th place.
The list is part of Forbes annual compilation of 2,000 biggest and most powerful companies
globally, which includes a total of 56 companies from India across various sectors.
In the overall list, HDFC is ranked 485th, while Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries leads the
pack of the Indian companies at 142nd overall position.
Forbes said the list ranks the companies on the basis of a composite score of their revenues,
profits, assets and market value.
Wealth-X list -2015
26 / 30
Indian tech billionaire Arun Pudur has been ranked as Asias wealthiest entrepreneur under
the age of 40, according to the Wealth-X list released today.
The global wealth intelligence and prospecting company said Pudur, the owner and president of
software firm Celframe, topped the list with a personal fortune of $ 4 billion.
Pudur, a 37-year-old native of Chennai, founded Celframe in 1998 after graduating from
university, and the software firm now produces the worlds second most popular word processor
after Microsoft.
Pudur is followed by Zhou Yahui of China at the second place with a net worth of USD 2.2
billion.
The youngest entrepreneur on the list is 32-year-old Leo Chen, who is the chairman and CEO of
Jumei International Holding, one of Chinas largest online cosmetics retailers.
Global Human Capital Index
India was ranked at a low 100th position on a Global Human Capital Index, which measures
the countries in terms of the economies leveraging their human capital, where Finland has topped
the 124-nation list.
On the list, compiled by World Economic Forum (WEF), other emerging economies such as
Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa are ranked ahead of India.
WEF said the list has been compiled on the basis of 46 indicators about how well they are
developing and deploying their human capital, focusing on education, skills and employment.
The major countries ranked above India include France (14th rank), the US (17th), the UK (19th)
and Germany (22nd).
State of Environmental Democracy
India has ranked 24th out of 70 countries in the index to understand the state of environmental
democracy for countries around the world.
Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, the US, South Africa, the UK, Hungary, Bulgaria, Panama and
Colombia are the top 10 nations in the list launched by Washington-based World Resources
Institute (WRI) and Access Initiative.
The index evaluates environmental democracy in 70 countries, including 75 legal and 24 practice
indicators, based on recognized international standards.
International Passenger Survey (INS)
Indians are the second-largest group of migrants coming to the UK after Chinese, according to
latest figures. In 2013, 46,000 Chinese migrants entered Britain for study and work reasons
followed by 33,000 Indians.
India is tied at the second place along with Spanish migrants from within the European Union,
also at 33,000, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) International Passenger
Survey (INS).
Forbes Announces 12th Annual List Of The Worlds 100 Most Powerful Women
Forbes today announced its 12th annual Worlds 100 Most Powerful Women, with German
27 / 30
Chancellor Angela Merkel topping this years list for the fifth consecutive year and ten times in
total. She is followed by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (No. 2), and Melinda Gates, once
again, at No. 3. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen falls two spots to No. 4, and General
Motors CEO Mary Barra moves up two spots to No. 5.
SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, ICICI bank head Chanda Kochhar, Biocon founder Kiran
Mazumdar-Shaw and HT Media chairperson Shobhana Bhartia are among the worlds 100
most powerful women, according to the Forbes annual list.
Members of the 2015 ranking represent women in eight categories technology, politics,
business, finance, media, entertainment, philanthropy and billionaires.To determine the rank
within each category, as well as overall rank on the list of 100, Forbes applied four metrics:
money, media, impact and spheres of influence.
59-year-old Bhattacharya has been ranked 30th on the list, followed by Kochhar on the 35th
spot, Mazumdar-Shaw (85) and newcomer on the list Bhartia is on the 93rd spot.
Two women of Indian-origin PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi and Cisco Chief Technology and
Strategy Officer Padmasree Warrior also made to the list.
The top 15 include:
RANK
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
NAME
Angela Merkel
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Melinda Gates
Janet Yellen
Mary Barra
Christine Lagarde
Dilma Rousseff
Sheryl Sandberg
Susan Wojcicki
Michelle Obama
Park Geun-hye
Oprah Winfrey
Virginia Rometty
Meg Whitman
Indra Nooyi
TITLE, COUNTRY
Chancellor, Germany
Presidential Candidate; Former Secretary of State
Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.S.
U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Chair, U.S.
CEO, General Motors, U.S.
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, U.S.
President, Brazil
COO, Facebook, U.S
CEO, YouTube, U.S.
First Lady, U.S.
President, South Korea
Media Mogul, U.S.
CEO, IBM, U.S.
CEO, HP, U.S.
CEO, PepsiCo, U.S.
United Nations Annual Hunger Report

India is home to the highest number of hungry people in the world, at 194 million,
surpassing China, according to United Nations annual hunger report.
The number of hungry people in the world has dropped to 795 million 216 million fewer than in
1990-92 or around one person out of every nine, according to the latest edition of the annual UN
hunger report.
UN body Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in its report titled The State of Food
Insecurity in the World 2015?.
At the global level, the corresponding figure dropped to 795 million in 2014-15, from 1 billion in
1990-92, with East Asia led by
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India too saw a reduction between 1990 and 2015, it added. In 1990-92, those who were starved of
food in India numbered 210.1 million, which came down to 194.6 million in 2014-15.
A majority 72 out of 129 of the countries monitored by FAO have achieved the Millennium
Development Goal target of halving the prevalence of undernourishment by 2015, with
developing regions as a whole missing the target by a small margin.
Forbes Announces Inaugural List Of Americas 50 Richest Self-Made Women
Two Indian-origin women have made it to Forbes inaugural list of Americas 50 richest selfmade women, sharing the honour with high-achievers such as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg,
media mogul Oprah Winfrey and singer Beyonce.
India-born Neerja Sethi, with a net worth of USD 1.1 billion, has been ranked 14th on the list of
the most successful self-made women in the US while London-born Jayshree Ullal comes in at
the 30th spot with a USD 470 million net worth.
Sethi, 60, co-founded IT consulting and outsourcing company Syntel with her husband,
billionaire Bharat Desai, in 1980.
Ullal became president and CEO of Arista Networks, a company that has emerged as one of
Silicon Valleys most valuable networking firms.
The first ever list of the nations top 50 most successful, self-made women as measured by their
net worths includes entrepreneurs, CEOs, entertainers, designers and an author.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes tops the list with a net worth of $4.5 billion and is the
youngest at 31, followed by ABC Supplys Diane Hendricks (No. 2), worth $3.7 billion, The
Gaps Doris Fisher (No. 3), worth $3.1 billion,Forever 21s Jin Sook Chang (No. 4), worth $3.05
billion,and Oprah Winfrey (No. 5), with a net worth of $3 billion.
Members of the 2015 inaugural list needed a minimum of $250 million in net worth to make the
cut.
RANK
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
7
9
10
11
12
13
14
14
NAME
Elizabeth Holmes
Diane Hendricks
Doris Fisher
Jin Sook Chang
Oprah Winfrey
Judy Faulkner
Johnelle Hunt
Judy Love
Marian Ilitch
Meg Whitman
Lynda Resnick
Elaine Wynn
Peggy Cherng
Thai Lee
Neerja Sethi
NET WORTH
$4.5 billion
$3.7 billion
$3.1 billion
$3.05 billion
$3 billion
$2.6 billion
$2.4 billion
$2.4 billion
$2.2 billion
$2.1 billion
$2 billion
$1.7 billion
$1.5 billion
$1.1 billion
$1.1 billion
Science & Tech
29 / 30
Microsoft has finally settled on a name for its next generation web browser, it announced at its
2015 Build developers conference: Microsoft Edge.
Microsoft Edge will supplant Internet Explorer as the default browser for Windows 10
this summer, but IE wont disappear forever just yet. The new browsers name appears to
reference its graphic rendering engine, which is called EdgeHTML.
Researchers have discovered the driest location on Earth in the Atacama Desert in Chile and
they were surprised to find some bacteria living there, according to NASAs Astrobiology
magazine. The site is reported to be as dry as Mars.
The site is called Maria Elena South (MES). Armando Azua-Bustos, an environmental
biologist and research scientist at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science in Seattle,
says the team discovered that MES has a mean atmospheric relative humidity (RH) of
17.3 percent and a soil RH of a constant 14 percent at a depth of one meter.
For more than a decade, the Yungay region has been established as the driest area of the
hyper-arid Atacama desert, with conditions close to the so-called dry limit for life on
Earth.
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Romesh Sharma - Important Current Affairs May 2015 Capsule with PDF

by Romesh Sharma - Testbook Blog - https://testbook.com/blog

Important Current Affairs May 2015 Capsule with PDF

Important Current Affairs May 2015 Capsule

An Indian-origin councillor took charge as the mayor of Britains Wokingham Borough

and ocean sciences.

University of Madras Centenary Auditorium in Chennai. Twenty-eight other ministers also

Maharaja until India became a Republic in 1950.

losses in all category of passenger classes barring the AC 3-Tier.

Government, thereby suggesting optimal risk sharing mechanism.

paise on an increase in volumes and efficiency, the Corporation said.

The-first-of-its kind service by a bank in the country, it is available to over 33 million

Hockey Academy 2-0.

their second Indian Premier League title since 2013.

published fiction either in English or in English translation.

United Nations Annual Hunger Report

Science & Tech

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