Japan will provide 371 billion Yen or Rs 21,590 crores as
official development assistance(ODA) to India for various
1. El Salvador first nation to impose ban on metal mining
El Salvador has made
history after becoming the
first country in the world to
ban metal mining.
• Lawmakers in the
water-parched
country passed the ban in a unanimous vote, declaring
El Salvador a mining-free territory.
• The decision followed a long and bitter struggle to
protect the Central American country’s diminishing
water sources from polluting mining projects.
Points to Remember
• El Salvador is in a state of water crisis, hence it has
banned metal mining because it causes water
pollution.
• El Salvador is the smallest and the most densely
populated country in Central America.
• San Salvador is the capital of El Salvador while Dollar
is its currency.
• Salvador Sanchez Ceren is the President of El
Salvador.
Myanmar joins ADB’s South Asia economic body
Myanmar has formally become a full member of South Asia
Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) programme of
Asian Development Bank (ADB) being the seventh country to
join the group.
The SASEC programme of ADB was formed in 2001 in
response to the request of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and
Nepal to assist in facilitating economic cooperation among
them.
Sri Lanka and Maldives joined the sub-regional group in
2014.
Points to Remember
• SASEC programme was formed in 2001 by ADB. It
has seven members now.
• Asian Development Bank was founded in 1966. Its
headquarters is in Manila, Philippines.
• Takehiko Nakao is the President of Asian
Development Bank.
Japan commits 371 billion Yen assistance for
infrastructure projects in India
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infrastructure projects, including the dedicated freight corridor.
A finance ministry statement issued in New Delhi said the
total commitment of Japan International Cooperation
Agency ODA during two financial years 2015-16 and
2016-17 is 761.40 billion yen, which is 43.50 per cent of
the total target for five years.
Points to Remember
• Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia.
• Tokyo is the Capital of Japan while Yen is the
Currency.
• Shinzo Abe is the present Prime Minister of Japan.
Moreno wins Ecuador presidential race
Ruling party candidate Lenin Moreno was declared the winner
of Ecuador’s Presidential runoff.
But his rival, conservative banker Guillermo Lasso, has
yet to concede defeat and demanded a recount after three
exit polls showed him winning.
The National Electoral Council said Mr. Moreno beat Mr.
Lasso 51 per cent to 49 per cent.
Points to Remember
• Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in
northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia
on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the
Pacific Ocean to the west.
• Dollar is the currency of Ecuador.
World Autism Awareness Day 2017: 2 April
The ninth annual World Autism Awareness Day was observed
on April 2, 2017.
Every year, autism organizations around the world
celebrate the day with unique fundraising and awareness-
raising events.
Theme for the year 2017 is "Toward Autonomy and Self-
Determination".
Bangladesh is organising World parliamentarians
conference
A mega conference of world
parliamentarians is being held in
Dhaka to focus on ways and means
to end political and economic
inequality for upholding democracy
and human rights.
Some 687 members of 131 national parliaments of as
many countries are expected to join the five-day
 conference organised jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary
Union (IPU) and Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad.
Some 1,348 delegates will participate in the conference.
Malaysia to set up technology park in Andhra Pradesh
A Malaysian company has agreed to help set up a technology
park in Andhra Pradesh that’s expected to attract private
sector investment of $100 million in the first phase.
The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board and
MIGHT Technology have signed a memorandum of
understanding to collaborate on building the park, which
will cover 250 acres and focus on new technologies.
The MoU was exchanged in New Delhi in the presence of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Malaysia’s Prime
Minister Najib Razak.
International Mine Awareness Day: 4 April
International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine
Action is observed on 4 April every year.
On 8 December 2005, the General Assembly declared
that 4 April of each year shall be observed as the
International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in
Mine Action.
Theme for the year 2017 is Needs driven. People
Centred.
Iceland to make equal payment law for men and women
Iceland's parliament has presented a bill that would require
public and private businesses to prove they offer equal pay to
employees, in what would be the first such requirement in the
world.
Iceland ranks first on the World Economic Forum's 2015
Global Gender Gap Index, followed by fellow Nordic
nations Norway, Finland and Sweden.
The new law aims to close a seven percent wage gap
between men and women in the island nation.
Points to Remember
Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic
Ocean.
Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland while Krona is the
Currency.
Guoni Johannesson is the President of Iceland while
Bjarni Benediktsson is the Prime Minister.
WTO sets up panel to decide on import duty on steel
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has decided to set up
a panel to resolve dispute between India and Japan on
safeguard duty imposed by India on certain categories of
steel.
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India had imposed safeguard duty in September 2015 to
protect domestic steel manufacturers.
Japan, which is the second largest steel producer, had
argued that duties imposed by India are against the WTO
norms.
Points to Remember
China is the largest steel producer in the world. Japan
ranks second while India is on third place.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an
intergovernmental organization which regulates
international trade.
The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under
the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15
April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
WTO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
Roberto Azevedo is the Director General of WTO, which
has 164 members.
World Health Day - 7 April 2017
The World Health Day is a global health awareness day
celebrated every year on 7 April, under the sponsorship of the
World Health Organization (WHO).
In 1948, the WHO held the First World Health Assembly.
The Assembly decided to celebrate 7 April of each year,
with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day.
The Theme for the year 2017 is ‘Depression: Let’s talk.’
Japan Officially Recognises Bitcoin as Currency Starting
April 2017
Bitcoin has finally
gained the recognition of
a mainstream currency
along the lines of other
fiat currencies.
The privilege
follows the implementation of a new law in Japan which
categorizes Bitcoin as a legal payment option within the
country.
The much-awaited law went into effect on April 1, 2017.
Points to Remember
Bitcoin is both a cryptocurrency and an electronic
payment system invented by an unidentified programmer,
or group of programmers, under the name of Satoshi
Nakamoto.
Bitcoin was introduced on 31 October 2008 to a
cryptography mailing list, and released as open-source
software in 2009.
India jumps 12 spots in WEF’s global travel & tourism
ranking
India has jumped 12 places to 40th rank globally in travel and
tourism competitiveness list by World Economic Forum
(WEF).
India is one of the countries that improved the most as it
gained 12 places in Asia, but lagged behind its other Asian
peers like Japan and China which were ranked way ahead
at 4th and 13th place, respectively.
Spain is ranked at the top in the list.
India has seen continued growth in international arrivals
over the past 15 years, reaching the 8 million mark in 2015,
WEF said.
Points to Remember
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swiss nonprofit
foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva.
Klaus Schwab is the executive chairman of the World
Economic Forum. It was established in 1971.
The motto of WEF is ‘Committed to improving the state
of the world’.
India ranks 9th in bribery and corrupt practices in
businesses
India ranks ninth among 41
countries in bribery and
corrupt practices in
businesses, as per the EY
Europe, Middle East, India and
Africa (EMEIA) Fraud Survey 2017.
The ranking has improved marginally from the survey
findings in 2015 when India was at the sixth position.
Sisi declares three-month state of emergency in Egypt
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared a three-month state
of emergency in Egypt following twin church bombings that
killed dozens of people in two cities.
The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the
church bombings in the Nile Delta cities of Alexandria and
Tanta in which at least 44 people were killed.
The emergency law expands police powers of arrest,
surveillance and seizures and can limit freedom of
movement.
Egypt had been ruled for decades under a state of
emergency, which was cancelled a month before Islamist
president Mohamed Morsi took power in 2012.
India, Australia sign various pacts
India and Australia sought to provide a boost to trade and
security ties in a meeting between PM Narendra Modi and his
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visiting Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull even as the
much-awaited free trade agreement remained elusive.
The two countries signed six agreements, including one
for expanding counterterrorism cooperation, but could not
conclude negotiations for Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement (CECA) which they have been
negotiating.
Points to Remember
Australia is a country comprising the mainland of the
Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous
smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by
total area.
Malcolm Turnbull is the Prime Minister of Australia.
Its capital is Canberra while Dollar is the currency.
12th Indo-Mongolian Joint Military Exercise Nomadic
Elephant held in Vairengte
12th “iteration of Indo-Mongolian Joint Military Exercise
Nomadic Elephant is presently under way at Vairengte from 05
April 2017 till 18 April 2017.”
Vairengte in Mizoram houses the elite Counter-Insurgency
and Jungle Warfare School of the Indian Army.
G-7 foreign ministers meeting held in Lucca, Italy
The G7 Ministers of Foreign Affairs held their annual meet on
10-11 April in Lucca.
A traditional meeting held once a year between the seven
most industrialised countries of the world with the
participation of the European Union, the G7 Foreign
Ministers Meeting usually deals with the most urging
problems in the international agenda.
This year in Lucca, under the Italian Presidency, Ministers
will focus on the common fight against terrorism, the
situation in Libya and Ukraine, the latest worrying
developments in North Korea.
Points to Remember
The Group of 7 (G7) is a group consisting of Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and
the United States. The European Union is also represented
within the G7.
The 42nd G7 summit was held in Japan in May 2016. 43rd
G7 summit will be held in Taormina, Italy in 2017.
G20 Digital Ministerial Meeting held in Germany
The G20 Digital Ministerial Meeting was held in Dusseldorf,
Germany.
G20 cooperation on the Digital Economy has become a
special priority, subsequent to the adoption of Digital
 Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative in the
2016 Hangzhou Summit, under the Chinese Presidency.
The German Presidency has carried this forward, and,
realizing the potential of digital technologies and its wide
impact on the overall economy, has elevated the Digital
Economy Task Force to the Ministerial level.
Points to Remember
The G20 (or G-20 or Group of Twenty) is an international
forum for the governments and central bank governors
from 20 major economies.
It was founded in 1999 with the aim of studying,
reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy
issues pertaining to the promotion of international
financial stability.
China, Iran, Saudi Arabia executed most people in 2016
The number of executions
worldwide dropped by 37 percent
in 2016 compared with the year
before, mainly because Iran
hanged fewer people, Amnesty
International said in its 2016
global review of the death
penalty.
China executed more people than all other countries in
the world put together, Amnesty said.
Excluding China, states around the world executed 1,032
people in 2016, according to Amnesty's records.
Iran executed at least 567 people alone. Saudi Arabia
carried out at least 154 executions in 2016.
Points to Remember
Amnesty International is a non-governmental organization
focused on human rights.
Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961.
Salil Shetty is the Secretary General of Amnesty
International.
France, India ink pact to upgrade Railways
The French Minister of
State for Transport,
Marine Affairs and
Fisheries Alain Vidalies
signed an agreement with
Railway Minister Suresh
Prabhu for collaboration in areas such as high-speed and
semi-high speed rail, modernisation of current operations and
infrastructure, station renovation and operations, suburban
trains and safety systems, operations and security.
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On semi-high-speed, the parties had decided in 2015 to
carry out a technical and execution study for upgrading the
speed of passengers trains on the current rail corridor
between Delhi and Chandigarh (244 km) up to 200 kmph.
Nepal, China to hold first ever military exercise
Nepal and China will hold the first-ever joint military exercise
from April 17 with a special focus on combating terror and
disaster management, the Nepal Army announced.
The 10-day-long military drill that will last till April 26 is
being organised by the two countries as part of their
preparedness against terrorism that has posed as a serious
security threat globally, it said.
The military exercise named ‘Sagarmatha Friendship-
2017’ will also focus on common interests like disaster
management.
Sagarmatha is the Nepali name of Mount Everest, the
world’s highest peak, that is bordering between Nepal and
China.
BRICS envoys on Middle East meet in India
Special Envoys of
five BRICS member
states who
specialises on West
Asian Affairs held a
quiet meeting in
Vishakhapatnam.
This was first meeting of the BRICS special envoys on Middle
East held in India and gained significance following growing
instablity in West Asia and North Africa.
The five envoys also expressed resolve for renewed and
committed efforts to find a political and diplomatic solution in
Syria.
Points to Remember
• BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major
emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa.
• Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC" (or
"the BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa in
2010.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Wins Time's Reader
Poll
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has won the Time
magazine's Reader Poll of the 100 most influential people in
the world.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however,
didn't garner any 'yes' votes in the online survey.
 • Mr Duterte was closely followed by Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis, Microsoft co-
founder Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg.
• Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential
candidate Bernie Sanders had won the Reader Poll
last year while Russian President Vladimir Putin had
won in 2015.
18 April: World Heritage Day
Every year on 18 April, International Council on Monuments
and Sites (ICOMOS) celebrates the International Day for
Monuments and Sites or World Heritage day, whose
establishment was approved by the 22nd UNESCO General
Conference in 1983.
• In 2017, the theme is “Cultural Heritage &
Sustainable Tourism”, chosen in relation to the United
Nations International Year of Sustainable Tourism for
Development and in the context of the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable
Development Goals.
Australia abolishes visa programme popular with Indians
Australia has abolished a visa
programme used by over 95,000
temporary foreign workers,
majority of them Indians, to tackle
the growing unemployment in the
country.
The programme known as 457 visa allows business to
employ foreign workers for a period up to four years in
skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australian
workers.
The majority of the visa holders were from India
followed by the UK and China.
India, Russia to upgrade military exercises
India and Russia have agreed to upgrade their annual Indra
bilateral military exercise to a multilateral level involving the
three services. This will be a first for India in bilateral
military exercises with any other country.
“There will be no separate Army, Navy Air Force Indra
exercises with Russia. It has been agreed to have them in
a tri-service format,” a senior defence ministry source
said.
This year’s edition of Indra exercises are scheduled to be
held around October or November in Russia.
China to host BRICS Film Festival in June
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The 2017 BRICS Film Festival will be held in Chengdu,
southwest China’s Sichuan Province from June 23 to 27.
There will be 30 films from BRICS countries screened
during the festival.
The first BRICS Film Festival was held in New Delhi,
India, last September.
This year’s festival would be held ahead of the BRICS
summit to be held in September this year in China’s
Xiamen city.
Sri Lanka to host UN Vesak Day in 2017
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
inaugurate UN Vesak Day in
Colombo on May 12, Sri Lanka’s
Minister for Justice and Buddhasasana
Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said.
Vesak Day, also known as
Buddha Poornima, is a
traditional holiday commemorated by Sri Lanka’s
majority Sinhala Buddhists.
This year’s theme is ‘Buddhist teachings for social
justice and sustainable world peace’.
India contributes $250,000 to UN election
assistance programme
India has made a 250,000 dollar contribution to the UN
programme for helping countries to hold elections and develop
their electoral systems.
This is the second Indian contribution of $250,000 to the
programmes for electoral assistance and capacity building.
The first was made in 2012.
Through the Election Assistance Division set up in 1991,
the UN has helped over 100 countries with their elections.
Earth Day: 22 April
Earth Day 2017 will be observed on 22 April across the globe,
uniting more than 50,000 partners in nearly 195 countries to
diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement
worldwide.
The first Earth Day was held in 1970.
The theme for 2017 is “Environmental & Climate
Literacy”, and aims empower everyone with the
knowledge of climate change in order to inspire action
towards environmental protection.
World Book and Copyright Day: 23 April
The World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated every 23rd
of April, a symbolic date in remembrance of the deaths of two
major authors: William Shakespeare and Miguel de
Cervantes.
By celebrating this Day, UNESCO seeks to promote
reading, publishing and the protection of copyright.
English Language Day: 23 April
English Language Day at the UN is celebrated on 23 April,
the date traditionally observed as both the birthday and date
of death of William Shakespeare.
The Day is the result of a 2010 initiative by the
Department of Public Information, establishing language
days for each of the Organization's six official languages.
English, along with French, is one of the two working
languages of the United Nations Secretariat, and one of
the Organization's six official languages.
India becomes 2nd largest importer of LPG
India toppled Japan as the
world’s second-largest
importer of liquefied
petroleum gas as Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s
pledge to provide cooking gas
cylinders to the poor and wean them off polluting fuels, drove
up consumption.
Imports of LPG, mostly used as cooking fuel, soared 23
percent during the financial year that ended March 31.
Japan’s imports slipped 3.2 percent during the same
period.
China remains the world’s top importer.
1st ‘India Indonesia Energy Forum’ held in Jakarta
India and Indonesia have agreed to explore cooperation in
areas like oil, coal, electricity and energy efficiency, Power
Minister Piyush Goyal said.
Goyal and Indonesian Energy and Mineral Minister
Ignasius Jonan met during the first 'India Indonesia
Energy Forum' held in Jakarta.
A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry
of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of Energy
and Mineral Resources (Indonesia) on cooperation in the
field of oil and gas was signed on the occasion.
Australia to import Indian mangoes for first time
Indian mangoes will be imported to Australia for the first time
after protocols were revised to allow the Asian-grown fruit into
the local economy, a media report said.
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The fruit would be allowed into Australia as long as they
were treated with irradiation before leaving India.
This meant that Australians would be able to enjoy the
fruit long after the local season ended.
Pakistan's Gwadar port leased to Chinese company for 40
years
A state-run Chinese company will handle the operations of
Pakistan's strategic Gwadar port for a period of 40 years.
Minister for Ports and Shipping Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo
said the China Overseas Port Holding Company
(COPHC) would carry out all the development work on
the port on the Arabian Sea.
India is now world's fifth largest military spender
India's military expenditure grew
around 8.5 per cent in 2016,
making it the world's fifth largest
spender at $55.9 billion.
According to figures by the
Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (Sipri), India spent $55.9 billion
on its military in 2016.
US remains the world's largest military spender
registering a growth of 1.7 per cent between 2015 and
2016 to $611 billion.
China was second largest spender in 2016.
The third largest military spender was Russia, while
Saudi Arabia dropped to fourth position in 2016 from
third in 2015.
India, France carry out joint naval exercise
The Indian Navy has began a joint maritime exercise with the
French Navy at the Mediterranean Sea to further deepen
combat coordination between the two navies.
Guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai, stealth frigate INS
Trishul and fleet tanker INS Aditya are taking part in the
'Varuna' exercise which will continue till April 30.
Points to Remember
The 'Varuna' series of exercises began in 2000 and have
grown into an institutionalised form of interaction between
the two navies.
Bilateral exercises such as 'Garuda', 'Shakti' and
'Varuna' have been a regular feature between the two
nations.
World Malaria Day: 25 April
World Malaria Day is observed globally on 25 April every
year.
 This year’s global theme for World Malaria Day is ‘End
Malaria for Good.’
World Malaria Day is an occasion to highlight the need for
continued investment and sustained political commitment
for malaria prevention and control.
World Intellectual Property Day: 26 April
World Intellectual Property Day is observed internationally on
every 26 April.
The observance of WIPD is organised by World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The aim is to learn about the role that intellectual property
rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright)
play in encouraging innovation and creativity.
The theme of this year's World Intellectual Property Day
is 'Innovation- Improving lives'.
India to host 18th World Road Meeting
India is set to host the 18th World Road Meeting (WRM 2017)
on November 13, the International Road Federation (IRF) said.
The WRM, the biggest global platform for road engineers,
safety and transport experts and companies engaged in
road safety products, will be attended by over 4,000
delegates from across the world.
The theme of this year's edition is 'Safe Roads and Smart
Mobility: The Engines of Economic Growth'.
Press freedom rankings: India slips 3 places to 136
India slipped three places in the 2017 world press freedom
rankings to 136th among 180 countries, the dismal
performance blamed on “Modi’s nationalism” and growing
“self-censorship” in the mainstream media.
In the index, India was ranked just three places above
Pakistan and was one place below violence-torn Palestine.
India was ranked 133 last year.
Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark took the first four
positions in the rankings respectively.
China was 176th among 180 countries and was described
as the “world’s leading prison for citizen journalists”.
North Korea was at the bottom of the index.
World Immunization Week: 24-30 April 2017
World Immunization
Week, celebrated in the
last week of April, aims to
promote the use of
vaccines to protect people
of all ages against disease.
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This Year’s theme is VACCINES WORKS.
Immunization saves millions of lives and is widely
recognized as one of the world’s most successful and cost-
effective health interventions.
Today, there are still 19.4 million unvaccinated and under-
vaccinated children in the world.
Indian short film to be screened by Unesco in Indonesia
Rahul V. Chittella's short film "Azaad", starring Atul Kulkarni
and Sakshi Tanwar, will be screened by Unesco as part of a
World Press Freedom Day event on May 3 in Jakarta,
Indonesia.
It tells the story of the dysfunctional relationship between
a father and his son.
The event, being held to celebrate the principle of freedom
of press, is taking place in Jakarta from May 1-4.
Points to Remember
World Press Freedom Day is observed on 3 May every
year.
This year’s theme is “Critical Minds for Critical Times:
Media’s role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive
societies”.
All India Institute of Ayurveda established at New Delhi
All India Institute of Ayurveda
(AIIA), Sarita Vihar, New Delhi
has been established as an
Autonomous Body under the aegis
of Ministry of AYUSH at a cost of
Rs. 157 crore.
AIIA is a 200 bedded referral
hospital and shall impart PG
& Ph.D degree courses in Ayurveda.
1st Batch of P.G. course has been started in 2016. Institute
has started OPD & IPD facility with major specialties in
Ayurveda. Presently AIIA is functional.
Kanha tiger reserve becomes first in India to get official
mascot
Kanha has become the first tiger reserve in India to officially
introduce a mascot — Bhoorsingh the Barasingha.
The step aims to present the hard ground swamp deer as
the spirit of the reserve and spread awareness to save it
from possible extinction.
Barasingha, or swamp deer, is the state animal of Madhya
Pradesh. The Kanha tiger reserve, spread over Mandla and
 Balaghat districts, is the only place in the world where the
species exists.
Points to Remember
• Kanha tiger reserve is located in Madhya Pradesh. It
is also called Kanha National Park.
• Bhopal is the capital of Madhya Pradesh.
• Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the Chief Minister of
Madhya Pradesh while Om Prakash Kohli is the
Governor.
Govt lowers interest rate on small savings schemes by 0.1%
The government has lowered the
interest rates on small savings
schemes like PPF, Kisan Vikas
Patra and Sukanya Samriddhi
scheme by 0.1 per cent for the
April-June quarter, a move that
would prompt banks to cut their deposit rates.
New Rates are:
• Public provident fund (PPF) scheme: 7.9 per cent
• Five-year National Savings Certificate: 7.9 percent
• Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP): 7.6 per cent and mature in
112 months.
• Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme: 8.4 per cent
• Five-year senior citizens savings scheme: 8.4 per cent
Coal India director R Mohan Das' services terminated
State-owned Coal India has announced the termination of the
services of one of its directors R Mohan Das.
As a director (Personnel and Industrial Relations) with
Coal India (CIL), Das was responsible for the formulation
and implementation of personnel policies of the company.
His services were terminated as per the directions received
by the PSU from the Coal Ministry, it said.
Life imprisonment for cow slaughter in Gujarat
The Gujarat Assembly has passed a bill against cow slaughter
in the state with life imprisonment from the present seven-year
term.
The bill also stated 10 years of imprisonment for
transportation of cows. People in possession of beef will
be slapped a fine of Rs.1-5 lakh along with a jail term of
7-10 years.
Earlier, the maximum jail term for possession of cow meat
was seven years and minimum of three years with a fine
of Rs.50,000
eChallan, mParivahan mobile apps to report
traffic violations
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The government has launched two mobile apps, echallan and
mParivahan, that provide access to various services and
information, and enable citizens to report any traffic violation
or road accident.
e-Challan is an integrated enforcement solution to manage
traffic violations through an Android-based mobile app.
m-Parivahan is an empowering app for the citizen which
provides access to various services, information and
utilities related to the transport sector.
IIT Madras, Indian Army sign MoU to strengthen critical
technological areas
The Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras
(IITM) and the Indian
Army have signed a
Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to
identify the critical
technological areas that can be enhanced in the armed forces.
As per the MoU, the Army will sponsor four officers for
doctoral programmes besides a five-day Technology
Development Programme for 15 officers on a biannual
basis.
Union Textiles Minister launches PowerTex India
The Government has launched PowerTex India, a
comprehensive scheme for powerloom sector development,
simultaneously at over 45 locations in the country.
Launching the scheme in Bhiwandi, Thane district,
Maharashtra, the Union Textiles Minister, Smt. Smriti
Zubin Irani said that Bhiwandi will be known for
resurgence in Powerloom sector.
Recalling that the powerloom sector alone employs over
44 lakh people, the Minister said that the scheme will
especially benefit small powerloom weavers.
Points to Remember
• Smriti Zubin Irani is the Union Textiles Minister.
• Irani is a Member of Parliament, being nominated to
the Rajya Sabha from the state of Gujarat.
“Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana” launched in Andhra Pradesh
Union Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah
Naidu launched the ‘Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana” in Vellore,
Andhra Pradesh on April 1, 2017.
“Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana” is a scheme for providing
physical aids and assisted-living devices to senior citizens
belonging to BPL category.
 The ambitious scheme, first of its kind in the country, is
expected to benefit 5,20,000 senior citizens over a period
of the 3 years.
Agriculture Min Radha Mohan Singh inaugurates ICFMD
in Odisha
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has
inaugurated International Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease
(ICFMD) at Argul which will work towards protecting
livestock from foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV).
“The FMDV and other influenza virus pose a serious
challenge to the health of livestock. More than 50 crore
livestock across the country are prone to these disorders,”
Singh said.
Singh, who was accompanied by Union Petroleum
Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also laid the foundation
stone of KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendra) in Puri, Bolangir,
Mayurbhanj and Ganjam.
Points to Remember
• Radha Mohan Singh is Union Agriculture Minister.
• He represents Purvi Champaran constituency in Bihar
state.
First bio-gas bus launched in Kolkata
A city based company has
launched the first bio-gas
fuelled bus in Kolkata keeping
a flat fare of just Re 1.
All buses will have a flat
fare of Re 1 irrespective of
the distance, even in excess of 40 km.
Presently, the lowest fare in a Kolkata bus is Rs 6.
The first bus will run a distance of 17 km between
Ultadanga and Garia in the southern fringes of the city and
Phoenix India will run the bio-gas service from its
Corporate Social Responsibility fund.
Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission to go
paperless
Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) is all
set to launch e-Governance Project to start paperless
functioning, making it the first PSC of the country to do so.
Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC)
Chairman K S Tomar informed the e-Governance Project
would be launched within a week as the Commission has
got nod for the same from Department of Electronics and
Information Technology (DEIT) of Union
Communications and IT Ministry.
Points to Remember
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• Himachal Pradesh is a state of India located in
Northern India.
• The name was coined from Sanskrit ‘Him’ (snow) and
‘Achal’ (mountain) by Acharya Diwakar Datt
Sharma.
• Acharya Dev Vrat is the Governor of Himachal
Pradesh while Virbhadra Singh is the Chief Minister.
• Shimla is the Capital city of Himachal.
• Recently Dharmashala was approved as the Second
Capital of the state for the winters.
PM dedicates Chenani-Nashri Tunnel to the Nation
The Prime Minister, Shri
Narendra Modi dedicated
India’s longest road tunnel,
the 9 kilometre long
Chenani-Nashri Tunnel in
Jammu and Kashmir, to the
nation.
The Prime Minister travelled the entire length of the
tunnel, and was briefed on some of its key features.
Record Capacity Addition of Wind Power of 5400 MW in
Last Fiscal
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set
another record in the wind power capacity addition by adding
over 5400 MW in 2016-17 against the target of 4000 MW.
This year’s achievement surpassed the previous higher
capacity addition of 3423 MW achieved in the previous
year.
The leading States in the wind power capacity addition
during 2016-17 are Andhra Pradesh 2190 MW, followed
by Gujarat 1275 MW and Karnataka 882 MW.
In addition Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra, Telangana and Kerala have reported 357
MW, 288 MW, 262 MW, 118 MW, 23 MW and 8 MW
wind power capacity addition respectively during 2016-
17.
Connaught Place world’s 9th most costly office location
Delhi’s Connaught Place is the world’s 9th most expensive
office location with annual prime rent of USD 105.71 per sq ft,
says property consultant CBRE.
Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) is at 19th
position while the central business district (CBD) of
Nariman Point is at 30th place in the CBRE’s Global
Prime Office Rents report.
 With annual prime rent of USD 264.27 per sq ft, Hong
Kong (Central) is the world’s most expensive office
Market.
Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar Releases ‘India
Rankings 2017’
The Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri
Prakash Javadekar, released the India Rankings 2017 for the
Educational Institutions and dedicated it to the nation in New
Delhi.
List of top 3 India Rankings 2017 is as follows:
Overall:
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Management
1.Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad
2. Indian Institute of Management,
Bangalore
3.Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
University
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Banaras Hindu University
Colleges
Miranda House, Delhi,
Loyola College, Chennai
Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi
Pharmacy
Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi
National Institute of Pharmaceutical
Education and Research, Mohali
University Institute of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Chandigarh
Thaawarchand Gehlot Inaugurates “National Conference
on Autism”
Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister
for Social Justice and
Empowerment inaugurated a
“National Conference on
Autism” in New Delhi.
It is being organized by The
National Trust for the welfare of Persons with Autism,
Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple
Disabilities under Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment.
Points to Remember
Autism is a spectrum of complex neurological disorders
that affect individuals in the areas of social interaction and
communication.
Several genes, in combination with environmental factors,
may contribute to Autism.
In India, 1 out of 89 children born are said to be living
with Autism.
Jet Airways Launches UPI-based Online Ticket Booking
Private carrier Jet Airways
fliers can now buy tickets
online, using the industry's
latest payment mechanism,
Unified Payments Interface
(UPI).
The move makes the city-
headquartered airline the only domestic carrier providing
its customers with this convenient payment solution.
Points to Remember
Launched by National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI), UPI is one of the various measures by the RBI
towards a less-cash and a more digital society.
The UPI allows money to be transferred instantaneously
between any two bank accounts instantly, using a
smartphone.
19th commonwealth forestry conference begins in
Uttarakhand
The 19th Commonwealth Forestry Conference is being held
at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India from 3rd to 7th
April, 2017.
The ICFRE and FRI will be the Focal point of the
conference, with support from MOEF & CC, Government
of India.
It is being Organized by Forest Research Institute, CFA,
Govt. of India.
Points to Remember
Uttarakhand, formerly known as Uttaranchal, is a state
in the northern part of India.
It is often referred to as the Devbhumi due to many Hindu
temples and pilgrimage centres found throughout the state.
Trivendra Singh Rawat is the Chief Minister of
Uttarakhand while Krishan Kant Paul is the Governor.
Dehradun is the capital of Uttarakhand.

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Madhya Pradesh government launches app to provide
municipal services online
The Madhya Pradesh government has launched an app to
provide various municipal services online.
The mobile app ‘MP e-nagarpalika’ was launched by
state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Urban Development Commissioner Vivek Agrawal said
378 services of urban bodies would be available round the
clock on this app.
Centre sets up National Board of Electric Mobility
The Centre has notified
the constitution of the
National Board of Electric
Mobility (NBEM).
It also nominated six
members of
eminence and
expertise from the automobile industry into it, including
Vikram Kirloskar (Toyota Kirloskar Motors), Vinod
Dasari (Ashok Leyland), Pawan Goenka (Mahindra &
Mahindra and Sudarshan Venu (TVS Motors).
The nominated members will have a tenure of two years
or until further government order, whichever is earlier.
The members can be re-nominated for additional terms, if
needed.
The Board will be chaired by the Secretary, the
Department of Heavy Industry, and will comprise senior
bureaucrats as members.
National conference on Communicating India organized
A day-long national conference on Communicating India was
organized in New Delhi on 5 April which was inaugurated by
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting
Rajyavardhan Rathore while his senior cabinet colleague
Venkaiah Naidu delivered the valedictory address.
The conference has been organized by the Vivekananda
International Foundation in collaboration with the India
Media Centre, University of Westminster, London, Nehru
Memorial Museum and Library and the Indian Institute of
Mass Communication.
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Jhargram becomes 22nd Bengal district
West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata
Banerjee has declared
Jhargram as the 22nd
district of West Bengal,
fulfilling a
longstanding demand
of its residents.
She announced a bouquet of developmental projects for
the district, including a stadium and several schools,
colleges, and hospitals.
Gadkari announces Rs 40K cr expressway project in
northeast
The first express highway project in the northeast region will
be developed along the Brahmaputra river in Assam at an
estimated investment of Rs 40,000 crore, Union Road Minister
Nitin Gadkari said.
In Gadkari’s presence, a tripartite agreement was signed
for dredging and construction of the express highway in
Assam.
The agreement was signed between the Assam
government, the National Highways Authority of India
and the Inland Waterways of India.
Points to Remember
Nitin Jayram Gadkari is an Indian politician and the
current Minister for Road Transport and Highways
and Shipping.
Gadkari earlier served as the President of the Bharatiya
Janata Party from 2010-2013.
He represents Nagpur constituency in the Lok Sabha.
Haryana govt to provide Rs 21,000 to families for third
girl child
Haryana government would provide one-time grant of Rs
21,000 to all those families whose third girl child was born
after August 24, 2015, under the ‘Aapki Beti, Hamari Beti’
scheme.
Under the scheme, the eligible families would receive the
amount irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, income
and number of sons.
The scheme is aimed to combat the problem of declining
child sex ratio and promote girls’ education in the state.
India’s is the world’s 7th largest tourism economy in terms
of GDP
India's travel and tourism sector ranks 7th in the world in
terms of its total contribution to the country's GDP, according
to a new report of the World Travel and Tourism Council
(WTTC).
According to data, the travel and tourism sector generated
Rs 14.1 trillion (USD 208.9 billion) in 2016, which is
world's 7th largest in terms of absolute size; the sum is
equivalent to 9.6% of India's GDP.
Additionally, the sector created 40.3 million jobs in 2016,
which ranks India 2nd in the world in terms of total
employment generated. The sector accounts for 9.3% of
the country's total jobs.
India's Travel and Tourism sector was also the fastest
growing amongst the G20 countries, growing by 8.5% in
2016. A further 6.7% growth is forecast for 2017.
Cabinet approves setting up rail regulator
The Union government has approved setting up Rail
Development Authority (RDA), an independent regulator to
recommend passenger and freight fares and set service level
benchmarks.
The Authority, with an initial corpus of Rs. 50 crore, will
have a Chairman along with three members with a fixed
term of five years and it can engage experts from relevant
areas.
The Chairman of the Authority can be from the private
sector and will be selected by a committee chaired by the
Cabinet Secretary.
Cabinet approves closure of Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi
Suraksha Yojana
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has approved closure of the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi
Suraksha Yojana (MGPSY) which was set up in 2012 to
address the social security-related issues of the Emigration
Check Required (ECR)-category workers going abroad for
employment to ECR countries.
The subscription under the MGPSY was very low and no
new subscription was received for more than a year.
Closure of the scheme will, therefore, obviate the
avoidable recurring administrative and record-keeping
expenditure.
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Three-day children’s film festival begins
The second
National Children’s
Film Festival took
off on a colourful
note in
Visakhapatnam.
Union Minister
for Information
and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the
festival at VUDA Children’s Arena.
This 3-day long film extravaganza for the children will
entertain them during the next two days.
Opening film “Shanu – The Optimist” directed by KNT
Sastry and produced by CFSI in 2016, was screened after
the inaugural session.
More than 40,000 children are expected to watch over 24
CFSI films at this festival across 12 screens in the city.
President of India inaugurates first NIMCARE World
Health Day Summit 2017
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the
first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit 2017 in New
Delhi.
The slogan of the first NIMCARE World Health Day
Summit is, ‘Unite for a Healthy Mind’.
The President said that out of all the mental health
disorders, depression is probably the most common.
Depression affects people of all ages from all walks of life
and in all countries.
As per the National Mental Health Survey 2015-16
conducted by NIMHANS, 5.2% of the Indian adult
population suffers from depression in some form or the
other.
India and Bangladesh Sign 22 Agreements
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is on a visit to
India. She held bilateral talks with Indian counterpart Narendra
Modi.
Twenty-two agreements were signed in the area of
defence, nuclear energy, cyber security and media, though
the two leaders witnessed the signing of only four pacts –
on the judicial sector, a $4.5 billion development
assistance line of credit, on outer space and on passenger
and cruise services.
In addition, India has offered a new $500 million line of
credit specifically for defence purchases.
The two leaders released the Hindi translation of the
unfinished autobiography of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
 and also named a road after Bangladesh’s founding father
in the middle of Lutyens Delhi.
Modi announced that both countries will jointly produce a
biopic on Sheikh Mujib, which will be released in 2020 on
his birth centenary.
North India to get DNA bank for wildlife
North India is all set to get its first DNA bank for wildlife.
Scientists at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute
(IVRI) in Bareilly are in the process of collecting DNA
samples of all wild animals to set up the bank.
It is expected to help in research and also in bringing down
poaching.
At present, the Laboratory for the Conservation of
Endangered Species (LaCONES) in Hyderabad is the only
such facility in the country.
‘TB-free India’ drive held in Dharamsala
The “TB-free India” campaign to eradicate the disease from
India by 2025 was launched at a national level summit was held
in Dharamsala.
Addressing media persons here BJP MP Anurag Thakur
said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would personally
review the progress of the Rs 2,000 crore campaign.
The drive would spread awareness regarding TB, provide
free drugs and monitor the patients, he said.
President Inaugurates Seminar on “Economic Reforms
with reference to Electoral
Issues”
The President of India, Shri
Pranab Mukherjee
inaugurated an All India
Seminar on “Economic
Reforms with Reference to
Electoral Issues” organised by the Confederation of the Indian
Bar in New Delhi.
The President said that a strong electoral system is
necessary to strengthen the democratic structure of India.
Timely reforms are necessary which not only would give
justice to the people but also to the ideals enshrined in the
Constitution of India.
Rajnath Singh to inaugurate 'Bharat ke Veer' web portal
Home Minister Rajnath Singh will launch a “Bharat ke Veer”
web portal and mobile application that will enable donors
contribute towards the families of soldiers who lost their lives
in the line on duty.
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This website is technically supported by National
Informatics Centre (NIC) and powered by State Bank of
India.
“Bharat Ke Veer” would be managed by a committee
made up of eminent persons of repute and senior
government officials, who would decide to disburse the
fund equitably.
PM to launch digital exhibition on Champaran Satyagraha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a special digital
exhibition on the Champaran Satyagraha, in a unique
initiative to re-envision the theme of the movement undertaken
by Mahatma Gandhi a century ago.
The exhibition, titled Bapu Ko Karyanjali, will be
launched at the National Archives in New Delhi.
The theme Bapu Ko Karyanjali is a pointer to the spirit of
a fresh resolve towards the goal of cleanliness that was so
dear to Mahatma Gandhi.
Points to Remember
The first Satyagraha movements inspired by Mohandas
Gandhi occurred in Champaran district of Bihar and the
Kheda district of Gujarat on 1917 to 1918.
MP govt starts ambitious ‘Deendayal Rasoi Yojana’
Madhya Pradesh government
kick-started its ambitious
‘Deendayal Rasoi Yojana’ under
which subsidised meals will be
available at Rs 5 per plate to
people, especially the
economically disadvantaged sections of society.
The initiative is on the lines of state run Amma Canteens,
started by the former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, which
served subsidised food at low prices.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the
scheme at Gwalior while in Bhopal mayor Alok Sharma
inaugurated the scheme.
Yesso Naik inaugurates the International Convention on
World Homoeopathy Day
Minister of State (Independent Charge), for AYUSH Sh.
Shripad Yesso Naik, inaugurated the National Convention on
World Homoeopathy Day on 10 April 2017 at New Delhi.
The event is being organized to commemorate the 262nd
birth anniversary of the founder of Homoeopathy, Dr.
Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, a German
physician, who was a great scholar, linguist and acclaimed
scientist.
 A special session is also being organised to pay tribute to
him.
The theme of the convention is “Enhancing Quality
Research in Homoeopathy through scientific evidence and
rich clinical experiences”.
“Nakshe” Portal launched by Dr. Harsh Vardhan on 250th
Anniversary of Survey of India
A new web portal “nakshe” was launched by the Union
Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr.
Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi, on the occasion of 250th
anniversary of Survey of India(SoI).
Topographic maps or Open Series Maps (OSM)
containing natural and man-made geographical features
including terrain or topography are prepared by the SoI
since its inception in 1767 and is in conformity with the
National Map Policy-2005.
These OSM maps have been made available for free
download from “nakshe” web portal in pdf format on
1:50,000 scale through Aaadhar enabled user
authentication process, in line with Digital India
programme of the Government of India.
Rs. 23,443 crores released for MGNREGS for Mission
Water Conservation
The Ministry of Rural Development has released Rs. 23,443.09
crore to the States as first tranche for Financial Year 2017-18
under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
The amount released includes all pending liabilities as on
31st March, 2017. It is also to ensure priority work on
water conservation measures.
Government reduces number of centrally sponsored
schemes to 28
The government has reduced
the number of centrally
sponsored schemes (CSS) to
28 umbrella schemes from 66.
Based on the
recommendation of the
sub-group of Chief
Ministers on rationalisation of centrally sponsored
schemes, the government of India has rationalised
centrally sponsored schemes (CSS).
6 schemes have been categorised as Core of the Core, 20
schemes as Core Schemes and remaining two as Optional
Schemes.
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Govt sets up inter-ministerial panel to monitor UDAN
The government has set up an inter-ministerial committee to
monitor the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN which
seeks to make flying affordable by connecting unserved and
under-served airports.
Besides, the panel would be responsible for coordination
among stakeholders, including state governments, for
"time-bound" implementation of the scheme.
Chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary, the 'Inter-
Ministerial Monitoring-cum-Coordination Committee'
would have representations from the ministries of finance,
defence, home as well as petroleum and natural gas, as per
a notification.
India-Australia launch Sports Partnership in Mumbai
India and Australia has launched Sports partnership in
Mumbai aimed at increasing cooperation in sports.
The Partnership, which was launched by the Union
Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Mr. Vijay Goel and
the visiting Australian Prime Minister Mr. Malcolm
Turnbull, in the presence of cricketing legend Sachin
Tendulkar, will advance India – Australia cooperation in
four areas - athlete and coach training and development,
sport science, sport governance and integrity, and
grassroots participation.”
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said under
the new partnership Victoria University and the
University of Canberra would work with India to assist in
the establishment of a National Sports University similar
to the Australian Institute of Sport.
India's first-ever micro-drama festival held in Delhi
Named after Thespis of Icaria, believed to be the first actor in
Greek drama (6th century BC), the day-long event 'Thespis'
saw screening of 28 independent plays at the Indira Gandhi
National Centre for the Art.
Organised by theatre group 'Vriksh', the festival marks the
debut of the micro-drama concept in India.
Out of the 42 entries, 25 plays in 10 different languages
including Kashmiri, Rajasthani, Urdu, Punjabi among
others were selected for the festival.
Haryana launches e-sewa app to provide info about welfare
schemes
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched a
mobile application to inform people about various welfare
schemes and programmes of the state government.
 In the first phase, information about more than 250
schemes and programmes of 30 different departments had
been made available on the e-Sewa mobile app.
Karnataka unveils mobile app for women's safety
Karnataka Chief Minster
Siddaramaiah has
unveiled mobile app
'Suraksha' for the safety of
women in the city.
Launched by the
Bengaluru police, the integrated personal app is aimed at
helping women for their safety and security in emergency.
The app has an option to register two more numbers of
persons the user wants to inform during an emergency.
Modi world’s most followed leader on Instagram
With 6.8 million followers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has become the world’s most followed leader on Facebook’s
photo-sharing app Instagram.
Modi, who was at third spot on Instagram last year, is
closely followed by the US President Donald Trump with
6.3 million followers, said the study conducted by global
public relations firm Burson-Marsteller.
The study looked at the activity of the 325 Instagram
accounts of heads of state and government, and foreign
ministers over the past 12 months.
Govt sets up panel to recommend regulations for Virtual
Currencies
The government has decided
to close the regulatory gaps to
keep a check on virtual
currencies, including
Bitcoins, and has set up a
time-bound inter-disciplinary
committee to recommend an action plan for dealing with such
currencies.
To examine the existing framework for virtual currencies,
the department of economic affairs in the Ministry of
Finance has constituted an inter-disciplinary committee
chaired by Special Secretary (Economic Affairs),
Dinesh Sharma.
Andhra CM relaunches ‘Adarana Scheme'
Reiterating his resolve for the
uplift and all-round development
of people belonging to the
Backward Classes, Chief Minister
N. Chandrababu Naidu
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announced the re-launch of ‘Adarana’, a scheme for
improving traditional occupations.
He said modern tools, technology, marketing, and
financial support would be extended to artisans and those
pursuing traditional occupations to raise their income
levels and provide employment in the rural areas.
Andhra to Introduce 'Ammaku Vandanam' scheme
A unique programme to pay tribute to mothers will be
introduced in the government-run schools in Andhra Pradesh
from this year.
Under 'Ammaku Vandanam', the school children will
take the blessings of their mothers and may also do 'paada
pooja' (washing her feet).
The government also decided to implement the
programme in 5,000 high schools across the state from
academic year 2017-18.
Haryana launched Durga Vahini squad
BJP government of Haryana announced the launch of Durga
Vahini - police squads that would aim to stop harassment of
women on public spaces.
While strong action will be taken against “eve-teasers”,
“the government has directed the police to take
precautionary measures to avoid causing any
inconvenience to the women.
Cisco launches 5th global cyber range lab in Gurugram
US-based tech giant Cisco has launched its fifth global cyber
range lab here with an aim to train Indian firms and government
agencies on real-world cyber attacks in Gurugram.
The facility was inaugurated by National Cyber Security
Coordinator Gulshan Rai.
Cisco has four other such labs in Australia.
BHIM-Aadhar –a digital payment platform launched by
the Prime Minister
Enroute to the digital payments gaining the proportions of a
mass movement, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched
a series of initiatives on the 126th birth anniversary of Dr. Bhim
Rao Ambedkar in Nagpur.
He launched the BHIM Aadhaar platform for merchants,
Cash back and Referral bonus schemes for BHIM and
declared about 75 townships going less-cash.
The Prime Minister felicitated the winners of the Mega
draw of the two major incentive schemes to promote
digital payments- Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digidhan
VyapaarYojana..
 The Prime Minister also launched two new incentive
schemes for the BHIM – Cash back and Referral bonus
– with an outlay of Rs. 495 crore for a period of six
months.
Maharashtra to have India’s first ideal digital village
Harisal village in Maharashtra was adopted by Microsoft to
be developed as India’s first ideal digital village.
Underpinned by public health initiatives of the state
government, the village is now in the reckoning for the
Prime Minister’s Award for excellence in Public
Administration.
National Green Tribunal impose Rs.50 lakh fine on THDC
The National Green Tribunal has imposed a fine of Rs.50
lakh on the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd
(THDC), for disposing debris and muck excavated out of
construction road for power house of the Chamoli based
Vishnugad-Peepalkoti Hydroelectric Project into the
Alaknanda River.
The judgement was delivered in New Delhi by NGT
Chairperson Swatenter Kumar.
The petition in this matter was moved to National Green
Tribunal by environmental activist Vimal Bhai.
Jharkhand police initiates Tare Zameen Par programme
With a motive to enlighten children in naxal-affected areas of
Jharkhand’s Palamau district, Jharkhand Police has initiated
Tare Zameen Par program to encourage children to lead
happy lives.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Vipul Shukla
appealed to locals to donate bags, shoes, books and clothes
that would be distributed among poor children.
People from all sections of society took part in the program
held in Jharkhand’s Daltongunj city, contributing basic
amenities for children.
PM Modi inaugurates new units in Koradi thermal power
station
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated various units
of thermal power plants in Nagpur at Koradi, Chandrapur and
Parli with a total capacity of 3,230 Mega Watts.
These include three super-critical units 660 MW each at
Koradi, two of 500 MW each at Chandrapur and one of
250 MW at Parli.
The Prime Minister also released two special
commemorative postal stamps - one depicting
Deekshabhoomi in its full glory and the other with twin
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pictures of Lord Gautam Buddha and Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar at another function in the city.
Madhya Pradesh: No plastic or polythene bags from May 1
Plastic or polythene bags will be banned in Madhya Pradesh
from May 1.
As the consumption of plastic bags causes a large number
of cow deaths, the government chaired by the Chief
minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has approved the proposal
of imposing the ban from May 1.
Besides, the plastic/polythene bags are also harmful for the
environment.
Manipur CM launches web applications to check
corruption
Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh has
launched two web applications to check corruption and keep
track of government activities.
The two web applications were Anti-Corruption Cell and
Digital Application for Review by Public And Nation
(DARPAN), an official release said here.
The two web applications would monitor all government
funded projects and ensure transparency and
accountability.
Chandrababu Naidu launches CM Connect app
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu
launched a new mobile app CM Connect, which runs on
Microsoft’s Kaizala platform, at Secretariat at Velagapudi.
Mr. Naidu said that the app will be useful in receiving
feedback from the public directly on any given issue.
1
Bhopal to have India's first privately-run railway station
Railway Minister Suresh
Prabhu has said that for the
first time in Indian
Railways' history,
Habibganj station in Bhopal
has been handed over to a
private firm to be operated
by it.
The station building will be developed in line with airport
terminals, he added. However, Prabhu clarified that trains
at the station will still be run by the Railways.
President Of India Inaugurates Global Exhibition on
Services
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated 3rd
edition of the Global Exhibition on Services (GES-2017) at
Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Speaking on the occasion, the President said that India
can be a key partner for emerging services such as
facilities management, event and exhibition, urban
infrastructure and environmental services.
Prakash Javadekar launches Portal and Mobile App of
RUSA
Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash
Javadekar has launched the unique portal and mobile app of
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a body under
the aegis of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in
New Delhi.
• The portal is a one-stop for States’ Higher Education
Plans, decision of the States’ Higher Education
Councils and details of the resources under this
scheme. Also, the gallery is a rich repository of the
projects initiated under RUSA.
• Javadekar also released the Booklet “Digital Launch
of Projects; Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan
(RUSA)” on this occasion.
In a first, Maharashtra started special drive for
transgenders to register as voters
Maharashtra is the first state to launch a special awareness
drive to ensure that transgenders in the state register as voters
in greater numbers.
• The state branch of the Election Commission of India
(ECI) launched the drive on April 15, celebrated as
Third Gender Day.
• According to ECI officials, despite the approximate
population of third genders in Maharashtra being
pegged at more than 10 lakh, only about 1,700 are
registered voters.
Maharashtra announces scheme to increase farmers’
income
Amidst demands of farm
loan waiver in
Maharashtra, the State
government has
announced ‘Advanced
Farming – Enriched
Farmer’ scheme.
• The aim is to increase farmers’ income by cutting
production cost and increasing the output.
17 WiFiStudy.com
• The scheme will be launched in the upcoming kharif
season.
• Under the initiative, the government has declared
each tehsil in the State as a unit where planning will
be done for agri-development.
India jumps to 8th place on Global FDI Confidence Index
India has jumped one spot to 8th rank in the 2017 A.T. Kearney
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index.
While US topped the list, Germany and China were at the
second and third respectively. United Kingdom and
Canada make up the rest of top 5.
The Index is an annual analysis of how political,
economic, and regulatory changes will likely affect FDI
inflows into countries in the coming years.
Agra, Gorakhpur airport terminals named after
Upadhyay, Gorakhnath
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet has decided to name the civil
terminal of Agra’s Kheria Air Force airport after BJP
ideologue Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath presided over the cabinet
meeting that also decided to name the civil terminal at
IAF’s Gorakhpur airport after Mahayogi Gorakhnath,
founder of ‘Nath Pant’ (monastic movement).
The chief minister is the mahant of Gorakhnath temple.
National civil services day: 21 April
Government of India has taken a decision to observe the 21st
of April every year as “Civil Services Day”.
First such function was held in Vigyan Bhawan on
21/04/06.
The purpose for this day is to rededicate and recommit
civil servants to the cause of the people.
Narendra Modi, Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma in Time
magazine's 'most influential people list'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Paytm founder Vijay
Shekhar Sharma were the only two Indians to make it to an
annual list of '100 most influential people in the world' this year
released by the Time magazine.
The magazine has also included US President Donald
Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and British
Prime Minister Theresa May in the new list of 100 most
influential people.
PM to inaugurate Textiles India 2017 on June 30
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Textiles India,
a mega event showcasing the country as a global sourcing hub
in Gandhinagar on June 30.
 The three-day conference will be attended by several
Union Ministers including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani
It will provide a platform to connect and collaborate with
global manufacturers, investors and buyers in the textiles
sector.
Tata Motors arm launches first Made in India industrial
robot
TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a unit of Tata Motors has
launched a Made in India industrial robot, which it claims will
be 30 to 40 per cent cheaper than competing products.
TAL, which also makes components for commercial
airplanes, officially launched two variants of the robot
named Brabo.
Brabo can be used in areas like assembly of parts, machine
and press tending.
Chaudhary Birender Singh inaugurated 'India Steel 2017'
Chaudhary Birender Singh, Union Minister of Steel
inaugurated the 3 day “India Steel 2017”, the International
Exhibition & Conference at Mumbai Exhibition Centre,
Mumbai.
In his inaugural address, he complimented the industry
representatives for posting good growth figures in 2016-
17.
BrahMos Land Attack Supersonic Cruise Missile test fired
Indian Navy successfully undertook the firing of BrahMos
Land Attack Supersonic Cruise Missile from a ship.
This variant of Long Range BrahMos Missile was fired
from Indian Naval Ship Teg, a Guided Missile Frigate, on
a target on land.
BrahMos Missile has been jointly developed by India and
Russia, and its Anti Ship variant has already been inducted
into Indian Navy.
Haryana launches mobile app to create awareness among
pregnant women
The National Health Mission (NHM) in Haryana has launched
a mobile-based application to create awareness among
pregnant women, parents and health workers.
The application, Kilkari, was launched during the
concluding day of the 'State-level Orientation Workshop’.
National Panchayati Raj Diwas: 24 April 2017
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National Panchayati Raj
Day is the national day in
India celebrated by Ministry
of Panchayati Raj on 24
April annually.
Then Prime Minister of
India Manmohan Singh
inaugurated the first National Panchayati Raj Day in
2010.
Points to Remember
The Panchayat Raj system was first adopted by the state
of Rajasthan in Nagaur district on 2nd Oct 1959.
The second state was Andhra Pradesh.
Railways to set up Rs 200-crore solar power plant in Bhilai
The Indian Railways is going to set up a solar power
plant in Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), where it has spare land,
through Railway Energy Management Company Limited
(REMCL).
The project cost of the 50 MW plant is estimated at Rs
200 crore. Of the total cost, 20 per cent will be borne by
the Railways, while the remaining 80 per cent will be
raised through debt.
This means, the Railways will bear Rs 40 crore of the
construction cost, while the power will be purchased
through a developer model, wherein the developers will be
asked to operate and maintain the solar project.
India’s first sea ropeway to link Mumbai and Elephanta
island
India's first and longest ropeway will connect Mumbai with the
Elephanta Island in the Arabian Sea.
The proposed 8-km long ropeway will be constructed by
the Mumbai Port Trust.
The proposed ropeway will start from Sewri in Mumbai's
east coast and end at Raigad district's Elephanta Island.
Points to Remember
Elephanta Island is globally renowned for Elephanta
Caves, which is a Unesco World Heritage site.
Known locally as Gharapuri Caves, the small 16 sq. km
island has several archaeological remains pointing to its
rich cultural heritage, including the famous temples carved
out of rocks.
Govt to set up Central University for differently abled
Central Government will set
up a Central university for
Divyangs in Uttar Pradesh.
This was stated by
HRD Minister Prakash
Javadekar while
addressing the convocation function of Shakuntala Mishra
national rehabilitation university in Lucknow.
Singh inaugurates two-day National Conference on
Agriculture for Kharif Campaign-2017
The National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign
– 2017 is being organised on 25th and 26th April, 2017 at New
Delhi.
The Conference was inaugurated by Radha Mohan Singh,
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and
also addressed by Parshottam Rupala and Sudarshan
Bhagat, Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers’
Welfare.
Points to Remember
Radha Mohan Singh is currently a member of the 16th Lok
Sabha (2014-2019), the lower house of the Parliament of
India.
He represents Purvi Champaran constituency in Bihar
state.
PM Modi Flag-off First UDAN Flight under RCS
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will flag off the first
UDAN flight under RCS on Shimla-Delhi sector on 27th April,
2017.
Simultaneously, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will
also flag off the inaugural UDAN flights on Kadapa –
Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderabad sectors.
To make air travel accessible to citizens in regionally
important cities, the Ministry launched ‘Ude Deshka Aam
Naagrik’ (UDAN) Regional Connectivity Scheme in
October, 2016.
Bengal drops 'Pradhan Mantri' tag from central scheme
The West Bengal government has decided to drop the tag
“Pradhan Mantri” from “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna”
and rename it as “Bangla Fasal Bima Yojna”.
The reason behind the decision to drop the Pradhan Mantri
tag, taken at a state Cabinet meeting earlier this month,
was that the Centre's share in such schemes had come
down to 50:50, state agriculture minister Purnendu Basu
explained.
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As per the norm, the farmer had to pay one-third of it while
the remaining two-thirds was borne by the Centre and the
state government.
Earlier, the Centre's contribution was either 90 per cent or
around 75 per cent, which now came down to 50 per cent
or below in several schemes.
Online Statement Of Transaction (e-SOT) and the e-PRAN
card launched
With a view to digitally empower the Atal Pension Yojana
(APY) subscribers and improve the quality of service, the
facility of online viewing of the statement of transaction(e-
SOT) and also the e-PRAN card have been launched.
The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Scheme is being
implemented through 235 APY-Service Providers all over
the country consisting of 27 Public Sector Banks (PSBs),
19 private banks, 1 foreign bank, 56 Regional Rural Banks
(RRBs), 109 District Cooperative Banks (DCBs), 16 State
Cooperative Banks(SCBs), 6 Urban Cooperative Banks
(UCBs) and the Department of Posts.
Points to Remember
The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched by the
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 09th May,
2015 and became operational from 1st June, 2015.
APY is available for all citizens of India in the age group
of 18-40 years.
Under the APY, the subscribers would receive a minimum
guaranteed pension of Rs. 1000 to Rs. 5000 per month
from the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions,
which depends on the age of the subscriber at the time of
joining the APY.
Centre Takes 10 New Swachh Iconic Places under Swachh
Bharat Mission Phase II
The second quarterly review meeting on the Swachh Iconic
Places (SIP), an initiative of Ministry of Drinking Water and
Sanitation under Swachh Bharat Mission, was held in
Katra, Jammu and Kashmir.
On this occasion, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar announced
ten new Iconic places to be taken under the Phase II of
Swachh Iconic Places initiative.
These ten new iconic places which are to be brought to a
higher standard of swachhta and visitors’ amenities are :
1. Gangotri, 2. Yamunotri. 3. Mahakaleshwar Temple,
Ujjain, 4. Char Minar, Hyderabad, 5. Church and Convent
of St. Francis of Assissi, Goa, 6. Adi Shankaracharya’s
abode Kaladi in Ernakulam, 7. Gomateshwar in
Shravanbelgola, 8. Baijnath Dham, Devghar, 9. Gaya Tirth
in Bihar and 10. Somnath temple in Gujarat.
Points to Remember
The campaign was officially launched on 2 October
2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The government is aiming to achieve an Open-Defecation
Free (ODF) India by 2 October 2019, the 150th
anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.
Slogan:- One step towards cleaniness
Naidu launches MSEFC portal and MyMSME app
M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union
Minister for Urban
Development, Housing &
Urban Poverty Alleviation and
Union Minister for
Information & Broadcasting
launched two important
initiatives of the Ministry of MSME, viz. Micro and Small
Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC) portal and
MyMSME Mobile App on the occasion of the 15 th Meeting of
the National Board for MSME.
Union Minsiter for MSME Shri Kalraj Mishra and
Minister of State for MSME Shri Haribhai Parthibhai
Chaudhary were present on this august occasion.
With the access to this platform, micro and small
enterprises would be able to file their delayed payment
related grievances online.
The grievance filed would be communicated through
email and SMS to the parties involved.
Karnataka Is The Most Corrupt State In The Country,
Reveals Survey
People in Karnataka faced corruption the most in accessing
public services, a think-tank has claimed, based on its survey
in 20 states.
The Centre for Media Studies (CMS) released its 11th
round of the the annual corruption study 'CMS India
Corruption Study 2017'.
According to the survey, "77% of respondents" in
Karnataka said they experienced corruption in accessing
public services.
"This is followed by Andhra Pradesh (74%), Tamil Nadu
(68%), Maharashtra (57%), Jammu and Kashmir (44%)
and Punjab (42%),".
"In 2005, the more corrupt states were Bihar (74%),
Jammu and Kashmir (69%) Odisha (60%), Rajashthan
(59%) and Tamil Nadu (59%),".
Haryana: Ballabhgarh renamed as Balramgarh
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that
Ballabhgarh would now be known as Balramgarh.
20 WiFiStudy.com
He also announced a number of projects for the
development of Ballabhgarh and NIT Faridabad Assembly
constituencies.
The government had earlier renamed Gurgaon as
Gurugram and Mewat as Nuh.
It had accepted requests from villagers to rename several
villages.
ISRO Develops "Solar Calculator" Android App
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said its
Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre has developed
an android app for computing the solar energy potential of a
place.
Developed at the behest of the Union Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy, the app is considered to be a "very
useful" tool for installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar
panels that is used for tapping solar energy, it said.
E-taxi trial run in Nagpur from May 24
The trial run of the first electric taxi in the country will start
from May 24 in Nagpur, Union Minister for Road Transport
Nitin Gadkari said.
The Minister said the Nagpur Municipal Corporation will
undertake the project.
According to Gadkari, e-taxis will be part of the
government's plan to reduce pollution.
Nagpur is represented by Gadkari in the Lok Sabha.
Kerala hosts country’s first-ever athletics meet for
transgender persons
At least 132 people
participated in the first-
ever athletics meet for
transgender persons
organised by the Kerala
government at
Thiruvananthapuram Central Stadium.
The first-of-its-kind tournament saw them taking part in
popular track and field events such as sprint, relay race,
shot put and long jump.
Each district council in Kerala appointed a coach and
allotted a ground for the participants to train for three days
before the tournament.
Points to Remember
Kerala historically known as Keralam, is an Indian state in
South India on the Malabar Coast.
It was formed on 1 November 1956 following the States
Reorganisation Act by combining Malayalam-speaking
regions.
 Pinarayi Vijayan is the Chief Minister of Kerala while P.
Sathasivam is the governor. Thiruvananthapuram is the
Capital of Kerala.
India's first book village to come up in Maharashtra's
Bhilar
Bhilar village located near Panchagani in Maharashtra is all set
to embrace the tag of India's first 'village of books.
The initiative is being inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief
Minister Devendra Fadnavis on May 4.
Led by Education minister Vinod Tawde, this project was
undertaken by the Marathi Bhasha department wherein 25
artistically decorated locations around the village will turn
into reader hot spots with display of books.
Around 15,000 books (in Marathi) would be
made available in the village premises.
Country's first digitalised Panchayat ward in Kerala
A ward in the Kottayam district of Kerala has became India's
first digitalised panchayat ward.
Union minister of state for social justice and
empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar inaugurated the website
of the first digitalized Panchayat ward number 15 of
Aymanam Grama Panchayat.
SBI all set to become 45th largest bank
State Bank of India will be
merging its five associate
banks with itself from April 1
to become the 45th largest
bank in the world.
The five associate banks
are State Bank of Bikaner
& Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore,
State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad.
It is estimated that after the merger, SBI will have a
combined balance sheet size of Rs 41 lakh crore, with
22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs servicing over 50 crore
customers.
Points to Remember
• State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational,
public sector banking and financial services company.
It is a government-owned corporation with its
headquarters in Mumbai.
• SBI was founded on 1 July 1955. Earlier it was known
as Imperial Bank of India and Bank of Calcutta.
21 WiFiStudy.com
• Arundhati Bhattacharya is the Chairperson of SBI.
Karnataka Bank, SBI Card launch co-branded credit card
Karnataka Bank and SBI Card have launched co-branded credit
cards for the customers of Karnataka Bank.
Through this alliance Karnataka Bank and SBI Card will
launch two variants of the co-branded credit card –
‘Karnataka Bank Platinum SBI Card’ and ‘Karnataka
Bank SimplySAVE SBI Card’.
Exim Bank to work with African Development Bank on co-
financing of projects
Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) plans to work with
African Development Bank (AfDB) on co-financing of
projects in Africa, David Rasquinha, Managing Director, Exim
Bank has said.
To begin with, both are likely to focus on co-financing of
projects in power, agriculture and irrigation over the next
2-3 years.
At their bilateral talks, both sides also discussed the aspect
of getting the recently formed Kukuza Project
Development Company (KPDC).
Points to Remember
• Export–Import Bank of India is the premier export
finance institution in India, established in 1982 under
Export-Import Bank of India Act 1981.
• Axim Bank is headquartered in Mumbai.
• African Development Bank was established on 10
September 1964. It is Headquartered in Abidjan,
Ivory Coast.
• African Development Bank has 78 members and
Akinwumi Adesina is its President.
ICICI, Axis Bank sell Rs 1800 crore of loans to Ballarpur
to Edelweiss
ICICI Bank and Axis Bank sold Rs.1,800 crore of loans to
paper maker Ballarpur Industries to Edelweiss Asset
Reconstruction Company, said two people familiar with the
matter. Bankers said this is possibly the first instance of a
potential bad loan being sold off.
It’s also the first time that loans have been sold to an asset
reconstruction firm at book value without a haircut.
Axis Bank sold loans of Rs. 1,200 crore and ICICI Bank
sold loans of Rs.600 crore.
India, UK to set up 500 mn pound fund to finance green
energy
India and the UK has decided to set up a 500 million pound
fund, with both governments together investing 240 million
pound, to finance clean energy projects here.
The fund will be set up as a sub-fund of the Rs 40,000
crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF),
which was formed in 2015 to finance greenfield as well as
brownfield projects.
While India and the UK will be the anchor investors to the
'Green Growth Equity Fund' and invest 120 million pound
each, the remaining 260 million pound has to come in from
private investors.
RBI clears proposal to introduce Rs 200 notes
The board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cleared a
proposal to introduce banknotes of Rs 200 denomination.
The decision was taken at the RBI board meeting in
March.
The process of printing the new Rs 200 notes is likely to
begin after June, once the government officially approves
this new denomination.
Points to Remember
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is India's central banking
institution, which controls the monetary policy of the
Indian rupee.
It commenced its operations on 1 April 1935 during the
British Rule in accordance with the provisions of the
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
It was established on the recommendations of Hilton-
Young commission.
Urjit Patel is the 24th Governor of RBI. It is
headquartered in Mumbai.
India's growth to accelerate to 7.4 per cent in 2017-18: ADB
The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) has said that
India's growth rate will
improve to 7.4 per cent
during 2017-18 and go up
further to 7.6 per cent in
the next fiscal, remaining ahead of China.
India recorded a growth rate of 7.1 per cent during 2016-
17.
The report further said that South Asia would remain the
fastest growing of all subregions, with growth reaching 7
per cent in 2017 and 7.2 per cent in 2018.
Points to Remember
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional
development bank established on 19 December 1966,
which is headquartered in Manila, Philippines.
22 WiFiStudy.com
At the end of 2014, Japan holds the largest proportion of
shares at 15.7% in ADB. The United States holds 15.6%,
China holds 6.5%, India holds 6.4%, and Australia holds
5.8%.
Takehiko Nakao is the president of ADB, which has 67
member countries.
Israel signs $2 billion missile deal with India
Israel has signed a $2 billion contract with India to supply it
with missile defence systems, the state-owned Israel
Aerospace Industries said.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in an announcement said
that it has been awarded its largest defence contract of
almost $2 billion for supplying advanced medium-range
surface-to-air missile systems (MRSAM) to India.
IAI said it would also supply additional long-range air and
missile defence systems (LRSAM).
First bi-monthly monetary policy review 2017-18
The Reserve Bank of India, in its first monetary policy review
of financial year 2017-18, kept the repurchase (repo) rate
unchanged at 6.25%, citing upward risks to inflation and
global uncertainty.
The Monetary Policy Committee, however, raised the
reverse repo rate by 0.25 basis points to 6%, and cut the
marginal standing facility (MSF) rate to 6.5%.
The RBI projects the GVA growth to strengthen to 7.4%
in 2017-18 from 6.7% in 2016-17.
New rates are:
Repo Rate: 6.25%
Reverse Repo Rate: 6%
GVA growth forecast: 7.4%
Marginal Standing Facility rate: 6.50%
Cash Reserve ratio: 4%
Bank Rate: 6.50%
Statutory Liquidity Ratio: 20.50%
India and ADB Sign $175 Million Loan Agreement for
Solar Transmission System
The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) signed a $175 million loan agreement to support
construction of high voltage transmission systems to evacuate
power generated from new mega solar parks to the interstate
grid, and improve reliability of the national grid system.
The loan will be given to the Power Grid Corporation of
India Limited (POWERGRID) and will include
subprojects in various locations in India.
This will be the ADB’s first breakthrough of the country
system’s application to a specific project.

NEFT transfers to be faster as RBI cuts clearance time
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to slash
clearance time for National Electronic Funds Transfer
(NEFT) in an attempt to enhance efficiency of the electronic
payment system and add to customer convenience.
In line with the document on Vision-2018 for Payment and
Settlement Systems, the NEFT settlement cycle will be
reduced from hourly batches to half hourly batches, the
RBI said in the first bi-monthly monetary policy for 2017-
18.
“Consequently, 11 additional settlement batches will be
introduced at 8.30 am onwards, taking the total number of
half hourly settlement batches during the day to 23,” the
newly appointed deputy governor B.P. Kanungo said.
Points to Remember
National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) is a nation-
wide payment system facilitating one-to-one funds
transfer.
Under this Scheme, individuals can electronically transfer
funds from any bank branch to any individual having an
account with any other bank branch in the country
participating in the Scheme.
There is no transfer limit – either minimum or maximum
– on the amount of funds that could be transferred using
NEFT.
However, maximum amount per transaction is limited to
Rs. 50,000/- for cash-based remittances within India and
also for remittances to Nepal under the Indo-Nepal
Remittance Facility Scheme.
Canara Bank partners BSNL to upgrade bandwidth at all
branches
Canara Bank, a public sector bank, has embarked upon an
ambitious project of upgrading the bandwidth at all its branches
to 2 Mbps in partnership with BSNL.
The project was officially inaugurated by Dina Bandhu
Mohapatra, Executive Director, Canara Bank in presence
of other top executives of the Bank and BSNL.
Banks, post offices exempt from cash withdrawal limit
Ban on cash transactions in excess of Rs 2 lakh will not be
applicable to withdrawals from banks and Post Office savings
accounts, the Income Tax Department said .
Through the Finance Act 2017, the government has
banned cash transactions of over Rs 2 lakh and said a
penalty of an equal amount would be levied on the
receiver.
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In a clarification on the newly-inserted Section - 269ST -
in the Income Tax Act, the Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT) said the restriction will not apply to withdrawal
from banks and Post Offices.
ESAF Small Finance Bank launches social deposit scheme
Hrudaya Deposit
ESAF Small Finance Bank has launched a social deposit
scheme called Hrudaya Deposit at a function held in Thrissur.
The deposit scheme, as the name suggests, stands for a
social cause, through which, ESAF Bank provides the
customers an opportunity to be a part in social welfare
projects, which none of the other banks has given so far,
said K. Paul Thomas, Managing Director and CEO, ESAF
Small Finance Bank.
The significance of the scheme is that a customer who
deposit in it, becomes a part in nation building, as their
deposits are used for the welfare and infrastructure
development of the marginalized sections of the society,
he said.
An individual or a legal entity can join the Hrudaya
Deposit Scheme with a minimum deposit amount of ₹15
lakh and for a minimum period of two years.
Central Bank of India customer wins Rs 1 cr under Modi's
cashless scheme
A transaction of Rs 1,590 has bagged a
Central Bank of India customer a lucky
bounty of Rs 1 crore under the Modi
government's promotional scheme to
popularise digital payments.
President Pranab Mukherjee picked
up the lucky winners from the 100th draw of lots under
digital payments promotion schemes at Rashtrapati
Bhavan in New Delhi.
He congratulated the six winners — three consumers and
three merchants — under the Lucky Grahak Yojana and
Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana.
Points to Remember
Central bank of India was founded on 21 December 1911.
The slogan of Central bank of India is ‘Central to you since
1911.’
Rajeev Rishi is the Chairman & Managing Director
Central bank of India.
Its headquarters are in Mumbai.
Flipkart acquires eBay’s India biz
E-commerce major Flipkart raised USD 1.4 billion from
Tencent, eBay and Microsoft at post transaction valuation of
USD 11.6 billion.
In exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay is making
a cash investment of USD 500 million and selling its India
business to the company.
Even as eBay has sold its India business Flipkart, not all
of its employees in India will be absorbed by the
Bangalore-based company.
Postal Dept, SBI join hands to promote cashless
transactions
Department of Posts has joined hands with State Bank of
India to promote SBI buddy e-wallet and POS machines for
cashless transactions at Post Office counters while booking
speed post and registered post items.
P K Swain, Chief Postmaster General, Punjab Circle and
Anil Kishora, Chief General Manager, SBI, Chandigarh
dedicated SBI buddy e-wallet and SBI POS machines at
Chandigarh General Post Office for the general public.
Swain said that installation of SBI Buddy e-wallet and
POS machines will facilitate economy through digital
payments/cashless transactions in the post offices.
Amazon gets RBI nod for e-wallet in India
Amazon India has received the Reserve Bank of India’s
(RBI) approval to launch its own digital wallet in India.
Amazon India, which had applied for a Prepaid Payment
Instrument (PPI) licence nearly a year ago, will now look
to take on established rivals such as Paytm and Freecharge.
In December, Amazon had launched its Pay Balance
service in order to boost cashless transactions.
Bank Boards Bureau evolves 'GRAF' for Public Sector
Banks
To help public sector banks (PSBs) against private sector
rivals and to prepare them for possible mergers in the future,
the Bank Boards Bureau (BBB) has drawn up an elaborate
Governance, Reward and Accountability Framework
(GRAF).
The GRAF seeks to ensure that corporate governance at
PSBs is in keeping with various pieces of legislation,
including the Companies Act, 2013, Banking Regulation
Act, 1949, and Securities and Exchange Board of India
(listing obligations and disclosure requirements)
Regulations, 2015.
The BBB was set up last year to make recommendations
for selection of the chiefs of PSBs and financial
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institutions and help them develop strategies and capital-
raising plans.
Indian Academy of Highway Engineers signs MoU with
University of New South Wales
In line with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway’s
vision to influence and adopt global innovation into the
transportation sector, a Memorandum of Understanding was
signed between the Ministry through the Indian Academy of
Highway Engineers and University of New South Wales
(UNSW) to set up a Centre for Advanced Transportation
Technology and Systems (CATTS).
The MoU was exchanged between the Director of IAHE
Mr. V L Patankar and Vice Chancellor of UNSW Prof. Ian
Jacobs on April 10th, 2017 in the presence of Simon
Birmingham, Australian Minister for Education.
Income Tax department launches 'Operation Clean
Money'-II, to probe 60,000 people
The income-tax department has identified more than
60,000 persons, some of them described as “high-risk”,
under the second phase of Operation Clean Money
launched on April 14 to detect the generation of black
money after demonetisation.
It will also probe government or public sector employees
who made “large cash deposits” as well as people who
made high-value purchases.
The threshold under the first phase of the operation, which
began on January 31 and ended on February 15, was kept
at deposits of Rs 5 lakh and above.
Tackling NPAs: RBI issues new framework effective from
April 1
Within a week of promising to issue new guidelines to resolve
bad loans problem, Reserve Bank has issued a new set of
enabling provisions under the label of revised prompt
corrective action (PCA) framework.
The RBI said the new set of provisions is effective April 1
based on the financials of each bank as of March 2017, and
override the existing PCA framework. It also said the new
framework will be reviewed after three years.
More importantly, it said if a bank crosses the third level
of risk threshold (wherein a bank's common equity tier I
capital falls below the threshold of 3.625 per cent by 3.125
per cent or more) the said bank will be either amalgamated
or merged or taken over by another entity.
Paytm partners with Genesis Luxury for payment
gateways in India
Digital wallet player Paytm has partnered with luxury brand
distributor Genesis Luxury in India which markets and
distributes global luxury and premium brands in the country.
This would allow users to scan the store QR code and pay
using the balance on their Paytm wallet.
Google launches Aero for hyper local services in India
Google has launched an app named Aero in India to cater to
restaurant delivery and home services.
This is the first time that Google is entering the business
of food delivery and home services in India.
However, the new app by Google- Aero is an accreditor
that provides services through other startups in the
domain.
Google Aero app work as an aggregator for the users to
find restaurants nearby and order food and fix
appointments with local electricians, painters, cleaners,
plumbers, and others.
PNB launches three new products
On the occasion of its 123rd Foundation Day, Punjab National
Bank (PNB) launched three new products.
• These are: automated electronic toll collection to
facilitate hassle-free toll payment/collection; credit
card mobile app; and a scheme for financing grid
connected roof solar power projects.
• Usha Ananthasubramanian, MD and CEO, launched
these products. A mobile app to facilitate PNB staff to
do their HR-related operations was also launched.
RBI to set up computer emergency response unit
The Sub-Committee of the
Financial Stability and
Development Council
(FSDC) discussed the
setting up of a Computer
Emergency Response Team
for the Financial Sector
(CERT-Fin), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.
• The sub-committee reviewed the major developments
on the global and domestic fronts that impinge on the
financial stability of the country.
• Apart from the RBI governor and deputy governors,
Ajay Tyagi, Chairman, Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI), T. S. Vijayan, Chairman,
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of
India (IRDAI), Hemant Contractor, Chairman,
Pension Funds Regulatory and Development
25 WiFiStudy.com
Authority (PFRDA), and finance ministry
representatives were present in the meeting.
• The move to set up an emergency response team
comes in the backdrop of growing cyberattacks in the
financial system.
India will grow at 7.2% this year: World Bank
A World Bank report said that the
Indian economy is expected to
grow from 6.8% in 2016 to 7.2%
by 2017.
• It said growth is expected
to further gather
momentum by 2019.
• The report also confirms that South Asia remains the
fastest-growing region in the world.
Points to Remember
• The World Bank is an international financial
institution that provides loans to countries of the
world for capital programs.
• It comprises two institutions: the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the
International Development Association (IDA).
• The World Bank is a component of the World Bank
Group, which is part of the United Nations system.
• It was established in July 1945. It has 189 Members.
• Jim Yong Kim is the present President of the World
Bank. It is headquartered in Washington D.C.
IMF pegs India's growth at 7.2% in FY18 ahead of China's
6.6%
World Economic Outlook (WEO), International Monetary
fund's flagship publication, has revised upwards India's
growth forecast for FY17 to 6.8 per cent, just ahead of China's
6.7 per cent for 2016 calendar.
• IMF has retained its India growth forecast for FY18
at 7.2 per cent and FY19 at 7.7 per cent, well ahead
of its forecast for China.
• In its January review, the Fund had slashed India's
growth estimate to 6.6 per cent for FY17.
Points to Remember
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an
international organisation headquartered in
Washington, D.C.
• It is working to foster global monetary cooperation,
secure financial stability, facilitate international trade,
promote high employment and sustainable economic
growth, and reduce poverty around the world.
• Formed in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference.
 • It has 189 member countries.
• Christine Lagarde is the managing director of IMF.
RBI opens new banking ombudsman office in Jammu
The Reserve Bank has opened a new ombudsman office in
Jammu as part of its efforts to expand banking grievances
complaint cells across the country.
• Earlier, the banking services related complaints from
entire Jammu & Kashmir used to fall under the
jurisdiction of New Delhi-I banking ombudsman
office.
• There are two banking ombudsman offices in New
Delhi.
• Reserve Bank has aslo announced opening a new
office in Raipur to look into the grievances of
residents and entities in Chhattisgarh, while relieving
the Bhopal office of the job of the state’s banking
ombudsman.
• With the new addition, banking ombudsman offices
have now increased to 20 across the country.
RBI sign MOU with Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has inked a supervisory
cooperation pact with the Royal Monetary Authority of
Bhutan for information sharing.
• A memorandum of understanding on 'Supervisory
Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory
Information' was signed by RBI Deputy Governor S
S Mundra and Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan
Deputy Governor Phajo Dorjee.
• The objective of such pacts is to promote greater co-
operation and share supervisory information, the RBI
said.
• With this, the RBI has signed 39 such MoUs, one
Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one
Statement of Co- operation.
SBI beats ONGC to become most-valued PSU firm in m-
cap
State Bank of India
(SBI) surpassed
ONGC to become the
country’s most valued
state-owned firm in
terms of market
valuation.
• At the end of trade, the market cap of SBI stood at Rs
2,35,307.51 crore. This is about Rs 2,961.79 crore
26 WiFiStudy.com
more than that of PSU energy major ONGC’s Rs
2,32,345.72 crore.
• ONGC once used to be the country’s most-valued
company in terms of market valuation.
ISRO, BHEL tie-up for lithium-ion batteries to have
buyback agreements
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which is
finalising a memorandum of understanding with BHEL to help
develop low-cost lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles, also
envisages a buyback commitment for such batteries.
• According to the MoU, BHEL will set up a production
plant, while ISRO will provide support for scale-up,
joint effort in cost optimisation, research and
development for alternate chemistry and buyback
commitment, according to sources.
• BHEL will develop the battery for commercial
applications.
• This is part of India’s plan to promote low-cost
electric vehicles with the use of lithium-ion batteries.
ICICI Data Centre gets India’s first CII-IGBC Platinum
rating
ICICI Bank Data Centre in
Hyderabad gained the unique
distinction of becoming India’s
first Platinum rated project to be
rated under IGBC Green Data
Center Rating System.
Dr Prem C Jain, chairman, IGBC presented IGBC plaque
to Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank at a
progamme in Hyderabad recently.
IGBC Green Data Center Rating System would facilitate
in providing tangible and intangible benefits.
Tangible benefits include 20 to 25 per cent reduction in
Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), 25 to 30 per cent
reduction in water consumption.
Intangible benefits include: enhanced air quality,
excellent daylighting, health & well-being of the staff
operating such facility.
Rajasthan inks fresh MoU with HPCL for Barmer
refinery
The Rajasthan government has inked a fresh MoU of Rs
43,129 crore with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd
(HPCL) for an oil refinery in Barmer district which will
produce BS-VI fuel.
 The state government will have 26 per cent stake in the
refinery project while HPCL will have the rest
shareholding.
The work for the refinery will commence in the current
financial year and will complete in next four years.
Nomura launches fintech partnership in India
As part of its attempts to encourage entrepreneurship in the
financial market space, Japanese financial major Nomura has
launched its 'Voyager -Nomura FinTech Partnership' in India.
The global financial major is inviting entrepreneurs to
participate in the program to build innovative solutions
for capital markets and investment banking.
To achieve this, it has set up Nomura Innovation Centre
(NICe) at Powai in Mumbai to provide a platform to
start-ups that will be selected for the Voyager program.
Global economy will grow 3.5% in 2017, IMF predicts
International Monetary Fund predicts that the world
economy will grow 3.5 per cent this year, as compared to 3.1
per cent in 2016.
The IMF’s latest outlook for 2017 is a slight upgrade from
the 3.4 per cent global growth it had forecast in January.
RBI, Bank of Guyana sign MoU for supervisory exchange
of information
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced signing of an
MoU with the Bank of Guyana on "Supervisory Cooperation
and Exchange of Supervisory Information".
The apex bank signed the MoU, Letter for Supervisory Co-
operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors
of a few countries to promote greater co-operation and
share supervisory information.
It was signed by Dr Gobind N. Ganga, Governor on behalf
of Bank of Guyana and Dr Urjit R. Patel, Governor on
behalf of Reserve Bank of India.
AU Financiers converts to small finance bank from a NBFC
Au Financiers has converted itself to Small Finance Bank from
a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) changing its name
to AU Small Finance Bank.
AU started as a NBFC and was engaged in business of
commercial and personal vehicle loans, Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprise (MSME) loans and SME loans.
As a NBFC, AU had network of 300 branches spread
across 10 states.
It intends to start Bank branches in all such locations in
next couple of months.
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RIL pips TCS to become most-valued Indian company
The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has regained its
status as India’s most valued firm by market capitalisation,
overtaking Tata Group’s crown jewel TCS.
Shares of RIL were trading 3.43 per cent higher at Rs
1,416.40 on BSE, giving the company a market
capitalisation of Rs 4,60,291.20 crore, the highest for any
listed firm in the country.
TCS had replaced RIL as the most valued firm more than
four years ago.
India Post Payment Bank to open 650 branches this year
India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) is planning a mega expansion
to open 650 branches this year. The first two branches of IPPB
were opened in January 2017 in Ranchi and Raipur.
The focus of the payment bank will be on door-step
banking, A survey conducted by the department showed
"huge" potential for door-step banking.
Yes Bank ties up with Paisabazaar.com
Private sector lender Yes Bank has announced alliance with
Paisabazaar.com under which the bank will offer conditionally
approved loans to the latter’s existing customers.
As part of the partnership, the bank will help
Paisabazaar.com through its advanced analytics and data
mining capabilities to offer customers of the financial
marketplace with customised and conditionally approved
offers across retail lending products.
The aim is to make the process of availing a loan easy and
seamless and act as a one stop financial solution provider
for all retail lending needs of the customer, it said.
Points to Remember
YES BANK is India's fifth largest private sector Bank,
founded by Rana Kapoor in 2004.
Yes Bank is the only Greenfield Bank licence awarded by
the RBI in the last two decades.
It is headquartered in Mumbai.
It is the First Private Bank in India to be awarded ISO
14001:2004 certificate 2013.
MFIN launches financial literacy app for microfinance
clients
Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulatory
organisation and an industry association of microfinance, has
launched a financial literacy mobile app for microfinance
clients.
The app was launched in the capital in the presence of
Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament, and Manoj
Mittal, Deputy Managing Director, SIDBI.
 It is aimed to help microfinance clients in understanding
the dynamics involved in microfinance, including credit
history, interest rates, repayment cycles and their rights as
a borrower.
SEBI makes P-Note norms stricter to curb black money in
markets
Markets regulator Sebi has barred resident as well as non-
resident Indians (NRIs) from making investments through
participatory notes (P-Notes).
P-notes are mostly used by overseas individual investors,
hedge funds and foreign institutions to invest in the Indian
securities markets through registered foreign institutional
investors (FIIs).
Point to remember
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was first
established in the year 1988 as a non-statutory body for
regulating the securities market. It became an autonomous
body by The Government of India on 12 April 1992 and
given statutory powers in 1992 with SEBI Act 1992 being
passed by the Indian Parliament.
The chairman who is nominated by Union Government of
India. Two members, i.e., Officers from Union Finance
Ministry. One member from the Reserve Bank of India.
The remaining five members are nominated by Union
Government of India, out of them at least three shall be
whole-time members.
Headquarter: Mumbai
Chairman: Ajay Tyagi
Belgium opens honorary consulate in GIFT City
Belgium has become the
first country to open an
honorary consulate office
in Gujarat International
Finance Tec-City (GIFT
City).
Besides the Belgian Embassy in New Delhi, two
Consulates-General in Mumbai and Chennai, and an
honorary consulate in Kolkata, Belgium has expanded its
diplomatic representation in India with this new office in
Gandhinagar.
Hari Sankaran was nominated as Honorary Consul of the
Kingdom of Belgium to the state of Gujarat.
Indian Oil to build new terminal at Motihari to supply fuel
to Nepal
28 WiFiStudy.com
The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) plans to build a new oil
terminal at Motihari in Bihar to supply fuel to neighbour Nepal
through the planned pipeline up to Amlekganj in Nepal.
The old terminal at Raxaul, also in the same Indian state,
will be closed, according to an IOC official.
In August 2015, the Indian and Nepalese governments
signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a
product pipeline, and subsequently IOC and Nepal Oil
Corporation entered into a MoU for laying down of the
pipeline by the Indian company.
Initially, the plan was to lay the pipeline from Raxaul to
Amlekganj, but it was later decided to extend it till
Motihari.
Air India, Boeing to launch training centre for AMEs
In collaboration with the aircraft maker Boeing, the public
sector airways carrier Air India will soon start a training centre
for Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AME).
Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), HR Jagganathan said, “The
training centre will be opened at Nagpur’s Maintenance
Repair Overall (MRO) service centre. The first batch will
be started within six months. We will select 28 students in
every batch.”
In next few months, over 500 aircrafts will be purchased
and the need for AMEs would go up to 3500 AMEs.
India to surpass Germany as 4th largest economy by 2022:
IMF
India will surpass Germany as the world’s fourth-largest
economy by 2022 and push the UK out of the fifth rank in 2017,
according to an analysis of growth projections by the
International Monetary Fund.
However, according to the IMF analysis, India has to
address a lot of issues in order to make the climb.
These include implementing the Goods and Services Tax
(GST), dealing with stressed assets among all major
economies across the globe, increasing productivity and
employment opportunities, encouraging corporate
investment and overcoming a shortfall of infrastructure.
Google introduces 'Solve for India' campaign
Google has announced the new “Solve for India” initiative,
especially for tier-2 cities such as Pune, Jaipur, Hyderabad,
Kolkata, Kochi, Indore, Nagpur, Nashik, Madurai, Kanpur, and
Chennai.
This program will aim to support entrepreneurs and
developers of the country.
 Entrepreneurs will now have the opportunity to learn
directly from Google engineers who will share product
usage insights.
Dr. Navrang Saini takes charge as Whole Time Member,
IBBI
Dr. Navrang Saini took charge as Whole Time Member,
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India in New Delhi.
Dr. Saini will look after Registration & Monitoring wing
comprising Insolvency Professionals, Information
Utilities, Insolvency Professional Agencies & Entities,
Valuers, Surveillance, Investigation and Grievance
Redressal.
He will also look after Legal Affairs and Establishment.
Dr. Saini served as a member of the Indian Corporate Law
Service (ICLS).
He has served Ministry of Corporate Affairs in various
capacities and played a key role in implementation of
MCA 21.
Points to Remember
• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)
is the regulator for overseeing insolvency proceedings
and entities like Insolvency Professional Agencies
(IPA), Insolvency Professionals (IP) and Information
Utilities (IU) in India.
• It was established on 1 October 2016 and given
statutory powers through the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code, which was passed by Lok Sabha on
5 May 2016.
• It covers Individuals, Companies, Limited Liability
Partnerships and Partnership firms.
• Madhusudan Sahoo is the Chairperson of the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.
Rajiv Kumar Chander appointed as India's Ambassador to
the UN
Rajiv Kumar Chander has been appointed as Ambassador
and Permanent Representative of India to the United
Nations Offices in Geneva.
Chander belongs to the Indian Foreign Services batch of
1983.
He is currently the consul general of India in
Vancouver since August 2015.
Points to Remember
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental
organization to promote international co-operation.
29 WiFiStudy.com
The organization was established on 24 October 1945
after World War II in order to prevent another such
conflict.
At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are
now 193. It also has 2 observers i.e. the Holy See and
Palestine.
The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York
City.
António Guterres (Portugal) is the Secretary General of
UN while Amina J. Mohammed (Nigeria) is the Deputy
Secretary-General.
Vipul takes charge as new Consul General of Dubai
Diplomat Vipul, a 1998 batch Indian Foreign Service officer
took up the charge as the new Consul General of Dubai.
Vipul has succeeded Anurag Bhushan , who returned to
New Delhi after a successful stint of three years to take up
his assignment at the Headquarters.
Geetha Johri appointed as first woman DGP of Gujarat
Senior IPS officer Geetha Johri was appointed Gujarat's new
DGP-in-charge, becoming the state's first woman police chief.
She will replace incumbent PP Pandey.
A 1982-batch IPS officer, Johri had a controversial stint in
the the Supreme Court-appointed SIT appointed to probe
the post-Godhra riots and was discharged as an accused in
an alleged fake encounter case.
MS Dhoni Turns Gulf Oil India CEO for a day
MS Dhoni was appointed as ‘CEO of the day’ by an oil
company Gulf Oil India.
He has been a brand ambassador for the firm since 2011.
Dhoni is set to play for Rising Pune Supergiant in the
2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Former Supreme Court judge Shiva Kirti Singh to head
TDSAT
The government has cleared retired Supreme Court judge
Shiva Kirti Singh as the next chairman of the Telecom
Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
The appointment is for a period of three years from the
date of assumption of office or "until further orders,
whichever is earlier," a government notice said.
The top slot in the telecom tribunal had been vacant since
Justice Aftab Alam retired last June.
Nasscom appoints Raman Roy as chairman, Rishad Premji
as vice-chairman
IT industry body Nasscom has appointed Raman Roy, CMD
of Quatrro, as its chairman for 2017-18.
 It has also named Rishad Premji, Wipro Chief Strategy
Officer and son of technology czar Azim Premji, as the
vice-chairman.
Roy, who served as the vice-chairman in the previous
fiscal, take on the new role from 6 April.
He takes over the mantle from CP Gurnani, managing
director and CEO of Tech Mahindra.
Points to remember
The National Association of Software and Services
Companies (NASSCOM) is a trade association of Indian
Information Technology (IT) and Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) industry.
Established in 1988, NASSCOM is a non-profit
organisation.
Malala Yousafzai to be United Nations Messenger of Peace
United Nations Secretary-
General Antonio Guterres has
selected Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Malala Yousafzai to be
a UN messenger of peace, the
highest honor bestowed by the
UN chief on a global citizen.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced that she will
focus on promoting girls’ education worldwide.
Other messengers of peace include actors Michael
Douglas and Leonardo DiCaprio, primatologist Jane
Goodall and musicians Daniel Barenboim and Yo-Yo
Ma.
Mukta Dutta Tomar appointed India's Ambassador to
Germany
Mukta Dutta Tomar was appointed
as new Indias Ambassador to
Germany.
Tomar, a 1984 batch IFS officer is
presently working as the
Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs
(MEA).
Earlier, Gurjit Singh was holding this post till in March
2017.
Kristin Davis appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, announced the
appointment of internationally acclaimed actress and
philanthropist Kristin Davis as its Goodwill Ambassador.
Three years ago, Davis started her journey with UNHCR
by travelling to Northern Uganda and the Democratic
30 WiFiStudy.com
Republic of the Congo, meeting South Sudanese refugees
and hearing their stories.
Moved by refugee accounts, Davis wrote about her trip.
Points to Remember
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), also known as the UN Refugee Agency, is a
United Nations programme mandated to protect and
support refugees.
Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is a
member of the United Nations Development Group.
The UNHCR has won two Nobel Peace Prizes, once in
1954 and again in 1981.
UNHCR.ORG
Malvika Sinha appointed RBI Executive Director
The Reserve Bank has appointed Malvika Sinha as Executive
Director following the appointment of B P Kanungo as Deputy
Governor.
As Executive Director, she will look after foreign
exchange department, department of government and bank
accounts and internal debt management wing, RBI said in
a release.
Kanungo was Executive Director of the Reserve Bank
before being elevated to the post of Deputy Governor.
Smita Sandhane takes charge as MD, Saraswat Co-
operative Bank
Saraswat Co-operative Bank said Smita Sandhane has taken
charge as Managing Director of the bank with effect from April
1.
She is the first woman chief of India's largest urban co-
operative bank.
Prior to her elevation, Sandhane was the Joint Managing
Director of the bank.
She has been with the bank since 1982.
Sandhane has taken over from S.K. Banerji, who retired
from the services of the bank on March 31, 2017.
Ajit Kumar Srivastava, Shabri Bhattasali named new
CBDT members
Senior bureaucrats Ajit Kumar Srivastava and Shabri
Bhattasali were appointed members of Central Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT), the apex policy making body of the Income
Tax department.
The role of the CBDT is to provide inputs for policy and
planning of direct taxes in the country and the statutory
authority also administers the direct tax laws through
Income Tax Department.
 The CBDT functions under the Central Board of Revenue
Act, 1963.
Sunita Sharma, B Venugopal appointed MDs in LIC
Sunita Sharma and B Venugopal were appointed as Managing
Directors in Life Insurance Corporation of India.
They have been appointed to the posts for a period of five
years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and
Training (DoPT) said.
Sharma and Venugopal are at present Executive Directors
in LIC.
Mahabaleshwara MS takes charge as new MD and CEO of
Karnataka Bank
Mahabaleshwara Mavinakudige Subrahmanya is the new
chief of Karnataka Bank Ltd.
He succeeds Polali Jayarama Bhat, who voluntarily
stepped down 15 months ahead of his three-year term as
MD and CEO.
Jayarama Bhat took over from Anathakrishna as the bank's
executive chief on July 14, 2009.
Ex-UNEP boss Steiner takes over as UNDP administrator
UN chief Antonio Guterres has named a German with
extensive experience at the world organization, Achim
Steiner, as the new administrator of the UN Development
Programme (UNDP).
Steiner, who previously served at the UN Environment
Programme and headed the UN office in Kenya, was
selected to succeed Helen Clark, a former New Zealand
prime minister, who has steered the UNDP since 2009.
Points to Remember
Headquartered in New York City, the UNDP seeks to
reduce poverty, improve social development and
encourage women’s empowerment.
Dr. (Ms.) Mukulita Vijayawargiya takes charge as Whole
Time Member, IBBI
Dr. (Ms.) Mukulita Vijayawargiya took charge as Whole
Time Member, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of
India in New Delhi.
Dr. (Ms.) Vijayawargiya will look after Administrative
Law Wing. She will also look after Information
Technology, Limited Insolvency Examination, National
Insolvency Examination, Finance and Accounts and
Communication.
B.N.Mohapatra takes over as the New Financial
Commissioner of Railways
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B.N.Mohapatra has been appointed as the new Financial
Commissioner (FC) (Railways) and ex-officio Secretary to
the Government of India and has taken over the charge on
17/04/2017.
• Prior to this posting, Shri B.N.Mohapatra was posted
as Additional Member/ Finance since 01.11.2016.
• An officer of Indian Railway Accounts Service
(IRAS) of 1980 examination batch,
Shri B.N.Mohapatra completed his post graduation in
Political Science and graduation in LLB.
Vinay Sah is new MD & CEO of LIC Housing Finance
Vinay Sah has assumed charge as MD and CEO of LIC
Housing Finance. He comes in place of Sunita Sharma, who
has been promoted as Managing Director of Life Insurance
Corporation of India.
Prior to joining LIC Housing Finance, Sah was Executive
Director–Marketing/Product Development with LIC of
India.
Himanta Biswa Sarma becomes interim BAI president
BJP leader and Assam
Badminton Association
President Himanta Biswa
Sarma was appointed
Badminton Association of
India's interim head during its
executive council meeting.
The post of president was left vacant after the sudden
demise of former president Akhilesh Das Gupta.
An executive council meeting was called and Sarma was
appointed as the interim president.
Mridul Gehlot elected president of kabaddi federation
Mridul Gehlot and Dinesh Patel were elected unanimously
president and general secretary of Amateur Kabaddi Federation
of India (AKFI).
The elections were held under the the supervision of
justice I S Israni.
Observers from the Sports Ministry, Indian Olympic
Association, International Kabaddi Federation and Asian
Kabaddi Federation were also present for the elections.
Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar appointed new Director General of
CRPF
Senior IPS officer Rajiv Rai
Bhatnagar was appointed as the new
Director General of the Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
His appointment comes two
days after the CRPF lost 25 jawans in the deadly Sukma
attack.
Bhatnagar will be replacing acting DG Sudeep Lakhtakia.
In another key appointment, R K Pachnanda was
appointed as DG of the Indo Tibetan Border Police
(ITBP).
He'll be taking over from Krishna Chaudhary, who is set
to retire in June this year.
Pachnanda is currently serving as DG of the National
Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Nita Ambani made member of IOC’s Olympic Channel
Commission
India's first woman International Olympic Committee member
Nita Ambani has made it to two important commissions of the
global sports governing body, including the prestigious
Olympic channel.
Besides the Olympic Channel, the 53-year-old Ambani has
also been made a member of Olympic education
Commission as IOC announced the composition of 26
commissions for 2017.
She is one of the 16 members of the Olympic Channel
Commission headed by United States Olympic Committee
Chairman Lawrence Francis Probst.
She will serve the world sport's apex body till the age of
70.
Syrian Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini becomes
UNHCR ambassador
Syrian refugee and Olympic athlete Yusra Mardini has been
appointed UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Goodwill Ambassador.
She swam at the Olympic last August as one of 10 athletes
in the first-ever refugee Olympic team.
Points to Remember
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), also known as the UN Refugee Agency, is a
United Nations programme mandated to protect and
support refugees and assists in their voluntary repatriation,
local integration or resettlement to a third country.
Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is a
member of the United Nations Development Group.
The UNHCR has won two Nobel Peace Prizes, once in
1954 and again in 1981.
32 WiFiStudy.com
It was founded on 14 December 1950. Italy’s Filippo
Grandi is the head of UNHCR.
Apollo Hospitals' Shobana Kamineni is the new President
of CII
The Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII), a non-governmental
trade association, announced that
56-year-old Shobana Kamineni,
executive vice-chairperson of
Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd
(AHEL), is the industry
association’s new President for the
year 2017-18.
She takes over from Dr Naushad Forbes, co-chairman,
Forbes Marshall Limited.
Uday Kotak, executive vice chairman and managing
director, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited is the new Vice
President of CII.
AP Chief Minister bags US India Business Council award
The US India Business Council has
selected Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
N Chandrababu Naidu for award of
‘Transformative Chief Minister’
Naidu would be receiving coveted
award at second annual West Coast
summit which is to be held in California on May 8.
Dawit Isaak awarded UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World
Press Freedom Prize 2017
Dawit Isaak, an imprisoned Eritrean-Swedish journalist, has
been chosen to receive the 2017 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano
World Press Freedom Prize.
Mr. Isaak was arrested in a crackdown on the media that
occurred in September 2001. The last time he was heard
from was in 2005. His present location is unknown.
Points to Remember
Created by UNESCO’s Executive Board in 1997, the
Prize honours a person, organization or institution that has
made an outstanding contribution to the defence and, or
promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, and
especially when this has been achieved in the face of
danger.
The $25,000 Prize is named in honour of Guillermo Cano
Isaza, a Colombian journalist who was assassinated in
front of the offices of his newspaper, El Espectador, in
Bogotá, on 17 December 1986.
 It is funded by the Cano Foundation (Colombia) and the
Helsingin Sanomat Foundation (Finland).
Priyanka Chopra voted second most beautiful woman in
the world
Priyanka Chopra has defeated famous personalities like
Angelina Jolie, Emma Watson, Blake Lively and Michelle
Obama to become the second most beautiful woman in the
world.
In a poll done by Las Angeles based photo, journal, and
video-sharing social media network, BuzzNet, Priyanka is
just behind Pop diva Beyonce, who is topping the list.
Model and Victoria’s Secret angel Taylor Hill is at number
three followed by Watson, Dakota Johnson and Hillary
Clinton at fourth, fifth and sixth position respectively.
64th National Film Awards
Best Feature Film- Kaasav (Marathi)
Best Actor - Akshay Kumar (Rustom)
Best Actress - Surabhi Lakshmi (Minnaminungu)
Best Hindi Film: Neerja (Ram Madhvani)
Best Director - Rajesh Mapuskar (Ventilator)
Best Film on Social Issues - 'Pink'
Best Supporting Actor - Manoj Joshi (Dashkriya)
Best Supporting Actress - Zaira Wasim (Dangal)
Best Debut Film of a Director - Deep Chaudari (Alifa)
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment -
'Sathamanam Bhavathi'
Best Children's Film - 'Dhanak' (Hindi)
Best Child Artist - Adhish Praveen (Kunju Daivam), Saj
(Noor Islam), Manohara (Railway Children)
Best Male Playback Singer - Sundara Iyer (Joker)
Best Female Playback Singer - Iman Chakraborty
(Praktan)
Best Special Effect Award: 'Shivaay'
Best Environmental film including agriculture - The Tiger
Who Crossed The Line
Points to Remember
The most film friendly state award was given to Uttar
Pradesh.
The best film critic award was given to G. Dhananjayan.
Best Book on Cinema award was given to Lata: Sur
Gatha, authored by Yatindra Mishra. The book narrates
Lata Mangeshkar’s life, seven decade career and its’
impact on Indian cinema.
The National Film Awards were established in 1954.
Shyamchi Aai, a Marathi film received an honour to be
the first Indian film to receive President's Gold Medal
33 WiFiStudy.com
for the All India Best Feature Film, which now better
known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film.
Mirza Galib was the first Hindi film to be awarded with
National Film Award.
British-Indian educationist named ‘Asian Businesswoman
of the Year’
Bihar-origin Asha
Khemka, who arrived in
the United Kingdom with
her family in 1978 without
English language skills and
went on to change the lives
of thousands as an educationist, was named “Asian
Businesswoman of the Year” at an event in Birmingham.
The latest award was conferred on her, among others, at
the 5th annual Asian Business Awards Midlands, which
honours the success and achievements of local Asian
businesses, at the Edgbaston cricket ground.
Pulitzer’s Prize 2017: Winners List
Journalism
Public Service: The staff of the New York Daily News and
ProPublica.
Breaking News Reporting: The staff of East Bay Times.
Investigative Reporting: Eric Eyre, the Charleston
Gazette-Mail.
Explanatory Reporting: The Panama Papers, by the
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists,
McClatchy and the Miami Herald.
Local Reporting: The staff of The Salt Lake Tribune.
National Reporting: David Fahrenthold, The Washington
Post.
International Reporting: The staff of The New York
Times.
Feature Writing: C.J. Chivers of The New York Times.
Commentary: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal.
Criticism: Hilton Als, The New Yorker.
Editorial Writing: Art Cullen, The Storm Lake Times.
Editorial Cartooning: Jim Morin, Miami Herald.
Breaking News Photography: Daniel Berehulak, The New
York Times.
Feature Photography: E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago
Tribune.
Letters, Drama And Music
Fiction: The Underground Railroad, by Colson
Whitehead.
Drama: Sweat, by Lynn Nottage.
 Biography or Autobiography: The Return, by Hisham
Matar.
Poetry: Olio, by Tyehimba Jess.
Music: Angel's Bone, by Du Yun.
Haldia Port Tops the List in the First Ever Ranking of
Ports on Sanitation
For the first time ever, the twelve major ports under the
Ministry of Shipping have been ranked on sanitation
parameters, based on the efforts undertaken by them to counter
waste generating sources with respect to port operation, office
area, township area and the response to incoming ships.
While Haldia and Vizag ports bagged the first and second
ranks respectively, almost all ports have achieved the
benchmark for cleanliness or are well above it.
The exercise was undertaken during the ‘Swachhta
Pakhwada’ observed from the 16th to 31st of March 2017.
President Confers National Geoscience Awards for 2016 on
26 Geoscientists
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred the
National Geoscience Awards 2016 (#NGA2016) on twenty-
six geoscientists in New Delhi, in the presence of the Minister
of State (Independent Charge) of Power, Coal, New &
Renewable Energy and Mines Shri Piyush Goyal.
The 26 geoscientists were presented the National
Geoscience Awards for the year 2016 for their meritorious
contributions in eleven fields of geosciences.
Dr. Abhishek Saha from National Institute of
Oceanography Goa who got the Young Scientist Award
was especially lauded by the President and the Mines
Minister.
Himachal bags Krishi Karman Award 2015-16
The Union Ministry of
Agriculture has selected
Himachal Pradesh for the
Krishi Karman Award
2015-16 for commendable
increase in food grains
production.
A communication in
this regard was received by Chief Minister Virbhadra
Singh, an official spokesman said.
State Agriculture Minister Sujan Singh Pathania said that
during last five years, the total food grains production has
increased from 14.94 lakh tone to 16.34 lakh ton.
Hanchinal receives M.S. Swaminathan Award
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The sixth prestigious M.S. Swaminathan Award for
contribution in the field of agriculture was given to R.R.
Hanchinal, Chairperson of Protection of Plant Varieties and
Farmers Rights Authority, government of India.
The award is instituted and given under the aegis of
Retired ICAR Employees Association (RICAREA) in
association with the Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd (NSL).
BEML bags Hindustan PSU award
BEML, a defence public sector, has received the Hindustan
PSU Award under the category ‘Fastest Growing
Organisation – Miniratna’.
• Umesh Chandra, Executive Director, received the
award on behalf of the company.
• The award was presented by Nitin Gadkari, Union
Minister of State for Road Transport, along with
Piyush Goel, Union Minister of State for Power,
Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of State for
Petroleum, and Manoj Sinha, Union Minister of State
for Railway.
Shambhavi Puraskar for Hari Shankar Rout
The prestigious Shambhavi Puraskar, 2017 was persented to
Hari Sankar Rout for his outstanding contribution towards
social change.
• The award carrying a trophy, citation and a cash prize
of Rs 2.5 lakh was presented by Union Minister of
state for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Rajiv Pratap Rudy at a function.
• The Shambhavi Puraskar was instituted in 2014 by
Bansidhar and Ila Panda Foundation (BIPF).
Italian mayor Giusi Nicolini wins Unesco Peace Prize
The Unesco has awarded its Peace
Prize to Giuseppina (Giusi)
Nicolini, the mayor of the Italian
island of Lampedusa, for her
commitment to saving the lives of
migrants and refugees.
Since becoming Mayor in 2012, Nicolini has been an
outspoken defender of refugee and migrant rights.
Aamir Khan, Kapil Dev to get Dinanath Mangeshkar
Award
Actor Aamir Khan and cricket icon Kapil Dev will receive the
75th Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards, at a ceremony on
April 24.
 Khan will be honoured with the Vishesh Puraskar for Best
Film 'Dangal', while Dev for his outstanding contribution
to Indian Cricket.
Apart from the duo, other awardees include legendary
actress Vyjayanthimala Bali, who will be honoured with
Master Dinanath Vishesh Puraskar for her achievements
in Hindi cinema.
The event will be organised by Master Dinanath Smruti
Pratishthan and Hridayesh Arts.
GNFC wins Golden Peacock Award
The Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd
(GNFC) won the prestigious Golden Peacock Award in the
category of Innovative Product/Service for pioneering a
cashless township transformation model.
The Golden Peacock Awards were established by the
Institute of Directors (IOD) in India in 1991.
They are now acknowledged as a benchmark of corporate
excellence worldwide.
Hema Malini, Aishwarya Rai Bag Dadasaheb Phalke
Awards
Veteran actress- politician Hema Malini along with
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, filmmaker Shoojit Sircar and
Zeenat Aman bagged the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence
Awards 2017.
These are not Dadasaheb Phalke Awards presented by the
Government of India, these are the Dadasaheb Phalke Film
Foundation Awards which started around three years back
and from then on, have been organised every year in
Mumbai to honour the contribution of various artists to
Indian cinema.
Chitra Productions in association with Dadasaheb Phalke
Excellence Awards 2017 celebrated the 148th birth
anniversary of the father of Indian Cinema, the respected
Dadasaheb Phalke.
This year, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won the award for the
film Sarabjit while Hema Malini won the Award in the
category of Kala Shree.
Veteran Zeenat Aman received the Lifetime
Achievement Award. On the other hand, Sircar bagged
Creative Director Award for Pink, along with Rohit Roy,
who bagged the Best Negative Role in Film for Kaabil.
TripAdvisor presents Bali with 2017 Travelers' Choice
Awards
Travel planning and booking website TripAdvisor has
bestowed on Bali an award as the “best destination,” after the
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island was named the global winner of the 2017 Travelers'
Choice Awards in March.
According to the website, Bali improved in three main
categories from 2015 to 2016: Accommodation,
attractions and restaurants.
The website also revealed the top three countries where
users did most research on Bali: China, the Netherlands
and India.
'Newton' wins best film at Hong Kong Film Festival
Actor Rajkummar Rao-starrer "Newton" has won the best film
honour at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Amit Masurkar-directed "Newton", which also stars
Anjali Patil, is a political satire.
It had its world premiere at the 67th Berlin Film Festival
where it won the International Federation of Art Cinemas
(CICAE) award in its Forum segment.
Satyarthi given P.C. Chandra award
Nobel laureate and social activist Kailash Satyarthi was
presented the P.C. Chandra Purashkar (award) for his global
crusade against child slavery and exploitative child labour.
The 63-year-old Satyarthi was handed over a citation, a
trophy and a cheque of Rs 10 lakh.
Satyarthi, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 with
Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, urged everyone to work
towards making India a "child-friendly country".
Goldman Prize for Prafulla Samantra
Social activist Prafulla Samantra was announced one of six
winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize, in San
Francisco.
The prize citation said this was for his "...historic 12-year
legal battle that affirmed the indigenous Dongria Kondh’s
land rights and protected the Niyamgiri Hills from a
massive, open-pit aluminum ore mine."
Since 1990 when the awards were first instituted, five
Indians — Medha Patkar, M.C. Mehta, Rasheeda Bi,
Champaran Shukla and Ramesh Agrawal — have won the
prize. Mr. Samantra will be the sixth.
Other winners this year include Mark Lopez, United
States; Uroš Macerl, Slovenia; Rodrigo Tot, Guatemala;
Rodrigue Katembo, Democratic Republic of Congo; and
Wendy Bowman, Australia.
Moushumi Chatterjee gets BFJA lifetime achievement
award
Veteran actress Moushumi Chatterjee has received the
lifetime achievement award, while actor Ashish Vidyarthi
was honoured for his contribution to Indian Cinema at the 80th
Bengal Film Journalists’ Association (BFJA) awards.
The BFJA, the oldest association of film scribes in the
country was founded in 1937.
Bengali film superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee was given the
best actor award for his role in Sankhachil. Prosenjit
shared the honour with actor Chiranjeet Chakraborty for
Chotushkone.
Rituparna Sengupta was given the best actress crown
for her role in Rajkahini along with Paoli Dam for
“Natoker Moto” (2015).
Veteran actor K. Viswanath wins Dadasaheb Phalke award
for 2016
Renowned Film Director & Actor Shri Kasinadhuni
Viswanath is to be conferred the 48th Dada Saheb Phalke
Award for the year 2016.
I&B Minister Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu approved the
recommendation of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award
committee.
Points to Remember
The Award is conferred by the Government of India for
outstanding contribution to the growth and development
of Indian Cinema.
The Award consists of a Swarn Kamal (Golden Lotus), a
cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs and a shawl.
Last year it was given to veteran actor and director Manoj
Kumar.
Aditi Ashok, SSP Chawrasia win Golf Industry Awards
SSP Chawrasia and
Aditi Ashok were among
the winners at the second
Golf Industry
Association (GIA)
Awards.
Aditi bagged Outstanding Achievement as a Player award.
Chawrasia bagged the Award for the Men's Player of the
Year.
GMR Airport Wins ‘Golden Peacock Business Excellence
Award 2017’
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), which
operates Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA),
Hyderabad has won the coveted Golden Peacock Business
Excellence Award (GPBEA) 2017 in the large scale industry-
Transportation-Aviation category.
YES BANK Limited has been awarded the Golden
Peacock Innovative Product/Service Award 2017.
36 WiFiStudy.com
Golden Peacock National Training Award was given to
State Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation of India
and Bangalore International Airport Limited.
The awards were presented at the 27th World Congress on
Business Excellence and Innovation being held in Dubai.
Goa varsity confers D Litt on President
President Pranab Mukherjee was bestowed with a D Litt degree
by the Goa University.
Mukherjee was conferred with the D Litt degree during the
29th annual convocation of the university at Dr Shyama
Prasad Mukherjee Stadium.
Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, who is also the university's
chancellor, awarded the degree to Mukherjee.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar too was present on
the occasion.
Indian businessman Yusuff Ali wins Queen's Enterprise
Award
A prominent Indian businessman's food processing plant in
Britain has won the prestigious Queen's Enterprise Award 2017
for its exceptional contribution to the UK's trade, industry and
economy.
Yusuff Ali M.A , 61, said the recognition for his
Birmingham-based Y International (UK) Ltd will spur his
Abu Dhabi headquartered Lulu Group International to
further expand business interests in the UK.
The Queen's Award for Enterprise is conferred annually
by Queen Elizabeth II on her birthday, April 21, upon
businesses that display great enterprise across the fields of
innovation, international trade, promoting opportunity
through social mobility and sustainable development.
Srishti Kaur wins Miss Teen Universe pageant
Srishti Kaur from India was crowned Miss Teen Universe
2017, beating out 25 other contestants from around the world
in the annual beauty pageant.
Samantha Pierre from Canada and Ary Trava from Mexico
were the runners-up in the event held at the Ruben Dario
National Theatre in Nicaragua’s capital Managua.
Kaur, a resident of Noida, also won the prize for best
national costume.
RDPR bags e-Puraskar
The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR)
Department of Karnataka has bagged e-Puraskar Award for the
best performance in empowering panchayats by using
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools, for
2016-17.
 Kerala bagged the second prize, while West Bengal
secured third prize in the category of ICT tools.
The cash prize for the first position is Rs. 2 crore, Rs. 1
crore for second position and Rs. 50 lakh for third position.
President of India presents CII Awards
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented CII
President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement to Mr. Rahul
Bajaj and CII foundation Woman Exemplar Award in New
Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, the President congratulated all
the awardees – Mr. Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto
Ltd. for receiving this year’s CII President’s Award for
Lifetime Achievement and those conferred with Woman
Exemplar Awards.
Bhubaneswar smart city plan gets USA global award
The American Planning Association (APA) has announced this
year's international excellence award for the Bhubaneswar
smart city project.
The award called Pierre L'Enfant International Planning
Excellence Award 2017 will be given on May 8 in New
York city.
This is the first time in the 50 years history of APA's
annual award programme that an Indian city has been
recognised for its planning efforts.
Hero MotoCorp named ‘Indian MNC of the Year’
Pawan Munjal-led Hero MotoCorp was conferred the ‘Indian
MNC of the Year’ award by the All India Management
Association (AIMA).
Other awards are:
Arundhati Bhattacharya: Business leader of the year.
Dilip Shanghvi: ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’
Rahul Sharma : ‘Transformational Business Leader of the
Year’ awards respectively.
Nandan Nilekani: ‘outstanding initiative of the year’ for
India Stack.
Maruti Suzuki: ‘MNC of the Year’ (in India)
Coal India Ltd the ‘outstanding PSU of the year’.
Sachin Tendulkar Launches '100MB Cricket' app
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A new iOS exclusive app
named 100MB Cricket, led by
the cricketing legend Sachin
Tendulkar, has been
launched.
The app allows its users
to interact live with
Sachin Tendulkar, while giving them access to latest
scores, schedules & player statistics.
The app features post-match scenes for each IPL match
along with predictions and analysis.
PV Sindhu dominates Carolina Marin to win India Open
2017 title
India’s badminton star PV Sindhu added yet another title to her
name after winning the India Open Superseries title in New
Delhi.
This was her first title at home as she beat Rio Olympic
gold medallist Carolina Marin in the final.
Sindhu, who had lost to Marin in Rio, produced an
inspiring performance and won the final in straight sets 21-
19 21-16.
Roger Federer downs Rafael Nadal to win Miami Open
Men’s Title
Roger Federer defeated long-standing rival Rafael Nadal 6-3,
6-4 to win the Miami Open and continue his outstanding start
to the year.
Federer has beaten Nadal in all of those events this year
and has now won his last four meetings between the pair.
Although Nadal still has a 23-14 advantage in the meetings
between the two.
Johanna Konta beats Caroline Wozniacki in Miami Open
Women's final
Johanna Konta of Great Britain won
the biggest title of her career when she
beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 in the
final of the Miami Open.
The 25-year-old Konta received
$1.18 million and will climb to a
career-high No. 7.
Her other titles came at Sydney this year and Stanford in
2016.
India ranks 3rd for third year in a row in world doping
chart
India has been ranked third for the third year in a row in a
doping violation report published by the World Anti-Doping
Agency (WADA) for 2015, with 117 athletes from the country
being punished after testing positive for banned substances.
India followed the Russian Federation (176) and Italy
(129) in the chart, the same position as in the reports of
2013 and 2014.
All the violations by the Indians came from urine samples.
Points to Remember
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is a foundation
initiated by the International Olympic Committee to
promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against
drugs in sports.
WADA was founded on November 10, 1999. Its motto is
Play True.
Craig Reedie is the President of WADA which is
headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
Virat Kohli named Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the
World for 2016
India cricket team skipper Virat Kolhi was named Wisden’s
Leading Cricketer in the World for 2016.
Kohli scored 1215 Test runs at a brilliant average of 75.93
last year. His 10 ODI appearances fetched him 739 runs at
92.37, while he scored 641 T20 International runs at
106.83.
The 28-year-old became the third Indian cricketer to win
the award.
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag earned the
honour twice by Wisden, while legendary cricketer
Sachin Tendulkar won it once.
India rises to 101 in FIFA rankings, best ever in two
decades
The Indian football team achieved its best ever FIFA ranking
in over two decades as it jumped to 101 in the latest list.
This is the team’s best ever ranking since May 1996 — it
was ranked 101 then also.
India jumped 31 places from its last rank of 132nd in the
previous month.
Following a couple of wins in recent times, India is now
ranked 11th in Asia.
The highest FIFA ranking achieved by India ever is 94,
which was attained in February 1996.
Brazil have taken over at the top of the FIFA rankings for
the first time since 2010 replacing Argentina.
IOA grants affiliation to Boxing Federation of India
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has granted
affiliation to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), ending a
long-standing impasse between the two bodies.
38 WiFiStudy.com
The affiliation ends a logjam that goes back to September
last year when BFI took charge of the sport after elections
conducted in the presence of International Boxing
Association (AIBA) and Sports Ministry observers.
BFI now becomes the fully recognised body for Indian
boxing, having already been granted affiliation by AIBA
and the Sports Ministry.
Indian Boxer Shyam Kumar Wins Gold At Thailand
International
Indian boxer K Shyam
Kumar (49kg) clinched a
gold medal at the Thailand
International Tournament
in Bangkok without even
stepping inside the ring for
his summit clash.
Shyam, who won gold at the 2015 edition of the event, was
to take on Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of
Uzbekistan in the final.
However, Dusmatov pulled out of the bout owing to an
injury, giving the Indian his second gold medal at the
event.
NBA launches basketball school in Mumbai
National Basketball Association announced the setting up of
its first basketball school, a network of tuition-based basketball
development programmes, in Mumbai.
The school, as part of a multi-year agreement announced
with India On Track (IOT), is open to male and female
players between ages 6-18.
Additional schools will be launched by NBA in India and
around the world in the coming months.
Lewis Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton dominated the Chinese
Grand Prix to take his first win of the year and move into a
share of the championship lead.
Vettel finished second.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen moved up from 16th on the
grid to finish third.
Davis Cup: India seal 4-1 win over Uzbekistan
India sealed a 4-1 win
against Uzbekistan in the
second round of the Davis
Cup Asia/Oceania Group I
tie in Bangalore to advance
to the World Group playoff.
 The Indians will now play the World Group playoff in
September against an opponent that will be decided later
through a draw in London.
Points to Remember
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in
men's tennis.
It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
It is described by the organisers as the "World Cup of
Tennis", and the winners are referred to as the World
Champion team.
The competition began in 1900 between Great Britain and
the United States.
India lift Asian School Hockey Championship
Alishan Mohammad and Pratap Lakra scored a brace each as
India emerged champion at the 5th Asian School Hockey
Championship with a convincing 5-1 win over Malaysia in the
final.
In the match for third and fourth place, Singapore beat
China 3-1 in a nail-biting shootout after the two teams
ended the regulation time in a 1-1 stalemate.
Pankaj Advani wins Asian Billiards Championship title
Sixteen-time world champion Pankaj Advani won his seventh
Asian title by defeating Sourav Kothari 6-3 in an entertaining
final of the Asian Billiards Championship, in Chandigarh.
This is his sixth Asian Billiards and seventh overall Asian
championship.
The other title being 6-red snooker which he won last year.
Praneeth clinches maiden Super Series title at Singapore
Open
Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth clinched his maiden Super Series
title at the Singapore Open after defeating compatriot K
Srikanth in a historic final.
World No.30 Praneeth, who had won the Canada Open
Grand Prix last year and reached the Syed Modi Grand
Prix Gold final this year, outmaneuvered Srikanth 17-21,
21-17, 21-12 in the summit clash of the $350,000 event.
Ferrari’s Vettel wins Bahrain Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel claimed a well-judged victory for Ferrari in
the Bahrain Grand Prix for his second win of the season.
The 29-year-old four-time champion came home seven
seconds ahead of three-time champion Lewis Hamilton of
Mercedes.
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Video gaming to be featured at 2022 Asian Games
Video gaming will be
featured as a full
sport at the 2022
Asian Games, with
competitors in
electronic sports set
to receive medals for
their digital prowess.
The Olympic Council of Asia says it will introduce e-
sports to the official program of the Asian Games at
Hangzhou, China.
It will also be a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian
Games in Palembang, Indonesia.
The council is collaborating with Ali sports, a unit of
China’s Alibaba Group, to bring e-sports to the games.
Visually impaired Indian runner Sagar Baheti completes
historic Boston Marathon
Bangalore-based Sagar Baheti has become the first visually
impaired Indian runner to complete the historic Boston
Marathon, the world's oldest, most competitive and the
hardest marathon to qualify for.
Baheti travelled to the USA and became the first visually
impaired Indian to participate in the famous marathon.
Baheti completed approximately 42.16 km distance in just
over four hours.
Cricket removed from 2018 Asian Games programme
The game of cricket has been removed from the programme
list of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang.
Apart from cricket, skateboarding, sambo and surfing
are among the other sports which have been removed from
the programme in order to reduce the burden on
Indonesian organisers.
This measure was taken as a part of the series of changes
aimed at reducing the total number of events from 493 to
431. Also omitted from the list are kurash and belt
wrestling events.
Nadal wins Monte-Carlo Masters
Defending champion Rafael Nadal won the Monte Carlo
Masters for an unprecedented 10th time, easily beating Albert
Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-3 in the final.
In the doubles final, Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas
beat seventh seeds and reigning Roland Garros champions
Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 6-3, 3-6, [10-4] to win
the title.
 Nadal’s 70th career title was his first of the season; he lost
three finals this year, two of those to Roger Federer.
Haryana emerge champion at National Youth Athletics
Meet
Haryana beat arch rivals Kerala after six years to win the team
championship at the National Youth Athletics Meet, which
concluded in Hyderabad.
Haryana emerged champions with 166.5 points. Kerala,
which stood at the top place in the last five years, could
manage only 134.75 points to finish runners-up.
India wins 16 medals at US Open karate Championship
India finished with a rich haul of three gold, two silver and 11
bronze medals at the US Open Karate Championship held in
Las Vegas.
Shaifali Agarwal, Abhishek Sengupta won a gold medal,
a silver in two different individual events. India also won
a gold medal in the team event.
The Indian team was led by Sensei Yashpal Singh Kalsi
and Members of the Indian contingent -- Abhishek
Sengupta, Rantej Singh, Harcharan Singh Chowhan and
Shaifali Agarwal were trained under Sensei Kalsi.
MCC offers life membership to former India captain
Sandhya Agarwal
The Marylebone
Cricket Club (MCC)
has offered honourary
life membership to
Sandhya Agarwal,
former captain of the
Indian women’s Test
team.
A resident of Indore, Agarwal has played 13 Tests and 21
ODIs from 1984 to 1995.
Agarwal is being honoured in recognition of her
distinguished service to the game.
After her retirement, she continued to contribute to the
game as a selector and coach, besides being a member of
the BCCI’s women’s committee.
Points to Remember
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club in
London, founded in 1787.
MCC was formerly the governing body of cricket both in
England and Wales as well as worldwide.
MCC revised the Laws of Cricket in 1788 and continues
to reissue them (from time to time), and remains the
copyright holder.
40 WiFiStudy.com
Valtteri Bottas wins his first F1 title in Russia
Finland's Valtteri Bottas celebrated the first Formula One
victory of his career at the Russian Grand Prix.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel finished Second
while Kimi Raikkonen finished third.
Lewis Hamilton Finished fourth.
Red-Hot Rafael Nadal Wins 10th Barcelona Open Title
Rafael Nadal romped to Barcelona Open title as he swept aside
Austria's Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1 for a 51st clay-court crown.
This was Nadal's 10th Barcelona Open title.
Nadal won in Barcelona between 2005-2009, 2011-13 and
now in the last two years.
Noted scriptwriter Ajey Jhankar no more
Noted author and
filmmaker Ajey Jhankar
passed away in a private
hospital. He was 57.
Writer of well-known
Marathi novel
“Sarkarnama”,
Jhankar later produced
the Marathi movie
with the same name in 1998, which had won many awards.
Hollywood movie 'Singularity' by filmmakar Roland Joffe
was based on Jhankar's novel 'Drohparv'. He was the co-
screenwriter for the film.
Kishori Amonkar passes away
Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar
passed away after a brief illness. She was 84.
Amonkar was recognised as one of the foremost singers in
the Hindustani tradition and as an innovative exponent of
the Jaipur gharana.
Badminton Association of India President Akhilesh Das
Gupta Passes Away
Badminton Association of India (BAI) president and former
Union Minister Akhilesh Das Gupta passed away after
suffering a heart attack.
Akhilesh Das Gupta was a Prominent Educationist,
Professor, Indian Politician & Philanthropist. He was the
son of Freedom Fighter Late Babu Banarasi Das, former
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
 He held country’s most prestigious office as ‘Member of
Parliament’ (Rajya Sabha) for 18 years.
He held the office of the Minister for Steel from January
2006 till May 2008 under Dr. Manmohan Singh
Government during UPA-I.
Ex JK Governor G C Saxena Dies At 90
Former Jammu and Kashmir
Governor Girish Chandra
Saxena, lovingly called Gary,
died after a brief illness. He
was 90.
He held the office of the
Governor J&K from 26
May 1990 to 13 March 1993 for first term.
He took over as Governor of the State on 2 May 1998 for
the second time.
Emma Morano: World's oldest person dies at age 117
The world's oldest person Emma Morano has died at age 117
in her home in northern Italy.
Emma Morano was born on November 29, 1899.
She was also believed to have been the last surviving
person in the world who was born in the 1800s.
Veteran journalist Nora Chopra no more
Senior journalist and columnist, Nora Chopra passed
away following a period of illness.
She was actively engaged in her work till her premature
demise.
Chopra was widely respected for being a passionate,
spirited and combative journalist.
Actor Vinod Khanna passes away at 70
Veteran actor and sitting BJP MP Vinod Khanna passed away
at the age of 70 after a difficult battle with cancer.
The actor, who was part of several Bollywood hits like
Amar Akbar Anthony and The Burning Train, was
admitted to the HN Reliance Foundation and Research
Centre in Girgaon, Mumbai recently.
Vinod Khanna, a sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MP from
Gurdaspur district of Punjab, was born on 6 October, 1946.
He was seen in 141 films between 1968 and 2013.
Popular Tamil actor Vinu Chakravarthy passes away
Well-known Tamil actor and writer Vinu Chakravarthy, who
had starred in over 1,000 films, breathed his last on 27 April
2017. He was 74.
41 WiFiStudy.com
Vinu Chakravarthy has acted in more than 1000 movies in
Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages.
He is known for his comedian, supporting and villainous
roles.
“Portuguese India and Mughal Relations 1510-1735”: A
book by Luis de Assis Correia
Goa-based author Luis de Assis Correia has released his book
“Portuguese India and Mughal Relations 1510-1735”
recently.
The book is already in controversies as the author has
claimed that Jodhabai, Wife of Akbar was in fact a
Portuguese woman, Dona Maria Mascarenhas.
Piyush Goyal launches self-help book
Union Minister of
Power, Coal and
New and Renewable
Energy, Piyush
Goyal has launched
a self-helpbook on
establishing a
credible business
and making profit.
Titled "The Entrepreneur's Guidebook," the book is
authored by Suresh Bharwani, Chairman and Managing
Director of Jetking Infotrain Limited.
Points to Remember
Piyush Goyal is the Union Minister of Power, Coal and
New and Renewable Energy.
He is currently a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha,
from Maharashtra).
Veerappa Moily presents copy of his new book to President
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader M
Veerappa Moily presented the first copy of his book 'The
Flaming Tresses of Draupadi' to President Pranab
Mukherjee.
The book Chronicles the epic character of Mahabharata,
Draupadi.
VP receives the book ‘Hope in a challenged democracy; An
Indian narrative’
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has
received the first copy of the Book titled ‘Hope in a challenged
democracy; An Indian narrative’ authored by Shri Ashwini (B) India
Kumar, from the former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. (C) China
The former Chief Justice of India, Justice M.N.
(D) Japan
Venkatachaliah and other dignitaries were present on the
occasion. (E) None of these
2. Which country is world’s largest importer of liquefied
Asha Parekh’s autobiography ‘The Hit Girl’ launched by
petroleum gas?
Salman Khan
Salman Khan has launched the biography of yesteryears actress (A) Russia
Asha Parekh’s autobiography ‘The Hit Girl’, for which he’s (B) India
written the Foreword as well.
(C) China
Authored by celebrated film critic and author Khalid
Mohamed, the book covers the life and times of an actress (D) Japan
who ruled the hearts of many in the 1960s and 1970s. (E) None of these
3. Which city has hosted first ‘India Indonesia Energy
PM Modi releases book penned by LS Speaker Sumitra
Mahajan Forum’?
Prime Minister Narendra (A) Jakarta
Modi released a book (B) New Delhi
‘Matoshree’, based on life
(C) Bali
of Maratha Queen
Ahilyabai Holkar, authored (D) Bengaluru
by Lok Sabha Speaker (E) None of these
Sumitra Mahajan.
4. Which state has launched Kilkari app to create awareness
After the release, a play based on the book was staged at
Balayogi Auditorium in the Parliament Library Building among pregnant women, parents and health workers?
with the Prime Minister, several Union ministers and MPs (A) Maharashtra
in attendance.
(B) Tamilnadu

The Dalai Lama launches the book ocean and blue (C) West Bengal
mountains (D) Haryana
The Dalai Lama released a book titled “Ocean and Blue (E) None of these
Mountains” published by the department of Karmik and
5. Which of the following has won Dadasaheb Phalke
Adhyatmik Affairs in the presence of the chief minister and
other dignitaries. Excellence Awards 2017 in Kala Shree category?
The book title refers 'Ocean' as His Holiness and 'Blue (A) Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Mountains' as the people of Arunachal Pradesh and is a
(B) Hema Malini
collection of memoirs of the special bond shared between
the two. (C) Jeenat Amaan
He also released a book titled – “Crossing of the (D) Rohit Roy
Frontiers” describing his exile route from Tibet to India,
(E) None of these
published by Losel Nyinje Charitable Society and Monyul
Social Welfare Association. 6. Who is known as the Father of Indian Cinema?
(A) Satyajit Ray
(B) Manmohan Desai
Current Affairs Question
1. Which country has become world’s second-largest (C) Prithviraj Kapoor

importer of liquefied petroleum gas? (D) Dada Saheb Phalke

(A) Russia (E) None of these

42 WiFiStudy.com
7. Which city has won 2017 Travelers' Choice Award by (B) Matra
Trip Advisor? (C) Newton
(A) New York (D) Dangal
(B) Vienna (E) None of these
(C) Bali 13. Who has been awarded with 2017 P.C. Chandra award?
(D) Bangkok (A) Amritya Sen
(E) None of these (B) Virappa Moilley
8. India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) is planning a mega (C) Bezwada Wilson
expansion to open _____ branches this year? (D) Kailash Satyarthi
(A) 500 (E) None of these
(B) 720 14. Which state has won National Youth Athletics
(C) 450 championship 2017?
(D) 650 (A) Haryana
(E) None of these (B) Kerala
9. Who has been appointed as Badminton Association of (C) Assam
India's interim president? (D) Tripura
(A) Himanta Biswa Sarma (E) None of these
(B) Mridul Gehlot 15. Gwadar port is located in Which country?
(C) Rajesh Chouhan (A) China
(D) Dinesh Patel (B) Pakistan
(E) None of these (C) Afghanistan
10. Who has been appointed as the president of Kabaddi (D) Saudi Arabia
Federation of India? (E) None of these
(A) Himanta Biswa Sarma 16. Which country has recently become fifth largest military
(B) Mridul Gehlot spender?
(C) Rajesh Chouhan (A) India
(D) Dinesh Patel (B) Russia
(E) None of these (C) China
11. Who has been appointed as the Secretary General of (D) Japan
Kabaddi Federation of India? (E) None of these
(A) Himanta Biswa Sarma 17. With which country’s navy, India is conducting 'Varuna'
(B) Mridul Gehlot exercise?
(C) Rajesh Chouhan (A) Israel
(D) Dinesh Patel (B) Indonesia
(E) None of these (C) France
12. Which film has won best film award at Hong Kong Film (D) Sri Lanka
Festival? (E) None of these
(A) Dhanak 18. World Malaria Day is observed on which date?

43 WiFiStudy.com
 (A) 25 April (D) Maharashtra
(B) 22 April (E) None of these
(C) 24 April 24. Which bank has tied up with Paisabazaar.com for loans?
(D) 23 April (A) Axis Bank
(E) None of these (B) HDFC Bank
19. National Panchayati Raj Day is observed on which date? (C) ICICI Bank
(A) 25 April (D) Yes Bank
(B) 22 April (E) None of these
(C) 24 April 25. Which airport has won ‘Golden Peacock Business
(D) 23 April Excellence Award 2017’?
(E) None of these (A) Hyderabad Airport
20. The Indian Railways is going to set up a solar power (B) Mumbai Airport
plant in____, whose estimated cost is Rs 200 crore? (C) Delhi Airport
(A) Pune (D) Bangalore Airport
(B) Bhilai (E) None of these
(C) Thane 26. Which university has bestowed president Pranab
(D) Dehradun Mukherjee with a D Litt degree recently?
(E) None of these (A) Pune University
21. Which of the following has won lifetime achievement (B) Goa University
award at Bengal Film Journalists’ Association (BFJA) (C) Mumbai University
awards? (D) Delhi University
(A) Moushumi Chatterjee (E) None of these
(B) Jeenat Amaan 27. How many medals were won by India at the recent US
(C) Rekha Open Karate Championship held in Las Vegas?
(D) Sharmila Tagore (A) 14
(E) None of these (B) 10
22. India's first and longest ropeway will connect _______ (C) 11
with the Elephanta Island in the Arabian Sea? (D) 16
(A) Mumbai (E) None of these
(B) Chennai 28. Which of the following Indian women cricketer was
(C) Kolkata offered honourary life membership by the Marylebone
(D) Goa Cricket Club?
(E) None of these (A) Mithali Raj
23. Central Government will set up a Central university for (B) Jaya Sharma
Divyangs in which state? (C) Sandhya Agarwal
(A) Madhya Pradesh (D) Jhulan Goswami
(B) Gujarat (E) None of these
(C) Uttar Pradesh

44 WiFiStudy.com
29. World Intellectual Property Day is observed on which (B) Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar
date? (C) Sudeep Lakhtakia
(A) 24 April (D) R K Pachnanda
(B) 25 April (E) None of these
(C) 26 April 35. Who has been appointed as the new Director General of
(D) 27 April the Indo Tibetan Border Police?
(E) None of these (A) Krishna Chaudhary
30. Which country will host 18th World Road Meeting? (B) Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar
(A) India (C) Sudeep Lakhtakia
(B) South Africa (D) R K Pachnanda
(C) Malaysia (E) None of these
(D) Japan 36. Who has won Miss Teen Universe pageant 2017?
(E) None of these (A) Anu Rawat
31. ‘Ude Deshka Aam Naagrik’ (UDAN) Regional (B) Koyal Rana
Connectivity Scheme was launched in which year? (C) Srishti Kaur
(A) 2014 (D) Shruti Bansal
(B) 2015 (E) None of these
(C) 2016 37. What is India’s rank in world press freedom rankings
(D) 2017 2017?
(E) None of these (A) 133
32. Which state has decided to drop the tag "Pradhan Mantri" (B) 136
from "Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna"? (C) 131
(A) Andhra Pradesh (D) 143
(B) Himachal Pradesh (E) None of these
(C) West Bengal 38. Atal Pension Yojana is available in which age group?
(D) Tamilnadu (A) 18-40
(E) None of these (B) 18-70
33. Which has become the first country to open an honorary (C) 25-60
consulate office in Gujarat International Finance Tec- (D) 18-60
City (GIFT City)? (E) None of these
(A) Belgium 39. Which of the following MSME app was launched
(B) Portugal recently?
(C) Norway (A) MSME New
(D) Austria (B) My MSME
(E) None of these (C) Our MSME
34. Who has been appointed as the new Director General of (D) All MSME
the Central Reserve Police Force? (E) None of these
(A) Krishna Chaudhary

45 WiFiStudy.com
40. According to CMS survey 2017, which is the most (B) Kriti
corrupt state in India? (C) Taandav
(A) Bihar (D) Ahalya
(B) Jammu & Kashmir (E) None of these
(C) Karnataka 46. World Press Freedom Day is observed on which date?
(D) Rajasthan (A) 28 April
(E) None of these (B) 29 April
41. The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) plans to build a new (C) 2 May
oil terminal at _____ in Bihar to supply fuel to Nepal? (D) 3 May
(A) Patna (E) None of these
(B) Raxaul 47. Which of the following city’s name has been changed in
(C) Gaya Haryana recently?
(D) Motihari (A) Rohtak
(E) None of these (B) Ballabhgarh
42. Boeing and Air India will start a training centre for (C) Rewari
Aircraft Maintenance Engineers in which city? (D) Sonipat
(A) Bareilly (E) None of these
(B) Nagpur 48. Which of the following organisation has developed
(C) Jodhpur "Solar Calculator" Android App?
(D) Ranchi (A) DRDO
(E) None of these (B) ISRO
43. Who has been appointed a member of Olympic education (C) BARC
Commission recently? (D) BEML
(A) Nita Ambani (E) None of these
(B) Saina Nehwal 49. First E-taxi trial run will be started in which city?
(C) Abhinav Bindra (A) Kanpur
(D) Sachin Tendulkar (B) Raipur
(E) None of these (C) Jaipur
44. Who has been honored with CII President’s Award for (D) Nagpur
Lifetime Achievement 2017? (E) None of these
(A) Anand Mahindra 50. According to IMF, India will surpass Germany as the
(B) Ratan Tata world’s fourth-largest economy by which year?
(C) Rahul Bajaj (A) 2022
(D) Mukesh Ambani (B) 2020
(E) None of these (C) 2021
45. Which Indian short film will be screened by UNESCO on (D) 2025
World Press Freedom Day event in Jakarta? (E) None of these
(A) Azaad

46 WiFiStudy.com
51. Which city has been awarded with Pierre L'Enfant (D) Google
International Planning Excellence Award 2017? (E) None of these
(A) Bhubaneswar 57. Yusra Mardini has been appointed as UNHCR
(B) Chandigarh ambassador recently. She is from which country?
(C) Coimbatore (A) Germany
(D) Thiruvananthapuram (B) Syria
(E) None of these (C) Turkey
52. Vinu Chakravarthy has passed away recently. Who he (D) Russia
was? (E) None of these
(A) Politician 58. Who has been appointed as the president of the
(B) Writer Confederation of Indian Industry?
(C) Actor (A) Naushad Forbes
(D) Journalist (B) Uday Kotak
(E) None of these (C) Shobana Kamineni
53. Which state has hosted India’s first-ever athletics meet (D) Sunil Mittal
for transgender persons? (E) None of these
(A) Maharashtra 59. Which of the following has been awarded as ‘Indian
(B) Kerala MNC of the Year’?
(C) Tamilnadu (A) Maruti Suzuki
(D) Gujarat (B) Sun Pharma
(E) None of these (C) Hero Moto Corp
54. Which of the following is going to be India's first book (D) Reliance Industries
village? (E) None of these
(A) Bhilar 60. Who has won Barcelona Open tennis Title 2017?
(B) Akodara (A) Andy Murray
(C) Rajauli (B) Dominic Thiem
(D) Harisal (C) Novak Djokovich
(E) None of these (D) Rafael Nadal
55. India's first digitalised Panchayat ward is in which state? (E) None of these
(A) Maharashtra 61. Sagarmatha Friendship-2017’ is a military exercise
(B) Kerala between Nepal and ____?
(C) Tamilnadu (A) India
(D) Gujarat (B) Pakistan
(E) None of these (C) Afghanistan
56. Which company has started 'Solve for India' campaign? (D) China
(A) Microsoft (E) None of these
(B) Qualcomm 62. Koradi thermal power station is located in which state?
(C) Facebook (A) Tamilnadu

47 WiFiStudy.com
 (B) Maharashtra 68. Girish Chandra Saxena passed away recently. He was the
(C) Gujarat former governor of___?
(D) Andhra Pradesh (A) Madhya Pradesh
(E) None of these (B) Uttar Pradesh
63. Which state has banned plastic or polythene bags from (C) Assam
May 1? (D) Jammu & Kashmir
(A) Maharashtra (E) None of these
(B) Punjab 69. Which city will have India's first privately-run railway
(C) Madhya Pradesh station?
(D) Karnataka (A) Jaipur
(E) None of these (B) Bhopal
64. Which state has launched Anti-Corruption Cell and (C) Indore
Digital Application for Review by Public And Nation (D) Chennai
(DARPAN)? (E) None of these
(A) Assam 70. Which company has partnered with Genesis Luxury for
(B) Gujarat payment gateways in India?
(C) Manipur (A) Freecharge
(D) Jharkhand (B) Mobikwik
(E) None of these (C) Paytm
65. Which state has launched CM Connect app? (D) Amazon
(A) Punjab (E) None of these
(B) Tamilnadu 71. Which company has launched Aero app for local services
(C) Andhra Pradesh in India?
(D) Rajasthan (A) Microsoft
(E) None of these (B) Amazon
66. What is the full form of PCA, with reference to bad (C) Uber
loans? (D) Google
(A) Prompt Corrective Action (E) None of these
(B) Public Corrective Action 72. Who has been awarded with 6th M.S. Swaminathan
(C) Prompt Corrective Assets Award?
(D) Prompt Clearance Action (A) RR Hanchinal
(E) None of these (B) Bejwada Wilson
67. Who has won Asian Billiards Championship 2017 title? (C) Krishna Rao
(A) Pankaj Advani (D) Anant Gupta
(B) Sourabh Kothari (E) None of these
(C) Geet Shetty 73. Who has won Super Series title at Singapore Open
(D) Peter Gilchrist badminton?
(E) None of these (A) P Kashyap

48 WiFiStudy.com
 (B) K Srikanth (A) 15 April
(C) B Sai Praneeth (B) 17 April
(D) Ajay Mehra (C) 18 April
(E) None of these (D) 16 April
74. Who has won Bahrain Grand Prix 2017? (E) None of these
(A) Sebestian Vettel 80. Which city is hosting Global Exhibition on Services
(B) Lewis Hamilton 2017?
(C) Max Verstappan (A) New Delhi
(D) Narain Karthikeyan (B) Bengaluru
(E) None of these (C) Kolkata
75. Sebestian Vettel is in which team? (D) Hyderabad
(A) Ferrari (E) None of these
(B) Mercedes 81. What does the letter ‘S’ denotes in the term ‘RUSA’,
(C) Force India with reference to HRD ministry?
(D) MRF (A) Suraksha
(E) None of these (B) Shiksha
76. World's oldest person Emma Morano passed away (C) Sahyog
recently at age 117. She was from which country? (D) Shanti
(A) Spain (E) None of these
(B) France 82. Which is the first to start special drive for transgenders to
(C) Sweden register as voters?
(D) Italy (A) Gujarat
(E) None of these (B) Telangana
77. Which city has hosted the meeting of BRICS envoys on (C) Maharashtra
Middle East? (D) Assam
(A) Visakhapatnam (E) None of these
(B) Hyderabad 83. Who is the managing director of the Punjab National
(C) Kochi Bank?
(D) Bhopal (A) TN Manoharan
(E) None of these (B) Kishore Sansi
78. Who has won Time magazine's 2017 Reader Poll of the (C) Rakesh Sharma
100 most influential people in the world? (D) Usha Ananthasubramanian
(A) Bernie Sanders (E) None of these
(B) Donald Trump 84. What is India’s growth forecast for the financial year
(C) Rodrigo Duterte 2017, according to the World Bank?
(D) Vladimir Putin (A) 7.1%
(E) None of these (B) 7.2%
79. World Heritage Day is observed on which date? (C) 7.4%

49 WiFiStudy.com
 (D) 7.6% 90. Which state has launched ‘Advanced Farming – Enriched
(E) None of these Farmer’ scheme?
85. Which was the last nation to be inducted in the BRICS (A) Gujarat
group? (B) Telangana
(A) Brazil (C) Maharashtra
(B) South Africa (D) Rajasthan
(C) China (E) None of these
(D) Russia 91. Who is the managing director of the International
(E) None of these Monetary Fund?
86. In which city, RBI has recently opened a new banking (A) Christine Lagarde
ombudsman office? (B) Jim Yong Kim
(A) Jammu (C) Salil Shetty
(B) Raipur (D) Mark Lesnar
(C) Bhopal (E) None of these
(D) Both A and B 92. Who has been appointed as the new Financial
(E) None of these Commissioner of Railways?
87. As of 18 April 2017, what is the total number of banking (A) Amit Kumar
ombudsman offices in India? (B) Arunendra Sinha
(A) 16 (C) Animesh Mittal
(B) 18 (D) BN Mohapatra
(C) 22 (E) None of these
(D) 20 93. What is India’s growth forecast for the financial year
(E) None of these 2018, according to the International Monetary Fund?
88. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has inked a supervisory (A) 7.1%
cooperation pact with the Royal Monetary Authority of (B) 7.2%
_____ for information sharing? (C) 7.4%
(A) Nepal (D) 7.6%
(B) Bhutan (E) None of these
(C) Israel 94. Which company has won Hindustan PSU award under
(D) Qatar ‘Fastest Growing Organisation – Miniratna’ category?
(E) None of these (A) BEML
89. Which company has tied up with ISRO to develop low- (B) BHEL
cost lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles? (C) IOCL
(A) BEML (D) ONGC
(B) BHEL (E) None of these
(C) ONGC 95. Which country has recently abolished 457 visa?
(D) Vedanta (A) America
(E) None of these (B) Australia

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 (C) France 101. Rajasthan government has inked a fresh MoU of Rs
(D) Russia _______ crore with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
(E) None of these Ltd (HPCL) for an oil refinery in Barmer?
96. What is India’s rank in Global FDI Confidence Index (A) 43,129
2017? (B) 46,125
(A) 7 (C) 53,129
(B) 8 (D) 40,167
(C) 9 (E) None of these
(D) 10 102. Which company has recently launched a fintech
(E) None of these partnership in India?
97. What is the name of the military exercise between India (A) Google
and Russia? (B) Microsoft
(A) Surya Kiran (C) Nomura
(B) Hand in Hand (D) Qualcomm
(C) Garud Shakti (E) None of these
(D) Indra 103. Video gaming will be introduced in which of the
(E) None of these following year’s Asian games?
98. To whom after, Agra’s Airport has been named recently? (A) 2018
(A) Jawahar Lal Nehru (B) 2020
(B) Deen Dayal Upadhyay (C) 2022
(C) Atal Bihari Vajpayee (D) 2026
(D) Madan Mohan Malviya (E) None of these
(E) None of these 104. Which country will host BRICS Film Festival 2017?
99. Which country has topped in Global FDI Confidence (A) China
Index 2017? (B) South Africa
(A) US (C) Brazil
(B) Germany (D) Russia
(C) China (E) None of these
(D) Canada 105. Which country will host UN Vesak Day 2017?
(E) None of these (A) Nepal
100. Which is India’s first CII-IGBC Platinum rating (B) Bhutan
company? (C) India
(A) ICICI Bank (D) Sri Lanka
(B) HDFC Bank (E) None of these
(C) BEML 106. India has made a ______ dollar contribution to the UN
(D) Yes Bank programme for helping countries to hold elections and
(E) None of these develop their electoral systems?
(A) 250,000

51 WiFiStudy.com
 (B) 200,000 (B) Politician
(C) 350,000 (C) Musician
(D) 500,000 (D) Journalist
(E) None of these (E) None of these
107. National civil services day is observed on which date? 113. Who is the Union Minister of Steel?
(A) 18 April (A) Radha Mohan Singh
(B) 19 April (B) Smriti Irani
(C) 21 April (C) Chaudhary Birendra Singh
(D) 20 April (D) Ram Vilas Paswan
(E) None of these (E) None of these
108. Which of the following has been included in Time 114. Which is the India’s most valued firm by market
magazine's 'most influential people list' 2017? capitalisation?
(A) Narendra Modi (A) TCS
(B) Vijay Shekhar Sharma (B) HDFC Bank
(C) Sachin Bansal (C) ONGC
(D) Binny Bansal (D) Reliance Industries Limited
(E) Both A and B (E) None of these
109. Which city will host Textiles India 2017? 115. Which country is helping India in developing BrahMos
(A) Ahmedabad Missile?
(B) Kanpur (A) Russia
(C) Gandhinagar (B) France
(D) New Delhi (C) Israel
(E) None of these (D) Japan
110. What is the name of first Made in India industrial robot? (E) None of these
(A) ERA 116. Which of the following has been awarded with 75th
(B) PARAM Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards?
(C) Shastra (A) Aamir Khan
(D) Brabo (B) Kapil Dev
(E) None of these (C) Shah Rukh Khan
111. Who is the first Visually impaired Indian runner to (D) Salman Khan
complete Boston Marathon? (E) Both A and B
(A) Sagar Baheti 117. Dr Gobind N. Ganga is the Governor of which country’s
(B) Vishal Bhati central bank?
(C) Ronak Biyani (A) Mauritius
(D) Akshay Jhaveri (B) Guyana
(E) None of these (C) Jamaica
112. Nora Chopra passed away recently. Who he was? (D) Sri Lanka
(A) Singer (E) None of these

52 WiFiStudy.com
118. Which of the following NBFC has been converted to (A) No Limit
small finance bank? (B) Rs 1 Lakh
(A) Bajaj Finance (C) Rs 25,000
(B) Mahindra Finance (D) Rs 50,000
(C) AK Finance (E) Rs 75,000
(D) AU Finance 124. Which bank has collaborated with BSNL to upgrade
(E) None of these bandwidth at all its branches?
119. Which company has recently won Golden Peacock (A) Union Bank of India
Award? (B) Andhra Bank
(A) GNFC (C) State Bank of India
(B) ONGC (D) Canara Bank
(C) BEML (E) None of these
(D) DVL 125. Which of the following has won most film friendly state
(E) None of these award at the 64th National film awards?
120. The Golden Peacock Awards were established by the (A) Jharkhand
Institute of Directors (IOD) in India in___? (B) Gujarat
(A) 2003 (C) Uttar Pradesh
(B) 1991 (D) Maharashtra
(C) 1994 (E) None of these
(D) 1988 126. Who is the author of the book titled ‘Lata: Sur Gatha’?
(E) None of these (A) Yatindra Mishra
121. Which city is hosting second National Children’s Film (B) Ali Smith
Festival? (C) Bharati Pradhan
(A) New Delhi (D) Boria Majumdar
(B) Bhopal (E) None of these
(C) Visakhapatnam 127. Which of the following has won best feature film award
(D) Bhubaneswar at 64th National film awards?
(E) None of these (A) Kaasav
122. India has recently signed a $175 million loan agreement (B) Neerja
to support construction of high voltage transmission (C) Rustom
systems with___ (D) Pink
(A) Asian Development Bank (E) None of these
(B) World Bank 128. India has offered a new ____ million Dollar line of credit
(C) BRICS Bank specifically for defence purchases to Bangladesh.
(D) International Monetary Fund (A) 500
(E) None of these (B) 250
123. What is the limit of NEFT transaction on remittances to (C) 400
Nepal under the Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility Scheme? (D) 700

53 WiFiStudy.com
 (E) None of these (C) Bengaluru
129. India’s first DNA bank for wildlife will be set up in (D) Kolkata
which city? (E) None of these
(A) Jaipur 135. Which country has declared a three-month emergency
(B) Kanpur following twin church bombings?
(C) Bareilly (A) Iran
(D) Lucknow (B) Cuba
(E) None of these (C) Venezuela
130. Which city has recently hosted a national level summit (D) Egypt
on TB? (E) None of these
(A) Dharmasala 136. Which state has started ‘Deendayal Rasoi Yojana’?
(B) New Delhi (A) Rajasthan
(C) Nagpur (B) Karnataka
(D) Ahmedabad (C) Uttar Pradesh
(E) None of these (D) Madhya Pradesh
131. Which city has hosted a Seminar on “Economic Reforms (E) None of these
with reference to Electoral Issues”? 137. Which city has hosted International Convention on
(A) Dharmasala World Homoeopathy Day?
(B) New Delhi (A) Mumbai
(C) Nagpur (B) New Delhi
(D) Ahmedabad (C) Bhopal
(E) None of these (D) Ahmedabad
132. 'Bharat ke Veer' web portal is powered by which bank? (E) None of these
(A) Canara Bank 138. Which of the following has recently been appointed as
(B) State Bank of India UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador?
(C) Punjab National Bank (A) Kristin Davis
(D) Bank of Baroda (B) Priyanka Chopra
(E) None of these (C) Viola Davis
133. What is the limit on cash transactions? (D) Saina Nehwal
(A) Rs 1 lakh (E) None of these
(B) Rs 2 lakh 139. Which of the following has recently been appointed as
(C) Rs 3 lakh RBI Executive Director?
(D) Rs 4 lakh (A) BP Kanungo
(E) None of these (B) Arjun Sinha
134. In which city, National Basketball Association is setting (C) Malvika Sinha
up its first basketball school in India? (D) Viral Acharya
(A) New Delhi (E) None of these
(B) Mumbai

54 WiFiStudy.com
140. Who has been appointed as Managing Director of (A) Dena Bank
Saraswat Co-operative Bank? (B) State Bank of India
(A) SK Banerji (C) Corporation Bank
(B) Smita Sandhane (D) Central Bank of India
(C) Kunal Kapoor (E) None of these
(D) Minakshi Sen 146. Which Company has acquired eBay’s India recently?
(E) None of these (A) Snapdeal
141. Which of the following has been awarded as ‘Asian (B) Flipkart
Businesswoman of the Year’ in UK? (C) Amazon
(A) Anuradha Bakshi (D) Paytm
(B) Asha Khemka (E) None of these
(C) Beena Nagpal 147. Which of the following has been appointed as member of
(D) Rina Sahni Central Board of Direct Taxes recently?
(E) None of these (A) SK Banerji
142. Which portal launched on the occasion of 250th (B) Ajit Kumar Srivastava
anniversary of Survey of India? (C) Shabri Bhattasali
(A) Chitra (D) Anu Sharma
(B) Nakshe (E) Both B and C
(C) Manchitra 148. Who is the author of the book ‘Hope in a challenged
(D) Atlas democracy; An Indian narrative’?
(E) None of these (A) Ashwini Kumar
143. Ministry of Rural Development has released Rs. (B) Avinash Kumar
_______crore to the States as first tranche for Financial (C) Aashish Mittal
Year 2017-18 under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural (D) Ajit Kumar
Employment Guarantee Scheme? (E) None of these
(A) 23,443.09 149. Which country has hosted G-7 foreign ministers meeting
(B) 23,273.09 2017?
(C) 23,589.09 (A) Australia
(D) 21,443.09 (B) Belgium
(E) None of these (C) Germany
144. Which bank has launched Hrudaya Deposit scheme? (D) Italy
(A) Suryodaya Small Finance Bank (E) None of these
(B) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank 150. Which country has hosted G20 Digital Ministerial
(C) ESAF Small Finance Bank Meeting 2017?
(D) Airtel Payment Bank (A) Australia
(E) None of these (B) Belgium
145. Which bank’s customer has won Rs 1 crore under (C) Germany
cashless scheme? (D) Italy

55 WiFiStudy.com
 (E) None of these (E) None of these
151. What is the new number of centrally sponsored schemes? 157. Which country has executed most number of people in
(A) 28 2016?
(B) 66 (A) Iran
(C) 38 (B) Saudi Arabia
(D) 20 (C) China
(E) None of these (D) Pakistan
152. Pulitzer’s Prize is related to which field? (E) None of these
(A) Sports 158. Which country has launched Sports Partnership with
(B) Cinema India in Mumbai?
(C) Journalism (A) Australia
(D) Medical (B) Bangladesh
(E) None of these (C) Germany
153. Which port has topped the ranking of Ports on sanitation? (D) Brazil
(A) Vizag Port (E) None of these
(B) Haldia Port 159. Which state has launched e-sewa app to provide
(C) Kandla Port information about welfare schemes?
(D) Jawahar lal Nehru Port (A) Gujarat
(E) None of these (B) Assam
154. Which of the following has been appointed as Managing (C) Haryana
Directors in Life Insurance Corporation of India? (D) Karnataka
(A) Sunita Sharma (E) None of these
(B) B Venugopal 160. Which state has launched Suraksha app for women
(C) Sushil Kumar safety?
(D) Rani Nayar (A) Gujarat
(E) Both A and B (B) Assam
155. Which team has won Asian School Hockey (C) Haryana
Championship? (D) Karnataka
(A) India (E) None of these
(B) Malaysia 161. Which bank has collaborated with postal department to
(C) China promote cashless transactions?
(D) Singapore (A) ICICI Bank
(E) None of these (B) Yes Bank
156. ‘The Hit Girl’ is an autobiography of which actress? (C) SBI
(A) Jeenat Aman (D) Vijaya Bank
(B) Asha Parekh (E) None of these
(C) Parveen Babi 162. How many scientists have been awarded with National
(D) Neetu Singh Geoscience Award 2016?

56 WiFiStudy.com
 (A) 20 168. Which of the following has recently got RBI nod for e-
(B) 26 wallet?
(C) 28 (A) Twitter
(D) 32 (B) Facebook
(E) None of these (C) Amazon
163. Akhilesh Das Gupta passed away recently. Who he was? (D) Mobikwik
(A) Politician (E) None of these
(B) Actor 169. Mahabaleshwara Mavinakudige Subrahmanya has been
(C) Singer appointed as the Managing Director of which bank?
(D) Journalist (A) Kerala Gramin Bank
(E) None of these (B) Andhra Bank
164. Who is the author of the book ‘Matoshree’? (C) Karnataka Bank
(A) Shashi Tharoor (D) Jammu & Kashmir Bank
(B) Hamid Ansari (E) None of these
(C) Veerappa Moily 170. Who has been appointed as a Whole Time Member, the
(D) Sumitra Mahajan Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India recently?
(E) None of these (A) Vivek Debroy
165. Who has become the world’s most followed leader on (B) Mukulita Vijayawargiya
Instagram? (C) Ashish Benerjee
(A) Vladimir Putin (D) Sunil Kamath
(B) Angela Markel (E) None of these
(C) Donald Trump 171. Which state has won Krishi Karman Award 2015-16 for
(D) Narendra Modi commendable increase in food grains production?
(E) None of these (A) Andhra Pradesh
166. Who will be the head of panel to recommend regulations (B) Himachal Pradesh
for Virtual Currencies? (C) Madhya Pradesh
(A) Special Economic Secretary (D) Uttar Pradesh
(B) Home Secretary (E) None of these
(C) Foreign Secretary 172. Which of the following book was launched by the Dalai
(D) Defence Secretary Lama recently?
(E) None of these (A) Ocean and Blue Mountains
167. Which state has launched ‘Adarana Scheme'? (B) Crossing of the Frontiers
(A) Maharashtra (C) The Spiritual world
(B) Andhra Pradesh (D) Both A and B
(C) Gujarat (E) None of these
(D) Karnataka 173. Which country has signed a MoU with India to upgrade
(E) None of these Indian railway?
(A) Russia

57 WiFiStudy.com
 (B) France (C) Resolve
(C) Portugal (D) Reward
(D) Denmark (E) None of these
(E) None of these 179. Indian Academy of Highway Engineers signed a MoU
174. Which state has launched ‘Durga Vahini squad’? with which university to set up a Centre for Advanced
(A) Maharashtra Transportation Technology and Systems?
(B) Haryana (A) University of New South Wales
(C) Gujarat (B) North Dakota University
(D) Karnataka (C) Singapore National University
(E) None of these (D) University of Wellington
175. What is the outlay of BHIM Cash back and Referral (E) None of these
bonus for 6 months? 180. What was the threshold under the first phase of the
(A) 400 Crore operation clean money?
(B) 438 Crore (A) 10 Lakh
(C) 495 Crore (B) 2 Lakh
(D) 455 Crore (C) 8 Lakh
(E) None of these (D) 5 Lakh
176. Which company has adopted Harisal village in (E) None of these
Maharashtra to develop as India’s first ideal digital 181. Which is the first country in the world to ban metal
village? mining?
(A) Microsoft (A) Ghana
(B) Google (B) El Salvador
(C) BSNL (C) Portugal
(D) Facebook (D) Spain
(E) None of these (E) None of these
177. The National Green Tribunal has imposed a fine of 182. Recently, in which city an All India Institute of Ayurveda
Rs_____ on the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation established?
Ltd? (A) Bengaluru
(A) 20 Lakh (B) Chennai
(B) 50 Lakh (C) Mumbai
(C) 60 Lakh (D) New Delhi
(D) 35 Lakh (E) None of these
(E) None of these 183. What is the new interest rate on Kisan Vikas Patra?
178. Bank Board Bureau has recently launched 'GRAF' for (A) 7.6%
Public Sector Banks. What does the term ‘R’ denotes in (B) 7.8%
GRAF? (C) 7.7%
(A) Reliability (D) 7.9%
(B) Real (E) None of these

58 WiFiStudy.com
184. Which state has passed a Life imprisonment term bill for 189. Which of the following is not a member of South Asia
cow slaughter? Sub-regional Economic Cooperation programme?
(A) Rajasthan (A) Bhutan
(B) Uttarakhand (B) Afghanistan
(C) Gujarat (C) Myanmar
(D) Andhra Pradesh (D) Nepal
(E) None of these (E) None of these
185. After the merger with five associate banks from April 1 190. Which app has been launched to report traffic violation
State Bank of India will become the ______largest bank and road accidents?
in the world? (A) e-Challan
(A) 35th (B) m-Parivahan
(B) 28th (C) e-Traffic
(C) 45th (D) Both A and B
(D) 48th (E) None of these
(E) None of these 191. Which of the following has signed and MoU with Indian
186. Which of the following has been appointed as a whole Army to strengthen critical technological areas?
time member of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of (A) IIT Mumbai
India? (B) IIT Kharagpur
(A) Dr Navrang Saini (C) IIT Kanpur
(B) Dr Amit Juneja (D) IIT Madras
(C) Ankita Desai (E) None of these
(D) Raghav Kumar 192. Which scheme has been launched recently for
(E) None of these powerloom sector development?
187. Which of the following cricketer has launched '100MB (A) PowerTex
Cricket' app? (B) IndiaTex
(A) Virendra Sehwag (C) Powerloom India
(B) Sunil Gavaskar (D) TexIndia
(C) Sachin Tendulkar (E) None of these
(D) Sourav Ganguly 193. International Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease has
(E) None of these been launched in which state?
188. Which country has become the seventh member of South (A) Odisha
Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation programme? (B) Tripura
(A) Bangladesh (C) Manipur
(B) Nepal (D) Meghalaya
(C) Myanmar (E) None of these
(D) Sri Lanka 194. Which of the following has been awarded with US India
(E) None of these Business Council award?
(A) Vasundhara Raje

59 WiFiStudy.com
 (B) Chandrababu Naidu 200. Who has won India Open badminton 2017 super series?
(C) Vijay Rupani (A) PV Sindhu
(D) Pawan Chamling (B) Carolina Marin
(E) None of these (C) Saina Nehwal
195. Lenin Moreno was declared the winner of which (D) Li Xuerui
country’s President elections? (E) None of these
(A) Seychelles 201. Which of the following has won Miami open tennis
(B) Mauritius women’s title?
(C) Ecuador (A) Johanna Konta
(D) Zimbabwe (B) Caroline Wozniacki
(E) None of these (C) Angelique Kerber
196. India’s first bio-gas bus was recently launched in which (D) Samantha Stosur
city? (E) None of these
(A) Chennai 202. Ajey Jhankar passed away recently. Who he was?
(B) New Delhi (A) Actor
(C) Mumbai (B) Poet
(D) Kolkata (C) Writer
(E) None of these (D) Journalist
197. Which state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) is going (E) None of these
to be first paperless PSC in India? 203. Which country is hosting World parliamentarians
(A) Maharashtra conference 2017?
(B) Uttar Pradesh (A) Bangladesh
(C) Himachal Pradesh (B) Sri Lanka
(D) Arunachal Pradesh (C) Nepal
(E) None of these (D) India
198. Chenani-Nashri Tunnel is in which state? (E) None of these
(A) Jammu-Kashmir 204. Which country will help in setting up a technology park
(B) Assam in Andhra Pradesh?
(C) Uttarakhand (A) UAE
(D) Meghalaya (B) Japan
(E) None of these (C) Malaysia
199. Which is the leading State in the wind power capacity (D) South Korea
addition during 2016-17? (E) None of these
(A) Rajasthan 205. Which is India’s most costly office location?
(B) Karnataka (A) Connaught Place
(C) Gujarat (B) Nariman Point
(D) Andhra Pradesh (C) Bandra Kurla Complex
(E) None of these (D) Chandni Chowk

60 WiFiStudy.com
 (E) None of these (D) Writer
206. According to India Rankings 2017, which is India’s best (E) None of these
University? 212. Who has been appointed as as new Consul General of
(A) IIT Bombay Dubai?
(B) Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (A) Vipul
(C) Jadavpur University (B) Anurag Bhushan
(D) Jawaharlal Nehru University (C) Ashok Yadav
(E) None of these (D) Anand Sharma
207. Which city is hosting National Conference on Autism? (E) None of these
(A) Bhubaneswar 213. Who has been awarded with UNESCO/Guillermo Cano
(B) Guwahati World Press Freedom Prize 2017?
(C) Agartala (A) Ahmad Zeidabadi
(D) New Delhi (B) Mazen Darwish
(E) None of these (C) Khadija Ismayilova
208. Which is the first airline in India to launch UPI based (D) Dawit Isaak
online ticket booking? (E) None of these
(A) Air India 214. Which Indian actress has been chosen as the second most
(B) Jet Airways beautiful woman in the world?
(C) Spice Jet (A) Priyanka Chopra
(D) Indigo (B) Katrina Kaif
(E) None of these (C) Anushka Sharma
209. Which state has recently launched e-nagarpalika app? (D) Shilpa Shetty
(A) Punjab (E) None of these
(B) Assam 215. Who is the author of the book "Portuguese India and
(C) Gujarat Mughal Relations 1510-1735"?
(D) Madhya Pradesh (A) Damodar Mauzo
(E) None of these (B) Jerry Pinto
210. Which of the following bank has sold its Ballarpur loan (C) Frederich Noronha
to Edelweiss? (D) Luis de Assis Correia
(A) Axis Bank (E) None of these
(B) ICICI Bank 216. Which is going to be the first country to make equal
(C) HDFC Bank payment law for men and women?
(D) Yes Bank (A) Norway
(E) Both A and B (B) Iceland
211. Kishori Amonkar passed away recently. Who she was? (C) Sweden
(D) Finland
(A) Dancer
(E) None of these
(B) Poet 217. India and the UK has decided to set up a ______ million
(C) Singer pound fund to finance clean energy projects?

61 WiFiStudy.com
 (A) 500 safeguard duty imposed by India on certain categories
(B) 240 of___
(C) 160 (A) Steel
(D) 120 (B) Aluminium
(E) None of these (C) Copper
218. On which commission’s recommendations, Reserve Bank (D) Iron
of India was established? (E) None of these
(A) Shivraman Commission 225. Which city has hosted national conference on
(B) Deshmukh Commission Communicating India?
(C) Hilton-Young commission (A) Bengaluru
(D) Narsimhan Commission (B) Mumbai
(E) None of these (C) Kolkata
219. Who has been appointed as first woman DGP of Gujarat? (D) New Delhi
(A) Anita Rajan (E) None of these
(B) Supriya Patel 226. Which is the 22nd district of West Bengal?
(C) Renu Kumari (A) Nandgram
(D) Geetha Johri (B) Kalimpong
(E) None of these (C) Jhargram
220. Which cricketer was recently appointed as CEO for one (D) Cooch Behar
day by Gulf Oil India? (E) None of these
(A) Virat Kohli 227. Which state will provide Rs 21,000 to families for third
(B) Sachin Tendulkar girl child?
(C) Ravi Ashwin (A) Gujarat
(D) MS Dhoni (B) Haryana
(E) None of these (C) Madhya Pradesh
221. What is India’s rank in world doping chart released by (D) Rajasthan
WADA? (E) None of these
(A) 3 228. What is the global rank of India’s travel and tourism
(B) 5 sector in terms of its total contribution to the country's
(C) 2 GDP?
(D) 1 (A) 2
(E) None of these (B) 5
222. Which country has topped in world doping chart released (C) 8
by WADA? (D) 7
(A) India (E) None of these
(B) Russia 229. What will be the initial corpus of Rail Development
(C) Jamaica Authority?
(D) Italy (A) Rs. 50 crore
(E) None of these (B) Rs. 75 crore
223. Who is the author of the book titled ‘The Entrepreneur's (C) Rs. 100 crore
Guidebook’? (D) Rs. 80 crore
(A) Suresh Bharwani (E) None of these
(B) Rahul Mehta 230. Government has recently approved the closure of which
(C) Anil Jain scheme?
(D) Vishal Mathur (A) Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna
(E) None of these (B) Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana
224. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has decided to set (C) Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojna
up a panel to resolve dispute between India and Japan on (D) Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna
(E) None of these

62 WiFiStudy.com
231. According to Asian Development Bank, what will be (A) 9th
India's GDP growth rate during 2017-18? (B) 4th
(A) 7.5% (C) 6th
(B) 7.1% (D) 8th
(C) 7.4% (E) None of these
(D) 7.3% 237. What is the revised reverse repo rate according to first
(E) None of these monetary policy review of financial year 2017-18 by
232. World Health Day is observed on which date? RBI?
(A) 4 April (A) 5.75%
(B) 7 April (B) 5.50%
(C) 6 April (C) 6.00%
(D) 5 April (D) 6.25%
(E) None of these (E) None of these
233. Which country has officially recognised Bitcoin as 238. Who has been appointed as the chairman of Telecom
Currency? Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal?
(A) Switzerland (A) Shiva Kirti Singh
(B) Norway (B) Aftab Alam
(C) China (C) Raman Roy
(D) Japan (D) Rashid Premji
(E) None of these (E) None of these
234. What is India’s rank in recently released global travel and 239. Who has been appointed as the chairman of National
tourism competitiveness list 2016? Association of Software and Services Companies?
(A) 12 (A) Shiva Kirti Singh
(B) 40 (B) Aftab Alam
(C) 33 (C) Raman Roy
(D) 29 (D) Rashid Premji
(E) None of these (E) None of these
235. Which country has topped in global travel and tourism 240. Who has been named as Wisden’s leading cricketer in the
competitiveness list 2016? world for 2016?
(A) Finland (A) Kane Williamson
(B) Iceland (B) Steven Smith
(C) Spain (C) Joe Root
(D) Germany (D) Virat Kohli
(E) None of these (E) None of these
236. India has ranked ______ in bribery and corrupt practices
in businesses?

63 WiFiStudy.com
 Answer Key
1. B 2. C 3. A 4. D 5. B 6. D 7. C 8. D 9. A 10. B

11. D 12. C 13. D 14. A 15. B 16. A 17. C 18. A 19. C 20. B

21. A 22. B 23. C 24. D 25. A 26. B 27. D 28. C 29. C 30. A

31. C 32. C 33. A 34. B 35. D 36. C 37. B 38. A 39. B 40. C

41. D 42. B 43. A 44. C 45. A 46. D 47. B 48. B 49. D 50. A

51. A 52. C 53. B 54. A 55. B 56. D 57. B 58. C 59. C 60. D

61. D 62. B 63. C 64. C 65. C 66. A 67. A 68. D 69. B 70. C

71. D 72. A 73. C 74. A 75. A 76. D 77. A 78. C 79. C 80. A

81. B 82. C 83. D 84. B 85. B 86. D 87. D 88. B 89. B 90. C

91. A 92. D 93. B 94. A 95. B 96. B 97. D 98. B 99. A 100. A

101. A 102. C 103. C 104. A 105. D 106. A 107. C 108. E 109. C 110. D

111. A 112. D 113. C 114. D 115. A 116. E 117. B 118. D 119. A 120. B

121. C 122. A 123. D 124. D 125. C 126. A 127. A 128. A 129. C 130. A

131. B 132. B 133. B 134. B 135. D 136. D 137. B 138. A 139. C 140. B

141. B 142. B 143. A 144. C 145. D 146. B 147. E 148. A 149. D 150. C

151. A 152. C 153. B 154. E 155. A 156. B 157. C 158. A 159. C 160. D

161. C 162. B 163. A 164. D 165. D 166. A 167. B 168. C 169. C 170. B

171. B 172. D 173. B 174. B 175. C 176. A 177. B 178. D 179. A 180. D

181. B 182. D 183. A 184. C 185. C 186. A 187. C 188. C 189. B 190. D

191. D 192. A 193. A 194. B 195. C 196. D 197. C 198. A 199. D 200. A

201. A 202. C 203. A 204. C 205. A 206. B 207. D 208. B 209. D 210. E

211. C 212. A 213. D 214. A 215. D 216. B 217. A 218. C 219. D 220. D

221. A 222. B 223. A 224. A 225. D 226. C 227. B 228. D 229. A 230. B

231. C 232. B 233. D 234. B 235. C 236. A 237. C 238. A 239. C 240. D

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