CA Fact Bytes

Contents
Business Awareness 2

Business Appointments 2

Business, economy & trade 3

General Awareness 9

Personalities 9

Appointments 9

Key positions held 10

People in news 13

Book Releases & Authors 23

Sports 23

Awards 29

Honours 39

Government Schemes 41

Government News 47

Science & Hi-Tech 58

Aerospace & Defence 59

India’s Global Rankings 66

International News 68

Global Superlatives 73

International Appointments 74

World Forums 76

Important Days 77

News reported after 15 March 83

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Business Awareness
Business Appointments
Position Personality
Chairman, LIC M R Kumar
MD & CEO, Yes Bank Ravneet Gill
Head, Whatsapp India Abhijit Bose
MD & CEO, Paytm Payments Bank Satish Kumar Gupta
Editor, The Hindu Suresh Nambath
MD, IDBI Bank Rakesh Sharma
CEO, Pepsico India Ramon Laguarta
MD, Facebook India Ajit Mohan
CEO & MD, Axis Bank Amitabh Chaudhry
COO & MD, ICICI Sandeep Bakshi
Chairman, Colgate-Palmolive India Mukul Deoras
MD, SBI Anshula Kant
President, FICCI Sandeep Somani

Key Corporate Positions

Entity Personality
Chairman, SBI Rajnesh Kumar
CMD, SIDBI Mohammad Mustafa
CEO, HDFC Bank Aditya Puri
CEO, Standard Chartered India Zarin Daruwala
Chairman, Tata Sons N. Chandrasekaran
CEO, Infosys Salil Parekh
CEO & MD, MCX Mrugank Paranjape
CEO, NSE Vikram Limaye
Chairman, BSE Sethurathnam Ravi
MD & CEO, NCDEX Vijay Kumar Venkataraman
Chairman, NASSCOM Rishad Premji
President & MD, General Sanjiv Gupta
Motors India

Business Awards
Title Category Awardee
LifeTime Achievement Azim Premji, Chairman,
Forbes India
Award 2018 Wipro Limited
Leadership Awards
2018 Best CEO - Private Sector Rajeev Jain, Bajaj Finance

2
 Best CEO - MNC Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman &
MD, HUL
Entrepreneur of the Year Vivek Chaand Sehgal,
Motherson Sumi Systems
Best Company-Public Energy Efficiency Services
Sector Limited
EY Entrepreneur of Lifetime Achievement Azim Premji, Chairman,
The Year Awards Award Wipro Limited
2018 EY Entrepreneur of 2018 Siddhartha Lal, CEO, Eicher
Motors

Interim Union Budget 2019 - Key points

Individual taxpayers with annual income up to 5 lakh rupees get full tax rebate
Individuals with gross income up to 6.5 lakh rupees will not need to pay any tax
if they make investments in provident funds & prescribed equities
Standard tax deduction for salaried persons raised from Rs. 40K - 50K
Gratuity limit increased from 10 lakh to 30 lakhs
● Tax on notional rent on second home has been removed
● To increase availability of affordable housing, benefits under Section 80-IBA
of Income Tax act are extended for one more year
Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) -
● Will cover 12 cr beneficiary farmers with less than 2 hectares land holding
● Rs. 6000/year per family will be transferred to bank a/c in 3 installments
● The landless can earn through MGNREGA, but don’t qualify for PM-KISAN
Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan -
● Pension Yojana for workers in unorganised sector (Monthly income up 15K)
● An assured monthly pension of 3000 Rs. per month after 60 years of age
Allocation to healthcare is Rs. 61,398 cr, i.e. 2.2% of budget
Business, economy & trade
News Narration
RBI to pay Rs 28,000 crore ● The RBI had transferred Rs 40,000 crore to the
as Interim Dividend to government in August 2018. Thus, government
Government received a total of 68,000 Cr this FY from RBI
● This will help the centre meet revised budget
estimates that include an allocation for the
first-ever income transfer to farmers
E-commerce companies ● India has banned e-commerce companies such
banned from selling as Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart from

3
products from companies selling products from companies in which they
in which they have equity have an equity interest with effect from Feb
interest 2019
● The government also announced that the
companies will be prevented from entering into
exclusive agreements with sellers
BSNL partnered with Be-Bound technology will be embedded in mobile
French firm 'Be-Bound' to app, that will send command to Be-Bound server if
offer data services it doesn’t get data network for SMS-based
through SMS connectivity
Swiggy acquired Bengaluru-based startup will augment the work
Bengaluru-based AI Swiggy has been doing in machine learning & big
startup Kint.io for an data, as it looks to improve discovery for
undisclosed amount consumers & enable faster, more efficient
deliveries
Facebook acquired The basic idea is to allow users to match a piece of
US-based virtual search furniture or a light fixture in an image to visually
start-up, GrokStyle to find similar ones in stock at stores
boost AI capabilities
Capital First Ltd merged Merger created a combined loan asset book of
●
with IDFC Bank in 2018 Rs. 1 lakh crore for merged entity IDFC First Bank
● The bank will serve 7.2 million customers
through 203 bank branches, 129 ATMs, 454 rural
business correspondent centres across urban
and rural geographies
● V Vaidyanathan is MD & CEO of IDFC First Bank
Fortune Magazine sold to Meredith Corp. agreed to sell Fortune magazine &
Thailand-based related businesses to Chatchaval Jiaravanon, part
conglomerate for USD 150 owner of Charoen Pokphand Group, a Thai
million conglomerate with media & telecom investments.
He plans on increasing investment in Fortune’s
digital team and worldwide expansion
Amazon acquired stake in ● Amazon & private equity firm ‘Samara’ bought
‘More’ supermarket chain stake in ‘More’ through Witzig advisory services.
This deal will intensify competition with rival
Walmart that acquired Flipkart earlier
● Amazon expects groceries & household products
to account for more than half of its business in
India in the next five years

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Flipkart acquired AI The startup's technology will allow Flipkart to build
startup Liv.ai to compete voice-enabled shopping in multiple Indian
with Amazon’s Alexa languages
Paytm partnered with Paytm has licensed Alibaba’s technology for cloud
Alibaba for cloud business infrastructure. This will provide AI tools to
developers, startups and enterprises with CRM,
campaign management and payment solutions
LIC Board approved IDBI, the government-owned lender needs capital.
proposal To Buy 51% The preferred option for stake purchase is a
Stake In IDBI Bank preferential issue of shares, which will bring down
the government's stake to below 50%
RIL acquired Radisys for Radisys Corp is a US-based open telecom platform
Rs 500 crore solutions provider. The deal will help Reliance Jio
Infocomm to accelerate initiatives across 5G, IoT
and open source architecture adoption
Tata Steel and 50:50 joint venture will combine European steel
Thyssenkrupp finalized businesses of the German & Indian giants.
European steel JV Combined entity will have Euro 17 bn turnover &
23 mn tonnes production capacity
India is the sixth As per AfrAsia Bank Global Wealth Migration
wealthiest country Review, India houses a total wealth of USD 8230
bn. The US, China, Japan, the UK & Germany are
countries ahead of India
Government appointed ● National Company Law Tribunal (NLCT) allowed
Uday Kotak-led 6 member ministry of corporate affairs to take control of
board of directors to head ILFS, burdened by Rs. 91000 cr total debt
IL&FS ● Interlinkages between IL&FS, banks, mutual
funds & infra players are too strong & entire
structure would have collapsed, had the
government not intervened
Direct tax collections rose Around 1 crore new assesses have started filing
by 17% to 9.95 lakh crore income tax returns in 2017-18. Budget Estimate for
for FY 2017-18 FY18 was Rs 9.80 lakh crore
FDI in India rose to USD As per Department of Industrial Policy &
62 billion in 2017-18 Promotion, FDI inflow to India rose to USD 62 bn in
FY 2017-18 vs. USD 60 bn in previous FY
India’s global trade rose As per Commerce Department data, trade stood at
by 16% to USD 768 Billion USD 660 Billion in 2016-17. Indian trade with Latin
in 2017-18 American countries grew at a higher pace

5
DoT approved Bharti The transaction will boost Bharti Airtel’s 4G
Airtel and Telenor India spectrum holdings, fortify network capacity &
merger augment revenue, as it braces to continue fight
against Reliance Jio Infocomm
Launch news/Initiatives
News Narration
IRCTC launched a It is aimed to provide improved online digital
payment aggregator payment convenience and ease of doing business to
named 'iPay' passengers availing online travel related services
through IRCTC website
Government launched The world’s largest cashless health insurance
PM-JAY app scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
(PM-JAY), popularly known as Ayushman Bharat is
active on Google Playstore. The app will help people
check if they are eligible for the scheme. National
Health Authority (NHA) runs PM-JAY
NSE launched online The platform will allow retail investors to invest in
platform named ‘NSE treasury bills (T-Bills) of 91 days, 182 days and 364
goBID’ for retail days and various government bonds from one year
investors to buy g-sec to almost 40 years
Indusind bank launched IndusInd Bank ‘Nexxt’ Credit Card provides
interactive credit card customers with flexibility of three payment options
‘Nexxt’ at a POS terminal - Credit, Converting Transactions
into EMIs with 4 tenure options or using
accumulated Reward Points, by simply pushing a
button on the card
Internet search giant Every year, an estimated 40 million new Indians
Google unveiled Project come online from rural & urban areas. The project
Navlekha will bring India’s 135,000 vernacular publications
online in a hassle-free manner
Flipkart unveiled a The platform offers refurbished mobile phones,
dedicated portal named tablets, laptops and other electronic accessories
‘2Gud’ along with a 3-12 month warranty
Indian Post Payment ● Headed by Suresh Sethi, IPPB has been set up with
Bank launched 100% equity owned by Indian Government
● By leveraging reach of 1.55 lakh post office
branches, IPPB will go live with 650 branches &
3,250 access points co-located at post offices
● Around 11,000 postmen both in rural & urban
areas will provide doorstep banking services

6
 ● It will offer loans & insurance services through tie
ups with PNB & Bajaj Allianz respectively
Bharti AXA & Airtel ● The alliance will leverage Airtel Payments Bank’s
Payments Bank offer vast network to reach deep rural pockets & serve
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan the under-insured
Jyoti Bima Yojana ● Airtel Payments Bank became the first Indian
(PMJJBY) payments bank to offer Government of
India-backed life insurance scheme
PhonePe partnered with The partnership will allow PhonePe's 100 million
IRCTC app to facilitate plus users to pay directly from their bank accounts
secure payments using UPI, credit & debit cards and also the PhonePe
wallet for travel bookings via IRCTC Rail Connect
Android app
Reliance Jio partnered MyJio platform will enable SBI YONO’s digital
with SBI for digital banking features & solutions for a seamless,
services integrated and superior customer experience. It will
also extend financial services capabilities of SBI & Jio
Payments Bank
India’s first Mobile Open MOX will be a dedicated ecosystem for mobile
Exchange (MOX) set up industry, providing an integrated platform to mobile
in Noida manufacturers, R&D & allied industries
Atal Innovation Mission, Through portal, users can view, comment, share,
NITI Aayog & MyGov and rate the innovations crowdsourced on the
Launched 'Innovate India #InnovateIndia platform. Citizens can also share
Platform' innovation by logging into MyGov website
Project ‘Sashakt’ - Bad ● Project Sashakt was proposed by a panel led by
loans resolution strategy PNB chairman Sunil Mehta
● 18 public sector banks, 3 private sector banks &
Exim Bank signed intercreditor agreement (ICA)
framework to speed up resolution of stressed
assets that are under Rs 500 crore bracket
MCX launched India’s The option contract will provide physical market
first copper options participants additional instrument to hedge price
contracts risk. MCX had earlier commenced option trading in
crude oil contracts
MeITY launched 5000 The aim of Wi-Fi Choupals is to transform rural
Wi-Fi Choupals in Internet connectivity through BharatNet. They focus
villages in partnership on developing rural Wi-Fi infrastructure & providing
with common service multiple ICT services at an affordable cost
centres (CSCs)

7
NETA App to rate MPs, Developed by 27-year-old entrepreneur Pratham
MLAs Mittal, NETA app is a platform where voters can
review/rate elected representatives & hold them
accountable
SBI launched unified MOPAD aims to help merchants eliminate multiple
payment terminal choices to facilitate transactions from cards, UPI,
MOPAD (Multi Option Bharat QR & SBI Buddy wallet
Payment Acceptance
Device)
Niryat Mitra – mobile The app developed by Federation of Indian Export
App launched Organisations (FIEO) provides wide range of
information required to undertake international
trade from policy provisions for export & import,
applicable GST rate, available export incentives,
tariff, preferential tariff, market access requirements
– SPS and TBT measures
'Rail Madad' mobile app The 'Rail Madad' (Mobile Application for Desired
launched Assistance During travel) app allows passengers to
lodge complaints through mobile app/web platform
and enables them to check real-time feedback on the
status of redressal of their complaints
“ReUnite” Mobile app The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil
launched to trace Aviation launched “ReUnite” app to track & trace
missing children missing and abandoned children in India
One million Indians test WhatsApp is working closely with Indian
WhatsApp payment government, National Payments Corporation of India
service (NPCI) and multiple banks, including payment service
providers, to expand the feature to more people
PRAAPTI App and Web The Union Ministry of Power launched PRAAPTI
portal to bring (Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power
transparency in procurement to bring Transparency in Invoicing of
electricity payments generators) website & App. Both intend to bring
transparency in power purchase transactions
between Generators & Discoms

General Awareness
Personalities
Appointments

8
(a) Chief Ministers Personality

Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel (Congress)

Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot (Congress)
Telangana K. Chandrashekar Rao (TRS)
Mizoram Mr. Zoramthanga (Mizo National Front )
Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath (Congress)
Karnataka HD Kumarswamy (JDS-Congress coalition)

(b) Governor/Others Personality

Director, CBI Rishi Kumar Shukla

Governor, RBI Shaktikanta Das (Replaced Urjit Patel)
Chief Election Sunil Arora (Replaced O P Rawat)
Commissioner
Deputy chairman, Harivansh Narayan Singh (NDA nominated candidate)
Rajya Sabha
Chhattisgarh Anandiben Patel
J&K Satya Pal Malik
Odisha Ganeshi Lal
Tripura Kaptan Singh Solanki

(c) Union Cabinet Personality

Information & Rajyavardhan Rathore (Replaced Smriti Irani)

broadcasting

(d) Government entities Personality

(Establishment year)
Finance secretary
Chairman, Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT)
Revenue secretary
Chief Information
Commissioner
Chairman, Railway Board
Chief Economic Advisor
Subhas Chandra Garg (Replaced Ajay Narayan Jha)
P C Mody (Replaced Sushil Chandra)
Ajay Bhushan Pandey (Replaced Hasmukh Adhia)
Sudhir Bhargava (Replaced A K Mathur)
V K Yadav (Replaced Ashwani Lohani)
Krishnamurthy Subramanian (Replaced Arvind
Subramanian)

9
Director General, CSIR (1942)
Director General, BSF
Chairman, IRDA
Chairman, DRDO (1958)
First CFO, RBI (1935)
CMD, NPCI
Central Vigilance
Commissioner
Chairman, National Green
Tribunal (2010)
President, ASSOCHAM
Chief Justice of India
Shekhar Mande (Following Girish Sahni’s
superannuation)
Rajni Kant Misra
Subhash Chandra Khuntia
G Satheesh Reddy
Sudha Balakrishnan
Biswamohan Mahapatra
Sharad Kumar
Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel
Balkrishana Goenka
Ranjan Gogoi

(e) Others Personality

Chairman, FTII (1960) B P Singh (Replaced Anupam Kher)

Chairman, CBFC (1951) Prasoon Joshi

Key positions held

Government/Defence Personality
RBI Deputy Governors NS Vishwanathan
Viral Acharya
BP Kanungo
Mahesh Kumar Jain
MD & CEO, Indian Post Payments Bank Suresh Sethi
Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg​
Cabinet Secretary of India Pradeep Kumar Sinha
Chairman, Press Trust of India N. Ravi
Chairman, UIDAI J Satyanarayana
CEO, UIDAI Ajay Bhushan Pandey
Central Admin. Tribunal (CAT) Justice L. Narsimha Reddy
NITI Aayog Chairperson - Mr. Narendra Modi
CEO - Amitabh Kant
Vice Chairman - Rajiv Kumar
Chairman, National Human Rights Justice H.L. Dattu
Commission of India (NHRC)
National Security advisor to the Prime Ajit Doval
Minister

10
Chief, RAW Anil Dhasmana
Chief, Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain
Director-General, CRPF Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar
Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Bipin Rawat
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa
Chairman, 7​th​ pay commission Justice A K Mathur
Chairman, SEBI Ajay Tyagi
President, CII Rajesh Bharti Mittal
Attorney General of India K K Venugopal
Director General, NSG (National Sudeep Lakhtakia
Security Guard)
Chairman, University Grant Dhirendra Pal Singh
Commission
Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale
CMD, Air India Pradeep Singh Kharola
Chairman, 15​th​ Finance Commission N K Singh
Chairman, Economic Advisory Bibek Debroy
Committee
Chairman, GSTN Ajay Bhushan Pandey
Comptroller & Auditor General of India Rajiv Mehrishi
Chairperson, Competition Commission Ashok Kumar Gupta
of India
Chairman, National Company Law M M Kumar
Tribunal
Chairperson, National Commission for Rekha Sharma
Women

Science Related (Estb year) Name

ISRO K Sivan
TIFR (1945) Sandip Trivedi
BARC (1954) Director – A K Mohanty
Atomic Energy Commission of India Chairman – K N Vyas
DRDO (1958) Chairman - G Satheesh Reddy
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (1963) Director - S Somanath

Deaths
Name Narration

11
Goa CM Mr. Manohar Ex-defense minister & imcumbent chief minister of Goa
Parrikar is no more Mr. Manohar Parrikar died of cancer at 63. Pramod
Sawant (BJP) succeeded him
George Fernandes ● George was an Indian trade unionist, statesman,
journalist, freethinker, and member of Rajya Sabha
● During his tenure as defense minister in NDA
government, he oversaw Pokhran nuclear tests of
1998 & Kargil war in 1999
● Earlier, during his tenure as Union Minister of
industry in 1977, he ordered IBM & Coca-Cola to
leave the country, due to investment violations
● In 1976, he was arrested & faced trial in the infamous
Baroda dynamite case, regarding conspiracy to
procure dynamite sticks to blow up bridges and vital
rail and road infrastructure
Mrinal Sen He was a National Award-winning director & a Padma
Bhushan awardee, best-known for directing films like
Neel Akasher Neechey, Baishey Sravan, Bhuvan Shome
and Akaler Sandhane among others
Ananth Kumar, Union Ananth Kumar (BJP) served as the Union Minister of
Minister & BJP MP Chemicals and Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs in
NDA government from 2014 till his death. He was Lok
Sabha MP from Bangalore for over two decades
Krishna Sobti, an Author & essayist was a recipient of Jnanpith & Sahitya
eminent Hindi author Akademi awards, acclaimed for her works like
Zindaginama, Mitro Marajani, Hum Hashmat & Ae
Ladki
Alyque Padamsee, Often referred to as the Father of Modern Indian
iconic Ad Guru and advertising, Alyque was the former Chief Executive of
Actor advertising firm Lintas in India. He will be best
remembered for iconic campaigns such as 'Lalitaji' for
Surf, 'Cherry Charlie' for Cherry Blossom Shoe Polish,
MRF's 'Muscle Man', the Liril girl in the waterfall and
'Hamara Bajaj' for the auto major
Stan Lee, an American He co-created numerous popular fictional characters,
comic book writer, including superheroes like Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron
editor, and publisher Man, Thor, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Black Panther,
Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and so on
Jamal Khashoggi, a US Khashoggi was murdered in Istanbul, supposedly
based senior Saudi because of his open criticism in the press, of Saudi
journalist

12
 Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s authoritarian
tactics & involvement in starting brutal war in Yemen
Annapurna Devi, a A Padma Bhushan awardee & an exponent of
legendary Hindustani Senia-Maihar gharana was a sitar & surbahar maestro
classical musician
Kalpana Lajmi, Indian Kalpana directed critically acclaimed movies like
film director, producer Rudaali, Darmiyaan & Daman
and screenwriter
Veteran journalist The former Rajya Sabha member was journalist, an
Kuldeep Nayar author & India’s high commissioner to the UK. He
authored famous books like 'Between the Lines',
'Scoop! - Inside stories from Partition to the present',
'Distant Neighbours: A tale of the Subcontinent', among
others
Former PM & ‘Bharat One of the founder members of BJP, Atal Bihari
Ratna’ Atal Bihari Vajpayee thrice served as the Indian Prime Minister. He
Vajpayee was conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2015
Former TN chief Affectionately called ‘Kalaignar’ meaning artist in Tamil,
minister & DMK he was a Indian writer, director, actor turned politician
supremo M. & a long-standing leader of the Dravidian movement
Karunanidhi
Somnath Chatterjee Ex-speaker of Lok Sabha (2004-2009) & an active CPI
(M) leader
Former Indian cricket During his tenure as captain, India won first-ever Test
captain Ajit Wadekar series in West Indies & England. He played 31 Tests,
scored 1 hundred & 14 fifties before retirement in 1974
Former UN He served at the UN from 1997 to 2006 and was also
Secretary-General Kofi awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Annan
England-born author The Nobel awardee in 2001 authored famous books like
of Indian origin ‘Sir’ V S India trilogy - An Area of Darkness, A Wounded
Naipaul Civilisation, A Million Mutinies Now

People in news
Name
Soumya Swaminathan named
Chief Scientist of WHO
Narration
Soumya is an Indian paediatrician, clinical
scientist and globally-recognised researcher
on tuberculosis (TB) and HIV

13
Padma Lakshmi appointed as
new UNDP Goodwill
Ambassador
Roger Federer won 100​th​ ATP
title by winning Dubai Tennis
Championship 2019
Chris Gayle became the first
batsman in the world to smash
500 sixes in international cricket
Indian Chess Grandmaster
Abhijeet Gupta won the Cannes
International Open Trophy
Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal
from Chandigarh became the
first woman flight engineer in
Indian Air Force
Eliud Kipchoge & Caterine
Ibarguen won 'IAAF Athletes of
the Year' award in 2018
D Gukesh became India’s
youngest chess grandmaster
Pranav Mehta became the first
Indian to head Global Solar
Council (GSC)
As part of her role, Padma Lakshmi,
Indian-American television personality and
internationally acclaimed food expert will
mobilise support for the Sustainable
Development Goals with a focus on fighting
inequality, discrimination and empowering the
disenfranchised
37-year old Swiss star & a 20-time grand slam
champion is now behind Jimmy Connors’
record for 109 career singles titles
● During 4​th​ ODI against England, Gayle
smashed 14 sixes that helped him become
the first batsman ever to smash 500 sixes
● Gayle also became second batsman after
Shahid Afridi to hit 300 or more sixes in
ODIs
Abhijeet won the tournament with 7.5 points.
It was a clear point lead over nearest rivals
Nikita Maiorov (Belarus), Nasuta Grzegorz
(Poland) & Yuri Solodovnichecko (Ukraine)
Hina will be posted to a helicopter squadron,
where she will monitor & operate IAF’s
complex aircraft in various conditions,
including Siachen Glacier and Andaman,
Nicobar Islands
● Kenyan athlete Eliud created world record
in Berlin marathon, with a record time of
2:01:39
● Colombian Caterine became the first ever
jumper to complete a triple jump/long jump
Diamond League title sweep in 2018
At 12 yr, 7 months, 17 days, Chennai based
Gukesh achieved this feat at Delhi
International chess meet to become India’s
59​th​ grand master
Pranav is the chairman of National Solar
Energy Federation. GSC ​was launched during
2015 UN Climate Change Conference as
International Coalition ​of 30+ nations, utilising
14

Vijay Mallya is first ever Fugitive
Economic Offender (FEO)
Gautam Gambhir announced
retirement from all formats of
cricket
Flipkart Group CEO Binny Bansal
resigned after allegations of
personal misconduct
Nandan Niekani to head RBI
panel on digital payments
Harmanpreet Kaur became the
first ever Indian woman to hit
century in T20 international
cricket
Virat Kohli scored the fastest
10,000 runs in ODI matches
M J Akbar resigned on account
of sexual harassment charges
Yusaku Maezawa became the
first private passenger on
maximum solar energy. It is headquartered in
Washington
● A special Prevention of Money Laundering
Act court declared Vijay Mallya FEO under
newly enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders'
Act, 2018. His properties can now be
confiscated by the government
● Person is declared as FEO if -
(a) arrest warrant has been issued against
him for specific offenses involving Rs. 100 cr
value & (b) he has left the country & refused
to return to face prosecution
In ODI's, Gautam scored 5,238 runs, was
India's top scorer in 2011 World Cup final.
Gambhir made 58 test appearances for India,
scoring 4,154 runs
Binny Bansal co-founded Flipkart with Sachin
Bansal in 2007. Walmart acquired a majority
stake in Flipkart after closing USD 16 billion
deal
The committee will review existing status of
digitisation of payments in the country,
identify current gaps in the ecosystem,
suggest ways to bridge them & assess current
levels of digital payments in financial inclusion
Her century came off just 49 balls, which
included seven 4's & eight 6's. She achieved
this feat during ICC Women's World T20
(Guyana)
The Indian captain achieved this record while
playing against West Indies in October 2018
The Minister of state for external affairs & The
former editor of newspapers like The
Telegraph and Asian Age was named by
various women journalists as part of growing
#MeToo movement,​ a​ ccusing him of sexual
harassment
The Japanese billionaire purchased the first
ticket to lunar orbit aboard the company’s
giant rocket, affectionately known as the BFR
15
SpaceX’s Lunar Big Falcon
Rocket Mission
Varun Dhawan & Anushka
Sharma appointed as
ambassadors of Skill India
Campaign
Commander Abhilash Tomy
rescued after being stranded in Race, which posts global non-stop
Indian ocean due to rough
weather & sea conditions
Eliud Kipchoge created world
record in Berlin marathon
BSNL roped in boxer Mary Kom BSNL will run television commercials, print ads
as brand ambassador
Sardar Singh announced
retirement from International
Hockey
The Maharashtra State Police
arrested Gautam Navlakha,
Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, alleging that they were associated with
Vernon Gonsalves and Arun
Ferreira, who are prominent
left-wing activists
Actor Akshay Kumar became
Brand Ambassador for road
safety campaigns
● Through the film ‘Sui Dhaaga - Made in
India’, both actors saluted India's
entrepreneurs and skilled workforce,
especially homegrown artisans, craftspeople
and weavers
● Both have partnered with Skill India and
plans to dedicate time to promote India's
skilled talent and their fine work by
engaging with them across different parts of
the country
Abhilash was participating in Golden Globe
circumnavigation challenge, with his boat
‘Thuriya’. He was rescued by a French shipping
vessel ‘Osiris’
With a record time of 2:01:39, the Kenyan
posted a time less than 2 hour, 2 min for the
first time in the history of marathon
& tariff plan endorsement with Mary over 2
years
Sardar Singh made 350+ international
appearances for India & captained the
national team for eight years. He was also the
youngest player to captain the Indian team,
when he led the side at the 2008 Sultan Azlan
Shah Cup
There were arrested under the draconian
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)
Maoists, linked to the clashes between the
Marathas and Dalits in Maharashtra & in the
conspiracy to assassinate the PM Narendra
Modi
As part of the campaign “Sadak Suraksha –
Jeevan Raksha”, three short films starring
Akshay as traffic police inspector were
released to generate public awareness
towards road safety
16
Indra Nooyi resigned as CEO of After 24-years of service, the 62-year old
PepsiCo decided to move on. She joined ICC Board as
its first independent female director
Fakhar Zaman became the The Pakistani batsman achieved the feat in 18
quickest to reach ODI 1000 runs matches. Viv Richards, Kevin Pietersen &
others achieved the feat in 21 matches. He
was the first ODI double century scorer from
his country
Sherpa guide Kami Rita, 48, Lakpa Sherpa, 44, the world’s most successful
nd​
climbed Everest record 22​ time female Everest climber, recently made her
ninth climb to the top of the mountain
breaking her own record set last year
Dipa Karmakar clinched gold Dipa created history by becoming the first
medal at gymnastics World cup Indian gymnast to win gold medal in the vault
event of FIG Artistic Gymnastic World
Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey
Pakistan ex-PM Nawaz Sharif A Pakistani court sentenced former Prime
given 10-year jail term Minister Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in prison on
corruption charges related to Avenfield
Corruption case
Aaron Finch hit record 172 in The Australian captain broke his own record
T20 international score against for the highest T20 international score by
Zimbabwe hitting 172 from 76 balls against Zimbabwe in
Harare
England posted the highest ever During third ODI of five-match series against
world record ODI total of 481 Australia at Trent Bridge, England team
against Australia surpassed their own score of 444 against
Pakistan
Ayan Gogoi Gohain became the The India Book of Records bestowed the title
‘Youngest author of India’ to the four year Assamese boy for his book
titled ‘Honeycomb’
th
Sebastian Vettel recorded 50​ Vettel reclaimed the lead of 2018 world
career win & F1 championship championship, when he ended Lewis
lead in Canada Hamilton’s run of supremacy at Canadian
Grand Prix
Shivangi Pathak became the The teen climber from Haryana's Hisar district
youngest Indian female to climb peaked the mountain from Nepal side,
mount Everest completing her over one-month trekking
Navika Sagar Parikrama Indian Navy’s six-member all-women Navy
completed circumnavigation crew onboard of INSV Tarini vessel reached

17

Mithali Raj became the first
Indian to score 2000 runs in
International T20 matches
AB de Villiers quit International
cricket
Sunil Chhetri is the second
highest international goal
scoring footballer
Entities in News
Name
As per IQAir AirVisual 2018 World
Air Quality Report, India is home
to 15 out of top 20 polluted cities
in the world.
India Bagged first prize at The
International ‘Golden City Gate
Tourism Awards 2019’ In ‘TV
Cinema Spot’ Category at ITB,
Berlin
India’s first ‘fulldome 3D Digital
Theatre’ opened in West Bengal
Goa after global circumnavigation in 254 days.
The crew sailed across four continents, three
oceans, covered 21,600 nautical miles, visited
five countries & crossed Equator twice
Captain of Indian women’s cricket team
became the first Indian to score 2000 runs in
T20I format. She achieved the feat during
India's Women's Asia Cup match against Sri
Lanka in Kuala Lumpur
South African Cricketer AB de Villiers retired
from all forms of international cricket with
immediate effect
India's football captain took his goals tally to
64 and joined Argentina star Lionel Messi as
the second highest international goal-scorer
among active players
Narration
Gurugram in national capital region is most
polluted city in the world. Seven of the top
10 polluted cities in 2018 were in India,
including Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad,
Bhiwandi, Noida, Patna and Lucknow.
The following promotional films/television
commercials produced as part of its
Incredible India 2.0 Campaign won awards:
a. Yogi of the Racetrack
b. The Reincarnation of Mr. and Mrs.
Jones
c. Sanctuary in Paris
d. Maharani of Manhattan and
e. The Masala Master Chef
The new system is capable of screening high
resolution, full dome, and digital 2D/3D
content by utilising six, high-end projectors in
a 23-meter diameter dome using Ulteria
Seam technology
18
The world's first diesel to electric ● It is part of Indian Railway’s Mission 100%
converted locomotive train electrification & de-carbonization efforts
became operational in Varanasi ● The conversion also enhanced power of
the locomotive from 2600 HP to 5000 HP
PM Modi unveiled world's largest The world's largest sacred book weights upto
Bhagavad Gita at ISKCON temple 800 Kg & has 670 pages
in south Delhi
Afghanistan scored the highest Afghanistan broke Australia's record for the
ever T20 International score highest ever T20 cricket total, as they posted
278 runs from 20 overs against Ireland
India's longest single-lane steel It is longest 300-metre single lane steel cable
cable suspension bridge suspension bridge. It is expected to benefit
inaugurated in Arunachal Pradesh 20,000 people on either banks of Siang river,
besides bolstering the defence preparedness
Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2019 was The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind
celebrated in January 2019 in Jugnauth was the chief guest for the event.
Varanasi Three Indians won the prestigious Pravasi
Bharatiya Samman Award 2019
The world's largest hospital with Patna Medical College & Hospital is being
5000+ beds coming up in Bihar revamped as the world's largest hospital with
5000+ beds
Amaravati is being developed as The Andhra Pradesh government is building
India's first 'Justice City’ India’s first ‘Justice City’ in Amaravati with
the vision to provide a state-of-the-art
ecosystem built on latest technology to
support judicial system in the state
Train 18, India’s first engineless Train 18 (later renamed Vande Bharat
train became operational Express) is India's fastest engineless train. It
runs on Delhi-Varanasi route. It was designed
and built by Integral Coach Factory, Chennai
under the Indian government's ‘Make in
India’ initiative over 18 months
Tamil Nadu's Jallikattu event The event saw participation of 1,354 bulls
entered world record in 2019 and 424 tamers, double than previous record
India’s first private-sector L&T has set up the Armoured Systems
Howitzer gun-manufacturing Complex at Hazira to manufacture &
plant became operational in Surat integrate advanced armoured platforms,
such as self-propelled artillery Howitzers,
future infantry combat vehicles, future-ready
combat vehicles and future main battle tanks

19
Tripura won the ‘Best Tableau
award’ at Republic Day 2019
event
Maharashtra topped Khelo India
Youth Games 2019
Andhra Pradesh topped India
Skills Report 2019
‘Statue of Unity’, the world’s
tallest statue of Sardar Patel
opened for public
Bihar’s Shahi litchi received
Geographical Indication tag
IIT Mumbai topped the first ever
QS India ranking of 2019 of 75
premier institutes
Alphonso Mango from Konkan,
Maharashtra got GI tag
IISc, Bengaluru topped the Indian
universities in World University
Rankings 2019
India's first inter-state connected
wind power project
commissioned in Bhuj
Tripura's theme was 'Empowering Rural
Economy the Gandhian Way'. The next two
positions were bagged by J&K and Punjab
Maharashtra won total 228 medals (85 Gold,
62 Silver, 81 Bronze), while Haryana & Delhi
followed with 178 & 136 respectively
Andhra Pradesh is one of the preferred hiring
destinations in India, which offers equal
space to both male & female workers. It was
followed by Rajasthan & Haryana
● 182-meter tall ‘statue of unity’ has been
built on Sadhu Bet near Sardar Sarovar
dam on Gujarat’s Narmada river is the
tallest monument in the world
● 153-meter Spring Temple Buddha in China
is world’s second tallest monument
Shahi Litchi which famous for sweet, juicy,
unique flavour and aroma is mostly grown in
Muzaffarpur and adjoining areas. Bihar
produces 40% of litchis grown in India
IIT Mumbai was the highest scorer for both
academic & employer reputation. 7 IITs,
University of Hyderabad, University of Delhi
ranked among top 10 institutes
Alphonso, the king of mangoes, better known
as ‘Hapus’ from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg,
Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts of
Maharashtra, received a Geographical
Indication (GI) Tag in 2018
IISc held 251​st ​position. 49 Indian institutes
figured among 1250 global universities & 33
featured among Top 1000
● Ministry of New & Renewable Energy
announced India's first inter state
transmission system (ISTS) auction
● 126 MW wind power capacity project
marked beginning of capacity additions in
wind power based on market discovered
tariffs, in line with government's plan of
having 175 GW renewable energy by 2022
20
SpiceJet operated India's first
biofuel flight
HRD Ministry granted Institution
of Eminence (IoE) status to six
educational institutions
Kerala ranked as the best
governed state in Public Affairs
Index 2018
Tellapur gram panchayat is the
‘best village’ in the country under
‘Mission Antyodaya’
India became the 6​th​ largest
economy as per 2017 GDP
BSNL launched ‘Wings’, India’s
first internet telephony service
Andhra Pradesh topped the Ease
Of Doing Business Ranking 2018
● India’s first-ever test flight powered by
biojet fuel was successfully operated by
SpiceJet between Dehradun & Delhi
● The biojet fuel, made from Jatropha crop,
has been developed by the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research (CISR) &
Dehradun based Indian Institute of
Petroleum (IIP). It reduces carbon emission
and enhances fuel efficiency
3 public sector Institutions -
a) IISc, b) IIT-B, c) IIT-Delhi
3 private institutions -
a) BITS Pilani
b) Manipal Academy of Higher Education
c) Jio Institute of Reliance Foundation
(Proposed set up in Pune)
● Annual index examines governance
performance in the states through
data-based framework, ranking them on
social & economic development
● Kerala, TN, Telangana, Karnataka & Gujarat
were top five states delivering good
governance, as per report released by
think tank Public Affairs Centre
● Among smaller states, HP topped the list
Ministry of Rural Development compiled data
of around 1.22 lakh gram panchayats. There
are 128 villages in the top 10, of which 36 are
in AP, TN has 22 & Gujarat has 12
As per World Bank ranking, India pushed
France to the 7​th​ rank with 2017 GDP
amounting to USD 2.597 trillion
Through this app, BSNL customers will be
able to make calls to any phone number,
domestic or international
With a score of 98.42 per cent, AP topped
ease of doing annual business ranking of
states and Union Territories, prepared by the
World Bank and Department of Industrial
Policy & Promotion
21
PM Modi and Moon Jae-in Spread over 35 acre plant, Samsung is
inaugurated world's largest expected to manufacture 12 crore phones a
mobile factory in Noida year. New unit is expected to create
employment for more than 5000 people
Mumbai's Victorian Gothic & Art ● At 42​nd​ session of UNESCO world heritage
Deco buildings received UNESCO's committee held at Bahrain, they were
world heritage tag declared as India’s 37​th​ world heritage site
● The Victorian Gothic & Art Deco
Ensembles of Mumbai include buildings
like the City Civil & Sessions Court,
Western Railway Headquarters,
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj museum &
the Eros & Regal cinema halls
th​
Shillong was selected as 100​ city As per Housing & Urban Affairs Ministry,
under Smart Cities Mission Shillong was selected as 100​th​ city to receive
funding under Centre's Smart Cities Mission
Guwahati is India's first fully The Guwahati railway station building has
solar-powered railway station grid-connected rooftop solar panels totalling
700 KW capacity that will cater to electricity
needs of the station
Sikkim’s Pakyong airport became Sikkim was the only state without airport in
100​th​ functional airport in India the country. Low-cost airline SpiceJet has
been granted permission to fly to Pakyong
from Kolkata under civil aviation ministry’s
regional connectivity scheme
UNEP recognised Cochin The UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
International Airport as world’s recognised CIAL as India’s first airport to be
first fully solar energy-powered constructed in public- private- partnership
airport (PPP) model in 1999. It is the busiest &
largest airport in Kerala
TCS became the first company to TCS is country's most valued firm, followed
achieve 7 lakh crore market cap by Reliance Industries with a market
capitalisation of Rs 5.8 lakh crore, ​HDFC Ban​k
(Rs 5.2 lakh crore), HUL (Rs 3.4 lakh crore) &
ITC (Rs 3.3 lakh crore) in top 5 list
India among top five countries in India continues to be one of the top five
e-waste generation: electronic waste or e-waste producers in the
ASSOCHAM-NEC study world with Maharashtra contributing a
maximum of 19.8% e-waste in the country

22
The world's largest cricket Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad is being
stadium is being built in revamped as the world's largest cricket
Ahmedabad stadium with a capacity of 1,10,000 people

Book Releases & Authors

Book Author
Undaunted: Saving the Idea of P Chidambaram
India
We are Displaced Malala Yousafzai
The Accidental Prime Minister: Sanjaya Baru (Adapted into a Hindi movie
The Making and Unmaking of ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’)
Manmohan Singh
A Rural Manifesto – Realising Varun Gandhi
India’s Future through her
Villages
The Changing India Manmohan Singh
Notes of a Dream: The Krishna Trilok
Authorized Biography of A.R.
Rahman
The Paradoxical Prime Minister Shashi Tharoor
The Rule Breakers Preeti Shenoy
The Beauty of All My Days: A Ruskin Bond
Memoir
Moving On, Moving Forward: A Venkaiah Naidu
year in Office
No Spin Shane Warne
281 and Beyond Indian cricketer VVS Laxman
Calling Sehmat Harinder Sikka (The spy thriller novel was
re-published in 2018 & adapted into a Hindi
film titled ‘Raazi’)
Sports
Event Highlights
FIFA World Participating countries - 32
Cup 2018 Official mascot​ - Zabivaka, the wolf (Means ‘the one who scores’
(Russia) in Russian)
Result predictor ​- Achilles the Cat
The most valuable player - ​Harry Kane (England)
Russia won the inaugural match 5-0 against Saudi

23
 ● France won second FIFA world cup title (After 1998) by beating
Croatia by 4-2 in the finals
● 100​th​ goal in FIFA World cup was scored by Lionel Messi
(Argentina) against Nigeria, on 12​th​ day of the tournament
● Neymar struck 100​th​ goal in 2014 world cup (Brazil) & Andres
Iniesta, in 2010. All have played for Spanish club Barcelona
● 12 own goals were scored by various teams. Mario Mandzukic
(Croatia) scored the first ever own goal in any FIFA final
● Golden Boot - Harry Kane (England)
● Golden Ball - Luka Modric (Croatia)
● Golden Glove award - Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
● FIFA Young Player award - Kylian Mbappe (France)
● FIFA Fair Play Award - Spain
● Qatar will host 22​nd​ FIFA world cup in 2020

Event Highlights
Asian Games 2018 572 Indian athletes participated in 36 sports categories
Palembang Motto​: Energy of Asia
(Jakarta, Mascots​:
Indonesia) (a) Bhin Bhin - a greater bird of paradise
(b) Atung - a Bawean deer
(c) Kaka - a Javan rhinoceros

Neeraj Chopra​ - Indian contingent flag bearer during

opening ceremony
Rani Rampal​ - Indian women’s hockey team’s captain -
Flag bearer during closing ceremony
Rikako Ikee ​(Japan) - Most valuable player
Teenage swimming sensation won 6 gold medals

Final tally -
China - ​289​ ​(132 G, 92 S, 65 B)
Japan​ - 205 (75 G, 56S, 74 B)
South Korea​ - 177 (49G, 58S, 70B)

India​ - 69 (15 Gold, 24 Silver, 30 Bronze)

India’s best ever performance in any Asian Games in total
medal terms

24
 Gold medalists (15)
- Bajrang Punia - First gold for India (65 kg Wrestling)
- Vinesh Phogat - Wrestling gold in 50kg women’s category
- Rahi Sarnobat - Shooting gold in 25m pistol
- Saurabh Choudhary - Men’s 10m air pistol
- Rohan Bopanna & Divij Sharan -Tennis doubles
- Men’s quadruple sculls - Rowing
- Tajinder Pal Singh Toor - Shot put
- Neeraj Chopra - Javelin throw
- Manjit Singh - Men’s 800m running
- Arpinder Singh - Men’s Triple jump
- Swapna Barman - Heptathlon
- Jinson Johnson - Men’s 1500m running
- Women’s Team - 4 x 400m relay
- Amit Panghal - 49kg Boxing
- India Men’s Bridge Team (Pranab Bardhan & Shibnath
Dey Sarkar)
Asian Para Games Motto - The Inspiring Spirit & Energy of Asia
2018 Mascot - Momo, a Bondol eagle
(Jakarta, Indian contingent flag bearer - Thangavelu Mariyappan
Indonesia) India​ -​ 72 (15 Gold, 24 Silver, 33 Bronze)

Event Highlights
Youth Olympic Motto - Live the future
Games 2018 Mascot - Pandi, the jaguar
(Buenos Aires, Manu Bhaker - Indian contingent flag bearer during
Argentina) opening ceremony
Jeremy Lalrinnunga - Indian contingent flag bearer
during closing ceremony
India​ -​ 13 (4 Gold, 9 Silver, 0 Bronze)

Gold medalists (4)

- Jeremy Lalrinnunga - Men's 62kg Weightlifting
- Saurabh Choudhary - Men’s 10m air pistol
- Manu Bhaker -​ ​Women's 10m air pistol
- Lakshya Sen - Mixed team Badminton

25
Event Highlights
2018 ISSF World 1806 athletes competed in 59 shooting sport events and
Shooting four disciplines, representing 90 nations
Championship
(Changwon, Korea) Final tally -
China - ​43​ ​(20 Gold, 15 Silver, 8 Bronze)
Korea​ - 36 (11 G, 14S, 11B)
India​ - 27 (11 Gold, 09 Silver, 07 Bronze)

Gold medalists (11)

- 50m Pistol Men - Mitharwal Om Prakash
- Double Trap Men - Mittal Ankur
- 10m Air Rifle Men Junior - Hazarika Hriday
- 10m Air Pistol Men Junior - Saurabh Chaudhary
- 25m Standard Pistol Men Junior - Sidhu Vijayveer
- 50m Pistol Men Junior - Cheema Arjun Singh
- 25m Pistol Men Junior - Sidhu Udhayveer
- 25m Standard Pistol Men Junior Team
- 25m Pistol Men Junior Team
- 50m Pistol Men Junior Team
- 10m Air Rifle Women Junior Team

Individual Sports

Boxing
Event Location Highlights
Women’s World New Delhi Mary Kom won her record sixth gold medal in
boxing the light flyweight 48 kg category after
championship outclassing Ukraine's Hanna Okhota

Hockey
Event Location Highlights
2018 Men's Hockey Odisha, Belgium defeated Netherland to win maiden
World Cup India Hockey World Cup title
Best Player: ​Arthur Van Doren (Belgium)
Goalkeeper of the tournament:​ Primin
Blaak (Netherland)

26
 Young player of the tournament:​ Thijs van
Dam (Netherlands)
Top goalscorer:​ Blake Govers (Australia) &
Alexander Hendrickx (Belgium)
14​th​ Women’s London, Defending champions the Netherlands
Hockey World Cup England recorded a stunning 6-0 victory over Ireland.
2018 They have been crowned the world
champions for record 8​th​ time
Champions Trophy Netherlands Indian team lost to Australia in the finals 1-3
2018 (shootout)
5​th​ Asian Women's South Korea South Korea defeated defending champions
Hockey Champions India 1-0 in the finals to lift the trophy
Trophy 2018

Kabaddi
Event Location Highlights
Pro Kabaddi League Multiple ● Bengaluru Bulls won Pro Kabaddi league
2018 (Season 6) venues season six in 2018-19. They defeated
Gujarat Fortune giants 38-33 in the finals
● Most expensive player - Monu Goyat (1.5
cr, Haryana Steelers)

Tennis
Event Location Highlights
Australian Open Australia Men’s singles​ - Novak Djokovic (world no 1 from
2019 Serbia) defeated Spanish Rafael Nadal (world no 2)
Women's singles​ - Japan's Naomi Osaka (world no.
1) defeated Czech Republic's Petra Kvitová
Davis Cup 2018 London Croatia defeated France in the finals by 3-1
Wimbledon London Novak Djokovic (Serbia) won his fourth Wimbledon
2018 Men’s title & 13​th​ Grand slam by beating Kevin Anderson
Singles (South Africa) in finals 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-3)
Wimbledon Angelique Kerber beat seven-time champion
2018 Women’s Serena Williams to win her first ever Wimbledon
Singles title
The US open New Men’s singles - ​Former world number one Novak
2018 York Djokovic (Serbia) won 2018 US Open title of tennis
in men’s singles category by defeating Argentina’s
Juan Martín Potro (world no 3)

27
 Women's singles -​ Serena Williams lost to Japan's
Naomi Osaka in the finals. Naomi became the first
Japanese women to win the title
French open Paris Men’s singles title​ - Rafael Nadal (Spain) won his
2018 11​th​ French open title by defeating Dominic Thiem
(Australian). He is only second player in the history
to win same Grand Slam 11 times other than
Margaret Court (11 Australian Open titles)
Women’s single title​ - Simona Halep (Romania)
won her first grand slam title by defeating Sloane
Stephens (The US)

Cricket
Tournament Location Narration
Irani Trophy India Vidarbha defeated Rest of India in finals
2018-19
Ranji Trophy India Vidarbha defeated Saurashtra in finals
2018-19
2018 ICC Women’s West Australia beat England by 8 wickets in finals.
International T20 Indies India finished fourth
world cup (Player of the tournament - Alyssa Healy)
Vijay Hazare Multiple Mumbai defeated Delhi to win the trophy
Trophy 2018-19 locations
Deodhar Trophy Delhi India B defeated Karnataka by 6 wickets in finals
2018
India won U-19 Dhaka Chasing 304 scored by India in the first innings,
Asia Cricket Cup Sri Lanka was bold out for 160. This was India’s
2018 6​th​ U-19 Asia cup title
(Player of the tournament - Yashasvi Jaiswal,
hightest scorer with 318 runs)
Men’s Asia Cup Dubai India beat Bangladesh by 3 wickets in a thrilling
2018 final to win their record seventh Asia cup title
Women’s Asia Cup Kuala Bangladesh team won Asia Cup T20 world cup by
T20 2018 Lumpur beating Indian team

Badminton
Event Location Narration
2019 Indonesia Jakarta Saina Nehwal got a walkover since her
Masters title opponent Carolina Marin suffered from an
injury in the final match

28
BWF World Tour China PV Sindhu defeated Nozomi Okuhara
Final Tournament (21-19, 21-17) in straight games to clinch
2018 maiden BWF World Tour Finals title. She is
the first Indian to win gold in the
tournament
2018 Badminton China PV Sindhu lost (19-21, 10-21) to Spain's
World Carolina Marin in finals
Championships
Asia Badminton Indonesia Lakshya Sen won historic men's singles gold
Junior Championship by beating top-seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn
2018 (Thailand) 21-19, 21-18 in finals
Thailand Open 2018 Bangkok PV Sindhu lost 15-21, 18-21 To Nozomi
Okuhara (Japan) in Finals

Athletics
Event Location Winner
Athletics Meet Sotteville, Javelin-thrower Neeraj Chopra won gold medal
2018 France with throw of 85.17m
World U-20 Finland Hima Das (Assam) is the first Indian track athlete
Championships to win a medal at any global event. She won gold
2018 medal in women's 400m event, clocking a time of
51.46 seconds

Shooting
Event Location Winner
ISSF Shooting Changwon ● Saurabh Chaudhary won 10m Air Pistol Junior
World gold & set a new junior world record
Championship ● India won a total of 7 medals (2G, 4S, 1 B)

Upcoming events Location

46​th ​Copa America 2019 Brazil
12​th ​Cricket World Cup 2019 England & Wales
37​th ​National Games 2019 Andhra Pradesh
Summer Olympics 2020 Tokyo
37​th ​Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy 2018 Netherlands
13​th ​South Asian Federation Games 2019 Kathmandu

29
Awards
The Lokmat Awardees Role
Parliamentarians
Best woman Kanimozhi DMK leader
parliamentarian in the
Rajya Sabha
Best woman MP Rama Devi Lok Sabha MP
parliamentarian
Best work by first time Hema Malini Actor turned politician
MP
Best debut woman Chhaya Verma
parliamentarian
Best Parliamentarian Ghulam Nabi Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha
Award Azad
Nishikant BJP MP
Dubey
Lifetime Achievement Sharad Pawar NCP chief
Murli Manohar BJP Leader
Joshi

General Awards Awardees Achievement

National Tourism Andhra Pradesh Best State/UT for comprehensive
Awards 2016-17 tourism development
(Presented in 2018) Rajasthan Most Innovative use of IT - Social
Media /Mobile App/Website
Wayanad, Most Responsible Tourism
Kerala Project/Initiative
Ahmedabad, Best heritage cities
Mandu
Dr BC Roy National Dr. Basant For the remarkable work in
Award 2018 Kumar Mishra Neurosurgery and Gamma Knife
(Eminent Medical Radiosurgery
Person of the Year
category)
Chief Minister of the Vasundhara For remarkable work in
2018 Award Raje (Rajasthan) e-governance. The award was given
at the 52​nd​ Skoch Summit held in
New Delhi

30
Rajiv Gandhi National Gopalkrishna Former West Bengal Governor & the
Sadbhavana Award Gandhi Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi
2018 received this for outstanding
contribution to promote communal
harmony, peace & goodwill

International Awardee Role

Abel Prize 2019 Karen Uhlenbeck For her work on "analysis,
(First ever geometry and mathematical
woman) physics". She is also an advocate
for gender equality in science and
mathematics
Pritzker Architecture Japanese For his major work including
Prize 2019 architect Arata Museum of Contemporary Art in
Isozaki Los Angeles, Palau Saint Jordi
indoor sporting arena in
Barcelona.
Israel's prestigious Sanjay The Indian historian won the
Dan David Prize 2019 Subrahmanyam award for work on inter-cultural
encounters between Asians,
Europeans and people of North
and South America during the
early modern era
Gandhi Peace Prize Yohei Sasakawa For remarkable work in Leprosy
2018 Elimination
UN Human Rights Ms. Rebeca Activist for the rights of women
Prize 2018 Gyumi and girls (Tanzania) 
Ms. Asma Human rights lawyer (Pakistan)
Jahangir
(posthumously)
Ms. Joênia Activist for rights of indigenous
Wapichana communities (Brazi​l)
(Joênia Batista de
Carvalho) 
Front Line Organization advocating and
Defenders working for the protection of
human rights defenders (Ireland)
International The March For David Hogg, Emma González,
Children’s Peace Prize Our Lives Jaclyn Corin & Matt Deitsch, The
2018 March for Our Lives initiators,

31
 started the American mass youth
movement for safer schools and
communities and against gun
violence
The UN’s highest Narendra Modi & They have been jointly recognised
environmental honour Emmanuel in the Policy Leadership category
‘Champions of the Macron (French for pioneering work in
Earth’ President) championing International Solar
Alliance and promoting new areas
of levels of cooperation on
environmental actio
● Macron’s work on the Global
Pact for the Environment
● Modi’s pledge to eliminate
single-use plastic in India by
2022
World Food prize 2018 Lawrence In recognition of their individual
(Dubbed Nobel Prize Haddad and Dr. but complementary global
for food and David Nabarro leadership in elevating maternal &
agriculture) child undernutrition within food
security
2018 Seoul Peace Narendra Modi In recognition of his dedication for
Prize improving international
cooperation, raising global
economic growth, accelerating
Human Development of people in
India by fostering economic
growth and furthering
development of democracy
through anti-corruption and social
integration efforts
First World Agriculture Prof. M.S. Known as ‘Father of Green
Prize 2018 Swaminathan Revolution in India’, he is globally
renowned for basic & applied
research in genetics, cytogenetics,
radiation & chemical mutagenesis,
food and biodiversity conservation
Ramon Magsaysay Philanthropic Bharat Vatwani​ - Leading the
2018 (Dubbed as service rescue of thousands of mentally ill
Asian version of Nobel street paupers to treat & reunite
prize) them with their families

32
 Sonam Wangchuk​ - Contribution
in harnessing nature, culture and
education for community progress
45​th​ Tyler Prize for Dr. James For their contributions to research
environmental McCarthy and Dr. and science policy work which has
achievement 201​8 Paul Falkowski informed global importance and
risks of the climate crisis

Beauty Pageants Winner

Miss World 2018 Vanessa Ponce de Leon (Mexico)
Miss India World 2018 Anukreethy Vas (Chennai)
Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray (Philippines)
Miss International 2018 Mariem Velazco (Venezuela)
Miss Supranational 2018 Valeria Vazquez(Puerto Rico)
Mr. Supranational 2018 Prathamesh Maulingkar

Movie Awards Category Winners

64​th ​Filmfare Awards To be announced To be announced
2018
91​st ​Academy Awards Best Picture ‘Green Book’ (An American
biographical comedy-drama film)
Best Actress in a Olivia Colman
Leading Role
Best Actor in a Rami Malek
Leading Role
Best Short 'Period. End of Sentence'
Documentary (India-based documentary on
‘menstruation’ produced by
Guneet Monga)
Best Director Alfonso Cuarón for 'Roma'
st ​
71​ Cannes’ Film Palme d’Or ‘Shoplifters’ (Japanese film by
Festival, 2018 Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Grand Prix ‘BlacK Klansman’ by Spike Lee
11​th​ Asia Pacific Best Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui(Manto)
Screen Awards 2018, Best feature film ‘Shoplifters’ (Japan) by​ Hirokazu
Brisbane Kore-eda’

33
49​th​ IFFI 2018, Goa Best Foreign Donbass (From Ukraine)
Language Movie
(Golden Peacock)
Best Director Lijo Jose Pellissery (‘Ee Ma Yau’ -
A Malayalam movie)
19​th​ IIFA awards Best Actor Irrfan Khan (Hindi Medium)
2018, Thailand Best Actress Sridevi (Mom, posthumous)
Best Director Saket Chaudhary (Hindi Medium)
Best Film Tumhari Sulu
Academy Awards India’s official Village Rockstar (Directed by Rima
(Oscar) 2019 entry Das, the Assamese movie that won
the Best Feature Film 'Swarna
Kamal' award at 65​th​ National Film
Awards)

Music/Theatre Awardee Achievement

61​st​ Grammy Kacey Musgraves Album of the Year - Golden Hour
Awards 2019 Childish Gambino Record of the Year - This is
America
Donald Glover​, ​Ludwig Song of the Year - This is America
Göransson​ & ​Jeffrey (songwriters)
Lamar Williams
Pulitzer Prize Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar won the award for
2018 album “Damn.” He is the first
rapper in history to be given the
award
Tansen Samman Manju Mehta For her contribution in the field of
2018 Hindustani Classical Music
Kalidas Samman Anjolie Ela Menon In recognition​ ​of her insightful &
2018 (Visual sensitive portrayal of identity and
Arts) spirit of women through
meaningful paintings

Sports Awards Awardee Narration

(Inception Yr)
Laureus World Novak Djokovic (Tennis) Sportsman of the Year
Sports Awards 2019 Simone Biles (Athletics) Sportswoman of the Year
Tiger Woods (Golf) Comeback of the Year

34
 Naomi Osaka (Tennis) Breakthrough of the Year
France World Cup Team of the Year
Team
Eliud Kipchoge Academy Exceptional
(Athletics) Achievement Award
Arsene Wenger Lifetime Achievement Award
Yuwa, a Sport for Good Award
Jharkhand-based NGO
ICC Awards 2018 Virat Kohli Cricketer of the Year, Test Player
of the Year, ODI Player of the Year
Rishabh Pant Emerging Player of the Year
Aaron Finch (Australia) T20 International Performance of
the Year
Smriti Mandhana Women's Cricketer of the Year &
Women's ODI Cricketer of the
Year
2018 Tata Literature Sir William Mark Tully BBC India correspondent
Live! Lifetime
Achievement Award
ATP World Tour Novak Djokovic Player of the Year
Awards 2018 Novak Djokovic Comeback Player of the Year
Roger Federer Fans' Favorite
Dhyan Chand Satyadev Prasad Archery
Lifetime Bharat Kumar Chetri Hockey
Achievement Award Bobby Aloysius Athletics
2018 Dadu Chougale Wrestling
Rajiv Gandhi Khel S. Mirabai Chanu Weightlifting
Ratna (1991) Virat Kohli Cricket
Arjuna Awards 20 awardees Key names -
(1961) Neeraj Chopra (CWG & Asiad gold
medalist javelin thrower)
Hima Das (Asiad double medalist
sprinter)
Smriti Mandhana (Indian
cricketer)
Dronacharya Award ● Subedar Chenanda Boxing
(1985) Achaiah Kuttappa
● Vijay Sharma Weightlifting
● A. Srinivasa Rao Table Tennis
● Sukhdev Singh Pannu Athletics

35
 ● Clarence Lobo
(Hockey) Lifetime Achievement
● Tarak Sinha (Cricket)
● Jiwan Kumar Sharma
(Judo)
● V.R. Beedu
(Athletics)
Polly Umrigar award Virat Kohli (2016-17, 2016-17 - 1332 runs (13 tests),
2017-18) 1516 runs (27 ODI)
2017-18 - 896 (6 tests)
BCCI’s best Harmanpreet Kaur --
international (2016-17)
cricketer (women) Smriti Mandhana
(2017-18)
European Golden Lionel Messi picked his The Barcelona forward finished
Shoe Award 2018 5​th​ Golden shoe award domestic league campaign with
34 goals
Best player in Europe Luka Modrić - Croatian,
by UEFA for 2017/18 Real Madrid midfielder
Player of the Year – FIFA Women’s Player of Marta – Brazil and Orlando Pride
World Soccer Awards the Year
2018 FIFA Men’s Player of Luka Modrić – Croatia and Real
the Year Madrid
Ballon d’Or award Luka Modrić Croatia and Real Madrid
2018
IAAF World Athlete Eliud Kipchoge and -----
of the Year 2018 Caterine Ibarguen

Civilian Gallantry Awardees

Awards 2019
Ashok Chakra Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani (Posthumously)
Kirti Chakra Major Tushar Gauba & Sowar Vijay Kumar
(Posthumously)
Shaurya Chakra Lt Col Vikrant Prasher, Maj Amit Kumar Dimri & 7 others

Literature Awardees Piece of work

(Inception year)

36
2018 Mathrubhumi N S Madhavan For contribution to Malayalam
Literary award stories and novels
54​rd​ Jnanpith Award Amitav Ghosh Noted English writer is known
2018 (1962) for for a series of novels such
as "Shadow Lines", "The Glass
Palace", "The Hungry Tide",
and Ibis Trilogy
FT & Mckinsey John Carreyrou Bad Blood, is the riveting
business book account of the rise and
award 2018 scandalous fall of Theranos,
the blood-testing company
UNESCO King Sejong Aid Afghanistan for Accelerated Education for
Literacy Prize 2018 Education in Marginalized Women and
Afghanistan Girls’ programme
Ministry of Education Permanent Learning program
and Culture in Urugua​y
UNESCO Confucius Literacy Movement Consolidated teaching of
Prize for Literacy Organization in the literacy and ICDL basic
2018 Islamic Republic of Iran computer skills
Nigerian Prisons National Open University of
Service in Nigeria Nigeria - Prison Study Centres
and Inmates General
Education Programme
Foundation Elche Spanish as a second language
Acoge in Spain for adult immigrants’
programme
Man Booker Prize Anna Burns ‘Milkman’ is an experimental
2018 novel about a bookish
18-year-old girl harassed by a
paramilitary figure called the
milkman during the Troubles in
Northern Ireland
The Man Booker Olga Tokarczuk Novel ‘Flights’ authored by the
International 2018 Polish, was translated by
Jennifer Croft. The prize
money is split evenly between
the writer & translator
Saraswati Samman, Sitanshu The Gujarati poet, for his
2018 (1991) Yashaschandra poetry collection "Vakhar"

37
Commonwealth Lynda Clark British writer Lynda Clark for
short story prize “fresh and unusual” tale on
2018 mental illness

Journalism Awardee Achievement

UNESCO/Guillermo Abu Zeid The jailed Egyptian photographer won the
Cano World Press prize that recognizes a person, organization
Freedom Prize 2018, or institution for an outstanding
Helsinki contribution to the defence or promotion of
press freedom especially in the face of
danger

Nobel Prizes 2018

Subject Winners
Physics Arthur Ashkin, Donna Strickland & Gérard Mourou
(Development of optical tweezers and ultrashort,
high-intensity laser pulses)
Physiology or James P Allison and Tasuku Honjo (Discovery of cancer
Medicine therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation)
Chemistry George P. Smith, Frances Arnold, Greg Winter (Use of
evolutionary biology to design molecules with a range of
practical uses)
Literature Postponed due to sexual harassment allegation within Nobel
prize committee
Peace Denis Mukwege (Congo), Nadia Murad (Iraq)
(Efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon in war)
Economics William Nordhaus & Paul Romer(Work on climate change, and
the endogenous growth theory)

Alternative Nobel Prize 2018 (Right Livelihood Award)

Winners Narration
Honorary awards Anti-corruption champions - Innovative work
Thelma Aldana (Guatemala), in exposing abuse of power and prosecuting
Iván Velásquez (Colombia) corruption, thus rebuilding people’s trust in
public institutions
Cash awards
1. Abdullah al-Hamid, Visionary & courageous efforts, guided by
Mohammad Fahad universal human rights principles, to reform
totalitarian political system in Saudi Arabia

38
 al-Qahtani, Waleed Abu
al-Khair (All from Saudi A)

The civil and human rights

defenders
2. Yacouba Sawadogo
(Burkina Faso), a farmer
3. Tony Rinaudo (Australia), an
ergonomist
4. Mary Conde(Guadeloupean),
Historical fiction author
Turning barren land into forest and
demonstrating how farmers can regenerate
their soil with innovative use of indigenous
and local knowledge
Demonstration on a large scale how drylands
can be greene d at minimal cost, improving
the livelihoods of millions of people”
Author of 20+ novels, including Desirada,
Segu and Crossing the Mangrove. She is
considered as grand storyteller who belongs
to world literature. Her writings mostly
describe ravages of colonialism and
post-colonial chaos in language which is both
precise and overwhelming

Civilian Awards Awardees Field

2019
Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee One of the seniormost leaders in
Congress party with five decades of
political career. Served as 13​th
President of India (2012-2017)
Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Playback singer, lyricist, musician,
(posthumously) singer, poet and film-maker from
Assam, widely known as Sudhakantha
Nanaji Deshmukh Social activist who worked in the
(posthumously) fields of education, health, and rural
self-reliance. He was once a leader of
BJP & a Rajya Sabha member
Padma Teejan Bai Arts
Vibhushan Ismaïl Omar Guelleh Public Affairs
Anil Manibhai Naik Trade & Industry
Balwant Moreshwar Arts
Purandare
Padma Bhushan Mohanlal Acting

39
 Bachendri Pal Sports
& 12 others
Padma Shri Total 94 awardees. Different fields
(Key names - Sunil
Chetri, Gautam
Gambhir, Prabhu
Deva, Kader Khan)
Honours
Personality/Entity Honour
Vienna ranked best city to The Austrian capital topped the ranking among
live for 10​th​ time: 2019 231 cities. 7 Indian cities were featured in this list.
Mercer Survey Indian Cities: Pune (143), Hyderabad (143),
Bengaluru (149), Chennai (151), Mumbai (154),
Kolkata (160) and New Delhi (162)
Mukesh Ambani held 13​th E-commerce colossus Amazon founder Bezos,
position in the Forbes continued to be the world's richest person, ahead
world Billionaire list 2019 of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett with a fortune of
USD 131 bn. Wipro head Azim Premji was ranked
at 36​th​ position
Sonam Kapoor named Her animal advocacy efforts -
India's ‘Person of the ● Urging Minister of Environment, Forests &
Year’ by PETA in 2018 Climate Change not to revoke ban on classroom
dissection for university life science & zoology
students
● Calling for Maharashtra-wide ban on
glass-coated manja that can entangle and kill
birds; and donating "kind kites" to children to
help prevent injuries from manja
Fortune India's Most 1. Zia Mody
Powerful Women list for 2. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw,
2018 3. Sunita Reddy
4. Alice Vaidyan
5. Mallika Srinivasan
Forbes world’s 100 most 1. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany.
powerful women 2. Theresa May, PM of the UK
3. Melinda Gates, Co-founder of Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation.
4. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook
5. Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors

40
 Indians in the list
1. Roshni Nadar Malhotra
2. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
3. Shobhana Bhartia
4. Priyanka Chopra
Kartik Aaryan & Anushka For saving animals by keeping them off their
Sharma won PETA ‘India's plates, and by sharing commitment to being
hottest vegetarians of meat-free with the world
2018’ award
Jamal Khashoggi named Saudi Arabian Islamist activist, dissident, author,
'Time Magazine's Person columnist for the Washington Post, general
of the Year' 2018 manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News
Channel was assassinated at the Saudi Arabian
consulate in Istanbul on 2​nd​ October 2018 by
agents of the Saudi government
Salman Khan topped 2018 Virat Kohli was ranked second on the list, followed
Forbes India Celebrity 100 by Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone & MS Dhoni
(List of the highest paid)
World's Highest-Paid Serena topped the list with USD 18.1 million
Female Athletes 2018 list wealth. PV Sindhu (USD 8.5 million) is the only
topped by Serena Indian in Forbes’ list with 7​th​ rank
Williams
Seven Indian firms named ● Walmart topped the latest Fortune listing
in Fortune 500 list, IOC ● Indian companies - 1) IOC - 137, 2) Reliance -
remains top ranked Indian 148, 3) ONGC - 197, 4) SBI - 216, 5) Tata Motors
company - 232, 6) BPCL - 314, 7) Rajesh Exports - 405
● Reliance was the most profitable Indian firm on
the list. The most profitable company list was
topped by Apple
Forbes 2018 Celebrity 100 Floyd Mayweather (American boxer) topped the
List of The World's list. Akshay Kumar & Salman Khan were the only
Highest-Paid Entertainers Indians in the list
Mukesh Ambani is Asia’s With an estimated wealth of USD 44.3 billion,
richest person Mukesh overtook Alibaba founder Jack Ma
Rahul Dravid is only the Other four Indians have been Bishan Singh Bedi,
th​
5​ Indian player inducted Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev & Anil Kumble
in ICC Hall of Fame in July
2018
Kalki Koechlin honoured Honoured for contribution to enhancement of
with French distinction Indo-French ties through cinema, portrayal of wide

41
Knight of the Order of range of stellar characters on screen &
Arts and Letters commitment to social causes like child abuse and
women empowerment
Two Indian actors ranked American Actor George Clooney ranked at the top.
at top 10 position in the Akshay Kumar ranked at 7​th​ position & Salman
Forbes world’s 100 Khan (USD 38.5 million) at 9​th
highest-paid actors
The 'World's Highest-Paid American boxing champion Floyd Mayweather
Athletes 2018' list topped topped the list. Virat Kohli was the only Indian in
by Mayweather the list, ranked ​83​rd​ with earnings of USD 24
million

Government Schemes
Name
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan
Led by​ Ministry of Human and
Resource Development
Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay
Sanrakshan Abhiyan
(PM-AASHA)
Mukhyamantri Yuva Nestam
Launched by​ Andhra Pradesh
government
The PM launched PMJAY in
Ranchi
Narration
Students from 750 colleges and universities
across the country will adopt nearby villages
and visit them to get familiar with the life of
the villagers and problems faced by them in
day-to-day life
● The farmer empowerment scheme aims to
ensure remunerative prices to farmers for
their produce and strengthen the
agriculture sector
● It has three components:
Price Support Scheme (PSS)
Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS)
Pilot of Private Procurement and Stockist
Scheme (PPPS)
● Unemployment allowance scheme to
provide Rs 1000 per month to the
unemployed youth in state
● Amount will be credited to bank accounts
of beneficiaries through biometric
authentication
● Touted as the world’s largest healthcare
scheme, PMJAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Yojana falls) under Ayushman
Bharat umbrella. It intends to cover
beneficiaries in 444 districts in 30
states/UTs

42
 ● The scheme became operational on 25
September, which marked birth
anniversary of Deendayal Upadhyay
Farmer assistance schemes in ● Rythu Bandhu (Telangana) - Income
Odisha & Telangana support worth Rs. 4000/acre to landowners
● KALIA (Krishak Assistance for Livelihood &
Income Assistance, Odisha) - Proposes to
transfer Rs. 5000 per season to 30 lakh
marginal farmers & Rs. 12,500 each to 10
lakh landless households
PAHAL scheme (Pratyaksh Under modified scheme, LPG consumer can
Hanstantrit Labh) receive subsidy in his bank account by Direct
Led by​ Ministry of Petroleum Benefit Transfer (DBT)
& Natural Gas
Ayushman Bharat Scheme ● The biggest health financing scheme in the
(National Health Protection world with an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh
Scheme or NHPS) ● 1.5 lakh wellness centers will be opened
Led by​ Union Government across the country for about 55 crore
beneficiaries from 10 crore poor families
‘IMPRINT-2’ scheme ● The Central Government approved 122
new research projects of Rs 112 crore
Led by​ Ministry of HRD under Impacting Research Innovation and
Technology (IMPRINT) initiative
● The initiative aims to advance research in
energy, security, and healthcare domains in
the high education institutions
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana The Government of India reduced the
minimum annual deposit requirement for
Led by​ Ministry of Women accounts under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
and Child Development from Rs. 1,000 to 250
SAFAR: Most advanced System State-of-the-art Air Quality & Weather
of Air Quality and Weather Forecast System– SAFAR (System of Air
Forecasting inaugurated in Quality & Weather Forecasting) will monitor
Delhi all weather parameters like temperature,
rainfall, humidity, wind speed & wind
Led by ​Ministry of Earth direction
Sciences
Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan 2.0 The scheme aims to link higher education
institutions with set of at least five villages, so
Led by​ Ministry of HRD that they can contribute to economic & social

43

ABY (Atal Bhoojal Yojana)
Led by ​Ministry of Water
Resources, River Development agricultural purposes in rural areas
& Ganga Rejuvenation
National Bamboo Mission
Eklavya School
Operation Green
Expansion of Ujjwala Scheme Government has set a target to provide 8
Revitalizing Infrastructure and The RISE scheme will be financed via a
Systems in Education (RISE)
GOBAR-Dhan​ Yojna
(Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Under this scheme, the solid waste of dung
Resource Fund Scheme)
betterment of these village communities. 748
institutions are participating under scheme as
on date
ABY is a underground water conservation
scheme with an objective to recharge ground
water and create sufficient water storage for
An amount of Rs. 1,290 crore will be allocated
under this scheme. This will help in the
development of bamboo production as an
industry & help tribals
● Eklavya schools will be established for
scheduled caste students by 2022 along the
lines of Navodaya schools
● Eklavya model residential schools will be
set up in each Block having more than 50%
tribal areas and 20,000 tribal people
● They will be part of Navodaya Vidyalayas
and besides training in sports and skill
development, there will also be special
facilities for preserving local art and culture
The goal of the scheme is to double the
farmers’ income by end of the year 2022. An
amount of Rs. Rs. 500 crore will be allocated
under this scheme. The scheme was launched
to reduce fluctuation in pricing of Onion,
Tomatoes and Potatoes
crore free LPG connections to poor families
under Ujjwala scheme
restructured higher education financing
agency (HEFA) that is functioning for the last
two months as a non-banking financial
company. It aims to lend low-cost funds to
government higher educational institutions
It aims to improve the lives of the villagers.
44

PMAY​ (Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana)
Led by ​Ministry of Housing
and Urban Poverty Alleviation
Saubhagya - ​Pradhan Mantri
Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana
Revived by​ Ministry of Power
Pradhan Mantri LPG
Panchayat scheme
Led by ​The Ministry of
Petroleum and Natural Gas
AMRUT​ (Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation)
Led By​ Ministry of Urban
Development
PMUY​ (Pradhan Mantri
Ujjwala Yojana)
Led by​ Ministry of Petroleum
& Natural Gas
and fields will be changed into compost,
biogas and bio-CNG
The scheme was launched in 2015 to ensure
housing for all by 2022. The Union Ministry of
Housing & Urban Affairs has announced that
30.76 lakh houses for the urban poor have
been sanctioned. 15.65 lakh houses are at
various stages of construction and 4.13 lakh
houses have been constructed
● Intent to provide electricity to all
households. The project was announced in
September 2017 by PM Narendra Modi
● Its aim was to complete electrification
process by December 2018. The total
outlay of the project is Rs.16, 320 crore,
while the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is
Rs. 12,320 crore. The outlay for the rural
households is Rs. 14,025 crore while the
GBS is Rs. 10,587 crore
LPG Panchayat scheme aims at spreading
awareness among LPG users about how to
properly use clean fuel and its benefits
Providing basic services, including water
supply, sewerage, urban transport & building
of amenities in cities to improve quality of
life. It aims to transform 500 cities and towns
into efficient urban living spaces over a period
of five years. 20 cities were selected in 1​st
round, 13 in 2​nd​ round
Replacing the unclean cooking fuels mostly
used in the rural India with the clean and
more efficient LPG (Tagline – ​‘Swachh Indhan,
Behtar Jeevan’​)
Targets 5 Crore LPG connections to be
distributed to BPL households over 3 yrs
45
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima
Yojana​ (Crop insurance)
Led by​ Ministry of Agriculture Farmers will have to pay a uniform premium
& Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) of 2% for kharif crops, 1.5% for rabi crops, 5%
Sagarmala ​Project
Led by​ Ministry of Shipping
Namami Gange –​ National
Mission for Clean Ganga
Led by​ Ministry of water
resources
Skill India
Led by​ Ministry of Skill
Development and
Entrepreneurship
PMYY ​(Pradhan Mantri Yuva
Yojana) for entrepreneurs
Led by ​Ministry of Skill
Development &
Entrepreneurship (MSDE)
Swadesh Darshan
Led by​ Ministry of Tourism
Replaced existing National Agricultural
Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified NAIS
(MNIAS)
for annual commercial & horticultural crops
The remaining share of the premium will
continue to be borne equally by the Centre &
respective state governments
Transforming existing Ports into modern
world class ports. Integrating port
development, the Industrial clusters &
hinterland and efficient evacuation systems
through road, rail, inland and coastal
waterways
231 projects have been launched under
Namami Gange programme. The idea is to
maintain minimum ecological flows in the
river Ganga with the aim of ensuring water
quality and environmentally sustainable
development
Aim to train 40 ​crore​ Indians in different skills
by 2022. It includes various initiatives like
National Skill Development Mission, National
Policy for Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship, 2015, Pradhan Mantri
Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) & the Skill Loan
scheme
Scheme will span over 5 years (2016-17 to
2020-21) with a project cost of 500 crores
It will provide entrepreneurship education
and training to over 7 lakh students in 5 years
through 3,050 institutes (Include higher
learning schools, ITIs, schools and
entrepreneurship development centres)
Theme based tourism circuits (e.g. Religion,
culture, ethnicity, niche etc) are identified for
infrastructure development across the
country
46
JIGYASA ● A student- scientist
connect programme has been launched by
Led by​ CSIR the government in New Delhi.
The programme would be implemented by
the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research,in collaboration with Kendriya Vi
dyalaya Sangathan
● The main focus of the programme is to
connect school students and scientists as
well as to extend student’s classroom
learning to a very well-planned research
laboratory based learning
UDAN RCS (​Regional ● Under the scheme, 50% seats in
Connectivity Scheme) aeroplanes are offered at concessional
rates to passengers
Led by​ Ministry of Civil ● Currently, Nashik-Delhi,
Aviation Nanded-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Nanded,
Kolhapur-Hyderabad, Kolhapur-Bengaluru
and Kolhapur-Hubli routes are operational
under the scheme
Swasth Bachche, Swasth ● The programme is an initiative of Kendriya
Bharat Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to prepare a
physical Health & Fitness Profile Card for
more than 12 lakhs of Kendriya Vidyalaya
students
UJALA ● Energy Efficiency Services Limited ( EESL),
under Ministry of Power, Government of
India has launched UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by
Affordable Lighting for All) Scheme in the
State of Melaka, Malaysia
● Under this scheme, each household in
Melaka will get 10 high quality 9-watt LED
bulbs at a cost of only RM 10, which is a
special price and is almost half of what in
begin offered in the market

Government News
News Narration
One Nation, One Card PM launched ‘One Nation, One Card’ Model for
Model launched seamless travel through different metros and
other transport systems. Under this model, India’s

47
 first indigenously developed payment eco-system
for transport mobility consists of:
● National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)

● Swachalit Kiraya: Automatic Fare Collection

System (SWEEKAR)
● Swachalit Gate (SWAGAT) based on NCMC

Standards
These three indigenously developed components
of payment ecosystem for transport mobility
together will enable use of national mobility card
across country without conflict with existing
point-of-sale (PoS) machines
General elections to 17​th 90 cr Indians are eligible to vote as on 1 Jan 2019,
Lok Sabha in April/May against 81 Cr in 2014. 17.5 lakh VVPAT machines
2019 in 7 phases will be used, one per polling station
Supreme Court appointed Former SC judge Kalifulla, spiritual leader & Art of
a 3-member panel to Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar & an expert
mediate in Ayidhay mediator Sriram Panchu are the panelists
dispute
IRDAI & NHA formed a An 11-member joint working group will
Joint Working Group for recommend measures to improve
Ayushman Bharat implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). It will be
co-chaired by NHA Deputy CEO Dinesh Arora &
IRDAI Executive Director Suresh Mathur
Indore got the cleanest ● Second & third places were held by Ambikapur
rd​
city tag for 3​ year in (Chhattisgarh) & Mysuru (Karnataka)
Swatch Sarvekshan survey ● Additionally, Union Ministry of Housing &
2019 Urban Affairs adjudged New Delhi Municipal
Council area as the ''Cleanest Small City'' &
Uttarakhand's Gauchar as ''Best Ganga Town''
Indian Air Force destroyed 12 Mirage-2000 fighter jets were used to drop
Jaish-e-Mohammed 1000-kg laser guided bombs on terrorist training
camps in Pakistan camps in Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
of Pakistan, killing around 300+ militants in
training camps of Jaish-e-Mohammed. They were
supported by Sukhoi Su-30 aircrafts
HRD ministry launched Under STARTS (Scheme for Translational and
250 cr STARS scheme on Advanced Research in Science to fund Science
National Science Day projects) program coordinated by IISc, 500
science projects will be funded

48
NITI Aayog & Adobe ● Adobe would implement Digital Disha
partnered to enhance Programme across 100 schools under Atal
digital literacy and Tinkering Labs (ATL) initiative
creativity skills ● Teachers & Children across schools would
benefit from creative learning resources via
free access to Adobe Spark premium
HRD Ministry launched Scheme for Higher Education Youth in
SHREYAS Programme Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) programme
will provide industry-specific apprenticeship
opportunities to fresh graduates
Assam launched PRANAM PRANAM (Parents Responsibility and Norms for
Commission to protect Accountability and Monitoring) Bill Commission is
parents of government an effort from state government to protect
employees elderly parents and unmarried differently abled
siblings and give them financial security
India's unemployment India's unemployment rate hit a 45-year-high of
rate hit four-decade high 6.1% in 2017-18, as per the National Sample
Survey Office's periodic labour force survey of the
Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation
The controversial mega oil ● State-run oil majors had tied up with Saudi
refinery will be shifted Aramco & Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for
from Nanar, Ratnagiri refinery project in Ratnagiri district
● Due to political compulsion of electoral tie-up
with Shiv Sena, BJP government in Maharashtra
agreed to shift mega refinery project away from
ecologically sensitive Konkan
Suicide bomber attack in The terror attack on CRPF convoy in South
Pulwama district (J&K) Kashmir was planned by Jaish-e-Mohammad
killed 40 CRPF soldiers (JeM) suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar, a localite.
Pakistan denied of any role in the attack, though
JeM leader Maulana Masood Azhar is known to
be operating from Karachi, Pakistan
Pune-Secunderabad IRCTC survey covered 209 trains & asked
Shatabdi is India’s passengers about toilets, linen, housekeeping to
cleanest train rank trains with an aim to assess progress of
‘Swachh Rail-Swachh Bharat’ mission & promote
healthy competition among trains

49
Kerala is the first state toPrice monitoring & research unit will track pricing
monitor drug price violation of essential drugs & medical devices
overcharging under Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO). National
Pharma Pricing Authority (NPPA) had proposed
such a system five years back
Government spend on ● Rising LPG prices & higher subscribers have led
subsidies could be 9.83% to government’s subsidy expenditure over the
of total expenditure for FY last two years reversing a declining trend
2018-19 established in the previous six years
● While increase in food subsidy allocation is a
reflection of increase in Minimum Support
Prices hiked across the board, the reason
behind increase in petroleum subsidy is due to
an increased allocation for Direct Benefit
Transfer (DBT) scheme for LPG
100% VVPAT will be used 100% use of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail
during Lok Sabha 2019 (VVPAT) will lead to voter confidence gain. VVPAT
elections allows every voter to see a printed slip for seven
seconds to verify & confirm that the vote cast had
gone to the candidate of his or her choice
Lok Sabha passed DNA The DNA Technology (Use and Application)
technology bill Regulation Bill, 2018 regulates use of DNA
technology to establish identity of persons in
criminal matters listed and civil matters (i.e.
offenders, victims, suspects and undertrials)
Domestic aviation traffic According to global aviation body IATA, annual
recorded the fastest domestic passenger demand rose by 18.6% in
global Y-o-Y growth for 2018 over LY. Government’s UDAN scheme
fourth year in a row aiming to enhance connectivity to tier 2 & 3
towns has apparently contributed to this growth
J&K grants divisional ● The Ladakh division will comprise Leh and Kargil
status to Ladakh region districts with its headquarters at Leh
● For almost last three decades, Ladakh region
has been demanding for Union Territory status
with a proper legislation. The divisional status is
considered as a step towards the same
NITI Aayog’s ‘Strategy for ● The comprehensive national Strategy for New
New India@75’ India defines clear objectives for 2022-23
● It is a detailed account across 41 crucial areas,
that recognises the progress already made,

50
 identifies binding constraints & suggests the
way forward to achieve objectives
● The intent is to make India a USD 5 trillion
economy by 2030
RBI appointed expert 8-member committee headed by former SEBI
committee to review long chairman U K Sinha will review & propose long
term solutions to MSME term solutions to revive micro, small & medium
sector enterprises (MSME) sector, which has been under
stress due to demonitization & GST impact
HRD ministry started HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar introduced a
70-point grading index to 70-point grading index to assess quality of school
assess quality of school education offered by states. A state performance
education grading will be done wherein the states will be
marked on a scale of 1000, on 70 parameters
th​
106​ Indian Science Theme for ISC-2019 was 'Future India-Science and
Congress held at Jalandhar Technology' and it was hosted by the Lovely
Professional University, Jalandhar
Cabinet approved 10% ● Those who are economically backward and fall
Quota for economically under general category will now be able to
backward general enjoy benefits of reservation in higher
category education & government jobs
● Gujarat became first state to implement it
● The Supreme Court, in its 1992 ruling in the
Indra Sawhney Etc vs Union Of India And Others
case, had set the cap for reservations at 50%
French company EDF ● A significant step towards project progress,
submitted offer submission will help NPCIL & EDF to
techno-commercial offer determine project cost & tariff of electricity
for Jaitapur nuclear power generated from it
project in Maharashtra ● European Pressurized Reactors (EPRs) will be
imported for this project. Electricity from this
project is projected to be more expensive than
other sources including solar & wind power
● Additionally, safety issues with reactor design &
construction have globally emerged in EPRs
235 new air routes 189 routes were awarded under regional
awarded under UDAN 3.0 connectivity scheme (RCS). Also, 46 tourism
to 11 airlines routes across 29 states would add 69.3 lakh seats
under the scheme

51
NITI Aayog introduced ● Baseline Report 2018 highlights progress being
sustainable development made by states/UTs by presenting
index 2018 comprehensive picture from 62 indicators
across economic, social & environmental
dimensions
● HP, Kerala, TN (States) & Chandigarh,
Puducherry (UT) emerged as top performers
Indian Railways 407 stations surveyed. Best ranked ones -
Cleanliness Survey Report A1 category ​- Jodhpur (1​st​), Jaipur (2​nd​) of North
2018 Western Railway. Tirupati (3​rd​- South Central
Railway)

A category - ​Marwar (1​st​), Phulera (2​nd​)

of North Western Railway. Warangal (3​rd​ - South
Central Railway)

Zonal Railway rankings​:

1​st​: North Western Railway
2​nd​: South Central Railway
3​rd​: East Coast Railway
GST exemption limit As a relief to small businesses from 1 April 2019,
doubled for small government increased GST exemption limits from
businesses Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh - North-eastern States;
Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh - The rest of India
J&K came under The state was put under 6-month long Governor
President’s rule from Satyapal Malik’s rule in June 2018 after
December 2018 Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government was
reduced to minority, following BJP’s withdrawal
Gujarat, Bihar and Ayushman Bharat is targeted to benefit more
Chhattisgarh emerged as than 50 crore people by improving access to
the largest beneficiaries of healthcare facilities for the poorer sections of the
Ayushman Bharat society
Bogibeel Bridge, India’s ● 4.94-km-long double-decker bridge connects
longest rail-cum-road Dibrugarh on the Brahmaputra’s south bank to
bridge opened over Dhemaji on the north bank
Brahmaputra river in ● Bridge is expected to significantly enhance
Assam India's defence capability by ensuring faster
movement of troops & supplies to Arunachal
NITI Aayog changed GDP ● Four years of NDA government show higher
calculation base year to FY average growth than that achieved during UPA
12 & did back-series under the recalibrated national accounts

52
calculation from ● The back-series calculation done by Central
2004-2011 Statistical Office under Ministry of statistics &
programme implementation led to major
opposition dismay ahead of 2019 elections
Kartarpur corridor ● The groundbreaking ceremony of proposed 4.7
inaugurated between kn Kartarpur corridor took place in Pakistan
India & Pakistan ● It will allow Indian devotees to visit Gurdwara
Darbar Sahib Kartarpur without visa
● The corridor will reportedly be completed
before 550​th​ birth anniversary of ​Guru Nanak
Dev​ in November 2019
RBI & finance ministry ● RBI autonomy was at stake when government
reached a cease fire sought Rs. 3.6 lakh cr from RBI to support banks
burderned under bad debt. Government
desisted from use of Section 7 for this purpose,
which would have increased tensions
● RBI needs to maintain sufficient contingency
fund to absorb losses due to exchange rate &
gold price fluctuation
Cyclone ‘Gaja’ severely Over three lakh people were forced onto the
impacted many districts of streets across Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam,
Tamil Nadu Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pudukottai districts
AP & West Bengal The reason cited for revoking consent is that the
governments revoked CBI has been reduced to an entity takes
‘general consent’ to CBI instruction only from the BJP-led centre. CBI
entry in the state officers will now have to seek permission from the
respective state government every time they wish
to enter into the state for official work
The first ever bus service The service will link Bodh Gaya and Patna in Bihar
started between Bihar and to Kathmandu and Janakpur in Nepal
Nepal
‘Titli’ cyclone hit Odisha Heavy rains troubled Odisha in Mid October,
following the cyclone Titli's landfall on Gopalpur
in southwestern part. Thousands were shifted to
relief camps
Swachh Survekshan Top 3 states - Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra
Grameen Awards 2018
announced Top 3 districts - Satara (Maharashtra), Rewari
(Haryana), Pedapalli (Telangana)

53
 Top 3 states with maximum citizen participation -
UP, Gujarat, Maharashtra
Government launched ● FII index would rate states on their
Financial Inclusion Index performance on last-mile banking services
(FII) 2018 availability
● It would be a measure of access to & usage of
basic formal financial products & services
including savings, remittances, credit, insurance
and pension products, within the states
Gross Enrolment Ratio ● GER is index of proportion of citizens between
(GER) in higher education 18 & 23 yrs in sample of 100, who structurally
increased to 25.8% in secured entry into tertiary education
2017-18 ● As per All India Survey on Higher Education
(AISHE), 2017-18 target was achieved due to
factors like Issuing new UGC regulation for
Open and Distance Learning that allows entry
of reputed institutions to offer education on
the distance mode & use of ICT technology-
SWAYAM portal to reach out of people and
allow them to secure good quality education
Government decided to Mixing 20% methanol with LPG, as is done in
blend methanol with LPG several countries, is estimated to bring down cost
to cut subsidy bill by 30% of cooking gas for household consumption by Rs
100 a cylinder. Methanol % in the mix could be
scaled up further as India enhances production of
methane from coal
AP topped the charts Launched by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
among States in terms of under AMRUT, the index aims to help cities assess
“2018 Ease of Living their liveability vis-a-vis global & national
Index” ranking benchmarks and encourage them to move
towards ‘outcome-based’ approach to urban
planning & management. Odisha & MP were
rated as the next best ones
Supreme Court allowed While temple authorities considered female
all-Women entry into non-entry as a matter of deep religious faith &
Sabarimala temple sentiment, court verdict said the temple rule
violated women’s right to equality & worship
Government approved ● The policy aims to provide universal broadband
National Digital connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen, 1 Gbps
Communications Policy connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 &
(NDCP 2018) 10 Gbps by 2022

54
 ● Intent is to attract investments of USD 100 bn
in Digital Communications Sector & expand IoT
ecosystem to 5 bn connected devices
Political debate heated up ● Opposition blamed NDA government for
further on Rafale fighter overvaluation of Rafael deal. Suspicion
jet offset deal increased since Reliance Defence, a new player
was chosen as offset partner of French
company Dassault Aviation, instead of 70-year
old HAL, possibly as a result of crony capitalism
● CAG found 2016 deal to be 2.86% cheaper than
the one negotiated by UPA. The primary goal of
defence procurement is to reinforce the
nation’s defence capability. The CAG report
stated that NDA government’s deal made a
shortfall of 70% on vital count by leaving a
five-squadron gap in defence preparedness
Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Merged entity will be India’s third-largest bank
Bank, Dena Bank merger with a business book of 14.8 lakh crores. The
announced merger will make banks stronger, sustainable &
increase their lending ability
TRS government The governor approved the decision of the
prematurely dissolved Telangana cabinet & requested TRS President &
Telangana assembly state chief minister K. Chandrashekhra Rao to
continue as a caretaker CM till new government is
formed in the state
Union Ministry of Health ● Many of the banned drugs are combinations of
and Family Welfare has basic flu drug paracetamol with other
prohibited manufacture, unnecessary chemicals
sale, distribution of 328 ● Among these drugs is a combination of
Fixed Dose Combinations propyphenazone, paracetamol and caffeine,
for human use with which is composition of pain reliever ‘Saridon’
immediate effect ● Several other banned drugs are combinations
of antibiotic amoxicillin with other unessential
chemicals. Another major set of banned FDCs
are combinations of diabetic drug Metformin
with other redundant chemicals
Highest ever rains since ● The state experienced the worst ever flood
many decades devastated since 1924. Disaster recovery work is in full
several districts in Kerala swing, but entire damage will take a few
months to recover

55
 ● The regions worst hit by the rains were marked
out by Gadgil committee report submitted in
2011 as ’ecologically sensitive’, but the report
recommendations were not implemented
● Illegal mining, deforestation on mountain
slopes & wrong timing of water release from
overflowing dams are by and large considered
to be man-made reasons for this devastation
Pune emerged as the According to index released by Ministry of
‘easiest city to live in Housing and Urban Affairs, Pune, Navi Mumbai &
India’ as per Ease of Living Mumbai emerged as top 3 cities to live in India
Index 2018
Project 'Study Webs of SWAYAM aims to provide one integrated platform
Active Learning for Young and portal for online courses. The objective is to
Aspiring Minds' ensure that every student has access to the best
(SWAYAM) was launched quality higher education at an affordable cost
by HRD Ministry
Government plans ‘Deep The Union Earth Sciences Ministry unveiled
Ocean Mission’ ‘ISRO-like’ mission to set up an offshore
desalination plant to work with tidal energy &
develop a submersible vehicle that can go to a
depth of 6,000+ metres with 3 people on board
India Post Payments Bank India Post Payments Bank went live with 650
went live with 650 branches & 3250 access points in August,
branches following clearance from RBI to start operations
with an aim to link all 1.55 lakh post offices by
December 2018. It will also offer third party
products in alliance with financial service
providers (e.g. PNB’s agent for loans)
40 Lakh out of Assam 40 Lakh+ out of 3.3 crore applicants in Assam
Citizen list were left out of complete draft National Register
of Citizens, published by Registrar General of India
and NRC State Coordinator
NDA government won ‘No No Confidence motion was moved by a former
Confidence’ motion NDA ally Telugu Desam Party. BJP-led NDA bagged
moved in Lok Sabha 325 votes against motion, while 126 members
voted in favour
The government proposed The draft Higher Education Commission of India
to replace UGC Act with Act (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act),
HECI Act 2018 takes away funding powers from proposed

56
 regulator. HECI will also have powers to act
against institutions in case of violation of norms
Govt set up task force to Led by Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha, the task force
suggest ways to reduce includes secretaries from departments of
import dependence commerce, industrial policy and promotion, skill
development, revenue, defence production, steel,
petroleum, electronics and telecommunications
J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti Unhappy with the way PDP-led coalition
resigned after BJP government has been handling law & order
announced to pull out of situation in J&K, BJP withdrew state government’s
an alliance support. Governor’s rule was imposed
PM approved a proposal The committee will be headed by E Sreedharan,
to set up a committee to also known as the “Metro Man”. This will bring
lay down standards for down costs and give a boost to the government’s
metro rail systems ‘Make in India’ policy
Ten new Swachh iconic Addition to the list of 20 places takes the count to
places added to the list 30. Under the scheme, the government would
take up initiatives like improved sewage
infrastructure, drainage facilities, installation of
sewage treatment plant, improved sanitation
facilities & water ATMs
National Health Profile As per recent release by the Central Bureau of
2018 released Health Intelligence (CBHI),
● Government spends just 1.3% of the GDP for
public healthcare (Rs. 3 per day)
● One doctor serves a population of 11,000
● The infant mortality rate at the national level
stands at its lowest i.e. 34 per 1,000 live births
● National maternal mortality rate stands at a
rate of 167 per 1,000,000 births
● Rabies is the most lethal communicable disease
UIDAI disagreed to share ● The use of or access to Aadhaar biometric data
AADHAAR data for for criminal investigation is not permissible
criminal investigation under Section 29 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016
● "Very limited" exception to this, said UIDAI, is
under Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act, that
permits use of or access to Aadhaar biometric
data in cases involving national security only
after pre-authorisation by an oversight
committee headed by the cabinet secretary 

57
4​th​ International Yoga Day ● 2018 theme - ‘Yoga for peace’. The day’s
observed on 21 June celebration in India was led by PM Narendra
Modi from Dehradun, Uttarakhand
● 1.6 lakh people in Kota set Guinness World
Record for ‘largest number of people
performing yoga at one place at the same time
Asia’s longest bidirectional PM Mr Modi inaugurated 2-lane, bidirectional
road tunnel inaugurated single tube ‘Zojila’ tunnel with parallel 14 km long
in Leh escapes
IT Department launched A new reward scheme seeks people’s
new Benami Transactions participation in IT Department’s efforts to unearth
Informants Reward black money & reduce tax evasion, with reward as
Scheme, 2018 high as 1 cr
Eastern Peripheral Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first smart
Expressway: PM Mr. Modi and green highway-135 km long
inaugurated India’s first Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway also
smart and green highway known as Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE).
The expressway was completed in record time of
about 500 days against target of 910 days at a
cost of nearly Rs 11,000 crore
Gujarat topped Composite CWMI system was based on nine sectors & ranked
Water Management Index Indian states on the basis of 28 different
(CWMI) report of NITI indicators reflecting their composite water
Aayog management. Rajasthan was ranked the lowest
India's first ever Disaster Launched by the union home ministry with
Risk Index 2018 released support from UNDP, the national disaster risk
index mapped hazards & vulnerabilities across
640 districts & ranked Delhi (UT) & Maharashtra
(state) at the top in their respective categories

Science & Hi-Tech

News Narration
SanDisk unveiled the Two 1 terabyte microSD cards were revealed by
world's fastest 1TB UHS-I SanDisk and Micron during Mobile World Congress
microSD card in Barcelona. 1TB SanDisk Extreme UHS-I microSD
card read speeds of up to 160MB/s and write
speeds of up to 90MB/s
Japan launched satellite to JAXA's Epsilon-4 rocket carried satellite developed
create artificial meteor by Astro Live Experiences that will deliver artificial
shower meteor shower into the Earth’s atmosphere

58
‘SpiNNaker’, the world's ‘SpinNaker’ is designed to work in the same way as
largest brain-like the human brain. It is capable of completing more
supercomputer built in than 200 million actions per second, with each of
The University of its chips having 100 million transistors
Manchester's School of
Computer Science
IIT Hyderabad launched The Fabless Chip Design Incubator (FabCI), the first
incubator for chip design of its kind in India will focus on creating an
ecosystem to groom startups in chip design
Axis bank became the first Axis bank introduced this feature for
ever bank to introduce Iris Aadhaar-based transactions through micro ATM
Scan Authentication tablets. The intent is to boost bank's financial
inclusion efforts by making Aadhaar
authentication process hassle-free & offering
easier access to digital banking for consumers,
especially in rural parts of the country
Kilogram measurement ● New system completely upends historical
re-defined to complete methods to set standards using physical objects.
metric system overhaul The units are instead based on fundamental
constants of nature. e.g. ‘meter’ has been
defined in terms of the speed of light
● The redefinition involved a complicated
machine called ‘kibble balance’
CSIR developed less Green crackers are so named because they do not
polluting firecrackers contain harmful chemicals that would cause air
named – SWAS, SAFAL pollution. These crackers are 15-20% cheaper than
and STAR the conventional ones. SWAS stands for safe water
releaser, SAFAL stands for safe minimal aluminum
and STAR stands for safe thermite cracker
Bangalore Airport became The face recognition based passage system will
the first airport in Asia to allow passengers to board flights and move across
announce introduction of different sections of the airport using automatic
face recognition based biometric boarding procedure instead of manual
passage system boarding passes verification. This will enable
technology from 2019 paperless journey from registration to boarding
China has built an The artificial Sun reached 100 million °C, 6 times
‘artificial sun’ the temperature of Sun’s core. It is designed to
replicate processes of the Sun as part of a project
to turn hydrogen into cost-effective green energy

59
Google officially launched It was initially made available on Google's Pixel
an Android 9.0 named Pie phones. Android 9.0 'Pie' will use artificial
intelligence to adapt to how you use the device
NASSCOM launched CoE The centre was set up in collaboration with
for data science & AI Karnataka government. The centre aims to
center in Bangalore support small & mid-sized businesses by
fast-tracking their product developing and
providing market access

Aerospace & Defence

Aerospace
News Narration
ISRO will train 45 UNNATI (Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly
countries in Training) program launched by ISRO
Nano-Satellite making commemorates 50​th​ anniversary of the first UN
Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses
of Outer Space (UNISPACE+50) in 1968
ISRO launched Ariane 5 VA-247 lifted off from Kourou Launch
communication satellite Base, French Guiana carrying India’s GSAT-31 &
GSAT-31 Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4
satellites. GSAT-31 will provide continuity to
operational services on a few in-orbit satellites
Scientists discovered an The exoplanet orbits its dwarf star in eleven hours.
exo planet named 'hot It is rocky in composition and only about fifty light
Earth' years away, with a radius of about 1.3 Earth-radii
Hubble space telescope Bedin 1 is classified as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy
discovered a new dwarf because it measures only around 3,000 light-years
galaxy ‘Bedin 1’ in the at its greatest extent, and it is roughly a thousand
cosmic neighbourhood times dimmer than our own Milky Way Galaxy
ISRO started Human Development of Gaganyaan, the great Indian
Space Flight Center human leap to space by 2022 will start at Human
Space Flight Centre (HSFC), headed by
Unnikrishnan Nair. A team of 800 to 900 people
will be deployed over time to carry it out
ISRO's GSLV-F11 GSAT-7A is a communication satellite launched
successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in
GSAT-7A Sriharikota
SpaceX launched India’s Built at a cost of less than Rs 2 crore, ExseedSAT 1
first privately built is a mini communication satellite weighing just a

60
satellite ExseedSAT along kg with double the size of a Rubik’s cube. It is
with 63 other satellites made up of aluminium alloy
from 18 countries
India’s heaviest ISRO’s heaviest made-in-India satellite till date,
made-in-India satellite weighing 5,854 kg was launched using imported
GSAT-11 (The Big Bird) ariane-5 heavyweight rocket from French Guiana
launched
ISRO launched India’s first 30 foreign satellites from 8 countries &
hyper spectral imaging hyperspectral imaging (HysIS) satellite PSLV C-43
satellite ‘HysIS’ were launched from Sriharikota. HysIS is an
advanced earth observation satellite
Chang’e-4 lunar probe ● The robotic probe from China landed in the
made soft landing on the unexplored South Pole-Aitken basin, the biggest
far side of the moon known impact structure in the solar system
● The mission was follow up to Chang’e-3, the first
Chinese landing on the moon. Since then, ‘Yutu
2’ rover is driving on the far side of the moon
ISRO successfully ISRO's heavy-lift rocket GSLV-MkIII-D2 successfully
launched communication injected GSAT-29 into its orbit. The satellite
GSAT-29 satellite from intends to meet the communication needs of
Sriharikota people in remote areas in the North East and J&K
ISRO launched PSLV-C44 launch vehicle placed 740-kg primary
'Microsat-R', a military satellite ‘Microsat-R’ in a 274-km polar sun
imaging satellite & synchronous orbit. 'Kalamsat' is said to be the
students-built lightest satellite of India
nano-satellite "Kalamsat"
ISRO will send first Indian
The programme will make India fourth nation in
into Space by Dec 2021 the world to launch ‘Gaganyaan’, a Human Space
flight Mission after the US, Russia & China. Space
fight will be launched aboard GLSV-MkIII
NASA confirmed presence Scientists found frozen water deposits in the
of ice on moon using data darkest & coldest parts of the Moon’s polar
from Chandrayaan-I regions using data from Chandrayaan-I spacecraft,
spacecraft launched by India ten years ago
Aditya – L1: First Indian ISRO’s Aditya-L1 mission, India’s first mission to
mission to study the Sun study solar corona, is planned to be launched in
to be launched in 2019 2019-2020, by launch vehicle PSLV-XL from
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh

61
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe The world’s first mission to touch the Sun was
set off launched from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, in the US
SpaceX launched world's Elon Musk-led space startup SpaceX launched the
heaviest communications Telstar 19 Vantage satellite, the world's heaviest
satellite commercial communications satellite weighing
over 7,000 kg, through its Falcon 9 rocket
ISRO conducted first crew ISRO successfully tested a capsule that will carry
escape test for India’s an Indian astronaut to space in future. The
manned mission to space experiment on 'Pad Abort' or crew bailout system
was conducted at a test facility in Sriharikota
SpaceX rocket launched a SpaceX launched a Falcon-9 rocket from the Cape
powerful communications Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket
satellite named SES carried SES satellite to a Geostationary Transfer
Orbit. SES satellite will allow telephone companies,
mobile network operators & internet service
providers to deliver more reliable cellular backhaul
& faster broadband
Scientists from Physical With this, India joined handful of countries that
Research Laboratory (PRL) have discovered planets around stars. Planet has
discovered ‘EPIC’ planet been named as K2-236b & host star as K2-236. The
EPIC planet is 6 times bigger than Earth & revolves
around host about 600 light years away

Defence
India signed a deal with The project, in collaboration with Russia, will be
Russian firm to produce undertaken at the Korwa ordnance factory.
7.5 lakh AK-203 rifles Around 7.5 lakh units of the latest version of AK-47
will be manufactured in the new unit
MPATGM successfully DRDO successfully test fired indigenously
test-fired by DRDO in developed, low weight, fire and forget
Rajasthan Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM)
for the second time in the Pokhran ranges of
Rajasthan desert. MPATGM is incorporated with
advanced features including state-of-the-art
Imaging Infrared Radar (IIR) Seeker with integrated
avionics.
India successfully The indigenously developed Pinaka guided rocket
test-fired guided rocket system was successfully test fired on Monday at
system Pinaka

62
 Pokhran desert in Rajasthan, in a boost to artillery
capability of the Army.
The indigenously developed guided Pinaka,
developed by DRDO, will significantly boost the
capability of the artillery to make precision hits
India is globally the India was the world’s second largest arms
second largest arms importer in 2014-2018, accounting for 9.5% of
importer behind Saudi global total, just behind Saudi Arabia with 12%, as
per global think-tank, Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Russia accounted
for 58% of Indian arms imports in 2014-18
The five largest importers in 2014-18 were Saudi
Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and Algeria. The five
largest exporters were the United States, Russia,
France, Germany and China.
India will lease India signed USD 3 bill​ion deal to lease ‘Akula-1’,
nuclear-powered the nuclear-powered class of submarines armed
submarine from Russia with cruise missiles, torpedoes, anti-aircraft
missiles and mines
India & France will set up ISRO & its French counterpart agency CNES will
joint maritime explore putting up a constellation of low-Earth
surveillance system orbiting satellites that will identify and track the
movement of ships globally, and in particular,
those moving in the Indian Ocean region where
France has its Reunion Islands
India cleared way for USD It was a long-pending deal to procure Project
2.2-billion frigates deal 11356 or advanced Talwar-class frigates, which
with Russia will be fitted with Brahmos missile system & have
several Indian-made equipment onboard,
including sensors and communication
Chief of Naval Staff Adding strength to India’s Act East Policy, Chief of
commissioned new base Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba commisioned​ the
christened ‘INS Kohassa’ base. It will become self-contained with fuel
ni north Andaman storage, repair facility, manpower under a
commanding officer
India & Russia concluded India decided to proceed with the long-anticipated
purchase negotiations for USD 5.5 billion deal to purchase Russia’s S-400
S-400 missile air defense surface-to-air missile units despite the US saying
systems the purchase may affect the relations between
Washington and New Delhi

63
India will procure ● India is deploying multi-tiered air defence
(NASAMS-II) from the US network to fully secure its airspace from
incoming fighter aircraft, missiles and unmanned
aerial vehicles
● National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile
System-II, an advanced air defence system will
be procured at USD 1 billion to defend National
Capital Region from aerial attacks
Dhanush, India’s first India’s first indigenous, long-range artillery gun
indigenous long-range “Dhanush” passed its final test at Pokhran, paving
artillery gun became the way for its induction into the Army. Dhanush is
ready for induction a 155mm x 45mm calibre artillery gun and is also
called the “desi Bofors”
Boeing delivered first CH-47F (I) or Chinook is a multi-role, vertical-lift
batch of Chinook military platform, used to transport troops, heavy artillery,
helicopters to IAF equipment & fuel to high altitude areas. It is also
used for humanitarian and disaster relief
operations and in missions like transportation of
relief supplies and mass evacuation of refugees
IAF test fired Astra missile Indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range
from Sukhoi-30 aircraft Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) Astra was launched
from Kalaikunda Air Force station
Indian navy’s Project-75I Six advanced submarines worth Rs. 40,000 crore
approved under strategic will be bought through Strategic Partnership (SP)
partnership model model of the Defence Procurement Procedure
DRDO successfully tested The indigenously developed surface-to-surface
‘Prahaar’ missile from short-range ballistic missile was flight tested at
Odisha Chandipur
India to buy S-400 missile Surface-to-air triumf missiles will give India's
systems from Russia military a much-needed boost, which would act as
a deterrent against China's growing presence in
the region and a superior edge over Pakistan
Indian Air Force ● LCA Tejas has been built by Aeronautical
successfully carried Development Agency (ADA) & HAL
first-ever mid-air ● Success of these trials will be major leap for
refuelling of LCA Tejas indigenous fighter that will help in enhancing
mission capability with better range & payload
● Ability to carry out air-to-air refuelling is also
one of critical requirements for LCA Tejas to
achieve final operational clearance

64
Military & Naval Exercises
Military Exercises
Exercise Narration
Annual 'Cobra Gold' asian ● It is the biggest exercise with seven active
military exercise held in participants in addition to Thailand and the US:
Thailand Singapore, Japan, China, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia and South Korea
● Three major components of the exercise were -
Military field training, humanitarian assistance
and disaster relief training
● Goals - "enhancing maritime security,
preventing & mitigating emerging disease
threats, responding to large-scale natural
disasters"
India-Myanmar bilateral The aim of the joint training event was to train
army exercise, 'IMBEX the Myanmar delegation for participation in UN
2018-19' was held in peacekeeping operations
Chandigarh
Vajra Prahar: India & the The aim was to promote military relations
US military exercise held in between two countries by enhancing
Jaipur interoperability and mutual exchange of tactics
between Special Forces
India-Japan military The exercise aimed at developing mutual
exercise Dharma understanding and respect between militaries of
Guardian-2018 held in both countries, as also facilitate in tracking
Mizoram worldwide phenomenon of terrorism
Japan-India Maritime Its objective was to enhance interoperability,
Exercise (JIMEX-18) held at improve understanding and imbibe best practices
Visakhapatnam between navies of two countries
Exercise Aviaindra-18: Joint Its main objective is to work on anti-terrorist
Air Force exercise of India operations in a bilateral scenario.
and Russia commenced at The exercise would further enhance the
Lipetsk, Russia cooperation and understanding each other’s
Concept of Operations
MILEX 2018: First military ● The theme of exercise was “counter-terrorism
exercise of BIMSTEC in semi-urban terrain and cordon and search”
countries held in Pune ● The main intent was to promote strategic
alignment among member-states & share best
practices in the area of counter-terrorism

65

KAZIND 2018: 3​rd
Indo-Kazakhstan joint
military exercise held in
Otar region, Kazakhstan
Ukraine launched annual
joint military exercise
named Rapid Trident 2018
with US & other NATO
India & Mongolia joint
exercise ‘Nomadic
Elephant’ 2018
commenced at Ulaanbaatar
Maitree 2018 is a joint
military exercise between
the Indian Army and Royal
Thai Army
India-Nepal joint battalion
level exercise Surya
Kiran-XIII began at
Uttarakhand
US, India, Japan started
Malabar Exercise in Guam
in June 2018
Naval Exercises
Konkan 18: India & UK
naval exercise held in Goa
Indian, Bangladeshi navies
launched joint anti-crime
maritime patrol
● Nepal didn’t participate in the exercise after
Cross-party leaders in Nepal raised their
concerns against the exercise
The aim was to build & promote bilateral army to
army relations, also exchange skills and
experiences between armies of both countries
Its main goal was to practice countering armed
aggression in conditions of the hybrid war
The exercise was centered around lecture &
demonstration on aspects of mobile check post,
contemporary security issues & threat involving
non-state elements
It contributed to enhancement of mutual
understanding & bonhomie between armies of
both the countries
A joint military exercise between India & Nepal
began at Pithoragarh with soldiers from both the
countries sharing experiences of counter
insurgency and counter terrorist operations
For the first time, India, Japan & the US will hold
annual Malabar exercises off the US territory of
Guam, to improve cooperation amid increasing
focus on Indo-Pacific region
The naval exercise 'Konkan 18' between India &
UK was held in Goa. It was indicative of
continuing cooperation between two countries
aimed at deriving mutual benefit from each
other’s experiences
The navies of India and Bangladesh launched the
first joint coordinated patrol (CORPAT) along
their maritime boundaries against terrorism,
66
 piracy, human trafficking, smuggling and illegal
fishing
India & Sri Lanka joint naval SLINEX was conducted in two phases, namely
exercise SLINEX-2018 held Harbour and Sea Phase. Activities involved joint
at Sri Lanka training, exchange of expertise, helicopter and
maritime patrol aircraft operations, search and
rescue, and maneuvers at sea
The first-ever bilateral The aim is to strengthen bilateral relations,
naval exercise ‘Samudra expand maritime co-operation, enhance
Shakti 2018’ between interoperability and exchange best practices
Indian & Indonesian navies
The largest coastal security The exercise saw participation by 100+ ships,
drill ‘Sea Vigil’ conducted aircraft and patrol boats manned & operated by
along 7500+ km long various security agencies. It meant to validate
coastline efficacy of security measures taken since 26/11
terrorist attack on Mumbai & activate coastal
security mechanism across 13 coastal states/UTs
Assumption Island: Seychelles will develop military facilities at the
Seychelles denied joint island on its own. This statement came after
project with India to growing political opposition in Seychelles to
develop naval base agreement that was signed with India in 2015 to
develop a naval facility at Assumption Island
which would have given India strategic advantage
in Indian Ocean Region

India’s Global Rankings

Rating/Index Released by India’s Ranking
Inclusive Internet Index Economist Intelligence 47/100 (47 in 2018)
2019 Unit (EIU) for Facebook
Global Climate Risk Germanwatch, an 14 (6 in 2018)
Index 2019 independent German
NGO and Climate Action
Network, Europe
Global Terrorism Index Institute for Economics 7 (8 in 2017)
2018 – Countries Most & Peace, a
Hit by Terror Sydney-based think-tank
EIU Democracy Index Economic Intelligence 41/167 countries
2018 Unit (42 in 2017)

67
Global Trust Index 2019 Communications Trust in government -
marketing Fourth position behind
firm ‘Edelman’ Indonesia, UAE & China
Global Retirement Natixis Global 43/43 countries
Index 2018 Rank 1 - Panama
Human Capital Index World Economic Forum 115/157 countries
2018
International IP Index Global Innovation Policy 36/50 global economies
2019 Centre (GIPC) of US (44 in 2018)
Chambers of Commerce Rank 1 - The US
Ease of Doing Business World Bank 77/190 (100 in 2018)
ranking 2019 Rank 1 - New Zealand
Human Development UN Development 130/189 (131 in 2017)
Index 2018 Programme Rank 1 - Norway
IMD World Talent IMD 53/63 (55 in 2017)
Ranking 2018 Rank 1 - Switzerland
Global Hunger Index International Food 103/119 (100 in 2017)
2018 Policy Research
Institute​ (IFPRI)
2018 Logistics The World Bank 44/160 (35 in 2017)
Performance Index
2018 FDI Confidence AT Kearney 11 (8 in 2017)
Index
Global Innovation Index WIPO, Cornell University 57/126 countries
2018 and INSEAD (60 in 2017)
End of Childhood Index Save the Children 113/175 countries
2018 (116 in 2017)
Global Peace Index Institute for Economics 137/163 countries
2018 & Peace (IEP) (141 in 2017)
Environmental Yale University and 177/180 countries
Performance Index Columbia University in (141 in 2017)
(EPI) 2019  collaboration with the
  WEF & the Joint
Research Centre of the
European Commission
World’s most valuable Brand Finance 9 (USD 2159 billion
nation brands list 2018 valuation)
Global Gender Gap World Economic Forum 108/144 countries
Index 2018

68
World Economic Centre for Civil Society, 96/162 (98 in 2017)
Freedom Index 2018 a public policy think tank
along with Canada’s
Fraser Institute
Global Competitiveness World Economic Forum 58/140 countries
Index 2017-18 (53 in 2017)
Global Talent Adecco, INSEAD 80/125 (79 in 2018)
Competitiveness Index Business School & Tata
2019 Comm.
World Digital The IMD Digital 48/63 (51 in 2017)
Competitiveness Index
2018
Corruption Perception Transparency 78/180 countries
Index 2018 International (81 in 2017)
Global Peace Index Institute for Economics 137/163 (141 in 2017)
2018 and Peace (IEP)
World Press Freedom Reporters Without 138 (136 in 2017)
Index 2018 Borders (NGO)
2018 Inclusive Growth World Economic Forum 62/103
& Development Index

International News
News Narration
India was ‘guest of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is a
honour’ at OCI summit at convention of 57 muslim majority nations. External
Abu dhabi in 50​th​ year of
affairs minister Sushma Swaraj became the first
establishment Indian minister to attend OCI summit & stressed on
united fight against terrorism
Singapore became India’s FDI in equity from Singapore reached USD 13
top FDI source during billion, while that from Mauritius was USD 6 billion
HY1 2018-19
‘Green New Deal’ ● A four part programme authored by New York
resolution has been Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez &
introduced in the US Senator Edward Markey is designed to move
Senate America quickly into a secure, sustainable future
● The plan intends to meet power demand of all of
the US from clean, renewable & zero emission
energy sources by 2030. A job guarantee is also
part of the ambitious proposal

69
The central banks of the ● It will be used in financial settlements between
UAE and Saudi Arabia two countries through Blockchains and
have launched a Distributed Ledgers technologies
common digital currency ● Through this digital currency, both the United
called “Aber”. Arab Emirates Central Bank (UAECB) and the
Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) are
studying the impact on the improvement and
reduction of remittance costs and the
assessments of risks
The US withdrew from ● Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty
the INF treaty with was signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan & Mikhail
Russia Gorbachev & barred both countries from
deploying lan-launched cruise missiles in
500-5500 km range
● Trump administration has argued that Russia has
not been complying with the pact since 2014 and
that it puts the US at a military disadvantage
against China, which is not bound by the treaty
Rio de Janeiro was According to UNESCO, the World Capital of
named as the World Architecture will serve as an international annual
Capital of Architecture forum to discuss global problems through the
for 2020 by the UNESCO lenses of culture, heritage, urban, planning, and
architecture. Throughout 2020, Rio de Janeiro will
host a series of events organized under the theme:
“All the worlds. Just one world.”
th​
The 7​ ASEAN-India ● Union Tourism Minister of India, K J Alphons
Tourism Ministers was co-chaired Tourism Ministers’ meeting with the
held in Vietnam Vietnamese minister, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien
● The Ministers’ meeting agreed to further
enhance ASEAN-India cooperation in tourism
under framework of ‘2012 MoU between ASEAN
and India on strengthening tourism cooperation
with intensified efforts & activities
India, South Africa sealed President Cyril Ramaphosa, during his India visit as
3-year strategic the chief guest for Republic Day parade signed
partnerships deals regarding defense & security, blue economic
cooperation & sustainable development
PM Theresa May ● 325 conservative MPs rejected no-confidence
survived vote of no- motion, tabled by opposition leader Jeremy
confidence after the Corbyn, and 306 MPs (Including 251 labour party
MPs) voted in favour

70
Brexit deal was rejected ●Following the vote, May said her government
by the UK parliament would continue to work to deliver on Brexit &
said it was their duty to find a way forward that
was approved by the House
● The Labour Party, liberal democrats & the Green
party had voted against Brexit deal earlier
Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil was re-appointed after the end of the
re-appointed as the Sri weeks-long political crisis in the island nation. He
Lankan PM belongs to United National Party and has served as
its leader since 1994
The US pulled out troops After defeating ISIS, the US president felt there was
from Syria no reason to keep US troops in Syria. The Defense
Secretary James Mattis resigned in protest
Emmanuel Macron He agreed to a range of economic concessions
declared a state of following weeks of violence in France, to placate
emergency in France and “yellow vest” anti-government protesters who
vowed to take action wreaked havoc in Paris due to low wages
China’s BeiDou ● The positioning accuracy of the system has
navigation satellite reached 10 metres globally & five metres in the
(BDS), rival to US GPS, Asia-Pacific region
started global services ● It is fourth global satellite navigation system after
the US GPS, Russia’s GLONASS & EU’s Galileo
● Pakistan became the first country to use the
BeiDou system ending its reliance on GPS
th​
24​ UN Climate Change The conference aimed to finalise practical
Conference of Parties implementation of 2015 Paris Agreement, part of
(COP24) held in the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework
Katowice, Poland Convention on Climate Change) & deliver goal of
limiting global temperature rises to well below 2​0​C
President Nicolas The US officials called up the military to rise up
Maduro survived failed against incumbent President Maduro & decided to
coup in Venezuela recognize Juan Guaido, a member of opposition in
Venezuela parliament as new country President.
After the failed coup, the military has pledged its
support to the re-elected president
G20 summit concluded in World leaders signed off on an ​agreement​ that
Beunos Aires, Argentina reaffirms a basic commitment by the biggest
economies to multilateral trade and a “rules-based
international order”. G20 recognized WTO is
currently falling short of meeting its objectives and
that it is in need of reform

71
Ukraine claimed that The incident happened around Kerch Strait, a key
Russia opened fire on its waterway in Azov sea that holds strategic
naval vessels near importance for both countries & marks a major
Crimea escalation in tensions between the two former
Soviet Republics
'Toxic' is Oxford English The adjective toxic is defined as ‘poisonous’ and
Dictionary’s ‘2018 Word first appeared in English in the mid-seventeenth
of the year’ century from the medieval Latin toxicus, meaning
‘poisoned’ or ‘imbued with poison’
Tesla appointed Robyn Denholm was CFO of Australian telecoms company
Denholm as the Telstra. She replaced billionaire founder Elon Musk.
chairman Elon Musk was forced to step down over a charge
of securities fraud; but remains Tesla CEO
US agreed to India & The US allowed India and China, along with South
seven other Nations to Korea, Japan, Italy, Turkey, Greece and Taiwan to
keep buying Iran Oil after temporarily keep buying Iranian crude oil despite
it imposed sanction sanctions against Tehran, calming fears of a
possible jump in fuel prices if supplies from the
OPEC country were completely choked
India elected to UNHRC Against selection criteria of minimum 97 votes,
with record no. of votes India received 188 votes, the highest polled by any
of the 18 countries elected in the voting
NAFTA agreement The US & Canada struck a deal on trade and
revised to USMCA announced framework for a new, revised NAFTA,
now known as US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or
USMCA. Deal is supposed to help Canada & Mexico
against protectionist duties imposed by the US
Earthquake & Tsunami Indonesia was hit by 7.5 magnitude earthquake &
shattered Indonesia 3-meter high wave-Tsunami in September. Official
death toll surpassed 800 & actual extent of casualty
could be much higher
The US imposed 10% Air conditioners, TV sets, food, furniture, toys &
tariff on Chinese goods raw materials are some of the items in a long list.
worth USD 200 bn China retaliated by imposing taxes worth USD 60 bn
Landmark defence pact The Communications, Compatibility, Security
COMCASA inked during Agreement (COMCASA) will give India, access to
Indo-US 2+2 dialogue advanced new defence systems like armed drones
& will enable armed forces to exploit existing
US-origin platforms more efficiently

72
4​th​ BIMSTEC 2018 The summit theme was - 'Towards a Peaceful,
summit was held in Prosperous and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region'
Kathmandu
Macau set to overtake According to IMF, Macau is set to overtake Qatar as
Qatar as world's richest ‘World's richest place’ with the highest per-capita
place by 2020 GDP of any country, by 2020
Pakistan elections 2018 - Headed by the cricket star turned politician Imran
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Khan, PTI won more seats than key opposition
(PTI) won maximum parties, i.e. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)
seats & The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). These & many
other parties complained of rigging in vote count
Israeli Parliament passed Israel’s Parliament passed a controversial piece of
contentious Jewish legislation that defines the country as the
nation law nation-state of the Jewish people. Arab MPs called
the legislation ‘racist’ and a ‘form of apartheid
aimed at creating two systems within one country’
NATO summit concluded The US President Donald Trump criticized NATO’s
in Brussels, Belgium inability to meet collective defense spending
targets and questioned its relevance
India joined EBRD as 69​th Indian membership of​ ​European ​Bank​ ​for
member Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) paves the
way for more joint investment with Indian
companies across the bank's regions of operation
The US withdrew from Standing with US Secretary of State ​Mike Pompeo​,
UNHRC US Ambassador to the UN - Nikki Haley accused
UNHRC of a "chronic bias against Israel"
India & China discussed ● Production cuts by oil producers’ cartel OPEC
to form ‘oil buyers’ club have led to major price hike in recent months.
OPEC supplies almost 60% of India’s oil needs
● India discussed with China the possibility of
forming an 'oil buyers club' that can negotiate
better terms with sellers & get more US crude oil
to Asia to cut dominance of the oil block
The US slapped stiff 25% The US accused China of IP theft and unfair trade
tariff on USD 50 billion practices. This decision triggered full-fledged trade
worth of Chinese goods war between world’s two largest economies
The US revoked China’s ● The US feels that China’s continued militarization
invitation to RIMPAC 18 of disputed features in the South China Sea raises
tensions and destabilizes the region

73
 ● The largest naval exercise saw participation of 26
nations, 47 surface ships, 5 submarines, 18
national land forces, 200+ aircrafts & 25,000
personnel in the biennial exercise

Global Superlatives
News Narration
India replaced Japan as As per World Steel Association report, India's steel
world's second largest production was at 106.5 MT in 2018. It went up by
steel producing country 4.9% from 101.5 MT in 2017. Japan produced 104.3
MT in 2018, down 0.3% compared to 2017.
China is the largest producer of crude steel with
51% of global steel production
The world’s longest The world's longest 3D-printed concrete pedestrian
3D-printed concrete bridge (26.3 metre-long & 3.6-metre-wide) was
bridge opened in China opened in China in 2019
Dubai airport was Dubai retained the position as the world's busiest
world’s busiest airport airport for 5​th​ consecutive year. Indian travellers
for international emerged as the largest source of traffic for the
passengers in 2018 airport with a record footfall of 89 million
World’s first Hyperloop The 32-metre "Quintero One" passenger capsule
passenger capsule was unveiled in Spain. After additional assembly &
unveiled integration into the system, it will be put to
commercial use
China opened the The ’InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland’ was
world’s first been opened in quarry in Shanghai, after a decade
underground hotel of construction
China built the world’s The world’s longest, 55-km long sea bridge links
longest sea bridge Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau. New sea bridge will
connect the east & west sides of Pearl River Delta of
South China Sea, connecting two Special
Administrative Regions of Hong Kong & Macau with
Zhuhai i.e. mainland China
Century’s longest lunar ‘Blood Moon 2018’ was seen for 1 hr 43 min. It was
eclipse seen in July 2018 majorly seen in Eastern Hemisphere including
Central Asia, Eastern Africa & Southeast Asiae
New Zealand scientists With the support of CERN Physics lab, The new
performed the world’s colour X-ray imaging technique can produce clearer
first 3D colour X-ray on & more accurate images that would help doctors to
human body get more accurate diagnoses

74
The US scientists The US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National
unveiled ‘summit’, the Laboratory (ORNL) supercomputer called ‘Summit’
world’s fastest scientific can complete over 200,000 trillion calculations per
supercomputer second – providing unprecedented computing
power for research in energy, advanced materials
and artificial intelligence
Germany launched the European railway manufacturer Alstom launched
world’s first ever the Hydrogen powered train. Coradia iLint uses fuel
hydrogen-powered train cells that turn hydrogen and oxygen into electricity,
and can travel up to 140 kmph
World’s smallest house The house made using nanorobotics measures only
by French scientists 20 microns (millionths of a meter) across, which is
about one-fifth the width of a human hair
Russia launched world’s ‘‘Akademik Lomonosov’, the newly established
first floating nuclear power station will be primarily used to power oil
plant rigs in remote areas of Arctic region where Russia is
pushing to drill for oil and gas
Scientists create world’s Scientists from Newcastle University, UK have
first 3D-printed human created world’s first 3D printed human corneas (3D
corneas printed thin protective film over eye) that could
solve problem of shortage of available eye donors
and help millions of blind people gain sight again
Colombia is first ever Colombia will join as a “global partner”, which
Latin American nation to means it will not necessarily have to take part in
join NATO as 'global military action & will be fully accredited in Brussels
partner'

International Appointments
Personality Narration
Gita Gopinath is IMF’s The Harvard economist is second Indian after former
chief economist RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to hold this position
Stefan Lofven elected Stefan Löfven, the leader of the Social Democrats won
as the Swedish Prime the election with support of the coalition partner, the
Minister Green Party
Ibrahim Mohamed Ibrahim Solih of Maldivian Democratic Party received
th
Solih was elected as 7​ over 58% votes. He defeated Incumbent president
President of Maldives Abdulla Yameen of Progressive Party of Maldives
Scott Morrison was He succeeded Malcolm Turnbull, who was forced out
sworn in as Australian by party rivals in a bruising leadership contest
prime minister

75
Pinelopi Goldberg The World Bank appointed Pinelopi Goldberg, a Yale
appointed as World professor specialising in the effects of trade
Bank’s Chief Economist liberalisation on developing countries. She took over
following Paul Romer’s resignation
Pedro Sanchez was He was sworn in after success of a motion of no
sworn in as Spanish PM confidence against former PM Mariano Rajoy
Giuseppe Conte was He was sworn in as the PM of Italy's new populist
sworn-in as prime government after a last-ditch coalition deal ended
minister of Italy months of political deadlock & narrowly avoided snap
elections in the eurozone's third largest economy
Erdogan was re-elected Tayyip Erdogan won 52% votes and his Justice and
as the president of Development Party received 53% of votes, a
Turkey comfortable majority in Parliament
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi The President was sworn-in for a second four-year
sworn in as PM of Egypt term in office as the country faces major economic and
security challenges
Kim Jong Yang of South Kim replaced Meng Hongwei, Deputy Minister of Public
Korea is new interpol Security of China, who is alleged to have resigned after
president his detention & disappearance by Chinese authorities
on corruption charges
Jair Bolsonaro was He won 55% of vote in the second-round vote and
elected as the defeated PT candidate Fernando Haddad
President of Brazil
Lotay Tshering Lotay, the president of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT)
is Bhutan’s new PM party won third elections held since 2008 in Bhutan.
His party won 30 out of 47 seats
Andres Manuel Lopez He started his six-year term, took 53% of votes in a
Obrador is the new three-way race. He is the first leftist president of
President of Mexico Mexico since a few decades

World Forums
Organization HQ Headed by 2018 convention
(Established in)
United Nations New York Secretary General Multiple conventions
(1945) – Antonio Guterres
UN General New York President - H.E. 73​nd​ session,
Assembly Ms. María (September 2018)
Fernanda Espinosa
Garcés (Ecuador)

76
UNFCCC Bonn, Executive Conference of Parties
Germany Secretary - Patrica (COP) 24, Poland
Espinosa
International Court Netherlands Abdulqawi Ahmed ---
of Justice (1945) Yusuf
World Bank (1945) Washington CEO - Kristalina ---
D.C Georgieva
IMF (1945) Washington CEO - Christine ---
D.C Lagarde
UNESCO (1945) Paris, France Director-General -
Audrey Azoulay
UNCTAD (1964) Geneva, Secretary General ---
Switzerland – Mukhisa Kituyi
World Economic Geneva, Executive ---
Forum (1971) Switzerland Chairman –Klaus
Schwab
Commonwealth of London, UK Queen Elizabeth II ---
Nations (1949)
World Intellectual Geneva, Director-General – __
Property Switzerland Francis Gurry
Organization (1967)
New Development Shanghai, K V Kamath ---
Bank (2015) China
BRICS (2009) Shanghai, --- Johannesburg, South
China Africa (2018)
BIMSTEC (1997) Dhaka, Secretary General Kathmandu, Nepal
Bangladesh – Shahidul Islam (2018)

WHO (1948) Geneva, Director General ---

Switzerland –Dr Tedros
Adhanom
Ghebreyesus
ASEAN Summit Jakarta, Secretary General 32​th​ & 33​rd​ summits,
(1967) Indonesia – Lim Jock Hoi Singapore
(Brunei) (2018)

UNICEF (1946) New York Exec Director - ---

Henrietta Fore
OPEC (1960) Vienna, Secretary General ---
Austria – Mohammed

77
 Sanusi Barkindo
(Nigeria)
NATO (1949) Brussels Secretary General Belgium (2018)
– Jens Stoltenberg
SAARC (1985) Kathmandu Secretary General Sri Lanka (2018)
–Amjad Hussain B.
Sial (Pakistan)
NAM (1961) Jakarta Secretary General Azerbaijan (2019)
– Ilham Aliyev
G7/G8 (1976) ---- ---- 44​th​ G7 summit,
Canada (2018)
G20 (1999) ---- Mauricio Macri 13​th​ Summit, Buenos
Aires, Argentina (2018)
SCO (2001) Beijing Secretary General Qingdao, China
– Rashid Olimov (2018)
International London, UK Secretary General ---
Maritime – Kitack Lim (South
Organization (1948) Korea)
International Geneva, Director General – 107​th​ Session,
Labour Switzerland Guy Ryder (UK) Switzerland
Organization (1919) (2018)
Asia-Pacific Singapore Chairperson – 30​th​ summit, Papua
Economic Sebastian Pinera New Guinea (2018)
Cooperation (APEC)
Forum (1989)

Important Days
Global Days

Description Date About it

World Leprosy Day Last Sunday Observance of the day focuses on target
of January of zero cases of leprosy-related
disabilities in children
2019 Theme - “Ending discrimination,
stigma and prejudice”
World Cancer Day 4 February 2019 Theme - “I Am & I Will,” is an
empowering call-to-action urging for
personal commitment and represents
the power of individual action taken now
to impact the future

78
World Radio Day 13 February On this day in 1946, UN Radio
broadcasted first call sign
2019 Theme - “Dialogue, Tolerance and
Peace”
International Mother 21 February 2019 Theme - “Indigenous languages
Language Day matter for development, peace building
and reconciliation”
World Wildlife Day 3 March 2019 Theme - “Life below water: for
people and planet”
International 8 March 2019 Theme - “Think equal, build smart,
Women’s Day innovate for change”
PI Day 14 March 3,1,4 are significant digits of PI, i.e. 3.14),
so 14/03, i.e. 14 March
World Consumer 15 March The day is observed to pay solidarity
Rights Day with the international consumer
movement and give more attention to
promote basic rights of consumers

2019 Theme - “Trusted Smart Products”

International Day of 20 March The International Day of Happiness
Happiness (“Happiness Day”) was founded by UN
adviser Jayme Illien on June 28, 2012
2019 Theme - “Share Happiness -
focusing on importance of relationships,
kindness and helping each other”
World Water Day 22 March The day focuses attention on the
importance of fresh water & advocates
for the sustainable management of
freshwater resources

2019 Theme - “Leaving no one behind”

World 23 March It marks establishment of World
Meteorological Day Meteorological Organization

2019 Theme - “The Sun, the Earth and

the Weather”
World Tuberculosis 24 March WHO has placed special focus on uniting
Day efforts to “Leave no one behind”
including actions to address stigma,

79
 discrimination, marginalization and
overcome barriers to access care

2019 Theme - “It’s time”

World Health Day 7 April 2019 Theme - ”Universal health
coverage: everyone, everywhere”
World Earth Day 22 April 2019 Theme - “Protect our species”
English Language 23 April Birth anniversary of William Shakespeare
Day/World Book Day
World Book Day 2019 Theme - “Share a
story”
World Malaria Day 25 April 2019 Theme - "End Malaria for Good"
World Intellectual 26 April 2018 Theme - “Powering Change:
Property Day Women in Innovation and Creativity”
World Press 3 May 2019 Theme - “Media for Democracy:
Freedom Day Journalism and Elections in Times of
Disinformation”
World Information 17 May Marks foundation of International
Society Day Telecommunication Union on 17 May
1865
No Tobacco Day 31 May 2019 Theme - “Tobacco and lung health”
World Milk Day 1 June The day is intended to provide an
opportunity to bring attention to
activities connected with dairy sector
World Environment 5 June 2019 Theme - “Air Pollution”
Day
World Oceans Day 8 June 2019 Theme - “Gender and Oceans”
World Day Against 12 June 2018 Theme - “Generation Safe &
Child Labour Healthy”
International Yoga 21 June 21 June – The ​longest day of the year​ in
Day/World the Northern Hemisphere
Hydrography Day
2018 Theme - “Bathymetry - the
foundation for sustainable seas, oceans
and waterways”
World Population 11 July World’s population reached almost five
Day billion people on 11 July 1987

2018 Theme - “Family Planning is a

Human Right”

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International Youth 12 August 2018 Theme –“Safe Spaces for Youth”
Day
World Humanitarian 19 August 2018 Theme - “#NotATarget”
Day
International Literacy 8 September 2018 Theme - “Literacy and skills
Day development”
International Day of 21 September 2018 Theme - “The Right to Peace - The
Peace Universal Declaration of Human Rights at
70“
World Tourism Day 27 September 2018 Theme - “Tourism and the Digital
Transformation”
International Day of 1 October 2018 Theme - “Celebrating Older Human
Older Persons Rights Champions”
World Teachers Day 5 October 2018 Theme - “The right to education
means the right to a qualified teacher”
World Sight Day 13 October 2018 Theme - “Universal Eye Health”
World Standard day 14 October 2018 Theme - ‘International Standards
and the Fourth Industrial Revolution‘
World Food Day 16 October 2018 Theme -“Our action are our future.
A #Zero Hunger World by 2013 is
possible”
World Anaesthesia 16 October ----
Day
World Statistics Day 20 October ----
United Nations Day 24 October ------
World Toilet Day 19 November 2018 Theme - “When Nature Calls”
Universal Children’s 21 November 2018 Theme - “Children are taking over
Day and turning the world blue”
World AIDS Day 1 December 2018 Theme - ‘Know Your Status’
World Computer 2 December -----
Literacy Day
International Day of 3 December 2018 Theme - ‘Empowering persons with
Persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness
Disabilities and equality’
World Soil Day 5 December 2018 Theme - ‘​Be the Solution to Soil
Pollution​’
Human Rights 10 December 2018 Theme - ‘Stand Up For Human
Day Rights’
International 18 December 2018 Theme - ‘Migration with Dignity’
Migrants Day

81
Indian Days
Day Date Narration
Pravasi Bharatiya 7-9 January The day commemorates the return
Divas of Mahatma Gandhi from South
Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915
National Youth Day 12 January It marks birth anniversary of Swami
Vivekananda
National Voters Day 25 January Marks Election commission’s
foundation on 25 January 1950
National Science Day 28 February Marks discovery of Raman Effect.
2018 theme - "Science and
Technology for a Sustainable Future”
National Maritime Day 5 April On this day in 1919, navigation history
was created when ​SS Loyalty​, the first
ship of The Scindia Steam Navigation
Company Ltd, journeyed to the UK
National Civil Services 21 April All officers of Central and State
Day Governments are honoured for
excellence in public administration by
the Prime Minister. The 'Prime
Minister Award for Excellence in
Public Administration' is presented
National Statistics Day 29 June Birth anniversary of Prof. Prasanta
Chandra Mahalanobis, an Indian
scientist and applied statistician

2018 theme is “Quality Assurance in

Official Statistics”. It underscores
importance of compliance with
essential parameters of quality in
statistical systems and products
National Doctors Day 1 July Birth anniversary of ​Dr Bidhan
(India) Chandra Roy​, the legendary physician
National Handloom 7 August Union Minister of State, Textiles, Shri
Day Ajay Tamta celebrated this at
Guwahati
National Sports Day 29 August Birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand, the
Olympic Gold medallist hockey player

82
 by organizing friendly hockey matches
in New Delhi
National Hindi Divas 14 September On this day in 1949, the Constituent
Assembly of India had adopted Hindi
written in ​Devanagari​ script as
the ​official language of the Republic of
India
Engineer’s Day (India) 15 September Birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna
Visvesvaraya. He is known as India's
greatest engineer of all times
World Student Day 15 October This day marks birth anniversary of Dr
A P J Abdul Kalam
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas 31 October Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity
Day) was introduced by the
Government of India and inaugurated
by Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in 2014 for celebrating Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel.
National Education 11 November Birth anniversary of Maulana Abul
Day Kalam Azad, the first ​education
minister​ of independent India
National Constitution 26 November Birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese
Day, National Milk Day Kurien, Father of the White
Revolution
National Mathematics 22 December Birth anniversary of the Indian
Day mathematical genius Srinivasa
Ramanujan
Good Governance Day 25 December Marks birth day of India’s Ex-Prime
Minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee

News reported after 15 March

News Narration
Dozens killed in terrorist Brenton Tarrant, a man in his late twenties is the
attack on New Zealand main suspect behind the attack that killed 50 plus &
based mosque injured 40 plus people
Pinaki Chandra Ghose is The former supreme court judge took over as
India’s first lokpal country’s first anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal.
Earlier, he served as a member of National Human
Rights Commission

83
World Happiness Report ● It ranks countries based on six variables: income,
2019 released by the UN freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social
Sustainable Development support and generosity
Solutions Network ● India ranking - 140/156 (133 in 2018)
WEF Global Energy India ranking - 76/115 (78 in 2018)
Transition Index (Rank 1 - Sweden)
FilmFare 2019 winners Best Actor (Female) Popular - Alia Bhatt (Raazi)
Best Actor (Male) popular - Ranbir Kapoor (Sanju)
Best Director (Popular) - Meghna Gulzar (Raazi)
Asian Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year: – Rishi Khosla, CEO &
2019 Co-Founder, Oaknorth Bank
Business Personality of the Year: – Kailesh Suri,
Founder, Reel Cinemas
Businesswoman of the Year Award - Mala Agarwal
(MD, Athena Care Homes)
Young Entrepreneur of the Year supported by SBI
-Dr Nikhil Shah, Director, London Town Group
Asian Rich List 2019 London-based NRI industrial tycoons, the Hinduja
released family topped for the sixth successive year
(Estimated net worth of 25.2 billion pounds)
Dipa Karmakar chosen as Gymnast Dipa Karmakar was presented with a
Barbie Role Model one-of-a-kind doll by Barbie as the company
celebrates 60​th​ anniversary
The world’s largest e-waste The Recycling Hub has a processing capacity of
recycling plant became 100,000 tonnes of total integrated waste per year,
operational in Dubai of which 39,000 tonnes is e-waste. The 280,000
square feet plant will process Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment (WEEE), IT asset disposition
(ITAD), refrigerant gas and specialised waste
Vice Admiral Karambir Karambir is the current Flag Officer Commanding in
Singh is the new chief of Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command of the
the naval staff Indian Navy. He succeeded Vice Admiral Sunil
Lanba, following the later’s retirement
7 Indians in 'World's 100 ● Union Minister for Railways and Coal​ P ​ iyush
Most Influential People in Goyal led the fast track electrification of nearly
Climate Policy for 2019’, 18,000 unelectrified villages, and been critical in
includes two union the rollout of a drastic power sector reform &
ministers the world's largest LED bulb distribution
programme

84
 ● He had also won the 2018 Carnot Prize Recipient
for contribution to energy policy
● Union Minister for Environment, Forest and
Climate Change Dr Harsh Vardhan focused on
motivating scientists to develop new
technologies that address social and
environmental problms
India successfully Mission Shakti is an anti-satellite missile test, under
completed ‘Mission Shakti’ which, an Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile shot down
the Low Earth Orbit satellite "within three minutes
of launch” from Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Island launch
complex in March 2019

Indian Army inducts first It is the first indigenous 155 mm x 45 calibre

indigenous artillery guns long-range artillery guns developed by Ordnance
named Dhanush Factory Board (OFB), Kolkata based on requirement
of Indian Army. It is also called desi Bofors as it is
upgraded version of Swedish 155-mm Bofors
howitzers, which India procured in mid-1980s,
based on its original designs.
Tashigang became the Tashigang at an altitude of 15,256 feet has now
World’s highest Polling became the world’s highest polling station in the
station sleepy hamlet of Buddhist-dominated Lahaul-Spiti
district of Himachal Pradesh.
Tashigang polling station falls in one of the 17
assembly segments that form the Mandi Lok Sabha
seat.
This polling station covers two villages of Tashigang
and Gete. As per the revised electoral rolls, the two
villages have 48 voters, of which 30 are men and 18
women
Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Turing award, known as the “Nobel Prize” of
Hinton and Yann LeCun computing. They were awarded for their
awarded Turing Award conceptual and engineering breakthroughs in
2018 artificial intelligence (AI).
India successfully launched India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C45)
EMISAT satellite successfully launched EMISAT and 28 international
customer satellites from Satish Dhawan Space
Centre (SDSC) SHAR in Sriharikota.
The PSLV C45 was launched from ISRO’s Satish
Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. It is the first

85

South Korea won the
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
2019
India was ranked at 140th
position in World Press
Freedom Index 2019.
Christina Koch is planning
to set a record for the
longest single spaceflight
by a woman in 2020.
NASA's flying observatory
SOFIA, recently discovered
Helium hydride , the first
ever molecule that was
formed, almost 14 billion
years ago.
Dhanbad in Jharkhand
scored 95.3% in terms of
the highest 4G availability
in India
The Guwahati railway
Station is the first ever
railway station to get an
ISO certification
The M3 version of EVMs to
be used in Nizamabad Lok
Sabha and Likely To Enter
Guinness Book with Record
EVMs
time ISRO is launching satellites in three different
orbits. Along with that, the PSLV-C45 launch vehicle
is also the first PSLV rocket to use four strap-on
motors.
India lost 4-2 in the penalty shootout to South
Korea in the final of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2019
India has slipped down two spots on the 2019
World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters
Without Borders (RSF)
India made the debut on this index in 2013 at 140
out of 180 countries. The rankings gradually
improved, reaching 136 in 2017.
She will stay aboard the ISS for 328 days, and will
return in February 2020. Her mission will provide
data for NASA's Human Research Program
Dhanbad became the number one city in terms of
highest 4G availability in India by the report name
‘OpenSignal’s hottest city for 4G Availability’.
Ranchi which has 95% of 4G Availability, ranked
second and Srinagar ranked third with a score of
94.9% on the list with 4G availability.
The National Green Tribunal gave this certificate for
providing passenger amenities in a clean and green
environment
i. Total of 12 EVMs in each polling station was
linked to one control unit in each of the 1,778
polling centers.
ii. It became the first constituency in the country to
witness polling with EVMs for a large number of
candidates (185 candidates).
86

India's population grew at India’s population in 2019 stood at 1.36 billion,
1.2 percent between
2010-19: UN report
Leeladhar Jagudi to be
honoured with Vyas
Samman 2018
Lewis Hamilton won the
Chinese Grand Prix for a
record sixth time
India has successfully
test-fired first indigenously strike range. It can be launched from multiple
designed and developed
long-range subsonic cruise and nuclear warheads.
missile ‘Nirbhay’ from a
test range in Odisha.
The most powerful
operational rocket in the
world, SpaceX’s Falcon
Heavy, launched the first
commercial mission from
Florida
Telugu poet K Siva Reddy
has been selected for the
prestigious Saraswati
Samman 2018
The world's largest
airplane called 'Roc'
weighing nearly 2,26,800
kilograms with a 385-foot
wingspan took the first
ever flight in California
iii.This new version of EVMs was developed by the
Electronics Corp of India Ltd (ECIL) and Bharat
Electronics Ltd (BEL).
growing from 942.2 million in 1994 and 541.5
million in 1969.
China’s population grew at an average annual rate
of 0.5% between 2010 and 2019.
Hindi author will be honoured by KK Birla
foundation for his collection of poems “Jitne Log
Utne Prem
He seized the overall lead from his Mercedes
teammate Valtteri Bottas in Formula One’s 1,000th
world championship race. The comfortable win was
the 75th of Hamilton’s career, and second in a row.
Valtteri Bottas was second for his team’s third
one-two finish in as many races this season.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took third place.
The all-weather missile, has a 1,000-kilometre
platforms and was designed to carry conventional
It was also for the first time that all three reusable
boosters of rocket return safely to earth.
He won the award for the collection of poetry titled
Pakkaki Ottigilite.
Built by Stratolaunch, it's designed to launch
rockets into orbit from the air. The plane is
powered by six engines on a twin fuselage and is
designed to fly to an altitude of 35,000 feet. The
aircraft is so big its wingspan is longer than a
87

Renowned space scientist
SK Shivakumar Passed
away
Astronomers captured the
first-ever image of a black
hole
2019 UNESCO/Guillermo
Cano Press Freedom Prize
awarded to Wa Lone and
Kyaw Soe Oo
IIT-Madras topped in
overall category in NIRF
2019 rankings
Jet airways operations
come to a temporary halt
The world's tallest,
131-foot-tall, indoor
waterfall was opened to
the general public in
Singapore in 2019.
football field, or about 1.5 times that of an Airbus
A380.
SK Shivakumar was the Director of Indian Space
Research Organisation Satellite Centre.
He was part of the team which had developed
telemetry system for India’s first moon mission
Chandrayan – I. He contributed to several missions
like Bhaskara, INSAT, IRS-1B, and IRS-1C. He was
Padma Shree awardee and also honored with
Karnataka Rajyotsava award (2008).
The supermassive black hole is 50m light-years
away in a galaxy known as Messier 87 (M87) and
has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the sun.
Reuters reporters were awarded for their
exceptional courage in reporting on alleged human
rights violations in Myanmar’s state of Rakhine
Top 5 universities by NIRF 2019
1. Indian Institute of Science
2. Jawaharlal Nehru University
3. Banaras Hindu University
4. University of Hyderabad
5. Calcutta University
Miranda House continued to be the top college
with as many as six colleges of Delhi University
featuring in the top 10
India’s second largest airlines was facing a huge
shortage of working capital for quite some time.
Employees have not received salaries on time. SBI
refused to grant loans in spite of the founder
Naresh Goyal surrendering his stake in the
company. As a result, all flights have temporarily
been stopped till company finds competent buyer
The waterfall is housed inside a dome-shaped
complex which has gardens growing over four
storeys, more than 280 retail and food outlets, a
hotel and a movie theatre.
The structure also has a botanical garden with 120
species of plants.
88
RIL Chairman Mukesh
Ambani, Senior Advocate
Menaka Guruswamy &
Arundhati Katju appeared
among the world's 100
most Influential People
2019 list.
The world's first-ever
malaria vaccine was
launched as a pilot project
in Africa in 2019
ETMONEY became India's
first comprehensive
financial services app to
integrate UPI as payment
method.
The first ever G20 summit
in the Arab world will be
hosted by Saudi Arabia in
November 2020.
Indian navy has launched
advanced stealth guided
missile destroyer named
INS Imphal at Mazagaon
dockyard in 2019
Guwahati Railway Station
is the first ever to get ISO
certification in India
China successfully tested
the world’s first armed
amphibious drone boat
named 'Marine Lizard'.
Public-interest litigators Arundhati Katju and
Menaka Guruswamy, appeared in the list as they
spearheaded a historic legal battle for LGBTQ rights
in India.
Although the vaccine protects only a third of
children aged under two years from life-threatening
or severe malaria, clinical trials have found those
who are immunised are likely to have less severe
cases of the disease.
This integration will simplify the mutual fund
payment for millions of ETMONEY users. ETMONEY
is owned by Times Internet, it is a part of the Times
Group.
In 2018, G20 meeting was held in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman had represented the Kingdom. Japan is
all geared to host 2019 summit in Osaka in June
end.
It is the third ship of Project 15B, a guided missile
destroyer Imphal . It has a weight of 3,037 tonnes,
the vessel made the first contact with water with
full fanfare during the launching ceremony.
Guwahati got ISO certification for providing
passenger amenities in a clean and green
environment. The station also has amenities such
as High-class reserve (VIP) lounge, waiting rooms,
AC and non-AC retiring rooms, food courts and
sanitation facilities.
Chinese military analysts claimed it is used in land
assault operations and is capable of forming a
combat triad with aerial drones and other drone
ships. The 12-meter-long Marine Lizard is a
trimaran propelled by a diesel-powered hydrojet
and can reach a maximum speed of 50 knots while
maintaining stealth. It has a maximum operation
range of a maximum operation range of 1,200 km.
89
As per Forbes World's Best Apart from HDFC Bank, it was another
Bank survey 2019, HDFC private-owned lender ICICI Bank which took the
bank was identified as top second spot in Forbes list for India. At third rank
ranked bank by customers was DBS, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank and
in India. IDFC Bank taking the fourth and fifth spot.

90