Glossary of

important terms, facts

& institutions
for
B-School Interviews

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Table of Contents
Overview of Indian economy and related terms: ................................................................................... 3
National Institutions/Associations: ....................................................................................................... 10
International Institutions/Associations: ............................................................................................... 12
Office-bearers: ...................................................................................................................................... 14
West Bengal State facts: ....................................................................................................................... 15
Important areas for GDPI: ..................................................................................................................... 17

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Overview of Indian economy and related terms:

Indian Economy is classified into three major sectors:

• Agriculture & Allied Sectors is known as the primary sector of the Indian economy.
Present contribution to Indian GDP is about 17-18% at current prices. This sector
provides jobs to around 53% population of India.
• Manufacturing Sector is known as the secondary sector of the economy. Currently it
is contributing around 29 % of the Indian GDP.
• Services Sector is known as tertiary sector of the economy. Currently this sector is
the backbone of the Indian economy and contributing around 53% of the Indian GDP.

 Bailout is the act of a business, an individual, or government providing money and

resources (also known as a capital injection) to a failing company. These actions help
to prevent the consequences of that business's potential downfall which may
include bankruptcy and default on its financial obligations.

 Balance of Payments: Balance Of Payments (BOP) is a statement which records all

the monetary transactions made between residents of a country and the rest of the
world during any given period. This statement includes all the transactions made
by/to individuals, corporates and the government and helps in monitoring the flow of
funds to develop the economy.

 Balance of Trade: The balance of trade is the difference between the value of a
country's imports and exports for a given period. India's trade deficit for 2018-19 was
$176 billion.

 Balanced budget is an idealistic financial statement where the government’s

estimated expenditure is equal to the revenue receipts in a financial year.

 Budget deficit: A budget deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenue and it
indicates the financial health of a country.

 Budget surplus: This is the opposite of budget deficit where receipts or income
exceeds expenditure or outlays.

 Capital adequacy ratio (CAR) is a measurement of a bank's available capital

expressed as a percentage of a bank's risk-weighted credit exposures. It is used to
protect depositors and promote the stability and efficiency of financial systems
around the world.

 Capital budget includes capital receipts and payments of the government. Loans
from public, foreign governments and RBI form a major part of the government's
capital receipts.

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 Capital expenditure or Capex: It denotes funds used by a company (government)
to acquire, maintain or upgrade physical assets such as property, new infrastructural
projects or buying new equipment.

 Capital market is a market where buyers and sellers engage in trade of financial
securities like bonds, stocks, etc. The buying/selling is undertaken by participants
such as individuals and institutions.

 Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is the share of a bank’s total deposit that is mandated by
the Reserve Bank of India to be maintained with the latter in the form of liquid cash.
CRR is one of the main components of the RBI’s monetary policy, which is used to
regulate the money supply, level of inflation and liquidity in the country. The higher
the CRR, the lower is the liquidity with the banks and vice-versa.

 Consumer Price Index: CPI is a measure that examines the weighted average of
prices of a basket of goods and services which are of primary consumer needs. They
include transportation, food, and medical care.

 Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which

makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are
decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger
enforced by a disparate network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies
is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them
theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation.

 Current Account Deficit (CAD): The current account deficit is a measurement of a

country’s trade where the value of the goods and services it imports exceeds the
value of the products it exports. India’s current account deficit (CAD) stood at US$
15.8 billion (2.4 per cent of GDP) in Q1 of 2018-19.

 Deficit Financing: When government goes for public borrowing or borrowing from
RBI to make up the gap between revenues and expenditure. Government may need
to take this step to meet the expenditure on its expansionary policies, developmental
plans, welfare schemes.

 Deflation is a general decline in prices for goods and services, typically associated
with a contraction in the supply of money and credit in the economy. During deflation,
the purchasing power of currency rises over time.

 Demonetisation: In November 2016, the Government of India announced the

demonetisation of INR 500 and INR 1,000 currency notes and the issuance of new
INR 500 and INR 2,000 notes. The purpose of it was fourfold - to eradicate
counterfeit notes; curb black money and the use of money in illegal activities like
human trafficking and terrorism; fight tax evasion and bring financial transactions
under the digital radar. The decision was met with mixed initial reactions, and saw a
decrease in the growth rate of the GDP - making it the lowest since March 2014.
However, the action also had positive effect on the economy through increased
digital transactions; rise in mutual funds and insurance investments and an increase

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 in income-tax returns filed - from 38 mn in 2014 to 68.6 mn in 2018 - giving income
tax officials the ability to track suspicious transactions.

 Digital currency is a form of currency that is available only in digital or electronic

form, and not in physical form. Digital currencies are intangible and can only be
owned and transacted in by using computers or electronic wallets connected to the
Internet or the designated networks. Bitcoin is an example of digital currency.

 Direct tax: A direct tax is paid directly by an individual or organization to the

Government. All taxes including income tax, property tax and corporate tax are
included under direct taxes.

 Disinvestment in Public sector units is the process of public asset sales by the
Government directly (offer for sale to public) or indirectly (bidding process) in
capitalized market. The Central government has set ₹1.05 trillion disinvestment
target for the fiscal year 2019-20.

 Ease of doing business is an index published by the World Bank which includes
different parameters that define the ease of doing business in a country. India has
moved 14 places to the 63rd rank (as compared to the previous year) among 190
nations in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking released in Oct 2019.

 Exchange rate is the price of one currency in terms of another currency. Exchange
rates can be either fixed or floating. Fixed exchange rates are decided by central
banks of a country whereas floating exchange rates are decided by the mechanism
of market demand and supply.

 Exports: During 2017-18, India’s exports stood at $ 303.5 bn. India’s top five export
partners included the United States (15.7%), UAE (9.3%), Hong Kong (4.8%), China
(4.4%) and Singapore (3.4%). Major items of export include precious metals and
stones, mineral fuels and auto components.

 Fiscal Deficit: Fiscal deficit is a shortfall in a government's income compared with its
spending. The Union budget has estimated the fiscal deficit for India for 2019-20 to
be Rs 7.03 lakh crore, or 3.3% of the gross domestic product.

 Fiscal policy is a blueprint of estimated taxation and government spending. Fiscal

policy denotes adjustments in spending level and tax rates, serving as a key
instrument to monitor the country’s economic position.

 Foreign Direct Investment: A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment made

by a firm or individual in one country into business interests located in another
country. India received $42-billion FDI inflows in 2018.

 Foreign Institutional Investment: A foreign institutional investor (FII) is an investor

or investment fund registered in a country outside of the one in which it is investing.

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 Goods & Services Tax: Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented on July 1,
2017, in a bid to subsume a number of indirect taxes. It is levied on the supply of
goods and services. Decisions pertaining to the GST are approved by the GST
Council, which is trying to simplify the indirect taxation system further in terms of slab
reduction. As of now, India's GST has five slabs -- 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent,
18 per cent and 28 per cent.

 Gross Domestic Product: Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total market value
of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a
specific time period. GDP of Indian economy in 2018 was $2.72 trillion or INR 186.1
trillion. GDP grew by about 6.81 percent in 2018 as compared to the previous year.

 Gross National Product: Gross national product (GNP) is an estimate of total value
of all the final products and services turned out in a given period by the means of
production owned by a country's residents.

 Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical tool used to measure a country's

overall achievement in its social and economic dimensions. The social and economic
dimensions of a country are based on the health of people, their level of education
attainment and their standard of living. Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq created
HDI in 1990 which was further used to measure the country's development by the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

 Hyperinflation: It is rapid, excessive, and out-of-control price increases in an

economy. Argentina, Iran, Turkey, Sudan, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe are
currently facing hyperinflation.

 Imports: During 2017-18, India’s imports stood at $ 465.6 bn. Major import items
include mineral fuels, precious metals and stones and electrical machinery.

 Inflation: It is the constant rise in the general level of prices where a unit of currency
buys less than it did in prior periods. India's inflation rate increased to 5.54 % year-
on-year in November 2019 from 4.62% in the previous month.

 Investment banking is a special segment of banking operation that helps individuals

or organisations raise capital and provide financial consultancy services to them.
They act as intermediaries between security issuers and investors and help new
firms to go public.

 Law of demand states that other factors being constant, price and quantity demand
of any good and service are inversely related to each other. When the price of a
product increases, the demand for the same product will fall.

 Law of supply states that other factors remaining constant, price and quantity
supplied of a good are directly related to each other. In other words, when the price
paid by buyers for a good rises, then suppliers increase the supply of that good in the
market.

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 Market capitalization is the aggregate valuation of the company based on its current
share price and the total number of outstanding stocks. It is calculated by multiplying
the current market price of the company's share with the total outstanding shares of
the company

 Monetary policy refers to the policy of Reserve Bank of India in matters of interest
rates, money supply and availability of credit. It is through the monetary policy that
RBI controls inflation in the country.

 Non-performing asset (NPA) is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest
payment remained overdue for a period of 90 days. The issue of Non-Performing
Assets (NPAs) in the Indian banking sector has become the subject of much
discussion and scrutiny. In fiscal year 2019, the value of non-performing assets of
private banks across India amounted to over 1.8 trillion Indian rupees.

 Non-plan revenue expenditure covers interest payments, subsidies (mainly on food

and fertilisers), wage and salary payments to government employees, and grants to
foreign governments.

 Payments bank is like any other bank, but operating on a smaller scale without
involving any credit risk. In simple words, it can carry out most banking operations
but can’t advance loans or issue credit cards. It can accept demand deposits (up to
Rs 1 lakh), offer remittance services, mobile payments/transfers/purchases and other
banking services like ATM/debit cards, net banking and third party fund transfers.

 Plan expenditure is the budget estimates that are determined after discussion with
all stakeholders or ministries.

 Public distribution system is a government-sponsored chain of stores entrusted

with the work of distributing basic food and non-food commodities to the needy
sections of the society at very cheap prices. Wheat, rice, kerosene, sugar, etc. are a
few major commodities distributed by the public distribution system. Food
Corporation of India, a government entity, manages the public distribution system in
India.

 Purchasing power parity (PPP) is an economic theory that allows the comparison
of the purchasing power of various world currencies to one another.

 Quantitative easing is a monetary policy which is adopted by the government to

increase money supply in the economy in order to further increase lending by
commercial banks and spending by consumers. The central bank (Read: The
Reserve Bank of India) infuses a pre-determined quantity of money into the economy
by buying financial assets from commercial banks and private entities. This leads to
an increase in banks' reserves.

 Recession is a slowdown or a massive contraction in economic activities. A

significant fall in spending generally leads to a recession.

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 Repo rate refers to the rate at which commercial banks borrow money by selling
their securities to RBI to maintain liquidity, in case of shortage of funds or due to
some statutory measures.

 Revenue expenditure: It denotes short-term cost-related assets that are not

capitalised. This is recurring in nature and incurred by the government regularly.
Such expenses are incurred by the government towards paying salaries and
maintaining fixed assets.

 Revenue deficit: A revenue deficit occurs when realized net income is less than the
projected net income. This is the opposite of a revenue surplus, which occurs when
the actual amount of net income exceeds the projected amount.

 Revenue budget includes the government's revenue receipts and expenditure.

There are two kinds of revenue receipts - tax and non-tax revenue.

 Reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows money from commercial banks
within the country. It is a monetary policy instrument which can be used to control the
money supply in the country.

 Special economic zone is an area that is subject to unique economic regulations

that differ from other regions of the same country. The SEZ regulations tend to be
conducive to foreign direct investment (FDI). Conducting business in an SEZ typically
implies that the company will receive tax incentives and the opportunity to pay lower
tariffs.

 Soft currency is a currency which is hyper sensitive and fluctuates frequently. Such
currencies react very sharply to the political or the economic situation of a country.
Zimbabwean dollar is a classic example of soft currency.

 The financial market in India is facilitated through the Securities and Exchange Board
of India (SEBI)-registered stock exchanges, with National Stock Exchange (NSE) and
the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) being the most common. NSE is the second-
largest exchange globally by the number of trades in equity shares, while BSE is
Asia’s first and currently fastest stock exchange.

 1991 Liberalization of Indian economy (New Economic Policy or LPG policy): A

Balance of Payments crisis in 1991 pushed India to near bankruptcy. In response to
the crisis, the Finance ministry led by Manmohan Singh, initiated the economic
liberalisation of 1991 with the support of the then Prime minister Narasimha Rao. The
reforms did away with the Licence Raj, reduced tariffs and interest rates and ended
many public monopolies, allowing automatic approval of foreign direct investment in
many sectors. In the same year, World Bank sanctioned a structural adjustment loan
through India's ministry of finance, with the President of India as the borrower. The
loan was meant primarily to support the government's program of stabilization and
economic reform.

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  Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is a smartphone application which allows users to
transfer money between bank accounts. It is a single-window mobile payment system
developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It eliminates the
need to enter bank details or other sensitive information each time
a customer initiates a transaction. The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), India's central bank.

 Union Budget of a year is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of

the government for that particular year. Union Budget is classified into Revenue
Budget and Capital Budget.

 Wholesale Price Index: WPI is another popular measure of inflation, which

measures and tracks the changes in the price of goods in the stages before the retail
level.

Central Govt. Schemes:

 Ayushman Bharat is National Health Protection Scheme launched by Government
of India with a plan to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families
(approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per
family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. This scheme has
subsumed other centrally sponsored schemes - Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
(RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS).

 Digitial India was launched by the Government of India with a vision to transform the
country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. It would ensure
that government services are available to citizens electronically. It would also bring in
public accountability through mandated delivery of government's services
electronically.

 Government of India launched the ‘Make in India’ initiative with an aim to support
the country’s manufacturing sector and elevate its contribution to the GDP - from the
current 17%, to 25% by 2022. The scheme has attracted new entrants such as Kia
and MG Motors. Notably, the construction sector has seen a steep rise in FDI
through government initiatives such as the Bharatmala and Sagarmala Programmes
and the Smart Cities Mission. The Government of India also launched the India
Investment Grid (IIG) as an initiative that aims to showcase a menu of investment
options across India on a single interactive platform, thus connecting potential
investors to project promoters.

 PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) Scheme: This scheme

promises to pay all poor farmers (small and marginal farmers having lands up to 2
hectares) Rs 6,000 each every year in 3 installments through Direct Bank Transfer. It
would reportedly benefit around 14.5 crore farmers all over India.

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  Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana’ is a campaign launched by
Govt of India, to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses through
special stores. These stores have been set up to provide generic drugs, which are
available at lesser prices but are equivalent in quality and efficacy as expensive
branded drugs.

 Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched by Prime Minister of India
Narendra Modi on May 1, 2016 to distribute 50 million LPG connections to women of
BPL families.

 Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is a National Mission on Financial Inclusion

which has an integrated approach to bring about comprehensive financial inclusion
and provide banking services to all households in the country. The scheme ensures
access to a range of financial services like availability of basic savings bank account,
access to need based credit, remittances facility, insurance and pension.

 Skill India program was launched by the Government of India in July 2015 to train
and develop industrial, entrepreneurial skills among Indians. This program envisages
training over 400 million women and men in the country in various industrial and
trade skills by the year 2022.

 Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by

the Government of India with the mission to develop 100 smart cities across the
country making them citizen friendly and sustainable. A total of ₹98,000 crore has
been approved by the Indian Cabinet for the development of 100 smart cities and the
rejuvenation of 500 others.

 Standup India was launched by Government of India in April 2016 to support

entrepreneurship among women and SC & ST communities. This scheme facilitates
bank loans between 10 lakh and 1 Crore to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC) or
Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch
for setting up a greenfield enterprise.

 Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (Girl Child Prosperity Scheme) is a scheme initiated

by the Government of India. The prime aim of the scheme is to encourage parents of
a girl child in order to create a fund for the future education and marriage expenses
for their child.

National Institutions/Associations:

Parliament: The Parliament is the supreme legislative body of India. It consists of

Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). Number
of members in Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha: 545 & 245 rsp.

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NITI Aayog: NITI Aayog is the premier policy think tank of the Government of India,
providing both directional and policy inputs. Its role is to formulate strategic and long
term policies and programmes for the Government of India and also provides
relevant technical advice to the Centre and States. It replaced Planning Commission
in 2014. Chairperson: Prime Minister of India.

Securities and Exchange Board of India: The Securities and Exchange Board of India
is the Regulator for the Securities market in India. Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi.

RBI: The Reserve Bank of India is India's central bank, which controls the issue and
supply of the Indian rupee. Governor: Shaktikanta Das

India has two stock exchanges: the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National
Stock Exchange (NSE). The BSE has been in existence since 1875. The NSE, on
the other hand, was founded in 1992 and started trading in 1994. BSE has approx.
5000 listed firms, whereas NSE has about 2000 listed firms. SENSEX is the stock
market index for BSE, while Nifty is the stock market index for NSE.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is the regulator of the telecommunications

sector in India. TRAI is charged with ensuring the orderly growth of the telecom
sector while protecting the interests of both telecom service providers and
consumers. It encourages technological improvements and makes recommendations
for how providers can improve efficiency and technical compatibility.

India has the world’s second-largest internet subscriber base, and is the third-largest
tech startup hub. Its domestic tech-market is the fastest growing in the Asia-Pacific
region.

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is an association

of Indian business organizations which is dedicated to promoting the growth and
global competitiveness of Indian businesses. Established in 1927, it is the oldest and
largest business association in India, comprising thousands of corporations,
chambers of commerce, trade associations, and other groups.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) is a not-

for-profit Indian consortium created to promote the development of the country's IT
(information technology) and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries.
NASSCOM was established in 1988 and is headquartered in New Delhi. The
organization has over 1200 members, more than 250 of which are global
corporations from other countries including the European Union, the United Kingdom,
the United States, Japan and China

Food Corporation of India is a statutory body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs,
Government of India. FCI purchases food grains mainly from surplus states such as
Punjab, Haryana and supplies them to deficit states.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, founded by Homi J. Bhabha, is India's premier

nuclear research facility, headquartered in Mumbai. BARC's core mandate is to

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 sustain peaceful applications of nuclear energy, primarily for power generation. It
also conducts research in spent fuel processing, and safe disposal of nuclear waste.
Its other research focus areas are applications for isotopes in industries, medicine,
agriculture, etc. Its current director is Ajit Kumar Mohanty.

The Indian Space Research Organisation is the space agency of the Government of
India. The prime objective of ISRO is to develop space technology and
its application to various national needs. ISRO has established two major space
systems, INSAT for communication, television broadcasting and meteorological
services, and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) system for resources
monitoring and management. ISRO built India's first satellite, Aryabhata, which was
launched by the Soviet Union in 1975. Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan.

Defence Research and Development Organisation is an agency of the Government

of India, charged with the military's research and development. DRDO’s work spans
various areas of military technology including aeronautics, armaments, combat
vehicles, electronics, instrumentation engineering systems, missiles, materials, naval
systems, advanced computing, simulation and life sciences.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research was established by the Government
of India as an autonomous body that has emerged as the largest research and
development organisation in India. The research and development activities of CSIR
include aerospace engineering, structural engineering, ocean sciences, life
sciences, metallurgy, chemicals, mining, food, petroleum, leather, and environmental
science.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a trade association representing the interests

of Indian businesses in various sectors, chiefly including engineering, manufacturing,
consulting, and services.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India is an autonomous,

statutory body tasked with regulating and promoting the insurance sector in India. Its
work is to promote and ensure the growth of Insurance Industry, to ensure speedy
settlement of genuine claims and to prevent frauds and malpractices and to bring
transparency and orderly conduct of in financial markets dealing with insurance.

International Institutions/Associations:

 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that aims to

promote global economic growth and financial stability, encourage international
trade, and reduce poverty. Managing Director and Chairwoman of the International
Monetary Fund is Kristalina Georgieva.

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 The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization responsible for maintaining
international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and
achieving international cooperation. There are 193 UN member states in UN.
Secretary-General: António Guterres

 World Bank: The World Bank is an international organization dedicated to providing

financing, advice, and research to developing nations to aid their economic
advancement. The bank predominantly acts as an organization that attempts to fight
poverty by offering developmental assistance to middle- and low-income countries.
President of the World Bank: David R. Malpass

 OPEC: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a group

consisting of 14 of the world’s major oil-exporting nations. OPEC was founded in
1960 to coordinate the petroleum policies of its members and to provide member
states with technical and economic aid. Countries that belong to OPEC include Iran,
Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela (the five founders), plus the United Arab
Republic, Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, and five other countries.

 The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional
intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its
member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAARC was formed as regional cooperation bloc for
cooperation among south Asian countries in areas of economy, healthcare and
development.

 BRICS is an acronym for the developing nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa- countries believed to be the future dominant suppliers of manufactured
goods, services, and raw materials by 2050. China and India will become the world's
dominant suppliers of manufactured goods and services, respectively, while Brazil
and Russia will become similarly dominant as suppliers of raw materials.

 The Commonwealth of Nations is a political association of 53 member states, nearly

all of them former territories of the British Empire. Its roots go back to the British
Empire when some countries were ruled directly or indirectly by Britain. Some of
these countries became self-governing while retaining Britain's monarch as Head of
State. They formed the British Commonwealth of Nations.

 The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international organization headquartered in

Geneva, Switzerland that brings together its membership on a yearly basis to discuss
major issues concerning the world political economy. These include but are not
limited to issues of politics, economics, social, and environmental concerns.

 WTO: Created in 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international

institution that oversees the global trade rules among nations. The main function of
the organization is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers
protect and manage their businesses. As of 2019 the WTO has 164 member
countries, with Liberia and Afghanistan the most recent members.

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  Brexit is an abbreviation for "British exit," referring to the U.K.'s decision in a June 23,
2016 referendum to leave the European Union (EU). Brexit is slated to take place
before the Jan. 31, 2020 deadline. Britain was expected to leave the EU by Oct. 31,
2019, but the U.K. Parliament voted to force the government to seek an extension to
the deadline and also delayed a vote on the new deal.

 UNCTAD is the principal organ of United Nations General Assembly. It provides a

forum where the developing countries can discuss the problems related to economic
development. UNCTAD is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and has 193
member countries.

 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international

environmental treaty adopted in 1992. The ultimate objective of the Convention is to
stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system.

 The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions
mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016. The Paris Agreement's long-term
temperature goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below
2 °C above pre-industrial levels; and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 °C.

 The 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference was a Conference of the
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known
as the Katowice Climate Change Conference. 50 countries signed the “Solidarity and
Just Transition Silesia Declaration”, which emphasizes the need for emission-
reducing policies to include “a just transition of the workforce” and to create “decent
work and quality jobs”.

Office-bearers:

▪ President of India - Ram Nath Kovind

▪ Vice President of India - Venkaiah Naidu

▪ Chairman of the Rajya Sabha - Venkaiah Naidu

▪ Chief Justice of India - Sharad Arvind Bobde

▪ Speaker of the Lok Sabha - Om Birla

▪ Chief Election Commissioner - Sunil Arora

▪ Comptroller and Auditor General of India - Rajiv Mehrishi

▪ Attorney General of India - K. K. Venugopal

▪ Minister of Home Affairs - Amit Shah

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 ▪ Minister of Finance - Nirmala Sitharaman

▪ Minister of Defence - Rajnath Singh

▪ Minister of External Affairs - Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

▪ Minister of Human Resource Development - Ramesh Pokhriyal

▪ Minister of Railways - Piyush Goyal

▪ Minister of Law and Justice - Ravi Shankar Prasad

▪ Minister of Road Transport and Highways – Nitin Gadkari

▪ Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare - Narendra Singh Tomar

▪ Minister of External Affairs - Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

▪ Minister of Health and Family Welfare - Dr. Harsh Vardhan

▪ Minister of Information and Broadcasting - Prakash Javadekar

▪ National Security Adviser - Ajit Doval

▪ Governor, Reserve Bank of India - Shaktikanta Das

▪ Governor, West Bengal - Jagdeep Dhankhar

▪ Chief Economic Adviser - Krishnamurthy Subramanian

▪ Solicitor General of India - Tushar Mehta

West Bengal State facts:

 West Bengal shares boundaries with three countries - Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh
and 4 Indian states- Sikkim, Assam, Jharkhand and Bihar. The northern part of West
Bengal touches the Himalayan range.
▪ State bird : White-throated kingfisher
▪ State animal : Fishing cat
▪ State tree : Devil tree
▪ State flower : Night-flowering jasmine

 Kolkata(Calcutta in Pre-independence India) was the first capital of British India

before it was shifted to Delhi.

 WB Legislative assembly seats: 295 Members(unicameral); Lok Sabha seats: 42;

Rajya Sabha seats: 16.
- Speaker of the WB Vidhan Sabha: Biman Banerjee
- Finance Minister: Amit Mitra

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 - Minister of Education and Science & Technology: Partha Chatterjee

 West Bengal stands third in the country in terms of mineral production. The state
contributes about one-fifth to the total production of minerals in the country. Coal
constitutes 99% of the minerals extracted in West Bengal; fireclay, china clay,
limestone, copper, iron, wolfram, manganese and dolomite are mined in small
quantities.
▪ GDP of West Bengal: US$190 billion (2018–19)
▪ GDP rank among Indian states: 6th

Some notable personalities from Bengal:

 Abhijit Banerjee was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2019 along
with his French-American wife Esther Duflo and American economist Michael Kremer
for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.

 Amartya Sen was awarded Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 for his contributions to
welfare economics and social choice theory and for his interest in the problems of
society's poorest members.

 Amitav Ghosh is an Indian writer and the winner of the 54th Jnanpith award, best
known for his work in English fiction.

 Bankim Chandra Chatterjee: He was a writer, poet and a journalist who wrote our
National Song 'Vande Mataram' during India's freedom struggle.

 Jagadish Chandra Bose : He is one of the most prominent first Indian scientists who
proved by experimentation that both animals and plants share much in common. He
demonstrated that plants are also sensitive to heat, cold, light, noise and various
other external stimuli.

 Pranab Mukherjee served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017

 Rabindranath Tagore won Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. His famous book is
Gitanjali. Rabindranath Tagore set up an educational institution called Visva bharti at
Shantiniketan near Calcutta. The school started with only five students and aimed to
bring the learning process closer to nature as opposed to the classroom based
learning of British schools.

 Satyajit Ray is a Bengali motion-picture director, writer, and illustrator who brought
the Indian cinema to world recognition with Pather Panchali (1955; The Song of the
Road) and its two sequels, known as the Apu Trilogy. He became the first Indian to
receive an Honorary Academy Award in 1992.

 Sourav Ganguly is a former Indian cricketer who is one of the most successful Indian
Test captains to date, winning 21 out of 49 test matches. He is the 39th and current
president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

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  Swami Vivekananda: He advocated the importance of secular and spiritual
education, which he thought was the only way to enrich and inspire the life of the
masses.

 Bengal Renaissance was a cultural, social, intellectual and artistic

movement in Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent during the
period of the British Indian Empire, from the nineteenth century to the early twentieth
century dominated by Bengalis. Bengal Renaissance is considered to have taken
place from the time of Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1775–1833) through Rabindranath
Tagore (1861–1941).

 Coastline and Major Ports in Bengal: West Bengal has a coastline of 157 km in South
24 Parganas district and East Midnapore districts. Ports in West
Bengal support international trade. Kolkata Port is India's oldest port and it is
managed by the Calcutta Port Trust. About 45 million tons of cargo per year is
transported through Kolkata port.
▪ Kolkata Port (Large River Port | Active)
▪ Haldia Port (Large Sea Port | Active)
▪ Sagar Port (Large Sea Port | Under construction)
▪ Tajpur Port ((Large Sea Port | Proposed)

 The Sundarbans is a cluster of low-lying islands in the Bay of Bengal, spread across
India and Bangladesh, famous for its unique mangrove forests. This active delta
region is among the largest in the world, measuring about 40,000 sq km.

 Crop cultivation: The principal food crop cultivated in West Bengal agriculture is rice.
Other food crops of West Bengal include maize, pulses, oil seeds, wheat, barley,
potatoes, and vegetables. The most vital cash crop of West Bengal is Tea and it is
also exported every year. Major natural resources in Bengal are tea and jute.

Important areas for GDPI:

 Citizenship Amendment Act

 Kerala Assembly’s Resolution Against CAA

 National Register of Citizens

 Slowdown in Indian economy

 Price rise of essential commodities

 Union Budget

 Ayodhya Verdict

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 Public sector bank mergers

 Scrapping of J&K’s special status

 Lacklustre Industrial growth in West Bengal

 Disinvestment of Public Sector Enterprises

 Brexit

 Prospect of US-Iran war

 Cryptocurrency(Bitcoin)

 Climate change

End

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