1. Reserve
Bank of India, in its second bi‐monthly
monetary policy statement
reduced the Statutory
Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by
50 basis points to 22.5
June 14. This measure is
likely to infuse around
Rs.40,000 crore into the
banking system.
New Rates are: ‐
i. Repo
Rate – 8 % (Unchanged)
ii. Reverse
Repo Rate – 7 % (Unchanged)
iii. Cash
Reserve Ratio – 4 % (Unchanged)
iv. Statutory
Liquidity Ratio – 22.5 % (Decreased
0.5%)
v. Bank
Rate – 9 % (Unchanged)
vi. Marginal
Standing Rate – 9 % (Unchanged)
2. Additional
secretary A.K. Dubey was appointed as
Chairman of Coal India Limited
with immediate
effect.
3. Rajeev Topno was
appointed as Private Secretary
to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
4. United
Nations General Assembly approved the
name of Zeid Ra’ad Zeid
al‐Hussein to head the
Office of High
Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) of the UN.
5. Shaktikanta Das was
appointed as the new
Revenue Secretary.
6. Lt
Gen Amit Sharma was appointed as the
Commander‐in‐Chief of
Strategic Forces
Command.
7. Indian
scientist Rasik Ravindra was elected as a
member of the UN
Commission on the Limits of
Continental Shelf
(UNCLCS).
8. Vishal
Sikka was appointed as Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of Infosys.
9. Senior
advocate Ranjit Kumar was appointed as
the Solicitor General of
India.
10. PK Mishra was
appointed as the additional
Principal Secretary to
Prime Minister, Narendra
Modi.
11. State
government of Madhya Pradesh appointed
Madhuri Dixit as the brand
ambassador of
maternal and child health
campaign, Mamta
Abhiyan.
12. Sanchez
Ceren was sworn‐in as the President of El
Salvador.
This GK Capsule has been
prepared by Career Power Institute Delhi (Formerly
Known as Bank Power). This has
been prepared on the basis
of news and events appeared in The Hindu Newspaper in the month of June 2014.
13. Chandrashekhar Rao was
sworn‐in as the first
Chief Minister of Telengana,
which became the
29th state of Indian
Union.
14. Former
Intelligence Bureau Chief Ajit Doval was
appointed as the National
Security Adviser.
15. Japanese
national, Hiroshi Naka was appointed as
the Vice President and
Auditor General of World
Bank.
16. Mukul Rohatgi was
appointed as the 14th
Attorney‐General of India.
He will succeed
Gulam Vahanvati.
17. Nripendra Misra, former
Chairman of Telecom
Regulatory Authority of
India (TRAI) was
appointed as the Principal
Secretary to the
Prime Minister.
18. Shekhar
Dutt, the Governor of Chhattisgarh
tendered his resignation
to Pranab Mukherjee, the
President of India.
19. BL Joshi, the Governor
of Uttar Pradesh
resigned from
his post. The President gave the
additional charge of UP to
Uttarakhand Governor
Aziz Qureshi.
20. Indian‐origin
judge V K Rajah was appointed as
8th Attorney‐General of
Singapore.
21. Chung Hung Won was
retained as Prime Minster
of South Korea.
22. Former
TATA Group Chairman Ratan Tata
received an honorary
doctor of laws degree from
York University in Toronto,
Canada.
23. Gro
Harlem Brundtland was awarded with the
first Tang Prize in
sustainable development. The
Tang Prize was given to
her by the Tang Prize
Foundation on 18 June
2014.
24. India‐born
Pratishtha Khanna was honoured with
Champions of Change by the
White House. She is
one of 10 local Champions
of Change honoured for
their exemplary leadership
in their communities.
25. India‐born
Mexican plant scientist, Sanjaya
Rajaram will
be honoured with the World Food
Prize for the year 2014.
26. Kathleen Stephens took
charge as US interim
Ambassador to India.
27. Union
Transport Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkari
was given additional
charge of the Ministries of
Rural Development,
Panchayati Raj and
Drinking Water and
Sanitation.
28. Lieutenant
General (retired) Abhijit Guha of
Indian Army
was appointed as member of a UN
Expert Panel on Technology
and Innovation in
UN peacekeeping.
29. Prime
Minister of India Narendra Modi made his
first foreign tour to
Bhutan.
30. Wang Yi, the Foreign
Minister of China was on a
two‐day long visit to
India from 8 June to 9 June
2014.
31. Ramanarayanan,
Tamil film director and producer
died.
32. Gary
Gilmour, a former all‐round cricketer of
Australia died in Sydney.
33. Former
Brazilian striker, Fernando Lucio da Costa
died in a helicopter crash
in central Brazil at the
age of 36.
34. Union
Rural Development Minister, Gopinath
Munde of BJP died in a
road accident in Delhi.
Munde was sworn‐in as the
Cabinet Minister for
Panchayati Raj, Drinking
Water and Sanitation and
Rural Development.
35. Okavango Delta in
Botswana became the 1000th
site to be included in the
UNESCO World
Heritage Site List. The
38th session of the World
Heritage Site Committee at
Doha, Qatar endorsed
the Okavango site as the
Natural World Heritage
site.
36. Ancient Pyu Cities
became the first site from
Myanmar to be inscribed on
the UNESCO’s World
Heritage Site List. The
Ancient Pyu Cities include
three cities Halin,
Beikthano and Sri Ksetra.
37. 40
Indian workers were reported to be missing
from Mosul, Iraq. Former
ambassador to Iraq
Suresh Reddy was sent to
Mosul to ensure the
safety of Indian placed in
Iraq.
38. Tikrit
in Iraq was in news because it was captured
by the Militants belonging
to Islamic State of Iraq
and Greater Syria (ISIS)
group. Tikrit is the home
town of former dictator
Saddam Hussein.
39. Jinnah
International Airport of Karchi was in news
when Terrorist belonging
to Tehreek‐e‐Taliban on
8 June 2014 attacked it.
40. 24
engineering students of Vigyan Jyothi Institute
of Engineering and
Technology of Hyderabad were
drowned in Beas River in
Kullu district of
Himachal Pradesh.
41. Three‐day
Uttarakhand Assembly session held at
Gairsain in Chamoli from 9
June to 11 June 2014.
The assembly session of
Uttarakhand was held for
the first time outside the
capital city, Dehradun,
since its formation in
2000.
42. Heart
Province in Afghanistan was in news
because an Indian aid
worker and Catholic priest
Alexis Prem Kumar was
abducted on 2 June 2014.
43. Union
Water Resources Minister, Uma Bharti
launched a nationwide tree
plantation drive and
public awareness programme
to save rivers.
44. Institute
for Economics and Peace released Global
Peace Index (GPI) 2014 in
London. The GPI 2014
measured peace for 162
countries on the basis of
22 indicators. Among these
162 countries, India
has been ranked 143rd.
45. Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute
(SIPRI) released its
annual nuclear forces data.
There are nine states
namely the United States,
Russia, the United
Kingdom, France, China, India,
Pakistan, Israel and North
Korea around the globe
which possessed nuclear
arsenals.
46. German
Chancellor, Angela Merkel topped the
Forbes annual list of Most
Powerful Women
2014 in
the world. Five Indian women have also
featured in Forbes 100
most powerful women
List. Chief of Pepsico,
Indian born Indra Nooyi was
ranked 13th and Chief
Technology and Strategy
Officer of Cisco Padmasree
Warrior is ranked 71st
in the list. Other Indians
who made in to the list
are State Bank of India
Chairperson Arundhati
Bhattacharya (36th) ICICI
Bank Managing Director
Chanda Kochhar (43rd) and
Biocon founder Kiran
Mazumdar‐Shaw (92nd).
47. SAARC
Monsoon Initiative Programme National
Working Group meet was
organised in Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh.
48. Global
Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict
was launched at ExCel
London. The four‐day
Summit was launched by
Hollywood actress and
UN Special Envoy Angelina
Jolie and UK Foreign
Secretary William Hague.
49. 6th
International Nuclear Energy Forum
ATOMEXPO‐2014 was held
from 9 to 11 June 2014
in Moscow.
50. 40th G‐7 summit 2014 was
held in Brussels,
Belgium.
51. UK firm East India
Company issued an exclusive
legal tender gold coins in
honour of Sachin
Tendulkar.
52. 15
people were killed and 20 injured in a blast in
Gas Authority of India
Limited (GAIL) pipeline at
Nagaram Village in Andhra
Pradesh.
53. Delhi‐Dibrugarh
Rajdhani Express derailed near
Chhapra in Bihar in which
four people were killed
and eight were injured.
54. Indian
sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik won the
People's Choice prize at
the World Cup of Sand
Sculpting‐2014 held
in the Atlantic City of the US.
He won prize for his work
Save Tree, Save the
Future.
55. France announced
to honour Shahrukh Khan
with Officer of the Legion
of Honour for his
contribution to Cinema.
56. Noted
Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh was chosen
for the 49th Jnanpith
award for 2013. He is
known for his work Abhi
bilkul abhi and Yahan
se dekho.
57. Salman Rushdie,
the India‐born Booker Prize
winning author was named
as the winner of 2014
Pen Pinter Prize.
58. Indian
origin physicist Tejinder Virdee was
honoured knighthood
Bachelor by Queen
Elizabeth II. He was
awarded for his work on the
Higgs Boson theory.
59. Lord Swraj Paul,
the leading NRI industrial was
honoured with the Lifetime
Achievement Award
by a UK‐based business
association.
60. C Radhakrishnan,
the eminent Malayalam
scientist‐turned‐writer
was selected for the
prestigious Moortidevi
Award for 2013. He has
been selected for his
novel Theekkadal Katanhu
Thirumadhuram.
61. Kolkata
Airport won the Airport Service Quality
Award by Airport Council
International in the
category of the best
improved airport in Asia
Pacific Region.
62. Somasundaram
of Airports Authority of India was
conferred with the prestigious
Bharat Ratna JRD
Tata Award for 2013.
63. Kamal Nath a leader of
Congress party was
sworn‐in as the pro tem
Speaker of 16th Lok
Sabha.
64. Mahindra
Group Chairman Anand G Mahindra
became the first Indian to
receive the prestigious
Harvard Medal.
65. Indian
Army test‐fired surface‐to‐air Akash missile
from an Integrated Test
Range (ITR) in Balasore,
Odisha.
66. Narendra
Modi dedicated INS Vikramaditya to the
nation.
67. India
successfully test fired the supersonic cruise
missile BrahMos from
indigenous INS Kolkata off
the coast of Karwar in
Karnataka. It has a range of
290‐km.
68. The
Indian Navy Submarine, INS Sindhurakshak
that sank in the Mumbai
Harbour due to an
accident killing 18
sailors was raised from the
waters by a salvage firm.
69. The
Indian Air Force and French Air Force
commenced the bilateral
exercise Garuda V at
Jodhpur Air Base.
70. Supersonic
Akash air defence missiles successfully
intercepted the target
Lakshya (pilotless target
aircraft). The three Akash
missiles were launched
from the Integrated Test
Range (ITR), Balasore, off
the coast of Odisha.
71. Chandrababu Naidu took
oath as the first chief
minister of the residuary
state of Andhra
Pradesh.
72. External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held
discussions with United
States Secretary of State
John Kerry on the two
countries’ shared
commitment to boost trade
and economic ties to
$500 billion.
73. Reliance
Industries Limited (RIL) will take control
of popular television news
channels CNN‐IBN,
IBN7, CNBC‐TV18, Lokmat,
and an entire clutch of
ETV channels with a
massive infusion of Rs 4000
crore into Network 18
Media and TV18 Broadcast
Ltd.
74. Senior
advocate Ranjit Kumar will be the next
Solicitor General and
succeed Mohan
Parasaran.
75. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi resigned from the
Vadodara Lok Sabha
constituency in Gujarat after
choosing to retain the
Varanasi seat in Uttar
Pradesh. Similarly, the
Samajwadi Party leader,
Mulayam Singh Yadav,
decided to retain Azamgarh
and quit from his
traditional stronghold of
Mainpuri.
76. Nigerian
President Goodluck Jonathan vowed total
war against terrorism
following last month’s mass
abduction of schoolgirls
by Boko Haram Islamists.
77. Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan have agreed to set
up a full‐fledged economic
bloc that should act as a
bridge between Europe and
Asia and a
counterweight to Western
integration unions.
When the Eurasian Economic
Union comes into
force on January 1, 2015,
it will create a market of
170 million people, with a
combined annual GDP
of $2.7 trillion and a
quarter of the world energy
resources.
78. In
a step to help public sector banks to recover
bad loans, the Finance
Ministry has asked the
Income Tax Department to
share details of
defaulters’ wealth tax
returns with public sector
banks if they ask for such
information. The top 30
non‐performing assets
(NPAs) of state‐owned
banks account for 40.2 per
cent of their gross bad
loans.
79. United
Bank of India (UBI) has served ‘wilful
defaulter’ notices to
Vijay Mallya and other
directors of the
Kingfisher Airlines (KFA).
80. Union
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh
said that Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sinchai Yojana
would be introduced so
that more agricultural
land is irrigated.
81. After
pushing vultures to the verge of extinction in
the country, the
veterinary painkiller and antiinflammatory
drug, Diclofenac, is
turning out to be
a serious threat to eagles
as well.
82. Smart
farm sector growth spurred India’s
economy to grow 4.7 per
cent in 2013‐14,
according to the gross
domestic product (GDP)
provisional estimates
released. The GDP growth
rate in the previous year
was a decade‐low of 4.5
per cent.
83. Low
cost carrier AirAsia has chosen to launch its
maiden flight under Indian
operations on
Bangalore‐Goa route on
June 12 with an
introductory all‐inclusive
fare of Rs.990 per ticket.
84. Signalling
a break from the past, the Narendra
Modi government announced
the “abolition” of all
Groups of Ministers (GoMs)
and Empowered
Groups of Ministers
(EGoMs) “for greater
accountability and
empowerment.”
85. With
President’s rule ending by the midnight of
June 1 and Telangana State
coming into existence
on June 2 under the State
Reorganisation Act.
86. Water
Resources Minister Uma Bharti will chair an
apex council to supervise
the water projects on the
Krishna and the Godavari.
The panel will have the
Chief Ministers of Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana
as its members.
87. South
Korean pop phenomenon Psy galloped into
the record books as his
“Gangnam Style” mega hit
smashed through the
two‐billion mark on
YouTube.
88. Facebook
CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife,
Priscilla Chan, are
donating $120 million to public
schools in the San
Francisco Bay Area.
89. K.
Chandrasekhar Rao, was sworn in first Chief
Minister of Telangana.
90. The
Supreme Court stayed the execution of the
death sentence of Yakub
Abdul Razak Memon,
“mastermind” of the 1993
Mumbai serial blasts.
91. Odisha
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
demanded special
category status for his
State but remained evasive
on his party allying with
the National Democratic
Alliance.
92. The
Special Investigating Team on black money
held its first meeting
under the chairmanship of
Justice M.B. Shah, a
former judge of the Supreme
Court.
93. Minister
for Women and Child Development
Maneka Gandhi said that
rape crisis centres would
soon be set up to offer
protection and care for
victims.
94. The
fifth Indo‐French bilateral air exercise —
Garuda‐V — began at the
Jodhpur Air Base.
95. Sri
Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered
the release of 29 Indian
fishermen.
96. The
aviation industry is marking 100 years since
the first scheduled
commercial flight took off,
making a 23‐minute journey
across Florida’s
Tampa Bay.
97. The
two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and
Hamas, formed unity
government.
98. Russia
has lifted its embargo on arms supplies to
Pakistan and is holding
talks on supplying
Islamabad with combat
helicopters.
99. The
United States proposed ordering cuts of up to
30 per cent in carbon
emissions from power
plants in President Barack
Obama’s most
ambitious action yet on
climate change.
100.Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley has been
appointed on the Board
of Governors of the
Philippines‐based Asian
Development Bank.
101.R.
K. Malhotra has been given additional charge as
Chairman of Indian Oil
Corporation.
102.Start‐up
carrier Tata‐SIA Airlines, which is yet to
get a flying permit, will
acquire at least 20 Airbus
aircraft on lease from a
Singapore‐based firm to
launch its operations in
India by this winter.
103.The
United States and the United Nations have
been sharp in their
condemnation of the rape and
hanging of two girls in
Badaun district of Uttar
Pradesh.
104.Chief
Justice of India R.M. Lodha has suggested to
the Chief Justices of the
High Courts that courts
function all 365 days a
year.
105.Under‐13s
will now be able to join Facebook, but
with their parents’ nod.
106.German
prosecutors have opened an investigation
into the alleged monitoring
of Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s cell phone by the
U.S. National Security
Agency (NSA). Documents
provided by NSA
whisleblower Edward
Snowden indicated in
October that the U.S. was
monitoring Ms. Merkel’s
cell phone conversations,
as well as those of 35
other foreign leaders.
107.Iranian
authorities refused to fuel the aircraft of
Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif during his
visit to Tehran last month
to make the state‐run
PIA clear its dues
amounting to just over $5000.
108.The
Finance Ministry is considering a proposal to
set up a National Asset
Management Company,
which may act as a nodal
agency, for taking over
bad loans of banks and
help revive sick units.
Gross NPAs of banks
increased to 4.4 per cent of
advances at the end of
December last from 3.84
per cent at the end of
March, 2013. Bad loans of
PSU banks rose by 28.5 per
cent to Rs.1.83 lakh
crore in March, 2013, over
the preceding
September.
109.Coal
India Ltd has decided to alter its
memorandum of association
to get into the
business of producing
fertilizers and chemicals
using coal gas.
110.The
European health regulator lifted the
suspension imposed on
export of drugs produced
at the Ranbaxy’s Toansa
plant to the EU, stating
medicines produced at the
site posed no risk to
public health despite having
a number of
manufacturing
deficiencies.
111.Every
recognised school, including private ones, is
bound to the Right to
Information (RTI) Act, the
Central Information
Commission has said.
112.Over
10,000 extra paramilitary personnel would
be deployed in
Chhattisgarh by the end of this year
as part of a long‐term
plan to plug the “gaps” and
intensify the offensive
against the Naxals.
113.Pakistan
suspended Geo News, the country’s most
popular television channel
over a row with the
Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI) spy agency.
114.India
and China have set a target of $100 billion in
bilateral trade a year by
2015.
115.The
Election Commission has ordered summary
revision of electoral
rolls in Haryana, Jharkhand
and Maharashtra, where
Assembly elections are
due in the next few
months.
116.The
first unit at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power
Project (KKNPP) reached
its full power generation
capacity of 1,000 MWe.
With this, the 21st nuclear
power reactor in the
country has become the
single‐largest power
generating unit in the
country.
117.Association
of Mutual Funds in India has stated
that the mutual fund
industry's assets under
management have crossed
Rs. 10 lakh crore‐mark
in May.
118.The
Indian government will build a cultural centre
in Jaffna.
119.Customers
need to submit only one documentary
proof of address — either
current or permanent
— while opening a bank
account or while
undergoing periodic
updation, the Reserve Bank of
India said. “In case the
address mentioned as per
‘proof of address’
undergoes a change, fresh proof
of address may be
submitted to the branch within
six months,” the RBI said
in a notification to banks.
120. Amitabh
Bachchan and Aamir Khan launched
legendary actor Dilip
Kumar’s biography in
Mumbai. The book, titled ‘
The Substance and
The Shadow’, is
authored by Uday Tara Nayar.
121.Information
technology and communication
devices maker Pantel
Technologies Pvt. Ltd. has
tied up with India Post to
take its low‐cost feature
phone to rural areas at
Rs.1,099.
122.The
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
received another shot in
the arm in its ambitious
Mars Orbiter Mission when
its ground controllers
successfully corrected the
spacecraft’s trajectory.
ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV‐25)
put the Mars Orbiter in
its initial orbit on
November 5, 2013.
123.The
Centre asserted that the appointment of
Lt.Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag
as the next Army Chief
was “final.”
124.Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina has underlined her
willingness to deepen her
country’s strategic and
economic engagement with
China, signing major
agreements for the
construction of roads, railway
lines and power plants on
a three‐day visit to the
Chinese capital.
125.The
Reserve Bank of India has kicked off a pilot
project that will allow a
few mobile payment
providers to test cash
withdrawal facilities for a
small portion of their
semi‐closed mobile wallet
users. In it sender and
beneficiary’s wallet will be
seeded with Aadhaar
number. When the money
transfer happens, the
receiver, who does not have
a bank account, can walk
to a mRUPEE outlet and
receive the cash after
authenticating his identity
with the biometric
[fingerprint scanning]. Tata
Teleservices’ mobile
wallet payment‐based service
mRUPEE is one of the eight
participants in the RBI
pilot.
126.World Bank feels
that the world’s third‐largest
economy could achieve a
growth rate of 5.5 per
cent this year as compared
to 4.7 per cent last
year.
127.Narmada
Control Authority gave its nod to Gujarat
for raising the height of
the Narmada dam to the
full reservoir level of
138.72 metres from the
present 121.92 metres.
128.Kerala
Monorail Corporation Ltd. (KMCL), the
Special Purpose Vehicle
set up to execute the
Rs.5,581‐crore monorail
project in
Thiruvananthapuram and
Kozhikode.
129.Social
media giant Twitter has set an ambitious
target of reaching out to
every citizen of India.
130.The
European Union (EU) will allow member
countries to make their
own decisions on growing
genetically modified (GM)
food in a compromise
deal that followed years
of fraught discussions.
131.The
rate of growth of retail inflation Consumer
Price Index in May eased
marginally to 8.28 per
cent from 8.59 per cent in
April.
132.The
Maharashtra Legislature passed a Bill banning
dance bars. The ban will
be extended from beer
bars to three and five
star hotels, which were
spared earlier.
133.The
Telangana Assembly passed a unanimous
resolution urging Speaker
S. Madhusudhana Chary
to take stringent action
against TV9 news channel
for running a programme
using abusive and
derogatory language
against the members of the
Assembly.
134.The
Food Processing Ministry will prepare a
National Food Map that
will showcase agriculture
and livestock produce for
suitable interventions in
vulnerable areas. A ‘Brand
India’ will be launched
for exports in the food
processing sector and
State‐specific brands will
be developed for the
domestic market.
135.Alexander Stubb is set
to become Finland’s
new Prime Minister after
winning a vote to head
the ruling conservative party.
136.Dozens
of Indians, including 46 nurses from
Kerala, remain stranded in
the Iraqi towns of
Mosul and Tikrit, now
controlled by fighters of the
Sunni‐militant Islamic
State of Iraq and the Syria
(ISIS).
137.In
compliance with a Delhi High Court order on
prima facie violation of
the Foreign Contribution
(Regulation) Act by the
Bharatiya Janata Party and
the Congress, the
government has initiated steps
to “relook and reappraise
the receipts of the
political parties and
identify the contributions
received from foreign
sources.”
138.Union
Minister Ramvilas Paswan said only five
States had fully
implemented the National Food
Security Act, 2013 and
seven others had done so
partially so far. Chhattisgarh,
Haryana,
Maharashtra, Rajasthan and
Punjab have fully
implemented as per the
provisions of the Central
Act. Seven other States,
including Bihar, Delhi,
Himachal Pradesh,
Karnataka and Chandigarh
have implemented the Act
partially. He said as per
the Act, all States are
required to identify the
number of beneficiaries by
July 4, but only 12
States have done so thus
far.
139.Former
Formula One champion Michael
Schumacher has emerged
from a coma that was
medically induced
following his devastating
accident in December.
140.Wholesale
price inflation hit a five‐month high of
6.01 per cent in May.
141.Tax
Administration Reform Commission, headed
by Parthasarathi Shome,
has suggested abolition
of the post of Revenue
Secretary, merger of the
Central Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT) and the
Central Board of Excise
and Customs (CBEC) and
broaden the use of
Permanent Account Number
(PAN).
142.Following
an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report that
alleged foreign‐funded
NGOs were creating
obstacles to India’s
economic growth, the Home
Ministry has clamped down
on Greenpeace, an
international campaign
group present in 40
countries.
143.The
crisis at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
talks in Geneva has
deepened with the United
States demanding that
India and China be
categorised as ‘emerging’
rather than as
‘developing economies’.
India is resisting the move
which, if it materialises,
will halve WTO caps
applicable to India’s food
subsidies. It will also
require India to grant
market access to the U.S.
144.Suresh
Reddy, the man India has chosen to send to
Baghdad as its crisis
manager.
145.Reliance
Industries Ltd (RIL) has announced plans
to invest Rs. 1.80 lakh
crore ($30 billion) in three
years in petrochemicals,
refining, retail and
broadband businesses with
an aim to be among
the Fortune 50 companies
by the time it completes
40 years of corporate
journey in 2017.
146.Online
marketplace Flipkart has signed
amemorandum of
understanding with Federation
of Indian Micro and Small
and Medium Enterprises
(FISME) and National
Centre for Design and
Product Development
(NCDPD).
147.Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has reconstituted
six important Cabinet
committees, including the
Appointments Committee of
the Cabinet (ACC),
Cabinet Committee on
Security (CCS) and the
Cabinet Committee on
Political Affairs.
148.Indians’
money in Swiss banks has risen to over
two billion Swiss franc
(nearly Rs.14,000 crore),
despite a global clampdown
against the famed
secrecy wall of the Switzerland
banking system.
The funds held by Indians
with banks in
Switzerland rose by over
40 per cent during 2013.
149.The
Reserve Bank of India permitted residents
and non‐residents, except
Pakistanis and
Bangladeshis, to carry up
to Rs.25,000 in Indian
currency notes while
leaving the country. Earlier,
Indians travelling abroad
were permitted to carry
only up to Rs.10,000,
while foreigners were not
allowed to carry Indian
currency while leaving the
country.
150.A
committee headed by senior Congress leader
A.K. Antony will begin the
official task of
introspection and analysis
of the Congress party’s
worst ever electoral
showing since Independence.
151.Glaciers
on the Tibetan Plateau — the source of
rivers such as the
Brahmaputra — have shrunk by
as much as 15 per cent,
retreating by 8,000 square
kilometres since 1980,
according to a new Chinese
government‐backed study.
152.Russia
has signalled that its proposed giant gas
pipeline to China could be
extended to India.
153.Committee
headed by Finance Secretary Arvind
Mayaram said that Foreign
investment of 10 per
cent or more in a listed
company will now be
treated as foreign direct
investment. FDI subject to
the condition that the FDI
stake is raised to 10 per
cent or beyond within one
year from the date of
the first purchase. If the
stake is not raised to 10
per cent or above, then
the investment can be
treated as portfolio
investment. Panel has
suggested that foreign
investment in an unlisted
company may be treated as
FDI.
154.India
has decided to enhance transparency of its
nuclear infrastructure by
ratifying an Additional
Protocol with the
International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA).
155.Rani‐ki‐Vav, a 11th
century stepwell in the
Patan area of Gujarat, was
approved for
inscription on the World Heritage
list by UNESCO
at the meeting of its
World Heritage Committee in
Doha. Three other sites
that were inscribed are:
Namhansaneong in South
Korea, the Grand Canal
running from Beijing to
Zhejiang province in
Southern China, and the
Silk Roads network of
Chang’an‐Tianshan
Corridor.
156.India
has moved up to 58th rank in terms of
foreign money lying
with Swiss banks.
157.Hong
Kong citizens cast their ballots in an
unofficial referendum on
democratic reform. Hong
Kong’s leader is currently
appointed by a 1,200‐
strong pro‐Beijing
committee. China has promised
direct elections for the
next chief executive in
2017, but has ruled out
allowing voters to choose
which candidates can
stand.
158.The
first Budget of the Narendra Modi government
will be presented on July
10. Parliament will be
convened on July 7 for a
session that will last till
August 14. The Railway
Budget will be presented
on July 8, while the
Economic Survey will be
released on July 9.
159.The
Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in
Kullu district of Himachal
Pradesh was accorded
the Unesco World Heritage
Site status.
160.Bollywood
star Aamir Khan, who has been
championing social issues,
met Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to discuss
the problems which he
highlights in his TV
programme ‘Satyamev Jayate’.
161.The
Government is keen on running India’s first
high‐speed train (HST)
between Ahmedabad and
Mumbai. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi wants the
train to be running by the
end of 2017.
162.Import
duty on Sugar hiked from 15 per cent to 40
per cent, Ethanol (a by‐product
of sugar
manufacturing) blending in
petrol hiked from 5
per cent to 10 per cent as
also the extension of
export incentives to
September 2014.
163.Moving
to a time‐defined process, the Reserve
Bank of India fixed
schedules for various
regulatory approvals. It
released ‘Timelines for
Regulatory Approvals’ and
’Citizens’ Charter’ for
delivery of services on
the RBI’s website. Deposit
accounts department should
issue cheque book
within 20 minutes and
demand draft should be
issued in an hour, among
others. Besides,
refinance facility and
disbursement of loans
should take place in the
same day of application
while clearing should be
completed by three days.
An applicant for private
bank licence should be
given in‐principle
approval within 90 days.
164.Mobile Seva, a
nationwide initiative
conceptualised,
funded and implemented by the
Department of Electronics
and Information
Technology (DeitY), is
among the second‐place
winners of the 2014 UN
Public Service Awards.
165.In
a pioneering move, Gujarat Chief Minister
Anandiben Patel announced
33 per cent
reservation for women in
the police force.
166.Government
took two decisions — a six‐month
extension to the excise
duty cuts announced by the
UPA government in (Till
December 31) February
and approval to sign an
MoU with the Chinese for
setting up an industrial
park here. extend them for
six months till December
31.
167.Four
passengers were killed and several injured
when a dozen bogies of the
Delhi‐Dibrugarh
Rajdhani Express derailed
close to Golden Ganj
railway station near
Chapra in Bihar.
168.Petroleum
and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra
Pradhan said the current
rate of $4.2 per million
British thermal units for
domestic natural gas
would continue till
September‐end. The new rate
was to become effective
from April 1.
169.Congress‐Nationalist
Congress Party government
in Maharashtra cleared 16
per cent reservation for
the powerful Maratha
community and 5 per cent
reservation for Muslims.
The State currently has
52 per cent reservation in
government jobs and
educational institutions.
This decision will raise
the quota limit to 73 per
cent. The Supreme Court
had earlier capped quotas
at 50 per cent.
170.India
was named to an ‘International Piracy Watch
List’ by a U.S. government
panel that is looking to
highlight countries that
are doing little to address
high rates of digital
piracy.
171.The
Centre has given the go‐ahead for setting a
minimum export price of
$450 per tonne for
potato to discourage
exports and check the rising
price of the tuber.
172.Kerala
formally began a 218‐day countdown for
the 35th National Games,
which is to be held
across seven districts of
the State from January 31
to February 14 next year.
173.The
new Railway National Time Table “Trains at a
Glance” and Zonal Railway
Public Time Table will
now come into effect from
September 1, 2014
instead of July 1, 2014.
174.The
Centre extended by three months the deadline
by which States should
roll out the National Food
Security Act. Under the
Act, States were given time
till July 4 to implement
the Act.
175.Union
Minister of State for Commerce and
Industry, Nirmala
Sitharaman, has been elected
unopposed to Rajya Sabha
from Andhra Pradesh.
176.BCCI
president‐in‐exile N. Srinivasan was formally
appointed the first
Chairman of the ICC.
177.Expenditure
Observers of the Election
Commission have
recommended disqualification
of BJP MP from Banswara
Maanshankar Ninama
for over‐spending during
his election campaign.
178.The
government has clarified that licences won’t
be required for
manufacturing items for the
defence sector except
those used in the
battleground such as tanks
and warships.
179.India
has decided to relax visa restrictions for
Bangladeshi nationals
above the age of 65 and
below the age of 13.
180.U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that police must obtain a
warrant before searching
the cell phone of a
suspect.
181.Delhi
University relented and announced that it
would replace the
controversial four‐year
undergraduate programme
(FYUP) with the old
three‐year undergraduate
programme that was in
place till last year.
182.The
RBI has said India and the US have agreed to
implement a Foreign
Accounts Tax Compliance
Act (FATCA)
and asked banks and financial
institutions to register
by this year‐end to report
accounts and assets held
by US citizens.
183.The
government announced Rs 50 per quintal
increase in the minimum
support price of paddy to
Rs 1,360 to encourage
farmers to cultivate rice.
184.To
boost sagging sentiments in steel and mining
sectors, the government
began the process of
setting up single‐window
mechanism to fast‐track
clearances for various
projects and create special
mining zones to ensure raw
material security for
existing and upcoming
steel plants in the country.
185.Indian
Railways increased passenger fares by a
steep 14.2% across classes
and freight charges by
6.5% to mop up some R8,000
crore over a year.
186.In
the latest annual ranking of Global Peace Index,
India has been ranked at
143rd position out of 162
countries surveyed. While
India has slipped two
positions, Iceland
continues to top the list as the
world's most peaceful
place. However, Syria has
replaced Afghanistan as
the most violent place.
187.The
NDA government has selected eight cities as
potential electronics
manufacturing hub. These
would be at Ghaziabad in
Uttar Pradesh, Vadodara
and Gandhinagar in Gujarat
and four cities in
Maharashtra: Nagpur,
Nasik, Aurangabad and
Thane.
188.India
has notified its decision to exempt Bhutan
from any ban or
quantitative restriction on
exports of five food items
‐ milk powder, wheat,
edible oil, pulses and
non‐basmati rice.
189.Crisis‐hit
NSEL said investors who traded in eseries
contracts in metals like
gold and silver have
so far redeemed Rs 237
crore out of the total Rs
440 crore.
190.Small
airports, a Diamond Quadrilateral of highspeed
trains and 'Sagar Mala'
project to connect
ports to the hinterland
would be the focus areas of
the new PM Narendra Modi's
government.
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