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Dear Readers, This is the new series which have been started by us in which we will provide you weekly compilation of the current affairs. We will publish our new document named DOUBLE GA TONIC. We really hope that you all will like this new initiative by our team. This document contains the important current affairs from November 2015, i.e. 1st November to 14th November. This tonic is useful for all those candidates who are appearing for the RBI GRADE B EXAM AND NABARD EXAM. Also, this is useful for the IBPS CLERK EXAM 2015-16.

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INDIA IN NEWS

The Government of India announced on 12 November 2015 that it signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six countries. These countries are: Finland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and Oman and Ethiopia. In addition, Agreed Minutes were signed with Serbia, Greece, and European Commission. The Record of Discussions was signed with Brunei Darussalam and Qatar.

India was re-elected by the General Assembly to a six year term on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Apart from India, 22 other countries including the United States and Pakistan were also re-elected to the UNCITRAL.

The Union Government on 9 November 2015 signed 273 million US dollar loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue improving rural roads in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. The loan agreement was signed by S Selvakumar, Joint Secretary (Bilateral Cooperation), Department of Economic Affairs and Teresa Kho, Country Director of ADB.

The government approved an agreement with Belgium for cooperation in development of new and renewable energy technologies. The objective of the Memorandum, it added is to establish the basis for a cooperative institutional relationship to encourage and promote technical bilateral cooperation on new and renewable energy issues on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity.

India, UK announced commercial deals worth 9 billion pounds. The deals cover retail, financial and professional services, health and education among others.

India, Indonesia signed MoUs on Energy, Culture Exchange. These MoUs were signed in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari and his counterpart Jusuf Kala in Jakarta.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

An Indian culture week called ‘India in Shanghai’ was on 5 November 2015 inaugurated at China Shanghai International Arts Festival (SIAF) at the Shanghai Grand

Theatre. The SIAF annual festival began on 16 October 2015 and will continue till 16 November 2015. The culture week was inaugurated by Indian Ambassador Ashok K Kantha along with Zhong Yanqun, Vice Chair of The Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress.

Sierra Leone has been declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation, prompting nationwide celebrations tinged with sadness over the loss of 4,000 victims to the disease. The capital Freetown was transformed into a giant carnival on Friday night as ecstatic crowds took to the streets in an emotional outpouring.

President Xi Jinping of China met with Ma Ying-jeou, the president of Taiwan in the first ever encounter between the leaders of the neighbors and longtime rivals, an act both sides described as a breakthrough gesture meant to promote peace and mutual prosperity.

A court of Belgium asked Facebook to stop tracking the country's Internet users who are not members of the US-based social networking website. It gave 48 hours to the social networking site to stop tracking people in Belgium. The ruling was pronounced on a case lodged in June 2015 by the Belgian Privacy Commission, which said Facebook indiscriminately tracks Internet users when they click like or share on the website.

A rare tropical Cyclone Chapala has slammed into Yemen triggering heavy flooding and causing damage in coastal region of the war racked country. The cyclone made landfall in the south eastern provinces of Hadramawt and Shabwa along the Gulf of Aden coast of Yemen in Arabian Sea bringing winds of speed more than 100 kms per hour.

Punjabi in the first week of November 2015 became the

third most common language, after English and French, in the House of Commons of Canada after 20 Punjabi-





speaking candidates were elected to the parliament in October 2015.

Cyclone Megh struck Yemeni Island of Socotra. Bosnian and Serbian Governments held first joint

session post-Bosnian War in Saravejo. The joint session was the first since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995. The aim of the session was to improve their relations and contribute to the stabilization of the Western Balkans.

Maldives Parliament voted to Impeach Vice President Ahmed Adeeb. All 61 parliamentarians present voted in favour of the impeachment and none opposed in the 85-member house. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party stayed away from voting.

Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned. Since September 2015, he has been facing weeks of intense pressure to quit after going on trial in facing charges of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering.

Maldives declared State of Emergency for 30 days. Maldives president declared emergency, giving sweeping powers to security forces to arrest suspects ahead of a major anti-government protest rally.

Hindi largest spoken Indian language in US: Census Bureau of US. As per the American Community Survey data, Hindi has emerged as the largest Indian language spoken in the US with nearly 6.5 lakh people speaking it.

Nepal, US armies launched Joint Military training Balance Nail 16-01. Since 2003, the two countries have conducted about 30 Balance Nail training sessions. The Balance Nail is beneficial as the training is then passed on to the wider Nepalese army.

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won majority in Parliamentary elections of Turkey. The party founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured 376 seats which was 14 seats less needed to call a referendum on changing the constitution to increase the powers of the president. APPOINTMENTS (INDIA & WORLD)

Indian-origin barrister in UK, Kalyani Kaul was sworn-in as a Circuit Judge in the UK on 9 November 2015. Now, she will be sitting at Snaresbrook Crown Court with immediate effect.

Former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India Subir Vithal Gokarn on 12 November 2015 was appointed as an Executive Director on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Gokarn will replace Rakesh Mohan at the IMF. Mohan’s three year tenure ends in November 2015.

Raghuram Rajan, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor who has been a vocal votary for increased co-ordination among central banks, has been elected vice-chairman of the Bank of International Settlement (BIS). Mr. Rajan will have a three-year term as vice-chairman of the BIS.

Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, was on 9 November 2015 appointed as the ethics officer (ombudsman) at Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He will preside as the sole decision maker on all conflict of interest issues plaguing Indian cricket.

Tanzania's first female Vice President Samia Hassan Suluhu was sworn into office. She was sworn in along with the new President John Pombe Magufuli at the swearing-in ceremony held in the country’s economic capital Dar es Salaam.

Navtej Singh Sarna appointed as Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom (UK). Sarna is a 1980 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer.

Oxford University Press India (OUPI) has appointed V Sivaramakrishnan (Siva) as the managing director, with regional responsibilities including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

Indo-Canadian Sikh Harjit Sajjan was on 4 November 2015 sworn-in as Defence Minister of Canada. Sajjan succeeded Conservative Defence Minister Jason Kenney.

Justice T S Thakur (63) will be next Chief Justice of India. His name has been recommended by current CJI Justice Dattu. Current CJI Justice Dattu will retire on December 2, 2015. Presently, Justice Thakur is the senior most judge of the Supreme Court. He would be the 43rd CJI.

Former Cabinet secretary T.S.R. Subramanian has been appointed chairperson of a committee set up by the Human Resource Development Ministry to draft the new education policy. The committee has been mandated to submit the draft of the new policy no later than December 31, 2015.

Anil Kumar Jha today took over the charge of Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a leading subsidiary of Coal India.

Indian-born Harjit Sajjan sworn-in as Defence Minister of Canada. He is one of the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 30-member Cabinet that was sworn-in at a public ceremony held at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Canada.

Deepak Singhal appointed Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India. Singhal replaced K K Vohra who will now look after the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).

Air Marshal Virender Mohan Khanna took over as Maintenance Head of IAF





STATES (INDIA) IN NEWS

After a six-day delay in the implementation of the Environment Compensation Charge or ‘environment cess’ on trucks entering Delhi, the concessionaire — SYMR Consortium LLP — has begun to collect the tax at its toll booths. Apart from the toll tax, an environment tax to the tune of Rs 700 on light-duty vehicles and Rs 1,300 for three-axle vehicles and above, would be charged at all entry points to the national capital. However, trucks “destined to Delhi” will not have to pay the environment cess; only trucks passing through the capital would have to pay it.

Annual Hundred Drums Wangala Festival has begun on a cultural fervor at Asanang near Tura town in Meghalaya. The three day-long started with the arrival of ten Wangala Dance Troupes from various parts of Garo Hills. Significance of Wangala Festival Wangala Festival is an annual post-harvest festival of the Garos tribes of North east India.

The Supreme Court of India (SC) upheld Kerala Government’s ban on online lotteries. The judgment was delivered by a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) H L Dattu while hearing the All Kerala Online Lottery Dealers Association Vs State of Kerala & Ors. case in which Sikkim Government is also one of the petitioners opposing the ban.

The Meghalaya High Court has asked the Centre to consider enforcing Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in militancy-hit Garo Hills region in the state to help the administration restore the rule of law.

Mysuru Railway Station (Karnataka, India) became the first blind-friendly Railway Station in India. The visually impaired – friendly facilities at Mysuru Railway Station has been inaugurated by Mysuru’s Member of Parliament Pratap Simha. Anuprayaas, a Non – Governmental Organisation assisted the railways in making Mysuru railway station blind-friendly.

In what a major step towards tackling the menace of wheat and paddy straw burning in Punjab, the State government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up a bio-ethanol refinery. The MoU was inked with a consortium of Beta Renewables, Novozymes and CVC India Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. for an estimated project worth Rs. 950 crore, during the Progressive Punjab Investor Summit, 2015.

President approved Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill. Cow slaughter in Haryana will invite rigorous imprisonment ranging from 3 to 10 years and a fine of up to 1 lakh rupees.

Grand Alliance won the 2015 Assembly Elections of Bihar with two-thirds majority. Grand Alliance of RJD, JD(U) and INC with thumping two-third majority emerged as the winner of the election.

Phase-I of T-Hub inaugurated in IIIT-Hyderabad. Technology Hub or T-Hub is the country’s largest incubation centre for start-ups and entrepreneurship.

Indian Railways signed MoU with Odisha for implementation of railway projects. The MoU aims at forming a Joint Venture Company to develop railway infrastructure in Odisha. SPORTS IN NEWS

India’s Heena Sindhu on 6 November 2015 won the gold medal in the 10m air pistol women’s event at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship. The championship was started on 1 November 2015 and will be held for 12 days in Kuwait City. Incidentally, Heena was also the winner of the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event in 8th Asian Air Gun Championship. It was held in New Delhi in September 2015.

N Srinivasan dethroned as the ICC Chairman after the BCCI decided to recall him and nominate its recently-elected President Shashank Manohar as the chief of the world body. The decision to remove Srinivasan was taken at the BCCI’s 86th Annual General Meeting, virtually signalling the end of his hold on Indian cricket.

Ravichandran Ashwin's CV has another bullet point under the achievements column as he is now the fastest among Indian bowlers to reach the landmark of 150 Test wickets in 29 Tests. Overall, former England fast bowler Sydney Barnes is the fastest to the landmark of 150 wickets, which he achieved in 24 Tests.

Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win 6.2 million Australian dollars Melbourne Cup. Payne rode rank outsider Prince of Penzance to a famous victory in Australia's richest and most prestigious horse race.

Ace shooter Jitu Rai on 4 November 2015 won India's

first senior medal at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait City. He bagged the silver in the finals of the men's 50 metre pistol event. Korea’s Park Daehun, won the gold medal of the event.

Veteran Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, who made a spectacular comeback into the Pakistani Test squad after five years, has announced retirement from the longest format of the game. The 33-year-old said that he





wanted to vacate the place for youngsters who are ready to fill in his shoes.

Inzamam ul Haq, the former Pakistan captain, has been roped in as the Afghanistan coach for a two-year period. Inzamam had agreed to be the batting consultant for the Asian side during the recent tour of Zimbabwe.

Mana Patel and Virdhawal Khade emerged as the best swimmers of the 69th senior National Aquatic Championships 2015 that concluded in Rajkot on 2 November 2015.

The name of former footballer and Asian games gold medallist late Ram Bahadur Chetri and renowned athletics coach Renu Kohli have been officially approved by the state sports ministry for the prestigious Khel Ratna (posthumous) and Devbhoomi Uttarakhand Dronacharya respectively this year.

Nico Rosberg claimed victory at the Mexican Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes teammate and newly-crowned world champion Lewis Hamilton.

New Zealand cemented their status as the greatest team in rugby history when they overwhelmed Australia 34-17 at Twickenham to become world champions for a record third time, and the first nation to retain the Webb Ellis Cup.

Nigeria won 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. The championship was held across 8 cities in Chile.

BCCI announced monetary benefits for former players. All retired All India Panel Umpires who have officiated in One Day International as field Umpires will get 15000 rupees per month.

FIFA World Rankings 2015: Belgium topped for first time. Belgium rose from third to first after overtaking Argentina and world champions Germany.

Shiva Thapa ranked World No 2 in boxing. 2015 Paragliding World Cup concluded. It was held for

eight days in Bir village of Himachal Pradesh. Roger Federer won 2015 Swiss Indoors men’s singles

title by defeating Rafael Nadal. Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 6-3 5-7 6-3 at the final match held at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland.

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won women's doubles title of Singapore Open. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated eighth seed Spanish team of Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-3. BANKS & ECONOMY IN NEWS

Union Ministry of Finance on 6 November 2015 decided to impose 0.5 percent Swachh Bharat Cess (SBC) on all taxable services. It will be levied in addition to the 14 percent service tax that is in force now. The SBC will come into force on 15 November 2015. Its proceeds will be exclusively used to support Swachh Bharat initiative.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 5 November 2015 issued revised and uniform guidelines on Internet

Banking for all licensed cooperative banks including Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), Cooperative Banks (StCBs) and Districts Co-operative Banks (DCBs). These guidelines relate to Internet Banking (View Only) facility and Internet Banking with Transaction facility. The cooperative banks have to report commencement of the service to the concerned Regional Office of RBI (and also NABARD in case of StCBs/DCCBs) within one month of operationalisation of this facility.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared four FDI proposals worth ₹384 crore including that of pharma firm Lupin. “Based on the recommendations of FIPB in its meeting held on October 19, 2015, the Government has approved four proposals of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amounting to Rs. 384.45 crore,” a Finance Ministry statement said.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson of country's largest bank SBI, remains the most powerful woman in the Indian business sector, according to Fortune India. ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank follow Bhattacharya at the second and third place, respectively.

Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance, is planning to

meet Chief Executives of State-run banks every 45 days to take stock of various performance parameters and discuss evolving issues. The move comes at a time when public sector banks are witnessing increasing pressure on asset quality, which is eroding their capital and profitability.

A leading UAE-based bank has announced a partnership deal with State Bank of India to help NRI customers in the gulf to carry out their remittances instantly and more conveniently. Emirates NBD has expanded its partner bank network in India to include State Bank of India (SBI) for the DirectRemit 60 seconds remittance platform.

The Reserve Bank has imposed Rs 1 crore penalty on Dhanlaxmi Bank for violation of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) norms. It had issued a Show Cause Notice to the bank for not complying with KYC and AML guidelines “in respect of a current account under investigation” of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Mumbai.





BUSINESS NEWS

Sameer Gehlaut led Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. (IHFL) has acquired a 40 per cent stake in OakNorth Bank of the U.K. for $100 million, making it the largest shareholder of a full service universal bank. The investment has been identified and approved by the Strategic Investment Committee for Liability Franchise Develop- ment, headed by K. C. Chakrabarty, an independent director on the board and ex-Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Anheuser-Busch InBev says it has finalized the terms of a $107 billion takeover of SABMiller that will combine the planet’s two biggest brewers and create a company that makes almost a third of the beer consumed worldwide. As part of the deal, SABMiller will sell its stake in a venture with Molson Coors.

Ministry of Railways issued a Letter of Award (LoA) to USA-based GE Global Sourcing India Pvt Limited for setting up of Diesel Locomotive Factory (DLF) at Marhowra, Saran district, Bihar and for procurement and maintenance of mainline Diesel Electric Locomotives. With this, a Joint Venture Company between Union Ministry of Railways and GE Global Sourcing India Pvt Limited will be formed soon to construct and run the factory. The factory will manufacture modern diesel electric locomotives of 4500 HP and 6000 HP to Indian railways.

Internet giant Google is working with the government on a pilot project for providing Internet connectivity by using large balloons. Google, under its ‘Project Loon’, is using big balloons floating at a height of 20 kilometers above earth surface for transmission of Internet services. It has already tested this technology in New Zealand, California (the US) and Brazil.

US-based social networking giant Facebook on 31 October 2015 partnered with state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) to create 100 WiFi hotspots in rural areas of western and southern India. During the partnership, Facebook will invest 5 crore rupees per annum for buying bandwidth from BSNL. The hotspots will be set up by BSNL selected vendor Quad Zen and Trimax.

Tata Motors has roped in Football star Lionel Messi as the global brand ambassador for its passenger vehicles. To start with, Tata Motors will roll out the association campaign, #madeofgreat, starring Lionel Messi.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications Ltd (R-Com) is merging the telecom business of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) that operates MTS brand with itself in an all-stock deal worth Rs.4,500 crore, marking the start of the much-anticipated consolidation in India’s telecom sector.

SUMMITS/CONFERENCE

The 21st International Conference on Frontiers in Yoga Research and its Applications (INCOFYRA) will be held from 3 to 7 January 2016 at Prashanti Kutiram, Bengaluru. The summit will be organized by the Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Sansthana. The 21st INCOFYRA will bring together the traditional and modern medical systems. The theme of the conference is Yoga in Integrated Healthcare Systems.

To recognise the spirit of the persons with disabilities, first international film festival for the persons with disabilities (IFFPD) will be held in Delhi from 1 December to 3 December 2015.

11th National Tribal Crafts Mela Aadishilp has begun in New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram. This edition of Crafts Mela has been organised by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) and will be open till November 11, 2015.

2015 Valletta Summit on Migration concluded in Valletta (Malta). Among the key initiatives, the EU Emergency Trust Fund was established with 1.8 billion euros to deal with ongoing Mediterranean Migration Crisis.

12th ASEM Foreign Ministers' meet held in Luxemburg. The ASEM FMM 12 was held under the theme Working Together for a Sustainable and Secure Future.

21st INCOFYRA to be organised in Bengaluru in 2016. The theme of the conference is Yoga in Integrated Healthcare Systems.

International Indigenous Terra Madre 2015 started in Shillong. OBITUARIES

Rhythm and Blues legend Allen Toussaint died at the age of 77 after suffering two heart attacks.

Hero MotoCorp patriarch and doyen of Indian two-wheeler industry, Brijmohan Lall Munjal, passed away this evening after a brief illness. He was 92.

Former Israeli President Yitzhak Navon died. Navon was Israel’s first Sephardic president.

NRI industrialist Swraj Paul’s son Angad Paul dead. French intellectual Rene Girard passed away. India's former Ambassador to Nepal Bimal Prasad dead





Tollywood comedian Kondavalasa Lakshman Rao died. Colin Welland, the writer of Oscar winning Chariots of

Fire, died at 81 Former England Cricketer Tom Graveney died. Former West Bengal assembly speaker Hashim Abdul

Halim died. American actor Al Molinaro passed away. Eminent archaeologist V.N. Misra passed away.

DAYS

The World Science Day for Peace and Development, dubbed World Science Day, was observed on 10 November 2015 across the world. The theme for 2015 is Science for a Sustainable Future.

World Pneumonia Day observed on 12th November with the theme Every Breath Counts: Stop Pneumonia Now. DEFENCE IN NEWS

Indian Army on 7 November 2015 successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile at the Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. It was launched from an Autonomous Mobile Launcher (AML). For BrahMos, it was the 50th test-flight. The previous test-firing was from INS Kochi off the west coast on 1 November 2015.

Indian Army’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) on 9 November 2015 successfully test-fired surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile. The nuclear capable missile was test-fired from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 10 November 2015 commissioned the India Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), ‘Samarth’ at Vasco in Goa. It is Coast Guard’s largest OPV. The Ship built by Goa Shipyard limited is the first in the series of six off Shore Patrol vessels. The 105m OPV is fitted with most advance technology, navigation and communication equipment, sensors and machinery. It has a maximum speed of 23 knots and has an endurance of 6000 nautical miles at economical speed.

The seventh edition India-Russia Joint Military Exercise ‘Indra-2015’ has begun in Bikaner district of Rajasthan. This edition of exercise is focusing on ‘Counter Terrorism Operations in Desert Terrain under a United Nations Mandate’. The bilateral exercise would be held between Indian Army’s Infantry Battalion and Independent Russian Motorised Brigade from 7 to 20 November 2015.

An Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Arinjay was on 1 November 2015 commissioned by Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba PVSM, AVSM Flag Officer Commanding-in-chief, Southern Naval Command at a ceremony held at Naval Base in Kochi. The ship will be based at Okha under the administrative and operational control of the commander, coast guard region (north west). The ship

is commanded by Commandant AK Mudgal and has complement of four officers and 31 enrolled personnel.

Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, with a strike-range of over 290 kms, was test-fired from the navy's newest stealth destroyer INS Kochi successfully hitting a decommissioned target ship in the Arabian Sea.

Captain Krishna Swaminathan took over command of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. INS Vikramaditya is Indian Navy's new and formidable aircraft carrier which was commissioned at Severodvinsk in Russia on 16 November 2013.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Book titled What Happened to Netaji? authored by former journalist Anuj Dhar was released.

The book titled Rebooting India: Realizing a Billion Aspirations authored by Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah was released on 4 November 2015.

Interlinking of Indian Rivers authored by Radha Kant Bharati released. AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma on 7 November 2015 was honoured with the Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Award for lifetime achievement. The governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao presented the award to the 77-year old Santoor player in Mumbai.

Liberian teenager Abraham M Keita was on 10 November 2015 awarded with the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize 2015. He was awarded for his extraordinary and peaceful fight for justice for child victims of physical or sexual violence, and for successfully campaigning for the Liberian parliament to adopt the Children’s Law.

A team of Indian scientist led by Sameer Panda from Odisha on 6 November 2015 won the NASA award for an innovative technology named Burst Prevention & Puncture Curative (BPPC) technology. Udit Bondia, KN Panda and Smitiparna Satpathy are the other members of the team. They won the award in the Create the Future Design Contest- 2015 conducted by NASA Tech Brief in New York. Tech Brief is a contest jointly organized by NASA and Society of Automobile Engineers, International.





Renowned film, television and stage actor Vikram Gokhale was conferred with the prestigious Vishnudas Bhave Award. The actor was felicitated with the award for his outstanding contribution to Marathi theatre.

The 33-year-old “Mary Kom” actress, who has made it to the top five, will be competing with big names like Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, Marcia Gay Harden and Lia Michele. In her debut American TV thriller “Quantico” the “Gunday’ star plays the lead role of a young FBI recruit Alex Parish. The news of her being one of 15 actresses vying for a final nomination in the category came last month. NASA/ISRO IN NEWS

a) Indigenously made communications satellite GSAT-15 was launched successfully by the European Ariane 5 VA-227 launch vehicle at 3:04 am. The launch took place from Kourou in French Guyana in South America. The Ariane-5 rocket was hired at a cost of approximately 581 crores rupees.

b) The 3164 kilogram GSAT-15 carries communication transponders in Ku-band as well as a GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands. An Arabsat communications satellite also accompanied the GSAT-15 on the same launch. SCHEMES/POLICIES LAUNCHED BY CENTRAL &

STATE GOVERNMENT

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 5 November 2015 launched the Rajasthan Agro-Processing and Agri-Marketing Promotion Policy 2015. The policy seeks to promote agro-processing and to reduce post-harvest losses at the farm gate. The policy aims to promote agro-processing and to reduce post-harvest losses at the farm gate thus ensuring maximum prices of farmer’s agri produce. The state government also signed 112 MoUs with private companies in different sectors during the launch of policy.

The Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on 7 November 2015 launched the e-Pathshala, Saaransh and National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation Framework (Shala Siddhi) web portals/ mobile apps. These portals were launched during the edNEXT, the National Conference on ICT in School Education that was held at New Delhi. During the Conference, Shala Darpan, MDM-IVRS and Ekta project from Alwar, Rajasthan were also show-cased.

Union Government issued the notification regarding implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) in respect of Defence Forces personnel. The notification is in tune with the modalities for implementation announced on 5 September 2015. Features of OROP scheme -

Pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013.

The benefit will be given with effect from 1 July 2014 to the ex-service men of all the three forces.

Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected.

In future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years. Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly installments. All widows, including war widows, will be paid arrears

in one installment. Personnel who voluntarily retire will not be covered

under the scheme. The estimated cost to the exchequer would be 8000 to

10000 crore at present, and will increase further in future.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three gold related schemes. The schemes are – Gold Monetization Scheme, Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and Indian Gold Coins. The primary purpose of the schemes is to reduce dependence on imported gold, recycle the unutilized gold in the country and most importantly, streamline the gold business in the country. At present, India is the largest consumer of gold in the world.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 November 2015 launched Imprint India, a Pan-IIT and IISc joint initiative. The project encourages the Indian technical institutions to develop a blueprint for research to crack major engineering and technology challenges relevant to the nation. Imprint India is a 1000 crore rupees project, which aspires to identify areas of immediate relevance to society requiring innovation and Direct scientific research into identified areas.

The Maharashtra state Government has approved a revised scheme, named APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna, for pregnant and lactating women in the tribal areas of the state. The scheme aims at providing at least one full hot cooked nutritious food to every pregnant lady and lactating mother. The scheme will be rolled out on 15 November 2015. The anganwadis workers, the tribal women and the local meal committees will implement the scheme. The Women and Child Welfare Department will spend 10 crore rupees in stipend to anganwadi workers. MISCELLANEOUS

The Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People 2015 was released on 4 November 2015. The list was topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin for the third year in a row. Putin is followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel (rank 2) who moved up 3 spots from 2014, and President Barack Obama (rank 3) dropped 1 spot, making it the first year a sitting US President has not made it into the top 2 spots. India’s





Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ranked as the world’s ninth most powerful person. In 2014, Modi was placed at 14th position.

The United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) Disarmament Committee has adopted a draft resolution submitted by Japan calling for the abolition of nuclear arms. The resolution was adopted by 156 member countries, while 17 abstaining and 3 voting against it including China and Russia. But it failed to secure endorsement US, Britain, France and other key powers as they abstained from voting despite supporting it. The resolution Stresses the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and urges nuclear powers to be more transparent in their disarmament efforts. The resolution asks world leaders to visit the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were devastated by the nuclear attacks. Since 1994, Japan has been spearheading efforts UNGA Disarmament Committee to introduce resolutions on nuclear arms every year.

Financial Secrecy Index 2015 released; India moderately secretive. While Switzerland is the most secretive jurisdiction in the world, India is moderately secretive among the 92 countries/jurisdictions surveyed.

Shekhar Kapur to head jury and Anil Kapoor to be chief guest at IFFI 2015. The Man Who Knew Infinity, a British film on Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’s life, will open the 46th edition and Spain will be the focus country of the IFFI 2015.

The Legatum Prosperity Index 2015 released. India ranked 99 in terms of prosperity out of the 142 countries surveyed.

COMMITTEES IN NEWS

The Committee of Eminent Persons (CEP) on 5 November 2015 submitted its report. It was constituted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Council under the Chairmanship of Prof Ashok Misra to suggest reforms to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).

Richard Proud-chaired Independent Commission (IC) on Doping in Sports submitted its report to the World

Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The report was submitted on 9 November 2015 in Vienna, Switzerland.

The Union Government on 4 November 2015 constituted an Empowered Committee to approve schemes proposed under the Nirbhaya Fund. The Committee comprises officials from various ministries, including Women and Child Development, Home Affairs, Road Transport and Railways. The Nirbhaya Fund has a total of 3000 crore rupees fund as 1000 crore each was allocated to it in 2014-15 and 2015-16 on top of 1000 crore rupees initial corpus.

Dr T K Viswanathan Committee on Bankruptacy Law Reforms submitted its report. The report is in two parts-Recommendations and a comprehensive draft Insolvency and Bankruptcy bill.

Justice MB Shah-headed SIT on Black Money submitted its third report. The report dealt with shell companies and beneficial ownership.

Army Cloud, Software Defined Data Centre and Digi-Locker in New Delhi

a) Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 9 November 2015 launched Army Cloud, Software Defined Data Centre and Digi-Locker facilities for the Indian Army at the Army Headquarters in New Delhi.

b) The three initiatives are aimed at catalysing automation and digitization of the Indian Army and help in transforming it from a Platform Centric to a Network Centric Force.

c) Army Cloud includes a Central Data Centre, a Near Line Data Centre, both in Delhi and a Disaster Recovery site for replication of its critical data along with virtualised servers and storage in an environmentally controlled complex.

d) Digi Locker will provide a secure and exclusive data storage space to all the units and formation headquarters of the Army over its dedicated data network. It is similar to e-Locker of Digital India program and has all the advanced features like digital signatures and watermarking.





UDAY Scheme

a) Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its nod Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojna (UDAY) for financial restructuring of debt of power distribution companies.

b) The Scheme aims for financial turnaround and revival of Power Distribution companies (DISCOMs) and also ensures a sustainable permanent solution to the problem.

c) UDAY scheme allows power DISCOMs in selected states to convert their debt into state bonds as well as roll out number of measures to improve efficiency at power plants.

d) Selected states would be able to sell the balance 25 per cent as state-backed power bonds or loans which will carry interest rates of g-sec plus 50 basis points.

e) Thus with nod to UDAY Scheme, Union Government seeks to accelerate the process of reform across the entire power sector in order to ensure affordable and accessible 24×7 Power for All.

f) The scheme has been framed by Union Power Ministry as power DISCOMs in several states have been severely mismanaged, resulting in a debt burden upward of 4 lakh crore rupees. This has taken a toll on the power as well as bank sectors.

GOLD SCHEMES by Union Government

The three schemes launched by Govt. are: (i) Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) (ii) Gold Sovereign Bond Scheme (iii) Gold Coin and Bullion Scheme

a) Prime Minister Modi also unveiled the first ever national gold coin minted in India with the national emblem of Ashok Chakra engraved on it. The Gold Monetisation Scheme is aimed at tapping part of an estimated 20,000 tonnes of idle gold worth Rs. 5,40,000 crore in family lockers and temples into the banking system.

b) The Gold Sovereign Bond will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of the government with an interest rate of 2.75%. The bonds will be sold through banks and designated post offices. Describing the schemes as “sone pe suhaga” (icing on the cake), Modi said gold has often been a source of women’s empowerment in the Indian society, and these schemes will underscore that sense of empowerment.

c) Gold monetisation scheme (GMS) is a deposit scheme of banks where you will be paid interest on the weight of gold you give. The minimum deposit is 30 grams (of 995 fineness). To make a deposit under this scheme, you need to first get your gold tested from one of the centres certified by BIS. These centres, gold refiners and banks

will be in a tripartite agreement. After doing an XRF (x-ray fluorescence) and a fire assay test, you will be told the result. If you still wish to deposit the gold, the centre will give a purity certificate endorsing the weight and purity of gold. You have to then take the certificate to one of the designated banks. In the meantime, the banker will also get intimation from the centre of your gold deposit and he will credit your ‘gold deposit account’ with the equivalent amount of gold. The test centre will send the gold to a refiner who will keep the gold in his warehouse (unless the banks choose to hold it themselves).

d) This deposit scheme will be available for the short term

of one to three years, medium term of five to seven years and long term of 12-15 years. While deposits of all tenures will be run only by banks, for the medium and long-term deposits, the terms and conditions and rate of interest will be fixed by the Central Government. At the end of the deposit period, your deposit, either in cash/gold (medium and long-term deposits will be redeemed only in cash) will be returned to you by the bank. If redeemed in cash, the rupee value of the gold deposit at the prevailing market price will be paid.

e) Some Key Features: Gold Monetization Scheme

KYC - a must, but income is tax-free Will be melted, but returned as gold Fixed deposit, but can break it for a fee Interest nominal, but it is on gold weight

Gold Sovereign Bond

Earns you interest Minimal charges Better liquidity





Important Days in November

Nov. 1 - World Vegan Day Nov. 6 - International Day for Preventing the

Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

Nov. 7 - World Cancer Awareness Day Nov. 8 - World Radiology Day Nov. 9 - World Legal Service Day Nov.11 - National Education Day Nov.12 - Public Service Broadcasting Day

Nov.13 - World Kindness Day Nov. 14 - World Diabetes Day Nov. 16 - International Day for Endurance or Tolerance Nov.19 - World Toilet Day, National Integration Day Nov. 20 - Universal Children’s Day 3rd Sunday of November - World Day of

Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 3rd Thursday of November - World Philosophy Day

ALL THE BEST FOR RBI GRADE B EXAM AND NABARD ASSISTANT

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