December 5, 2017 ANB20171212 Abhyaas Newsboard … For the quintessential test prep student

News of the month GES 2017 Summit in : The Editor’s Column

Dear Student,

The month of November saw the GES Summit conducted in for the first time.

India’s won the coveted 2017 crown at a grand event in , after a long gap of 17 years at the top pageant contest. Earlier The of America and the Republic of recipiends include (1966), Aishwarya India jointly conducted the eighth annual Global Rai(1994), Diana Haydon(1997), Yukta Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad, Mookhey(1999) and (2000). Miss India from 28-30 November, 2017. This year’s Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters was crowned Miss Summit highlighted the theme Women First, Universe 2017. Prosperity for All, and focussed on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering economic Pollution levels in have reached “Severe Plus” growth globally. Advisor to the President Ivanka level as declared by the Environment Pollution Trump headed the United States delegation to the Authority. Summit. GES is the preeminent annual entrepreneurship Congratulations to Kasarla Meghana for securing the gathering that convenes emerging entrepreneurs, first prize in the Crossword – 0016. investors and supporters from around the world. Mitra, an indigenously-built robot by Bengaluru- Read on to go through the current affairs for the based Invento, greeted Ivanka Trump and Prime month of November 2017. Minister Narendra Modi and declared the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2017 open. Through two and a half days of networking, mentoring, and workshops, GES empowered entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas, build partnerships, secure funding, innovate, and find their target customers -- creating new goods and Padma Parupudi services that will transform societies. Index: This is the first time GES was hosted in South Asia, Page 2: Persons in News and the event highlighted India’s enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. Page 3: Places in News GES participants are truly global, with representation from every region of the world. Page 4: Events of Significance Entrepreneurs represent a diverse range of Page 8: Crossword geographies, industries, business size and scalability.

Abhyaas Newsboard… www.abhyaas.in Page 1 December 5, 2017 Persons in News 1. Suresh Chukkapalli, Chairman of Phoenix Group of Hyderabad, has been appointed as Honorary General in Hyderabad by the Republic of Korea, with consular jurisdiction over the State of . 2. Martina Hingis, one of only six women's players to hold the No.1 ranking in both singles and doubles at the same time, will retire after the WTA Finals. 3. India has appointed as the next high commissioner to Pakistan. He is currently ambassador to . Bisaria takes over from Gautam Bambawale, who has been appointed India’s ambassador to China. 4. Mukesh Ambani overtook China’s Hui Ka Yan to become Asia’s richest person, according to Forbes’ real time billionaires’ list. Ambani stood at the 14th spot on Forbes’ real time billionaires’ list. 5. Mirabai Chanu became the first Indian in over two decades to claim a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, USA. 6. In a first, a woman has been inducted as a pilot in the Indian Navy. Shubhangi Swaroop, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, will soon be flying Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft. 7. Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of the Freedom of Oxford award over her ‘inaction’ in handling the raging Rohingya refugee crisis and turning a ‘blind eye to violence’ in the country that forced over 600,000 people to flee to . 8. Manmohan Singh will receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development this year for his leadership of the country between 2004 and 2014 and for enhancing India's stature globally. 9. Five Indian women led by ICICI Bank chief executive officer and managing director and including star Priyanka Chopra, have featured on the list of the world’s 100 most powerful women compiled by Forbes. The list was topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 10. Olympic bronze-medallist Gagan Narang won a silver medal in the men’s 50m rifle prone event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Gold Coast, . 11. Eminent Litterateur Krishna Sobti was awarded the 53rd Jnanpith Award for the year 2017 for her path-breaking contribution to Indian literature. 12. Five-time world champion and Olympic bronze medalist M.C. has been named as the ambassador of the upcoming AIBA Women's Youth World Championships. 13. M.C. Mary Kom (48kg) notched up her fifth gold medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championships in . She defeated North Korea’s Kim Hyang Mi. 14. became the national champion for the third time, defeating world number 2 P.V. Sindhu in the women's singles final of Senior National Badminton Championships, in Nagpur, . 15. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been named as the recipient of the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice, 2017. Harmony Foundation has instituted the only official award in memory of Mother Teresa. Harmony Foundation's theme for 2017 is Compassion Beyond Borders. Past Awardees include The Dalai Lama, Malala Yousafzai, Anna Hazare, Colin Gonsalves. 16. 's Audrey Azoulay becomes the 11th Director General of Paris headquartered UNESCO. Azoulay becomes UNESCO's second woman director general. 17. The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has named Debjani Ghosh its president-designate. She will succeed R. Chandrashekhar after his tenure ends in March 2018. It will make her the first female president of the global trade body representing software companies. 18. The former Prime Minister of Kirti Nidhi Bista passed away at Kathmandu, Nepal. 19. Former football captain, Bhaskar Ganguly appointed as AIFF ombudsman by the Supreme Court of India.

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20. Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Billiards Championship at , Qatar after defeating Mike Russell of . 21. Bangladesh Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha resigns after criticism by the government over a Supreme Court verdict. 22. Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh resigned as the jury head of the Indian Panorama of the 48th International Film Festival of India (IIFI). 23. Jagdish Mohan, Hindustani vocalist of Kirana Gharana, passed away. 24. The 24th Governor of RBI Urjit Patel appointed to the Financial Stability Institute Advisory Board (FSIAB) of the Bank of International Settlement (BIS). 25. Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters was crowned 2017 at the AXIS theater at Planet Hollywood casino-resort on the Las Vegas Strip. 26. India's Manushi Chhillar has won the coveted at a grand event in China. 27. India paid homage to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 100th birth anniversary. A commemorative programme to mark the anniversary of Gandhi held at Shakti Sthal, . 28. India's star clinched his first title of the 2017 season on the ATP Challenger Tour following a come-from-behind win over compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan in the final of the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger in Pune. 29. Congress leader and former Union Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi passed away. 30. India’s nominee to the International Court of Justice Dalveer Bhandari was re-elected to the fifth and the last seat of the world court after Britain withdrew its candidate from the election. 31. Robert Mugabe has resigned as president of with immediate effect after 37 years in power, as Parliament began impeachment proceedings against him. 32. Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been elected as President of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) Places in News 1. The State government of announced lifetime monthly pension of Rs 10,000 for 'Hindi Satyagrahis' and those from the State who were jailed during the emergency. 2. The Hyderabad Metro Rail opened for public. The metro rail commenced its operations between Miyapur and Nagole, having a total distance of 30 kms and 24 stations. 3. The ninth edition of CMS Vatavaran - an international film festival on environment and wildlife - concluded in New Delhi. The theme of the fest is ‘Conservation for Water’. 4. The Uttar Pradesh cabinet decided to make India's first conservation reserve for blackbuck in Allahabad's Meja. The decision taken for the protection of black deer will also help in wooing tourists. 5. The Geographical Indication Registry has given Geographical Indication (GI) tag to traditional Etikoppaka toys (Etikoppaka Bommalu) from Andhra Pradesh. 6. ’s historic Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam has won the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for cultural heritage conservation. 7. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal rolled out 647 schemes entailing an investment of Rs 24.57 crore for development of the world's largest river island Majuli.

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8. India's Silicon Valley, Bengaluru, is the best host among 45 cities worldwide, according to a report from the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU). Bengaluru expressed the highest confidence in their digital environment based on people and skills, financial environment, innovation and entrepreneurship and new technology development. 9. Himachal Pradesh will be the first State in India to use EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in all booths during assembly elections. 10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the long- awaited direct train-service between and Khulna through video-conferencing. The new train service is called Bandhan Express. It is the second cross-border train between the two neighboring countries. 11. Delhi to reintroduce the odd-even scheme of vehicle traffic in the national capital. This comes after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) declared a state of public health emergency in Delhi. The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority had declared that the pollution has reached 'Severe Plus' level or emergency condition. 12. The Union New and Renewable Energy Ministry has commissioned 1.5 MW Small Hydro Power Plant in Biaras Drass, Kargil area of Jammu & Kashmir. It is the first project to be commissioned under Prime Minister’s Ladakh Renewable Energy Initiative. 13. PM Modi visited the , the first bilateral visit to the country, for the 31st ASEAN Summit. 14. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ meeting was held in Da Nang, Vietnam. The theme of this meeting was ‘Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future’. The APEC summit for 2018 will be held in Papua New . 15. Varanasi tops the list of most polluted cities, according to Central Pollution Control Board report. 16. Nagaland becomes the first State in the Northeast to launch Point of Sale (POS) facility for electricity bill payment. 17. The UNFCCC Climate Change Conference (COP23) was held in Bonn, Germany and was presided over by Government of . It concluded with countries putting in place a roadmap for ‘Talanoa Dialogue’, a year- long process to assess countries’ progress on climate actions. 18. The first South-Asian edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), which is being organised by the NITI Aayog in partnership with the government of the United States of America concluded in Hyderabad, Telangana. This year’s Summit highlighted the theme ‘Women First, Prosperity for All’. 19. The Chhattisgarh Government has imposed a ban on the bursting of firecrackers in six of its cities, including the State capital , ahead of the wedding season from December 1st to January 31st. Events of Significance 1. India broke into the top 100 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings. The rise to the 100th position from 130 last year made India one of the top 10 best-improved countries. 2. State Bank of India announced sanction of credit facilities amounting to Rs 2,317 crore to corporates for financing Grid Connected Rooftop Solar projects under an SBI-World Bank program.This funding will create solar power capacity aggregating 575 MW. 3. The Joint Indo- Tri-Services Exercise INDRA-2017 was successfully conducted at Vladivostok in Russia. The name of the exercise INDRA has been derived from INDia and RussiA.The theme of Exercise INDRA-2017 was ‘Preparation and Conduct of Operations by a Joint Force for Suppression of International Terror Activity at the request of a host country under UN mandate’. 4. Amendment in the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 - The amendment seeks to grant retrospective recognition to the Central/State/Union Territory funded institutions/universities conducting Teacher Education Courses without NCTE recognition till the academic year 2017-2018. Abhyaas Newsboard… www.abhyaas.in Page 4 December 5, 2017

5. The Ministry of Finance increased the maximum age of joining the National Pension System from the existing 60 years to 65 years under NPS - Private Sector (i.e., all citizen and corporate model). Now, any Indian Citizen, resident or non-resident, between the age of 60- 65 years, can also join NPS and continue up to the age of 70 years in NPS. 6. The 210-metre-high statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has received environmental clearance, making it the world’s tallest statue, once built. The Maharashtra government plans to build it in the sea off the coast. 7. Goa is the safest for girls, and Bihar is the least, according to a newly-formed Gender Vulnerability Index by NGO Plan India.The index takes into account four core dimensions: education, health and survival, poverty, protection. The top three safest States - Goa, Kerala,Mizoram. 8. India slipped 21 places on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap index to 108, behind neighbours China and Bangladesh, primarily due to less participation of women in the economy and low wages, according to the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2017. 9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the most anticipated International Mega Food event - World Food India 2017, the biggest congregation of global investors and business leaders of major food companies. The theme of WFI 2017 is ‘Transforming the Food Economy’. 10. Yes Bank, unveiled a superior payment wallet service, BHIM Yes Pay by fully integrating the application with all the India Stack APIs and NPCI Products. 11. Indian Army has formally launched Integrated Quarter Master Package (IQMP) software application for automating various logistics related functions of an Army Unit.IQMP is web based software developed by Army Software Development Centre in association with TCS Ltd. It will replace numerous legacy applications such as ‘Vastra’ and ‘Quarter Master Package’. 12. Europe hit by fresh cyber attack as ‘Bad Rabbit’ ransomware corrupts computers across Russia, , Germany and . 13. The Supreme Court has ruled that technical education cannot be provided through correspondence courses. The apex court restrained educational institutions from providing courses in technical education like engineering through distance learning programme. 14. The Border Roads Organisation has built the world's highest motorable road at a height of over 19,300 feet. The road has been constructed in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. The 86-kilometre long strategic road has been constructed under 'Project Himank'. 15. ICICI Bank announced the launch of India's first voice-based international remittance service to enable non- resident Indians to send money to any bank in India. This feature in available in their ‘Money2India’ app. 16. Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha launched a pan-India scholarship program for school children called Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana to increase the reach of Philately. 17. The awards for the ‘Best Urban Transport Practices’ were announced by the Union government at UMI Conference in Hyderabad. Surat Municipal Corporation has been chosen for the ‘Best City Bus Services Award’ for attracting 87% of private vehicle and auto rickshaw users to use city buses. Mysuru’s Public Bicycle Sharing has won the ‘Best Non-Motorised Transport’ Award while Kochi has been chosen for the ‘Best Urban Transport Initiative’ Award for completing its Metro Rail Project in a quick time besides integrating the metro with other modes of transport. 18. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has released ‘The Paradise Papers’, a global investigation that reveals the offshore activities of some of the world’s most powerful people and companies. Among 180 countries represented in the data, India ranks 19th in terms of number of names. In all, names of 714 Indians have figured in this largest ever black money data leak. 19. The Indian Railways has launched the main arch of the world's highest bridge on the river Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district which will provide direct connectivity to the Kashmir Valley. Abhyaas Newsboard… www.abhyaas.in Page 5 December 5, 2017

20. The Indian shooting contingent finished the Commonwealth Shooting Championship 2017 with the best tally of 20 medals with a total of six gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals in the competition. 21. India conducted a flight test of its indigenously designed and developed long-range subsonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’. 22. The Supreme Court has refused to pass an interim order to stay ordinance allowing kambala, the traditional buffalo slush track race in . However, the apex court will examine the constitutional validity of the ordinance. People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an NGO, had challenged the ordinance. 23. 64 cities from 44 countries have been designated as UNESCO Creative Cities by Director-General, Irina Bokova. is the third Indian city on the list of UNESCO Creative Cities list after Jaipur and Varanasi. 24. Together with Microsoft, Ola is building a new connected vehicle platform for car manufacturers worldwide. As part of the partnership, Ola announced that Microsoft will be its preferred cloud provider. At the heart of the partnership is Ola Play. 25. Indian short film ‘The School Bag’ won the 'Best Short Film Award' at the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal. It tells a story based in Pakistan. The movie is directed by Dheeraj Jindal. 26. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao declared Urdu as the State's second official language. Every office in the State will now have an Urdu speaking officer. 27. The social networking giant Inc. has rolled out Disaster Maps for India in a bid to help communities recover and rebuild faster in aftermath of natural disasters. It was launched at Facebook’s first Disaster Response Summit in India along with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to improve disaster response and disaster management in India. 28. The Union Cabinet approved the appointment of Second National Judicial Pay Commission for subordinate judiciary in the country. It will be headed by Justice (Retd) J. P. Venkatrama Reddi, former Judge of Supreme Court. R. Basant, former Judge of Kerala High Court will be its member. 29. India will soon have the first Cartoon Network branded theme park. Turner International India, which owns the Cartoon Network brand, has entered into a brand partnership with Rajgreen group for the launch of a 61,000 square meter property Amaazia, in Surat. 30. Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation bagged an international award from Abu Dhabi in the category of ‘social contribution in country value’. 31. The Petroleum Ministry in consultation with Public Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has decided for preponement of BS-VI grade auto fuels in National Capital Territory of Delhi from 1st April 2018 instead of 1st April 2020. 32. WHO Global Ministerial Conference named ‘Ending TB in the Sustainable Development Era: A Multisectoral Response’ - held in Moscow, Russia with an aim to accelerate implementation of the WHO End TB Strategy. 33. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched Daily Drug Regimen for treatment of Tuberculosis patients across the country under The Revised National TB Control Programme. 34. Scientists from Botanical Survey of India have discovered a new species of parasitic flowering plant named Gleadovia konyakianorum. The species was named in honour of Konyak tribe of Nagas. 35. 20th November is observed as United Nations Universal Children's Day, theme: 'Kids Take Over'. 36. India has become the second largest fish producing country in the world. China is the largest fish producer country in the world. 37. Andhra Bank has launched a new scheme for self-help groups to encourage entrepreneurship. The scheme, Pattabhi Sitaramayya — Self Business Group (PS-SBG), has been introduced to commemorate the 138th birth anniversary of its founder Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya.

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38. India overtakes the US to become the world’s second-largest smartphone market, trailing only China, according to a new report by analyst firm Canalys. 39. Social networking giant Facebook stated that it expects to train about five lakh people in India on digital skills by 2020 and has unveiled two programmes designed for individuals and start-ups - Facebook Digital Training and Facebook Startup. 40. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Umang mobile application, an integrated platform for government to citizen services. Umang, an acronym for ‘unified mobile app for new age e-governance’. 41. Government will soon initiate a comprehensive ‘safe city’ plan for women in eight metropolitan cities of the country. It will be implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. 42. The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has nominated nine movies for this year’s International Council for Film, Television and Audio-visual Communication (ICFT) UNESCO Gandhi Medal. Out of nine films, five are from India. The Indian films competing for the prestigious ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal are Kshitij - A Horizon, Manusangada, Poorna, Railway Children and Take-off. 43. State Bank of India, the country’s largest public sector bank, has launched a unified integrated app called YONO (You Need Only One) that would offer all kinds of financial and lifestyle products. YONO will also allow customers to meet their lifestyle needs across 14 categories including booking and renting cabs, entertainment, dining experience, travel and stay, medical needs and so on 44. President Ram Nath Kovind has promulgated an ordinance under Article 123 of Constitute to amend Indian Forest Act, 1927 to encourage bamboo plantation by farmers in private lands. The ordinance omits bamboo (taxonomically a grass) grown in non-forest areas from definition of trees. 45. The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) based at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) had conducted ‘Multi-State Mega Mock Exercise of Tsunami for East Coast of India’. 46. Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh chaired the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee of Inter-State Council (ISC) held in New Delhi. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State relations. 47. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has ranked 29th among the top 150 universities on Global University Employability Ranking 2017 published by Times Higher Education. Other than IISc, only two institutes from India featured among the top 150. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ranked 145th and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay ranked 148th. 48. World's first Sanskrit 3D film 'Anurakthi was among the main attraction in 3D category at the International Film Festival of India in Panaji in Goa. 49. President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the 3rd Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR) Distinguished Indologist Award on Professor Hiroshi Marui of at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. 50. The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) was launched in Manipur, by Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R.K. Singh and N. Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur.

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Crossword – 0017

Note: Solve this crossword and mail your solution with Crossword – 0017 in the subject line to [email protected] latest by 18th December 2017. Do mention your name and enrolment id in the mail. First correct solution entry will get a prize. Key to Crossword - 0016

Note: Four entries received in time of which two entries are entirely correct. 1) Kasarla Meghana (GVA) 2) Itihas Kovi (KKP)

Prize goes to Kasarla Meghana(GVA) batch.

Hoping to see more enthusiastic participation this month.

Feel free to write to: [email protected] to resolve your lawprep queries

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