IBS Quest

Position CONTENTS Index Top Ranked Country of 1. Economic watch 1 Human Development Index -2017 131 Topped by Norway followed by Ease of Doing Business Index 2018 100th The list is topped by New Zealand followed by 2. Editor’s Message 2 Singapore, Denmark. 3. Articles 3 Foreign Direct Investment 8th The list is topped by USA followed by confidence index 4. Current Affairs October 2017 8 Global Competitiveness Index 2016 39th The list is topped by , followed by 5. Banking: At a Glance 18 Singapore and USA. Global Talent Index 92nd The list is topped by Switzerland, followed by 6. Miscellaneous 23 Singapore 7. State: At a Glance Uttar Pradesh 25 Global Human Capital index 2017 103 The list is topped by Norway, followed by 8. RRB PO Mains GK Questions 26 Global Hunger Index 2017 100th Developed by International food policy and 9. IBPS Clerical Mains Gk Questions28 research institute (IFPRI) Global Innovation Index 2016 60 The list is topped by Switzerland, followed by 10. State GK: Haryana 34 Sweden 11. State GK: Punjab 38 Global Peace Index (GPI) 2017 137 The list is topped by Iceland, followed by Newzland 12. State GK: Himachal Pradesh 41 Global Slavery Index 2016 4th The list is topped by North Korea, followed by 13. Current Affairs Last 3 Months 45 Uzbekistan and Cambodia. Global Talent Competitiveness Index 89th The list is topped by Switzerland, followed by 14. Latest GK Tablets 69 2017 Singapore and Luxembourg. Intellectual Property Index 2017 43rd The list is topped by USA, followed by UK and Germany. Logistics Performance Index 2016 35th The list is topped by Germany, followed by IBS Quest Luxembourg and Sweden. Global Human Capital Index 103 The list is topped by Norway followed by AN IBS (P) LTD. Finland INITIATIVE Sustainable Development Goal Index 116th The list is topped by Sweden, followed by 2017 Denmark Owned, Printed & Published By Economic Freedom Index 2017 143rd The list is topped by Hong Kong, followed by Institute of Banking & SSC Exams Singapore. World Happiness Index 2017 122nd The list is topped by Norway followed by SCO 13-14-15, Sector 34A, CHD. Denmark, World Press Freedom Index 2017 136 The list is topped by Norway, followed by www.ibsindia.co.in Sweden th e-mail: [email protected] World Risk Index 2016 77 The list is topped by Island state of Vanuatu, followed by Tonga and Philippines. POLICY RATES OF RESERVE Global Travel and Tourism Index- 40 The list topped by followed by France BANK OF INDIA 2017 Global Corruption perception index- 79 The list is topped by New Zealand and Bank Rate : 6.25% 2017 Denmark Repo Rate : 6.0%

Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) : 5.75% FDI Limits CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) : 4% List of Limits in Various Sectors (In %) SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) : 19.5% 1. Petroleum Refining by PSU 49% 7. Civil Aviation 100% Base Rate : 8.95% - 9.45% 2. Pharmaceutical Sector 74% 8. Private security agencies 49% Saving Deposit rate :3.5%- 4% 3. Medical Devices 100% 9. Private Sector Banking 74% Term Deposit Rate for >1 Year : 6.00% -6.70 % 4. White Label ATM Operation 100% 10. Public Sector Banking 20% Marginal Standing Facility (MSF): 6.25% 5. Cable Networks 100% 11. Insurance and sub-activities 49% Marginal Cost of Fund Based Lending RatE 6. Print Media 26% : 7.70%-8.05%

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IBS Quest

EDITOR’S MESSAGE

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING; Positive thinking is a mental and emotional attitude that focuses on the bright side of life and expects positive results. A positive person anticipates happiness, health and success, and believes he or she can overcome any obstacle and difficulty. Positive thinking is not a concept that everyone believes and follows. Some, consider it as nonsense, and scoff at people who follow it. However, there are growing numbers of people, who accept positive thinking as a fact, and believe in its effectiveness. The first step to enjoying success and a better life is to change your attitude. This means changing the way you see things, changing the way you interpret things, changing the way you deal with people. Be more open minded, look at the positive side of things, search and find the positive spin on things, look for the good in people instead of just focusing on the negative. Throw out all those negative preconceptions that you have about people, situations and events in your life. Take an attitude test of yours by your own observation.

The next time you respond to a person or a situation check and see if you have a positive or a negative attitude. If it's a negative attitude you have to change it. This means you no longer pass judgment or think that you know everything. Instead, start considering all possibilities, giving people the benefit of the doubt and focusing on a positive outcome while being ready to learn something new and grow in different ways. By doing what I just outlined you give your subconscious mind a new set of instructions. You tell your subconscious that you're ready to see change unfold, that you're open to new possibilities, that you're willing to do what you can to improve your life and that you want more positive situations. Your subconscious mind responds to your new attitude by helping you improve your life. It will guide you to positive situations and people that will help you create the life you want. Good things happen to people with a positive attitude. There are two things that really define us our Attitude and Patience.

ALL THE BEST

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IBS Quest MISS WORLD 2017 : MANUSHI CHHILLAR India’s Manushi Chhillar today won the coveted Miss World 2017 crown at a grand event in , bringing to an end the country’s dry spell of 17 years at the top pageant contest. The 20-year-old from Haryana, who is a medical student, edged out top five contestants from England, France, Kenya and Mexico. Chhillar was presented the crown by Stephanie Del Valle, the last year’s Miss World winner from Puerto Rico at the event in Sanya City Arena in China which was televised live globally. The first and the second runners-up were Miss England Stephanie Hill and Miss Mexico Andrea Meza. In the top five round, Chhillar was asked which profession according to her deserved the highest salary. “I think a mother deserves the highest respect and when you talk about salary it’s not always about cash but I feel it’s the love and respect that you give to someone. My mother has always been the biggest inspiration in my life. Chhillar is the sixth Indian to win the coveted crown, which was first won by Reita Faria back in 1966. Aishwarya Rai had bagged the title in 1994, followed by Diana Haydon in 1997, Yukta Mookhey in 1999 and Priyanka Chopra in 2000, the last for India. Aishwarya Rai had bagged the title in 1994, followed by Diana Haydon in 1997, Yukta Mookhey in 1999 and Priyanka Chopra in 2000, the last for India.

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IBS Quest TERRORISM AND WORLD PEACE The 21st century has witnessed unforeseen events which have altered the course of history forever. Besides the technological advancements, the biggest change undoubtedly has been the emergence of terrorism as one of the biggest global threats. Terrorism has been insidiously affecting lives all over the world and has resulted in spoiling the world peace at an alarming rate. May it be a super power like United States of America or a developing country like India, terrorism continues to spread its roots with no concrete solution. It has not only debilitated national security but has also led countries into a situation of anarchy. There are a number of far reaching consequences of terrorism which must be understood clearly to know why nations are spending billions of dollars to root out terrorism from their land. First and foremost, any terror attack leads to change in foreign policies affecting relationship of a nation with either its neighbor or some of its trade partners. The feeling of distrust and fear between countries is indeed disappointing considering that none may be at fault. A classic example is that of India and its neighbouring country Pakistan which have time and again snapped trade ties after a terrorist attack and have not been able to come to an understanding to free some items from the restricted list, thereby blocking potential opportunities for mutual growth and better understanding. Terrorism disturbs peace and kills innocent citizens. Terrorists have ulterior motives for launching any such attacks. However, innocent civilians pay the price for it. With slow response and other pressing issues like environmental damage, sanitation, food security to deal with, the issue has apparently become an everlasting one. Terrorism was traditionally carried out for religious reasons. Although, it continues to be an important reason but it is not the only one. Politically motivated reasons are also being used for terrorist attacks. Religious strife is used to disturb peace and harmony between people of various religions and has often resulted in riots, changes in policy for people of specific religion or just plain hostility between communities. Terrorism is a global threat and even though countries have come to recognize it, they have to work harder in order to ensure world peace is achieved. In order to achieve world peace, countries must come together to counter the growing menace i.e terrorism and stop the violence, fear and blood shed. It is a mammoth task and certainly not an easy one and nations would have to collaborate and reach consensus on how to achieve their goal of a terror-free country and in turn a terror free world. Restoration of world peace is the only lasting solution to many of the problems hampering the nations across the globe currently.

DEMONETISATION : A BOLD STEP BY PRIME MINISTER

When PM Modi announced that Rs with the denomination of 500/- and 1000/- would cease to be the legal tender from 9th of Nov, the whole country was stunned. This decision caused sensation in the whole country. Social Media was flooded with messages and information. People started counting the trash they had accumulated for years legally or illegally. Rumours became rife. Some tried to invest their dying currency in gold. Some contacted their near and dear ones in this miserable hour. People could get only Rs 4000/ of old denomination exchanged with the new one. Big queues before the banks and ATMs became the order of the day. The main objective of this move was to curb the black money, corruption and fake money menace. All the people but those who were indulged in malpractices welcomed the move. The whole opposition shook hand against this move under one pretence or the other. They called this decision a draconian law and wanted the govt to roll back it. Tirades were made to target the decision. Govt also carried out counter attacks. The new currency which replaced the old one is of denomination of 500/- and 2000/-. Though the people faced a lot of inconvenience owing to shortage of funds, they did not criticize the govt for the move. Even they lauded the Modi govt for this big move. He further said he was aware the hardships they were suffering from but he sought only 50 days for setting the things right. He jibed at the chief political leaders who have stashed big amount of money and therefore joined hands to force govt to rollback its decision. This big move will certainly abridge the gap between the haves and the have- nots. However, there may be some difficulties for a couple of months. But this inconvenience shall be temporary and for short-term.

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IBS Quest BANK BOARD BUREAU : A BACKBONE FOR BANKS

Taking the first step towards a holding company structure for public sector banks (PSBs), the government announced the setting up of a Banks’ Board Bureau (BBB), where each bank would be monitored on the basis of "key performance indicators". The Banks Board Bureau will recommend appointment of directors in public sector banks (PSBs) and advice on ways of raising funds and dealing with issues of stressed assets. The financial services secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that the political interference in the functioning of banks must cease. The BBB would replace the existing appointments board for PSBs. He also said that BBB will also be a link between the government and banks and will be engaged with banks to evolve strategies for them. The bureau will be a six-member board comprising three from the private sector and three government nominees, while the chairman "will be a distinguished banker or regulator". Banks have a requirement for Rs.180,000 crore over the next four years to meet their capital requirements. Of this, the government will provide Rs.70,000 crore. They have to raise Rs.1.1 lakh crore from the market. The BBB will advise the banks on ways of raising fund. Also the government plans to provide Rs.25,000 crore capital each in the current and next fiscal year, while Rs.20,000 crore would be provided during 2017-18 and 2018-19. Give advice to PSBs in developing differentiated strategies for raising funds through innovative financial methods and instruments and to deal with issues of stressed assets is the main function of Bank Board Bureau. Mr. Vinod Rai, The former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is the Present and First Chairman of Bank Board Bureau. GOODS AND SERVICE TAX : BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA GST or Goods and Services Tax is considered as major Tax reform policy in India which will be implemented from July 2017, passed in Parliament session. Most Economists are very positive about GST implementation. It has been long pending issue to streamline all the different types of indirect taxes and implement a “single taxation” system. This system is called as GST (GST is the abbreviated form of Goods & Services Tax). The main expectation from this system is to abolish all indirect taxes and only GST would be levied. As the name suggests, the GST will be levied both on Goods and Services. GST was first introduced during 2007-08 budget session. On 17th December 2014, the current Union Cabinet ministry approved the proposal for introduction GST Constitutional Amendment Bill. On 19th of December 2014, the bill was presented on GST in Loksabha. The Bill will be tabled and taken up for discussion during the coming Budget session. The current central government is very determined to implement GST Constitutional Amendment Bill. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) is a new form of indirect tax which will replace others like service tax, sales tax, octroi, central and state sales tax imposed under the current multi-tax system. It was expected to be a single tax levied by the central government on the production of goods and services. Currently, each state imposes a different tax. So, each state was counted as a different market by businesses. It is a huge task to move goods from one state to another due to differential taxes. GST will remove such demarcation and create a unified market. This is expected to help ease movement of goods across states and reduce costs for businesses. The Bill seeks to establish a GST Council tasked with optimising tax collection for goods and services by the State and Centre.The Council will consist of the Union Finance Minister (as Chairman), the Union Minister of State in charge of revenue or Finance, and the Minister in charge of Finance or Taxation or any other, nominated by each State government.

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IBS Quest 25 YEARS OF ASEAN – INDIA RELATIONS: ONE VISION ONE IDENTITY The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises of Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. India’s focus on a strengthened and multi-faceted relationship with ASEAN is an outcome of the significant changes in the world’s political and economic scenario since the early 1990s and India’s own march towards economic liberalisation. India’s search for economic space resulted in the ‘Look East Policy’. The Look East Policy has today matured into a dynamic and action oriented ‘Act East Policy. PM at the 12th ASEAN India Summit and the 9th East Asia Summit held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in November, 2014, formally enunciated the Act East Policy. Apart from ASEAN, India has taken other policy initiatives in the region that involve some members of ASEAN like BIMSTEC, MGC etc. India is also an active participant in several regional forums like the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting + (ADMM+) and Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF). India's relationship with ASEAN is a key pillar of our foreign policy and the foundation of our Act East Policy. The up-gradation of the relationship into a Strategic Partnership in 2012 was a natural progression to the ground covered since India became a Sectoral Partner of the ASEAN in 1992, Dialogue Partner in 1996 and Summit Level Partner in 2002. There are, in total, 30 Dialogue Mechanisms between India and ASEAN, cutting across various sectors.

25th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations: India and ASEAN are observing 25 years of their Dialogue Partnership, 15 years of Summit Level interaction and 5 years of Strategic Partnership throughout 2017 by undertaking a wide range of activities, both in India and through our Missions in ASEAN Member States, which would culminate in a Commemorative Summit on the theme "Shared Values, Common Destiny. In 2012, ASEAN and India had commemorated 20 years of dialogue partnership and 10 years of Summit level partnership with ASEAN with a Commemorative Summit in New Delhi under the theme 'ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace and Shared Prosperity' on 20-21 December 2012. The Commemorative Summit attended by the Leaders from all the 10 ASEAN countries endorsed elevating the partnership to a 'Strategic Partnership'. The Leaders also adopted the 'ASEAN- India Vision Statement', which charts the future of ASEAN-India cooperation. Two major events that were organized in 2012 in the run-up to the Commemorative Summit included the 2nd ASEAN-India Car Rally and Shipping Expedition of INS Sudarshini to ASEAN countries.

Plans of Action: As a reflection of the interest of ASEAN and India to intensify their engagement, the ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity, which sets out the roadmap for long-term ASEAN-India engagement, was signed at the 3rd ASEAN-India Summit in 2004 in Vientiane. A Plan of Action (POA) for the period 2004-2010 was also developed to implement the Partnership. The 3rd POA (2016-20) was adopted by the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers Meeting held in August 2015. Furthermore, ASEAN and India have identified priority areas for the period of 2016-2018 and are already implementing activities under it, which would contribute towards successful implementation of the 2016-2020 Plan of Action.

Political Security Cooperation: Faced with growing traditional and non-traditional challenges, politico-security cooperation is a key and an emerging pillar of our relationship. Rising export of terror, growing radicalization through ideology of hatred, and spread of extreme violence define the landscape of common security threats to our societies. Our partnership with ASEAN seeks to craft a response that relies on coordination, cooperation and sharing of experiences at multiple levels.

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IBS Quest

Economic Cooperation: India-ASEAN trade and investment relations have been growing steadily, with ASEAN being India's fourth largest trading partner.India's trade with ASEAN has increased to US$ 70 billion in 2016-17 from US$ 65 billion in 2015-16. India's export to ASEAN has increased to US$ 30 billion in 2016-17 from US$ 25 billion in 2015-16. Investment flows are also substantial both ways, with ASEAN accounting for approximately 12.5% of investment flows into India since 2000. FDI inflows into India from ASEAN between April 2000 to May 2016 was about US$49.40 billion, while FDI outflows from India to ASEAN countries, from April 2007 to March 2015, as per data maintained by DEA, was about US$38.672 billion.The ASEAN-India Free Trade Area has been completed with the entering into force of the ASEAN- India Agreements on Trade in Service and Investments on 1 July 2015.

Socio-Cultural Cooperation: We have been organizing a large number of programmes to boost People-to-People Interaction with ASEAN, such as inviting ASEAN students to India each year for the Students Exchange Programme, Special Training Course for ASEAN diplomats, Exchange of Parliamentarians, Participation of ASEAN students in the National Children’s Science Congress, ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks, ASEAN-India Eminent Persons Lecture Series, etc.

ASEAN-India Green Fund: At the 6th ASEAN-India Summit on 21 November 2007 in Singapore, India announced the setting up of an ASEAN-India Green Fund with an initial contribution of US$ 5 million from India, to support collaboration activities relating to environment and climate change. Some of the areas identified for collaboration under the Fund are climate change, energy efficiency, clean technologies, renewable energy, biodiversity conservation and environmental education. Projects worth US$ 1.97 million covered under this Fund are currently at the implementation stage.

ASEAN-India Projects: India has been cooperating with ASEAN by way of implementation of various projects in the fields of Agriculture, Science & Technology, Space, Environment & Climate Change, Human Resource Development, Capacity Building, New and Renewable Energy, Tourism, People-to-People contacts and Connectivity etc.

Delhi Dialogue: India has an annual Track 1.5 event Delhi Dialogue, for discussing politico-security and economic issues between ASEAN and India. Since 2009, India has had nine editions of this event. The 9th edition of Delhi Dialogue was hosted by the MEA on 4-5 July 2017 in New Delhi.

ASEAN-India Centre (AIC): At the Commemorative Summit held in 2012, the Heads of the Government recommended establishment of ASEAN- India Centre (AIC) to undertake policy research, advocacy and networking activities with organizations and think-tanks in India and ASEAN, with the aim to promote the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership. Set up in 2013, the AIC has been serving as a resource centre for ASEAN Member States and India, for strengthening ASEAN-India strategic partnership and promoting India-ASEAN dialogue and cooperation in the areas of mutual interests. AIC has provided inputs to policy makers in India and ASEAN on implementation of ASEAN-India connectivity initiatives by organising seminars, roundtables etc. AIC also organizes workshops, seminars and conferences on various issues relevant to ASEAN-India strategic partnership. It undertakes regular networking activities with relevant public/private agencies, organizations and think-tanks in India and ASEAN and EAS countries, with the aim of providing up-to-date information, data resources and sustained interaction, for promoting ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership.

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IBS Quest

CURRENT AFFAIRS NOVEMBER 2017 NATIONAL NEWS  Vikram Singh has been appointed the Private Secretary charge as the new Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief to President Ram Nath Kovind. Eastern Naval Command (ENC) on 31 Oct 17. Vikram Singh, the 1997 batch officer of the Indian Railway  Goa is hosting the first-ever India-US Ocean Dialogue Traffic Service (IRTS), has been appointed Private 2017 Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind for a period of two The first-ever India-US Ocean Dialogue has started in Goa years. Apart from him, IAS officer P C Meena was on November 1, 2017, which is being hosted by the Indian appointed Private Secretary to Minister of State for Ministry of External Affairs at the Council of Scientific and Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary. Industrial Research-National Institute of Oceanography  India has signed 200 Million US Dollars of Loan (CSIR-NIO). The purpose of the Ocean dialogue is to Agreement with World Bank (WB) for the Assam promote sustainable development of the Blue Economy. Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project.  Yogesh Chandra Modi has taken over charge as new The (GoI) and the World Bank (WB) Director-General (DG) of National Investigation Agency has signed a $200 million Loan Agreement for the Assam (NIA). Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project. The $200 Yogesh Chander Modi, a 1984 batch IPS officer of the million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has taken charge as new Director and Development (IBRD), has a 7-year grace period, and a General of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and will maturity of 16.5 years. hold the post till his superannuation, i.e. May 31, 2021. He  Giriraj Singh The union minister has launched MSME succeeded Sharad Kumar Sinha. Delayed Payment Portal “MSME Samadhaan”.  Neelmani.N.Raju has been appointed as the Karnataka’s Giriraj Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent first woman Director General and Inspector General of Charge), has launched MSME Delayed Payment Portal – Police (DG-IGP). MSME Samadhaan (http://msefc.msme.gov.in) on October Neelmani N. Raju, a 1983 batch IPS officer, has been 30. The MSEs will also be empowered to access the portal appointed as the Karnataka’s first-ever woman Director and monitor their cases. General and Inspector General of Police (DG-IGP). She will  India to host the 13th session of United Nations (UN) take over from Rupak Kumar Dutta, who is retiring from Global Wildlife Conference. service. The 13th session of the Conference of the Parties to the  Anupam Kher, the Indian bollywood personality has Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species been honoured with the 2017 Parmod Mahajan Smriti (CMS) of Wild Animals (CMS COP13) will be hosted by Award. India in 2020. The CMS COP is also known as a Global Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has been honoured Wildlife Conference & is held once in three years. with the 2017 Pramod Mahajan Smriti Award in Pune,  Ajit Kumar.P has taken charge as the new Vice Chief of Maharashtra on October 29, 2017. Kher is awarded along Naval Staff (VCNS). with Saira Banu, who is UN ambassador for Hefor She. Ajit Kumar P, AVSM, VSM has taken charge  Pension regulator PFRDA has increased maximum age as the new Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS) at a formal of joining National Pension Scheme (NPS) Private Sector ceremony held in New Delhi on October 30, 2017. He from 60 to 65 Years. succeeded Vice Admiral , who has taken

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IBS Quest The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority PM has inaugurated the 3-day long World (PFRDA) has increased the maximum age of joining Food India (WFI) 2017 fair at the India Gate Lawns in New National Pension Scheme (NPS) Private Sector from the 60 Delhi on November 3, 2017, which aimed to attract $10 to 65 years of age to increase the pension coverage in the billion investment in food processing sector and to generate country. Now, any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident, 1 million jobs in the next 3 years in India. of 60-65 years of age can join the NPS and continue up to  Goa has topped the 2017 Gender Vulnerability Index the age of 70 years. (GVI), which is recently released by the Child  India is hosting the 21st World Congress of Mental development NGO Plan India. Health (WCMH) 2017. Goa has topped the 2017 Gender Vulnerability Index (GVI) The 21st World Congress of Mental Health has started in with score 0.649, which is recently released by the Child New Delhi with theme “Partnerships for Mental Health” on development NGO Plan India during its national conference November 2, 2017, which is organised by the World in New Delhi on November 1. has acquired 2nd Federation for Mental Health in partnership with Caring position followed by Mizoram and Sikkim. Foundation and other institutions. It was inaugurated by the  Union ministry of Communication has launched Deen President of India, Ram Nath Kovind. Dayal SPARSH Yojana to promote philately.  India has been ranked 108th in Global Gender Gap The Pan India scholarship program for school children Index 2017. “Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana” has launched by Union India was ranked low at 108th position out of 144 countries Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha to increase the in Global Gender Gap Index 2017 released as part of World reach of Philately. The acronym ‘SPARSH’ stands for Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2017. “Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in India slipped by 21 places compared to 87th rank last year. Stamps as a Hobby”. Iceland is most gender-equal country with score of 0.878. It  Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple has won the UNESCO is followed by Norway (2 rank), Finland (3). Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017.  India’s first Blackbuck conservation reserve to come up Tamil Nadu’s historic Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in in Uttar Pradesh. Srirangam has won the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of The Uttar Pradesh State Cabinet has approved Blackbuck Merit 2017 for cultural heritage conservation. The temple is Conservation Reserve in trans-Yamuna belt near Allahabad. situated on an islet between Cauvery and Kollidam rivers. It It will be first of its kind conservation reserves in India has seven prakaras and 21 towers, including the 236-feet- exclusively dedicated to blackbuck. In this regard, state high rajagopuram. government has evoked Section 36 A (1) and (2) of the  Surat has won the Best City Bus Services Award of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, to declare the conservation Government of India. reserve. The awards for the ‘Best Urban Transport Practices’ were  India has been ranked 108th in the 2017 World Economic announced by Central Government at UMI Conference in Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap index. Hyderabad. In it, Surat Municipal Corporation has been India slipped 21 places on the 2017 World Economic chosen for the ‘Best City Bus Services Award’ by the Union Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap index to rank 108th Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs among 144 countries, primarily due to less participation of  Hasmukh Adhia has been designated as the new Finance women in the economy and low wages. .The index is topped Secretary of India. by the Iceland, followed by Norway, Finland, Rwanda and Sweden. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has been designated as the new Finance Secretary of India. Adhia is a 1981 batch  The 2017 World Food India (WFI) has started in New IAS officer of Gujarat cadre. The post was vacant after Delhi.

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IBS Quest former Finance and Expenditure Secretary Ashok Lavasa The Indian Railways has launched the main arch of the retired on October 31, 2017. world's highest bridge on the River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district which will provide direct  P.D. Siwal committee has been constituted by the connectivity to the Kashmir Valley. The iconic bridge will Central Government to probe into NTPC’s Unchahar soar 359 metres above the bed of the River Chenab and will Thermal Power Plant incident. be 30 metres higher than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris. The Union Power Ministry has constituted a 4-member  C.K. Mishra committee has been constituted by the committee to investigate into the causes of the recent Union Government to continuously monitor the accident that occurred on 1st November 2017 at NTPC’s solutions to air pollution. Unchahar Thermal Power Plant in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district. The Union Environment ministry has constituted a 7- member committee to continuously monitor the short-term  The Indo-Nepal folk crafts festival has started in and long-term solutions to air pollution. It will be headed by Kathmandu. C.K Mishra, the Secretary of Ministry of Environment, A theme based India-Nepal Folk Crafts Festival has started Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). at Kathmandu, Nepal on November 7, 2017. The 5-day  Vietnam was the partner country at the 37th India festival is organised by South Asia Foundation (SAF) in International Trade Fair (IITF-2017). association with Council of Handicrafts Development Corporations (COHANDS), Embassy of India in President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the 37th India Kathmandu. International Trade Fair (IITF-2017) with theme “Startup India Standup India” at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on  Himachal Pradesh has became the first state to use November 14, 2017. The 14-day annual event is organised EVMs with VVPAT machines on all booths during by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). assembly elections. Vietnam is the Partner Country, while Kyrgyzstan is the Himachal Pradesh will be the first state to use EVMs with Focus Country. Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines on  The 2017 traditional Lavi Fair has started in Himachal all booths during assembly elections. The state will go to Pradesh. polls on November 9, 2017 in a single phase. Over 37 thousand polling personnel’s have set up 7,525 polling The 4-day traditional Lavi Fair has started at Rampur stations for more than fifty lakh voters in different parts of Bushahr in Himachal Pradesh on November 12, 2017, the state. which was inaugurated by Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat. The 300-year-old Lavi fair is an important  Indian Railways Launches Main Arc on World’s trade event between India and Tibet. Highest Bridge on Chenab.

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IBS Quest INTERNATIONAL NEWS  The world’s first hybrid electric tram powered by  The joint training exercise “PRABAL DOSTYK – 2017″ hydrogen fuel cells has started in China. has started between India and Kazakhstan. The world’s first hybrid electric tram powered by hydrogen The 14-day joint training exercise “PRABAL DOSTYK – fuel cells has started running in China to give big boost to 2017” has started between the Indian Army and the green energy in public transport. The tram was put into Kazakhstan Army at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh. The commercial operation for the first time in Tangshan, north purpose of the joint exercise is to enhance the military ties China’s Hebei Province. between the two countries as also at achieving interoperability between the two armies.  Innovative Governance, Open Cities is the theme of the United Nations for 2017 World Cities Day (WCD).  Fake News word has been named official word of the year 2017 by Collins dictionary. The United Nations’s World Cities Day (WCD) is observed on October 31 to promote the international community’s Fake news has been named official word of the year 2017 interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation by Collins dictionary due to its widespread use around the among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing world. The UK-based dictionary writer found that the use of challenges of urbanization, and contributing to sustainable this word registered a 365% rise in the last 12 months. urban development around the world.  The bi-annual multilateral exercise ‘Blue Flag-17’ has  United Kingdom will be the ‘Country of Honour’ at the started in Israel. 36th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair The bi-annual multilateral exercise ‘Blue Flag-17’ has (SIBF) 2017. started at Uvda Air Force Base in Israel from November 2 The 36th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair to 16, 2017. In it, 45 member contingent of the Indian Air (SIBF) 2017 has open at the Expo Centre in Sharjah on Force (IAF) is participating with the C-130J special November 1 with theme “A World inside My Book”. The operations aircraft along with Garud commandos. book fair will see the participation of 1,650 publishing  Keneth Juster has been named as the new US houses from 60 countries. More than 15 lakh titles will be Ambassador to India. on display throughout the 11 day celebration of literature, knowledge and culture. Kenneth Juster, a top economic expert on India, has been appointed as the new US Ambassador to India, which is  Shinzo Abe has been elected as the 95th Prime Minister unanimously confirmed by US Senate on November 3, of Japan. 2017. He will replace Indian-American Richard Verma as Japanese lawmakers have reelected Shinzo Abe as the the top American diplomat to India. country’s 95th Prime Minister on November 1, 2017 after  Egypt is hosting the 2017 World Youth Forum (WYF) his party won a landslide victory in last month’s general 2017. election. Abe was reelected by both Houses of the Diet. The prime minister will now form his cabinet. The 2017 World Youth Forum has started at Sharam El Shiekh in Egypt on November 4, 2017. The 5-day forum  India has been ranked 100th rank in the latest World has inaugurated by the President of Egypt Mr Abdel Fattah Bank (WB)’s Ease of Doing Business ranking 2018. el-Sisi. From India, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and India has gained 30 places to rank 100th among 190 Sports Col Rajyavardhan Rathore is participating in the countries in the latest ease of doing business ranking by the forum. World Bank (WB), in its Doing Business 2018 report. The  Natalie Portman has been awarded with the Israel’s improvement was due to a slew of reforms in taxation, 2018 Genesis Prize. licensing, investor protection and bankruptcy resolution. New Zealand has topped the list followed by Singapore.

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IBS Quest Natalie Portman, an acclaimed Israeli-born actress and  Nepal has host the 10th South Asia Economic Summit director, has been awarded Israel’s 2018 Genesis Prize in (SAES-2017). recognition of her commitment to social causes and deep The 10th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES-2017) has connection to her Jewish and Israeli roots. It is announced started in Kathmandu, Nepal on November 14, 2017 with by the Genesis Prize Foundation. theme “Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive and  Conference of Parties ( Cop 23 ) 2017 has been hosted by Sustainable Development in South Asia”. The 3-day summit Bonn ( Germany) is organised by National Planning Commission and Ministry of Commerce of Nepal and South Asia Watch on The India Pavilion at Conference of Parties (COP) 23 was Trade, Economics and Environment, Nepal. inaugurated by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan at Bonn in Germany.  Turkmenistan has host the 7th Regional Economic The Minister is leading the Indian delegation, which is Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan. participating in the 23rd to the United Nations Framework The 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) being held at Afghanistan has started in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on the Bonn, Germany from November 6-17, 2017. India’s November 14, 2017 to discuss investment opportunities in theme for COP 23 is “Conserving Now, Preserving Future”. war-torn country. The political and business leaders from 40  Narendra Modi has leading the Indian delegation in the countries are attending the conference will focus on key ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2017 (ABIS aspects for the economic development of Afghanistan. 2017).  Narendra Modi has lead the Indian delegation in the The ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2017 (ABIS 15th ASEAN-India Summit 2017. 2017) has started in Manila, Philippines from November 12 Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attending 12th East Asia to serve as a platform for conversations among regional and Summit and 15th ASEAN-India Summit at Manila in global stakeholders in the ASEAN Economic Community. Philippines on November 14, 2017. At the 15th ASEAN- Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the Indian India Summit, Prime Minister and ASEAN Leaders will delegation in the 3-day summit. review the commemorative activities undertaken in 2017 to  Borut Pahor has won the 2017 Slovenian presidential mark the 25 years of India’s dialogue partnership with election. ASEAN as well as review the broad spectrum of ASEAN- India cooperation in all its aspects. Slovenia’s internet-savvy President Borut Pahor has been re-elected for a second term after winning the 2017 Slovenian presidential election on November 12, 2017.

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IBS Quest

BANKING AND ECONOMY  Arun Jaitley committee has been constituted by the insight into the views and expectations of more than Central Government on PSU bank mergers. 10,000 businesses per year across 36 economies. The Union government has constituted a ministerial panel  Legal Entity Identifier mandatory for all large headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to oversee merger corporate borrowers as per RBI proposals of state-owned banks. The other members of the The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made 20-digit Legal panel include Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Entity Identifier (LEI) compulsory for companies having Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. aggregate fund-based and non-fund based exposure over  India Post Payment Bank to become operational in 650 Rs 5 crore. The move is aimed at improving risk Districts by April 2018. management in wake of huge stressed assets in banking The Union Government has announced that India Post system. Before this, RBI had made LEI mandatory for Payments Bank (IPPB) will become operational in all 650 transactions in interest rate, forex and credit derivative districts of the country by April 2018 to facilitate financial mark. inclusion. These banks will be linked to 1.55 lakh rural  SEBI to bring Initial Coin Offerings using crypto post offices for its operations and carry out banking currencies under its lens. services. This will be largest banking network in the The capital market regulator Securities and Exchange country. Two such banks are already operational in Ranchi Board of India (SEBI) is planning to bring Initial Coin (Jharkhand) and Raipur (Chhattisgarh). Offerings (ICO) under its existing legal framework. In  Mumbai to host Asian Bankers Association summit recent times, popularity of crypto currencies has increased 2017. rapidly and number of entities looking at raising funds He 34th annual conference of the Asian Bankers through ICO. Association (ABA) was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra  India’s ranks 100th in World Bank’s Doing Business from November 16-17, 2017. The 2017 summit will be Report 2018 hosted by State Bank with theme ‘Asia’s turn to In World Bank’s recently released Doing Business (DB) transform’. Report 2018 titled as ‘Doing Business 2018: Reforming to  Government launches BHARAT-22 Exchange Traded Create Jobs’, India leapfrogged to 100th among 190 Fund. countries. India has jumped over 30 ranks to attain 100th The Union Government launched BHARAT-22 Exchange spot from 130th position in 2017 Ease of Doing Business Traded Fund (ETF) managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Index. Its score also increased from 56.05 in 2017 to 60.76 Fund targeting an initial amount of about Rs. 8,000 Crore. in Doing Business 2018. Bharat 22 Index comprise of 22 stocks including those of  Core sector growth hits 6-month high of 5.2% in central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), public sector September 2017. banks (PSBs) and its holdings under the Specified According to index of eight core industries released by the Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI). Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Core sector  India not to pursue Islamic banking as per RBI. growth has hit six-month high in September 2017. The The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided not to pursue core industries comprising of coal, crude oil, natural gas, a proposal to introduce Islamic banking in India. Decision refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity in this regard was taken after considering wider and equal was up 5.2% in September 2017 compared with 4.4% in opportunities available to all citizens to access banking and August 2017 and 5.3% in September 2016. Besides, August 2017 core sector growth was revised downwards financial services. from 4.9%.  India slips to 7th position in Global Business Optimism  Government constitutes Alternative Mechanism Panel Ranking for PSBs consolidation. India has slipped to 7th position in ‘business optimism’ index in September-November quarter period from earlier The Union Government has constituted Alternative 2nd slot in the previous July-September quater. The fall in Mechanism Panel headed by Union Finance Minister Arun rank clearly shows clear signs of lag in the economy. The Jaitley to oversee merger proposals of public sector banks index was released as part of Grant Thornton’s (PSBs). The other members of the panel include Railway International Business Report (IBR). The IBR provides and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

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IBS Quest

SPORTS  Heena Sidhu clinched gold in 10 Mtr Air Pistol event at  Mary Kom has won gold medal in 48 Kg. category at Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Brisbane. 2017 Asian women’s Boxing Championships. Heena Sidhu clinched the 10-metre air pistol gold medal at Indian boxer M C Mary Kom won gold medal in 48kg the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Brisbane, category at Asian women’s Boxing Championships by Australia on October 31, 2017. She gave a perfect start at defeating North Korea’s Kim Hyang Mi in Ho Chi Minh the Championships, which is held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6. City of Vietnam on November 8, 2017. It is her first Asian Sidhu shot a combined score of 626.2 to claim the top gold medal in this category. honours.  Guppy is the official mascot of the 2017 AIBA Youth  Gagan Narang clinched silver in 50 Mtr rifle prone Women’s World Boxing Championship. event at Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Assam’s female one-horned rhino “Guppy” has been Brisbane. unveiled as the official mascot of the 2017 AIBA Youth Olympic bronze-medallist Gagan Narang won a silver Women’s World Boxing Championship in Guwahati, medal in the men’s 50m rifle prone event of the Assam on November 7, 2017. Guppy has been chosen as it Commonwealth Shooting Championships on November 2, is a symbol of strength and endurance, something that 2017. Another Indian, Swapnil Suresh Kusale bagged the Indian women are known for, traits that are also bronze in the same event, while Dane Sampson of synonymous with the game of boxing. Australia won the gold.  Saina Nehwal has won the 2017 Women’s singles  Shiv Kapoor, An Indian golfer has won the 2017 National Badminton Championship. Panasonic Open (India) Golf tournament. Saina Nehwal has won the women’s singles title at the Shiv Kapur from India has won the 2017 Panasonic Open 82nd Senior National Badminton Championships in (India) Golf tournament at the Delhi Golf Club in New Nagpur, Maharashtra on November 8, 2017. She defeated Delhi on November 5, 2017. PV Sindhu in the final by 21-17, 27-25. It is her third singles title in the national championships.  Indian Hockey Team has clinched the 2017 Women’s Hockey Asia Cup Tournament.  Aditi Ashok has become the first Indian golfer to qualify for LPGA Tour Championships. The India women’s national field hockey team has won the 2017 Women’s Hockey Asia Cup Tournament by defeating Aditi Ashok has become the first Indian golfer to qualify China in the final at Kakamigahara in Japan . Savita was for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship- adjudged Goalkeeper-of-the-Tournament while Monica 2017 on the LPGA Tour and will head to Florida to take won the Woman-of-the-Match award. With this win, part in the prestigious event. The $250,000 competition Indian team has qualified for the 2018 Women’s Hockey starts on November 16 and will played over four rounds, World Cup i.e. scheduled to be held in England. ending on November 19.

 H.S Prannoy has won the 2017 men’s singles National  Pankaj Advani wins IBSF World Billiards Badminton Championships. Championship H S Prannoy has won the men’s singles title at the 82nd Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani won 2017 IBSF World Senior National Championship Senior National Badminton Billiards Championship held at Doha. In the final match, Championships in Nagpur, Maharashtra on November 8, he defeated Mike Russell of England 6-2 to defend the 2017. He defeated higher ranked Kidambi Srikanth in the 150-up format title which he had won in Bengaluru in final by 21- 15, 16- 21, 21-7. 2016.

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IBS Quest PERSON IN NEWS AWARDS composer Hridaynath Mangeshkar and 28th anniversary of Hridayesh Arts.  Andhara Pradesh CM has announced a reward of one crore rupees to Arjuna awardee archer Vennam Jyoti  Indian-American Gitanjali Rao wins 2017 Discovery Surekha Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge

N. Chandrababu Naidu also announced a 500- sq yd house Indian-American Gitanjali Rao (11) won the 2017 site in Vijayawada and a government job for her. The Chief Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for Minister also announced 10 lakh rupees reward for Devisri inventing a quick, low-cost test to detect lead-contaminated Prasad (10-year) of Tirupati on setting the Guinness World water.She was selected from 10 finalists who had spent Record in skating. three months collaborating with scientists to develop their ideas.  Mohan Joshi has been honoured with the 2017 Vishnudas Bhave award.  Hans Joachim Schellnhuber wins 2017 Blue Planet Prize

Mohan Joshi, the veteran Indian film and television actor, Prof Hans Joachim Schellnhuber from Germany won 2017 has been honoured with the prestigious Vishnudas Bhave Blue Planet Prize, world’s most prestigious award for award for his contribution to theatre . He was honoured with pioneers in environmental science. He was awarded for the award at a ceremony held in Sangli on the eve of establishing new field of science ‘Earth System Analysis’ Marathi Rangbhumi Din. and introducing most influential concepts including the notion of tipping elements in the climate system in Tokyo.  Krishna Sobti has been chosen for the 53rd Jnanpith He is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Award 2017. Research (PIK). Krishna Sobti (92), the renowned Hindi Litterateur, has  US author wins 2017 Man Booker been chosen for the 53rd Jnanpith Award for the year 2017 Prize for her path-breaking contribution to Indian literature. She is known for experimenting with new writing styles and American author George Saunders won the 2017 Man creating bold and daring characters in her stories who were , a high-profile literary award for his first full- ready to accept all challenges. length novel “”. With this, he became second consecutive American writer to win prize after Paul  Anil.K.Tripathi has been awarded “Bharat Gaurav Beatty (for his novel ), after rules were changed Award” – 2017 in Science and Technology category. in 2014 to allow authors of any book written in English and Dr Anil K.. Tripathi, scientist at Indian Institute of published in UK to compete. Integrative Medicine, has been honoured with the  TM Krishna wins 2015-16 Indira Gandhi Award for prestigious “Bharat Gaurav Award” – 2017 in Science and National Integration Technology stream at India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi. Carnatic vocalist T M Krishna won 30th Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for 2015 -16 for his services  Javed Akhtar awarded 2017 Hridaynath Mangeshkar in promoting and preserving national integration in the Award. country. Award was presented with the honour by Congress Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar (72) was honoured with president Sonia Gandhi on October 31, 2017 Indira

the 2017 Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award at event in Gandhi’s death anniversary. Mumbai which marked 80th birthday of veteran music

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IBS Quest STATIC GK FROM RECENT CURRENT AFFAIRS  Xi Jinping is the Present President of China. is the  Jamsetji Tata was the founder of TATA Steels. It capital of China. Headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra.  Manohar Lal Khattar is the CM of Haryana. Kaptan Singh  Bharti AXA Life is a life Insurance player that was started in Solanki is the Governor of Haryana. 2006. It brings together the Paris-headquartered AXA Group & Bharti Enterprises.  The Capital of Lebanon is Beirut. Its Currency is Lebanese pound.  Moscow is the capital of . Vladimir Putin is the present President of Russia.  General Bipin Rawat is the present & 27th Chief of Army Staff.  is from Switzerland.  COP 22 was held in Marrakesh, Morocco.  World Economic Forum Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Klaus Schwab is the Founder & Executive  Piyush Goyal is the Present Minister of Railways. Chairman of WEF.  Antonio Guterres is the Secretary General of United Nations.  Siddaramaiah is the present CM of Karnataka. Vajubhai Vala UN Headquarters in New York, United Nations. is the present Governor of Karnataka.  S. Christopher is the present Chairman of DRDO.  Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is the present PM of Pakistan.  Audrey Azoulay is the Present Director-General of UNESCO. Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan. UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.  Devendra Fadnavis is the CM of Maharashtra. Chennamaneni  Majuli is a river island in the Brahmaputra River, Assam. It is Vidyasagar Rao is the Governor of Maharashtra. India‘s first island district & world‘s largest river island.  Jin Liqun is present president of the Asian Infrastructure Jagdish Mukhi is the Present Governor of Assam. Investment Bank (AIIB). Beijing, China is headquarters of  Natarajan Chandrasekaran is the Chairman of TATA Steels. AIIB.  Naveen Patnaik is the CM of Odisha. S. C. Jamir is the  Astana is the Capital of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstani tenge is the Present Governor of Odisha. currency of Kazakhstan.  Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the Union Cabinet Minister of Food  Krish Iyer is the President & CEO of Walmart India. Processing Industries.  Naveen Patnaik is the CM of Odisha. SC Jamir is the  Chanda Kochhar is the MD & CEO of ICICI Bank. ICICI Governor of Odisha. Bank Headquarters in Mumbai.  Yogi Adityanath is the CM of Uttar Pradesh. Ram Naik is the  Cairo is the capital of Egypt. Egyptian pound is the currency Governor of Uttar Pradesh. of Egypt.  Yes Bank Headquarters in Mumbai. CEO of Yes Bank is  Jim Yong Kim is the President of World Bank. World Bank Rana Kapoor. headquarters in Washington, D.C., United States.  Yerevan is the Capital of Armenia. Its currency is Armenian  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the WHO‘s Director dram. General. WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.  Bangkok is the capital of Thailand.  Tunis is the capital of Tunisia. Beji Caid Essebsi jas is the  Sanjay Agarwal, MD & CEO, AU Small Finance Bank. present President of Tunisia.  ONGC stands for Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited.  Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan. Dzongkha is the official Shashi Shankar has been recently appointed CMD of ONGC. language of Bhutan.

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IBS Quest  Lt Gen SK Shrivastava is the Director General Border Roads  Guinea Capital- Conakry, Currency- Guinean Franc. Organization.  Rajiv Kumar- Financial Services Secretary.  Sushil Chandra is the Chairman of Central Board of Direct  Ajay Narayan Jha- Expenditure Secretary, Taxes (CBDT).  Neeraj Kumar Gupta- Secretary, DIPAM.  Boxing Federation of India (BFI) President- Ajay Singh.  Subhash Chandra Garg- Economic Affairs Secretary.  AIBA- Amateur International Boxing Association.  Bangladesh Capital- Dhaka, Currency- Taka. PM- Sheikh  AIBA President- Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, Headquarters- Hasina, President- Abdul Hamid. Switzerland.  New Zealand Capital- Wellington, Currency- New Zealand  Ambassador for AIBA Youth Women‘s World Boxing dollar. Championship 2017- Mary Kom.  National Green Tribunal (NGT)- Chairperson- Justice  Twitter CEO- Jack Dorsey, Headquarters- California, USA. Swatanter Kumar, Headquarter- New Delhi, Established-  Kerala CM- Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor- Palaniswamy November 2010. Sathasivam.  IDFC Bank MD & CEO- Sunil Kakkar, Headquarters-  Co-founder & CEO of Ola- Bhavish Aggarwal. Mumbai. MobiKwik CEO- Bipin Preet Singh, Headquarters- Gurgaon, Haryana.  Microsoft CEO- Satya Nadella.  PayPal Headquarter- California USA, Founded in- 1998.  Apollo Munich Health Insurance, CEO- Antony Jacob. PayPal Holdings Inc President & CEO- Dan Schulman.  UNESCO- United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural  HDFC Bank CEO- Aditya Puri, Headquarter- Mumbai. Organization. Director-General- Audrey Auzolay, Headquarters- Paris, France.  Nepal PM- Sher Bahadur Deuba, President- Bidhya Devi Bhandari.  Paytm CEO- Vijay Shekhar Sharma.  Bank of China Chairman- Chen Siqing.  BHIM- Bharat Interface for Money  State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor- Tariq Bajwa.  UPI- Unified Payment Interface. Pakistan PM- Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, President- Mamnoon  IBRD- International Bank for Reconstruction & Development. Hussain. President- Jim Yong Kim (12th), Headquarters- Washington,  Kerala CM- Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor- Palaniswamy DC USA Sathasivam. 

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IBS Quest

BANKING: AT A GLANCE

IMPORTANT BANKING TERMS

1. Open Offer: It is an exit route, which is given to the  Adjustable-Rate Mortgages (ARMS): The initial interest existing shareholders by the acquirer of shares through a rate is normally fixed for a period of time after which it is public announcement. reset periodically, often every month. 2. Personal Identification Number (PIN): A number  Amortization: It is an accounting term that refers to the allocated to an individual and used to validate electronic process of allocating the cost of an intangible asset over a transactions. period of time. 3. Pledge: It’s a kind of charge created when the lender  Arbitrage: It is basically buying in one market and (pledgee) takes actual of assets. simultaneously selling in another, profiting from a 4. Preference Shares: It is a share which entitles the holder to temporary difference. a fixed dividend, whose payment takes priority over that of  Automated Teller Machine (ATM): A machine that ordinary share dividends. automatically provides cash and performs other banking 5. Prime Lending Rate (PLR): The interest rate charged by services on insertion of a special card by the account holder. banks to their largest, most secure, and most creditworthy  Bancassurance: The selling of life assurance and other customers on short-term loans. insurance products and services by banking institutions. 6. Privatization: The transfer of ownership, property or  BASEL Committee: A committee established by the business from the government to the private sector is termed Central Bank governors of the Group of ten countries in privatization. 1974 that seeks to improve the supervisory guidelines that 7. Rights Issue: An issue of shares offered at a special price central banks or similar authorities impose on both by a company to its existing shareholders in proportion to wholesale and retail banks. their holding of old shares.  Banker’s Lien: Type of charge that gives a bank automatic 8. Rate of Return: The gain/loss on an investment, expressed claim over a borrower’s property or assets that come in as a percentage increase over the initial investment cost, bank’s possession in the normal course of its business. over a specified period.  CORE Banking Solution (CBS): It is networking of 9. Self Help Groups (SHGs): It is a village-based financial branches, which enables Customers to operate their intermediary committee usually composed of 10–20 local accounts, and avail banking services from any branch of the women or men. Bank on CBS network, regardless of where he maintains his 10. Speculation: The act of trading in an asset, or conducting a account. financial transaction, expecting a substantial gain, but with a  Derivative Instrument: Financial instruments whose value risk of losing most or all of the initial outlay. is derived from the value of something else. 11. Substantial Shareholder: A person, who acquires an  Forgery: It is the process of making, adapting, or imitating interest in relevant share capital equal to, or exceeding, 10% objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive of the share capital. for the sake of altering the public perception. 12. Underwriting: The process by which investment banks raise investment capital from investors on behalf of  Garnishee Order: A legal procedure by which a creditor corporations and governments by issuing securities. can collect what a debtor owes by reaching the debtor’s property when it is in the hands of someone other than the  Self Help Groups (SHGs): It is a village-based financial debtor. intermediary committee usually composed of 10–20 local  Initial Public Offering (IPO): It is a type of public offering women or men. in which shares of a company usually are sold to  Acquiring Bank: A bank or financial institution that institutional investors [1] that in turn, sell to the general processes credit or debit card payments on behalf of a public, on a securities exchange, for the first time. merchant.  Joint Account: Bank account in the name of two or more individuals who jointly share its concomitant rights and

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IBS Quest liabilities. Joint holders of an account are regarded in law as  Forgery: It is the process of making, adapting, or together making up the ‘owner.’ imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent  Non-Performing Assets (NPA): It is defined as a credit to deceive for the sake of altering the public perception. facility in for which the interest and/or installment of Bond  APR – The annual percentage rate of interest, usually on finance principal has remained “past due” for a specified a loan or mortgage, usually displayed in brackets and period of time. representing the true cost of the loan or mortgage as it  Asset-Backed Securities (ABS): A type of security that is shows any additional payments beyond the interest rate. backed by a pool of bank loans, leases, and other assets.  Annuity – A life insurance product which pays income Most ABS are backed by auto loans and credit cards – these over the course of a set period. Deferred annuities allow issues are very similar to mortgage-backed securities. assets to grow before the income is received and  Collateral: A specific asset pledged against possible default immediate annuities (usually taken from a year after on a bond. Mortgage bonds are backed by claims on purchase) allow payments to start from about a year after property. Collateral trusts bonds are backed by claims on purchase. other securities. Equipment obligation bonds are backed by  Bounced Cheque – when the bank has not enough funds claims on equipment. in the relevant account or the account holder requests  Convertible Bond: A bond with an option, allowing the that the cheque is bounced (under exceptional bondholder to exchange the bond for a specified number of circumstances) then the bank will return the cheque to shares of common stock in the firm. A conversion price is the account holder. The beneficiary of the cheque will the specified value of the shares for which the bond may be have not been paid. This normally incurs a fee from the exchanged. The conversion premium is the excess of the bank. bond’s value over the conversion price.  Certified Documents – These are photocopies of  Credit Rating: An assessment of the likelihood of an original documents that have been signed by a individual or business being able to meet its financial professional i.e. a solicitor, accountant, teacher, doctor or obligations. Credit ratings are provided by credit bank official. The professional also states, on the agencies or rating agencies to verify the financial document, "original seen" since they must be able to strength of the issuer for investors. verify that these are genuine copies and therefore have to  Subordinated Bond: An issue that ranks after secured have seen the original, they also date the document and debt, debenture, and other bonds, and after some general put their full name, profession and their address. creditors in its claim on assets and earnings. Owners of  Cheque Book – A small, bound booklet of cheques. A this kind of bond stand last in line among creditors, but cheque is a piece of paper produced by your bank with before equity holders, when an issuer fails financially. your account number, sort-code and cheque number printed on it. The account number distinguishes your  Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI): An independent financial institution aimed to account from anyone elses, the sort-code is your bank’s aid the growth and development of micro, small and special code which distinguishes it from any other bank. medium-scale enterprises (MSME) in India.  Endowment Mortgage – Interest only is paid over the  BASEL Committee: A committee established by the term of this sort of mortgage and the capital is repaid at Central Bank governors of the Group of ten countries in the end of the term by using the monies from an 1974 that seeks to improve the supervisory guidelines endowment policy. that central banks or similar authorities impose on both  Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) : It is rate at which wholesale and retail banks. the scheduled banks can borrow funds overnight from  CORE Banking Solution (CBS): It is networking of RBI against government securities. It is a very short term branches, which enables Customers to operate their borrowing scheme for scheduled banks. It adjusted to accounts, and avail banking services from any branch of 6.25%. the Bank on CBS network, regardless of where he  Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): It was unchanged maintains his account. 20%. It is amount that banks have to maintain a stipulated proportion of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) in the form of liquid assets like cash,

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IBS Quest gold and unencumbered securities, treasury bills, dated there are banking channels like ATM, Internet Banking, securities etc. tele banking etc.  Monetary Policy Committee of Reserve Bank of India:  Inflaion: Inflation is as an increase in the price of bunch MPC is a committee of the central bank — Reserve of Goods and services that projects the Indian economy. Bank of India, headed by its Governor. It was set up by An increase in inflation figures occurs when there is an amending the RBI Act to provide for a statutory and increase in the average level of prices in Goods and institutionalised framework for MPC. The 6 member services. Inflation happens when there are fewer Goods MPC is entrusted with the task of fixing the benchmark and more buyers; this will result in increase in the price policy interest rate (repo rate) to contain inflation within of Goods, since there is more demand and less supply of the target level. the goods.  Account Holder: Any and all persons designated and  Deflation: Deflation is the continuous decrease in prices authorized to transact business on behalf of an account. of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the Each account holder's signature needs to be on file with inflation rate becomes negative (below zero) and stays the bank. The signature authorizes that person to conduct there for a longer period. business on behalf of the account.  PLR: The Prime Interest Rate is the interest rate charged  Arbitrage: Buying a financial instrument in one market by banks to their most creditworthy customers (usually in order to sell the same instrument at a higher price in the most prominent and stable business customers). The another market. rate is almost always the same amongst major banks.  Amortization: The process of reducing debt through Adjustments to the prime rate are made by banks at the regular installment payments of principal and interest same time; although, the prime rate does not adjust on that will result in the payoff of a loan at its maturity. any regular basis.  Asset-Backed Securities (ABS): A type of security that  FII: FII (Foreign Institutional Investor) used to denote is backed by a pool of bank loans, leases, and other an investor, mostly in the form of an institution. An assets. Most ABS are backed by auto loans and credit institution established outside India, which proposes to cards – these issues are very similar to mortgage-backed invest in Indian market, in other words buying Indian securities. stocks. FII's generally buy in large volumes which has an  Automated Teller Machine (ATM): A machine, impact on the stock markets. Institutional Investors activated by a magnetically encoded card or other includes pension funds, mutual funds, Insurance medium that can process a variety of banking Companies, Banks, etc. transactions. These include accepting deposits and loan  FDI: FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) occurs with the payments, providing withdrawals, and transferring funds purchase of the “physical assets or a significant amount between accounts. of ownership (stock) of a company in another country in  Bancassurance: Bancassurance refers to the order to gain a measure of management control” (Or) A distribution of insurance products and the insurance foreign company having a stake in a Indian Company. policies of insurance companies which may be life  Fiscal Deficit: It is the difference between the policies or non-life policies like home insurance - car government’s total receipts (excluding borrowings) and insurance, medi-policies and others, by banks as total expenditure. corporate agents through their branches located in 100 ONE LINERS BANKING different parts of the country by charging a fee. 1. RBI introduced a new framework called, Prompt  Banker's Lien: Bankers lien is a special right of lien Corrective Action (PCA) to regulate bank’s – NPA exercised by the bankers, who can retain goods bailed to 2. The PCA framework all the banks operating in India them as a security for general balance of account. except – Regional Rural Banks Bankers can have this right in the absence of a contract to the contrary. 3. The PCA framework for banks was started in – 2002  Brick & Mortar Banking: Brick and Mortar Banking 4. The first bank came under PCA framework is – IDBI refers to traditional system of banking done only in a 5. Till now how many banks came under PCA framework –3 fixed branch premises made of brick and mortar. Now

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IBS Quest 6. Under Prompt Corrective Action (PCA), the banks will be 29. Bharat Interface for Money app developed by NPCI based monitored on —–parameter. – Capital, Asset Quality and on – UPI Profitability parameters. 30. In BHIM app for a single transaction, the maximum limit 7. The loan is considered to be a Non Performing Assets once is Rs – 10,000 the borrower fails to make interest or principal payments 31. In BHIM app, daily transaction limit would not exceed Rs for – 90 days – 20,000 8. RBI has put some trigger points to assess, monitor, control 32. Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) facility is provided by and take corrective actions on banks which are weak and – NPCI troubled. The following one is not among them. – Capital 33. What does second M stands for in MMID – Money Adequacy Ratio (CAR) 34. Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) is a —- digit number – 7 9. The total value of Non Performing Assets surged to – Rs 35. UPI – PIN has maximum ——– number of digits – 6 614,872 cr 36. UPI uses ——–, which uniquely identifies a respective 10. Indian Overseas Bank’s gross NPA ratio is – 22.42% bank account – Virtual Payment Address 11. United Bank of India gross NPA ratio is – 15.98% 37. In UPI we can transfer maximum Rs – 1,00000 12. The bank will be closed or merged with other banks if the 38. The term —— is used for Requesting money in UPI – capital ratio falls below – 3.625% PULL 13. In which year National Payment Corporation of India 39. The term —— is used for sending money in UPI – PUSH (NPCI) was established – 2008 40. What does S stands for in QSAM – Service 14. NPCI comes under which Act – Companies Act 2013 41. When using QSAM Service we need to dial – *99*99# 15. National Payment Corporation of India has —– core 42. What does S stands for in BBPS – System promoter companies. – 10 43. In India Capital Market is Regulated by – SEBI 16. Who is CEO& MD of National Payment Corporation of India – A. P. Hota 44. Who is responsible to appoint the Chairman for SEBI – GOI 17. The paid up capital of NPCI is increased from 100Cr to – 137 Cr 45. In which year Government of India established Securities and Exchange Board of India – 1988 18. The authorized Capital of NPCI is – 300 cr 46. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) 19. The Headquarters of National Payments Corporation of of India was established in – 1999 India is – Mumbai 47. Who is the Chairman for Insurance Regulatory and 20. List out the NPCI Products – NFS, BHIM, UPI, IMPS, Development Authority of India – TS Vijayan NACH, AEPS, RuPAY, BBPS and CTS 48. Head Quarters of IRDA is – Hyderabad 21. NPCI introduced Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) in – 30th December 2016 49. In India Commodity Market is regulated by – SEBI 22. What does S stands for in AEPS – System 50. Public health & Food Safety is regulated by – FSSAI 23. What details does the customer need for an AEPS 51. Head quarters of Food Safety and Standards Authority of transaction – Aadhaar Number, Biometric and IIN India is – New Delhi 24. Institution Identification Number has ——— digits – 6 52. Who is the Chairman for FSSAI – Ashish Bahuguna 25. Which banking services can the customer avail usingAEPS 53. Head quarters of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is – – Cash Withdrawal, Cash Deposit, Balance Enquiry, New Delhi Fund Transfer 54. Bureau of Indian Standards was established in – 1986 26. What does B stands for in APB – Bridge 55. Director General of Bureau of Indian Standards is – Alka 27. ———- launched India’s first RuPay ATM & Micro ATM Panda Card with Aadhaar Number – Bank of India 56. In India Chit Funds are regulated by – Respective State 28. Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) App supports —— Governments languages – 12

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IBS Quest 57. Who is the regulator of Foreign Exchange (Forex Market) 79. RBI was nationalized on – 1949 in India – RBI 80. RBI has —– regional offices. – 19 58. In India Nidhi Companies are regulated by – Ministry of 81. RBI can have atmost — deputy governors at any time. – 4 corporate affairs 82. When RBI was established, it has headquarters in – 59. Who is the chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory and Kolkata Development Authority (PFRDA) of India – Hemant 83. In RBI Act 1934, the business banks can carry out is Contractor defined under – Section 21 60. Headquarters of Pension Fund Regulatory and 84. In RBI Act 1934, RBI has sole rights to issue currency Development Authority of India is – New Delhi notes and it comes under – Section 22 61. In which year Pension Fund Regulatory and Development 85. Headquarters of RBI shifted from Calcutta to Mumbai in – Authority of India started by GOI – 2003 1937 62. Headquarters of Small Industries Development Bank 86. Government of India has a sole right to print Rs 1 note or (SIDBI) of India is – Lucknow mint coins under – Coinage Act, 2011 63. Small Industries Development Bank of India was 87. Cash Reserve Ratio comes under section — of RBI Act established in – 1990 1934. – 42 64. Who is the Chairmen of SIDBI – Kshatrapati Shivaji 88. Money market instruments and Securities are defined 65. In which year Telecom Regulatory Authority of India under which section of RBI Act, 1934 – 45U (TRAI) was established in – 1997 89. In RBI Act 1934 section 26 (2) defines —- of bank notes. – 66. In which city Telecom Regulatory authority of India Withdrawal of legal tender (TRAI) is headquartered – New Delhi 90. Procedure for merger of banking companies is defined 67. In India Security Exchange Board of India regulates – under section ____ of Banking Regulation Act, 1949. – 44 Merchant Banking companies, Venture Capital Fund, 91. Small Finance banks gets license under section —-of Algorithmic Trading , Credit Rating agencies Banking Regulation Act, 1949. – 22 68. In which city Advertising Standards Council of India 92. Payment banks gets license under section —- of Banking (ASCI) headquartered – Mumbai Regulation Act, 1949.–22 69. Who is the Chairman of Financial Stability and 93. State Bank of India have —— foreign branches around the Development Council (FSDC) – The Union Finance world. – 190 Minister of India 94. After merger SBI bank have a deposit base of more than — 70. In which year FSDC established in India – 2010 — lakh crore and advances level of ——lakh crore. – 26 71. Institute of Chartered Accounts in India (ICAI) is and 18.50 headquartered in – New Delhi 95. The State Bank of India merged with 5 associate banks and 72. In which year Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of BharatiaMahila Bank on April 1, 2017. Which one is not India (ECGC) was established – 1957 among the list – State Bank of Saurashtra 73. Headquarters of ECGC is – Mumbai 96. State Bank of India announced a customer should maintain 74. Currently Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) represents — minimum of Rs — in a Rural Area. – 1000 Banking Companies operating in India. – 237 97. State Bank of India announced a customer should maintain 75. Who is the regulator of Micro-Finance Regulatory minimum of Rs — in a Urban Area. – 3000 Authority in India – NABARD 98. State Bank of India announced a customer should maintain 76. The initial corpus of NABARD is — 100 Crore minimum of Rs — in a Metro city. – 5000 77. National Association of Software and Services Companies 99. State Bank of India announced a customer should maintain (NASSCOM) was established in –1988 minimum of Rs — in a Semi Urban Area. – 2000 78. Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 in 100. The Central Government has — stake in SBI Bank as of accordance with the provisions of the —— act. – Reserve March 2017. – 62.22% Bank of India Act, 1934

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IBS Quest

MISCELLANEOUS

Days to Remember JANUARY FEBRUARY 4th January World Braille Day 4th February World Cancer Day 9th January NRI Day 5th February Kashmir Soliditary Day 10th January World Hindi Day 13th February World Radio Day 12th January National Youth Day 20th February World Day of Social Justice 15th January National Army Day 21st February International Mother Language Day 24th January National Day of Girl Child 23rd February World Peace and Understanding Day 25th January National Tourism Day, National Voters Day 24th February Central Excise Day 26th January International Customs Day 28th February National Science Day 30th January Martyrs Day of Mahatma Gandhi, National Cleanliness Day, World Poverty Eradication Day. Autobiographies of Famous Personalities Name of the Autobiography Name of the Person Playing it My Way Sachin Tendulkar Playing to Win Saina Nehwal Straight From The Heart Kapil Dev The Test of My Life Yuvraj Singh Living History Hilary Clinton Freedom in Exile Dalai Lama A Long Walk to Freedom Nelson Mandela A Shot at History Abhinav Bindra KP : An Autobiography Kevin Peterson Truth , Love & Little Malice Khushwant Singh Wings of Fire APJ Abdul Kalam

Books S.no Authers Books The Twelfth Night 1. Williams Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice Macbeth

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IBS Quest Othello Romeo & Juliet My Journey : Transforming Dreams into Action Wings of Fire 2. APJ Abdul Kalam Luminous Sparks India 2020: A vision of New Millennium You are Born to Blossom The one Indian Girl 3. The Standard of Living The Argumentative Indian 4. Amartya Sen Development as Freedom Rationality & Freedom The ideas of Justice Among The Believers A Bend in the River 5. V.S Naipaul A house for Mr. Bishwas An Area of Darkness Half a Life

IMPORTANT ABBREVIATIONS AMFI Association of Mutual Funds of India ARCIL Asset Reconstruction Company of India limited ALM Asset Liability Management BAFT Bankers Association of Finance & Trade BIFR Board for Industrial Finance and Reconstruction BBB Bank Board Bureau BANCS Bank ATM Network and Customer Services CBDT Central Board for Direct Taxes CIBIL Credit Information Bureau of India Limited CAPART Council for Advancement of People Action & Rural Technology DTAA Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement

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IBS Quest STATE: AT A GLANCE

UTTAR PRADESH Uttarakhand, was carved out from the state's Himalayan hill region. The two major rivers of the state, the Ganges and Yamuna, join at Allahabad and then flow as the Ganges further east. Hindi is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the west, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi to the northwest, Uttarakhand and Nepal to the north, Bihar to the east, Madhya Pradesh to the south, and touches the states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to the southeast. It covers 243,290 square kilometres (93,933 sq mi), equal to 7.33% of the total area of India, and is the fourth-largest Indian state by area. It is the second-largest Indian state by economy, with a GDP of 14.46 lakh crore (US$230 billion).[14] Agriculture and service industries are the largest parts of the state's economy. The service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies. Major National Parks Dudhwa National Park Pilibhit Tiger Reserve

Wildlife Sanctuaries Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary Country India Kaimoor Sanctuary Formation 24 January 1950 Katarniaghat Sanctuary Capital (and largest city) Lucknow Chandraprabha Sanctuary

Districts 75 Okhla Sanctuary

Governor Ram Naik Major facts about Uttar Pradesh

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (BJP) (21st) • Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of Wheat, Sugarcane, Keshav Prasad Maurya (BJP) Oilseeds, Mangoes, Potatoes, Barley and Milk in India. Deputy Chief Ministers Dinesh Sharma (BJP) • Uttar Pradesh has the Highest Number of Districts. • Rihand Dam built across the river Rihand in Sonbhadra Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar, IAS distt of Uttar Pradesh. Director General of Police Sulkhan Singh, IPS • Matatilla Dam built across the river Betwa in Lalitpur Distt Total 243,290 km2 (93,930 sq mi) of Uttar Pradesh. Area rank 4th • Parichha Dam built across the river Betwa in Jhansi distt of Total Population (2011) 199,812,341 Uttar Pradesh. Rank 1st • Green Park Stadium of Cricket situated in Kanpur. Density 820/km2 (2,100/sq mi) • Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport situated in Uttar Pradesh is a state in northern India. Abbreviated as UP, Lucknow. it is the most populous state in the Republic of India as well as the • Lal Bahadur Shashtri International Airport Situated in most populous country subdivision in the world. The densely Varanasi. populated state, located in the northern region of the Indian • Kashi Vishwanath Temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlings of subcontinent, has over 200 million inhabitants. It was created on 1 India situated in UP. April 1937 as the United Provinces during British rule, and was • Buddha International Circuit, The only Formula 1 Car renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950. The state is divided into 18 Racing Stadium situated in Noida. divisions and 75 districts with the capital being Lucknow. The • Uttar Pradesh is the most Populous State of India with 21 main ethnic group is the Hindavi people, forming the Crore (Approx) Population. demographic plurality. On 9 November 2000, a new state,

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IBS Quest

RRB PO MAINS-2017 GK QUESTIONS

1. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons 11. The 2018 BRICS summit is next to the 10th annual BRICS (ICAN) is a coalition of non-government organizations in summit, an international relations conference attended by the one hundred countries advocating for a strong and effective heads of state or heads of government of the five member nuclear weapon ban treaty. Where is the headquarter of states , Russia, India, China and South Africa. The ICAN? summit will be held in- Answer: Geneva, Switzerland Answer: Johannesburg, South Africa

2. The Ministry of Shipping has issued a notification renaming 12. The promoter's minimum initial contribution to the paid-up Kandla Port Trust as Deendayal Port Trust with effect from equity capital of such small finance bank shall at least be 25th of September, 2017. Kandla Port located in- ______percent. Answer: Gujarat Answer: 40 percent

3. Who has won the Nobel Literature Prize 2017? 13. Currency is also printed by Reserve Bank of India. It has two Answer: printing presses which are owned by Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited. These printing presses located 4. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an in Mysore and another is- autonomous organisation under the Department of Answer: Salboni Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. 14. The Reserve Bank recognized the need for an explicit policy Where is the headquarter of ICAR? on banking structure in India keeping in view the Answer: New Delhi recommendations of the Committee on ______for Licensing of Small Finance Banks in the Private Sector under the 5. Orang National Park is also known as Rajiv Gandhi National Chairmanship of M Narasimham. park, located in-? Answer: Banking Sector Reforms Answer: Assam 15. MUDRA has been set up for funding the unfunded 6. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a system that powers ‘microenterprises in the country. What is the meaning of "M" multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of in MUDRA? any participating bank), merging several banking features, Answer: Micro seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood. Which of the following is not correct about UPI? 16. The PCA is triggered when banks breach certain regulatory Answer: Account details of the recipient requirements like minimum capital, return on asset and quantum of non-performing assets. What is the meaning of 7. The IBBI was established on October 1, 2016, in accordance "P" in PCA? with the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Answer: Prompt 2016‘. It was constituted as a Technical Committee under the IBBI regulations 2017. IBBI come under which act-? 17. RIDF is maintained by the National Bank for Agriculture and Answer: Companies Act, 1956 Rural Development (NABARD). RIDF was set up by the Government in 1995-96 for financing ongoing ______8. Every Year 14th November is celebrated as- projects. Answer: World Diabetes Day Answer: Infrastructure projects

9. Name the bank, which has acquired by HDFC Bank? 18. SHG is a small voluntary association of poor people, Answer: Centurion Bank of Punjab preferably from the same socio-economic background. What is the meaning of "G" in SHG? 10. The small finance bank shall be registered as a public limited Answer: Groups company under the Companies Act, 2013. The minimum 19. Vijayawada is a city in the Andhra Pradesh Region, on the paid-up equity capital for small finance banks shall be? banks of which River? Answer: Rs. 100 crore Answer: Krishna

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IBS Quest 20. Caracas is a commercial and cultural centre located in a banks are adhered to in true spirit while delivering their northern mountain valley. Caracas is the capital city of which services. BCSBI was registered as a society under the- of the following country? Answer: Societies Registration Act, 1860 Answer: Venezuela 32. Which Bank is the first to offer a fully digital and paperless 21. Prakash Javadekar is the incumbent Union Minister of banking system in India? Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Answer: Airtel Payments Bank Government of India. He is representative of which state? Answer: Madhya Pradesh 33. The Indian Museum is the largest and oldest museum in India and has rare collections of antiques, armour and ornaments, 22. The Tungabhadra Dam is constructed across the fossils, skeletons, mummies, and Mughal paintings. It was Tungabhadra River, a tributary of the Tungabhadra River. located in- The dam is near the town of Hospet in- Answer: Kolkata Answer: Karnataka 34. Reliance Stadium or Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd 23. 26-year-old, Pooja Kadian has created history as she bagged Sports Complex Ground also known as the IPCL Ground is India's first ever gold medal at World Championships. She is located in- an Indian ______player. Answer: Vadodara, Gujarat Answer: Wushu player 35. ______is "the risk of a change in value caused by the 24. Cheque truncation is the conversion of a physical cheque into fact that actual losses, incurred for inadequate or failed a substitute electronic form for transmission to the paying internal processes, people and systems, or from external bank. Cheque truncation and electronic cheque come under events, differ from the expected losses". which act? Answer: Operational Risk Answer: Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 36. What is the purpose behind cross selling by Bank? 25. Hidayatullah National Law University is an autonomous law Answer: Fee Received university in- Answer: New Raipur, Chhattisgarh 37. Vice President Hamid Ansari has released a book titled "The People's President". This book was written by S.M. Khan, a 26. Gorumara national park located in Western Dooars between senior Indian Information Service (IIS) officer. This book is Murti and Neora river and is a common tourist destination. based on- Gorumara national park located in which state- Answer: APJ Abdul Kalam Answer: West Bengal 38. Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) is a subsidiary of Coal 27. Banwarilal Purohit is present governor of which state? India Limited, an undertaking of the Government of India. Answer: Tamil Nadu Where is headquarter of CCL? Answer: Ranchi 28. Name the Bank, which has launched India's first payments bank? 39. The Institute for Development & Research in Banking Answer: Airtel Payments Bank Ltd Technology (IDRBT) is a unique institution exclusively focused on Banking Technology. Established by the Reserve 29. Exercise Yudh Abhyas is one of the largest joint running Bank of India (RBI) in 1996, the Institution works at the military training and defence corporation endeavours intersection of- between India and ______. Answer: Banking and Technology Answer: USA 30. Kundan Shah was passed away recently. He was? 40. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) is one of Answer: Director and writer three social security schemes that the government had announced in the 2015 Budget. What is PMSBY? 31. The Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) is Answer: An accident insurance scheme an independent and autonomous institution to monitor and ensure that the Banking Codes and Standards adopted by the

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IBS Quest

MODEL TEST-1 PAPER FOR IBPS CLERICAL MAINS

1. The income of the Banking Interest comes from: 8. India’s first Roll On-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) ferry service has a. Deposit Received launched in which state: b. Interest on Deposit a. Karnataka c. Interest on Loan b. Andhra Pradesh d. Interest on FDR c. West Bengal d. Gujarat 2. Which Indian golfer has clinched the 2017 Macao Open golf tournament: 9. Who is leading Indian delegation in the 4th ASEAN a. Ajeetesh Sandhu Defence Minister’s Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) - 2017: b. Jyoti Randhawa a. Arun Jaitley c. Arjun Atwal b. Ravi Shankar Prasad d. Gaganjeet Bhullar c. Nirmala Sitharaman d. D. V. Sadananda Gowda 3. Buxa Tiger Reserve is situated in which state of India : a. West Bengal 10. India’s first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for b. Odisha Skilling in Smart Cities has come up in which city: c. Jharkhand a. New Delhi d. Chhattisgarh b. Jaipur c. Kocchi 4. Which Indian sportsperson has won the 2017 Denmark d. Surat Open Superseries Badminton tournament: a. PC Thulasi 11. Who among the following is not the Deputy Governor of b. Kidambi Srikanth RBI at Present: c. Ajay Jayaram a. N.S Vishwanathan d. Parupalli Kashyap b. B.P. Kanungo c. Viral.V. Acharya 5. The type of cheque which can be encashed only by d. K.C. Chakraborthy depositing is known as: a. Order Cheque 12. Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport is situated in b. Bearer Cheque which state of India: c. Account Payee Cheque a. Bihar d. Account Deposit Cheque b. Uttar Pradesh c. West Bengal 6. The assets created by the borrower from the credit facilities d. Assam granted by the bank is known as: a. Primary Security 13. A Non Banking Financial Institution: b. Collateral Security a. Can accept demand deposit c. Both of the above b. Can issue Cheques d. None of the above c. Cannot accept fixed deposits d. Cannot accept demand deposit 7. The type of charge which is created on immovable property is known as: 14. Who has been appointed as the Government of India (GoI) a. Pledge representative to hold sustained dialogue on Jammu and b. Hypothication Kashmir (J&K) : c. Assignment a. Dineshwar Sharma d. Mortgage b. Syed Asif Ibrahim c. Rajiv Jain d. K.K. Venugopal

<< 28 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest 15. Who is the Chairman of SEBI at present : b. Dena Bank a. Arundhati Bhattacharya c. State Bank of India b. U.K.Sinha d. Punjab National Bank c. Ajay Tyagi d. Hemant.G. Contractor 23. EEPC India has signed pact with which Indian bank for export finance : 16. Who has been named as the 2017 Best FIFA Men’s Player : a. Punjab National Bank a. Gianluigi Buffon b. State Bank of India b. Cristiano Ronaldo c. Bank of India c. Neymar d. Dena Bank d. Lionel Messi 24. RBI will make LEI compulsory for companies with over Rs 17. The 2017 World Polio Day (WPD) is observed on which 5 crore exposure. What does ‘LEI’ stands for : date : a. Legal Enact Identifier a. October 24 b. Legal Enaction Identifier b. October 23 c. Legal Entity Identifier c. October 25 d. Legal Ennui Identifier d. October 26 25. The Government of India (GoI) has constituted a 18. The sale of government-owned equity in nationalized Commission under which article of the Constitution to industry or other commercial enterprises to private examine sub-categorization of OBCs in the central list : investors: a. Article 340 a. Privatization b. Article 341 b. Nationalization c. Article 342 c. Demonetization d. Article 343 d. Globalization 26. Where are the Headquarters of New Development Bank 19. What “S” denotes in BCSBI : (NDB) located : a. Specialized a. Beijing b. Standard b. Shanghai c. Situation c. Washington D.C d. Security d. Geneva

20. Who will be head of the newly constituted task force of RBI 27. Which country hosted the first-ever meeting of BIMSTEC on Public Credit Registry (PCR) : Task Force on Traditional Medicine: a. M Deosthalee a. Mayanmar b. Sekar Karnam b. Bangladesh c. Vishaka Mulye c. India d. Vijay Kumar Sinha d. Thailand

21. Who has been appointed as the new MD & CEO of India 28. Which of the following union ministries have jointly Post Payments Bank (IPPB) : launched a new scheme “SAATHI” : a. Nikunj Srivastav a. Ministries of Finance and Railways b. Suresh Sethi b. Ministries of Power and Science & Technology c. Udit Mahatre c. Ministries of Minority Affairs and Human Resource d. Vijay Kumar Sinha Development d. Ministries of Power and Textiles 22. Which Indian bank has recently signed MoU with Escorts for tractor financing : 29. Girija Devi, who passed away recently, was the renowned a. ICICI Bank classical singer of which gharana :

<< 29 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest a. Gwalior and Kirana gharanas a. Sri Lanka b. Seniya and Banaras gharanas b. India c. Atrauli and Seniya gharanas c. Nepal d. Patiala and Bhendi Bazaar gharanas d. Mayanmar

30. Who is the author of the e-book “India 2017 Yearbook” : 36. Non Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs) are registered a. Rajiv Mehrishi under : b. R.K Verma a. RBI Act c. Ashwani Lohani b. Companies Act d. Rajiv Gauba c. Banking Regulation Act d. SEBI Act. 31. India has signed how much amount of loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support coastal 37. Which country has become the first country to leave protection in Karnataka : International Criminal Court (ICC) : a. $75.5 million a. Botswana b. $65.5 million b. South Korea c. $55.5 million c. Burundi d. $75.5 million d. Gambia

32. Who has been honoured with the Hridaynath Mangeshkar 38. Punathil Kunjabdulla, the renowned Malayalam writer Award 2017 : passed away. He hailed from which state: a. Vishwanathan Anand a. Kerala b. Javed Akhtar b. Karnataka c. AR Rehman c. Tamilnadu d. Sachin Tendulkar d. Andhra Pradesh

33. Which country has been named the best country to visit in 39. Which state chief minister has been honoured with the 2018, according to Lonely Planet ‘Best in Travel 2018’ list : Golden Peacock Award under the category ‘Global a. South Korea Leadership in Public Service and Economic b. Chile Transformation’: c. Singapore a. Uttar Pradesh d. New Zealand b. Andhra Pradesh c. Tripura 34. Which state/UT Cricket Association has become the newest d. Arunachal Pradesh associate member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) : 40. Who has officially been sworn in as the new Prime minister a. Nagaland of New Zealand: b. Tripura a. Bill English c. Pudducherry b. Dame Patsy Reddy d. Mizoram c. Winston Peters d. Jacinda Ardern 35. Which country is hosting the 14th South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation in Law (SAARCLAW) Conference : Answer Key 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 a d a b c c d d c a d c d a c b a a b a

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 b c a c a b c d b a b b b c a c c a b d

<< 30 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest

MODEL TEST-2 PAPER FOR IBPS CLERICAL MAINS

1. Which state to host the 36th edition of National Games of c. Brazil India in 2018: d. Russia a. Maharashtra b. Goa 8. Bhitarkanika National Park is situated in which state of c. Kerala India : d. Karnataka a. Odisha b. Madhya Pradesh 2. Which country’s team has won the 2017 FIFA Under-17 c. Jharkhand World Cup : d. Gujarat a. England b. Spain 9. Very Rapid Inflation which is almost impossible to reduce c. France is known as : d. Portugal a. Galloping Inflation b. Creeping Inflation 3. The Reserve Bank of India has extended the timeline for full c. Hyper Inflation implementation of the Basel III capital regulations to : d. Suppressed Inflation a. March 31, 2019 b. March 31, 2018 10. Which of the following is the apex decision-making body c. March 31, 2020 for Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO) : d. March 31, 2021 a. Central Board of Trustees(CBT) b. EPFO 4. Buying and selling government securities and bonds by RBI c. Reserve Bank of India in order to manage liquidity in the economy: d. Central Board of Employees a. Market operations by Government b. Constraint market operations 11. Which of the following statement is incorrect in context c. Open market operations with the Demand Draft(DD) : d. Closed market operations a. A Demand Draft is an order of payment by a bank to another bank. 5. Which team has won the 5th edition of Pro Kabaddi League b. A Demand Draft cannot be returned because it is a pre- (PKL) 2017 : paid instrument. a. Bengal Warriors c. A Demand Draft is always payable to a specified party. b. Patna Pirates d. Demand Draft (DD) is defined in the Negotiable c. Jaipur Pink Panthers Instrument Act, 1881. d. UP Yoddha 12. Which Indian shuttler has won the 2017 men’s singles 6. Which ministerial committee has been constituted by the French Open Superseries badminton tournament : Central Government on PSU bank mergers : a. B. Sai Parneeth a. Piyush Goyal Committee b. Kidambi Srikanth b. Arun jaitley Committee c. HS Pranoy c. Rajiv Kumar Committee d. Parupalli Kashyap d. Nirmala Sitharaman Committee 13. Who has been appointed the Private Secretary to President 7. Which country will host the 20th edition of FIFA World Ram Nath Kovind : cup in 2018 : a. Shashank Shekhar Singh a. Germany b. Vikram Singh b. England c. C.R Chaudhary

<< 31 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest d. P.C Meena 21. Which country will be the ‘Country of Honour’ at the 36th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) 2017 : 14. What country has topped the list of new tuberculosis cases a. United States in 2016, according to WHO’s Global TB Report 2017: b. India a. India c. United Kingdom b. China d. Japan c. Philippines 22. Who has taken over charge as new Director-General (DG) d. Pakistan of National Investigation Agency (NIA) : a. Jainam Shah 15. The 2017 National Unity Day (NUD) is celebrated to b. Ankit Awasthi commemorate birth anniversary of which famous c. Sharad Kumar personality : d. Yogesh Chandra Modi a. Sarojini Naidu b. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel 23. Expand the term ECB : c. Shaheed Bhagat Singh a. External Commercial Borrowings d. Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad b. Existing Commercial Banks c. External Commercial Banks 16. What is the tagline of Bank of Baroda : d. Exclusive Commercial Borrowings a. India’s International Bank b. Where India Banks 24. The main function of the Exim Bank is: c. The Name you can Bank Upon a. to help RBI in the regulation of foreign exchange d. Prosperity for All b. to prevent unlicensed transaction c. to promote exports and curtail imports 17. Term Money has a maturity beyond : d. to conserve foreign exchange a. 7 Days b. 14 Days 25. Which of the following is now a punishable offence by a c. 21 Days bank Account holder : d. 1 Month a. If a cheque is not crossed b. If a post-dated cheque is issued 18. Which country to host the 13th session of United Nations c. if a cheque drawn by him is dishonoured for (UN) Global Wildlife Conference: insufficiency of funds in his account a. Philippines d. Issuing a cheque without signature b. India c. Indonesia 26. What is the India’s rank in the latest World Bank (WB)’s d. Mayanmar Ease of Doing Business ranking 2018: a. 130th 19. The Reserve bank of India was set up under the b. 100th recommendation of which of the following commission : c. 110th a. Phillip Commission d. 105th b. Simon Commission c. Hilton Young Commission 27. What is the India’s rank in the 2017 Global Competitiveness d. Hunter Commission Rankings (GCR) : a. 40th 20. Which bank in India gets the first ISO certification : b. 55th a. Syndicate Bank c. 67th b. Canara Bank d. 71st c. Central Bank of India 28. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will increase annual d. Bank of Baroda lending to India to a maximum of how much amount for 2018-22 :

<< 32 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest a. $6 billion d. 1995 b. $5 billion 35. Banker’s right of set off can be immediately exercised in c. $4 billion case of: d. $8 billion a. Insolvency of the borrower b. Lunacy of the borrower 29. Hugh M Hefner, the founder of the iconic Playboy c. Death of the borrower magazine passed away. He hailed from which country : d. All of the above a. Russia b. United States 36. As per the guidelines issued by the SEBI the permanent c. France Account Number (PAN) is a must for which of the d. Germany following: a. Demat Accounts 30. “Sita: Mithila ki Yodha” is a book written by whom : b. All Savings Bank Accounts a. c. All Housing Loan Accounts b. Arvind Adiga d. All Current Accounts c. Chetan Bhagat d. Amish Tripathi 37. Which will be the first big state after Goa to use EVMs with VVPAT : 31. Which day is observed as the “World Mental Health Day” a. Himachal Pradesh every year : b. Gujarat a. 14th October c. Karnataka b. 10th October d. Rajasthan c. 12th October d. 20th October 38. Who of the following has/have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017 : 32. What will be the venue of 33rd summer Olympics which a. Jeffrey C. Hall will be held in the year 2024 : b. Michael Rosbash a. Tokyo c. Michael W. Young b. Los Angles d. All of the above c. Athense d. Paris 39. The Port of Benghazi which is officially opened for the first time in 3 years, is situated in which African country : 33. In India, The bank NABARD does not provide refinance to: a. Egypt a. Scheduled Commercial Banks b. Sudan b. Regional Rural Banks c. Libya c. Export-Import Banks d. Tunisia d. State Land Development Banks 40. The Port of Benghazi which is officially opened for the first 34. In which year the Tiwari Committee recommanded for time in 3 years, is situated in which African country : establishment of Special Tribunals for Banks dues recovery: a. Odisha a. 1981 b. Bihar b. 1987 c. Uttar Pradesh c. 1991 d. Rajasthan

Answer Key 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 b a a c b b d a a a d b b a b a b b c b

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 c d a c c b a c b d b d c a d a b d c b

<< 33 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest

STATE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: HARYANA

1. At which of the following place was the famous battle of (D) 4th March, 1967 Panipat fought? (A) Kurukshetra 8. With how many states does the boundary of Haryana touch? (B) Sirsa (A) 4 (C) Panipat (B) 5 (D) Jind (C) 6 (D) 7 2. In 1526 the famous battle between Babar and Ibrahim Lodi was fought at— 9. Which one of the following union Territories touches the (A) Kurukshetra boundary of Haryana? (B) Rewari (A) Lakshadweep (C) Panipat (B) Pondicherry (D) Patiali (C) New Delhi (D) All the three 3. When was the famous battle of Panipat fought? (A) 1539 10. What is the total area of Haryana? (B) 1556 (A) 44,212 km2 (C) 1565 (B) 46,213 km2 (D) 1576 (C) 48,314 km2 (D) 52,276 km2 4. The third battle of Panipat was fought between— (A) Ahmad Shah Abdali and Maratha rulers 11. How many districts are there in Haryana ? (B) Nadir Shah and Mohd. Shah (A) 19 (C) Prithvi Raj Chauhan and Mohd. Gauri (B) 25 (D) Sher Khan and Humayun (C) 28 (D) 32 5. At which place of Haryana did Lord Krishna preach the message of Geeta? 12. As per census of 2011 the total population of Haryana is— (A) Ambala (A) 1,91,72,483 persons (B) Sonipat (B) 2,53,53,081 persons (C) Yamuna Nagar (C) 2,40,82,988 persons (D) Kurukshetra (D) 2,64,44,271 persons

6. In 1947 when India was declared Independent, which of the 13. What is the percentage of country's population in Haryana? following States was Haryana a part? (A) 2.09% (A) Delhi (B) 2.50% (B) Himachal Pradesh (C) 4% (C) Punjab (D) 6% (D) Jammu Kashmir 14. In which of the districts of Haryana is the H.M.T. factory 7. When was the State of Haryana formed? situated? (A) 1st Nov., 1966 (A) Patiala (B) 10th Dec., 1966 (B) Ambala (C) 2nd Jan., 1967 (C) Jind

<< 34 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest (D) Faridabad (C) At Karnal (D) At Jind 15. Where is the Atlas Industry in Haryana situated? (A) Sonipat 22. Which of the following Central Territory is the capital of (B) Gurgaon Haryana? (C) Hisar (A) Chandigarh (D) Panchkula (B) Pondicherry (C) New Delhi 16. Which one of the following is situated in Gurgaon of (D) Lakshadweep Haryana? (A) Manufacturing of Rajdoot Motor Cycle 23. Which one of the following folk dances belongs to (B) Manufacturing of Maruti Cars Haryana? (C) Manufacturing of Tata-Sumo (A) Baoul (D) All the above (B) Yaksha-Gaan (C) Gidda 17. In which district of Haryana is Rajdoot Motor Cycle (D) Biehu manufactured? (A) Hisar 24. Which of the following Indian players belongs to Haryana? (B) Karnal (A) Sunil Gavaskar (C) Ambala (B) Kapil Dev (D) Faridabad (C) Sachin Tandulkar (D) Azharudeen 18. Odinance regarding the prohibition of alcohol was passed on 1st July, 1996. Later on it was withdrawn on— 25. The turban, worn by males in Haryana is known as— (A) 1st April, 1998 (A) Toda (B) 1st April, 1997 (B) Muretha (C) 1st June, 1998 (C) Paggar (D) 1st Aug., 1997 (D) Khandwa

19. In which of the following years was each village of Haryana 26. Where is Chaudhary Charan Singh University located at electrified? Haryana? (A) In 1968 (A) Hisar (B) In 1970 (B) Kaithal (C) In 1972 (C) Jhajjar (D) In 1976 (D) Gurgaon

20. According to 2001 census what is the percentage of Literacy 27. Which city of Haryana is known as 'City of Weavers'? in Haryana? (A) Mahendragarh (A) 62.40% (B) Fatehabad (B) 55.85% (C) Karnal (C) 65.72% (D) Panipat (D) 67.9% 28. Of which of the following kings' was Thaneshwar city of 21. Where has the National Research Institute in Haryana been Haryana the capital? established? (A) Kanishka (A) At Sirsa (B) Harshwardhan (B) At Kurushetra (C) Chandra Gupta Maurya

<< 35 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest (D) Samrat Ashok (A) Hisar (B) Sonipat 29. The glory and strength of which of the cities of Haryana was (C) Yamuna-Nagar discussed in the book written by Chinese traveller Huen- (D) Kurukshetra Tsang? (A) Thaneshwar 36. Where is the Motilal Nehru sports school situated at (B) Patiala Haryana? (C) Mahendragarh (A) Rai (Sonipat) (D) Kurukshetra (B) Pataudi (Gurgaon) (C) Thanesar (Kurukshetra) 30. In which district of Haryana is the 'Badkhal Lake' situated? (D) Morni (Ambala) (A) Hisar (B) Jind 37. According to 2001 census of India, which district of (C) Sirsa Haryana has the highest density? (D) Faridabad (A) Panipat (B) Panchkula 31. Where is the biggest animal husbandry farm of Asia situated (C) Rohtak at Haryana? (D) Faridabad (A) Ambala (B) Bhiwani 38. According to 2001 census which of the following districts (C) Hisar of Haryana has the lowest density? (D) Rohtak (A) Sirsa (B) Karnal 32. Not only to check the growth of population, but also to (C) Jhajjar improve the male female ratio, which of the following (D) Rewari projects is being launched by the state government? (A) Devi-Rupak-Project 39. Santosh Yadav, the only woman in the world, who climbed (B) Indra-Hareli-Saheli-Project twice the Mt. Everest belongs to which state? (C) Farlo project (A) Punjab (D) Bhagyodaya (B) Haryana (C) Himachal Pradesh 33. Which project is being launched in Haryana for the welfare (D) Jammu Kashmir of poor girls? (A) Apni-Beti-Apna-Dhan 40. Which place of Haryana was the political as well as social (B) Apni-Beti-Paraya Dhan working place of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai ? (C) Paraya Dhan-Paraie Beti (A) Ambala (D) Indra-Saheli-Project (B) Jhajjar (C) Jind 34. At which of the pilgrimage centres was the message of (D) Hisar Geeta preached by Krishna to Arjun ? (A) At Markandey Tirth 41. Into how many divisions has Haryana been divided? (B) Jyotisar Sarover (A) Three divisions (C) Brahm Sarovar (B) Four divisions (D) Kaleshwar Tirth (C) Six divisions (D) Eight divisions 35. In which city of Haryana was the great epic Mahabharat written by Ved Vyas?

<< 36 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest 42. Being famous in the production of Basmati rice, which (C) 85 district of Haryana is known as "Dhan-ka-katora". (D) 90 (A) Sirsa (B) Karnal 47. Who appoints the Advocate General of the State? (C) Panchkula (A) President with the consent of Governor (D) Jind (B) Governor with the consent of Chief Minister (C) Governor himself 43. From the point of view of population, what is the rank of (D) None of them Haryana in the country? (A) 14th 48. Who appoints the members of the State Public Service (B) 15th Commission? (C) 16th (A) Chief Minister of the State (D) 18th (B) Governor (C) President on the recommendation of the Governor 44. Who was the founder of Haryana Vikas Party? (D) Prime Minister on the recommendation of the Governor (A) Chaudhary Devi Lal (B) Chaudhary Bansi Lal 49. How many seats are allotted to the members of Rajya Sabha (C) Chaudhary Bhajan Lal from Haryana State? (D) All the above (A) 5 (B) 8 45. Where is the High Court of Haryana functioning? (C) 10 (A) Patiala (D) 12 (B) Chandigarh (C) Sirsa 50. How many seats are allotted to the lower house of (D) Gurgaon Parliament from Haryana State? (A) 8 46. How many total No. of seats are there in Haryana's (B) 10 Assembly? (C) 14 (A) 75 (D) 18 (B) 80

Answer Key 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 a c b a d c a b c a a b a b a b d a b d

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 c a c b d a d b a d c a a b d a d a b d

41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 b b c b b d c b a b

<< 37 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest

STATE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: PUNJAB

1. How many Muslim educational centers were there in Punjab b) Sakhi, by Meharban in the early 16th century? c) The Janam Sakhi by Bhai Bala a) Two d) Bhai Mani Singh’s Janam Sakhi b) Four 11. When did Babur attack Punjab for the first time? c) Five a) In 1519 d) One b) In 1516 2. Who had been the ruler of Punjab in the beginning of 16th c) In 1529 century? d) In 1539 a) Bahlol Khan Lodhi 12. How many times did Babur attack Punjab in all? b) Sikander Lodhi a) Four times c) Daulat Khan Lodhi b) Six times d) Ibrahim Lodhi c) Three times 3. Was the last sultan of the Lodhi dynasty? d) Five times a) Bahlol Khan Lodhi 13. The “Cotton Belt” of Punjab is located in which b) Sikandar Lodhi Physiographic region of Punjab? c) Ibrahim Lodhi (A) Doaba d) TatarKhan Lodhi (B) Malwa 4. Which Guru is the Dasam Granth related to? (C) Majha a) Guru Nanak Dev Ji (D) Bet b) Guru Gobind Singh Ji c) Guru Arjan Dev Ji 14. Where is the Sikh Heritage Complex Developed? d) Guru Teg Bahadur Ji (A) Mansa 5. Which languages is the ‘Jafarnama’ available in? (B) Amritsar a) Punjabi and Persian (C) Ropar b) Persian and Hindi (D) Anandpur Sahib c) Punjabi and English d) All of these 15. Who is the first lady Chief Minister of Punjab? 6. When was Punjab merged into the British territory? (A) Bibi Jagir Kaur a) In 1842 AD (B) Kiran Bedi b) In 1843 AD (C) Rajinder Kaur Bhattal c) In 1849 AD (D) Ms. Seema Roy d) In 1876 AD 7. How many compositions have been included in the Dasam 16. According to the 2011 census, what is the literacy rate in Granth? Punjab? a) 10 (A) 75.8 % b) 12 (B) 73.0 % c) 16 (C) 76.7 % d) 18 (D) 83.6 % 8. Who did introduce the coins of the Sikhs? a) Maharaja Ranjit Singh 16. Who was the first Governor of Punjab? b) Banda Singh Bahadur (A) Mr. Chandu Lal Trivedi c) Ahmed Shah Abdali (B) Bansilal d) None of these (C) Gopi Chand 9. Who composed the Ratnawali? (D) Amrinder Singh a) Bhai Veer Singh b) Meharban Ji 18. Who is the first lady Deputy commissioner of Punjab? c) Bhai Mani Singh (A) Ms. Vini Chohan d) Bhai Bala (B) Ms. Vini Mahajan 10. Which of the ‘Sakhies’ is considered as to be the most (C) Ms. Kiran Bedi reliable? (D) None of these a) Ancient Janam Sakhi

<< 38 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest 19. When was Punjabi University established at Patiala? 28. How many divisions of Punjab State? (A) 1930 (A) 5 (B) 1940 (B) 4 (C) 1950 (C) 6 (D) 1960 (D) 7

20. Where is the Sikh Heritage Complex developed? 29. What is the old name of Punjab? (A) Mansa (A) Sapta Sindhu (B) Amritsar (B) Sapta Rishi (C) Ropar (C) Sapta-Aba (D) Anandpur Sahib (D) Panj-Ab

21. Who is the first Punjabi novelist to get Jananpith Award? 30. Who was the first Chief Minister of Punjab? (A) Sr. Nanak Singh (A) M. Ajit Singh (B) Sr. Gurdial Singh (B) Gurmel Singh (C) Sr. Gurdial Duggal (C) Tota Singh (D) Sr. Nanak Duggal (D) Gopi Chand Bhargva

22. Which district of Punjab is most populous? 31. How many Border State of Punjab? (A) Amritsar (A) 3 (B) Ludhiana (B) 4 (C) Bathinda (C) 5 (D) Jalandhar (D) 6

23. Which city was the capital of Punjab before India got 32. Who is the first IPS lady of Punjab? independence? (A) Ms. Surinder Kaur (A) Chandigarh (B) Bibi Jagir Kaur (B) Amritsar (C) Ms. Rajinder Kaur (C) Lahore (D) Ms. Kiran Bedi (D) Delhi 33. Where is the science city of Punjab? 24. Which is the biggest grain market of Punjab? (A) Jalandhar (A) Marinda (B) Ludhiana (B) Mansa (C) Moga (C) Kotkpoora (D) Khanna (D) Khanna 34. Where is the Manchester of Punjab? 25. When was the treaty of Amritsar held on (A) Jalandhar (A) 1805 (B) Ludhiana (B) 1806 (C) Chandigarh (C) 1807 (D) Amritsar (D) 1809 35. Which is the most Polluted City of Punjab? 26. When was the Punjab and Papsu meged? (A) Jalandhar (A) 1950 (B) Bhatinda (B) 1952 (C) Ludhiana (C) 1953 (D) Sirsa (D) 1956 36. When was the present Punjab came into Existence? 27. Who is the Punjabi Poetess to get Jananpith Award? (A) 1866 (A) Ms. Amrita Shergil (B) 1966 (B) Ms. Amrita Pritam (C) 1766 (C) Dilip KaurTiwana (D) 1867 (D) Ms. Sharmila Panday

<< 39 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest 37. When was SGPC established in Punjab? (A) 1970 44. Which is the most Polluted City of Punjab? (B) 1925 (A) Jalandhar (C) 1922 (B) Bhatinda (D) 1924 (C) Ludhiana (D) Sirsa 38. Who was the first Sikh ruler of Punjab? (A) Guru Nanak Dev 45. When did the present Punjab come into Existence? (B) Maharaja Ranjit Singh (A) 1866 (C) Bhai Lakha Singh (B) 1966 (D) Maharaja Kamaljit Singh (C) 1766 (D) 1867 39. Where was the country’s 1st solar power plant commissioned? 46. When was Punjabi declared the official language of Punjab? (A) Bathinda (A) 1766 (B) Anandpur Sahib (B) 1867 (C) Fatehgarh Sahib (C) 1966 (D) Kapurthala (D) 1967

40. Yadavindra Gardens is located at 47. When was SGPC established in Punjab? (A) Patiala (A) 1970 (B) Nabha (B) 1925 (C) Pinjore (C) 1922 (D) Sangrur (D) 1924

41. Who was the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at 48. Who was the first Sikh ruler of Punjab? asian games? (A) Guru Nanak Dev (A) PT Usha (B) Maharaja Ranjit Singh (B) Jyotrimayee sikdar (C) Bhai Lakha Singh (C) Kamaljeet sandhu kooner (D) Maharaja Kamaljit Singh (D) Harwant kaur 49. Which is the most famous temple of Punjab? 42. Which city is called the Manchester of Punjab? (A) Golden Temple (A) Jalandhar (B) Temple of Sikh Guru (B) Ludhiana (C) Nanak Temple (C) Chandigarh (D) Heritage Temple (D) Amritsar 50. Which District of Punjab has lowest literacy rate? 43. How many Airports are there in Punjab? (A) Patiala (A) 5 (B) Moga (B) 3 (C) Khana (C) 2 (D) Mansa (D) 4

Answer Key 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 b c c b a c a b c a a d b d c a a b d d

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 b b c d d d b b a d b d a b c b b b b c

41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 c b d c b c b b a d

<< 40 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest

STATE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: HIMACHAL PRADESH

1. Which of of the following district of Himachal Pradesh is (B) Solan known as “Chhota Kashi”? (C) Mandi (A) Mandi (D) Chamba (B) Shimla (C) Kullu 8. Which of the following mountain pass lies in Himachal (D) Hamirpur Pradesh? (A) Rohtang Pass 2. Who is the present Governor of Himachal Pradesh? (B) Nathu La Pass (A) Acharya Dev Vrat (C) Dongkha la (B) Kalyan Singh (D) Khunjerab Pass (C) Prabha Rau (D) Urmila Singh 9. The Chail cricket stadium is located in which district of Himachal Pradesh? 3. Which of the following river does not originate in Himachal (A) Una Pradesh? (B) Solan (A) Chenab River (C) Shimla (B) Beas River (D) Kangra (C) Sutlej River (D) Ravi River 10. Which of the following is the largest district (area wise) of Himachal Pradesh? 4. Himachal Pradesh was transformed from a union territory to (A) Lahaul and Spiti a state in which year? (B) Shimla (A) 1970 (C) Sirmaur (B) 1971 (D) Chamba (C) 1972 (D) 1974 11. Shri Naina Devi Ji is a Sub-Tehsile of Which district? (A) Bilaspur 5. Manikaran hot water springs’ are present in which district of (B) Una Himachal Pradesh? (C) Shimla (A) Kullu (D) None (B) Mandi (C) Shimla 12. Battle of Haloti fought in which year? (D) Hamirpur (A) 1650 AD (B) 1670 AD 6. With reference to culture and tradition of Himacha Pradesh, (C) 1690 AD what are Kayang, Bakayang and Banyangchu? (D) None (A) Dances (B) Handicrafts 13. Who is Founder of Chamba State? (C) Festivals (A) Veer Sen (D) Dramas (B) Meru Varma (C) Hati Chand 7. ‘Masroor Rock Cut Temple’, a unique monolithic structure (D) None is present in which district of Himachal Pradesh? (A) Kangra 14. Who is founder of Jubbel?

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IBS Quest (A) Karan 22. Bandli sanctuary located in— (B) Karan Chand (A) Una (C) K.P (B) Mandi (D) None (C) kullu (D) None 15. Dr. Y.S. Parmar University was established in— (A) 1980 23. What are the total No. of Panchayat in Shimla district? (B) 1985 (A) 330 (C) 1987 (B) 331 (D) None (C) 333 (D) 309 16. Dr. Y.S. Parmar University located in H.P.— (A) Shimla 24. Moti Mahal located at— (B) Nanni (A) Nahan (C) Sundenagar (B) Una (D) None (C) Mandi (D) Shimla 17. Where is place of Publication of Newspaper Ooncha Himalaya? 25. How many Panchayts Samitis are there in Una district — (A) Una (A) 2 (B) Shimla (B) 3 (C) Delhi (C) 5 (D) None (D) 4

18. Lahauli Language in Spoken in which area— 26. The book ‘History of Mandi State’ is writhen by— (A) Lahaul Spiti (A) Manmohan Singh (B) Shimla (B) A.K. Kaushal (C) Una (C) A.K. Randhawa (D) None (D) None

19. Gujjar are— 27. Which is birth place of C.M. Virbhadra Singh? (A) ST (A) Hamirpur (B) SC (B) Sarahan (C) OBL (C) Mehatpur (D) None (D) Samirpur

20. Who is Forest Minister? 28. How many DIETS are there in H.P.? (A) Thakur Gulab Singh (A) 13 (B) Dr. Rajeev Bindal (B) 12 (C) Kishan Kapoor (C) 11 (D) Thakur Singh Bharmouri (D) 19

21. Who is food and civil supplier Minister? 29. Give the No. of universities in H.P.? (A) J.P. Nadda (A) 2 (B) G. S. Bali (B) 3 (C) Rajiv Bindel (C) 4 (D) none (D) 5

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IBS Quest 30. Pathankot to Mandi is a NH of No.— 38. Who is district head of Medical Services? (A) 21 (A) DMO (B) 20 (B) CMO (C) 23 (C) SMO (D) 24 (D) None

31. Tirthan Sanctury is located— 39. Who is district head of Police? (A) Shimla (A) DSP (B) Kullu (B) SSP (C) Una (C) SP (D) None (D) None

32. What is overall literacy rate of H.P.? 40. Who is Officer Incharge of Headquarter? (A) 75.91% (A) IG (B) 76% (B) DIG (C) 79% (C) DSP (D) None (D) None

33. What is Literacy rate of Female in H.P.? 41. Shri Naina Devi Ji is a Sub-Tehsile of Which district? (A) 66% (A) Bilaspur (B) 67.08% (B) Una (C) 69% (C) Shimla (D) None (D) None

34. Who built Gouari Shanker Temple in Chamba? 42. Battle of Haloti fought in which year? (A) Bataloo (A) 1650 AD (B) Meru Verma (B) 1670 AD (C) Yuzankar Verma (C) 1690 AD (D) None (D) None

35. Who built Hidimba Temple in Manali? 43. Who is Founder of Chamba State? (A) RB Singh (A) Veer Sen (B) RS Singh (B) Meru Varma (C) R.N. Singh (C) Hati Chand (D) None (D) None

36. What is height of Shimla above sec Level? 44. Who is founder of Jubbel ? (A) 2205 (A) Karan (B) 2206 (B) Karan Chand (C) 2208 (C) K.P. (D) None (D) None

37. How many districts are in H.P.? 45. Dr. Y.S. Parmar University was established in— (A) 13 (A) 1980 (B) 14 (B) 1985 (C) 12 (C) 1987 (D) 19 (D) None

<< 43 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest 46. Dr. Y.S. Parmar University located in H.P.— (B) Shimla (A) Shimla (C) Una (B) Nanni (D) None (C) Sundenagar (D) None 49. Gujjar are— (A) SC 47. Where is place of Publication of Newspaper Ooncha (B) ST Himalaya? (C) OBL (A) Una (D) None (B) Shimla (C) Delhi 50. Lahaulis are— (D) None (A) ST (B) SC 48. Lahauli Language in Spoken in which area— (C) OBC (A) Lahaul Spiti (D) None

Answer Key 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 a a c b a a a a b a a b b b b b b a a d

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 b b b a c a b b b b b a b c a b c a a a

41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 a b b b b b b a b a

<< 44 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest

Current Affairs Last 3 Months

OCTOBER

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the (BHU). She succeeded O P Singh, who recently resigned annual conference of ‘Rajaswa Gyan Sangam, 2017’ in -- from the post. New Delhi.  Ganga Prasad has been sworn-in as the new Governor of The objective of the Conference is to enable a twoway Meghalaya. communication between the policy-makers and the senior Ganga Prasad, the former member of Bihar Legislative officers in the field offices with a view to increase revenue Council (BLC), has been sworn-in as the new Governor of collection and facilitate effective implementation of law and Meghalaya at Raj Bhavan in Shillong on October 5. Prasad policies in key result areas. has been a member of the legislative council in Bihar for 18  The ministry has approved constitution of a 13-member years. He was a businessman by profession, joined politics as Empowered Steering Committee (ESC) to shape and a Jan Sangh member in 1967 and held various organisational influence India's preparation for multi- disciplinary posts in it as well as in the BJP. events -- Sports Ministry.  New Delhi hosted the 14th India-EU Summit -2017. The Steering Committee will have the mandate to work till The 14th India-EU Summit was held in New Delhi from 31st December 2020 with clearly defined terms and October 5-7, 2017. During the summit, both sides are references. These include review of the core probable list of expected to discuss a host of key issues including ways to each High Priority and Priority disciplines for the remove hurdles for the long-pending free trade agreement. Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and Olympic Games. The president of the European Council (EC) Donald  The city has been formally accorded the status of India’s Franciszek Tusk, and the president of the European first World Heritage City by UNESCO -- Ahmedabad. Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker, will attend the summit. Earlier, in July the UN agency had inscribed Ahmedabad as India's first World Heritage City at a meeting held in .  IDBI bank has launched ‘Project Nishchay’ to improve financial performance.  NITI Aayog will host Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2017) in Hyderabad. IDBI Bank has launched ‘Project Nishchay’ in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to accelerate its NITI Aayog will host the 8th annual Global turnaround program and improve financial performance. The Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2017) in partnership with the project will be led by senior management at IDBI Bank along USA, which is scheduled to be held in Hyderabad from with BCG. November 28 to 30. The 2017 theme “Women First, Prosperity for All” will celebrate entrepreneurship in all its  Bihar state government has launched a state-wide strength, diversity and entirety. campaign against child marriage and dowry on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. The  Royana Singh has become the first woman chief proctor Bihar government has launched a state-wide campaign of Banaras Hindu University (BHU). against child marriage and dowry on the occasion of Royana Singh, an assistant professor at the Institute of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. In it, people pledged Medical Science (Anatomy Department), has been appointed not to get married a girl below 18 years or a boy below 21 or as the first woman chief proctor of Banaras Hindu University participate in a child marriage or a wedding with dowry.

<< 45 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest  President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed a Commission  Anupam Kher has been named as the new chairman of to examine the sub-categorisation of OBCs. Under the the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). chairmanship of G Rohini. Film actor Anupam Kher has been appointed as the new President Ram Nath Kovind has recently appointed a chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Commission to examine the sub-categorisation of the Other He succeeded Gajendra Chauhan. Kher has worked in more Backward Classes (OBCs). Justice (Retd.) G. Rohini will be than 500 films and over 100 plays in last three decades. the chairperson of the Commission which will present its  Empower Girls: Before, during and after crises is the report to the President within 12 weeks. theme of 2017 International Day of the Girl Child.  Dr. Harshvardhan has launched SECURE Himalaya The International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) is celebrated project in association with UNDP. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the every year on October 11 to highlight and address the needs Union Environment Minister, has launched SECURE and challenges girls face, while promoting girls’ Himalaya project in association with United Nations empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights. Development Programme (UNDP) at the Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) conference in New Delhi. The purpose of  Rank of India in Global Hunger Index 2017 100th out of the 6-year project is to secure livelihoods, conservation, 119 Countries. sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan India ranked 100th position among 119 countries on Global ecosystems, which is meant for specific landscapes. Hunger Index (GHI) 2017 report released by Washington-  Soumya Swaminathan has become the first Indian to based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). hold deputy director general post at World Health This year slipped by three positions as compared to 97th rank Organisation (WHO). in 2016 GHI. The Central African Republic (CAR) has the highest GHI score and has been categorised as “extremely Dr Soumya Swaminathan has become the first Indian to hold alarming”. deputy director general post for Programmes at the World Health Organisation (WHO). Currently, she is the Director  New Delhi has hosted the first meeting of EAC-PM. General (DG) of the Indian Council of Medical Research The first-ever meeting of newly-constituted Economic (ICMR). Dr Swaminathan is a paediatrician and is known for Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) was held at her research in tuberculosis and HIV. NITI Aayog, in New Delhi. It was chaired by Dr. Bibek  Rajneesh Kumar has been appointed as the new Debroy, Member NITI Aayog. Prime Minister Narendra chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI). Rajnish Modi has constituted five member EAC-PM in September Kumar, the Managing Director of SBI, has been appointed as 2017 as an independent body to provide advice on economic the new chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI) for a issues to the government, specifically to the Prime Minister. period of three years. He succeeded Arundhati Bhattacharya,  India’s first-ever All India Institute of Ayurveda has who was the first women chairman of Apex Bank of India. come up in New Delhi.  India’s GDP forecast for FY18 by IMF in its latest World India’s first-ever All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) has Economic Outlook (WEO) report is 6.7%. been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Sarita The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently released Vihar in New Delhi on the occasion of 2nd National its October 2017 World Economic Outlook. In it, IMF Ayurveda Day (NAD) i.e. on 17 Oct 2017. It has been set up slashed India’s growth forecast by 0.5% points to 6.7% in along the lines of All India Institute of Medical Sciences FY 18 due to the lingering effects of disruption caused by (AIIMS). demonetisation and transition costs of GST.  The Global Handwashing Day (GHD) is observed every year on October 15.

<< 46 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest The Global Handwashing Day (GHD) is observed every year Operations (CTO) and an Infantry company from both the on October 15 as an annual global advocacy day to increase countries is participating in the same.. awareness and understanding about the importance of  India has been ranked 100th out of 119 countries in the handwashing with soap as an easy, effective, and affordable 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report. way to prevent diseases and save lives. India has been ranked 100th out of 119 countries in the  Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has signed 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, which is released pact with Japan for a Technical Intern Training Program by Washington-based International Food Policy Research (TITP). Institute (IFPRI). As per report, India’s score (31.4) is at the The 6th annual LNG Producers Consumer Conference has high end of the serious category, and is one of the main started in Tokyo, Japan from Oct 16-18, 2017. In it, India has factors pushing South Asia to the category of worst signed a Memorandum of Co-operation (MoC) with Japan to performing region on the GHI 2017, followed closely by send youngsters there as technical interns for on-the-job Africa South of the Sahara.The list is topped by Belarus. training for a period of three to five years. The MoC on TITP  India’s GDP forecast for FY18 by the World Bank is expected to significantly expand the bilateral cooperation (WB) is 7.0%in its South Asia Economic Focus (Fall between India and Japan in the field of skill development. 2017) report. India is the third country with which Japan has signed the MoC. The World Bank (WB), in its biannual economic update “South Asia Economic Focus (Fall 2017)”, has reduced  #IamThatWoman online campaign has launched by India’s GDP growth forecast to 7.0% for 2017-18 from Union Ministry of Women and Child Development 7.2% estimated earlier. As per report, the unexpected (WCD) to end gender bias in women against women. slowdown in India’s growth story is because of the delayed The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development consequence of demonetization, sharp decline in the growth (WCD) has launched an online campaign #IamThatWoman rate of public expenditures and uncertainty created by the to end gender bias in women against women.Through the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST). campaign, the Ministry seeks to highlight the various aspects  India’s GDP forecast for FY18 is 6.7% by IMF in its of women standing ‘by’ and ‘for’ women. The purpose of the latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report. campaign is to shed light on the enormous contributions made by women for women. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently released its October 2017 World Economic Outlook. In it,  Arunachal Pradesh (Re-Orgaisation of Districts) IMF slashed India’s growth forecast by 0.5% points to 6.7% Amendment Bill 2017 to create a new district named in FY 18 due to the lingering effects of disruption caused by ‘Kamle’. demonetisation and transition costs of GST. Kamle is the 23rd district of Arunachal Pradesh. It has been  Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the 1988 batch of IFS officer, has created by bifurcating the present Upper and Lower been appointed as the new Ambassador to Principality Subansiri districts. The bill was introduced on October 14, of Monaco. 2017 by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prema Khandu. Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the 1988 batch of IFS officer, has  The joint training exercise “Mitra Shakti 2017” has been appointed as the new Ambassador to Principality of started between India and Sri Lanka. Monaco, with residence in Paris. He will take his The 5th India-Sri Lanka joint training exercise “Mitra assignment shortly. Presently, he is Ambassador of India to Shakti 2017” has started at Aundh Military Station in Pune, France. Maharshtra. The exercise is based on Counter Terrorist

<< 47 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest  India’s rank in the world’s most valuable nation brands Rajesh Nath, the managing director of VDMA India, has is 8th according to Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017 been conferred the ‘Cross of the Order of Merit’, the highest report. civilian honour awarded to individuals for their services to Germany. The award, also known as Bundesverdienstkreuz India has been ranked 8th out of 100 countries on a list of or Federal Cross of Merit was instituted in 1951. most valuable nation brands, according to Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017 report. The list is topped by US,  The international exhibition ‘World Dental Show 2017’ followed by China, Germany, Japan and United Kingdom. has opened in Mumbai. In terms of valuation, India’s National Brand Value in 2017 The 3-day international exhibition – ‘World Dental Show is $2.04 trillion, down one percent from last year’s $2.06 2017’ has opened in Mumbai, Maharashtra on October 6, trillion. 2017 to showcase the evolving global technologies and  Rajnath Singh, The Minister of Home Affairs has techniques in dentistry. The exhibition, hosted by the Indian inaugurated the first ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Dental Association (IDA), has witnessed participation from Exercise- 2017’ (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017). the international exhibitors from China, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, Russian Federation, South Korea, Taiwan, Rajnath Singh, the Union Home Minister, has inaugurated Turkey, UK and US. the first annual BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017 (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) in New Delhi on October  Audrey Azoulay has been elected to become the new 10. The delegates from all 7 nations of the BIMSTEC Director-General (DG) of UNESCO. grouping, – namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Audrey Azoulay, a French civil servant and politician, has Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are participating in the been elected to become the new Director-General (DG) of event. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural  Yoga for Wellness is the theme of the 2017 International Organization (UNESCO). She will succeed outgoing DG Conference on Yoga. Irina Bokova of .

M Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India, has  HPCL has become the first Indian Oil Marketing inaugurated the 3rd International Conference on Yoga in Company (OMC) to launch lubricants in Myanmar. New Delhi with theme “Yoga for Wellness”on October 10, The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), the 2017. The 2-day conference is being organized by the public sector undertaking, has become the first Oil Ministry of AYUSH as a part of year long events being Marketing Company (OMC) from India that has started organized to celebrate 21st June as International Day of marketing lubricants in Myanmar and has chosen Yoga. commercial hubs of Yangon and Mandalay.  Nisha Biswal will head the US-India Business Council.  The world’s first negative emissions plant that turns Nisha Biswal, a former state department official, will head CO2 into stone has opened in Iceland. the US-India Business Council (USIBC), a powerful The world’s first negative emissions plant that turns carbon advocacy group of US companies with business interest in dioxide (CO2) into stone has begun operations in India. She is expected to join on November 1, 2017. The Hellisheidi, Iceland. In it, the CO2 is captured from ambient USIBC is a part of the US Chamber of Commerce, the air, bound to water, and sent to more than 700 meters largest lobbying organisation in the country that wields real underground. political power in Washington.  The 2017 International Day of Rural Women is observed  Rajesh Nath has been conferred the ‘Cross of the Order on 15 October. of Merit’, the highest civilian honour of Germany.

<< 48 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest The International Day of Rural Women is observed every has been chosen as the partner country for the 23rd year on October 15 to recognize the crucial role that women edition of Technology Summit which is scheduled to be and girls play in ensuring the sustainability of rural held from 14th – 15th November, 2017 in New Delhi. It is households and communities, improving rural livelihoods jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and overall wellbeing. The 2017 theme is “Challenges and (CII) and the Indian Department of Science opportunities in climate-resilient agriculture for gender and Technology (DST). The theme of this summit will be equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”. ‘Advanced Manufacturing’

 The first-ever International tri services joint exercise  Adesina Receives 2017 World Food Prize Laureate “INDRA – 2017” has conducted between Indian & Award. Russia. DR. AKINWUMI AYODEJI ADESINA,the President of The first-ever International tri services joint exercise the African Development Bank (AfDB), will be recognized “INDRA – 2017” will be conducted between Indian and as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate. He was Nigeria’s Russian Armed Forces in the Eastern Military District of former Minister of Agriculture and rural development. Russia from 19 to 29 Oct 2017. the INDRA-2017 will  Jacinda Ardern to become New Zealand Prime Minister. strengthen mutual confidence, inter-operability and enable sharing of best practices between both the armed forces. New Zealand Labour Party’s leader Jacinda Ardern is set to become youngest-ever female Prime Minister of New  George Saunders has won the 2017 Man Booker Prize. Zealand. 37 year old Jecinda Ardern will become New US author George Saunders has won the 2017 Man Booker Zealand’s third female prime minister (after Jenny Shipley Prize for his first full-length novel “Lincoln in the Bardo” and Helen Clark). She will also be the second-youngest and became only the 2nd American writer to win £50,000 Prime Minister of New Zealand after Edward Stafford. ($66,000) Britain’s prestigious English-language literary award.  Lebanon’s parliament approves country’s first budget since 2005  The 2017 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) is observed on 17 October. Lebanon’s parliament approved country’s first budget in 12 years. It is aimed towards reforming the fragile economy The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) and preventing rising debt from becoming a crisis-like is observed every year on October 17 to raise people’s situation.Political crisis gripped Lebanon since the awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in worldwide, particularly in developing countries. The 2017 2005, thereby preventing the successive government from theme ‘Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty. passing the budget.  Kavita Devi has become the India’s first-ever woman  Indian-American girl wins 2017 Young Scientist wrestler to sign for World Wrestling Entertainment Challenge for water contamination detection device (WWE). Indian-American Gitanjali Rao, 11, was announced the Kavita Devi from Haryana has become the first ever woman winner of Discovery Education’s 3M Young Scientist wrestler from India to sign up for the World Wrestling Challenge. The sensor-based device detects the quality of Entertainment (WWE). She also has the distinction of being water and shares the results to a mobile application via the first Indian woman to compete in a WWE ring. Bluetooth.  Canada has been chosen as the partner country for the  India, Brazil, South Africa sign IBSA Trust Fund 23rd edition of Technology Summit. agreement

<< 49 >> | IBS QUEST | JANUARY, 2018

IBS Quest India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) have signed the has outlived its original lifespan and is still in good health and IBSA Trust Fund Agreement that seeks to fight poverty in continues to work as expected. developing countries. It was signed at the 8th IBSA trilateral Stratolaunch: World’s largest aircraft successfully passes fire Ministerial Commission Meeting in Durban, South Africa. It engine test is an international tripartite grouping for promoting The world’s largest all-composite airplane Stratolaunch in terms international cooperation among these countries. of wingspan successfully completed its initial engine tests. It is Japan launches fourth Michibiki satellite for hi-tech GPS designed for launching for sending satellite-carrying rockets into low-Earth orbit. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched Michibiki-4 Scientists create world’s first molecular robot satellite (QZSS-4) onboard of H-IIA rocket Scientists from University of Manchester have created world’s from Tanegashima Space Centre. It was first ‘molecular robot’ — millionth of a millimetre in size. It can fourth satellite in Michibiki series i.e. Quasi- be used to build molecules and may help discover novel drugs. Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), which is a satellite-based high-precision global positioning system similar to Ichthyosaur Fossil discovered for first time in India US operated GPS. Geologists for the first time have discovered 152 million year old fossil of Ichthyosaur an extinct marine reptile in Kutch Desert Bacteria can spread antibiotic resistance through soil. Region of Gujarat. The Specimen belongs to opnthalmosauridae Researchers including one of Indian origin family of Ichthyosaurs that lived in oceans between 165 and 90 from North Carolina State University in US million years. ago. have found that antibiotic resistance can be Scientists Develop new tool to Improve monsoon forecast passed between bacteria found in the soil. They also have found that spreading manure Scientists from Florida State University in the US have developed on ground as fertiliser can also spread antibiotic resistance to new tool for objectively defining onset & demise of Indian bacteria in the soil. Summer monsoon. The new method uses rainfall rates to mark span of ISM at any given location throughout affected regions. USA approves first test to screen Zika Virus in donated blood. CSIR – NIIST scientists develop organic near infrared filter United States Food and Drug Administration Scientists from Thiruvanthapuram based CSIR National Institute (FDA) has approved ‘Cbas Zika test’ for for interdisciplinary science and Technology have developed detecting Zika virus in donated blood. It is organic filter that allows only near-Infrared light to pass through first of kind test approved by FDA for it. detecting Zika virus in donated blood. Commerce & Industries minister Suresh Prabhu launches Sibir : World’s biggest and most powerful nuclear icebreaker CIPAM’S Website ship launched by Russia Min of commerce & Industries recently launched the official Russia launched Sibir (Siberia), the world’s website for the cell for IPR Promotion and Management largest nuclear-powered icebreaker ship built (CIPAM) of the department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under Project 22220 into the water at the (DIPP) Baltic Shipyard in St Petersburg. Sibir is First 3D Printed wearable ‘battery’ developed by Brunel second of three icebreakers of new class of biggest nuclear University researchers powered icebreakers ever constructed under Project 22220. The first one was Arktika (Arctic) was put in service in June 2016. The 3-D Printing method of the wearable battery stacks Third icebreaker Ural is set to be completed in 2019. silicone, glue and gel electrolyte, loyer by layer to make a super capacitor. The super capacitor stores energy on its ISRO’s Mars orbitor mission completes 3 years in orbit surface without chemical reactions. ISRO’s globally acclaimed Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) also known as Mangalyaan completed three years in Martian orbit. It

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IBS Quest  SBI Life Insurance has received approval from SEBI for supermarket chains and others to cater to banking an IPO (Initial Public Offering) of up to Rs 8,400 crore. requirements of individuals and small businesses. The IPO will involve 120 million secondary shares or 12 per  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will introduce 100 cent of the insurer's equity capital. rupees coin to mark the birth centenary of AIADMK founder, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Late Dr.  The black Money has been disclosed by 21 thousand M.G. Ramachandran. people under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) till 31st March this year 4,900 crore rupees. The Reserve Bank of India will also issue new Rs 5 and Rs 10 coins. The new Rs. 5 coins will be 23 milli meters in The Income Tax Department has collected a tax of 2,451 diameter and made of copper (75%), zinc (20%) and nickel crore rupees till now from these declarations. The scheme (5%). The standard weight of Rs 100 coin will be made of 35 was launched in December 2016 by the government to grams while that of Rs 5 coin will be 6 grams. enable people with black money to come clean by paying tax and penalty of 50 per cent.  India's first Payment Bank Airtel Payments Bank launches integrated Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on  Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam its digital platform. Limited (BSNL) join hands to roll out open mobile wallet speedpay across 10 states in the country. In January 2017, Bharti Airtel launched Payments Bank in India to enable transactions on digital platforms. The Now, BSNL will expand Speed pay services in Punjab, initiative will allow bank customers to link their bank Chandigarh (UT), Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal accounts to Bhim app and make UPI payments. Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.  Fino Payments Bank has launched BPay mobile banking app to make banking easy for millions of underbanked  Indusind bank has entered into an agreement with people in India. Bharat Financial Inclusion to evaluate a potential merger between the two companies. The mobile banking app enables simple, paperless, and convenient banking that allows customers to make bill Microfinance company Bharat Financial Inclusion (formerly payments, recharges, fund transfers and buy known as SKS Microfinance) is on the block.IndusInd Bank insurance.‘BPay’ allows customers to seamlessly access management has been authorized to explore strategic wallet as well as savings account, with a single login and opportunities for the expansion of its business and to assess interface. the viability of strategic partnership.  State Bank of India has launched India’s first bond index  The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development series for overseas investors at the London Stock Authority (PFRDA) has raised the upper age limit for Exchange (LSE). joining the National Pension Scheme (NPS) existing 60- years to -- 65 years. With the launch of this index alongside FTSE Russell, SBI intention is to give people a benchmark based on which they The scheme has the option of continuing and making can make investment calls. contributions up to the age of 70. National Pension System (NPS) is a low cost, tax-efficient and flexible retirement  BCCI nominates Mahendra Singh Dhoni name for Padam savings scheme launched by the government of India (GoI). Bhushan Award for 2018.  India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) gearing up to provide The BCCI has nominated former Indian cricket team captain its financial services through all of 1.55 lakh post offices Mahendra Singh Dhoni (36) for Padma Bhushan, country’s and 3 lakh employees by the end of 2018. third highest civilian award for his contribution to game. He is only cricketer nominated by BCCI for this years Padma It will create India's second-largest payments bank in terms Awards. of reach. The new model of banking allows mobile firms,

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IBS Quest  Gurbax Singh Sandhu Indian Boxer has been honoured M C Mary Kom, the five-time world champion and Olympic with the 2017 National Awards for senior citizens. bronze-medallist, has become the first Indian to be picked as the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) representative Indian boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu has been honoured for the IOC Athletes’ Forum scheduled in November 2017. with the 2017 National Award for senior citizens by President Ram Nath Kovind.  Bajrang, the Indian Wrestler has won gold at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.  Los Angles city to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. Indian wrestler Bajrang has won gold in the men’s freestyle Thomas Bach, the President of International Olympic 65kg by defeating Daichi Takatani of Japan iIn Asian Indoor Committee (IOC), has officially announced that Paris will and Martial Arts Games at Ashgabat in Turkmenistan. With host 2024 and Los Angeles will host 2028 Summer Olympics. this, Indians added four medals including a gold on the 9th Both cities wanted to host the 2024 event, before Los Angeles day of the games at Ashgabat in Turkmenistan. agreed to wait an extra four years after the IOC made guarantees on funding.  UAE to host the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup – 2019.  P.V Sindhu became the first Indian shuttler to win BWF The 2019 AFC Asian Cup football tournament will be hosted Korean Open super series. by United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Asia organised Indian shuttler PV Sindhu defeated Nozomi Okuhara of Japan by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the 17th to win BWF Korean Open Super Series. Full Name of PV edition of the AFC Asian Cup. Sindhu is - PPusarla Venkata Sindhu and she is currently having world 4 ranking in BWF World Ranking. PV Sindhu  Shakib ul Hassan has became the 1st cricketer from became first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal in Bangladesh to be inducted in MCC World Cricket 2016 Summer Olympics. She was also awarded with Padma Committee. Shri in 2015. All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has become the first cricketer  has authored the book “Unstoppable: from Bangladesh to be inducted in the MCC World Cricket My Life So Far”. Committee under the chairmanship of Mike Gatting. He is regarded as one of Bangladesh’s finest players since they were The book ‘Unstoppable: My Life So Far’ has been authored awarded the Test status in 2000, with the all-rounder having by star Maria Sharapova. The book talks about played 51 Test matches and 177 One-day Internationals Sharapova’s rise from nowhere to tennis stardom and the (ODI). unending fight to stay on top. The book tells how a seventeen- year-old Maria Sharapova became an overnight sensation by  Yuvraj Singh has become the first Indian Brand defeating the two-time defending champion Ambassador of Laureus. to win the prestigious Wimbledon. Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh has become the first Indian  The West Indian cricket teams are not directly qualified Brand Ambassador of Laureus and joined a host of cricket for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. legends in the Laureus Family, including Indian Academy members Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Kapil Dev. Recently Sri Lanka has qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 after West Indies lost the first ODI against England  Rafel Nadal has won the Lawn Tennis at Old Trafford, With this, Sri Lanka has become the eighth Tournament 2017. and last team to qualify directly, joining Australia, , a Spanish professional tennis player, has won Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South the 2017 China Open Tennis tournament by defeating Nick Africa. Kyrgios in the final by 6-2, 6-1 in Beijing, China. It is his 6th  M.C Mary Kom the Indian Boxer has become the first ATP title of the year. Nadal’s six trophies this year include a Indian to be picked as AIBA representative at IOC record 10th title at the French Open and a third at the US athletes’ forum. Open.

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IBS Quest  Ravi Shastri becomes World’s Highest Earning Cricket  Who has been unanimously elected as the Chairman of Coach Press Trust of India (PTI) - Viveck Goenka Indian cricket team coach Ravi Shastri is the world’s Press Trust of India (PTI) is the news agency in India, highest-earning cricket coach in the world. He is paid headquartered in New Delhi and is a non-profit cooperative around 1.17 million dollars per year from the BCCI which among more than 500 Indian newspapers. is more than the salary of Indian cricket team’s captain Virat  The union govt. has appointed interim GSTN Chairman - Kohli. - A.B Panday  Cristiano Ronaldo tops the Forbes Rich List of sport stars The union govt. has given Unique Identification Authority of According to the latest Forbes’ Rich List Cristiano India (UIDAI) CEO ‘A.B. Pandey’ additional charge of Ronaldo is the richest sports personality in the world. The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). Real Madrid striker has earned an incredible £70million in  Former speaker of Singapore’s parliament has been the last year, along with picking up another Champions declared as the President of Singapore___Mdm Halimah Leaguemedal and becoming the inaugural winner of The Yacob Best FIFA Men’s Player award. Under section 15 of the Presidential Election Act, declared  Senior bureaucrat has been appointed Secretary in the Mdm Halimah to be elected to the office of President as only Department of Financial Services (DFS) - Rajiv Kumar. one candidate stands nominated at end of nomination period. The DFS looks after the functioning of banks, financial  Former Secretary-General of UN has been elected as institutions, insurance companies and the national pension Chair of Ethics Commission of the International Olympic system. Committee (IOC) - Ban Ki-moon

 The Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Mr. Moon was the 8th Secretary-General of the United Education (CBSE) - Anita Karwal Nations (Jan 2007 - Dec 2016). She has replaced ‘Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi’ who has been  The Director General (DG) of the National Investigation moved to the National Skill Development Agency as Agency (NIA) - Y.C Modi Director General (DG). Mr. Modi will take over from Sharad Kumar after he  Bollywood actress has been appointed woman completes his tenure on 30th October this year.National ambassador in 'Friends of Australia' (FOA) advocacy Investigation Agency (NIA) is a central agency established panel - Parineeti Chopra by the Indian Government to combat terror in India. She will be the first Indian woman ambassador to be a part of  The director general (DG) of the Sashastra Seema Bal the FOA advocacy panel. The 'Friends of Australia' (FOA) (SSB) - Rajni Kant Misra program has been devised as a way of fostering mutually He will hold the post till the date of his superannuation (31st beneficial and long-term friendship with those that Tourism August, 2019). Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) is one of India's Australia regards as unique storytellers. Central Armed Police Forces, currently under the  Chairman-cum-Managing Director of NMDC (National administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs Mineral Development Corporation) - N Baijendra (MHA). Kumar  Bollywood Actor has been appointed as the Brand The NMDC (National Mineral Development Corporation) Ambassador of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Uttarakhand Limited is a state-controlled mineral producer of the - Akshay Kumar. Government of India under administrative control of In August 2017, he was also appointed as the brand theMinistry of Steel. ambassador for the cleanliness campaign in Uttar Pradesh.

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IBS Quest  The ambassador of Poland has been appointed as the  N.R Narayan Murthi has won the PLuS Alliance Prize Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan - Ajay Bisaria. for Global Leadership He will replace Gautam Bambaware. An ambassador Narayana Murthy for Global Leadership and Veena (diplomats) is a diplomatic representative that attends Sahajwalla for Research Innovation for her project 'The new international meetings, banquets and parties and acts as a science of green manufacturing. figurehead for their country of origin.  Indian Badminton legend Prakash Padukone received  The Union government has constituted a GST Committee Badminton Association of India’s (BAI) first lifetime on Exports headed by - Dr Hasmukh Adhia achievement award for his contribution to Badminton The panel is mandated to recommend to the GST Council a Padukone had won the 1980 All England, besides bagging a suitable strategy for helping the export sector in the post- bronze at the 1983 World Championship in Copenhagen and GST set-up. a gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

 NPCI’s (National Payments Corporation of India)  E.K Palanoswami the Tamilnadu state’s CM has interim Chairman - B Sambamurthy announced cash incentives for meritorious differently- abled sportspersons in the 7th World Dwarf Games in National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is the Canada umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in India, aims to allow Indian citizens to have unrestricted access to They will be given cash awards of five lakh rupees each for ‘e-payment’ services. every gold medal, three lakh rupees each for every silver and two lakh each for every bronze.  Noted economist has been appointed as the first Chairman of the five-member Economic Advisory  The Bollywood star Salman Khan has received the Council (EAC- PM) - Bibek Debroy ‘Global Diversity Award’ at Britain’s House of Commons The council serves to highlight key economic issues facing The Global Diversity Award is given to people of immense the country to the government of India from a neutral stature in terms of what they have done for diversity in the viewpoint.The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime world. Minister (PMEAC) is a non-constitutional, nonpermanent  The prestigious A Nageswara Rao (ANR) National and independent body constituted to give economic advice to Award has been given to S.S.Rajamouli for his the Government of India, specifically the Prime Minister. contribution to the Telugu film industry  The first woman Chief Proctor of Banaras Hindu The ANR National Award was instituted by the Akkineni University (BHU) - Professor Royana Singh International foundation in the honor of Akkineni Nageswara Professor Singh is a professor in the Anatomy department of Rao. the Institute of Medical Sciences and the chairman of the  A Nigerian lawyer teacher & peacemaker Zannah Women's Grievance Cell of the BHU. Mustapha has won the 2017 UN High Commission for  Andhara Pradesh CM has announced a reward of one Refugees (UNHCR) crore rupees to Arjuna awardee archer Vennam Jyoti Mustapha founded a school 10 years ago in Maiduguri (the Surekha capital of Borno State) which is the epicentre of the Boko N. Chandrababu Naidu also announced a 500- sq yd house Haram insurgency. site in Vijayawada and a government job for her. The Chief  The film Newton will be India’s official entry for the Best Minister also announced 10 lakh rupees reward for Devisri Foreign Film category at the Oscars 2018-Newton is a Prasad (10-year) of Tirupati on setting the Guinness World 2017 Indian Hindi-language black comedy film directed by Record in skating. Amit V Masurkar and Produced by Drishyam Films.

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IBS Quest  Eminent scientist C.N.R Rao has chosen for the Carnatic vocalist T M Krishna has won the Indira Gandhi prestigious Von Hippel Award for his immense Award for National Integration for 2015 -16 for his services contribution in materials research in promoting and preserving national integration in the country. He will be presented with the honour by Congress The award citation noted Mr. Rao’s immense work on novel president Sonia Gandhi on October 31, Indira Gandhi’s death functional materials, including nanomaterials, graphene and anniversary. 2D materials, superconductivity, and colossal magnetoresistance.  Environmental scientist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber receives Blue Planet Prize  M K Sanu, the well-known critic, biographer and orator, has been chosen for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award Environmental scientist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber received for 2017. Blue Planet Prize, world’s most prestigious award for pioneers in environmental science. He is the second recipient M K Sanu, the well-known critic, biographer and orator, has of the Blue Planet Prize. She has been awarded for her been chosen for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2017 research about biodiversity and natural capital. in recognition of his rich contribution to the Malayalam literature. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, a  Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas conferred with citation and a statuette. Sanu is a permanent member of Swachh Bharat Inter-Ministerial Award International body for Human rights. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) was  Bindeshwar Pathak has been bestowed with the 2017 Lal awarded Swachh Bharat Inter-Ministerial Award in Swachh Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Bharat National Award ceremony on Gandhi Jayanti, in New Administration, Academics and Management. Delhi. The Swachh Bharat Inter-Ministerial Award was given by Minister of State, Ministry of Drinking Water & Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak has been bestowed with the 18th Sanitation S.S.Ahluwalia to MoPNG. The award was edition of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for received by Senior Adviser (PNG). Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for year 2017 by the President of India, Shri  Javed Akhtar to be honoured with Hridaynath Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mangeshkar Award

 T.D Ramakrishna has been choosen for the 2017 Vayalar Veteran writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar is to be honored Ramaverma Literacy Award. with the Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award will receive Rs.1,00,000 along with a memento. The programme is being T D Ramakrishnan has been chosen for the 2017 Vayalar presented to celebrate the 75-year-old music career of singer Ramavarma Literary Prize for his novel “Sugandhi Enna Lata Mangeshkar. Andal Devanayaki”. The 40th award ceremony will be held on 27th October 2017, the death anniversary of the late poet  Indian- American Attorney Ajay Raju Recognised With and lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma. Philanthropy Award

 Gauri Lankesh has become the first person from India to Indian-American attorney Ajay Raju honoured with the 3rd win Anna Politkovskaya Award. Kannada journalist Gauri American Bazaar Philanthropy award. Ajay Raju has been Lankesh, who was shot dead in Bengaluru on September 5, awarded for his philanthropic activities in the US. He is 2017, has been awarded a prestigious global Anna honoured with for his commitment to revive Philadelphia Politkovskaya Award, which is given in the memory of a through the Germination Project. slain Russian reporter and political activist.  Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan awarded UN medal  Carnatic vocalist T M Krishna has won the Indira 50 Indian peacekeepers placed in South Sudan were awarded Gandhi Award for National Integration for 2015-16. the UN Medal for their service in maintaining peace in South Sudan. The award was presented by UNMISS Force

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IBS Quest Commander General Frank Mushyo Kamanzi. Indian Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Ambassador to South Sudan, Srikumar Menon, attended the Chandigarh. medal ceremony.  Noted BJP politician and religious leader Mahant Chand  Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sultan Ahmed passed Nath has passed away at a Delhi away after suffering a cardiac arrest He had won the Alwar seat in the 2014 parliamentary Mr. Ahmed was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Uluberia elections after defeating Congress candidate and former (Lok Sabha constituency) on a Trinamool Congress ticket. Union minister Jitendra Singh He also served as the Union Minister of State for Tourism in  Bollywood actress Shakila passed away due to heart the Manmohan Singh government. attack at her residence in Mumbai  Arunachal Pradesh health and family welfare minister She best known for her roles in Guru Dutt's films, Aar Paar Jomde Kena passed away at a private hospital in (1954) and C.I.D. (1956). Guwahati  French businesswoman world's richest woman Liliane He was a resident of Gensi village in Lower Siang district. Bettencourt passed away in Paris Kena was elected as the deputy speaker during the Nabam Tuki government and served as a parliamentary secretary In 2016, Bettencourt was ranked as the richest woman in the under the Dorjee Khandu and Jarbom Gamlin ministries. world with a fortune of USD 39.5bn by Forbes magazine. Bettencourt was the only child of Louise Madelaine Berthe  Noted journalist and activists Gauri Lankesh was shot and Eugene Schueller (founded L’Oreal). dead at her Rajarajeshwari Nagar's residence in Bengaluru  Former World Middleweight Champion and stand-up comedian Jake Lemotta passed away in Miami She was the editor of popular Kannada tabloid Lankesh Patrike founded by her father P Lankesh(writer). The boxing legend's life story was told in the movie Raging Bull where he was played by Robert De Niro who paid  Veteran actor Frank Vincent passed away during open tribute to him. heart surgery in New Jersey  Veteran Marathi writer and journalist Arun Sadhu He is known for his role in films like “The Sopranos” and passed away in Mumbai “Goodfellas”.Vincent most notably appeared as Tony Soprano’s arch nemesis, Phil Leotardo in the “The Sopranos” He is better known for his novel in Marathi "Simhasan" and starting in season five and until the series’ conclusion in "Mumbai Dinank". As a journalist, he has won several 2007. awards including Sahitya Academy award,Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad, NC Kelkar and Acharya Atre award.  IAF Marshal Arjan Singh passed away recently, who led the Indian Air Force in the 1965 India-Pakistan War  The Indian actor of American descent Tom Alter passed away at his residence in Mumbai Mr. Singh served as the IAF's Chief of Staff during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.Mr. Singh also served the nation as an He made his big screen debut in 1976 with a small role in ambassador to Switzerland (in 1971), as High Commissioner Dharmendra-starrer Charas and later went on to work in to Kenya (in 1974) and became the Lt. Governor of Delhi (in films like Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Gandhi, Kranti, Bose: The 1989). Forgotten Hero and Veer Zara.

 The father of nephrology in India Dr. K.S Chugh has  A veteran Congress leader Makhan Lal Fotedar passed passed away in Chandigarh away at a hospital in Gurugram Dr K S Chugh. Note: Dr Chugh was emeritus professor and Fotedar was ushered into politics by Jawaharlal Nehru in former head of department of nephrology at the Postgraduate early 1950s and he gradually strengthened his position in the

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IBS Quest Congress to become one of the most powerful persons in the  “Cool EMS” service between the Japan Post and India party. Post through which fresh food can be sent from Japan to India in cool boxes to facilitate for the Japanese emigrants SEPTEMBER in India. Prime Minister of Japan Visited India  To identify and foster talented young scientists from both  Prime minister of japan the countries to collaborate in the field of theoretical Shinzo Abe came to India biology on a two day visit to attend  To facilitate and deepen international education the 12th Indo-Japan annual cooperation and exchanges between sports authorities of summit meeting held at India and japan. This move will enhance our medal Ahmedabad. prospects in next Olympics.  Various agreements and MoU’s were signed that would  To promote institutional cooperation between RIS and strengthen India-japan bilateral ties. IDE-JETRO to strengthen the capacity of research and effectiveness of dissemination of research findings. Highlights of the visit:

 PM Modi has gifted a marble statuette of Mahatma Gandhi’s “Three Wise Monkeys” to his Japanese Penalty on Reliance Industries Ltd & BP counterpart Shinzo Abe. The monkeys are a symbol of the  The government has imposed a penalty proverb ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’, believed of 264 million dollar (about Rs 1,700 to have its origin in Japan. crore) on Reliance Industries Ltd and its  PM Modi and Japanese PM Abe lay foundation stone for partners for not fulfilling the targeted India’s first High Speed Rail project from Mumbai to production of natural gas from KG-D6 fields in 2015-16. Ahmedabad.  The Production Sharing Contract allows RIL and its UK  India signed a loan deal worth $76 million with Japan partner BP PLC and Canadian partner Niko Resources to International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for a project to deduct all capital and operating expenses from the sale of gas upgrade the environment management plan at Alang- before sharing profit with the government. Sosiya ship recycling yards in Gujarat.  India and Japan signed Open sky agreement that will Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh" (MUSK) allow their airlines to operate unlimited number of flights  The Cabinet approved creation of a single corpus fund in between the two countries without any restrictions. which all proceeds of secondary and higher education cess  Japan will extend a loan of Rs 2,239 crore to India for will be credited and utilised for the government's schemes in ‘North East Road Network Connectivity Improvement education sector. Project’ to improve the National Highway 40 (NH-40) and  The HRD Ministry will be responsible for the construct a bypass on NH-54 in the Northeast. The project administration and maintenance of the non-lapsable pool is expected to contribute to the improvement of the intra- account. regional and international connectivity through regional economic development. DIPAM

Agreements and MoU’s  In the field of disaster risk reduction and disaster prevention.  Japanese language education in India as a part of skill  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA has training. approved the proposal of Department of Investment and  To enhance connectivity and promote developmental public Asset Management, DIPAM for the strategic projects in the North Eastern Region of India disinvestment.

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IBS Quest  The approval will help in speedy completion of strategic Mentor India Campaign disinvestment transactions.  NITI Aayog launched the  DIPAM is the nodal agency of Union Finance Ministry Mentor India Campaign, a mandated to advise the Union Government in the matters of strategic nation building financial restructuring of PSUs and also for attracting initiative to engage leaders investment through capital markets. It will also deal with all who can guide and mentor matters relating to sale of Union Government’s equity in students at more than 900 Atal Tinkering Labs, established PSUs. across the country as a part of the Atal Innovation Mission.  The idea of this campaign is to engage leaders who will World Honey Bee Day nurture and guide students in the Atal Tinkering Labs.  To create awareness about Beekeeping and uses of its products including Honey, Tribal Cooperative Marketing SC Strikes Down Instant Triple Talaq Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) is  The Supreme Court set aside the practice of instant divorce th celebrated World Honey Bee Day (WHBD) 19 August. through triple talaq among Muslims, terming it as  The main theme of celebrating WHBD is to save Indian unconstitutional, illegal and void. honey bee.  In a 3:2 majority judgment, the apex court held that triple talaq is against the basic tenets of Quran and hence, is Navika Sagar Parikrama unacceptable.  Navika Sagar Parikrama is a project wherein a team of women officers of the would circumnavigate Right to Privacy as Fundamental Right the globe on an Indian-built sail boat INSV Tarini.  The Supreme Court declared right to privacy as a  This is the first ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by Fundamental right under the Constitution. an all-women crew. The project is scheduled to commence in  According to Supreme Court, right to privacy is protected early Sep 17. intrinsically as part of rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. “Sankalp Se Sidhi” program  “Sankalp Se Sidhi” program is being organized across the Coast Guard Ship 'Varuna' Decommissioned th country to commemorate the 75 Anniversary of Quit India  Indian Coast Guard ship Movement. 'Varuna' decommissioned with full armed forces honours ‘Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat’ after an illustrious service  ‘Swasth Bachche, Swasth spanning about 30 years, in a Bharat’ Programme, an traditional military ceremony initiative of Kendriya held at the naval base, Kochi. Vidyalaya Sangathan to prepare a physical Health and First Videsh Bhavan Fitness Profile Card for more  The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has decided to than 12 lakhs of Kendriya Vidyalaya students was launched integrate all its offices in Maharashtra into a single building in Kochi. – the "Videsh Bhavan” - for effective management of its  Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat programme will provide a engagement with the State Government of Maharashtra. comprehensive and inclusive report card for children covering all age groups and children of different abilities. First National Sports Museum  Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat programme also intends to  The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is going to imbibe values of Olympics and Paralympics amongst establish National Sports Museum, first of its kind, at students. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.

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IBS Quest  This museum will showcase the India’s achievements in  President Ramnath Kovind laid foundation stone for link - 4 sports and also focus on the traditional sports within the of Saurashtra Narmada Avataran Irrigation Scheme -SAUNI- country. Yojana in Rajkot district.  SAUNI project had been launched by Prime Minister Bharat Bill Payment System Narendra Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat aims to fill up 115 major dams by diverting overflow  The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has of water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada River. given a nod to Spice Digital Ltd for processing bill payments

under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU). BN Srikrishna Committee  The BBPS through its centralised bill payment system will  An expert committee has been constituted under the allow the users to use a single website or outlet to pay all Chairmanship of former apex court judge Justice BN their monthly or repetitive bills such as mobile phone and Srikrishna to identify key data protection issues in India and electricity. recommend methods to address them.  The committee will study various issues and make specific Gobindobhog Rice Gets Geographical Indication suggestions for consideration of the government on the Status principles to be considered for data protection.

 Gobindobhog rice,a speciality from Burdwan district of West Indian PM Visited Myanmar Bengal, has got the geographical indication (GI) status.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi  The region of Burdwan (now divided into the districts of east visited Myanmar's capital and west Burdwan) is known as the rice bowl of Bengal. Naypyidaw on September 6-7 and

met Myanmar President Htin YUVA Kyaw.  The ‘YUVA’ initiative by  It was PM Modi's first bilateral visit to Myanmar. Delhi Police aims to connect  PM Modi met Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and with youth by upgrading visited the heritage city of Bagan and a Hindu temple. their skill as per their competencies. ‘Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development  It will help them to get a gainful employment under Pradhan Fund’ Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna under the Ministry of Skill Development.  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund” 'Rajaswa Gyan Sangam' (DIDF) with an outlay of Rs 10,881 crore during the period from 2017-18.  Rajaswa Gyan Sangam, 2017 was held in New Delhi.

 The objective of the Conference is to enable a two-way communication between the policy-makers and the senior AUGUST officers in the field offices with a view to increase revenue collection and facilitate effective implementation of law and IRC meet policies in key result areas.  212th meeting of Indian Road Congress (IRC) was held in India’s First World Heritage City Certificate Udaipur.  Ahmedabad in Gujarat was formally accorded the status of  IRC is the apex body of highway engineers in the country. India's first World Heritage City  The origin of the IRC can be traced back to the Indian Road  The honour makes the walled city of Ahmedabad the first Development committee (the Jayakar Committee) appointed city in India, and the third in Asia, to be on the list. by the Government of India in November, 1927.

SAUNI Scheme

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IBS Quest National Green Tribunal announced by the Government of India for the senior citizens  The National Green Tribunal has declared an area of 100 aged 60 years and above which is available from 4th May, metres from the edge of the Ganga between Haridwar and 2017 to 3rd May, 2018. Unnao as a “No Development Zone”.  The Scheme can be purchased offline as well as online  An environment compen- sation of 50,000 will be imposed on through Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India. anyone dumping waste in the river  Scheme provides an assured return of 8% p.a. payable monthly (equivalent to 8.30% p.a. effective) for 10 years. 'SAARTHI' App  A new integrated mobile app "SAARTHI - c" has been Global Conference on Cyber Space 2017 launched by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu for passengers.  India will be hosting the 5th  It will allow passengers to book tickets, enquiry, on-board Global Conference on Cyber cleaning and ordering meal on a single platform and also Space (GCCS) in 2017 at New includes features such as safety for women, complaint facility Delhi. and suggestion for improvement.  Theme-‘Cyber 4 All: An Inclusive, Sustainable, Developmental, Safe and Secure. Matunga railway station  Matunga station becomes country’s first women special Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana station.  The Ministry of Rural Development will launch a new sub-  The station will be run by over 30 women, including 11 scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National booking clerks, 5 RPF personnel, 7 ticket checkers and a Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) which will be manager. named as “Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY)”  Matunga is a railway station on the Central line of the  This will provide safe, affordable and community monitored Mumbai Suburban Railway network. It comes under Central rural transport services like e-rickshaws, 3 and 4 wheeler Railway Zone. motorized transport vehicles to connect remote villages with key services and amenities including access to markets, education and health for the overall economic development of Muskan the area.  Operation Muskan, a month-long drive to rescue Odisha’s missing children, was launched by the State police. Literary festival  This is the third edition launched by the Crime Branch in  Kerala has hosted the fifth edition of South India Writers association with the Women and Child Development Ensemble (SIWE) at Chengannur, Kerala. Department.  Theme-‘tolerance’.

First biomethane bus RIWATCH Museum  Tata Motors has developed country’s first Bio-CNG (bio-  Research Institution of World Ancient, Traditional, Culture & methane) bus which was unveiled at a bio-energy program, Heritage (RIWATCH) Museum was opened at Roing, ‘Urja Utsav’. Arunachal Pradesh.  This programme was organized by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. 5th North East Connectivity Summit

 5th North East Connectivity Summit 2018 will be held in Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana Arunachal Pradesh.  The Union Minister for Finance,  The summit organized by FICCI(Federation of Indian Defense and Corporate Affairs has Chambers of Commerce and Industry) is one of the most launched the Pradhan Mantri Vaya important forums for action oriented deliberations on sub Vandana Yojana (PMVVY).  PMVVY is a Pension Scheme

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IBS Quest regional economic integration and connectivity between North ETF-Bharat-22 East India and South East Asia.  Finance Minister has launched a new ETF under the name  4th North East Connectivity Summit 2017 will be held in Bharat 22, which will comprise shares of 22 companies. Nagaland.  Bharat-22 ETF will comprise of the government's holding in SUUTI, CPSE ETF and PSU banks. International meet on social justice  ETFs combine the range of a diversified portfolio with the  Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar international conference on social simplicity of trading a single stock. Investors can purchase justice was held in Bengaluru. ETF shares on margin, short sell shares, or hold for the long  This was organized by the Karnataka government and term. congress party. India ratifies 2nd commitment period of Kyoto Lucknow Metro Protocol  The Lucknow Metro will become India's first to have its own  India has ratified the second commitment period of the FM radio station, which will provide entertainment and Kyoto Protocol that commits countries to contain the information on metro safety. emission of greenhouse gases, reaffirming its stand on

climate action. Kargil Vijay Diwas  India became the 80th country to accept the amendment  18th Anniversary of ‘Kargil Vijay relating to the second commitment period of the Kyoto Diwas’ is observed on 26th of July, Protocol, the international emissions reduction treaty. 2017.  The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to  On this day India has launched the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ‘Operation Vijay’ to clear the Change (UNFCCC), which commits its Parties by setting Kargil sector of infiltration by the Pakistani soldiers and internationally binding emission reduction targets. Kashmiri militants on the Indian side of the Line of Control.  The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in ‘India Quake’ December 1997 and entered into force in February 2005.  Union Minister of Earth Sciences and Environment has launched an app “India Quake” on the occasion of Foundation New President of Kenya Day of Ministry of Earth Sciences in New Delhi.  Uhuru Kenyatta has been re-  Mobile App has been developed by the National Centre for elected as President of Kenya. Seismology (NCS) for automatic dissemination of earthquake  He has defeated his rival Raila parameter (location, time and magnitude) after the occurrence Odinga. of earthquakes.

India’s First Tri Service Exercise INDRA First Metro to become 100% green  INDRA will be the first of its kind exercise between India  Delhi Metro has become the only completely 'green' Metro and Russia involving their armies, navies and the air forces. system in the world for adhering to green building norms for  This will primarily focus on achieving coordination between its residential colonies forces of the two countries in a tri- services integrated theatre  The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had earlier command scenario. received the green certificates for its Phase-3 stations, depots,  Till now INDRA was a naval exercise between India and and sub-stations. Russia.

Sanitation survey 2017 India-ASEAN Youth Summit  1st rank : Kerala  Indo – ASEAN youth summit will be held in Bhopal.  2nd rank: Haryana  The exercise will mark the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-  Last rank: Bihar India dialogue partnership in the ongoing year and also the

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IBS Quest commemorative year’s theme of “Shared Values, Common world’s first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Destiny”. Hiroshima.  Three days later, on August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb World Health Organization declares Somalia free was dropped over Nagasaki, killing some 40,000 more of polio civilians.

 The UN World Health Organization (WHO) Bolvia declared its independence from IMF and has declared Somalia as World Bank Polio free.  Bolivia has declared total independence from World Bank &  The WHO said the country recorded the last case of polio in IMF 2014 in the central part of the country but has since then  Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has declared his remained free of the paralyzing disease. government’s independence from World Bank and IMF.

Typhoon Haitang 2017 BRICS Youth Forum  Typhoon Haitang struck China's eastern Fujian Province with  The 2017 BRICS Youth incessant rain battering different parts of the region. Forum opened in Bejing to  Typhoon Haitang, the 10th typhoon this year, made landfall discuss youth development in at 4.40 pm in Pingtung on the island of Taiwan the BRICS member-nations.  The theme of this forum is World breastfeeding week "Enhance BRICS Partnership, Promote Youth Development.  World breastfeeding week 2017 is being celebrated from 1st to 7th August 2017 with the theme “Sustaining Breastfeeding BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers Meet Together”.  BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ meet was held in  It was first celebrated in 1992 by World Alliance for Chonqging, China. Breastfeeding World Breastfeeding Week Action (WABA)  Indian delegation led by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the and is now observed in over 120 countries by United Nations Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour & Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization Employment. (WHO) and their partners including individuals, organizations, and governments. BRICS National Security Advisors meeting 2017

China’s first overseas Military base  2017 BRICS National Security Advisors (NSAs) meeting was held in Beijing, China.  China has opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti  National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval represented  Djibouti's position on the northwestern edge of the Indian India at this meeting. Ocean. Countries facing terror attacks in 2016  Djibouti is a tiny barren nation sandwiched between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. It is at the southern entrance to  India has displaced Pakistan on a list of countries facing the Red Sea on the route to the Suez Canal. terror attacks in 2016, with higher fatalities and injuries than its restive neighbour, according to data compiled by the US state department. Hiroshima Day: August 6th  Out of 11,072 terror attacks in 2016 worldwide, India bore  August 6th marks the 71st anniversary of the bombing of the brunt of 927, 16% more than 2015 (798). Hiroshima and Nagasaki—an event which is commemorated  More than half of the terror attacks in India in 2016 took in the U.S. as “Hiroshima Day.” place in four states – J&K, Chhattisgarh, Manipur and  On August 6, 1945, during WWII, an American B-29 Jharkhand. bomber piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets deployed the  Iraq is on the top of the list.

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IBS Quest IDFC Bank partners with Zeta for e-payments  KYC is a process by which banks obtain information about solution the identity and address of customers.

 For promoting an e – payments solution, private lender IDFC Third Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Bank has partnered with digital  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) payments brand Zeta. announced Third Bi-Monthly  The digital solution comprises an IDFC Bank Benefits Card Monetary Policy Statement for and Zeta app which puts together allowances and current fiscal 2017-18. Monetary reimbursements ensured by an employer into one preloaded policy rates: card. 1. Repo Rate - 6.00% (Earlier it was 6.25%) 2. Reverse Repo Rate - 5.75% (Earlier it was 6.00%) SBI merger bill 3. Marginal Standing Facility Rate- 6.25% (Earlier it was 6.50%)  The Lok Sabha passed the bill to repeal the SBI (Subsidiary 4. Bank Rate - 6.25% (Earlier it was 6.50%) Banks) Act 1959, State Bank of Hyderabad Act 1956 and to 5. Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) - 4.00% (Unchanged) further amend the State Bank of India Act, 1955, following 6. Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) - 20.00% (Unchanged) the merger of five associates with the parent SBI.

 Five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank became part of State Bank of India (SBI) beginning April 1, catapulting L&T bags Rs. 3,375-crore Mauritius metro project the countrys largest lender to among the top 50 banks in the  Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro announced a Rs world. 3,375 crore-worth metro order from the Mauritius  The five associates that were merged are State Bank of government. Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH),  L&T has won the order from Metro Express Limited which State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) is owned by the Government of Mauritius to design and and State Bank of Travancore (SBT). build an Integrated Rail-based Urban Transit System in the African island nation. Banking Amendment Bill  The projects will be fully funded through a grant by Government of India and line of credit. 45.  Parliament has passed the Banking Regulation (Amendment)

Bill, 2017.  This bill will enable the Central government to authorize the MS paint is no longer available Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to direct banking companies to  Microsoft has announced that 'MS Paint' will no longer be resolve specific stressed assets by initiating insolvency available with the next Windows 10 update. resolution process.  The program was first released with the very first version of Windows 1.0 in 1985. E-Shakti initiative Growth forecast by IMF  E - Shakti is a pilot project of National  The Indian economy is forecast to grow at 7.2% in 2017-18 Bank for Agriculture and Rural and 7.7% in 2018-19, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Development (NABARD). said in its latest forecast.  The objective of this project is  This would keep India as the fastest growing major economy digitization of Self Help Groups (SHGs). in the world and in Asia.  Growth for China was revised to 6.7% in 2017 and 6.4% in Rs.3 cr penalty on Union Bank 2018.  The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty Kaizala app aggregating Rs. 3 crore on Union Bank of India for non-  Microsoft launched its first "Made compliance with the regulatory direction on ‘know-your- for India" chat messaging customer’ (KYC) norms. application called Kaizala.

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IBS Quest  Kaizala is a made for India product for the mobile first world  The bank also introduced ‘KBL MLLS’ app, which marks . The application is designed for large group communication the celebration of 15 years of partnership with M/s PNB and can enable messages to be sent to millions of people on a MetLife. group simultaneously. Fortune Global 500 list NPCI gets final nod from RBI to function as BBPC  1st rank: Walmart (United States) Unit  2nd rank : State Grid(China)  National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the  3rd rank: Sinopec Group(China) umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems, has  168th rank: Indian Oil received a final nod from the Reserve Bank of India to  203rd rank: Reliance Industries function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). ISRO to develop full-fledged Earth observation  There is a specific direction from RBI to operate the Central satellite Unit as a Strategic Business Unit of NPCI. Nearly 45 crore  Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HySIS) is a full-fledged bills comprising electricity, telecom, DTH, water and gas are earth observation satellite, to be developed by ISRO. permitted under BBPS.  It will enable distinct identification of objects on earth by  The total number of Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units reading the spectrum for each pixel of a scene from a space. (BBPOU) certified by NPCI now stands at 24. The certified  It can be used for a range of activities including monitoring units include three public sector banks (Bank of Baroda, of environment finding oil and minerals apart from military Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank), 10 private surveillance. banks, five cooperative banks and six non-bank biller  The satellite has the Hyperspectral imager which can identify aggregators. 55 spectral or colour bands from 630 km above ground.

Supervisory Colleges for six Scheduled Space Station to get 1st supercomputer Commercial Banks  The International Space Station is expected to get its first  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has informed that Supervisory supercomputer next week. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Colleges have been setup for the following six Scheduled will launch a supercomputer into space on the SpaceX Commercial Banks which have sizeable international Dragon spacecraft, as part of a joint experiment with the US presence:- space agency NASA,  State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd., Bank of India, Bank of  The system, called the Space borne Computer, is designed to Baroda, Axis Bank Ltd. and Punjab National Bank. last for a year, which the company said is roughly the  The objectives of the colleges are to enhance information amount of time it will take to travel to Mars. exchange and cooperation among supervisors, to improve understanding of the risk profile of the banking group and First plant-based vaccine against Zika virus thereby facilitate more effective supervision of  Scientists have developed the world’s first plant-based Zika internationally active banks. vaccine that may be more effective, safer and cheaper than other vaccines against the mosquito-borne virus. 'Met Loan & Life Suraksha'  The vaccine developed by researchers from Arizona State  Karnataka Bank, one of the leading private sector lender, has University (ASU) in the U.S. works against a part of a Zika announced the launch of Met Loan & Life Suraksha” viral protein, called DIII, that plays a key role for the virus to (MLLS) for its customers. infect people.  It is a single premium plan covering the loan liability of a  The worldwide Zika threat first emerged in 2015, infecting customer. millions as it swept across the Americas. It struck great fear in pregnant women, as babies born with severe brain birth defects.

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IBS Quest Indian Coast Guard ship ‘Shaurya’ in mixed team trap event.  Indian Coast Guard ship “Shaurya”, the fifth in the series of  Shooter Maheshwari Chauhan bagged a bronze medal in this six 105-metre patrol vessels (OPVs) commissioned championship. in Goa by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas  Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Rashmmi Rathore has won gold Dharmendra Pradhan. medal in mixed team event.  This has been designed and built indigenously by Goa  Indian shooter Ankur Mittal clinched the individual as well as Shipyard Ltd. the team gold medal in men's double trap.  Venue: Astana, Kazakhstan. e-RaKAM portal  The government launched a 2017 World Championships in Athletics portal, e-Rashtriya Kisan Agri  Venue: London. Mandi(e-RaKAM), to provide a  100m Men Gold medal: Justin Gatlin platform to sell agricultural  100m Men Silver Medal: Christian Coleman produce.  100m Men Bronze medal: Usain Bolt  The portal is a joint initiative by state-run-auctioneer MSTC  100 meter Men women gold: Tori Bowie. and Central Warehousing Corporation arm CRWC.  Highest medal: United States(30 medals)

'Humraaz' app  The Indian Army has developed a mobile application FIFA rankings 'Humraaz' through which serving soldiers can track details  1st rank: Brazil like postings and promotions.  2nd rank: Germany  Through the 'Humraaz' app, soldiers can also view their  97th rank: India monthly salary slips and the Form 16 and also download  India dropped a place in the them. latest FIFA rankings released to stand at number 97.

Country's first unmanned tank Under-19 cricket Asia Cup  Defence Research and Development  The Under-19 cricket Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in Organisation (DRDO) has developed Bengaluru, has been moved to Malaysia following the an unmanned, remotely operated tank Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s objection to the tournament named as Muntra. being held in India.  This has three variants - surveillance,  The tournament will now be held in November in Malaysia. mine detection and reconnaissance in areas with nuclear Hungarian Grand Prix and bio threats.  Sebastian Vettel won Hungarian Grand Prix and his team  Muntra-S is the country's first tracked unmanned ground mate Kimi Raikkonen came second while Mercedes' Lewis vehicle developed for unmanned surveillance missions while Hamilton came third. Muntra-M is for detecting mines and Muntra-N is for  This is his fourth win of the season and 46th of his Formula operation in areas where there is a nuclear radiation or bio One career. weapon risk.

7th Asian Shotgun Championship ICC Test Rankings  Indian shooter Kynan Chenai  According to the latest ICC Test Rankings Ravindra Jadeja has won a bronze in men's trap maintained his top position in the bowlers’ list while Indian event. skipper Virat Kohli remained stayed at fifth place in the batting charts.  Kynan Chenai and Shreyasi Singh of India have won bronze

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IBS Quest  The batting list is being topped by Australia captain Steve World Para Athletics Championship Smith followed by England’s Joe Root and New Zealand’s  Venue: London Kane Williamson.  India has won five medal in this championship  In the bowlers’ chart, Ravichandran Ashwin replaced Sri  Sundar Singh Gurjar won the gold medal in the men's javelin Lanka captain Rangana Herath to claim the second spot back. throw Herath is third in the rankings.  Amit Kumar Saroha has won silver medal in the men's club  In the all-rounders’ list Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan is still throw maintained at the top, Jadeja and Ashwin also maintained  Karamjyoti Dalal has won bronze medal in the women's second and third ranks respectively. discus throw  Sharad Kumar and Varun Singh Bhati has won silver and 2024 Summer Olympic Games bronze medal respectively in high jump  Paris will host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. US Open Grand Prix badminton title  Los Angeles will host the 2028  Winner: HS Prannoy Summer Olympics after reaching a  Runner up: Parupalli Kashyap. deal with Olympic organisers. Men's World Boxing Championship 2021  The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has announced World Doubles Squash Championship that India will host their first Men’s World Championship in 2021.  Indian doubles pair of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal  The announcement was made after a two-day executive Karthik has won Bronze medal in world doubles squash committee meeting that was held in Moscow. championship.  The AIBA Men’s World Championships 2019 will be held in  Venue: England Russia city of Sochi. The 2018 Women’s World

Championships will also be held in New Delhi. The 2019 WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title Women’s World Championships will be held in Trabzon,  Vijender Singh has defeated his Chinese opponent Zulpikar Turkey. Maimaitiali in a close bout to retain the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title in Mumbai. Victorian Open squash title  It was the ninth successive win in his  India's Harinder Pal Sandhu has professional career. defeated Rex Hedrick of . Australia to win Victorian Open Murugappa Gold Cup squash, a PSA Tour event, in Melbourne.  Winner: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation  The 28-year-old Indian carried the momentum into the fourth (ONGC) game and stayed ahead to win it 11-7. It was his fourth title of  Runner up: Bengaluru Hockey Association (BHA) the year.  Venue: Mayor Radhakrishnan stadium, Egmore Chennai.  The ONGC team received Rs 5, 00,000 prize money while Ramon Magsaysay award BHA got Rs 2.5 lakh.  The six winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards, regarded as Asia’s Women World Cup 2017 version of the Nobel Prize  Winner: England  Yoshiaki Ishizawa (Japan):- Efforts to  Runner up: India restore Cambodia’s cultural monuments  This is the fourth World Cup title for England Women. such as Angkor Wat  Player of the Tournament: Tammy Beaumont.  Gethsie Shanmugam (Sri Lanka):- worked on rebuilding  Player of the Match: Anya Shrubsole. war-scarred lives, especially women and children

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IBS Quest  Abdon Nababan (Indonesia):- Advocacy on behalf of the  Mahanayak Samman is bestowed upon the best talents of the Adapt or indigenous communities of his country; Bengal’s film industry by the West Bengal State  Tony Tay (Singapore):- A volunteer movement he founded Government. to address hidden hunger.  The awards were instituted in memory of Uttam Kumar, who  Ms. Lilia de Lima (Philippines):- Decades-long work with is widely regarded as the greatest actor of Bengali cinema, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. and also among the greatest actor sever in India.  Philippine Educational Theatre Association (Philippines):- “Its bold, collective contributions in shaping New chairman of BSE the theater arts as a force for social change, its impassioned,  BSE Ltd announced that market unwavering work in empowering communities in the regulator Securities and Exchange Philippines,18th IIFFA Awards 2017 Board of India (SEBI) has approved the appointment of Dhirendra Swarup as Asia Society Game Changers Award the chairman of the board of directors  Dev Patel will be felicitated with the Asia Society 2017 Asia of the company. Game Changers Award at a ceremony to be held at the  Swarup was public interest director of United Nations, New York. BSE, was also chairman of the Cash  The Asia Game Changer lifetime achievement award will be and Debt Management Committee of the Reserve Bank of given to Aga Khan, Founder of the Aga Khan Development India (RBI) from 2000 to 2003. Network for using philanthropy to lift millions of Asia’s most vulnerable. New secretary general of FICCI  Sanjaya Baru has been named new secretary general of the Awards on 71st Independence Day Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry  On the eve of 71st Independence Day, President Ram Nath (FICCI). Kovind honoured the bravehearts of India.  He will replace A. Didar Singh.  Kovind, who is also a Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, had approved 112 gallantry awards to Armed Forces New President of Iran Personnel and members of Paramilitary Forces which  Iran's President Hassan Rouhani was includes five Kirti Chakras, 17 Shaurya Chakras, 85 Sena officially sworn in for a second term. Medals, three Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry) and two Vayu  Rouhani won the re-election in May Sena Medals (Gallantry). 2017, after securing 57% of the votes.  Five bravehearts who have awarded Kirti Chakra include He defeated his main contender Major Preetam Singh Kunwar of the Garhwal Rifles; Ebrahim Raeisi. Havildar Giris Gurung (Posthumous) from the First Gorkha Rifles; Major David Manlun (Posthumous), of the Naga New CMD of SIDBI Regiment; Pramod Kumar (Posthumous), Commandant, 49  Mohammad Mustafa appointed as Chairman and Managing Batallion, Central Reserve Police Force and Chetan Kumar Director in Small Industries Development Bank of India Cheeta, Commandant, CRPF. (SIDBI).  Kirti Chakra is the second highest gallantry award given to  Mustafa, a 1995 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is at armed forces officials in peace time. present Joint Secretary in Department of Financial Services.

‘Mahanayak Samman 2017’ New CEO of Payback  Winner: Veteran actress Shakuntala Barua for her  Payback India has appointed Gautam Kaushik as the new contribution to the world of cinema. Chief Executive Officer.  Prosenjit Chatterjee and Nusrat Jahan took home the Best  Gautam Kaushik will spearhead the India operations and lead Actor and Best Actress awards all the critical business areas including Strategic Business

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IBS Quest Planning and Development, Partner Management & New UNICEF’s Global Goodwill Ambassador Acquisitions and Customer Engagement.  UNICEF has appointed Indian-origin Canadia n YouTube star Lilly Singh as its newest Global Goodwill Ambassador at a New brand ambassador for Swachh Bharat special event. Mission in UP  Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced New Chief Justice of Nepal Supreme Court the appointment of Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar as the  The name of acting Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli was brand ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Mission in the state. unanimously endorsed by the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee (PHSC) for the post of Nepal's Supreme Court New Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Chief Justice.  Economist Dr. Rajiv Kumar has been New CM of Nagaland by Governor appointed as the new vice-chairman of  TR Zeliang has been appointed new Chief Minister of the government think tank NITI Aayog. Nagaland by Governor PB Acharya.  He has replaced Arvind Panagariya New Joint Secretary in PMO New Executive Director of World Bank  Senior diplomat Gopal Baglay was appointed as joint  S. Aparna, an IAS officer from Gujarat cadre has been secretary in the Prime Minister's Office. appointed as Executive Director, World Bank to represent the  He was appointed in place of Vinay Mohan Kwatra. constituency of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka for three years. New secretary to President  The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed New MD and CEO of Axis Bank 1978-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, Sanjay Kothari, as  The board of directors of Axis Bank approved the re- the secretary to President-elect Ram Nath Kovind. appointment of Shikha Sharma as Managing Director and  Senior journalist Ashok Malik has been named as press CEO of the bank, for a period of three years with effect from secretary to President. June 1, 2018 to June 2021. New Chief Operating Officer New MD & CEO of Oriental Bank of commerce  The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has  Mukesh Kumar Jain was appointed Hemang Amin as the Chief Operating Officer appointed as the managing (COO) of the Indian Premier League (IPL). director and chief executive  Earlier Amin was the general manager -- finance, commercial officer of Oriental Bank of and events at BCCI. Commerce.  He has worked at BCCI for the last seven years, according to  He is at present the executive a BCCI release. director in Punjab and Sind Bank.

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IBS Quest

LATEST GK TABLETS Name the veteran actor and playwright to receive Tata Literature Lifetime Achievement Award 1 Girish Karnad 2017. 2 Which state Government Announces Lifetime Pensions for 'Hindi Satyagrahis'? Haryana What country has topped the list of new tuberculosis cases in 2016, according to WHO’s Global 3 India TB Report 2017? 4 Who to inaugurate Chhattisgarh foundation day celebrations? Shri Venkaiah Naidu Heena Sidhu clinched gold in which air pistol event at Commonwealth Shooting Championships 5 10m air pistol in Brisbane? 6 Who is Appointed as Consul General of Korea? Suresh Chukkapalli Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck who is in visit to India is the king of which of the given 7 Bhutan countries? 8 Who is Appointed Private Secretary to President? Vikram Singh 9 ‘Blue Flag-17’ is a multilateral military exercise held between India and which country? Israel 10 Which union Minister launches Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana in Mumbai? Ramdas Athawale What is the rank of India in accordance with the World Bank’s 2017 ‘Ease of Doing Business 11 100 Report’? 12 Which state ERO-Net launched recently? Rajasthan Who has been appointed as the Karnataka’s first woman Director General and Inspector General 13 Neelmani N. Raju of Police (DG-IGP)? 14 Who is Named as India’s Next High Commissioner to Pakistan? Ajay Bisaria Name the celebrity who has been named top earning dead celebrities by Forbes for the fifth 15 Michael Jackson straight year. 16 Who is selected for Ezhuthachan Puraskaram award recently? K Satchidanandan Diya Chitale won the silver medal in the girls’ doubles category of the 2017 ITTF World Cadet 17 Fiji Challenge which was held in which country? How many crores did the Central Government allocated to promote tourism projects in 18 109 crores Puducherry? 19 Which State Government Adds 18m to Shivaji statue, to be World’s Tallest at 210m? Maharashtra 20 Which city to host 9th global green film festival? Delhi 21 What is the maximum age of Joining National Pension Scheme (NPS)? 65 years 22 Who inaugurated Global Clubfoot Conference in New Delhi? Shri Ram Nath Govind 23 Who visits Gandhinagar to attend silver jubilee function of Akshardham temple? Shri Narendra Modi 24 Which place India and US Ocean Dialogue held recently? Goa 25 Which state Government to apply reservation formula in engaging outsourced employees? Bihar Who grabbed career-best ranking of World No. 2 in the latest BWF (Badminton World 26 Kidambi Srikanth Federation) ranking? Sikkim is set to get its first airport by the end of November. The airport is built at an estimated 27 Rs. 300 crore cost of 28 Aadhaar - Mobile SIM linking should be done by February 6, 2018 The term “Fake news” named which of the following dictionary's official Word of the Year for 29 Collins Dictionary 2017? 30 Who is appointed as new UK defence secretary? Gavin Williamson According to a Gender Vulnerability Index (GVI) report, which state named most unsafe for 31 Bihar women in India? 32 FASTag to be compulsory for all new Four wheelers from December 1 33 Who was named the most powerful woman in India as she ranked 32nd in World's 100 Most Chanda Kochhar

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IBS Quest Powerful Women list by Forbes? Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) has procured six eco-friendly, battery- 34 Rs.10 crore operated buses at a cost of Which of the following site has received the “Award of Merit” from the “2017 UNESCO Asia- 35 Royal Opera House Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation”? 36 Recently which city received its first batch of four battery operated eco friendly BEST buses? Mumbai 37 What is India’s first fully indigenously developed bomb called? SAAW 38 Which bank imposed Legal Entity Identifier mandatory for all large corporate borrowers ? Reserve Bank of India Pan India scholarship program – Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana- has been launched to promote 39 Postage Stamps philately. Philately is the study of what? Shri Ranganathan 40 Which temple won UNESCO award recently? Swamy temple 41 Which Airline wins “2018 Airline of the Year” award? Air New Zealand 42 In Which city 7th Asia Ministerial Energy Roundtable Held recently? Bangkok Since becoming president of the United States, Donald Trump will make his first official visit to 43 Japan which of the following country on November 5? 44 Who is the Next US Ambassador to India ? Kenneth Juster India has set a Guinness world record of cooking how much kg khichdi live at the World Food 45 918 kg India 2017 event. 46 Which place BRO Builds World's Highest Motorable Road located? Ladakh Recently, Home Ministry approved how many additional counters for Delhi's Indira Gandhi 47 55 International Airport by January 2018? 48 Saad al-Hariri, who recently resigned from the post served as a Prime Minister of which country? Lebanon What is the maximum annual scholarship amount under “Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana”, for 49 Rs 6,000 per annum students collecting stamps? Which of the following country unveiled Asia’s largest artificial island-building ship dubbed as 50 China “magic island maker”? Central Government launched the “Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana”, an annual scholarship for 51 Class 6 to Class 9 students collecting stamps. Only students of which Classes will be eligible for the scholarship? Reduce the Number of 52 What is the theme of World Tsunami Awareness Day 2017? Affected People 53 Who is awarded the Jnanpith Award for the year 2017? Krishna Sobti MC Mary Kom has been appointed as ambassador of the AIBA Women’s Youth World 54 Guwahati Championships 2017. The tournament will be held in which city ? For Aadhaar linked IRCTC accounts, Indian Railways has increased the monthly cap on tickets 55 12 booked from six to World’s busiest airport, Changi airport opens new terminal with cleaning robots, recently. This 56 Singapore airport is located in which country? Which state government has announced plans to convert 29,000 fair price shops across the state 57 Andhra Pradesh into mini-malls, offering subsidised grains? 58 Which of the following women’s hockey team won the Asia Cup hockey title 2017 held in Japan? India Recently, Which country has made disrespecting the national anthem a criminal offense 59 China punishable by up to three years in prison? Which of the following states will hold ‘Nobel Prize Series — India 2018 (Science Impacts Life)’ 60 Goa in February 2018? 61 Who is the present Chairman of DRDO? S Christopher 62 Which state Signs Pacts Worth Over Rs. 2,000 crores at World Food India ? Haryana 63 Which investigative news source has released the ‘Paradise Papers’ which reveals the offshore International

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IBS Quest activities of some of the world’s most powerful people and companies? Consortium of Investigative Journalists 64 Who participates in 75th anniversary celebrations of Thanthi newspaper in Chennai ? Shri Narendra Modi 65 Which country hosted the 2017 World Youth Forum (WYF)? Egypt How many medals did India won including 4 gold in Commonwealth Shooting Championships 66 16 recently ? 67 The 2017 Bali Jatra festival has started in which state? Odisha 68 Which State set to get 24x7 power supply to boost agriculture sector ? Telangana 69 China on November 6, 2017, launched two which of the following satellites? BeiDou-3 How many crores did Odisha being ‘focus state’ of World Food India-2017 set to get investments 70 250 crores from Amul company? Which among the given countries has recently handed over its instrument accession to the India- 71 Guinea initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA)? 72 With which country India joint military combat exercise “Sampriti” which begins in Meghalaya? Bangladesh Where did the Conference of Parties (COP) -23 under United Nations Framework Convention on 73 Bonn Climate Change (UNFCCC) begin? 74 Which bank pledges $100 billion of finance by 2025 to combat climate change ? HSBC Bank Railways have launched the main arch of the world’s highest bridge on the River Chenab in 75 359 Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district. The bridge is how much metres tall. Operation Digital 76 Which campaign soon to run in every school recently ? Blackboard 77 India has test-fired a homegrown subsonic cruise missile. What is it called? Nirbhay 78 Which country AI ‘boy’ first bot to gain a residency recently ? Tokyo 79 Which city bags best city bus services award for attracting 87 percent of private vehicle users? Surat How many Gold medals were won by Indian shooters at the just concluded Commonwealth 80 6 Shooting Championship in Brisbane, Australia? 81 Which river bridge the Indian Railways constructed main arch recently ? Chenab River Bridge 82 Vettoor Purushan who passed away recently was a Actor 83 Which city bags best city bus services award for attracting 87 percent of private vehicle users ? Surat 84 Which state aims to promote ‘plastic free’ motive through ‘Hornbill Festival’? Nagaland 85 Which bank makes RTGS, NEFT online transactions free recently? HDFC Bank 86 Which city the Union minister Smriti Irani flags off Digital Rath ? New Delhi Among the given cities which city got included in the UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network for 87 Chennai contribution in Music? 88 Who is the new Finance Secretary appointed by the Central govt ? Hasmukh Adhia 89 Which state is hosting the 20th International Children’s Film Festival India? Telangana Which short film bagged the 'Best Short Film Award' at the South Asian Film Festival of 90 The School Bag Montreal (SAFFM) ? 91 Which inks partnership with Microsoft for enhanced passenger experience? OLA 92 Which payment service introduces BHIM UPI for seamless money transfer recently ? Paytm 93 Which social media platform has increased its character limit from 140 to 280? Twitter 94 In which city Odd-Even Scheme to be Reintroduced ? New Delhi 95 Grahak Sadak Koyla Vitaran App has been launched by Coal India 96 Who has won the 2017 men’s singles National Badminton Championships? H S Prannoy 97 Which state becomes first in India to treat Hepatitis C patients with oral medicine? Haryana 98 Which country is re-elected Member of UNESCOs Executive Board? India 99 RBI asks banks to provide doorstep banking facilities to senior citizens of more than 70 years 100 Who joins forces with NASA to develop flying taxis? Uber

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IBS Quest 101 Recently, Federal Bank gets RBI nod to open offices in Kuwait and Singapore 102 Which is the First Ever Film festival observed in India? Nordic-Baltic Festival 103 India hosts AYUSH 2017 conference in Dubai, UAE 104 Who inaugurates three-day Organic World Congress 2017 in Greater Noida? Radha Mohan Singh 105 Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced World Bank-backed irrigation scheme of worth Rs.6,000 crore Which state assembly passes the Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Dacoits, 106 Telangana Drug Offenders, Goondas, Immoral traffic offenders and Landgrabbers (Amendment) Bill, 2017? 107 The new Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (ECC) will be developed at Delhi Which among the given languages has been declared as the second official language of Telangana 108 Urdu by the state government? How much crore has been approved by Union Cabinet for the development of an Exhibition-cum- 109 Rs.25,703 crore Convention Centre (ECC)? Which country recently announced that it is shortening the academic year at some universities 110 Russia which will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup? Dubai police officers set a Guinness World Record by pulling the world's largest passenger 111 100 metres airliner Airbus A380 for a distance of The new reduced tax rates for 178 items fixed at the 23rd GST council meeting, will be applicable 112 November 15, 2017 from At the second meeting of the Island Development Agency, New airport to come up on 113 Minicoy Island Lakshadweep’s Which University in India decided to give gold medal only to the students who are vegetarian and Savitribai Phule Pune 114 non drinkers? University 115 Home loan limit for Central Government employees raised to Rs.25 Lakh from Rs.7.5 lakh 116 What will be the focus country of the Kolkata International Film Festival 2017? Britain United Nations High Which agency has been named as the recipient of the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social 117 Commissioner for Justice, 2017? Refugees (UNHCR) During 23rd GST Council meeting - held on November 10, 2017 at Guwahati, Assam, the GST 118 5% Council slashed rates for both AC, Non-AC restaurants to India became the first country to partner with Facebook on disaster response. The programme will 119 Uttarakhand be piloted in two disaster-prone states - Assam and 120 JEE Main, NEET likely to be conducted twice a year from 2019 Dubai police officers set a Guinness World Record by pulling the world’s largest passenger 121 100 metres airliner Airbus A380 for a distance of 122 The 2017 ASEAN-India Summit is being hosted by which country? Philippines Sagar Kavach’ a joint security exercise will be organized by which two Indian neighbour states 123 Odisha & WestBengal along their 630 km long coastline? 124 Which of the following has decided to not to pursue Islamic banking. RBI As a part of the ongoing Indo-Bangladesh defense cooperation, an army training capsule on 125 counter-insurgency operations will be conducted in which city’s Cantonment from November 13, Patna 2017 to December 10, 2017? 126 Which among the following former Nepal Prime Minister passed away recently at the age of 90? Kirti Nidhi Bista 127 In which State, India’s first Military Literature Festival would be held at? Punjab 128 Who has won the 2017 IBSF World Billiards Championship? Pankaj Advani 129 In which city, the India’s first cartoon network theme park is to be set up? Surat 130 Mahendra Singh Dhoni has inaugurated his first global cricket academy in which city? Dubai In which city, The Russian film festival titled ‘Russian Film Days’ was inaugurated for cinema 131 NewDelhi lovers?

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IBS Quest As per a report published by NASA on November 12, 2017, 1.3 lakh people have booked ticket 132 Mars for which planet? 133 Who is appointed as AIFF Ombudsman by Supreme Court? Bhaskar Ganguly 134 Which country is the partner country at the 37th India International Trade Fair in New Delhi? Vietnam Creating New 135 What is the theme of Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit held in Vietnam? Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive 136 What is the theme of the Tenth South Asia Economic Summit begins in Nepal? and Sustainable Development in South Asia The Indian Youth Development Index and Report 2017 has been developed by an institute 137 Tamil Nadu situated in which state? 138 Which nation was failed to qualify for FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1958? Italy 139 Who is leading the Indian delegation in the 4th India-Canada Annual Ministerial Dialogue -2017? Suresh Prabhu In which year India will overtake Japan and Germany in nominal GDP to emerge world’s third- 140 2028 largest economy? Ultimate Fighting 141 Bharat Khandare will be the first Indian to sign up in the which championship? Championship 142 India’s 1st Tribal Entrepreneurship Summit was organised in which state? Chhattisgarh 143 Who resigns as Jury Head of 48th International Film Festival of India? Sujoy Ghosh 144 In which city United Nations hosts first talks on use of killer robots? Geneva 145 India is the largest emitter of which poisonous gas in 2017? Sulphur dioxide 146 Who is the first Indian to qualify for LPGA Tour Championships? Aditi Ashok Which state has topped in opening new Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts after 147 Uttar Pradesh demonetisation? 148 India's first tribal entrepreneurship summit was organised where in Chattisgarh on 14thNov, 2017? Dantewada Building Trust in the 149 What is the theme of the first ever APCERT conference held in New Delhi? Digital Economy 150 Which state is hosting the first edition of its Hot Air Balloon Festival? Andhra Pradesh Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy launched which portal for the power 151 Indian Power Portal sector? 152 In which country the foundation of International Solar Alliance held recently? Germany Which State Government gave approval for setting up a ‘State Ayush Society’ with an aim to 153 Bihar promote the usage of alternative medicine in the state? Which keystone document has been promulgated for the first time in the history of armed forces Joint Training Doctrine 154 in Nov 2017? Indian Armed Forces Rashtriya Bal Kalyan 155 Which award is conferred to Anand Kumar recently by President RamNath Kovind? Award 156 In which country, the 31tst ASEAN Summit and Related Summits were held at? Philippines 157 The 2017 International Day of Rural Women is observed on which date? October 15 158 Recently, Facebook launched food delivery service in United States Which of the following state has become first in the country to call attention and adjournment 159 Rajasthan motions and proposals online from legislators to send them to the state government? 160 Who became first female referee to officiate a match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in India? Esther Staubli Who has becom the first woman to lead a federation covering sporting activities for men and Rima bint Bandar bin 161 women? Sultan

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IBS Quest “India International Science Festival (IISF) 2017” made new Guinness World Record for the 162 Chennai World's Largest Biology Lesson. This Science festival is held at 163 Who has been nominated for the first Centenary National Award for Literature? Namita Gokhale 164 Which country became the First Nation to accept bitcoin as Payment for its Citizenship Program? Vanuatu Audrey Azoulay elected as the new Director General of UNESCO. She is the Former Culture 165 France Minister of which of the following country? 166 Who among the following won Shanghai Masters 2017? Roger Federer Meritorious Muslim girls who go on to complete graduation before marriage will get a special gift 167 51,000 of how much Rupees from the Narendra Modi government. 168 Which vocalist has won Indira Gandhi National Integration Award 2017? T. M. Krishna 169 The Coalition Years has been written by ? Pranab Mukherjee 170 Which bank Commits Rs 156 crores for Namami Gange Project ? Yes Bank Change the future of migration. Invest in food 171 What is the theme of the 2017 World Food Day (WFD)? security and rural development 172 When the 2nd Ayurveda Day is celebrated recently ? 17th october A book titled “Dreamnation: Uniting a Country with Handwritten Dreams” containing inspiring Bryan Magee and 173 words of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has been co-authored by whom? Martin Madan 174 Which company launches ‘Prerna’ project for women farmers ? Mahindra and mahindra 175 Shamsher Khan has passed away recently. Who was he ? Swimmer 176 Which bank signs deal with Intellect Design for Digital Transaction Banking Platform ? Bangkok Bank Abu Dhabi Investment 177 With Which country the First Investment Agreement signed recently ? Authority 12-year-old girl, Poorvi G.B. has been awarded the ‘best performer’ subtitle at the ‘Little Miss 178 Greece World 2017’ pageant. The paegent was held in which country? 179 Which company Launches Blockchain Banking Network To Speed Cross-border Payments ? IBM Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commissioned which Anti-Submarine Warfare 180 Kiltan (ASW) stealth corvettes into the Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam’s Naval Dockyard? Which of the following wrestler has become the first Indian woman wrestler to sign a WWE 181 Kavita Devi developmental contract? 182 Which country peacekeepers in South Sudan awarded UN medal ? India 183 Which state police launches foot patrolling in all districts? Punjab 184 With Which MCX launches first commodity options trading ? Gold 185 Which Indian-American personality has won the 2017 American Bazaar Philanthropy award? Ajay Raju 186 Which country elected among 15 nations to UN Human Rights Council ? Pakistan 187 Who among the following is the Indian-origin teenager to become UK’s youngest millionaire? Akshay Ruparelia Ministry of Ministry of 188 Which ministry launches campaign on 'women for women' ? Women and Child Development 189 Beyond The Dreamgirl has been written by ? Mukherjee Ram Kamal 190 Punyaslok Dasgupta who passed away recently was ? Poet 191 Which team won the 37th All India Governor’s Gold Cup football tournament? Mohun Bagan 192 Who won 2017 Man Booker Prize ? Lincoln in the Bardo”. The WCD Ministry has launched an online campaign to end gender bias in women against 193 #IamThatWoman women. What is main hashtag for the campaign? Swachh Bharat Inter- 194 Which award did the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas referred to ? Ministerial Award

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IBS Quest Name the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and General Counsel of Snapdeal who resigned in 195 Anup Vikal October 2017. 196 Which government releases Rs 4000 crore in phase 1 of Loan Waiver Scheme? Maharashtra 197 India has signed a MoC with which country on Techinal Intern Training Programme? Japan 198 Which dept Launches ‘Online Chat’ to answer Taxpayers Queries ? Dept of Income Tax 199 Which country peacekeepers in South Sudan awarded UN medal? India Rajiv Gandhi 200 Which airport is named as No 1 according to ACI ? International Airport (RGIA) 201 Which state Chief Minister Launches ‘Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana’? Madhya Pradesh Ministry of Petroleum & 202 Which ministry conferred with Swachh Bharat Inter-Ministerial Award ? Natural Gas 203 Which company is viewed as Most Authentic Brand in India: Survey? Google 204 Which country bans Fruit, Vegetable imports as Forex Crunch Deepens? Zimbabwe 205 Which state government reduces interest on loan under Saksham Yojna? Chhattisgarh 206 Which girl wins 2017 Young Scientist Challenge for water contamination detection device ? Gitanjali Rao In October 2017, Income Tax Department launched which of the following for taxpayers so that 207 Online chat service they can seek answers to their basic queries and doubts relating to direct tax issues? 208 With Which country did India, Brazil sign Trade Agreement recently ? South Africa 209 Which country is going to host 2017 Technology Summit in November 2017? India 210 Which country is to provide EMALS technology to India for aircraft carriers? USA 211 Kamle has been named the 23rd district of which of the following states? Arunachal Pradesh According to United Nations report, “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2017″, India is 212 24% accountable for how much percent newborn deaths overall? 213 Who has been chosen as the next Prime Minister of New Zealand? Jacinda Ardern 214 Which state Government rolls out new Tourism policy ? Assam 215 Who is appointed as World Business Council for Sustainable Development Chairman from 2018 ? Sunny Verghese 216 With India Which Country to participate in first-ever tri-services military exercise ? Russia 217 With India which country to participate in first-ever tri-services military exercise? Russia In which year Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed use of fertilizer & new techniques will 218 2022 help in doubling farmers' income ? According to ACI-ASQ Survey, which airport got first rank in the category of 2-5 million 219 Jaipur passengers? Goods and Services Tax 220 Who launched excel-based offline tool to file initial GSTR-3B Returns ? Network (GSTN) 221 Who is appointed as World Business Council for Sustainable Development Chairman from 2018? Sunny Verghese 222 Which country parliament approves country’s first budget since 2005 ? Lebanon 223 Which state Government rolls out new Tourism policy? Assam National Research 224 Who signs agreement with Andhra Pradesh Government recently ? Centre for Banana (NRCB) 225 Who had won 2017 Young Scientist Challenge for water contamination detection device? Gitanjali Rao 226 Which city the Union Government to organise Global Ayurveda meet ? Kochi 227 Which country displaced India from top position of the ICC ODI championship? South Africa 228 Which state govt has approved hike in income limit of OBCs? Punjab Pradhan Mantri 229 Which scheme is launched for Skilling in Smart Cities in India recently ? Kaushal Kendra 230 The Southeast Asian Defence Ministers’ Meet was organized in which of the given countries in Philippines

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IBS Quest October 2017? 231 Who is Appointed as CBI Special Director ? Rakesh Asthana 232 Who lifts Denmark Open Superseries Trophy 2017? Kidambi Srikanth 233 Which bank appoints Jayant Rikhye as CEO India ? HSBC Bank 234 Which country Signs Gas Oil Deal with India? Bangladesh 235 Name the winner of the 2017 US Grand Prix? Lewis Hamilton National Lata 236 Which award got by the Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan recently? Mangeshkar Award 237 Which country Beat Malaysia To Lift Their 3rd Continental Title in Asia Cup Hockey 2017 ? India 238 Which city the 3-day grand finale of Paryatan Parv to began ? New Delhi 239 Which company signs deal to set up manufacturing factory in China ? Tesla 240 Which country did India resolve to fight common challenge of terrorism together ? Bangladesh 241 Who has been appointed as the new CEO of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI)? NS Venkatesh 242 Which bank Launches m-wallet with MobiKwik ? IndusInd Bank 243 Which day is observed on 24th October across the world? United Nations Day 244 Who is appointed as the ex-IB chief recently ? Dineshwar Sharma 245 The 2017 World Development Information Day (WDID) is observed on which date? October 24 Who appointed as member of the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Manipur Shri Ngangom Sarat 246 and Mizoram ? Singh 247 Who is Named Best FIFA Men’s Player? Cristiano Ronaldo 248 Which bank launches ‘2nd SBI Digital Hackathon’ Digitize For Bank? State Bank of India 249 Which country did Second World Congress on Marxism to be held ? Beijing 250 Who appoints Suresh Sethi as its MD & CEO ? IPPB 251 Which country Signs Gas Oil Deal with India ? Bangladesh Which country tops Asia-Pacific list of nations elected to United Nations Human Rights Council 252 Nepal (UNHRC)? 253 How many millions did India and Asian Development Bank Signed recently ? 300 millions 254 How many lakh crores Approved to Develop 83,000 km Highways recently ? 7lakh crores Ministry of Power & 255 Which ministry join hands for SAATHI initiative ? Textiles 256 The 30th edition of CORPAT (Coordinated Patrol) was held between the navies of India and ? Indonesia 257 Which bank did receive Reserve Bank of India Slaps Rs2-crores Penalty recently ? IDFC Bank Eminent Indian classical singer, also considered as ‘Queen of Thumri’, Girija Devi passed away at 258 Padma Vibhushan the age of 88. Which among the following is the highest civilian honour received by Devi? 259 Which medal did Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu in ISSF World Cup ? Gold 260 Who was joined NBA India as Head of Basketball Operations? Scott Flemming 261 Which country signs Paris climate agreement ? Nicaragua According to the Passport Index, which country has been ranked as the top country to offer 262 Singapore world’s most powerful passport? Which state Government announces additional benefits for karma-yogis working on fix pay on 11 263 Gujarat months contract ? A.PSBs' Capitalisation 264 For Which Union Cabinet Approves Rs 2.11 lakh crores recently ? Plan 265 Who overtakes Lionel Messi in Forbes List by $1 Million recently ? Virat Kohli 266 Which state Chhat Pooja celebrations begin recently ? Bihar Who presented Letters of Intent to Seven Shortlisted Companies Under ‘Adopt A Heritage 267 Shri Arun Jaitley Scheme’ At Closing Ceremony of Paryatan Parv ?

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IBS Quest 268 Which state will be the ‘Focus State’ at World Food India-2017 ? Odisha Prime Minister 269 Who inaugurated Global Conference on Consumer Protection recently ? Narendra Modi 270 According to recent survey which country passport is Named 'Most Powerful' in World ? Singapore 271 Which state CM Launches Rajiv Mehrishi's 'India 2017 Yearbook' ? Rajasthan 272 How many crores Aerospace Park was laid foundation by Tamil Nadu Government recently ? 198 crores L&T Technology 273 Which company Conferred with CII Industrial Innovation Award recently ? Limited 274 USCIS has tightened norms for which visas? H-IB 275 Which award did the Indian-Origin Couple got recently ? US Award 276 Which of the following are oil and gas sector schemes? Both A and C 277 Who launches first set of solar plants with capacity of 5 MW ? Shri Piyush Goyal 278 Which country is named as best country to visit in 2018 ? Chile 279 Who is the Second Indian-Origin Player to be Signed by NBA G-League Side ? Gokul Natesan World Day for 280 Which day is observed on October 27th Across the world ? Audiovisual Heritage 281 Which place Becomes an Associate Member of BCCI ? Pondicherry 282 Which country is 3rd Highest Number of Family-Owned Businesses ? India To Promote Which department GMR Hyderabad Airport, Malaysia Tourism, MAHB Sign Pact 283 Tourism recently ? World Day for 284 Which day is observed on October 27th across the world? Audiovisual Heritage 285 Which country Introduces Minimum Wage for First Time? Qatar 286 Which country is named as best country to visit in 2018? Chile 287 Who approves new mission-based deployment plan recently ? Indian Navy 288 Indian Railways’ first set of solar plants was launched in which city? New Delhi 289 Which country Overtakes US to Become Second Largest Smartphone Market: Report? India 290 With Which country India to implement HOSTAC to strengthen maritime security ? USA Which country joined with Asian Development Bank Signed $65.5 Million Loan to Support 291 India Coastal Protection ? Reliance Industries 292 Which is the First Indian Company to Cross Rs 6 Trillion Market Capital ? Limited 293 Who Bags AICTE Award for Supporting Start-Ups ? EDII 294 Who Inaugurates International Conference on Consumer Protection ? Shri Narendra Modi The 14th South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation in Law (SAARCLAW) conference 295 Sri Lanka has been inaugurated in which country? 296 Who Officially Sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand ? Jacinda Ardern 297 Which state cabinet approves transgender policy ? Karnataka 298 Which country becomes first country to leave International Criminal Court recently ? Burundi 299 Which two towns of Uttar Pradesh were recently declared as ‘sacred pilgrimage sites’? Vrindavan and Barsana 300 Which businessman Replaces Gates as World's Richest Person with $90.6-bn Fortune recently? Jeff Bros 301 Who is Appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Zambia? N.J.Gangte 302 How many crores did the union cabinet used for construction of six IIT campuses ? 7,000 crore C.Reliance Industries 303 Name the first Indian company to cross Rs 6 trillion market capitalization. Ltd (RIL) 304 Which award did Sangram ISSF World Cup Final recently ? Silver 305 Who won the bronze medal at the ISSF World Cup Final? Amanpreet Singh

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IBS Quest Ministry of External 306 Which ministry Launches AsktheSpokesperson for better understanding of foreign policy ? Affairs SAP has announced the launch of Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) region’s first SAP Leonardo Center in 307 Bengaluru ______. 308 Which place 14th South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation in Law Conference begins? Colombo 309 Which team won Third Pro Kabaddi Successive Title ? Patna Pirates 310 Which country beat Spain 5-2 to Win First-ever U-17 Title ? England 311 Whose nomination among the following has been confirmed as US envoy to India? Ken Juster 312 Which state declares Vrindavan, Barsana as sacred sites ? Uttar Pradesh 313 From which year Saudi Arabia to Allow Women into Sports Stadiums ? 2018 314 Who assumes charge as the Vice Chief of Naval Staff recently ? Ajit Kumar 315 Which country Sends 1st Wheat Shipment to Afghanistan via Chabahar port ? India Parmod Mahajan Smriti 316 Which award was received by Anupam Kher recently ? Award 317 Who is appointed as brand ambassador of Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation ? Suresh Raina 318 When is the World Cities Day celebrated every year? 31 October 319 For Which state India and World Bank Signed $200 Million Loan Agreement recently? Assam 320 When is Rashtriya Ekta Diwas observed? 31 October 321 Who is the woman cricketer who Tops ICC Ranking ? Mithali Raj 322 Which country sends 1st Wheat Shipment to Afghanistan via Chabahar port? India 323 Which team won Bronze Medal in Johor Cup Hockey ? Indian team Union Minister for state for social justice and empowerment, Ramdas Athawale launched the 324 Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana during the fourth workshop of “Pradhan Mantri Bharity Mumbai Janaushadh Pariyojana” in which among the following cities? 325 Which is India’s first indigenously built Scorpene submarine delivered to the Indian Navy INS Kalvari 326 Which has become the world’s airline to launch double beds in business class Qatar Airlines 327 Who has been appointed as the new CMD of cotton corporation of India (CCI) P Alli Rani 328 Which union minister has launched a nation-wide ‘Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat Dharmendra Pradhan 329 The 2017 Bathukamma festival has started in which state Telangana 330 Who has become the first Indian to be picked as AIBA representative at IOC athletes forum Mary Kom The joint military training exercise “panda-Kangaroo 2017” was held between Australia and 331 China which country The asian development bank (ADB) has sanctioned how much amount of loan facility to carry 332 $300 million forward fiscal reforms in West Bengal 333 Who has been appointed as new Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria Which country to conduct the first BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise -2017 (BIMSTEC 334 India DMEx-2017) Which bollywood personality has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Uttarakhand 335 Akshay Kumar Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Who has been appointed as the new interim chairman of National Payments Corporation of India 336 B Sambamurthy (NPCI) Together for Peace: 337 What is the theme of 2017 International Day of Peace Respect, Safety and Dignity for All 338 Which city is hosting the 6th edition of International Textile and Apparel Fair “VASTRA-2017” Jaipur Which Indian film has been chosen as India’s official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film 339 Newton category at Oscars 2018 340 Dabur India has tied up with which e-commerce major for an online ayurveda marketplace Amazon

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IBS Quest Which campaign will be launched by Central Government to promote development and Gram Samridhi Evam 341 cleanliness in rural areas Swachhta The Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise ‘Pralay Sahayam’ was held in 342 Telangana which state 343 Who is the newly appointed Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Rajiv Mahrishi Which union minister has launched Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana ‘Saubhagya’ to supply electricity 344 Narendra Modi to poor households Bajrang has won gold at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. He is associated with which 345 Wrestling sports 346 Which state is hosting the 57th National Open Athletics Championships 2017 Tamil Nadu 347 Which state government has declared 2017 as e-Pragati year Andhra Pradesh 348 Which country hosted the 7th ASEM Economic Ministers’ Meeting (ASEM EMM7) South Korea The joint military exercise “DRUZBA 2017” has started between which of the following 349 Pakistan and Russia countries The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has downgraded India’s GDP growth forecast for FY18 350 7 from 7.4% to ____ 351 Who is the author of the book “The Shershah of Kargil: Captain Vikram Batra” Deepak Surana 352 Who is the head of the newly constituted Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Bibek Debroi Which web portal has been launched by the Union Government for effective implementation of 353 PENCIL National Child Labour Project Which union minister has launched an accessible and comprehensive mobile App “Divyang 354 Thawar Chand Gahlot Sarathi” for Divyangs 355 Which city will host the first-ever India Mobile Congress 2017 New Delhi The Union Cabinet has approved signing and ratification of Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) 356 Belarus between India and which country The Union Cabinet has approved signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India 357 Afghanistan with which country on Technical Cooperation on Police Training and Development 358 What is the rank of India in 2017 Global Competitiveness Index 40th 359 Which port has recently renamed as Deendayal Port Kandala Port in Gujarat 360 The World Tourism Day (WTD) is being observed every year on which day 27th September Dairy Processing and The Union government has set up special fund ‘DPIDF’ to boost dairy sector. What does 361 Infrastructure “DPIDF” stands for Development Fund 362 Who is the newly appointed CMD of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Shashi Shanker Which state government has launched ‘Vision-2025’ project to seek public opinion for their 363 Karnataka dream state 364 The Maharashtra government has signed pact with which country for infra projects South Korea The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is an autonomous body under which union Ministry of Women and 365 ministry Child Development 366 Which state has won the ‘Best Tourism State’ National award-2017 Madhya Pradesh Connecting Ships, Ports 367 What is the theme of 2017 World Maritime Day (WMD) and People What is the theme of the 13th Formation Day of the National Disaster Management Authority 368 School Safety (NDMA) Hugh M Hefner, the founder of the iconic Playboy magazine passed away. He hailed from which 369 United States country 370 Which committee recommendations to deal with hate speech on internet T.K Vishwanathan 371 India with which country sign letter of Intent to bilateral extend health cooperation Norway

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IBS Quest Which state will become first big state to use Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs) equipped with 372 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in coming Assembly elections to make election Gujarat process more transparen 373 Which day is observed as World Maritime Day every year 28th September 374 NITI Aayog will host Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2017) in which city Hyderabad 375 Which city to host the 14th India-EU Summit -2017 New Delhi Which service will be launched by BSNL in partnership with Vihaan Networks Limited (VNL) to 376 Relief123 provide disaster management in India 377 Which bank has launched ‘Project Nishchay’ to improve financial performance IDBI Bank 378 Who has become the first woman chief proctor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Royana Singh Which Indian entrepreneur has won the prestigious International Business Person of the Year 379 Birendra Sasmal award in London for innovative IT solutions 380 Who has been appointed as the new Governor of Bihar Satya Pal Malik 381 The United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Non-Violence is observed on which date October 2 382 The 2017 International Day of Older Persons is observed on which date October 1 383 Which union minister has launched nationwide Free Eye Check-up Campaign Nitin Gadkari Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael 384 Who has won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017 Rosbash and Michael W. Young Which state government has launched a state-wide campaign against child marriage and dowry on 385 Bihar the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary The 8th Conference of Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians to be held in which 386 Sri Lanka country President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed a Commission to examine the sub-categorisation of 387 G Rohini OBCs. Who will be chairperson of the commission 388 Which city is hosting the Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) conference-2017 New Delhi 389 Which committee has drafted the 3rd National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP) for 2017-2031 JC Kala Committee Housing Policies: 390 What is the theme of the 2017 United Nations (UN)’s World Habitat Day (WHD) Affordable Homes 391 What is the present Repo Rate according to Reserve Bank of India 6.0 392 Who has been named as the new Governor of Bihar Satya Pal Malik 393 Which sanctuary has been set up in Allahabad recently Turtle Sanctuary According to Ministry of Commerce & Industry, eight core sectors grew by how much percent in 394 4.9 August 2017 Jacques Dubochet, 395 Who have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson For the first time, India and which neighboring state will conduct joint tiger census using a 396 Nepal globally-recognised method 397 Which union minister has launched SECURE Himalaya project in association with UNDP Dr. Harshvardhan Who has become the first Indian to hold deputy director general post at World Health 398 Soumya Swaminathan Organisation (WHO) 399 Who has been appointed as the new chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI) Rajnish Kumar Rainer Weiss, Kip 400 Who have won the Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 Thorne and Barry Barish

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