16 July 2016

NabamTuki resigns as Arunachal Pradesh CM

·        Arunachal Chief Minister NabamTuki resigned, following which the scheduled floor test will reportedly not take place.

·        The newly elected Congress leader PemaKhandu has staked claim to form the government, but the date of the swearing-in has not yet been decided. Khandu has claimed to have the support of 45 Congress and two independent MLAs.

96% rural electrification completed in Odisha

·        The Odisha government said that electrification work has been completed in around 96% of villages in the state.

·        Energy Secretary of Odisha RK Verma said that out of 47,677 villages in the state as per the 2011 census, around 45,236 villages have got power connectivity by June 30

Over 14 lakh LPG connections released under PMUY

·        Over fourteen lakh LPG connections have been released to the women of BPL families under the PradhanMantriUjjwalaYojana (PMUY).

·        According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the scheme is currently under operation in 487 districts of 17 states.

·        The scheme, launched in May this year, aims at providing LPG connections to five crore below-poverty-line beneficiaries over the next three years.

·        The Ministry has suggested to the people to consult only the official website www.pmujjwalayojana.com for retrieving any information with regard to the UjjwalaYojana.

·        In case of any doubt or clarification about the scheme, the consumers of UjjwalaYojana can also use toll free number 1800-266-6696

US 1st to open high-band spectrum for 5G network

·        US regulators voted to open nearly 11 gigahertz of high-frequency spectrum to help carriers create 5G wireless applications and networks, making US the first country to do so.

·        5G networks are expected to be at least 10 times faster than 4G networks. South Korea and Japan plan to deploy 5G by 2018 and 2020 respectively.

Courage & Commitment authored by Margaret Alva

·        A book titled Courage & Commitment: An Autobiography by Margaret Alva.,Via this book, Alva narrates her forty-year career under four Prime Ministers, namely Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, PV NarasimhaRao and Manmohan Singh.

·        It also tells about her transition from politician to Governor.

·        In the book, the Alva narrates her trials and triumphs and controversies that rocked her career as a politician leading to expulsion from Congress Party in 1979.

·        She provides details of her spats with Sanjay Gandhi, her role in framing Rajiv Gandhi’s last campaign tour and her involvement with the Jain Hawala investigation when in charge of the CBI.

·        At the same time, she also offers rare insights into the lives of national and international political luminaries.

NalandaUniv declared UNESCO World Heritage Site

·        UNESCO declared the Nalanda University in Bihar a World Heritage Site.

·        The university houses the remains of a monastic institution dating from the 3rd century BC to the 13th century AD.

·        Considered the oldest university in the Indian subcontinent, it imparted knowledge for about 800 years. Sites in Iran, China and Micronesia were also added to the list.

15 July 2016

World Youth Skills Day 2016 observed globally on July 15

·        The World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) was observed globally with the theme Skills Development to Improve Youth Employment.

·        On the occasion, United Nations organised the event facilitated by the UN Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi.



·        The event was co-organized with the Permanent Missions of Portugal and Sri Lanka to the United Nations, UNESCO and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

President to inaugurate India Skills Competition

·        President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the first edition of India Skills Competition today, on the occasion of the World Youth Skills Day in New Delhi. Skill India will be celebrating its first anniversary on the occasion.

·        In order to select the best talent to represent India at IndiaSkills, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and National Skill Development Corporation India have completed more than 80 regional competitions in 24 skills and trades.

·        The winners will qualify for the final selection round for participating in World Skills 

India 'semi-transparent' in 2016 real estate index

• ·        India has figured in the 'Semi-Transparent' category of the JLL Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2016.
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• ·        India's tier-I cities were ranked 36th in the list of 109 countries, while the tier II and III cities were at 39th and 52nd positions, respectively.
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• ·        The report owed India's "modest" performance to regulatory reforms and simplified procedures for acquiring land, among others.

Rakesh Kumar Chaturvedi appointed as Chairman of CBSE

     Senior IAS officer Rakesh Kumar Chaturvedi has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). His appointment was made by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has been appointed for a period of five years. Rakesh Kumar Chaturvedi is a 1987 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre. As a bureaucrat he has wide-ranging rich experience in the commerce and revenue departments.

     RBI sets up Sudarshan Sen-headed Inter-regulatory Working 

Group on Fin Tech and Digital Banking

·        The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted an inter regulatory Working Group (WG) to study the entire gamut of regulatory issues relating to Fin Tech (financial technology) and Digital Banking in India.

·        It will view the growing significance of Fin Tech innovations and their interactions with the financial sector as well as the financial sector entities.

·        The 13-member working group will be headed by Sudarshan Sen, the executive director of RBI.

·        It has been asked to submit its report within six months from the date of its first meeting

Who Moved My Interest Rate? authored by Duvvuri Subbarao

·        A book titled Who Moved My Interest Rate? authored by Duvvuri Subbarao, the former Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will be released.

·        The book gives an account of the dilemmas Subbarao confronted while leading the Reserve Bank through the extraordinary economic and political challenges India and world faced from 2008 to 2013.

·        The book is a chronicle of Subbarao’s attempts to demystify the RBI and explain to the public its impact on their everyday lives.

·        Subbarao’s term as the Governor of the RBI from 2008 to 2013 saw a turbulent period for the world and for India. The global financial crisis erupted within a week of his assuming office.

    India jumps 11 places to 152nd in football rankings

·        Riding on their back-to-back wins over Laos last month, India made a big leap of 11 places to occupy 152nd spot in the latest world football rankings issued by FIFA.

·        Iran (39th) remain Asia's number one ranked team, followed by Korea Republic (48th), Uzbekistan (56th), Japan (57th) and Australia (59th).

·        Overall, Argentina remain on top, despite losing to Chile in the Copa America Centenario summit clash. Belgium,Colombia, Germany and Chile retained their places at second, third, fourth and fifth while UEFA Euro 2016 champions Portugal moved up two places to be at sixth.

·        New Zealand emerged as the month's biggest climbers, moving up a whopping 54 places to 93rd on the back of an OFC Nations Cup victory that saw the the All Whites qualify for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and furthered their FIFA World Cup qualifying ambitions.