THE HINDU REVIEW CURRENT AFFAIRS - JULY 13

1. RBI kept the indicative policy (repo) rate unchanged at 7. 25 per cent and the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 4 per cent in its first quarter review of monetary policy for 2013-14. RBI revised its growth projection for the current financial year from 5.7 per cent to 5.5 per cent. a. Bank Rate 10.25 % (Unchanged) b. Cash Reserve Ratio 4 % (Unchanged) c. Statutory Liquidity Ratio 23 % (Unchanged) d. Repo Rate 7.25 % (Unchanged) e. Reverse Repo Rate 6.25 % (Unchanged) f. Marginal Standing Rate - 10.25 % (Unchanged) President Som Mittal, whose tenure expires in January 2014. 11. Najeeb Jung, the vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University appointed Lt Governor of Delhi. He replaced Tejendra Khanna. 12. The Forbes declared that Angelina Jolie was the Hollywoods highest paid actress. She had the estimated earnings of 33 million US dollar. 13. Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who exposed the widest US global surveillance operations, was awarded German Whistleblower Prize 2013.

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Earlier Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and Bank rate by 2 per cent. Now MSF rate and Bank rate is 10.25 per cent. 3. Mamnoon Hussain of PML-N Party was elected as the 12th President of Pakistan against Wajihuddin Ahmed. He succeeded Asif Ali Zardari. 4. New president of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India is Suresh Chandra Mohanty. 5. Abdul Rahim Rather, the Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir appointed as the new Chairman Empowered Committee of States Finance Ministers on GST. He preceded Sushil Kumar Modi. 6. Bhim Sain Bassi was appointed as the next Police Commissioner of Delhi. He succeed Neeraj Kumar. 7. Lt Gen (Retd) AK Singh took over as the new Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 8. Former Delhi police Chief, KK Paul took over as the new Governor of Meghalaya. 9. Senior parliamentarian Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil was appointed as the new governor of Sikkim. 10. NASSCOM appointed R. Chandrasekhar as its president. He will be succeeding current Nasscom

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14. Salman Khan was charged with Culpabale Homicide by the High Court of Mumbai in the hit-and-run case. 15. Nisha Desai Biswal, an Indian-American woman was nominated for the Post of Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia by US President Barack Obama. 16. The new chief Justice of India is Justice Palanisamy Sathasivam. He succeeded CJI Altamas Kabir. 17. The Supreme Court of India suspended all proceedings related to fodder scam cases in the Jharkhand Court against Lalu Yadav. 18. Mohamed ElBaradei was named as Egypt's new Prime Minister to head a caretaker government. 19. Adli Mansour, the Chief Justice of Egypt's Constitutional Court sworn in as interim president of Egypt. Earlier, the first democratically elected President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi was deposed from his office in a military coup.

20. Vandana Gandhi became the first ever Indian woman to receive Dubai Government's coveted Emirates Woman Award for business excellence. 21. Suresh Kalmadi lost the Asian Athletics Association's President election to Qatar's Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad. 22. Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh approved the appointment of Sujata Singh as the Next Foreign Secretary of India. 23. The Chairman of Aditya Birla Nuvo, Kumar Mangalam Birla resigned from the Reserve Bank of Indias Central Board. The resignation is said to avoid the conflicts because Aditya Birla Nuvo applied for the bank license to RBI. 24. SN Hanumantha Rao, the former Indian Test umpire passed away.

25. Jagdish Raj, the Bollywood actor who held the Guinness World Record for being the most type-cast actor, died. 26. Arun Nehru, the cousin of Rajiv Gandhi as well as the Minister for Internal Security during his government, died. 27. Former Union Minister Khurshed Alam Khan died. He was the father of Union External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid. 28. Controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, who was a key figure in the Bofors payoffs scandal, died in Milan, Italy. 29. Amar Gopal Bose, the man behind Bose Corporation died. 30. The winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award and a veteran actor Pran died in Mumbai. 31. Douglas Engelbart, the U.S. inventor who was known as the father of the computer mouse died. 32. UNESCO announced that the committee in charge of international book industry named South Korean city of Incheon as the World Book Capital for the year 2015. 33. The Union Cabinet of India gave approval to rename the Bengaluru International Airport as Kempegowda International Airport. 34. The Union Cabinet of India approved the proposal for setting up of a National Aviation University (NAU) in the name of Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University at the District of Rae Bareli in the State of UP as a Central University for providing aviation training. 35. Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri has emerged as the frontrunner for the post of next Reserve Bank of India governor. The term of present Governor D Subbarao ends on September 5. 36. PSU banks aim to open more than 8,000 branches in the current financial year ending in March 2014, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said. Currently, more than 40 percent of the 1.2 billion population is not covered by the banking system. 37. With 26 public and private sector companies applying for bank licences, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that there was no ceiling on

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the number of entities which can be permitted to operate a bank. a. Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd b. Bajaj Finance Ltd c. Bandhan Financial Services d. Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd e. IDFC Ltd f. IFCI Ltd g. Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd h. India Post i. India Infoline Ltd j. INMACS Management Services Ltd k. Janalakshmi Financial Services l. JM Financial m. LIC Housing Finance Ltd n. L&T Finance Holdings Ltd o. Magma Fincorp Ltd p. Muthoot Finance q. Reliance Capital Ltd r. Religare Enterprises Ltd s. Shriram Capital t. Smart Global Ventures. u. SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd v. Suryamani Financing Co Ltd w. Tourism Finance Corp of India Ltd x. UAE Exchange India y. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd z. SKS Microfinance Ltd 38. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) penalised 22 banks by imposing fines for violating Know-YourCustomer (KYC) norms and anti-money laundering guidelines. The list includes banks such as SBI, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank all of whom were fined Rs.3 crore each. 39. In telecom the FDI limit has been increased from 74 per cent to 100 per cent. Government hiked the limit under the automatic route to 49 per cent and 49 to 100 per cent under the FIPB route. 40. The 26 per cent FDI cap on defence manufacturing would now be under the automatic route and beyond 26 per cent the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will take a decision on a case-to-case basis.

41. In insurance sector government hiked the 26 per cent FDI limit to 49 per cent under the automatic approval route. 42. In petroleum and natural gas refining, commodity exchanges, power exchanges, stock exchanges and depositories, the cap has gone up to 49 per cent under the automatic route. 43. For Asset Reconstruction Companies, the 49 per cent cap has been brought under the automatic route and from 49 per cent to 100 per cent under the FIPB route.

44. For credit information companies, the cap under automatic route has been hiked to 74 per cent. 45. In the case of single-brand retail trading, the 49 per cent limit has been brought under the automatic route and from 49 per cent to 100 per cent under the FIPB route. 46. For courier services, the cap has been hiked to 100 per cent under the automatic route.

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47. Poverty levels across India decreased by 15 per cent from 37 per cent in 2004-05 to 22 per cent in 201112 as per the latest National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) figures. 48. Chinese Troops on 17 June 2013 intruded into the Chumar Sector of Ladakh. This is the same area that sparked off tensions between the two sides in April 2013. 49. The Union government of India planned to launch Bharat Mobile Scheme under which one member of every rural household who has completed 100 days of work under MGNREGA can get free mobile device. The mobile may be provided per household preferably to a woman. It will also be customized for transfer of benefits of different government programmes like direct cash transfers scheme. 50. The Union Minister of State for Tourism K. Chiranjeevi launched the Clean India campaign at world heritage site Taj Mahal, Agra.

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51. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas approved a Free Trade LPG (FTL) Scheme for selling 5 kg LPG cylinders at Non-domestic (commercial prices) through Company Owned Retail Outlets (COCO) of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). A fivekg cylinder will cost between 362 rupees and 375 rupees. The scheme will be launched on a pilot basis in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore. 52. Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced that the government would provide free pre-natal health care (Before 45 days from delivery and infants will be given free treatment at the hospitals for one year) and ambulance facilities to pregnant women across the country under the Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY) scheme. 53. The Integrated Action Plan data for 2012-13 revealed that violence related to Left-Wing

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extremism decreased in 82 Naxal-affected Districts due to successful implementation of IAP projects. As per the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) survey released on approximately 40 percent of the Global population or 2.7 billion people are online in 2013. In India it is 13 percent. In the developing world, 31 per cent of the population is online in comparison to 77 per cent in the developed world. Indias Weather Satellite INSAT-3D was launched successfully by Ariane-5 (VA214) launch vehicle from Kourou, French Guiana. ISROs Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the control of INSAT-3D immediately. Lawmakers of US proposed a Bill in the US Congress for creation of the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites as National Historical Park on the Moon. The two smallest known moons orbiting Pluto were officially christened by the International Astronomical Union as Kerberos and Styx. India successfully launched its first dedicated navigation satellite, IRNSS-1A (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System) using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C22 from Satish Dhawan Space Research Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. IRNSS-1A is the first of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System which will be completed by 2015-16. IRNSS satellites are designed on the lines of Global Positioning System (GPS) of United States and Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) of Russia. The HRD Ministry announced setting up a new committee to look into the quality aspect of the Mid Day Meal Scheme nationwide. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance finalised its GST (Goods and Services Tax) report. The report would be tabled in the parliament during its Monsoon season. The Union government of India constituted an empowered Group of Ministers under the Chairmanship of Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, for timely implementation of major projects related to the North-Eastern region.

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62. Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan was chosen for the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award. It will be conferred on Amjad Ali Khan on 20 August 2013, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. 63. Paradip Port was conferred with the Major Port of the Year award for its excellent performance in the year 2012-13. 64. The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced the Ramon Magsaysay Awards for the year 2013 to three individuals and two organizations for changing their societies for the better. Afghanistan's first woman governor Habiba Sarabi and a Myanmar civil society organiser Lahpai Seng Raw, who both helped families displaced by conflict in their home nations, are among five winners. 65. Paul Hewson, popularly known as Bono, the frontman of the rock band U2 as well as the antipoverty activist was awarded with the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, the highest cultural award of France for the contribution to music. 66. Zubin Mehta, an Indian-Parsi mestro of western classical music was named for the second edition of Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the year 2013. The first Tagore Award was conferred on Pt. Ravi Shankar. 67. Vidya Balan got the Best Actress award at 14th IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) awards 2013 held in Macau for her film Kahaani while Ranbir Kapoor was named Best Actor for Barfi. Barfi bagged 9 awards including Best film. 68. National Youth Award 2011-12 was conferred by Pranab Mukherjee to 27 individuals and an organization. 69. Culture Ministry of India entrusted ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) with the restoration of the Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand which was damaged due to the recent floods. 70. Multiple blasts rocked the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar on 7 July 2013 one of the holiest Buddhist shrines. 71. Britain is set to become the first country in the world to allow doctors to use a controversial IVF

technique that would lead to the creation of babies with three parents. 72. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said it would step in and run the Delhi Airport Metro line after Reliance Infra refused to operate it beyond June 30. 73. Manmohan Singh government set a target to unlock and put on offer infrastructure projects worth Rs.1.14 lakh crore in the next six months in the rail, power, ports and aviation sectors. The proposals that will be given a firm shape under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode include the Mumbai elevated rail corridor, two international airports in Bhubaneswar and Imphal and power and transmission projects.

74. As per the law Nitaqat, every firm in the Kingdom, both private and government, has to reserve 10 per cent of jobs for the Saudi nationals. Now it has been extended for four month. The deadline which was to expire (June 3) will now be November 4. 75. India and United Kingdom have decided to join hands to develop the signature Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC) project in close association with private companies from Britain. 76. Government will go ahead with notifying the setting up of the Coal Regulatory Authority (CRA) through an executive order and will not wait for passage of a Bill in Parliament. 77. Arunendra Kumar has been appointed as the interim chairman of the Railway Board for three months. 78. Indias first commercial fast breeder reactor the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is in an advanced stage of completion at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu. 79. Croatia became 28th member of European Union (EU) on 1 July. 80. Sujatha Singh will be Indias next Foreign Secretary. 81. The Nanavati Commission probing the 2002 riots in Gujarat has been granted another extension of six

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months till December 31 this year by the Gujarat government. 82. Himachal Pradesh was declared the first smokefree State in the country in compliance with Section 4 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003. The State has achieved 85.42 per cent compliance with the relevant parameters.

83. India has ranked 66th in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2013. 84. The head of Egypts armed forces issued a declaration suspending the Constitution and appointing the head of the constitutional court as interim head of state. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared the removal of elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsy. 85. Union Cabinet approved National Food Security Bill that seeks to give legal rights to 67 per cent (Rural 75% and Urban 50%) of the population over subsidised grains (Rice 3 Rs, Wheat 2 Rs and Millet 1 Rs). Over 82 crore people will get 5 kg per person per month food grain. 86. While India inches towards 13 per cent Internet penetration with roughly 160 million users, nearly 40 per cent of the global population or 2.7 billion people are already online in 2013, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). 87. The Chhattisgarh government has launched Phulwari, a scheme to curb malnutrition among children aged 6 months to 3 years. 88. Officials and business delegations from countries of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation began a two-day meeting in Mauritius. Members List:- Australia, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Seychelles, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

89. Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas collected the European Parliaments Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. 90. The Chief Justice of Egypts Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour was sworn in as the nations interim President. 91. Young all-rounder Parveez Rasool created history by becoming the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to be named in the Indian team. 92. Pakistan has banned screening of Raanjhanaa, a film depicting the love affair of a Muslim-Hindu couple on the grounds that it could offend viewers in the Islamic republic. The film starring Sonam Kapoor and Dhanush. 93. China and Pakistan signed deals to push forward a long-discussed economic corridor and to lay a firstof-its-kind fibre optic link from the Chinese border to Rawalpindi. Both the economic corridor and the fibre optic link will pass through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). 94. China and Russia kicked off their largest-ever joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan. 95. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to issue tax-free bonds worth Rs.1,000 crore in the current financial year. 96. The government had decided to set up the 51 airports to enhance air connectivity to small cities. 97. The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has extended support for construction of an international cricket stadium in Agartala.

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98. Bolivian President Evo Morales said he would grant asylum, if requested, to the former U.S. intelligence agency contractor, Edward Snowden. His offer came after two other leftist Latin American leaders Venezuelas Nicolas Maduro and Nicaraguas Daniel Ortega said they would help the U.S. fugitive. 99. Actor Hrithik Roshan underwent a surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain. 100. By September, the number of mobile subscriptions across the world will equal the global population of 7.1 billion. According to International Telecommunications Union (ITU), in early 2013, the world had 6.8 billion mobile subscriptions. Mobile teledensity in several large countries like China (85.21%), India (68.72%), Pakistan (68.83%). 101. The Election Commission will hold election in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram before the end of this year.

102. Japan announced the first-ever visit to India by its Emperor and Empress in November. 103. Latvia received the green light from EU to become the 18th member of the eurozone from January 1 next year. 104. India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives will share capacities and information to address threats to maritime security such as piracy, terrorism and gunrunning in the Indian Ocean. 105. Tightening their noose on loan defaulters, banks have decided to name and shame the guarantors of such borrowers as well by publishing their photographs and other details in newspapers and at notice boards of bank branches and community centres. 106. In a move the check the rupee volatility, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) banned banks from proprietary trading in domestic currency futures and options, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) increased the margin requirement on domestic dollar-rupee forward trade. 107. The Supreme Court held that charge-sheeted Members of Parliament and MLAs, on conviction for the offences, will be immediately disqualified from holding membership of the House without being given three months time for appeal, as was the case before. 108. India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan have agreed to form a company for execution of the proposed TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) pipeline project. 109. The U.S. economy still needs help from the Federal Reserves low interest rate policies, Chairman Ben Bernanke said. 110. India has cut off the gas subsidy to Bhutan since a pact with the country had expired on June 30. 111. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLA Hemant Soren was sworn in as Jharkhands ninth Chief Minister. Mr. Hemant Soren had earlier won the support of 43 MLAs, including 18 from the JMM, 13 from the Congress, five from the RJD and seven from among smaller parties and Independents. 112. Goa is all set to become the first State to cover all people under the Aadhaar card registry.

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113. The monsoon session of Parliament will be held from August 5 to 30 during which the Food Security ordinance will come up for ratification. The government also plans to bring in the Land Acquisition, Insurance, Pension and Companies Bills and the Direct Taxes Code Bill. 114. A Bangladesh war crimes tribunal sentenced Ghulam Azam, former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, to 90 years imprisonment for his role in the 1971 genocide of Bangladeshis who fought the Pakistani occupation army for independence. 115. Last Telegram messages booked for Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi on 15 July when this service ended permanently. 116. Minister for Rural Development, approved Chief Minister Vijay Bahugunas request for a special relief package under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. People in disaster-hit villages of Uttarakhand will now get employment for 150 days instead of 100 days under the MGNREGA scheme. 117. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Launched the Hausla awareness campaign to improve family health in 75 districts of the State. 118. Seven years after dance bars were banned in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court upheld a Bombay High Court ruling that quashed the governments order. While Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil made it clear that the State government is firm on its decision of banning dance bars. 119. M. Ramakrishnayya, founder chairman of Nabard and former RBI deputy governor, passed away. 120. Considering the significant delay and inability to get land due to peoples opposition in Gadag, Posco has decided to scrap its proposed six million tonne per annum steel plant project in Karnataka. 121. The ambitious direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for domestic LPG cylinder, launched in 18 districts of the country on June 1, has crossed 2.28 million transactions. Indications are that the scheme will be rolled out throughout the country by the yearend. Under this scheme, each consumer gets Rs. 435 in his/her bank account when an LPG cylinder is booked.

122. Supreme Court-appointed Judicial Commission headed by former judge Santosh Hegde with former Chief Election Commission J.M. Lyngdoh and retired IPS officer A.K. Singh as its members, has noted that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA has failed to tackle insurgency and that the armed forces were indulging in gross violation of human rights by operating under the shield of the controversial law. 123. RBI said it would conduct open market operation of Government Securities for an aggregate amount of Rs.12,000 crore. 124. Russian President Vladimir Putin firmly defended his decision to grant asylum to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden. 125. High-level of organic phosphorus content in midday meal is suspected to have caused the death of 22 children at the Gandaman Primary School in Chapra in Bihars Saran district, preliminary inquiries suggest.

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126. Worlds largest steelmaker Arcelor Mittal scrapped its $12-billion steel plant in Odisha over inordinate delays, problems in acquiring land and securing iron ore linkages. 127. Filmmaker K. Asifs 1960s epic Mughal-e-Azam has been crowned the greatest Bollywood film of all time by a poll celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema in the U.K. Survey conducted by British Asian weekly newspaper Eastern Eye. 128. The Cabinet Committee on Security gave its inprinciple approval to the Armys ambitious proposal to raise a mountain strike corps along the China border. The proposed strike corps, with about 45,000 soldiers and headquartered at Panagarh in West Bengal, will also give India the capability to launch offensive action in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in the event of a Chinese offensive. 129. Jamaat-e-Islami secretary-general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed has been awarded the death penalty International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh for crimes against humanity during the countrys liberation war in 1971. 130. Days after Malala Yousufzai made a passionate appeal at the U.N. head quarter for the education of children, the Taliban has asked her to return to Pakistan and join a madrasa in the restive northwest. 131. The Supreme Court pulled up the Sahara group for not refunding Rs.24,000 crore to investors and said that Sahara chief Subrata Roy and directors of its two companies would have to appear before it if its order was not complied with. 132. The UPA government has decided to honour the commitment it made on December 9, 2009 to carve out a separate State of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. 133. The Supreme Court declared the National Eligibilitycum-Entrance Test (NEET) unconstitutional. The Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Dental Council of India (DCI) had introduced the test for admission to graduate and postgraduate courses. 134. With a view to preventing acid attacks, the Supreme Court has completely prohibited over-thecounter sale of the chemical unless the seller

maintains a log/register recording the address and other details of the buyer, and the quantum. 135. The Human Resource Development Ministry announced that a new committee would be set up to review the implementation of mid-day meal scheme with a view to monitoring the quality of food and ensuring hygiene standards. The new committee, likely to be headed by Union Human Resource Development Minister M.M. Pallam Raju himself, will have 20 members. 136. The Supreme Court directed all States to pay acid attack victims Rs. 3 lakh towards medical treatment and aftercare rehabilitation Rs. 1 lakh within 15 days of an incident and the balance within two months thereafter. 137. India-born former Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta has been ordered to pay a $13.9-million penalty and has been permanently barred from acting as an officer or director of a public company in a civil case over insider trading in USA. 138. The government gave more powers to market regulator SEBI to crackdown on ponzi schemes, access phone call records to check insider trading and carry out search and seizure operations. 139. The Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony will take a call on fresh bidding norms for ultra mega power projects (UMPPs). Proposed UMPPs are in Chhattisgarh (Sarguja), Odisha (Bedabahal) and Tamil Nadu (Cheyyur). The government has so far allotted four UMPPs, of which three have been bagged by Reliance Power Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand). Tata Power has already commissioned the Mundra UMPP in Gujarat. 140. CBI has found that investments made by Wal-Mart Mauritius Limited in the retail sector through the FDI route violated RBI guidelines and FEMA regulations. 141. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance finalised its report on Goods and Services Tax (GST), which would be tabled in Parliament in the monsoon session beginning August 5. 142. Indias foreign exchange reserves is now at $280.19 billion.

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143. Rana Kapoor, Yes Bank Managing Director and CEO took over as the President of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). 144. According to an analysis done by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Election Watch (NEW), 30 per cent of sitting Lok Sabha MPs and 31 per cent of sitting MLAs have criminal cases registered against them. 145. SBI opened ultra small branches (USB) at the village-level. 146. There are over 780 languages and 66 different scripts in India. Arunachal Pradesh is the richest among the States with 90 languages. 147. Sikkim had the lowest poverty at 3.6 per cent BPL; Goa was at 4 per cent, Tamil Nadu stood at 6.3 and Andhra was 6.2. The data also show that the steepest decline in poverty was in India's poorer states. Madhya Pradesh fell from 53.6 per cent (2004-05) to nearly 36 per cent (2011-12). Bihar shows a towering reduction from nearly 56 per cent to 35 per cent. Odisha stands at 36 per cent from 61 per cent. 148. WTO ministerial meeting scheduled at Bali Indonesia. 149. The worlds first mission to the South Pole of the Moon to install a permanent telescope on the lunar surface has been announced. The private enterprise mission, announced by the International Lunar Observatory Association and Moon Express, will be both scientific and commercial, and plans to deliver the International Lunar Observatory (ILO) aboard a Moon Express robotic lander. 150. United States Vice President Joe Biden visited India. 151. Those earning up to Rs.5 lakh in salary a year will have to file IT returns this year as the two-year exemption has been lifted due to introduction of online facility. 152. The Delhi Police Crime Branch filed a charge sheet against late South African skipper Hansie Cronje and five alleged bookies in the match-fixing scandal that had rocked the cricketing world 13 years ago. 153. At least 89 people were killed and more than 500 injured after a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck Chinas northwestern Gansu province morning.

154. RBI has told banks to necessarily maintain a minimum daily balance of 99 per cent of the CRR requirement, up from 70 per cent currently. RBI has said that each bank would be allowed access to Liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) up to 0.5 per cent of its own net demand and time liabilities (NDTL). 155. Total food grains output is 255.36 million tonnes as against 259.29 million tonnes last year. 156. The Goa government imposed a green cess up to Rs.1 lakh on all polluting products to net additional revenue.

157. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry has recommended the creation of a Retail Regulatory Authority to not only monitor the entry of foreign chains through foreign direct investment (FDI) but to also study the impact of FDI on medium, small and micro enterprises (MSME). 158. People spending more than Rs 27.2 per day (Rs. 816 per person per month) in villages and Rs 33.3 per day (Rs. 1,000 per person per month) in cities are not poor, according to latest data released by Planning Commission. These estimates are based on the Tendulkar methodology. Government set up another committee headed by C Rangarajan to look at a methodology for determining poverty lines and estimating poverty. 159. A single-member commission headed Nivedita P.Haran for studying the impact of computerisation of the public distribution system, has submitted a report. 160. Amitabh Bachchan was voted by critics, fans and the film fraternity as the greatest Bollywood star in a U.K. survey published by British Asian weekly newspaper Eastern Eye. 161. In a first, India has offered a $ 100 million credit line to Vietnam to purchase military equipment. 162. The poverty ratio was highest in Chhattisgarh at 39.93 per cent followed by Jharkhand (36.96 per

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cent), Manipur (36.89 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (34.67 per cent) and Bihar (33.47 per cent). Goa had the least percentage of people living below poverty line at 5.09 per cent followed by Kerala (7.05 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (8.06 per cent), Sikkim (8.19 per cent) and Punjab (8.26 per cent).

163. The Centre's debt liability as a percentage to the gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to fall in the coming years and touch 42.3% by 2015-16 from 45.9% last year. 164. ADB projected India's growth to 5.8% in the 2013 from 6% projected earlier in its Asian Development Bank (ADB). 165. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said official amendments to the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) bill will be introduced towards the end of Monsoon session of Parliament starting August 5. 166. Whole Sale Price Inflation rose to 4.86 per cent in June. 167. Union Cabinet decided to replace the Directorate General of Civil Aviation with an independent regulator to be called the Civil Aviation Authority or CAA. Airports will continue to be regulated by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority. 168. The (RBI) Reserve Bank of India has directed banks to do away with stapling of money packets and issue only clean currency notes to the public. 169. The next time you swipe your debit or credit card at a point-of-sale terminal, you may be asked for biometric authentication. This is because your Aadhaar number will soon be linked to your bank account to reduce cases of fraud.

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