17 Jul 2014 To 1ST Sep 2014

DATE: 17-07-14
S.NO. NEWS ITEM SYLLUBUS BACKGROUND IMPORTANT POINTS

1.

India, Brazil to
expand trade
a) I.R a) BRICS
b) UNSC
c) G20
d) G4
e) MoU
a) Signed agreements on
cooperation in the field of
environment and remote
sensing on the sidelines of
sixth BRICS summit.
b) Also agreed to increase
cooperation in international
forums and multilateral
institutions, including G20.
c) As leaders of G4 countries,
Indian PM and Brazilian
President called for urgent
progress on reforms within the
United Nations, including the
Security Council, by the year
2015.
d) The two sides signed MoU
on environment; on
cooperation in process of
making of a Brazilian earth
station for receiving and
processing data from Indian
Remote Sensing satellites; and
on cooperation in the
establishment of a consultation
mechanism on mobility and
consular issues.
2. Mid-day meal
schemes scale
amazes Clinton
a) Social issue a) Mid-day meal scheme
b) Social sector initiatives
in Rajasthan
a) In the part of the vast mid-
day meal programme in a
government school in
Rajasthan, Bill Clinton
surprised that such a huge
quantity of food prepared and
served in efficient, healthy and
sanitary manner is
unbelievable.
b) The Mid Day Meal
Scheme is jointly run by
Akshaya Patra, Deshpande
Foundation and the Rajasthan
government.
c) The Clinton Foundation
under the Clinton Global
Initiative raises awareness and
motivates business houses,
corporate and other agencies
to fund Akshaya Patra for
running the scheme.
3. Breakthrough for
the blind
a) International
Social
a) Marrakesh Convention
b) United Nations
Convention for the Disabled
c) WIPO
d) WTO
a) India under the Modi govt
has become the first country in
the world to ratify the
Marrakesh Convention that
codifies exemptions to
copyrights to benefit blind and
vision-impaired readers.
b) It is important also
because seven long years
have passed since New Delhi
ratified the United Nations
Convention for the Disabled.
c) The current treaty of the
WIPO removes legal
restrictions on the conversion
of published works into any
one among a range of
alternative formats which the
blind and vision-impaired may
access.
d) The Marrakesh Treaty will
not enter into force
internationally unless it is
signed by at least 20 countries.
4. For IAF, Rafale
makes the grade
a) S&T a) India France defence
relations
b) India Russia defence
relations
c) RAFALE
d) Su-30 MKI
e) Mirage-2000
f) Jaguar
a) Russia is losing its
dominance in Indian skies as
the IAF is sticking to its guns
on inducting 127 Rafale fighter
jets from France.
b) The IAF has been making
its procurements to establish
the doctrine of air dominance.
c) The Russians are aligned
with this doctrinal slant, with
the Su-30 MKI forming the core
of the IAFs strike force,
supplemented by the air
superiority Mirage-2000 jets
and the Jaguar bombers.
5. SC notice to
States on right to
die with dignity
a) Judiciary a) Supreme Court
b) Article 21
c) Fundamental Rights
a) SC issued notice to all
States and UTs seeking their
response to decide on whether
the right to die with dignity was
part of the right to live with
dignity under Article 21 of the
Constitution(Right to life and
liberty).
b) The issue related not only
to the Constitution but also
involved morality, religion and
medical science and social
issues.
c) The Bench said the right
to die only because of pain and
suffering would not be in the
interest of society and was
against public policy. Only
Parliament could make any
change in the law.
6. NCW for changes
in juvenile Act
a) National Social a) NCW
b) National Commission of
Protection of Child Rights
c) Juvenile Justice Act
d) Delhi gang rape case
e) Mumbai Shakti Mills
rape case
a) NCW said the commission
would back amendments to the
Juvenile Justice Act to ensure
punishment in rape cases.
b) In the context of
opposition from the National
Commission of Protection of
Child Rights, NCW stated that
the amendments were
necessary as 45 percent of the
registered rape cases were
committed by juveniles.
7. Mangalore varsity
develops key
technology for
BARC
a) S&T a) BARC
b) Prototype system
c) Radon
d) Thoron
e) Uranium
f) Thorium
a) It developed a technology
and making a prototype
system, for the removal of two
radioactive gases(radon and
thoron) present in work places
of industries that handle
uranium and thorium.
b) The technology called
thoron mitigation system will
also minimize the release of
these two gases into the
environment.
c) The Mangalore university
has developed the technology
under a MoU with the BARC.
BARC has founded the
project.

Daily News Analysis18-07-2014
DATE : 18-07-14
1.

India to host next
IBSA summit
a) I.R a) IBSA
b) BRICS
c) Brasilia Declaration
a) On the sidelines of BRICS
summit, it was announced that
India will host the 7
th
IBSA in
2015. It will be the 3
rd
time New
Delhi will be hosting since it
started in 2006.
b) IBSA is a trilateral
initiative between India, Brazil
and South Africa to promote
South-South cooperation and
exchange. The platform was
announced in Brasilia in 2003,
through the adoption of Brasilia
Declaration.
c) The IBSA summit involves
consultations at the heads of
state-level while meetings
between Ministers and officials
are held at the Trilateral Joint
Commission and Focal Point
levels respectively.
2. Modi for closer ties
with Latin America
a) I.R a) BRICS
b) G77
c) MERCOSUR
d) EU
e) NAFTA
f) PTA
a) He said India would
extend its space capabilities for
weather forecasting, resource
mapping and disaster
management in the Latin
American region.
b) Further stressed the need
for more effective utilisation of
the Preferential Trade
Agreements between India and
the MERCOSUR and between
India and Chile.
c) MERCOSUR comprising
Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and
Paraguay was formed in 1991
to facilitate free movement of
goods, services, capital and
people among the four member
countries and is the largest
integrated market after the
European Union(EU) and the
North American Free Trade
Agreement(NAFTA).
d) India and MERCOSUR
had signed a PTA in 2004
offering reciprocal tariff
preferences to each other with
the ultimate objective of
creating a free trade area.
3. U.S, EU cannot be
trusted on Bali
package
a) I.R a) Bali package
b) G20 summit
c) TFA
a) Indian counterpart likely to
meet at G20 summit in an
attempt to find a solution to the
blocked Bali Deal negotiations.
b) He said the payments
from developed countries to aid
the execution of the TFA itself
is the interim solution for
Indias food subsidies.
c) India wants the Bali
Package to be delivered in
whole.
4. RBI sets 100 crore
floor capital for
payments and
small banks
a) Economy a) RBI
b) Banking Regulation Act
1949
c) SLR
d) CRR
e) PSL
a) RBI has set a minimum
paid-up capital of 100 crore for
those who wish to set up
payments and small banks.
b) The Payments bank has
to comply with the SLR and
CRR requirements.
c) The Small Bank has to
comply with CRR, SLR and
also Priority Sector
Lending(PSL) targets.
d) Existing NBFCs, micro
finance institutions and local
area banks can also choose for
conversion into small banks
after complying with all legal
and regulatory requirements.
5. Poor healthcare
ups private
spending
a) Economy
b) Health
a) NHP
b) GDP
a) National Health Profile
2013 reveals that per capita
private expenditure on health is
3 to 4 times higher than per
capita public expenditure in all
major States excluding some
Northeastern States and
Jammu and Kashmir.
b) The report by the Central
Bureau of Health Intelligence
under the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare says the
expenditure on health has
gone down from 4.3 percent of
GDP in 2000 to 3.7 percent in
2010.

DATE : 19-07-14
1.

Ukraine wants
India to flay
Russian support to
rebels
a) I.R a) Ukraine issue
b) MH17 tragedy
c) MH370 tragedy
a) Calling the shooting down
of a Malaysia Airline flight in
Ukraine as an act of terrorism,
Ukrainian Ambassador said
India must criticize Russias
support to separatist rebels in
eastern Ukraine.
b) Further he said that as a
country that wants to be a
UNSC member, India should
make a more clear statement
on supporting Ukraines
sovereignty and territorial
integrity.
2. Unprovoked firing
from Indian side :
Pak envoy
a) I.R a) Indo Pak issues
b) SAFTA
a) Pakistans High
Commissioner said that the
ceasefire violation along the
India-Pakistan international
border was a result of firing
occurring from the Indian side.
b) On granting the Most
Favoured Nation status to
India, he said the issue would
be discussed during the
meeting of Commerce
Ministers on the sidelines of
the SAFTA meet later this
month in Thimpu.
c) About Hindu minorities
facing oppression from a group
in Pakistans Sindh province, he
said Hindus were not a lonely
case and all communities in the
region had been facing trouble.
3. Modi government
to go with UPA
policy on FDI in
retail
a) Economy a) FDI
b) Single-brand retail
c) Multi-brand retail
d) Aadhaar
a) For States that choose to
be open to FDI in multi-brand
retail, the UPA Govt had
permitted up to 100 percent
investments.
b) The FDI policy of centre
gives States the freedom to
decide whether or not to permit
it in multi-brand retail.
c) The centre also decided
to carry on with the UPA
initiative of Aadhaar card for
targeted schemes. The only
difference is that the Modi govt
will issue Aadhaar numbers to
Indian citizens.
4. Panel clears field
trials for 4 GM
crops
a) S&T a) GM crop
b) GEAC
c) Bt cotton
d) Bt brinjal
a) The Genetic Engineering
Approval Committee(GEAC)
gave the green signal for field
trials of genetically
modified(GM) rice, mustard,
cotton, chickpea and brinjal.
b) While the GEAC has
approved the commercial
release of Bt brinjal, it has
been stayed by the Ministry of
Environment. The only GM
crop approved for release in
India is cotton.
5. Sin tax and
tobacco use
a) Economy
b) Health
a) Budget
b) Sin tax
c) Taxation system
d) WHO
a) The recent budget has
increased the specific excise
duty on cigarettes in the range
of 11 to 72 percent and 10
percent on chewing tobacco.
b) One of the most important
shortcomings is the failure to
tax bidis because bidi
consumption constitutes 35 to
40 percent of total tobacco use
in the country.
c) Contrary to the WHO
recommendations, there is a
complete absence of price
parity between different
tobacco products.
d) The govt has failed to link
the tax rates to an automatic
annual inflation-adjusted
increase to bring about a real
increase in the price.

6. Anti-tank missile
detector to fight
malaria
a) Health
b) S&T
a) Malaria
b) Infrared spectroscopy
c) Focal Plane Array
d) Red blood cells
a) An anti-tank Javelin
missile detector, commonly
used in warfare to detect the
enemy, has been found to
quickly identify malaria
parasites in blood.
b) The technique is based
on Fourier Transform Infrared
spectroscopy which provides
information on how molecules
vibrate.
c) Researchers used a
special Imaging detector
known as a Focal Plane
Array(FPA) to detect malaria
parasite-infected red blood
cells.

DATE : 20-07-14
1.

US Iran nuclear
deal can help
revive IPI project
a) I.R a) US Iran nuclear deal
b) IPI pipeline project
c) TAPI pipeline project
a) Analysts say that the Iran-
Pakistan-India pipeline project
can be bring back if a
development is achieved in the
nuclear talks between Iran and
the six global powers US,
Russia, China, France, Britain
and Germany.
b) Centres move to
encourage export of
hydrocarbons to Pakistan could
bring back blocked gas pipeline
deals IPI and TAPI.
2. India, Pakistan
working overtime
on pipeline project:
Pak envoy
a) I.R a) Indo Pak relations
d) GAIL
a) Pakistan has responded
positively to the Indian
proposal for gas and product
pipelines to the country.
b) Sources said the gas
would be first imported to the
LNG terminal at Dahej on the
south-west coast of Gujarat
and transported along the
pipeline network to Jalandhar,
which would become the transit
hub for Pakistan, connected by
a new 103 km pipeline, which
GAIL plans to build.
c) Besides, the new products
pipeline proposes to transport
diesel and kerosene from the
Bhatinda refinery in Punjab to
Lahore.
3. Big push for
private players in
Defence contracts
a) National-Defence a) PPP
b) FDI
a) Replacement of 56 Avro
transport planes, indicating the
governments intent to fast-
track military acquisitions by
promoting private sector
investment in the Defence
sector.
b) Inducted in the 1960s, the
Avro transporters need
replacement because of their
outdated and rising
maintenance cost.
4. New WHO norms
on HIV services
a) Health a) WHO a) WHO on HIV services for
key groups have not been very
not well thought-
out
b) HIV
c) ART
well thought-out specially in the
context of providing anti-
retroviral therapy(ART) to men
who have sex with men(MSM).
b) WHO said that the rates
of HIV infection among MSM
remain high almost everywhere
and new prevention options are
urgently needed. In India, the
number of MSM was much
lesser than other countries,
compared to the population
size.
c) Now ART is being given
to those with CD4 cell counts
below 350. CD4 cells or T-cells
are the cells that send signals
to activate your body immune
response when they detect
viruses or bacteria.
5. NGO petitions
against Jarawa
tourism in the
Andaman
a) National Social a) Andaman islands
b) Jarawa tribe
a) Survival International is a
global movement which works
for tribal rights, said large
group of tourists continue to
travel through the Andaman
Grand Trunk road, a part of the
Jarawa Reserve, to spot the
fast decreasing tribe.
b) In 2002, the Supreme
Court had ordered that the
road be closed.
c) The alternative sea route
would enable people to travel
north or south in the islands
without entering the Jarawas
reserve.

6. Better farming
could feed 3 billion
more
a) Geography a) Fertilisers
b) Greenhouse gas
emissions
c) Deforestation
a) Agriculture is the main
source of water use,
greenhouse gas emissions,
and habitat loss, yet we need
to grow more food. It currently
amounts to between one-fifth
and one-third of greenhouse
gases, coming from
deforestation, methane and
fertilisers.
b) About 60 percent of
nitrogen applied to crops
worldwide is not needed, as
well as about half of
phosphorus, an element whose
readily available sources are
decreasing.
c) Study suggested that a
focus on staple crops such as
wheat and rice in key
countries, including China,
India, the US, Brazil,
Indonesia, Pakistan and
Europe, would be effective in
terms of producing more food
for the worlds growing
population.

DATE : 20-07-14
1.

US Iran nuclear
deal can help
revive IPI project
a) I.R a) US Iran nuclear deal
a) Analysts say that the Iran-
Pakistan-India pipeline project
can be bring back if a
development is achieved in the
nuclear talks between Iran and
the six global powers US,
Russia, China, France, Britain
and Germany.
b) Centres move to
encourage export of
hydrocarbons to Pakistan could
bring back blocked gas pipeline
deals IPI and TAPI.
2. India, Pakistan
working overtime
on pipeline project:
Pak envoy
d) GAIL
a) Pakistan has responded
positively to the Indian
proposal for gas and product
pipelines to the country.
b) Sources said the gas
would be first imported to the
LNG terminal at Dahej on the
south-west coast of Gujarat
and transported along the
pipeline network to Jalandhar,
which would become the transit
hub for Pakistan, connected by
a new 103 km pipeline, which
GAIL plans to build.
c) Besides, the new products
pipeline proposes to transport
diesel and kerosene from the
Bhatinda refinery in Punjab to
Lahore.
3. Big push for
private players in
Defence contracts
a) National-Defence a) PPP
b) FDI
a) Replacement of 56 Avro
transport planes, indicating the
governments intent to fast-
track military acquisitions by
promoting private sector
investment in the Defence
sector.
b) Inducted in the 1960s, the
Avro transporters need
replacement because of their
outdated and rising
maintenance cost.
4. New WHO norms
on HIV services
not well thought-
out
a) Health a) WHO
b) HIV
c) ART
a) WHO on HIV services for
key groups have not been very
well thought-out specially in the
context of providing anti-
retroviral therapy(ART) to men
who have sex with men(MSM).
b) WHO said that the rates
of HIV infection among MSM
remain high almost everywhere
and new prevention options are
urgently needed. In India, the
number of MSM was much
lesser than other countries,
compared to the population
size.
c) Now ART is being given
to those with CD4 cell counts
below 350. CD4 cells or T-cells
are the cells that send signals
to activate your body immune
response when they detect
viruses or bacteria.
5. NGO petitions
against Jarawa
tourism in the
Andaman
a) National Social a) Andaman islands
b) Jarawa tribe
a) Survival International is a
global movement which works
for tribal rights, said large
group of tourists continue to
travel through the Andaman
Grand Trunk road, a part of the
Jarawa Reserve, to spot the
fast decreasing tribe.
b) In 2002, the Supreme
Court had ordered that the
road be closed.
c) The alternative sea route
would enable people to travel
north or south in the islands
without entering the Jarawas
reserve.

6. Better farming
could feed 3 billion
more
a) Geography a) Fertilisers
b) Greenhouse gas
emissions
c) Deforestation
a) Agriculture is the main
source of water use,
greenhouse gas emissions,
and habitat loss, yet we need
to grow more food. It currently
amounts to between one-fifth
and one-third of greenhouse
gases, coming from
deforestation, methane and
fertilisers.
b) About 60 percent of
nitrogen applied to crops
worldwide is not needed, as
well as about half of
phosphorus, an element whose
readily available sources are
decreasing.
c) Study suggested that a
focus on staple crops such as
wheat and rice in key
countries, including China,
India, the US, Brazil,
Indonesia, Pakistan and
Europe, would be effective in
terms of producing more food
for the worlds growing
population.

DATE :21-07-14
1.

Russia moots
mega energy
pipeline project
with India
a) I.R a) India Russia
relations
b) TAPI pipeline project
c) IPI pipeline project
a) After the recently concluded $400
billion mega gas pipeline deal
between Russia and China, Moscow
wants to work on a pipeline to India
through the Himalayas that could
become the biggest-ever energy
project in history.
b) On the sidelines of the BRICS,
Russian and Indian counterparts
discussed the possibility of building
another pipeline along the route of
the planned TAPI, which would carry
hydrocarbons to India.
c) There are defence ties, valued
at $35 billion and 22 future Russian-
designed nuclear projects as the
areas for India-Russia future
cooperation.
2. India allays
Nepals fears over
hydel plan
a) I.R a) India Nepal
relations
b) Hydropower issues
a) With worries in Nepal over
Indias intentions, four years after
Nepal sent it a draft agreement on
the power sector stated that in no
way does the draft forceNepals
sovereign right to develop its
hydropower potential.
b) The news reports about an
export-oriented PDA(power
development agreement) with India,
instead of eliminating the already
existing unequal treaties on Koshi,
Gandak, Mahakali, Upper Karnali,
Arun III, High Koshi Dam and Upper
Marsyangdi, has come as a shock to
all Nationalistic Nepalese people.
3. Banking on
BRICS
a) I.R a) BRICS
b) Fortaleza Declaration
c) Bretton-Woods
institutions
a) Fortaleza Declaration is the
latest evidence in the rise of regional
announcement.
b) The establishment of the BRICS
contingent reserve arrangement with
an initial $100 billion will help
countries check short-term liquidity
pressures.
c) The headquarters of the Bank
shall be in Shanghai and the first
president of the Bank shall be from
India.
d) The New Development Bank
Africa Regional Center shall be
established in South Africa
concurrently with the headquarters.
4. Trials and
Regulations
a) National
b) Geography
c) S&T
a) GM crop
b) GEAC
c) Biotechnology
Regulatory Authority of
India Bill 2013
d) Bt cotton
e) Btbrinjal
a) The GEAC has now taken
further steps to allow field trials of
rice, brinjal, mustard, chickpea and
cotton, and import of GM soyabean
oil.
b) BharatiyaKisanSangh(BKS) has
opposed the centres decision
approving field trials of certain
varieties of GM crops.
c) The Biotechnology Regulatory
Authority of India Bill 2013 which
provided for multi-level scientific
assessments and an appellate
tribunal has expired.
5. A rare orchid
blooms in Kerala
a) Biodiversity a) Biodiversity
b) Tiger Orchid
c) Greenhouse gases
a) The Tiger Orchid recently found
in Kerala is native to the jungles of
Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand and Papua New Guinea.
b) A plant that grows on other
trees, the Tiger
Orchid(Grammatophyllumspeciosum)
produces hundreds of flowers on
separate channels.
c) The species is rarely cultivated
commercially as it is usually too large
to be accommodated in most
greenhouses.
6. Army all set for
15
th
anniversary of
Kargil War
a) National a) Indo Pak issues
b) Kargil War
c) LOC
a) The war was fought in the
summer of 1999 to remove Pakistani
regular forces which had intruded
and occupied winter-vacated posts
on the Indian side of the Line of
Control, violating an unwritten
agreement

DATE :22-07-14
1.

India to be more
supportive of
Sri Lanka at UN:
Swamy
a) I.R a) India Srilanka
relations
b) Internal issues in
Srilanka
c) 13
th
Amendment
d) UNHRC
e) SethuSamudram project
a) He said that India will be
far more supportive of Sri
Lankas position at the United
Nations Human Rights Council
than ever before.
b) In the March session of
the Human Rights Council,
India opposedfrom voting on
the US-backed resolution that
called for an international
enquiry into Sri Lankas rights
record.
c) He further said that as a
friend he would urge Sri Lanka
to address certain issues of the
13
th
Amendment, which remain
unnecessarily unresolved.
d) On the SethuSamudram
project, he said Sri Lanka had
the right to have a view on the
matter, questioning the
propriety of the project.
2. No Change in
stand on Palestine
: Govt
a) I.R a) India Israel relations
b) Palestine issue
c) Gaza conflict
d) BRICS
a) The Govt stated in the
Rajya Sabha that Indias policy
on the Palestine issue
remained unchanged but
delayed demands for complete
resolution on the Gaza conflict
by the opposition.
b) India had already given a
considered response a day
earlier through the joint
statement of the BRICS summit
in Brazil.
c) Govt also pointed out that
India had established
diplomatic relations with Israel
in 1992 during the P.V.
NarasimhaRaogovernment.
3. Centre notifies
rules for Govt staff
under Lokpal Act
a) National a) Lokpal Act a) The centre has notified
new rules on declaration of
assets and liabilities of its
employees under the Lokpal
Act.
b) As per the rules, the
employees have to file returns
with details of Bank deposits,
shares, mutual funds,
insurance policies and loans
taken or given must declared
by March 31.
c) While the Lokpal Act
became operational in 2013,
rules framed by the then UPA
government on some of the
provisions were opposed by
the BJP.
4. TRAI recommends
sharing of all
telecom spectrum
a) Economy
b) IT
a) TRAI
b) Dept of Tele-
communications
c) Spectrum
a) TRAI recommended
allowing sharing of all
categories of spectrum. The
new rule was notified in August
2013 by the Department of
Tele-communications.
b) The move is likely benefit
major operators such as
BhartiAirtel, Vodafone, Idea,
Reliance Communications and
Tata Teleservices, helping
them reduce costs and at the
same time improve service
quality.
c) Spectrum in the bands of
800/900/1800/2100/2300/2500
MHz will be sharable provided
that both the licensees are
having spectrum in the same
band.
5. Small tea growers
want Centre to
extend budgetary
benefits
a) Geography a) Tea crop regions
b) Soil management
c) Irrigation
d) Climate impact
a) India has over two lakh
small tea growers in Assam,
West Bengal, Tripura,
Arunachal Pradesh,
Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They
produce green tea leaf, a highly
decomposable input which is
sold to tea factories for
processing into made-tea.
b) Small tea growers are the
lowest level of the tea
production eco-system
although they are engaged in a
series of tea plantation
activities such as one-time
planting of the tea bushes, its
maintenance, application of
fertilizer and pesticides, soil
management and plucking.
c) The 2014-15 budget has
proposed some measures for
the agri-sector, which include
soil health card for every
farmer, and 1000 crore scheme
for irrigation.
d) With climate change
impacting tea production,
irrigation is now an important
part of tea cultivation.

DATE :23-07-14
1.

UNSC demands
unrestricted
access to Ukraine
crash site (Page
11)
a) I.R a) MAF17 tragedy
b) Palestine issue
c) UNSC
d) Veto power
a) UNSC passed a
resolution calling for
international investigators to
have free access to the crash
site of Malaysian Airlines Flight
17 in Ukraine and also
demanded a ceasefire in the
area.
b) Russia has been advised
by several nations to check in
the separatist groups thought
to be behind the missile strike
against the jetliner.
c) Russia also joined other
Security Council members in
passing the resolution with a
15-0 vote despite having the
power to veto the resolution.
2. A new beginning
with Nepal (Page
8)
a) I.R a) Indo Nepal relations
b) SAARC summit
c) FDI
a) A high-level Indian visit is
long delayed after I.K. Gujral in
1997, only Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee has visited
Nepal, in 2002 for a SAARC
summit.
b) From the hydel
cooperation, three mega-
projects Saptakosi with
5000MW, Karnali-Chisapani
with 11000MW, and
Pancheshwar with 6500MW
have been declining for 30
years.
c) From the trade ties, two-
thirds of Nepals foreign trade is
with India which also accounts
for half of Nepals FDI.
3. Pressure on India,
China to develop
naval arsenals
(Page 11)
a) I.R a) India China relations
b) South China Sea
c) Indian Ocean
a) The battle for energy
resources in South China Sea
and Indian Ocean is making
India and China to develop
their naval weapons that have
an important nuclear
dimension.
d) DRDO
e) SLBM
f) Arihant
b) The gap in India capacity
to launch a retaliatory second
strike, following a nuclear
attack, is set to be bridged with
the integration of a Submarine
Launched Ballistic Missile
(SLBM) on the structure of the
domestically developed Arihant
nuclear submarine, which is set
to undergo sea trials.
c) China has fully developed
its fourth-generation nuclear
powered submarines, capable
of targeting sea-going or land-
based objects with torpedoes
and missiles.
4. India, Sri Lanka
must engage in
strategic dialogue :
Swamy (Page 10)
a) I.R a) India Sri Lanka
relations
b) Indo Lanka economic
relations
a) He said Sri Lanka govt
voiced concerns about Islamic
militants reportedly receiving
training in Tamil Nadu, with
financial support from Arabic
countries and North America.
b) It appears from sources
that some people are not
happy with normal pattern
returning to Sri Lanka.
c) He further discussed
issues related to Indo-Lanka
economic engagement.
5. Sushma off to
Nepal on Friday
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) India Nepal relations
b) SAARC summit
a) She is expected to hold
bilateral talks with Nepal
counterparts as she attends
the third Indo-Nepal Joint
Commission meeting in
Kathmandu and to prepare the
ground for PM visit within a few
months.
b) During the visit, India and
Nepal will discuss building
more hydroelectric projects and
Indias investment in
infrastructure projects.
c) Also she will speak about
the SAARC summit due to be
held in Nepal in November.
6. TRAI suggests
2400 crore plan for
two island chains
(Page 12)
a) National
b) Economy
a) TRAI
b) Andaman & Nicobar
Islands
c) Lakshadweep
a) TRAI recommended a
2400 crore project to connect
Indias two major outlaying
island chains Andaman &
Nicobar Islands (ANI) and
Lakshadweep with stable and
strong cable-based networks to
replace the satellite mode of
transmission.
b) TRAI noted that only 29
out of 576 islands in ANI are
inhabited and 90 percent of the
population lives on just three
islands North, Middle and
South Andaman Islands. And
in Lakshadweep, 11 out 36
islands are inhabited.
7. As India consumes
more and more
maize, search on
for better varieties
(Page 18)
a) Geography a) Maize crop regions
b) Global warming
a) The Global Maize
Programme, an initiative of
International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Centre, is
intensively proceeding the
development of heat-stress
flexible, high-yielding and
nutritionally enriched maize
varieties in order to face the
challenges of global warming
and meet global demand for
maize.
b) With USAI, the CIMMYT
has undertaken Heat Stress
Resilient Maize for South Asia,
a five-year project, for
developing heat tolerant and
high-yielding maize varieties
specifically suitable for South
Asian climatic conditions.
c) A two degree Celsius
increase in temperature
reduces the maize yields by 13
percent. Changes in global
climatic conditions have led to
increased frequency of
droughts.
d) In India, 80 percent of the
crop is used for feed and 20
percent is for consumption.
The Production of maize needs
to be doubled by 2050 to meet
growing global demand.
8. EU may restrict
genome editing of
crops : Scientists
(Page 9)
a) S&T a) Genome editing
b) Genetically Modified
crops
c) EU
a) Genome editing is
different to genetic
modification, because it does
not usually involve
transplanting genes from one
plant or species to another but
on identifying the genetic
modifications that would occur
naturally through selective
breeding.
b) Some said Gene editing
could offer an alternative to
GM that could be much more
pleasant to consumers.
c) GM crops are effectively
banned in
Europe, and licences to
experiment in GM are rare and
very expensive.
9. Fewer girls-only
families now, says
UN report ( Page
1)
a) National Social a) Sex Ratio
b) Census 2011
c) UN reports
d) Green Revolution
a) UN reported that it is time
to look at girls-only families,
which are starting to disappear
there are only two percent of
them in Haryana, Punjab and
Rajasthan.
b) The report says there is
no doubt that present India is
witnessing a highly gendered
version of fertility decline in
northwest India.
c) It has appeared from
northern and north-western
India, regions which may be
characterized as being in the
wake of the Green Revolution
and whose levels of welfare
therefore require more careful
calibration.

DATE:24-07-14
1.

Modis bilateral
meetings to focus
on nuclear deals
(Page 1,10)
a) I.R a) Nuclear agreements of
India with Australia, Japan,
China and US.
b) NSG
c) G20
d) NPT
e) Article 46 of Indias
nuclear liability law
a) At each of the coming
meetings, the nuclear issues
will be important on the agenda
and key to Indiasvoice for
membership of the NSG.
b) Australian PM plans to
visit India for a two day trip in
September is centered on the
Australian agreement to sell
uranium to India. Modi will also
visit Australia for the G20
summit in November this year.
c) Indian and Japanese
officials are working on the
possibility of announcing a
civilian nuclear cooperation
agreement when Modi travels
to Tokyo for talks on
September.Japanese PM is to
geta commitment from India on
signing the NPT and fissile
material cut-offs first.
d) China Presidents visit to
India will be equally important,
as all 48 members of the NSG
must approve Indias
membership.
e) From the US point of view
there is a concern continuing
debate around Section 17(b)
and Article 46 of Indias nuclear
liability law.
2. West Asia:
dialogue only
viable option, says
India (Page 10)
a) I.R a) Palestine issue
b) UNHRC
c) Arab Peace Plan
d) Quartet Roadmap
a) In a statement about
UNHRC on the human rights
situation in occupied
Palestinian territory, India
advised for an immediate
ceasefire and called on both
sides to resume talks.
b) India said that the solution
to the Palestine issue should
be based on relevant UN
resolutions, the Arab Peace
Plan and the Quartet Roadmap
resulting in a sovereign,
independent, viable and united
State of Palestine within secure
and recognised borders side-
by-side at peace with Israel
and with East Jerusalem as its
capital.
c) Indias deep association and
continuing commitment with
Palestine is rooted in our
modern history that goes back
to our struggle for
independence.
3. World needs India
to succeed: WB
President (Page
10)
a) I.R a) World Bank
b) Doing Business Report

a) He said that if the ranking
of India in Doing Business
Report (DBR) was based just
on Gujarat, the country would
improve 50 places. So our
hope on Modi that India will rise
very quickly in the DBR
rankings.
b) He said the World Bank
will be ready to provide
financial support to India worth
$15-18 billion over the next
three years.
c) When he met Modi, both
discussed prospects of
generation of more jobs, clean
liveable cities, education and
cleaning of the Ganga.
4. India, Pak. Foreign
Secretaries meet
on Aug25 (Page
10)
b) Boundary issues
c) LOC
a) They will discuss about
key issues including granting
India a status equivalent to
most favoured nation, signing
the visa relaxation agreement
and ceasefire violations on the
LOC.
b) Pakistans sponsorship of
cross-border terrorism in India
and firing along the Line of
Control and the International
Boundary in Jammu & Kashmir
has continuing.
5. Colombo clarifies
on Chinese aid
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) Indo Lanka issues
b) China relations with Sri
Lanka
c) Trincomalee project
a) New Delhi had expressed
concerns over allowing China
National Aero-Technology
Import-Export corporation to
set up operations in
Trincomalee.
b) Sri Lanka was planning to
set up an aircraft maintenance
base in Trincomalee with a $40
million investment from China.
c) Trincomalee is
recognisedas a planned
location and IndiasNatonal
Thermal Power Corporation is
currently associating Sri Lanka
in building a power plant in
Sampur, Trincomalee,
extending a $200 million-line of
credit for the project.
6. India keen on
WTO endorsement
on food subsidy
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) WTO
b) Bali meeting
c) food subsidy
a) India is unlikely to allow
ratification of a trade facilitation
protocol at a crucial WTO
meeting in Geneva if it does
not notice its concerns about
food subsidies to feed its poor.
b) Most developed countries
are pressuring India to drop its
demand on food subsidy and
support only the protocol for
trade facilitation agreed by
WTO members in Bali last
year.
c) If India drops its demand,
it risks facing legal action by
WTO members in case its food
subsidy exceeds 10 percent of
the total production value of a
basic agricultural commodity.
d) New Delhi has gained the
support of several developing
countries, small and big alike,
which might find themselves in
a similar situation.
7. Canada to meet
Indias demand for
pulses ( Page 13)
a) Geography
b) Economy
a) Pulses crop regions
b) Kharif crops
a) With monsoon condition
and posing a question mark on
the yield of pulses in the Kharif
season, Canada is stand itself
to meet Indias growing demand
for lentils (masoor) and yellow
peas (pilimatar) grown in large
quantity in its Saskatchewan
province.
b) India is the worlds largest
producer and consumer of
pulses also imports about 3.5
million tonnes of pulses every
year from the US, Australia,
Myanmar, East Africa and
Ukraine, besides Canada.
c) Though China overtook
India in import of pulses last
year, India continues to be one
of our biggest markets for
pulses.
8. Wheat draft
genome sequence
ready (Page 14)
a) S&T
b) Geography
a) Wheat crop
b) Bread wheat
a) Bread
Wheat(Triticumaestivum),
which produces the grain used
for chapatis and pooris, arose
from a series of hybridisation
events that ultimately resulted
in chromosomes from three
ancestral species being
merged.
b) The chromosome-based
sequence will help plant
breeders learn how genes
controlled complex features
such as yield, grain quality,
disease, pest resistance and
the ability to face various kinds
of stress.
c) India is the worlds second
largest wheat producer (after
US) and also the second
biggest wheat consuming
nation (after China).
d) Having the complete
wheat genome sequence in
hand will allow scientists to
activate genes that the plant
possesses to create varieties
producing better quality grain,
which are more heat tolerant as
well as capable of withstanding
changing climatic conditions.
9. India intensifies
war against
Japanese
encephalitis (
Page 14)
a) S&T
b) Health
a) Japanese encephalitis
b) AES
a) Japanese encephalitis is
caused by a mosquito-borne
virus. Eastern India is the most-
affected region by this killer
disease, particularly U.P, Bihar
and Assam.
b) More than 17 states are
reporting cases of JE and
Acute Encephalitis Syndrome
(AES) which has high mortality
and morbidity rates. Since the
virus attacks the brain of the
child becoming mentally
retarded are high.
10. Black panther less
rare than thought
(Page 14)
a) Geography
b) Biodiversity
a) Biodiversity
b) Western Ghats
c) Wildlife reserves
d) Bandipur National Park
f) Bhadra and Wynaad
wildlife sanctuaries
e) Black panther
a) The images of Black
leopards recorded from four
wildlife reserves in the Western
Ghats of Karnataka, Kerala and
also from Bandipur National
Park and Bhadra and Wynaad
wildlife sanctuaries.
b) Black leopards seem to
be particularly common in the
wetter ecosystems of Anshi-
Dandeli tiger reserve.

DATE: 25 JULY 2014
1.

India Pakistan
gas pipeline may
be completed in a
year (Page 10)
d) GAIL
e) LNG
a) The proposed India
Pakistan pipeline, through
which India plans to supply
natural gas to Pakistan, may be
completed within a year.
b) The pipeline, being put in
place by the GAIL will start from
Gujarat and reach Punjab
passing through M.P, Delhi and
U.P.
c) GAIL will source liquefied
natural gas (LNG) from
international suppliers, which
will then be regasified at the
LNG terminal at Dahe in
Gujarat, for supply to Pakistan.
d) The proposed project will
utilize GAILs existing Dadri-
Bawana-Nangal pipeline
network, which now extends to
Jalandhar.
2. Chinese rail lines
up to India border
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) India China issues
b) China projects in Tibet
a) China is planning the
construction of two railway lines
in Tibet that will extend up to
the border with India and are
expected to be completed by
2020.
b) The railway lines will run
from the town of Shigatse,
which will be connected to the
Qinghai-Tibet railway line that
extends to Lhasa.
c) The railway line would be
further extended to two regions
near the border with India:
Yatung, a trade centre close to
Sikkim and Bhutan, and to
Nyingchi in the east near the
Arunachal Pradesh border.
d) Sources said that the
projects would also have an
impact on the boundary dispute
with India.
3. India far behind
other BRICS
nations on human
development
(Page 11)
a) I.R
b) Social
a) UNDP HDR 2014
b) HDI in India
c) UN Millenium
Development Goals
d) Multi-Dimensional
Poverty Index
e) BRICS
f) GDP
a) The Human Development
Index is a composite index that
measures income, education
and health. Since 1990, the
UNDP has calculated an HDI
for every country in the world
and ranked them.
b) The report also includes
estimates for a newer Multi-
dimensional Poverty Index, but
since India has not collected
new health statistics since
2005, the Index too could not
be updated.
c) India with 135
th
position
lags far behind all other
BRICKS nations on the HDI.
d) Its a strong push for
universal social protections
stating that countries such as
Costa Rica, Ghana and South
Korea as well as Scandinavian
nations approved social
security legislation at lower
levels of income per capita than
India is at right now.
4. First Indian Air
Force, Navy
attaches take
charge in China
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) India China relations
b) Indias military
engagements with US, UK,
Russia and China
a) In a sign of expanding
military-to-military engagement
between India and China,
permanent representatives of
the India Air Force (IAF) and
the Navy have for the first time
taken office in Beijing.
b) Traditionally, India has
only had attaches from all three
services in the United States,
the United Kingdom and
Russia. Now China will join
those countries underscores
the increasing importance and
widening engagement between
the two militaries.
5. India to ask UN
military Observer
Group to wind up
(Page 11)
a) I.R a) UN Military Observer
Group on India and Pakistan
(UNMOGIP)
b) UN mission on LOC
c) UN Peacekeeping
forces(UNPKF)
d) Indo Pak issues
e) Shimla agreement
a) India will deliver its
message on the UN mission on
LOC yet, telling chief of the
UNPKF that the UNMOGIP has
outlived its utility.
b) India does have well grip
with the UNPKF than ever
before, given that it is the
second highest contributor to
the peacekeeping forces after
Bangladesh.
c) India has stated that the
UN mission mandate set up in
1948 had expired in 1971 after
the ceasefire line changed and
the Shimla agreement.
6. SEBI gets teeth to
bust illegal chit
funds (Page 10)
a) Economy a) SEBI
b) Securities Laws
(Amendment) Bill
a) The Cabinet committee on
Economic Affairs has approved
new powers for the SEBI to
stop the fraud schemes and
illegal deposit schemes such as
chit funds.
b) The government will now
introduce the Securities Laws
(Amendment) Bill in Parliament
to empower SEBI to attach
properties, launch recovery
proceeding and seek call-data
records in its investigations of
securities-related offences.
7. Central Bank of Sri
Lanka in
investment pact
with RBI (Page 13)
a) I.R
b) Economy
a) Indo Lanka relations
b) RBI
c) CBSL
a) The Central Bank of Sri
Lanka (CBSL) and the RBI
signed an agreement allowing
the RBI to access the Sri
Lankan government securities
market, up to a maximum value
of $500 million.
b) The CBSL, in turn, will be
able further expand its reserves
management activities into
Indian rupee denominated
assets.
8. Building the REIT
way (Page 8)
a) Economy a) RBI
b) REIT
c) Stock market
a) The Budget brings to
taxation of Real Estate
Investment Trusts (REITS)
which are related to mutual
funds in the stock market.
b) REITS sell units to
investors and use the money to
invest in completed or almost-
completed projects, mainly
commercial and retail, to earn
rental income.
c) The Finance Minister has
granted pass-through status to
REITS, which means they do
not have to pay corporate tax.
9. Squaring the
poverty circle
(Page 8)
a) National Socail a) National Sample Survey
(NSS)
b) Poverty Index
c) Rangarajan poverty
index report
d) Tendulkar poverty index
report
a) In the Tendulkar method,
there was a single poverty line
(the national urban poverty line)
where as in Rangarajan
method, there are two poverty
lines (rural and urban).
b) The Rangarajan expert
group itself suggests that the
poverty line might continue to
be used for the purpose of
allocating Central government
funds to different States, if not
for the purpose of identifying
eligible households.
c) It is very important to
supplement expenditure-based
poverty estimates with other
indicators of living standards
relating to nutrition, health,
education and the quality of the
environment etc.
10. Include third
gender children in
schools: HRD
Ministry (Page 11)
a) National Social a) Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan(SSA)
b) Midday meal scheme
a) The HRD Ministry has
advised all States and UTs
(except J&K) to take
appropriate action for the
inclusion of third gender
children among socially and
educationally backward classes
for admission in educational
institutions under the SSA to
universalise elementary
education.
b) This move is in keeping
with the Supreme Court order
to treat and grant legal
recognition to the third gender.

Daily News Analysis 27-07-2014
1.

India, Nepal to
strengthen ties
(Pages 1 and 8)
b) Peace Treaty 1950
c) BIPPA
a) After a marathon meeting
between India and Nepal, they
agreed to review and update the
Treaty of Peace and Friendship
1950, implement the Bilateral
Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreement (BIPPA)
and finalise the text of a Power
Trade Agreement at the earliest.
b) The Joint Commission which
was formed in 1987 was held after
23 years directed the Nepal-India
Boundary Working Group to start
field works at the earliest to look
into missing border supports and
boundary disputes.
c) The officials of the two
nations said they realised the
importance of utilizing the vast
hydropower potential of Nepal for
mutual benefits.
2. Chinese phone
makers set sights on
Indian market (Pages
1 and 8)
a) I.R
b) Economy
a) Indo China relations a) Chinese phone manufacturers
agree that India presents a huge
growth opportunity for them.
b) The latest report said that
India has now become the third-
largest Smartphone market after
Chine and the US in terms of
Smartphone shipment.
3. Biodiversity loss
pushing earth
towards sixth mass
extinction (Page 16)
a) Environment a) Biodiversity
b) Anthropocene Defaunation
c) Climatic Change
d) Global warming
a) Scientists now warn that the
continuous loss and decline of
biodiversity is leading humanity to
early days of the planets sixth
mass biological extinction event.
b) Since 1500, more than 320
terrestrial vertebrates have become
extinct. Populations of the
remaining species show a 25
percent average decline in large.
c) Researchers said that while
previous extinctions have been
caused by natural planetary
transformations or unfortunate
asteroid strikes, the current
extinction can be associated with
human activity leading to an era of
Anthropocene defaunation.
d) Where human density is high,
we get high rates of defaunation,
high incidence of rodents and thus
high levels of pathogens, which
increases the risks of disease
transmission.
4. Fukushima monkeys
show abnormalities
a) S&T a) Fukushima nuclear disaster
2011
a) Scientific study reported that
wild monkeys in the Fukushima

DATE: 29 JULY 2014
Daily News Analysis
in blood (Page 16) b) Radiation
c) Blood cells
region of Japan have blood
irregularities linked to the
radioactive fallout from the 2011
nuclear power plant disaster.
b) This new scientific study may
help increase the understanding of
radiation on human health.
c) The Japanese macaques
(Macaca fuuscata) were found to
have low white and red blood cell
levels and low haemoglobin,
which the researchers say could
make them more prone to
infectious diseases.
1.

US criticises Indias
restrictive religious
laws (Page 10)
a) I.R a) Fundamental Rights
b) Indian penal code
c) Religious laws
d) Religious freedom
a) International Religious
Freedom report 2013 reveals
that Indian authorities
implemented restrictive laws
and did not always efficiently or
effectively prosecute those who
attacked religious minorities
especially in the context of anti-
conversion laws.
b) It also reported that
although the Indian government
generally respected religious
freedom, some laws and
policies restricted this freedom
and officials referred several
sections of the Indian Penal
Code that resulted in minorities
freedom of speech being
declined on Internet sites.
c) Criticising Indias overall
level of societal respect for
religious freedom, the report
listed the August 2013 incident
of the Madhya Pradesh
government withdrawing a
notification requiring chapters
of the Bhagwad Gita to be part
of the school curriculum for the
2013-14 academic year,
following widespread
opposition.
2. India has to decide
on trade rules:
Kerry (Page 10)
a) I.R a) India US trade ties a) US official said that Indias
willingness to support a rules-
based trading order and fulfill
b) PPP
c) Intellectual property
rights
its commitments would help to
welcome greater investment
from the US and from around
the world.
b) He further said that If
Indias government support
greater space for private
initiative, if it creates greater
openness for capital flows, if it
limits subsidies that restrain
competition, if it provides strong
intellectual property rights,
more American companies may
come to India.
c) Under a growing US-India
partnership, the target of
reaching a bilateral trade level
of $500 billion per year could
be achieved.
3. Keep talking
Peace (Page 8)
a) I.R a) US Iran nuclear
agreements
b) NPT
c) IAEA
d) UNSC
a) The four-month extension
of talks to stop Tehrans
proposal to make an atomic
bomb is an indication of the
positive if limited fallout from
the historic late-2013 interim
agreement.
b) The five permanent
members on the UNSC and
Germany accordingly decided
to ease sanctions worth $7
billion for six month.
c) Iran agreed to limit its
nuclear programme and permit
strong multilateral
investigations of its facilities.
d) It is significant that the
IAEA should have
acknowledged in June that Iran
was cooperating with
investigations into the so-called
Possible Military Dimensions to
its nuclear programme.
e) Tehran has offered to hold
the country operations at
current levels over the next
three to seven years and
thereafter resume uranium
production as per its own
requirements.
f) The road to long-term
peace lies in rejecting hard
positions, one that goes to the
root of the global Nuclear non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
4. Chinese withdrew
after flag meeting,
says Home
Minister (Page 10)
a) I.R a) India China border
disputes
b) Line of actual control
a) There were reports that
some Chinese stockmen had
aimed tents in the Demchok
area, but had withdrawn after
talks between the two sides.
The incident had taken place at
the Charding Nilu Nullah
Juction along the Line of Actual
Control in the Demchok sector.
b) Former minister said that
ever since this government
came into existence, there have
been attacks by China along
the border in Ladakh. There
were a map that was issued
which showed parts of
Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai
Chin as part of China.
5. Asteroids bad
timing killed off
dinos (Page 7)
a) Geography a) Asteroids
b) Volcanic activity
c) Acid rain
d) Biodiversity
e) Tsunamis
f) Earthquakes
a) 66 million years ago the
violent collision occurred in the
area that is now Mexico,
activated tsunamis across the
oceans, caused powerful
earthquakes and released heat
to start many fires.
b) Material thrown into the air
descended as acid rain, and
also blocked the suns
warmness, cooling the Earth
temporarily, perhaps by tens of
degrees Celsius.
c) The group looked at work
done on prehistoric climate and
temperatures, changes in sea
levels, volcanic activity and
biodiversity, before reaching a
conclusion that the asteroid
was the prime cause.
6. Biggest ivory
market in US after
China: experts
(Page 9)
a) International trade
b) Environment
a) Biodiversity a) Global sales of ivory are
declining the numbers of one of
the worlds largest and most
important mammals - the
African elephant.
b) Chinatown is one the top
spots to buy ivory in the US,
which ranks second behind
China on the list of nations with
biggest ivory markets.
c) According to regulators
and wildlife conservationists,
the International Ivory Trade is
the primary funding source for
many terrorist groups.

Daily News Analysis 30-07-2014
1.

Nuclear energy,
trade top Kerry s
agenda (Pages 1 and
12)
a) I.R a) Indo-US relations
b) Indo-US nuclear issues
a) Nuclear and trade issues are
the major agenda of talks as US
Secretary of State John Kerry
lands here for the Indo-US
Strategic Dialogue.
b) Discussed defence purchases
that the US is pushing, including
helicopters, missiles, and ultra-
light howitzer guns, are expected
to be positive.
c) Trade has been blocked over
US concerns on Indias suppliers
liability law. India has already
been able to cross similar
problems with France and Russia.
d) He will also discuss climate
change, clean energy, visa issues
and cooperation on terror.
2. Greens oppose
Australian nod for
Adani project (Page
12)
a) I.R a) India Australia relations
b) World Heritage sites
c) Great Barrier Reef
d) Brigalow woodlands
e) Marne park
a) Australian government gave
environmental approval to Adani
Mining for the Carmichael Coal
Mine and Rail Infrastructure
Project in Queenslands Galilee
basin.
b) The mine is expected to
provide 60 million tonnes of coal,
which will be transported to the
Adani-operated Abbot Point coal
port along Australias eastern coast
by rail and then shipped to India.
c) Greenpeace said the project
would require clearing of the
endangered Brigalow woodlands,
consume huge amounts of water,
threaten the endangered black-
throated finch and other marine
life, spike fossil fuel emissions and
clear three million cubic metres of
seabed from inside the World
Heritage Area and dump it in the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
3. Gaurav Gogoi urges
Centre to speed up
a) National a) Brahmaputra
b) water sharing disputes with
a) Suggested to speed up the
hydropower and various
projects on
Brahmaputra (Page
9)
China
c) Hydropower projects
d) Ganga
infrastructure projects on the
Brahmaputra so that India can
maintain its equitable user rights
over the rivers water whenever the
country entered any agreement
with China on sharing water.
b) He further said that the safety
of the dams of such hydropower
projects must be ensured.
4. Global nuclear
power contribution
falls to lowest since
1980s (Page 14)
a) I.R
b) Economy
a) NPT
b) Nuclear agreements
c) Fukushima nuclear disaster
a) Nuclear share of global
power generation has fallen to 10.8
percent down from a high of 17.6
percent in 1996 and the lowest
since the 1980s following the
shutdown of Japans reactors after
the Fukushima disaster.
b) The estimation is one of the
main conclusions of the World
Nuclear Industry Status Report
2014.
5. Opportunity sets the
record for off-Earth
roving (Page 18)
a) S&T a) Opportunity
b) Red planet
c) Mars missions
a) NASAs Mars rover,
Opportunity which landed on the
Red Planet in 2004 is now the
record holder of the off-Earth
roving distance after accruing 40
kilometres of driving. The
previous record was held by the
Soviet Unions Lunokhod 2 rover.
b) The rover had driven more
than 32 km before arriving at
Endeavour Crater in 2011, where it
has examined outcrops on the
craters rim containing clay and
sulphate-bearing minerals.
c) The sites are providing
evidence of ancient environments
with less acidic water than those
examined at Opportunity landing
site.
6. Contact re-
established with
Russian satellite
carrying geckos
(Page 18)
a) S&T a) Photon-M satellite
b) geckos
a) Russia space agency lost
contact last week with a Photon-M
satellite carrying five of the lizards
for an experiment on
weightlessness and sexual
behavior. The satellite was
launched from Kazakhstans
Baikonur cosmodrome.

Daily News Analysis 31
ST
JULY 2014

b) Sources said when it was left
floating in space after the loss of
contact; the geckos (four females
and one male) would likely die of
hunger within two-and-half
months, predicting that the satellite
would eventually fall out of orbit.
7. White tigress gives
birth to a black cub
(Page 18)
a) Environment a) Biodiversity
b) Melanistic tiger
c) Biological Parks in India
a) Nandakanan Biological Park
authorities declared that the zoo
was first in the country to have a
melanistic (black) tiger cub born in
captivity
1.

Move ahead on
trade: US (Pages
1,9 and 10)
a) I.R a) Indo US relations
b) Doha Round
c) WTO
a) US officials on the Indo-
US strategic dialogue saying
the US was very disappointed
with India moving backwards
on its WTO commitments.
b) As the deadline for India
to sign on to the Doha Round
of trade talks expires in the
next two days, he urged India
to sign the agreement, which
India opposes unless it is
followed by an agreement that
allows developing countries to
subsidise food grains.
c) Security and cyber
security are the major agenda
at the strategic dialogue.
2. Amazon now lines
up $2 billion fresh
investment in India
(Page 13)
a) Economy a) Amazon
b) Flipkart
c) e-commerce
d) FDI
a) Global online retailer
Amazon said that it would
invest as much as $2 billion in
India to support its fast growth
and to strengthen customer
and seller experience. It was
announced after the flipkart
picked up a huge $1 billion in
funding,
b) It believed that the Indian
e-commerce market worth will
be $50 billion by 2020, up from
the current $2-3 billion right
now.
c) Amazon entered in India
with an online market place as
Indian law does not allow the
company to sell its own goods
a year ago and has been
expanding since then.
3. A need to turn the
corner on child
health (Page 9)
a) Health a) WHO
b) NRHM
c) Indias UIP
d) UN Millennium
Development Goals
e) Rotavirus
f) Japanese Encephalitis
g) IPV
h) OPV
i) ORS
a) In 2002, almost 14 lakh
Indian children under the age
of five died due to preventable
diseases including pneumonia,
diarrhoea and measles.
b) The official estimate of
the countrys under-five
mortality rate is 56 per 1000
live births in 2012. This shows
that India is far behind from
achieving its millennium
development goal of 42 per
1000 live births by 2015.
c) On July 3 2014, the BJP
govt decided to introduce
rotavirus vaccine, rubella
vaccine and Inactivated
Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV) into
Indias Universal Immunisation
Programme (UIP) making the
vaccines available to all
children.
d) Rotavirus causes rapidly
developing diarrhoea which
can quickly lead to severe
dehydration and death,
especially if children do not
receive the appropriate care
such as Oral Rehydration
Solution (ORS) and/or
intravenous hydration.
e) High levels of safe and
effective vaccination with both
Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and
IPV are needed. A recent
study showed that IPV also
helps increase the
effectiveness of OPV vaccine.
4. Sea state
forecasts improve
vessels
operational safety
at ports (Page 15)
a) S&T a) INCOIS
b) Ports in Indian coastline
c) Super computer
d) currents
a) Based on a set of models
run on super computers,
scientists from the Indian
National Centre for Ocean
Information Services (INCOIS)
are currently providing the
predictions to 12 major and 64
of the 200 minor ports along
the Indian coastline.
b) Critical information on
sea state conditions like
currents, winds, waves and

ST
AUGUST 2014
swell plays a crucial role in
entry and exit of vessels at
ports, be it a small fishing boat
or a huge oil tanker.
c) The real time data from
coastal observation systems
like wave rider buoys,
automatic weather stations,
coastal radars, deep-sea
moored buoys and satellite
altimeter data were being used
for validation of the forecast
products and improve their
quality.
5. Milky Way
weighed (Page
15)
a) S&T a) Milky Way
b) Andromeda
c) Galaxy
a) The Milky way was found
to contain only half the mass
of its neighbour Andromeda,
which has a similar spiral
structure to our own.
b) Andromeda is more
massive than the Milky Way
but weighting both galaxies
simultaneously proved to be
very challenging.
c) The scientists estimate
that the Milky Way contains
nearly half as much dark
matter as its neighbouring
galaxy, though the two are of
similar dimensions.
1.

Indias stand on
TFA unchanged
(Pages 1 and 11)
b) TFA
c) Bali text
d) WTO
a) WTO members are taking
up the Trade Facilitation
Agreement protocol in Geneva
on last night. India refused to
ratify the TFA at the WTO
General Council meeting last
week due to dissatisfaction with
progress on the work
programme.
b) India wants unambiguous
text on a lasting interim peace
clause as the Bali text can be
clarified to imply that it will not
be available after 2017.
2. More trouble over
Kousar Nag yatra
(Page 7)
a) National a) Kousar Nag
b) Valleys of Kashmir
c) Hurriyat Conference
a) The Hurriyat Conference
faction led by the radical
separatist leader Syed Ali Shah
Geelani has claimed that the
proposal of starting a fresh
Hindu pilgrimage to Kousar
Nag was an Israeli-type plan of
occupying the Valleys land and
transforming Kashmir into a
hub of the Hindu religious
tourism.
b) Kousar Nag serves as
source to the Aharbal waterfall
and Veshav stream that
irrigates agriculture lands and
apple-rich orchards in Shopian,
Kulgam and Anantnag district in
the Valley.
c) J&K government has
withdrawn permission for the
yatra from the Kulgam-Aharbal
side after demonstrations.
3. Centre advises
vigilance on realty
purchases by
foreign nationals
(page 11)
a) National
b) Economy
a) FEMA a) The Ministry clarified that
as per the FEMA provisions; an
Indian citizen resident outside
India and a Person of Indian
Origin resident outside India
may have immovable property
in India other than agricultural
land, plantation or a farm
house.
b) A foreign company which
has established a Branch Office
or other place of business in
India can buy immovable
property in India which is
necessary for or incidental to
carrying on such activity.
4. Financial Inclusion
Mission to be big
1-Day
announcement
(Page 10)
a) National
b) Economy
a) Financial Inclusion
b) GDP
a) On Independence Day,
PM will launch the Financial
Inclusion Mission to ensure that
every household in India has
access to banking services
such as savings accounts,
credit, remittances, insurance
and pension.
b) At present, more than 40
percent of Indian households
do not have access to banking
services. The Programmes
objective is to ensure that a
minimum two members of each
of these 7.5 crore households
at least have savings bank
accounts.
c) The multilevel outreach
will be undertaken through
ATMs, banking correspondents,
branches and other banking
platforms.

ND
AUGUST 2014
5. The humble
brinjals Bt moment
(Page 9)
a) National
b) S&T
a) GM crop
b) GEAC
c) Bt cotton
d) Bt brinjal
e) IARI
a) In 2010, the Minister for
Environment and Forests had
rejected the recommendations
of the statutory GEAC and
imposed a ban on the
commercialisation of Bt brinjal
the first genetically modified
food crop sought to be sold in
the markets.
b) M.S. Swaminathan had
suggested that two steps be
taken prior to approval
Cataloguing and conservation
of the existing genetic variability
in brinjal; and A careful study of
the long-term effects of Bt
brinjal on humans.
c) It will be in the national
interest to complete these two
steps before a decision on the
release of Bt brinjal for
commercial cultivation and
human consumption is taken.
6. Sharp jump in core
sector growth
(pages 1 and 14)
a) Economy a) GDP
b) IIP
a) Getting healthy growth in
cement and electricity, the eight
core industries increased to a
nine-month high of 7.3 percent
in June, indicating signs of
economic improvement.
b) Growth in the
infrastructure sector, which has
a combined weight of 38
percent in the Index of
Industrial Production, was 1.2
percent in June 2013.
1.

WTO talks fail as
India firm on farm
subsidy (Pages 1
and 10)
a) I.R a) WTO
b) TFA
c) Bali text
d) Food subsidy
e) Poverty
a) After the WTO failed to
agree on a TFA or global
customs rules following Indian
opposition, officials said India
would push for a permanent
peace clause for subsidy on
agriculture until a final solution
was found.
b) India opposed the TFA
because there has been no
progress in the WTO
community agreeing to a
permanent solution to public
stockholding for food security.
This essentially means
addressing the problem of
WTO limiting subsidies to 10
percent of the total value of
agricultural production based
on 1986-88 prices.
c) As the trade talks collapsed
in Geneva, Modi highlighted
that developed countries
needed to understand the
challenges of poverty and
government responsibilities in
addressing the issue.
2. GMR to sign pact
for power project in
Nepal (Pages 8
and 10)
b) 1950 Indo Nepal
Treaty of Peace and
Friendship
c) Mahakali river
d) SAARC
a) Nepal govt would sign the
much-delayed project
development agreement (PDA)
for the 900MW Upper Karnali
hydropower project with the
Indian multinational GMR,
during Modis visit.
b) The joint declaration
issued at the end of Ms.
Swarajs visit specified
prioritisation of the
Pancheshwar Multipurpose
Project on the Mahakali river
that borders India and Nepal.
c) Madhes-based parties
have suggested Koirala to sign
the PDA with GMR, sign a
power trade agreement and
enter into other agreements
with India including completing
the postal highway through
Madhes.
3. Army Chief warns
Pakistan against
provocation (Page
10)
a) National
b) I.R
a) Indian Army
b) Indo Pak border
issues
c) LOC
a) In a brief message to
Pakistan, the new Army chief
General Dalbir Singh said that
the response to any pressure
by Pakistan along the border
would be more than enough,
severe and immediate.
b) Promising that he would
ensure that soldiers were
always motivated and given the
latest weapons and equipment,
He said his priority would be to
increase the operational
preparedness and the
effectiveness of the Army.
c) Force modernization,
infrastructure development,
optimization of human
resources, welfare of serving
personnel and ex-servicemen
are issues that he identified as
close to his heart.
4. UK plans 300m.
genome project
(Page 13)
a) Health and S&T a) Genome
b) DNA
c) Genetic diseases
a) A four-year project with an
investment of 300 million in
genome research that
undertakes to transform the
way cancer and other rare
genetic diseases will be
identified and treated.
b) The Genomes Project
aims to sequence the genomes
of 100,000 NHS patients who
suffer from cancer and less
known genetic disorders by
2017.
c) Understanding humanity
genetic code is not only going
to be fundamental to the
medicine of the future. It is an
important part of medicine
today. In rare natural diseases,
in cancer and in infections,
genomic understandings are
already transforming diagnosis
and treatment.
5. Area under Kharif
crops comes down
(Page 10)
a) National
b) Geography
a) Kharif crops
b) Kharif crop regions in
India
c) Southwest monsoon
d) El-nino
a) The area under kharif
crops is lower by 114.2 lakh
hectares due to the delayed
and irregular south-west
monsoon. The increasing
rainfall in the country till July 30
was 23 percent below the long
period average.
b) Official statistics estimated
that the total area under Kharif
crops was 706.25 lakh hectares
as compared with 820.47 lakh
hectares sown last year.
6. Out of the Amazon
wild (Page 18)
a) History
b) Geography
a) Amazon
b) Envira river
c) Amazon tribes
a) Isolated native people
wearing loincloths and carrying
bows and arrows have
appeared from the Amazon
rainforest and made contact
with the outside world in a
video released.
b) The video shows local
people from the Panoan
linguistic group making contact
with the Ashaninka native
people of northern Brazil along
the banks of the Envira River,
near the Peruvian border.
c) The Brazilian Amazon has
the largest number of
uncontacted tribes in the world
at 77.

RD
AUGUST 2014
7. Now, a see-
through mouse
(Page 18)
a) S&T a) Clarity
b) DNA
a) Scientists have
transformed a mouse into a
clear creature that can give
them a clearer view of the body
tissues for research. With the
technique called CLARITY, the
body of the mouse has been
provided very clearer.
b) The method involves a
water-based gel and detergents
and can reveal all of animals
organs from its brain to its
kidneys while keeping them
whole.
1.

Nepal hopes Modi
visit will renew ties
(Pages 1 and 8)
b) UNSC
c) SAARC
a) An Indian draft that
suggested an integrated
approach to Nepals power
development including
hydropower and other forms of
renewable energy was heavily
criticised and forcing Indian
officials to issue a clarification.
b) Nepal would draw Modis
attention to duties imposed by
India on its goods exporting for
Indias markets. Nepal exports
garments, vegetable fat,
vegetable ghee and copper.
c) Nepal officials said that
India has requested and got
Nepals support in its effort for
Permanent membership in
UNSC, but it needs to
restructure its relations with its
neighbours.
d) He further said Nepal
should also forward a draft of
the new treaty of friendship and
peace by considering realities
of the modern times.
2. UN criticises
deportation of
Pakistanis (Page
12)
a) I.R a) UNHCR
b) Sri Lanka internal issues
a) The UN refugee agency
has expressed deep concern
over recent expulsion of
Pakistani asylum-seekers from
Sri Lanka, urging authorities to
verify their responsibilities
under international law.
b) The UNHCR said that the
expulsion goes against the
principle of no forced return, or
non-refoulement, expressed in
international customary law.
c) UNHCR is shocked by
these actions of the Govt of Sri
Lanka and said that the
developments came from
discussions with External
Affairs and Defence Ministries.
d) According to the UNHCR
as many as 214 Pakistanis and
Afghans have been arrested till
date and held in two detention
centers in Sri Lanka.
3. Big push for inland
waterways (Page
8)
a) National
b) Economy
a) Inland waterways in
India
b) Ganga-Hooghly
waterway
c) World Bank
a) The government will give
a final push to make the
Ganga-Hooghly waterway
navigable for freight movement
by competing for a World Bank
loan of up to $1 billion or about
6000 crores.
b) Developing inland
waterways is a key agenda for
the NDA government as it
attempts to remove
communication bottlenecks and
open up options for high
volume transport.
c) The government wants to
follow China which has been
building up an inland waterway
network from its resources and
World Bank funding.
4. Weather
communication
system vital for
Uttarakhand (Page
9)
a) National a) IMD
b) Weather communication
system
c) ICIMOD
d) Floods
e) Flood prone regions in
India
f) Climate change
a) A simple device consisting
of a sensor attached to a pole
can save lives in case of floods.
This sensor device connected
wirelessly is placed in the river
and it beeps when the water
level rises above the danger
mark.
b) In June 2013, this early
flood warning system saved
many villagers and their
livestock on the banks of Jiadal
river in Lakhimpur, Assam. But
one year after the destruction in
Uttarakhand, the state is yet to
put in place this effective all-
weather communication system
with last mile connectivity.
c) This technology was
developed by ICIMOD which
was working with the Indian
Institute of Technology,

TH
AUGUST 2014
Guwahati to achieve best
results.
d) The innovation has also
been submitted to the United
Nations Framework.
5. Indias first moored
observatory
deployed in Arctic
(Page 9)
a) S&T a) IndARC
b) Indias observatories in
Arctic and Artarctic
c) ESSO-NIOT
d) ESSO-NCAOR
e) INCOIS
a) Indias first multi-sensor
fasten observatory IndARC was
successfully placed in
Kongsfjorden Fjord of the Arctic
roughly halfway between North
Pole and Norway on July 23.
b) This observatory designed
and developed by Earth
System Science Organisation-
National Institute of Ocean
Technology (ESSO-NIOT)
Chennai and ESSO-National
Centre for Antarctic and Ocean
Research (NCAOR) with ESSO
Indian National Centre for
Ocean Information Services
(INCOIS) Hyderabad was
deployed from the Norwegian
Polar Institutes research vessel
R.V. Lance.
1.

Modi offers $1
billion package to
Nepal (Pages 1
and 10)
b) Pancheswar
Multipurpose Project
c) Doordarshan
a) He announced $1 billion
line of credit for Nepals
infrastructure development.
Also promised to help Nepal in
the field of hydropower,
infrastructure, space
technology and agriculture.
b) He assured that the work
on the Pancheshwar
Multipurpose Project would
begin in a year.
c) In the presence of the two
Prime Ministers, the officials
signed three memoranda of
understanding Tourism
development in Nepal, Goitre
Control Programme in Nepal,
and co-operation between the
state-controlled television
channels Doordarshan and
Nepal Television (NTV). They
also exchanged terms of
reference on the Pancheshwar
Development Authority.
2. India plays
spoilsport at WTO
a) I.R a) WTO a) India is receiving a lot of
criticism for its stance at the
(Pages 8 and 15) b) Economy b) Bali declaration
c) TFA
just-concluded meeting of the
WTO General Council in
Geneva.
b) An agreement on trade
facilitation (TFA), which is
aimed at easing customs rules
and simplifying procedures,
was reached at the
9
th
Ministerial Round in Bali in
December last year after the
developed world agreed to find
a permanent solution to the
issue of stockpiling of food
grains by the developing
countries by 2017.
c) India, which supports the
TFA, has questioned the
current limit of trade distorting
subsidy which is 10 percent of
the value of food grains output
in a year with the base year for
prices set at 1986-88. Its
position is that the limit does
not account for inflation and
currency depreciation and the
base year needs to be reset to
a later period.
d) This is a fair argument as
it concerns the critical issue of
food security for a country that
is home to a quarter of the
worlds hungry.
e) The Bali ministerial
declaration has three major
issues a Trade Facilitation
Agreement (TFA); an
agreement to find a permanent
solution for food subsidies and
stocking of foodgrains by 2017;
and an action plan for the least
developed countries.
3. Black economy
now amounts to
75% of GDP
(Pages 1 and 10)
a) National
b) Economy
a) GDP
b) Black money
c) NIPFP
d) Supreme Court
a) Indias black economy
could now be nearly three-
quarters the size of its reported
GDP mainly by the higher
education sector, real estate
deals and mining income.
b) The UPA government
commissioned the National
Institute of Public Finance and
Policy (NIPFP) to estimate the
black money in India and held
overseas by Indians.
c) The Special Investigation
Team on black money,
constituted by the Modi govt in
compliance with a Supreme
Court directive, is studying the
report.
d) It includes a survey of 72
senior income tax officials on
the sectors with high tendency
to generate black. The
respondents considered the
capital gains on real estate as
the most important source
followed by large-scale
manufacturing, film industry,
smuggling and
under/overbilling of foreign
trade.
4. Bihar faces Kosi
flood threat (Page
11)
a) National
b) Geography
a) Kosi river
b) Bhote Kosi
c) Saptkosi
d) Floods
e) Sashastra Seema Bal
a) With fears of severe
flooding on the Kosi river banks
from the possibility of sudden
release of water from Bhote
Kosi(a tributary of Kosi in
Nepal), the Bihar government
gave a high alert and ordered
forcible shifting of people from
nine districts in the danger
zone.
b) Bhote Kosi falls into
Saptkosi which meets the Kosi
in Bihar.
c) The government has put
on alert troops of Sashastra
Seema Bal even as paramilitary
forces have moved its critical
equipment and material to
interior areas from the border.
5. Making judiciary
more transparent
(Page 8)
a) Judiciary a) Constitution
Amendment Bill
b) Judicial Appointments
Commission Bill
c) JAC
d) Supreme Court
e) High court
f) Article 146
g) Article 229
h) Chief Justice of India
i) Consolidated Fund of
India
a) The new government has
started a process of
consultation in relation to two
Bills the Constitution
Amendment Bill and the
Judicial Appointments
Commission Bill.
b) The bills were an attempt
by the previous government to
take over judicial appointments.
c) First, the composition of
the Judicial Appointments
Commission (JAC) can be
modified by Parliament by
ordinary law. Second, the
independence and impartiality
of the proposed JAC will be
undermined by the JAC
Secretariat being made a
department of government.
Third, the expenses and
salaries, etc of the JAC would
not be charged to the
Consolidated Fund of India and
will be dependent on budgetary
control by the Executive.
d) The Supreme Court and
High courts have their
independent registries, where
appointments are made by or at
the direction of Chief Justices
(Article 146 and Article 229
respectively), ensuring total
freedom from political
interference and political
domination.
6.

SC seeks latest
data on States
steps against
female foeticide
(Page 11)
a) Social issue a) Female foeticide
b) Census 2011
c) Supreme Court
d) Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Techniques Act 1994
e) Registration of Births
and Deaths Act 1969
a) The statement includes
cases of States such as Jammu
and Kashmir, which has seen
the severe drop in child sex
ratio in the past 20 years. In
comparison, it recommended
the Kerala online model of
transparency in birth
registration records.
b) Kerala is the first State to
have a centralized database of
civil registration records.
c) It also said that 19 percent
births remain unregistered in
India. That five million births in
our country are still not
registered is a violation of the
Registration of Births and
Deaths Act 1969.
7.

Titanium dioxide
plant a threat to
water sources
(page 5)
a) National
b) Environment
a) Titanium dioxide
b) Krishna river
c) Human carcinogen
a) Environmental experts
fear a threat to drinking water
sources in Vijayawada and
several villages in Krishna and
Guntur, West Godavari and
Prakasam districts due to the
proposed 700 crore titanium
dioxide plant on the banks of
Krishna river.
b) They said titanium dioxide
industry produced a large
amount of liquid emissions that
would finally get deposited in
Krishna, affecting the drinking
water sources of millions of
people.
c) Titanium dioxide was itself
a suspected human carcinogen
(Group 2B). For every tone of

TH
AUGUST 2014
titanium dioxide produced, on
an average 0.04kg of dust and
0.03kg oxides of Nitrogen were
produced during raw material
preparation.
8. Here a new
addition to the
dolphin family
(Page 7)
a) Geography a) Biodiversity
b) Australian humpback
dolphin
c) Sahul shelf
a) Scientists studying a
taxonomically confused group
of marine mammals have
officially named a species new
to science the Australian
humpback dolphin (Sousa
sahulensis).
b) The Australian humpback
is a common group of coastal
cetaceans ranging from the
coast of West Africa to the
northern coast of Australia.
c) Currently recognised four
humpback dolphin species
the Australian humpback, the
Atlantic humpback dolphin, the
Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin
and the Indian Ocean
humpback dolphin.
d) The new dolphin scientific
name is derived from the Sahul
Shelf, an underwater shelf
extending between northern
Australia and southern New
Guinea, where the Australian
humpback dolphin is found.
1.

Pro-monarchy
party wants India
to be neutral
(pages 1 and 10)
b) Nepals new Constitution
c) India Nepal power
development agreement
a) Nepals pro-monarchy and
pro-Hindu party leaders
requested Modi for Indias
neutrality on the Constitution-
writing in the Himalayan
country.
b) They have pointed out
that federalism, secularism and
republicanism are only
technical definitions and not yet
decided by the people. The
Constitution has not been
written yet. The Interim
Constitution of Nepal 2007
mentions Nepal as a federal
democratic rupublican and
secular state.
c) While speaking about the
Constitution-writing process,
Modi had highlighted that India
would not interfere in its maters
and would support the path
chosen by Nepal people.
d) One of the big
disappointments during Modis
visit has been the failure to sign
power trade and project
development agreements. But
both sides agreed to sign those
agreements within 45 days.
2. Cautious outlook
(Page 8)
a) I.R
b) Economy
a) Agriculture growth
b) OECD
c) FAO
d) Tenth five year plan
e) WTO
f) TFA
a) Agricultural Outlook 2014-
2023, a joint report of the
Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development
and the Food and Agriculture
Organisation with a special
analysis on India.
b) The estimation is for
sustained production and
consumption of agricultural
commodities in the country,
leading to increases in per
capita availability during the
next 10years, while resource
pressures may halt absolute
growth rates.
c) It is a reference to the rise
in public investment in
agriculture, massive increase in
credit flows and upgradation of
rural infrastructure, consequent
to important corrective
measures expected in the Mid-
Term Appraisal of the Tenth
Five-Year Plan.
d) The OECD-FAO report
also notes the important role of
Indias wide-ranging subsidies
and support prices for food
grains an issue that has
obtained huge currency in the
wake of New Delhi stance at
the WTO negotiations.
3. New Bill in Lok
Sabha to give
SEBI more teeth
(Page 12)
a) National
b) Economy
a) SEBI
b) Securities Laws
(Amendment) Bill 2014
c) Illegal investment
schemes
d) Lok Sabha
a) A Bill to further allow the
SEBI to check illegal
investment schemes, to call for
documents on organisations
under enquiry and provide for
constitution of special courts to
speedup the cases was
intruduced in the Lok Sabha.
b) The Securities Laws
(Amendment) Bill 2014 aims to
allow capital market watchdog

TH
AUGUST 2014

SEBI by giving powers such as
authority to search call data
records.
c) The objects and reasons
listed by the govt on the Bill are
to protect the interests of
investors and to ensure orderly
development of securities
markets.
d) Once the bill becomes an
Act, SEBI would have powers
to call for information not only
from the people or
organisations associated with
the securities market but also
from persons who are not
directly associated with the
securities market.
4. No action taken to
control oil pollution
in Nigeria (Page 9)
a) Environment a) Niger Delta
b) UNEP
c) Environmental
Devastation
d) Ogoniland
a) Nigeria and Shell have
not taken any measures to
reduce oil pollution in the
Ogoniland area of the Niger
Delta.
b) 3years ago, a UNEP
report said the area may
require the worlds biggest-ever
cleanup and called the oil
industry and Nigerian govt to
contribute $1 billion.
c) Environmental destruction
in Ogoniland has come to
represent the tragedy of
Nigerias huge oil wealth.
d) Nigeria returned to civilian
rule in 1999 after Abachas
death, but critics say the
governements elected since
have done little to improve
pollution in the Niger Delta.
1.

China trade a non-
issue: Koirala
(Pages 1 and 10)
b) Indo China disputes
c) China projects in Nepal
a) Nepals PM SushilKoirala
said that Indias concerns about
Chinas growing trade and
Infrastructure presence in
Nepal are ridiculous.
b) China has emerged as
Nepals largest investor, even
as rail and road links from Tibet
are expected to raise trade at
the cost of Indias goods.
2. Deepening energy
links (Page 1)
a) I.R a) Indo Nepal trade
b) SAARC
c) IPI pipeline project
d) TAPI pipeline project
a) India has decided to
improveNepals energy security
by agreeing to establish a two-
phased products pipeline,
which will eventually carry
petroleum products from
Raxaul in Bihar to Kathmandu.
b) The proposed pipeline is
part of a larger vision that
includes the possibility of a gas
pipeline from India to fuel
power plants in Nepal.
c) The initiative matches with
New Delhis decision to create
closer energy linkages with the
eight countries of the SAARC.
d) India has already decided
to build a pipeline channeling
diesel and kerosene to
Pakistan from its refinery in
Bhatinda.
3. India will convince
WTO: Minister
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) WTO
b) TFA
c) Bali declaration
a) The Minister stated that
India did not agree to the
Protocol of Amendment to TFA
without a commitment to find a
permanent solution on public
stockholding and on all other
Bali deliverables, including
those for the least developed
countries.
b) Australia has expressed
disappointment at Indiasnon-
acceptance to sign the TFA of
the WTO and saying the
development would delay
international trading system.
4. China General
visited disputed
region (Page 11)
a) I.R a) Indo China relations
a) Indo China disputed
border areas
c) Karakoram Pass
d) PangongTso lake
e) Depsang plains
f) Aksai chin region
a) He visited to the disputed
western section of the border
with India including stops to
inspect troops at two sites that
have been at the centre of
recent differences over
incursion incidents near the
Karakoram Pass and the
PangongTso lake.
b) Last month he visited to
inspect border troops in
Xinjiang and Tibet, including in
the Aksai Chin region claimed
by India.
c)
Shenxianwanborderdefence
company which located at the
north of the Karakoram Pass is
assigned with protecting the
area near Karakoram Pass and
the western sections of the
border east of Ladakh. This
eastern region is close to the
Depsang plains.
d) The responsibilities of the
water squadron(group of
warships), likely, include the
disputed PangongTso lake.
5. RBI holds policy
rates (Pages 1,8
and 15)
a) Economy a) RBI
b) Bank rate
c) Repo rate
d) Reverse repo rate
e) CRR
f) SLR
g) MSF
h) GDP
i) Inflation
j) CPI inflation
a) RBI has held policy rates
at current levels except
reduced the minimum bond
holding requirement by banks
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)
by 50 basis points from 22.5 to
22%.
b) The short-term indicative
lending rate (repo) will continue
at 8% and the CRR will remain
unchanged at 4%.
c)After raising the repo rate to
8% in Jan 2014, the RBI kept
the rate unchanged as the
inflationary pressures continued
at higher levels.
6.

A weak El Nino
and the monsoon
(Page 8)
a) Geography a) Southwest monsoon
b) El Nino
c) Pacific Ocean
d) Warm currents
e) Kharif crops
f) Kharif crop regions in
India
a) The development of El Nino
with surface waters of the
equatorial Pacific growing
warmer could take a charge on
the monsoon.
b) The rainfall deficit increased
and India received about 43
percent less rain than it should
normally in June.
c) The eastern Pacific remains
warmer than usual and current
estimations continue to indicate
that an El Nino.
d) An El Nino often leads to
an early withdrawal of the
monsoon and reduces the
rainfall received in September.
e) The poor rains in June
and July have already affected
agriculture with the area under
Kharif crops falling by about 14
percent when compared to last
year.

7.

Now college
students can intern
in government
(page 11)
a) National
b) Social
a) Internship Scheme
b) Social sector schemes
for unemployed youth
c) Census 2011
a) The Union Human
Resource Development
Ministry has evolved an
Internship Scheme that will
allow students from the
undergraduate level upwards to
work with officials in various
departments dealing with
education.
b) The scheme is designed
to involve students in
formulating policies and
implementing projects.
c) The MHRD Internship
Scheme is open to Indian
students doing degree,
postgraduate or research
studies in recognised
universities or institutions in
India and abroad.
8. Doordarshan is all
set to go global
(Page 10)
a) National
b) Tele communication
a) Doordarshan
b) PrasarBharati
c) DTH
d) Hotbird-13B
a) Doordarshan programmes
will soon be available across
Asia, Europe, North Africa and
Australia towards a
memorandum of understanding
signed by PrasarBharati with
German public service
broadcaster.
b) The programming will be
available on the DTH platform
of Hotbird-13B satellite.
9.

China to ban all
coal use in Beijing
by 2020 (Page 9)
a) Environment a) Greenhouse gases
b) Carbon emissions
c) Global warming
a) Chinas pollution-troubled
capital has announced plans to
ban the use of coal by the end
of 2020 as the country
strugglesdeadly levels of
pollution especially in major
cities and saying they would
instead prioritise electricity and
natural gas for heating.
b) Coal-fired power and
heating is a major generator of
greenhouse gases and has
graded China into the worlds
largest emitter of carbon and
other heat-trapping gases.
TH
AUGUST 2014
1.

Sushmas visit to
Myanmar this
weekend will have
SAARC focus
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) Indo Myanmar
relations
b) SAARC
c) ASEAN
d) ARF
e) NATO
f) FDI
g) India-Myanmar-Thailand
trilateral highway project
a) Unlike the visits to Bhutan,
Bangladesh and Nepal, visiting
Myanmar for multilateral
forums: attending the India
ASEAN Foreign Ministers
meeting for Foreign Ministers,
and the ASEAN Regional
Forum (ARF), that focuses on
security policy.
b) At the ARF, India is likely
to talk about the security
situation for the region after the
withdrawal of international
troops from Afghanistan this
year.
c) Talks will also focus on
trade between India and the
ASEAN countries, which
accounted for 12 percent of FDI
inflows.
d) The Ministers would
discuss the completion of the
multi-nodal transit transport link
between Kolkata, Sittwe and
Mizoram, as well as the India-
Thailand trilateral highway
under development.
2. BASIC Ministerial
Meeting on
Climate Change
from tomorrow
(Page 11)
a) I.R a) BASIC
b) UNFCCC
c) Durban conference
d) Carbon emissions
e) Global warming
a) The two-day BASIC
countries Ministerial Meeting
will be held in New Delhi to
discuss important issues
relating to the current UNFCCC
negotiations especially on
matters relating to the Ad Hoc
Working Group on the Durban
Platform.
3. Will poverty figures
drop after World
Banks revision of
PPP? (Page 11)
a) Economy
b) Social issue
a) World Bank
b) PPP
c) UN Millenium
Development Goals
d) Poverty index in India
a) World Bank has revised
the base year for the
International Comparison of
Prices from 2005 to 2011.
b) The ICP figures are used
along with other economic
variables from countries
national accounts to calculate
Purchasing Power Parities
(PPPs).
c) PPP is used worldwide to
compare the income levels in
different countries to check the
incidence of poverty and track
progress towards the Millenium
Development Goals and target
programmes effectively.
d) Currently the poverty line
of the World Bank at $1.25
would be revised in keeping
with the revised PPPs.
4. Unlocking fiscal
space to drive
inclusive growth
(Page 9)
a) International
b) Economy
a) Inclusive growth
b) ESCAP
c) Financial volatility
d) G20
a) The 2014 Economic and
Social Survey of Asia and the
Pacific, the publication of the
United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP) estimated
a third successive year of
growth below 6% in Asia-
Pacific developing economies.
b) Regional growth dynamics
are being influenced by
economic recovery in the
developed world, given the
weak implementation of
policies.
c) Financial volatility is a
major concern to India,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Russian Federation, Thailand
and Turkey where annual
growth could decline between
0.7 and 0.9 percent.
d) If the G20 continues to
delay implementation of its
commitments on trade
protectionism, Asia-Pacific
export growth will be impacted.
5. WTO imbroglio:
India not for
19886-87 as base
year (Page 10)
a) IR a) WTO
b) TFA
c) Bali declaration
a) India has offered fixing of
the base year for food
subsidies on the basis of
average of last three years, as
opposed to 1986-87 proposed
by WTO.
b) Several Least Developed
Countries as well as others
were appreciative of the stand
taken by India.
6.

Dark truths about
money (Page 8)
a) National
b) Economy
a) Black money
b) NIPFP
c) GDP
d) Poverty
e) Government subsidy
schemes
a) There are several
estimates of the black economy
and the amount of unaccounted
money stored abroad.
b) National Institute of Public
Finance and Policy (NIPFP)
reported the size of the parallel
economy at 75 percent of GDP.
c) The NIPFP study has
identified four major counts of
black money. Three of them
Poverty transactions, Mining
Business and Private Education
choose themselves
straightaway.
d) The fourth one Diversion
from government subsidy
schemes which is the
surprise package in the NIPFP
report.
7.

International
concern (Page 15)
a) Health and S&T a) Ebola
b) Zaire ebolavirus
a) The current outbreak of
Ebola virus disease which can
produce bleeding in sufferers
and is capable of killing large
proportion started in the west
African nation of Guinea in
December last year.
b) There are five species of
Ebolavirus, four of which cause
disease in humans. The other
one responsible for the
outbreak is Zaire ebolavirus,
which has the highest death
rate (about 60 to 90 percent).
c) Fruit bats are believed to
be the natural host for the virus.
d) The first Ebolavirus
outbreak occurred
simultaneously in 1976 in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
and Sudan.
8. How deep-water
Sharks see (Page
15)
a) S&T
b) Geography
a) Biodiversity
b) Aquatic habitats
c) Photoreceptor cells
a) The marine pelagic zone
is one of the largest aquatic
habitats on Earth. The stretch
between 200 and 1,000 metres
deep is called the mesopelagic
zone named as twilight zone for
the sufficient amount of sunlight
it gets.
b) Shark species are the only
animals using hormones to
control their luminescence.
They are also animals with the
highest number of light-emitting
organs.
c) Important among their
discoveries is that of a novel
colourless tissue in the upper
eye orbit of lantern sharks. The
sharks were also found to have
a gap between the lens and the
iris which allows extra light to
fall on the retina.

TH
AUGUST 2014

d) They also found that
deep-sea sharks have a higher
density of photoreceptor cells
(called rods) in their eyes than
non-bioluminescent sharks
likely giving them improved
temporal resolution, i.e. better
ability to detect fast moving
objects.
e) This would be particularly
useful for bioluminescent
communication in the deep-sea
1.

BASIC meets to
plan strategy
before Lima
climate talks (Page
10)
a) I.R a) BASIC
b) Lima climate talks
c) Green Climate Fund
d) UNFCCC
e) carbon emissions
f) Global warming
a) Ministers of the BASIC
countries met to form a
common ground before the
next round of climate talks in
Lima this year end.
b) Indian minister highlighted
the need for capitalisation of
the Green Climate Fund.
c) The BASIC plays a key
role in what goes into the draft
agreement after 2020 and one
of the debates is on the
Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions which each
country has to present before
March next year.
d) While the BASIC and
other groups believe that
cutting carbon emissions alone
will not help, the major
developed countries think
otherwise.
2. Pakistan corporate
leaders for better
trade ties (Page
10)
a) I.R a) Indo Pak trade
b) MFN status
c) IPJBF
d) SAARC
a) Co-chair of the India
Pakistan Joint Business Forum
(IPJBF) told that bilateral trade
had remained unchanged even
after India granted the Most
Favoured Nation (MFN) status
to Pakistan.
b) India granted MFN status
to Pak in 1996 but since then
80 percent of business has
gone to India.
c) India has signed trade
agreements with all its
neighbours but India and
Pakistan keep rotating within
the SAARC which has not been
very effective.
d) IPJBF established in 2013
is a private sector body
consisting top business leaders
of both countries and has been
notified by governments of both
India and Pakistan. It submits a
joint report to the governments
of both countries.
3. Hagel visit to form
base for revival of
defence ties (Page
11)
a) I.R a) Indo US defence
agreements
b) DPB
a) Diplomatic sources said
discussions on the purchase of
15 Chinook heavy lift and 22
Apache helicopters are
important for coming of US
Defence Secretary Hagels visit.
b) The Defence Procurement
Board (DPB) is set to take a
call on the contracts worth $2.5
billion.
c) Discussions on the
procurement of 145 M-777
ultra-light howitzers appear to
be difficult.
4. Vulnerability and
well-being (Page
8)
a) UN HDR 2014
b) HDI
c) Hurricane Katrina
d) Fukushima nuclear
disaster
e) UNDPs
Multidimensional Poverty
Index
a) The 2014 Human
Development Report is more
innovative in that for the first
time it calculates the gender
development index
independently of reference to
males.
b) The 2004 Asian Tsunami,
the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, the
2007-2008 food, financial and
banking collapse, and the 2011
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
disaster preceded by an
earthquake and others have
brought humanity closer as it
struggles with a common issue
by climate change and
globalisation.
c) 1.5 billion people in 91
developing countries live with
similardifficulties in health,
education and standard of
living, as per the UNDPs
Multidimensional Poverty Index.
d) Ranking 135
th
out of 187
countries on the Human
Development Index, India could
reduce many of the challenges
by creating universal access to
health care, a more vibrant
primary education system, and
ensuring respect and protection
for womens freedom and
dignity.
5. Building smart
cities without
energy (Page 9)
a) National
b) Economy

a) GDP
b) Fossil fuel
c) carbon emissions
d) Poverty
a) Since 2000, Indias energy
consumption has grown at 7
percent per annumkeeping
pace with GDP growth.
b) Coal contributes 60
percent of the fossil fuel that
India consumes. The country
has the fifth largest coal
reserves in the world.
c) Replacing oil and gas with
coal will increase atmospheric
CO2 quickly,and green and
nuclear energies cannot
replace fossil fuels.
d) Indias greater
dependence on fossil fuels
makes its economy less energy
efficient and more polluting
resulting less per capita energy
available for poverty alleviation.
6. Govt keen on
judges bill this
session (Page 10)
a) Polity
b) Judiciary
a) NJAC
b) JAC
c) SC
d) HC
e) CJI
a) More consideration is
required before final approval is
given to new procedures to
appoint Supreme Court and
High Court judges by setting up
a National Judicial
Appointments Commission
(NJAC).
b) NJAC will require
constitutional amendments to
existing provisions for the
appointment of judges on the
SC and HCs.
c) According to the new
proposals, the NJAC will be
headed by the CJI and will
consists two judges of SC, the
Law Minister and two important
persons.
d) These new amendment
would also help in the
withdrawal of the Judicial
Appointments Commission Bill
2013, currently pending in
Rajya Sabha.
7.

Joy, Scepticism
over lower age of
culpability (Page
11)
a) Judiciary
b) Social issue
a) Juvenile Justice Act
b) UNICEF
a) The Centers decision to
amend the Juvenile Justice Act
to treat those in the 16-18 age
groups as adults in case of
horrible crimes such as rape

TH
AUGUST 2014
c) Child rights
d) Nirbhay Act
got qualified support from the
Congress and AamAadmi Party
but came in for sharp criticism
from civil society groups.
b) UNICEF described it as a
real step back. Its country
Representative said worldwide
evidence shows that the
process of judicial rejection or
transfer of juvenile cases to
adult courts has not resulted in
reduction of crime or recidivism.
Instead, investments in a
working system of treatment
and rehabilitation of children
have led to better results in
reducing recidivism.
8. Reserve Bank
proposes anytime
anywhere bill
payment system
(Page 13)
a) Economy a) RBI
b) BPPS
a) RBI issued draft
guidelines for the
implementation of Bharat Bill
Payment System (BPPS).
b) The objective of the BBPS
is to implement an integrated
bill payment system across the
country and offer interoperable
and accessible bill payment
service to customers through a
network of agents, enabling
multiple payment modes and
providing instant confirmation of
payment.
9. Ebola death toll
nears 1000 ( Page
12)
a) Health a) Ebola
b) Zaire ebolavirus
c) ZMapp
a) A fast-spreading Ebola
epidemic sparked a state of
emergency in West African
nations as the death toll nears
1000.
b) They have shown signs of
improvement after being given
an experimental drug known as
ZMapp, which is hard to
produce on a large scale.
1.

Developed nations
must walk the talk
on climate goals
(Page 11)
a) I.R a) BASIC
b) Kyoto Protocol
c) Green Climate Fund
d) UNFCCC
e) carbon emissions
a) BASIC proposed joint
action on various issues
including emission targets and
other plans to be set out by
next year.
b) The finalisation of the text
for next years Paris climate
summit should be ready a year
ahead by the climate talks at
f) Global warming Lima this year end.
c) Indian minister said all
countries should sign the
second commitment period of
the Kyoto Protocol quickly and
there should be full
operationalization of the Green
Climate Fund. Under the
Durban Platform, the countries
were expected to increase their
targets on emission cuts but
that is not happening, with
some like Japan reducing their
targets.
d) They expressed serious
concerns on the low level of
reductiontargets of developed
countries and expressed
disappointment over lack of
clear road map for providing
$100 billion per year by
developed countries by 2020
for the Green Climate Fund.
2. Modi-Hagel talks
focus on
Afghanistan and
terror (Pages 1
and 10)
b) Indo US defence
framework agreement
c) Iraq situation
d) Afghanistan issue
e) ISI
f) NATO
a) Modi and US Secretary
Hagel discussed geopolitical
issues including the situation in
Iraq and the post-poll deadlock
in Afghanistan, while agreeing
to increase cooperation in the
Indian Ocean and the wider
Asia-Pacific region.
b) US secretary said the US
wanted to be a partner in Indias
military modernisation and
recongnisedIndias need to
strengthen its defence-
industrial base.
c) Delegation-level talks
between the two sides agreed
to renew the Indo-US defence
framework agreement before it
expired in July 2015.
3. India, Pakistan
must negotiate
FTAs (Page 10)
b) IPJBF
c) FTA
d) MFN
a) Visiting co-chair of India-
Pakistan Joint Business Forum
(IPJBF) said that the two
neighbours should consider
negotiating Free Trade
Agreements (FTAs).
b) He also expressed the
hope that Islamabad would
soon grant the MFN status to
India as the formalities on the
matter had already been
completed. Pakistan is yet to
respond toIndias grant of MFN
status to it in 1996.
c) There is need to address
issues relating to market
access, tariff and non-tariff
barriers. Innovative proposals
and ideas may also be
discussed which can help
create economic inter-
dependence between the two
countries.
d) Bilateral trade between
India and Pakistan reached
$2.6 billion in 2012-13. India
exports sugar, manmade
filaments and chemicals to
Pakistan.
4. Amending juvenile
law (Page 8)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) Juvenile Justice Act
b) UN Convention of the
Rights of Child
c) National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights
d) Nirbhay Act
a) The idea of taking out an
exception in the Juvenile
Justice Act for children between
the ages of 16 and 18 when
they are accused of rape,
murder, and other serious
offences is completely
negative.
b) Union Cabinets approval
for legislative changes that
would allow juvenile justice
boards to determine whether
cases involving children of this
age group can be transferred to
a criminal court is an
inappropriate treatment for the
problem of juveniles committing
serious offences.
c) The age has been fixed in
law based on studies on child
and adolescent behaviour and
the UN Convention of the
Rights of the Child.
d) The main object of
juvenile law is to protect the
scope for rehabilitation and
prevent recidivism among
young criminals.
e) The National Commission
for Protection of Child Rights
has noted that the bill
expresses fundamental
principles for the care,
protection, rehabilitation and
justice for children.
5. Researchers
unravel more of
Western Ghats
a) Biodiversity a) Biodiversity a) Scientists have reported a
new fish species and
rediscovered a rare tree have

TH
AUGUST 2014
diversity (Page 18) b) Geography

b) Western Ghats
c) Biodiversity hotspots
d) Endangered species
indicating the rich, unexplored
biodiversity of the Western
Ghats.
b) While the new species of
freshwater fish was reported
from the Kabani river in
Wayanad, Kerala, the rare tree
was rediscovered from the
Muthikulam High Value
Biodiversity Area.
c) Pristolepispentacantha is
the new fish species. The name
pentacantha is a Greek word
referring to the five spines in
the anal fin of the fish. While
the body is grayish green, the
dorsal fin is reddish orange in
colour.
d) The tree Gnidiaglauca var.
sisparensi considered a
powerful vesicant (producing
severe blisters) and hence
used as fish poison. The stem,
leaf and flowers also have anti-
diabetic properties. The tree is
found only in upper grassland
areas. It produces yellow
flowers from September to
December.
1.

Hagel sees need
to jointly develop
defence equipment
(Page 1)
b) Indo US defence ties
c) Afghanistan situation
d) NATO
a) No agreements were
announced during his visit but
the US is hopeful of concluding
sales of Apache and Chinook
helicopters, M777 howitzer
guns and other equipment to
cover about $10 billion of
defence deals over the past
decade.
b) Hagel said the US was
setting a pilot plan to co-
produce and co-develop
Javelin infra-red-guided
antitank missiles.
c) He said the US
recognisesIndias role in
regional security on
Afghanistan.
d) The Afghan situation after
the troop withdrawal was a key
part of the discussion between
Hagel and Modi.
2. Sushma to visit
China for trilateral
meet this month
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) India Russia China
trilateral realations
b) ASEAN
c) South China Sea
a) She will visit Beijing to
participate in the annual
trilateral meeting with Russia
and China.
b) Besides China, she held
meetings with the Foreign
ministers of Australia, Brunei,
Canada, Indonesia, Philippines
and Vietnam.
c) With her Australian
counterpart, She discussed
issues related to the proposed
Indo-Australia civil nuclear
agreement.
d) She also discussed
possibilities of greater
cooperation with Brunei in the
petroleum sector, especially
export of LNG from Brunei to
India. Philippines shared with
India their triple action plan and
their approach to the South
China Sea.
3. China warns
against
provocations
(Page 14)
a) I.R a) South China Sea
b) ASEAN
a) China committed clear
and hard reactions to secure its
interests in the South China
Sea but rejected suggestions of
aggression, as Americas top
official urged control from all
claimants to the disputed
waters.
b) Hostility over the South
China Sea, animportant
maritime route that is also
believed to hold huge oil and
gas deposits, is dominating
ASEAN talks in Myanmar and
is widening to include key world
powers ahead of security
discussions.
c) Beijing claims sovereignty
over almost the entire sea
including waters, islands, reefs,
shoals and rocky outcrops
nearer to other countries.
d) ASEAN states Brunei,
Malaysia, the Philippines and
Vietnam also claim parts of the
sea, while Taiwan is a sixth
one.
4. Monsoon picks up,
so does kharif
a) National a) South west monsoon a) With improvement in the
southwest monsoon, kharif
sowing (Page 11) b) Geography b) Kharif crops
c) Kharif crop regions in
India
d) IMD
e) Elnino
sowing has picked up.Out of a
total of 881.80 lakh hectares
sown till now last year, 803.32
lakh hectares has been planted
so far.
b) Although there are still
concerns about the lower
sowing of oilseeds, pulses and
coarse cereals, the paddy
plantation is less. Cotton
sowing is higher than last year.
c) The average water
storage is higher in the eastern
region but lower than last year
in northern, western, central
and southern regions due to
delayed and deficient
monsoon.
5. FSDC panel
reviews macro
economy (Page
10)
a) Economy

a) FSDC
b) RBI
c) KYC norms
a) The Sub-Committee of the
Financial Stability and
Development Council (FSDC)
reviewed the domestic macro
economy and potential risks
facing the financial system.
b) The draft included one
single demat account for all
financial assets; introduction of
uniform Know Your Client
(KYC) norms and inter-usability
of KYC records across the
financial sector; strengthening
and deepening the markets for
corporate bonds, currency
derivatives and interest rate
futures; and participation of the
domestic financial institutional
Institutions in the commodities
market.
c) The FSDC was set up in
2010 for strengthening and
institutionalising the mechanism
of maintaining financial and
macroeconomics stability and
coordination amongst various
regulators in the financial
sector.
6. Sanskrit has
influence without
presence (Pages 1
and 11)
a) National a) Census 2011
b) Census 2001
c) Classical languages
d) Tribal language Bhil
a) According to Census
2001, there are almost no
Sanskrit speakers in the
countrys north-east, the eastern
States beyond M.P, J&K, Tamil
Nadu, Kerala and Gujarat.
b) Tamil Nadu is unique
because according to the 1921
Census, the Madras province

had the highest number of
Sanskrit speakers in the
country.
c) Sources said Census
figures reflect the political
aspirations or the atmosphere
in the country at a given time
highlighting the case of Bhil, a
language spoken by several
tribal groups in western India.
Between 1991 and 2001, the
number of speakers nearly
doubled an expression of the
aspiration of these people to
cut out a new State for them
similar to the creation of
Jharkhand in the late 1990s.
d) The Census is thus rather
subjective but it is a very good
tool for measuring the political
mood of the language
communities.
7. Western Ghats
throws up more
species (Page 18)
a) Biodiversity
b) Geography
a) Biodiversity
b) Western Ghats
c) Biodiversity hotspots
d) IUCN
e) Endangered species
f) West flowing rivers of
Konkan
g) Hiranyakeshi river
a) While the bio-diversity of
Western Ghats in Maharashtra
is possibly under threat after
the Environment Ministry lifted
the ban on mining and other
projects, the discovery of two
new freshwater fish species in
this unexplored area has yet
again proven the need to
conserve the area.
b) The scientists have
already added Pethialutea or
Citron Barb in the list of
endangered species following
the categories and criterion of
the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
c) Studies said due to its
restricted distribution,
fragmented populations and
on-going threats to the habitats,
Pethialutea can be classified as
an Endangered species.
d) While Pethialutea is
presently known only from
small west flowing river
systems of Konkan such as
Ulhas, Kal, Kundalika, Savitri,
Jagbudi and Shastri;
Pethialongicauda is found in
Hiranyakeshi River in northern
Western Ghats.
TH
AUGUST 2014

1.

Key role for India
in Silk Road
project, says China
(Pages 1 and 10)
b) Silk Road project
c) Travellers from Ancient
China to Ancient India
d) Maritime silk road
e) Indian Ocean
f) South China sea
g) BCIM road
a) Beijing expected an
economic corridor linking its
south-western Yunnan province
through Myanmar to Kolkata as
a key part of a land-based Silk
Road economic belt.
b) It is also planning to boost
ties with port cities such as
Chennai through a Maritime
Silk Road starting out from
south-eastern Fujian province
and linking littoral countries in
the region.
c) India is the converging
point of the Maritime Silk Road
and the Silk Road on land.
More than 2000 years ago,
India through the passage of
the southern Silk Road, had
very good exchanges with
ancient China.
e) The Wild Goose Pagoda in
Xian is a very good example. in
the past, Master XuanZang (or
Hsuan Tsang) travelled through
the South Silk Road and arrived
in ancient India and studied
Buddhism there.
f) China official said the
proposed Bangladesh-China-
India-Myanmar (BCIM) road
from Kunming to Kolkata would
play a key role in the economic
belt.
2. India for early
conclusion of
nuclear deal with
Japan (Page 10)
a) I.R a) Indo Japan relations
b) Indo Japan civil
nuclear cooperation
c) Fukushima nuclear
disaster
d) East Asia Summit
a) Ahead of Modis visit to
Japan, India conveyed to its
strategic partner that it was
very eager on bringing the
discussions on a bilateral civil
nuclear deal to its logical
conclusion as soon as possible.
b) The discussions on civil
nuclear cooperation were held
on the sidelines of the East
Asia Summit.
3. Army chief in
Siachen ahead of
Modis visit (Page
10)
a) National a) Siachen
b) Proposed projects in
J&K
a) Modi is scheduled to
conduct an inspection of the
forward posts before
addressing a gathering of the
jawans and officers in Siachen
(worlds highest battlefield in
J&K).
b) He is also scheduled to
start two power projects in Leh
and Kargil besides set the
foundation stone of a power
transmission line linking the two
Ladakh districts headquarters
to the State capital of Srinagar.
4. SEBI clears norms
for real estate,
infrastructure
investment Trusts
(Pages 8 and 10)
a) Economy a) SEBI
b) REITs
c) InvITs
d) SPVs
a) SEBI approved the SEBI
(Real Estate Investment Trusts)
Regulations 2014 and SEBI
(Infrastructure Investment
Trusts) Regulations 2014. This
is in a major boost to the real
estate and infrastructure sector
and creating path for inflows of
over $20 billion investment into
these stressed sectors from
both foreign and domestic
investors.
b) The SEBI Board approved
these regulations which will
now put India on a par with
developed nations such as the
UK, the US, Japan, Hong Kong
and Singapore, where such
trusts are listed and traded.
c) As SEBI approved
regulations, REIT will invest in
commercial real estate assets,
either directly or through
special purpose vehicles
(SPVs) and InvITs will invest in
infrastructure projects either
directly or through a SPV.
5. Risk-averse
industry keeping
investment down,
says Rajan (Page
1)
a) Economy

a) RBI
b) Monetary Policy
c) SLR
d) inflation
e) GDP growth
a) RBI governor said that
demand for bank loans for
industrial investments has not
picked up even after two back-
to-back cuts in the statutory
liquidity ratio (SLR) since the
change of government at the
Centre.
b) Monetary policy could not
simultaneously achieve lower
inflation and higher growth. For
lower inflation, growth must be
sacrificed. To attack inflation,
the RBI had in the last two
monetary policy reviews kept
interest rates unchanged but
lowered the SLR from 23
percent to 22 percent.
6. Bifurcate
Meghalaya only on
consensus (Page
a) National a) Northeast tribes a) P.A. Sangma(MP) said
that Meghalaya should be
bifurcated only if all major
10) b) Khasi tribe
c) Jainta tribe
d) Garo tribe
e) Garo hills
f) Garoland region
communities agree to it. Also
recommended the need to
have a grand federation of the
Northeast tribes to grant
recognition to all tribes in the
region.
b) During his election
campaign, he had made it clear
that any bifurcation of the State
has to be mutually agreed on
by major communities the
Khasi and the Jainta on one
hand and the Garos on the
other.
c) Creation of a separate
Garoland is also a demand that
would solve most of the
problems in the militancy-hit
Garo Hills.
7. ISRO: India
working on
manned flight
mission (Page 11)
a) S&T a) ISRO
b) GSLV Mk-III
c) Mars Orbiter spacecraft
d) Martian Orbit
e) Astrosat
f) ultra-violet ray bands
g) visible ray bands
h) X-ray bands
a) ISRO chairman said
Indias scientists are on
progress to sending the
countrys first manned flight to
space. A full-scale, unmanned
crew module is getting ready to
be flown onboard the
experimental flight of GSLV Mk-
III, to understand its ballistic re-
entry characteristics.
b) The Mars Orbiter
spacecraft has traveled nearly
88 percent of its distance along
its designated path to the red
planet. The next operational
milestone is the insertion of the
spacecraft into the Martian
Orbit on Sept 24 2014.
c) He also spoke about the
yet-to-be launched Astrosat, a
multi-wavelength space-borne
observatory that would enable
simultaneous observation of
planetary bodies in ultra-violet,
visible and X-ray bands.
8. Keeping Ebola in
check (Page 8)
a) Health and S&T a) Ebola
b) Zaire ebola virus
c) ZMapp
d) H1N1 influenza
e) H1N5 influenza
f) Polio
a) After the H1N1 influenza
(swineflu) in 2009 and polio in
May 2014, the WHO has now
declared the Ebola virus
disease outbreak in West Africa
as an extraordinary event and a
public health risk to other
countries.
b) After the first outbreak in
December 2013 in the
Gueckedou region in Guineas
remote southeastern forest
region, the virus has spread to
three other West African
countries Liberia, Nigeria and
Sierra Leone.
c) The biggest threat comes
from the extremely high
virulence of the Zaire Ebola
virus species, the most deadly
Ebola virus known, with death
rates going up to 90 percent.
The Zaire virus species is
usually restricted to Central
Africa.
d) The incubation period
the time interval from infection
to onset of symptoms of 2 to
21 days poses a real danger to
public health.
e) Despite the deadly
characteristics of the virus,
transmission occurs only when
people come into contact with
the body fluids of affected
people; there is no scientific
confirmation of humans getting
infected through airborne
transmission.
9. Netajis kin do not
want Bharat Ratna
for him (Page 11)
a) National
b) History
a) Bharat Ratna
b) NetajiSubhas Chandra
Bose
c) Mukherjee commission
d) SIT
a) Majority of his family
members did not approve of the
idea of awarding the countrys
highest civilian award Bharat
Ratna may be granted on
NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose.
b) The family and members
of the open platform for Netaji
had recently written to PM
demanding formation of a
Special Investigation Team to
investigate Netajis
disappearance.
c) When under house arrest
by the British, Netaji had
escaped from India in 1941 to
ask international support for
Indias freedom struggle. He
went missing in 1945, giving
birth to Indias most debated
and mystery ever.
d) The Mukherjee
Commission that inquired into
the disappearance had rejected
the opinion that he died in a
plane crash in Taiwan on

TH
AUGUST 2014
August 181945.
10. 17
th
century
Ramayana
manuscript under
lock and key after
theft (Page 7)
a) Ancient History a) GoswamiTulsidas
b) Manuscripts
a) The only original
pandulipi(manuscript) of Sri
Ramacharitmanas (Ramayana)
dated Samvat 1704 (1648 AD)
and a few precious articles of
its writer GoswamiTulsidas,
were stolen from the Hanuman
temple in the
AkharaGoswamiTulsidas on
TulsiGhat.
1.

Indian on Sri
Lanka probe panel
(Page 11)
a) I.R a) Sri Lanka internal
issues
b) Civil war
c) LTTE
d) UNHRC
a) The Sri Lankan government
has invited an Indian activist to a
panel advising its Presidential
Commission on missing persons.
b) In July, President
MahindaRajapaksa expanded the
mandate of the Commission
originally set up to look into
complaints of disappearances
directing it to enquiry the roles of
Sri Lankan army and the rebel
Tigers during the civil war.
c) The developments come
fromthe UN investigation into Sri
Lankas rights record following a
resolution at the Human Rights
Council in March. The Sri Lankan
government, which declared that
it would not cooperate in the
process and initiated its own
mechanism to enquire allegations
of war crimes.
2. Hillary slams
Obamas West
Asia policy (Page
11)
a) I.R a) Iraq and Syria situation
b) Americas foreign policy
on West Asia
c) ISIS
a) Hillary Clinton, former U.S.
Secretary of State and potential
candidate for the 2016
presidential election criticised
Obamas foreign policy and
suggesting that this lack of
aggression in projecting Americas
power abroad had enabled the
rise of Islamic militants in Syria
and Iraq.
b) She said the failure to help
build up a capable fighting force
for the people who were the
originators of the protests against
Syrian President there were
Islamists, Secularists and
everything in the middle the
failure to do that left a big space
to the jihadists.
c) The rise of the Islamic State
(IS) appears to have wrong-
stepped Obamas plan to reduce
US military involvement there.
3. In pursuit of
smartness (Page
9)
a) National a) Smart city
b) Dholera project in
Gujarat
c) 12
th
five year plan
d) Green field sites
e) Census 2011
a) The call to smarten Indian
cities has gone beyond the old
promises of clearing garbage,
building more housing for the
poor, providing drinking water,
guaranteeing electricity supply
and better roads.
b) Though we do not have a
smart city yet in India, a 100 of
them have been provided for in
the latest budget following the
model of GujaratsDholera.
c) The magic with smart
citiesbegan with the previous
Finance Minister was significant
enough to be made a part of the
12
th
Five Year Plan.
d) Smart cities will design a
new future for their inhabitants:
greenfield sites will be made to
ensure the uniformity of its
population.
4. Involving people in
governance (Page
9)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) Our Village Our Plan
scheme
b) Common Schools
Commission
c) PESA Act 1996
a) The govt of Telangana
launched its peoples planning
initiative,ManaVuruManaPranalika
(Our Village, Our Plan) in the end
of July with the aim of covering all
Gram Panchayats.
b) In 2006-07, the Bihar govt
constituted the Common Schools
Commission with
ProffessorsMuchkundDubey and
Anil Sadgopal as its members.
c) Under Panchayats
(Extension to Scheduled Areas)
Act 1996, Gram Sabha is
recognised as being capable to
act on a range of powers.
5. Crony capitalism
hampers
economic growth
(Page 12)
a) Economy

a) RBI
b) Crony capitalism
c) GDP growth
d) Financial inclusion
a) RBI governor noted that
Crony capitalism, where the rich
and the influential are claimed to
have received land, natural
resources and spectrum in return
payment to corrupt politicians was
a major issue in the recent
elections.
b) He further said that one of
the greatest dangers to growth of
developing economies like India
is the middle income trap where
crony capitalism creates
oligarchies that slow down the
growth.
c) The only way of avoiding this
trap is to strengthen public
services, especially those for the
poor, adding that financial
inclusion drive of the govt and
RBI is a key initiative in the same
direction.
6. Rawatbhata
achieves nuclear
power production
feat (Page 7)
a) National
b) S&T
a) Rawatbhata Atomic
power project
b) Nuclear power
generation process
c) Tarapur nuclear reactor
a) The Atomic Power Station at
Rawatbhata achieved a feat when
Unit-5 completed 739 days of
uninterrupted power production.
The unit is indigenously designed.
b) With this achievement the
Rajasthan Atomic Power Station
becomes the second nuclear
plant in the world to run
continuously for such a long
duration second only to
Pickering Nuclear Generating
Station at Ontario, Canada.
c) It displaced from the La Salle
Power County Nuclear
Generating Station at Illinois in
the US. In India, the Tarapur
Nuclear Reactor had operated
non-stop for 590 days.
d) Normally if a power project
functions for more than 300 days
without interruption, it is
considered good.
7. Zombie spacecraft
flies by the Moon
(Page 18)
a) S&T a) ISRO
b) ISEE-3
c) Indian spacecrafts to
moon
d) Mars mission
a) NASA vintage spacecraft
that was launched 36 years ago
has successfully completed a
return visit to the Earth-Moon
system.
b) The ISEE-3 spacecraft made
its closest approach to the Earth
August 9 and flyby of the moon
August 10.After a lunar flyby, the
unmanned probe has now been
sent back into deep space.
c) ISEE-3 is currently over
20,000km from the moon and
370,000km from Earth.
d) Launched in 1978 and
originally tasked with studying the
outer reaches of the Earths
magnetosphere, the probe was

TH
AUGUST 2014

given a second mission in the
1980s to chase comets before it
was shut down in 1997.
1. Explore trade
potential within
BRICS (Page 11)
b) BRICS
c) TPP
d) WTO
a) At a time the advanced
nations are imposing trade
sanctions against Russian
exports Indian official said India
must fully explore the potential
for trade with the BRICS
countries especially Russia and
China. India should increase
trade relations with the counties
being excluded by the US-led
Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)
agreement.
b) He stressed the need for a
successful response from India
to the TPP agreement so as not
to be shut out of the global
markets.
c) The TPP is seen world-
wide as the USs attempt to
carve out China, Brazil, India
and other emerging economies
from global trade talks.
d) New Delhis move to
against WTO trade facilitation
agreement in Geneva in July
throw a shadow on Indo-US
trade relations.
2. Permanent,
negotiated solution
for Tibet in Chinas
interest (Page 10)
a) I.R a) Tibet region
b) China projects in Tibet
c) India China disputes
a) While there remain
serious differences between the
Chinese government and the
Dalai Lama on the major
political questions surrounding
Tibets future, it would be in
Chinas interest to achieve a
permanent, negotiated political
solution for Tibet.
b) Tibets status as an
integral part of the Peoples
Republic of China is not
disputed by a single country in
the world and no country grants
legal recognition to the Dalai
Lamas government-in-exile
based in Dharamsala.
c) Dalai Lamas position on
bringing together Greater Tibet
comprising not just the Tibet
Autonomous Region but parts
of the provinces of Yunnan,
Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu
where around three million
Tibetans reside, amounting to
one-fourth of Chinas territory
under a single administrative
unit.
d) There has been increasing
attention in China on
environmental concerns facing
the plateau, with a major
government study based on
three decades of research
warning that glaciers on the
plateau had shrunk by 15
percent since 1980.
3. In J&K, Modis first
salvo at Pakistan
(Pages 1 and 10)
a) I.R
b) National
a) Indo Pak issues
b) Projects in J&K
c) FCI
d) Kargil war
a) Modi fired on Pakistan that
putting the neighbouring
country for engaging in a proxy
war of terrorism.
b) He set off J&Ks 60 crore
liability towards the Food
Corporation of India and
announced Central assistance
of 8000 crore for four major
road projects.
c) He also started power
projects at Nemo Bazgo in Leh
and Chutak in Kargil, besides
setting the foundation stone of
1788 cr transmission line.
4. Judging Jeveniles
(Pages 1 and 9)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) Juvenile Justice (Care
and Protection of Children)
Bill 2014
b) Juvenile Justice Act and
Amendments
c) UNHRC
d) Child rights
e) NCRB
f) Delhi incident
g) Shakti mills case
h) Nirbhaya Act
a) Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Bill 2014
introduced in Loksabha by
Women and Child Development
Minister. It overrules the
Juvenile Justice Act enacted in
2000 and amended in 2006,
2011.
b) Act being re-enacted as
current provisions and system
are ill-equipped to tackle child
offenders in the 16-18 age
group.
c) National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB) data show
crimes by youngsters in this
age group increased, especially
in certain categories of horrible
crimes.
d) Juveniles involved in a
horrible crime will not be
sentenced to death or life
imprisonment when tried under
the provisions of the JJ Act or
the IPC.
e) After preliminary inquiry,
the Juvenile Justice Board can
transfer the case to a Childrens
court for trial of the child as an
adult. Worldwide evidence
shows transfer of juvenile
cases to an adult court has not
resulted in reduction in crime.
5. WHO approves
use of
experimental drugs
(Page 11)
a) Health a) Ebola
c) ZMapp
d) WHO
a) WHO said that in the
particular conditions of the
Ebola disease outbreak and
provided certain conditions are
met, it is ethical to offer
unproven interventions as
potential treatment or
prevention.
b) These include
transparency about all aspects
of care, informed consent,
freedom of choice,
confidentiality, respect for the
person, preservation of dignity
and involvement of the
community.
6.

Space history
made (Page 8)
a) S&T a) Rosetta
b) Lander Philae
c) Comets
d) Solar system
e) Curiosity rover
a) After travelling 6.4 billion
kms since it was launched in
March 2004, Rosetta made
space history on August 6
when it became the first
spacecraft to meet with a comet
67P/Churyumov-
Gerasimenko, a 4.5 km long
object.
b) The next biggest
challenge will be to ensure that
the Lander Philae to be
airdropped from Rosetta lands
safely on the comet.
c) Images collected by the
craft from a distance of 285km
from the comet have suggested
an old surface marked by
sharp-edged structures with
high rocks.
d) Unlike the Curiosity rover
that is moving freely on Mars,
Philae with an order of
instruments would be
presented to the surface.
e) Comets are primary

TH
AUGUST 2014

objects formed from debris left
over when the Solar System
was formed around 4.6 billion
years ago. It is believed that
comets had seeded Earth with
water and carbon-containing
molecules, particularly amino
acids that are the building
blocks of life.
f) Hence information
collected from 67P can unlock
many secrets about the birth
and evolution of the Solar
System and the origin of water
and life on Earth.
1. India Pakistan
row over Modi barb
b) Indo Pak disputes
a) Pak official said Modis
remarks were most
unfortunate and said it would
be better if the countries do not
engage in a blame game.
b) Indian official responded
and supporting Modis remarks
in Leh as clarity of Indias
concerns with Pakistan.
c) Referring to the attack on
Parliament in 2000 and the
Mumbai attacks in 2008, He
said only counterstatements or
selective approaches to
terrorism are not going to drive
away our terrorism concerns.
2. NJAC will have
veto power
a) National
b) Judiciary
a) NJAC Bill 2014
b) Supreme court
c) High court
d) CJI
a) The National Judicial
Appointments Commission Bill
2014 is aimed at enabling the
participation of the judiciary,
executive and eminent persons
to ensure greater
transparency, accountability
and objectivity in the
appointment of judges to the
higher judiciary.
b) Among the two eminent
persons on the committee, one
shall be nominated from among
the SCs, STs, and OBCs,
minorities or women.
c) The NJAC will
recommend the senior-most
judge of the Supreme Court for
appointment as the CJI,
provided he is considered fit to
hold the office. For appointing
Supreme Court Judges, the
NJAC will recommend names
of persons on the basis of their
ability, merit and other criteria.
3. Govt. to merge
Department of
AIDS Control with
Health Ministry
a) National
b) Health
a) DAC
b) AIDS
c) HIV
a) The Health Minister said
Department of AIDS Control
(DAC) will cease to exist as an
independent unit and will be
merged with the ministry.
b) This move threatens to
dilute the specificity of
community based responses
and will make invisible
marginalized groups within a
generic HIV response.
c) He explained that India
has been able to make
progress on HIV because of the
exclusive programme
managed by the DAC.
4. PM approves
constitution of
expenditure
management panel
a) National
b) Economy
a) EMC
b) Fiscal deficit
c) Inflation
a) PM Modi approved the
constitution of an Expenditure
Management Commission
(EMC) that was announced by
Finance Minister in the Budget.
b) The Commission is
expected to recommend major
expenditure reforms that will
enable the government to lower
its fiscal deficit. A fiscal deficit
in control will help the
government to strengthen the
macro economy over time and
especially ease inflation.
c) The Commission will be
mandated with the task of
suggesting service for reducing
the food, fertilizer and oil
subsidies and other ways of
controlling fiscal deficit.
d) The former RBI Governor
Bimal Jalan will head the
Commission.
5. Cotton output likely
to cross 400 lakh
bales next season
a) Economy a) Cotton crop
b) Cotton crop regions in
India
a) According to trade
representatives, Cotton
production is expected to cross
400 lakh bales next season
(October 2014 to September
2015).
b) Sources said 58 percent

TH
AUGUST 2014
of Indias cotton exports were to
China and the rest to countries
such as South Korea,
Bangladesh, Thailand and
Vietnam. At present, Chinas
policy is not favourable for
import of cotton from other
countries and clarity is
expected on its course of action
in a month.
6.

Ebola: the return of
cordon sanitaire
a) Health a) Ebola
c) ZMapp
d) Cordon sanitaire
a) The Ebola outbreak in
West Africa is so out of control
that governments there have
revived a disease-fighting
strategy not used in nearly a
century: the Cordon Sanitaire,
in which a line is drawn
around the infected area and
no one is allowed out.
b) Cardons common in the
medieval era of the Black
Death have not been seen
since the border between
Poland and the Soviet Union
was closed in 1918 to stop
typhus from spreading west.
c) Experts said any cordon
must let food, water and
medical care reach those inside
and that the thrust of
inhabitants must be won
through communication with
their leaders.
7. Follow the radio
waves to
exomoons
a) S&T a) Radio waves
b) Solar system
a) Scientists hunting for life
beyond Earth have discovered
more than 1800 planets outside
our solar system or exoplanets
in recent years.
b) But no one has been able
to confirm an exomoon so far.
Now some physicists believe
following a trail of radio wave
emissions may lead them to
that discovery.

1. Modi to visit Japan
on August 31
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) Indo Japan civil
nuclear agreement
b) NPT
c) DMIC
d) ASEAN
a) Modis major agenda is the
conclusion of the India Japan
civil nuclear agreement so that
Japan could supply nuclear
technology to India.
b) It is learnt that the
Japanese government is facing
domestic pressure against the
deal since India is not a
signatory to the NPT (Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty) wants
extra conditionalities and
safeguards over the use of
nuclear transfers over and
above what India has already
agreed to with other countries.
c) India will also hope to sign
agreements for infrastructural
investment for the governments
smart cities initiative with Japan
proposing project development
agreements on high-speed
railways, industrial corridors like
the DMIC (Delhi-Mumbai
Industrial Corridors) and
highway construction.
d) Japan is ready to help
India improve road-links and
rail-links through the north-
eastern States to ASEAN
countries.
2. Doing more on
climate (Page 8)
a) International
b) Environment
a) Climate change
b) Global warming
c) Carbon emissions
d) Green Climate Fund
e) BASIC
a) Climate change talks are
composed at a critical stage
before the Conference of
Parties meets in Paris in 2015
to finalise a new treaty and
Indias relationships with
developing countries assume
important at this point.
b) Already Japan and
Australia have scaled back their
promises on emission cuts and
funds for technology transfer,
adaptation and mitigation are
nowhere in sight.
c) Differences in BASIC on
various issues have resulted
India to side more strongly with
yet another group called the
Like Minded Developing
Countries (LMDCs) which is
expected to meet soon.
d) India has already
announced a voluntary goal of
reducing the emissions
intensity of its GDP by 20-25
percent over 2005 levels by
2020 but it also needs to review
its commitments on emission
reduction and operationalising
the GCF.
3. Judicial
Appointments Bill
likely to be
challenged, say
senior lawyers
(Page 10)
a) Polity
b) Judiciary
a) NJAC
b) 121
st
Constitutional
Amendment Bill
c) Judicial review
d) Collegium system
e) Supreme court
a) Senior members told that
the National Judicial
Appointment Commission Bill
and its constitutional
amendment approved by the
Parliament would not stand
judicial scrutiny.
b) The Bill replaced the
collegium system with the
setting up of the NJAC. The
Rajya Sabha cleared the
121
st
Constitutional Amendment
Bill to provide constitutional
status to the Commission.
c) But Senior lawyers in the
Supreme Court said the Bill
was defective with weak spots
that could be influenced apart
under Judicial review.
4. Govt. set to revive
CAPART: Gadkari
(Page 12)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) CAPART
b) NRLM
c) Irrigation
a) Rural Development
Minister said the government is
planning to resume the non-
functioning Council for
Advancement of Peoples
Action and Rural Technology
(CAPART) with additional funds
and capacity and link it to e-
governance for transparency.
b) Funds through CAPART
would help handlooms,
handicrafts and weavers.
CAPART was involved in
corruption after funds were
spent without accountability
and there were cases filed
against NGOs.
c) For instance, innovations
had helped to develop a mobile
irrigation system in Vidarbha.
d) The National Rural
Livelihoods Mission (NRLM)
has made efforts in Bihar and
Maharashtra to identify ideas
that transform the lives of the
rural poor.
5. RBI proposes
COO post in
Deputy Governor
rank (Page 15)
a) Economy a) RBI
b) COO
a) The RBI said its board has
approved HR (human
resources) restructuring by
creating an additional post of
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
in the rank of Deputy Governor
and will approach the
government for required
legislative changes.
b) The RBI is headed by a
Governor and assisted by four
deputy governors looking after
different functions. The central
bank now wants to create a
post of COO and re-allocate
work among the five.
c) The RBI said it has been
deliberating on a broad HR
restructuring exercise to align
organizational resources and
structures with needs of the
domestic economy and
changes in the external
environment.
6.

Low fuel, food
prices push down
WPI inflation
(Pages 1 and 11)
a) Economy a) WPI
b) CPI
c) Inflation
d) Retail inflation
a) Inflation based on the
Wholesale Price Index (WPI)
lowered to a five-month low of
5.19 percent in July mainly on
the back of a drop in prices of
fuel and food items such as
cereals and vegetables.
b) Retail inflation based on
consumer price index has been
a cause for concern rising to
7.96 percent in July from 7.46
percent in June.
c) Inflation in the overall food
basket accounts for 14 percent
of the WPI stood at 8.43
percent.
7. INS Vikramaditya
set to undergo
safety checks
(Page 12)
a) S&T a) INS Vikramaditya
b) INS Viraat
c) MiG29 K fighters
a) The newly-inducted
aircraft carrier INS
Vikramaditya has been fully
operationalised with Indian
naval pilots carrying out flying
operations from its flight deck,
is set to undergo a series of
safety checks.
b) The renovated Soviet-era
carrier, which was
commissioned after years of
delay into the Indian Navy at
Severodinsk in Russia in
November last and its crew will

be tested for navigation, bridge
controls, machinery interface,
damage control and firefighting,
force protection measures and
flight safety.
8. Zebrafish
discovery boosts
stem cell research
(Page 9)
a) S&T a) Stem cell
b) HSC
c) Leukemia
d) Myeloma
a) By studying Zebrafish,
Australian researchers have
discovered the mystery of how
a critical type of stem cell found
in blood and bone marrow and
essential to restoring the bodys
supply of blood and immune
cells is formed.
b) The cells called
hematopoietic stem cells (HSC)
are already used in transplants
for patients with blood cancers
such as leukemia and
myeloma.
c) Understanding how HSCs
self-renew to restore blood cells
is considered an advanced
stem cell research.
d) Using high-resolution
microscopy, they filmed HSCs
as they formed inside zebrafish
fetus.
9. Spains La
Tomatina festival
shows solidarity
with Dalit women
(Page 20)
a) Culture
b) Social issue
a) La Tomatina festival
b) Schemes for women in
India
a) The world-famous La
Tomatina festival in the
Spanish town of Bunol has
expressed support with a cause
that will brighten the lives of
poor Indian women.
b) The move led to Bunol
town hall making an
announcement that profits from
ticket sales this year will be
donated to a social project to
help Dalit women in India.
c) The project aims to
provide a safe environment for
the women and help them
become economically
independent.
TH
AUGUST 2014

1. Future lies in
manufacturing:
Modi (Pages 1,8
and 10)
a) National a) Planning Commission
b) Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana
a) Promising to take the
country on the path of faster,
more inclusive and sustainable
growth, PM Modi announced
the setting up of a new
institution to replace the
Planning Commission and
make India a manufacturing
hub.
b) Modi said the new
institution would promote
cooperative federalism,
facilitate public-private
partnership and help in better
navigation of the new economic
challenges the country faced.
c) He also announced the
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojana under which the poor
will be provided a bank account
with a debit card with a fixed
insurance cover of Rs 1lakh.
d) Stating the decision to
launch a Clean India campaign
from October 2 and carry it
forward in four years, he urged
parliamentarians to use their
development funds for building
toilets in schools and asked the
corporate sector to donate by
using funds under the
Corporate Social Responsibility
so that all government schools
have sanitation facilities by
August 15 next year.
2. Modi wants
SAARC war
against poverty
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) Indias relations with
SAARC countries
b) SAARC
c) Poverty
a) Building on his theme of
giving Indias neighborhood
priority, Modi said that it was
necessary for SAARC countries
to tackle their common enemy
of poverty together.
b) Reacting to Modis speech,
Pakistan official said Pakistan
agrees there is a need to inject
energy into SAARC.
3. Gujarat model for
India China ties
(Pages 1 and 11)
b) Maritime Silk Road
c) Industrial Park
a) Gujarat has been among
the biggest destinations for
Chinese investment in India
with Beijing looking to take
forward plans to set up
industrial parks in India in part
based on its experience in
Gujarat.
b) China also seeks to raise
a trade relationship so far
driven largely by transactional
exchanges over raw materials
from India and machinery from
China to deeper and more
advanced level.
c) China is ready to project
its historical links with Kochi
through the ancient Maritime
Silk Road at a time when
Beijing is eager to involve India
with its new one belt, one road
project.
d) The key initiative on the
agenda is New Silk Road
economic belt to strengthen
land trade with Central Asia,
South Asia. It will link Yunnan
province in China, Myanmar
and Kolkata.
4. French giant in fray
for TAPI project
(Page 11)
a) I.R a) TAPI project
b) IPI project
a) French energy giant Total
has shown interest in steering
the cash-strapped TAPI gas
pipeline project, despite grave
security concerns that have so
far dashed hopes of forging
energy linkages between
Central and South Asia.
b) If implemented, the TAPI
pipeline project would originate
at the Yolotan Osman fields in
Turkmenistan from where gas
would be transited through
Heart and Kandahar in
Afghanistan, before passing
through Quetta in Pakistan.
c) It will make landfall in
Fazilka, after channeling
through Multan in Pakistan. The
project received official backing
from the supplier country
Turkmenistan and the receiving
countries Afghanistan,
Pakistan and India in 2010.
5. Organs of state
should have
mutual respect:
CJI (Pages 1 and
10)
a) National
b) Judiciary
a) NJAC
b) Collegium system
c) Judicial review
d) Supreme court
a) Parliament had unfinished
the 21-year-old collegium
system of judges appointing
judges by passing the National
Commission (NJAC) Bill 2014.
b) On this, the CJI said that
the people in the judiciary, the

TH
AUGUST 2014
e) CJI people in the executive, and
the people in the Parliament
are mature enough to have
mutual respect for each other
and ensure that each organ is
permitted to work within its
sphere by any irrelevant
influence or unconstitutional
means.
1. UN steps to choke
off funds
a) International a) UNSC
b) Iraq & Syria situation
c) ISIS
d) Al- Qaeda
a) The UNSC unanimously
adopted a resolution aimed at
weakening Islamists in Iraq and
Syria with measures to stop
funding and the flow of foreign
fighters.
b) The resolution was
approved by all 15 members of
the Council including Russia.
c) The resolution demands
that IS fighters in Iraq and
Syria, rebels from the Al-Nusra
Front in Syria and other Al-
Qaeda-linked groups disarm
and dissolve with immediate
effect.
d) It calls on all member
states to take national
measures to control the flow of
foreign terrorist fighters.
2. Move to scrap
Planning
Commission raises
Constitutional
questions
b) NDC
c) 12
th
five year plan
d) Federal system
a) PM Modis decision to
remove the Planning
Commission has raised
administrative and
Constitutional questions that
the Centre will have to address
in the coming days.
b) The first of these is
12
th
Five Year Plan which was
adopted by the National
Development Council (NDC)
that comprises not only the
Centre but also States including
Gujarat be allowed to run its
course till 2017.
c) Second, since the role of
making plan allocations to
States for development
spending will be transferred to
the Finance Ministry, there
likely to be implications of this
for Indias federal system.
3. Modi for
developing more
SEZs, stepping up
exports
a) National
b) Economy
a) SEZ
b) JNPT
c) SPVs
d) EPC
a) As Maharashtra prepares
for Assembly polls, Modi
assured that his govt would
remove all tax-related obstacles
in the Special Economic Zone
(SEZ) policy. Maharashtra has
the highest number of
proposed SEZs.
b) He announced 6000 crore
port-based multiproduct SEZ at
the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust
(JNPT) at Nhava Sheva in Navi
Mumbai. He also stressed the
need of developing more SEZs.
c) The SEZ will be developed
through a Special Purpose
Vehicle under the Engineering,
Procurement and Construction
(EPC) mode and is expected to
be ready in three years.
d) He also announced 1926
crore Port Connectivity
Highway Project at JNPT. The
project taken up under the
National Highway Development
and Port Connectivity
Programme.
4 PIL challenges
judicial
appointments Bill
a) Polity
b) Judiciary
a) NJAC
b) PIL
c) Writs
d) Constitution
Amendment Bill
e) Collegium system
f) Judicial review
g) Power of veto
a) A Public Interest Litigation
(PIL) petition has been filed in
the Supreme Court challenging
(NJAC) Bill providing for
appointment of judges to higher
judiciary.
b) In the writ petition, they
also criticised the Constitution
Amendment Bill that would
grant constitutional status on
the proposed NJAC. They
argued that the Bills passed in
Parliament in the present form
violated the independence of
the judiciary and the concept of
separation of powers.
c) They warned that the new
procedure purely on the basis
of seniority and merit and giving
veto power to two members
would result in suppression of
judges as during the
Emergency.
5. Powerful military
best deterrent,
says Modi
a) National
b) S&T
a) INS Kolkata
b) INS Vikramaditya
c) BrahMos
d) MFR
e) LRSAM
f) ATAS
g) Barak NG
h) DRDO
a) INS Kolkata is the largest
Indigenously built warship is the
latest to the Navys fleet after
the Russian-Built INS
Vikramaditya was formally
commissioned onJune 14 this
year.
b) INS Kolkata is part of the
Project 15A class comprising of
three ships Kolkata, Kochi
and Chennai, which are the first
indigenous stealth destroyers
being built in India.
c) The first Indian Naval
destroyer to have Multi
Functional conformal array
surveillance Radar the MFR
to provide target data to Long
Range Surface to Air Missile
System (LRSAM), the INS
Kolkata is also equipped with
the advanced anti-ship surface
to surface missiles the
BrahMos. The MFR and
LRSAM system is a joint
venture of DRDO and Israel
aerospace industries ltd.
d) The active electronic
tower array sonar (ATAS) is
submerged and dragged and
emits low frequency waves.
This may obstruct its ability to
effectively detect enemy
submarines. Also its Israel-built
long-range surface to air
missile the Barak NG is still
being developed.
6. Bolstering Navy
top priority for
Govt.
a) National
b) S&T
a) INS Kolkata
b) INS Vikramaditya
c) BrahMos
d) HUMSA
e) INS Kochi
f) INS Chennai
a) Modi observed that the
growth of the Navy to free flow
of commerce in the coming
day, INS Kolkata will inspire
confidence in those involved in
maritime trade. He also cited
Chhatrapati Shivajis pioneering
importance of securing the sea
lanes for increasing trade.
b) The ship will showed
serious indigenous capability to
attack land targets from the sea
using the BrahMos cruise
missile the successful product
of Indo-Russian collaboration.
c) A home-built new generation
HUMSA Sonar has been
mounted on the ship to monitor

TH
AUGUST 2014
threats below the surface. INS
Kotlkata will be the lead ship of
its class which will also later
include commissioning of two
other ships INS Kochi and
INS Chennai.
1. Ease hurdles for
FDI, says Japan
trade body (Pages
1 and 10)
b) ASEAN
c) FDI
d) DMIC
e) CBIC
f) Smart cities
a) The major agenda of
Modis visit to Japan include
infrastructural investment for
the governments Smart Cities
initiative with Japan proposing
project development
agreements on high-speed
railways, more industrial
corridors and road-links and
rail-links through the north-
eastern States to ASEAN
countries as well.
b) Manufactures and investors
in Japan have identified the
current state of Indo-Japan
Infrastructure projects as well
as financial regulations that are
weakening the prospects of
more FDI.
c) Japan seeking urgent
intervention to resolve the
issues in areas including Indias
tax system, banking sector,
logistics and distribution
segment, visas and the
important infrastructure sector.
d) The demand relates to
speedup infrastructure projects
for which Japan has committed
more than $100 billion like the
Delhi Mumbai Industrial
Corridor (DMIC) and the
Chennai Bangalore Industrial
Corridor (CBIC), where feeder
roads to be built by the Centre
and State governments are
delayed.
2. Committed to
working with Modi
govt., says
Singapore PM
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) India Singapore
relations
b) South China Sea
c) ASEAN
a) Singapore PM confirmed
his commitment to working with
newly-elected leaders in India
and Indonesia.
b) He said there are
tensions in the South China
Sea.
c) The South China Sea
tensions continue over
territorial claims between China
and a number of South East
Asian countries which are
members of the Association of
South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN).
3. Ed Miliband to visit
India in October
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) Indo British relations
b) Trade ties between both
countries
a) British Labour Party leader
will visit India keeping the
United Kingdoms engagement
with Modi government at a fast
pace.
b) Trade has been the major
agenda of these visits as both
countries hope to increase
bilateral trade from the current
levels of $16 billion per annum.
c) His visit could also be a
signal to the Indian-origin
voters in UK ahead of next
years election. Now he is a
potential Prime Ministerial
candidate.
d) His three-city visit will
focus on trade in aerospace,
retail and education sectors.
4 A moral foundation
for foreign policy
(Page 8)
a) I.R a) Iraq & Syria situation
b) ISIS
c) BRICS
d) BRICS bank
e) World Bank
a) Indian leadership in the
BRICS bloc will require far
more than sanctimonious
statements. It will require the
use of new coalitions to
pressure states on behalf of
peace and justice, the main
elements of the UN Charter.
b) Syria is involved in a civil
war between Authoritarianism
(the Assad regime) and
Freedom (the rebels). The
Islamic State cannot be tackled
by a few bombing runs by the
West.
c) It will require cooperation
with the governments of Iraq,
Syria and Turkey to contain the
Islamic States rapid advance.
The Wests inability to engage
Syria means that it has no
meaningful strategy to take on
the Islamic State.
d) The emergence of the
BRICS powers suggests that
the era of US unipolarity which
opened in 1990 is now over.
e) BRICS states will either
use the UN for another agenda
or it will in time produce an
alternative institution as BRICS
Bank beside the World Bank.
f) The BRICS need to risk
their own internal problems by
being more dynamic protectors
of international law and its
institutions.
5. A fatally flawed
commission (Page
9)
a) Polity
b) Judiciary
a) 99
th
Amendment Bill
2014
b) NJAC Act 2014
c) Articles 124A, 124B,
124C
d) Collegium system
e) Supreme court
f) High court
a) The Constitution
(99
th
Amendment) Bill 2014 and
Appointment Commission Act
2014 are both seriously
incorrect and contrary to
elementary principles of
constitutional law.
b) The 99
th
Amendment to
the Constitution inserts three
new Articles 124A, 124B and
124C and also amends
several other Articles under the
stated objective of providing a
meaningful role to the judiciary,
executive and eminent persons
to present their viewpoints and
make the participants
accountable while also
introducing transparency in the
selection.
c) Article 124C is most
threatening and enables
Parliament to empower the
commission to make
regulations for selecting judges
and for other matters. Thus
constitutional provisions and
safeguards can easily be
prevented by regulations
framed by the commission.
6. Uttarakhand
launches food
security scheme
(Page 7)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) National Food Security
Act
b) Food Security
c) BPL
d) APL
e) Rajastans Mid-day meal
scheme
a) The Uttarakhand
government introduced a food
security scheme on the pattern
of the National Food Security
Act.
b) The scheme will feed to
the Below Poverty Line (BPL)
and Above Poverty Line (APL)
families across the State.
c) According to the norms set
by the Centre, the State was

TH
AUGUST 2014

f) Poverty ineligible for the implementation
of the Act.
d) Under the scheme, BPL
families would get 35 kg of food
grain per family per month
where as APL eligible for 15kg.
1. Struck off in one
blow (Page 8)
b) Gadgil formula
c) NDC
d) Indias federal system
a) Union Planning
Commission in the National
Planning Committee under the
support of National Congress
with Jawaharlal Nehru as the
first Chairman of the
Committee.
b) The purpose of the
national planning process was
basically threefold: (i) To
provide a framework for the
orderly development of the
economy. (ii) To mediate the
process of planning and plan
funding as between the Union
Finance Ministrys budgetary
rights and its various ministries
and as between the Centre and
the States. (iii) Most importantly
to evaluate the quality of
programme implementation and
convey its findings to the
government.
c) By making Centre-States
discussion a structured part of
national development, the
Planning Commission became
a keeper of Indias federal
conscience.
d) Gadgil evolved the
formula to make plan transfers
to States more balanced.
Making population, tax-effort
and tax-receipts, per capita
income and special problems
and needs the basis for plan
transfers, Gadgil created the
concept of Special Category
States like Assam, J&K and
Nagaland which were to be
given preference, their needs
first being met out of the total
pool of Central assistance.
d) Since the 1970s the
Planning Commission has been
in a lack of activity.
2. An ambitious plan
for inclusion (Page
8)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) Pradhan Mantri Jan-
Dhan Yojana
b) Financial inclusion
c) CFIP
d) SSA
e) RuPaycard
a) The recent socio-
economic initiative, Pradhan
Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana has
brought a degree of urgency to
the scheme of financial
inclusion.
b) A Comprehensive
Financial Inclusion Plan (CFIP)
forecasting coverage of
excluded households has been
drawn up and is expected to be
rolled out under the
nomenclature.
b) In its first phase, the Jan-
Dhal Yojana will aim to provide
universal access to all the
beneficiaries through sub-
service areas (SSA), each of
them consisting of 100-150
families in a group of villages.
c) Unlike in previous action
plans, the Jan-Dhan Yojana will
have as its focus households
rather than geographical areas.
d) A smart card the
RuPaycard will be issued.
This would be one of the most
visible manifestations of
technology as a tool to further
inclusion, others being money
transfers through mobile
telephones, e-KYCs and cash
management by banks to
extend their services over such
wide areas.
e) The government wants to
use these accounts for routing
cash transfers instead of
subsidies for essential
commodities.
3. Revving up the
judicial juggernaut
(Page 9)
a) Judiciary a) Supreme Court
b) High court
c) District court
d) Subordinate court
e) FIFO
a) With citizens suffering
severely because of delays in
court trials, it is time to fix
accountability of the judges.
b) Recently, the Supreme
Court refused to fast-track
criminal cases against MPs,
saying the manpower in trial
courts and infrastructure was
poor.
c) PM Modi sought to
expedite trials of pending cases
against MPs within a year. But
that could have meant pushing
other cases back in the line.
d) The average pendency for
the Supreme Court, High
Courts and district and
subordinate courts for the
period July 2009 to June 2012
comes to 9 months, 30 months
and 19 months respectively.
e) If courts follow the
principle of FIFO(first in fist
out), the judiciary could deliver
in a reasonable time.
4 Corporate tax
collection trails
personal I-T
(Pages 1 and 11)
a) Economy a) Corporate tax
b) Income tax
c) Direct & Indirect taxes
d) GDP
e) Inflation
f) Nominal GDP
a) The rate of growth of
personal income tax collections
during 2013-14 was nearly
doubles that of the corporate
tax clear-up. The growth in
corporate tax collection was so
low that it lagged behind even
the GDP.
b) The rate of growth in the
case of corporate income tax
payers at 10.76 percent lagged
even failing to keep pace with
12.3 percent rate of growth of
the nominal GDP (which factors
in inflation).
c) Corporate tax collections
in 2013-14 took a hitting due to
high inflation during most of the
year. Profits declined as high
inflation made raw materials
and inputs costlier. Lower
earnings resulted in less taxes
paid.
5. MHA data shows
241 percent rise in
cases of
overstaying
Pakistanis in 2013
(Page 11)
a) National a) MHA data 2013
b) Census 2011
a) A jump of 241 percent was
recorded in the number of
Pakistani nationals found
overstaying in different parts of
the country last year compared
to 2012. However, Indian
agencies were able to track
down and exile only 58
Pakistani nationals.
b) The Union Home Ministry
data also reveals a steady
increase in the cases of US
nationals staying after expiry of
their visas.
c) Another noticeable trend
has been a gradual increase in

overstay of foreigners from Sri
Lanka, Iraq, Tanzania, Oman,
Kenya and also Afghanistan.
d) Even as the Ministry of
Home Affairs is planning o
devise a mechanism for
identification and exiling of
illegal Bangladeshi immigrants,
government records reveal a
steep decline in the number of
overstaying Bangladeshi
nationals in the past few years.
6. Bringing
Ashtavarga back to
the hills (Page 7)
a) National
b) Environment
a) Biodiversity
b) Blue pine
c) Ashtavarga
d) Kshirakakoli
e) Ayurvedic
f) Forest types
g) Deodar forests
h) Red list
i) Endangered species
a) The slopes dominated by
blue pine have observed in the
Kufri-Chail Road from Shimla
near Munda Ghat at a height of
1700 metres.
b) Blue pine is an harmful
non-native species which is
edging out the local oak.
c) It is not only indigenous
species like the oak that are
being edged out but also the
rich treasure of medicinal
plants, notably the eight plants
or Ashtavarga that is part of the
Ayurvedic formulation
Chyavanprash.
d) In Himachal Pradesh, all
the eight components of
Ashtavarga Jeevaka,
Rishbhaka, Meda, Mahameda,
Kakoli, Kshirakakoli, Riddhi and
Vriddhi were common till the
turn of the 19
th
century.
e) Kshirakakoli, one of the
Ashtavarga components was a
common undergrowth of the
deodar forests. The seven
other components were
commonly found in open
grasslands, shrubberies and in
the forest undergrowth.
f) Such non-native species
highly reduce the plant diversity
of the region and as a result,
native plants are in danger of
being removed out.
TH
AUGUST 2014

1. India confident of
solution to food
security issue at
WTO
a) I.R a) WTO
b) TFA
c) Bali declaration
a) India said both the issues
of permanent protection for its
minimum support prices for
food grain procurement from
farmers against dated caps of
the WTO and a Trade
Facilitation deal were likely to
be resolved with talks resuming
in Geneva next month.
b) India will remain strong on
its stand that the setting up of a
work programme for finding a
permanent solution on the food
grain stock pile issue should be
the condition for approving the
TFA.
c) Despite the missed TFA
protocol deadline, the officials
clarified the interim Peace
Clause (PC) will continue to be
in place. The PC provides
protection against the WTO
farm caps until a permanent
solution is found.
d) India wants the WTO to
update its caps for farm
subsidies as they are based to
the food prices of the 1980s.
The TFA and food security
clauses were both agreed to in
a WTO Ministerial in Bali last
December.
2. No LoP post for
Congress: Speaker
a) National
b) Polity
a) LoP
b) 1977 Act
c) Chief Information
Commissioner
d) Central Vigilance
Commissioner
e) Loksabha
f) Parliament
g) Speaker
a) Loksabha Speaker has
written to the Congress that
neither rules nor tradition
permits her to accept the partys
demand for the post of LoP as
it had failed to win at least 10
percent of the seats in the
House.
b) The consent was that the
Congress, the second largest
party in the Loksabha did not
qualify for the post as the
Directions of the Speaker rules
mandated.
c) Congress argument that
the Chief Information
Commissioner and the Central
Vigilance Commissioner are
appointed by the President on
the basis of a recommendation
made by a committee of the
Prime Minister, Home Minister
and the Leader of the
Opposition in the Loksabha.
d) Former Minister Karge
said that the 1977 Act clearly
stated that the single largest
party among the opposition
parties should be declared the
main opposition party and its
leader granted the LoP status
in the Loksabha. He also said
that the Act of Parliament was
superior to the rules and
guidelines.
3. PM walked the
extra mile, but
Pakistan did not:
Prasad
a) International
b) National
a) Indo Pak relations
b) Kashmir issue
c) Hurriyat conference
d) UN General Assembly

a) Under criticism from the
US, J&K Political leaders and
the Opposition over its decision
to cancel talks with Pakistan,
the government explained that
the problem was not the talks
themselves but the sequencing
of the talks.
b) The Centre cancelled the
talks as Hurriyat leaders met
Pakistan High Commissioner.
c) Pakistan official said it is a
longstanding practice that
meetings with Kashmiri leaders
are held prior to Pakistan-India
talks.
d) Now the question is if the
talks between PM Modi and his
Pakistan counterpart Nawaz
Sharif will take place as
planned on the sidelines of the
United Nations General
Assembly in September.
4 Modi announces
new irrigation
scheme
a) National a) Pradhan Mantri Krishi
Seenchayi Yojana
b) Irrigation
c) KYC
a) PM Modi announced the
Pradhan Mantri Krishi
Seenchayi Yojana to meet the
irrigation needs of all farmers
across the country.
b) This announcement made
after he set the foundation
stone for the four-laning stretch
of the Kaithal-Siwani national
highway in Haryana.
5. State Finance
Ministers Panel on
GST to meet today
a) National
b) Economy
a) GST
b) Integrated GST
c) GDP
a) They will meet to remove
differences for an early roll-out
of the progressive Good and
Services Tax (GST) system.
b) The Empowered

ST
AUGUST 2014

Committee of State Finance
Ministers is likely to discuss the
recommendations of a
committee consisting officials
from the finance ministry and
some of the states on
integrated GST.
c) The integrated GST is a
tax on inter-State movement of
goods.
6. Indirect tax
collections up 3.9
percent in April-
July
a) Economy a) Indirect tax
b) Fiscal deficit
c) GDP
d) GST
a) Indirect tax clear-up rose
by 3.9 percent in April-July of
the current fiscal even as
customs duty and excise duty
collections declined, reflecting
depressed manufacturing
activity.
b) Indirect tax collections
consisting excise, customs and
service tax are increased than
last year.
c) The growth at 3.9 percent
is far less than 25 percent
annual increase expected in
the Budget for the full 20014-15
fiscal.
7. Indian scientist
gets grant to map
the brain
a) S&T a) Brain Mapping
b) Virtual neuroanatomist
c) Neural structure
d) Brain slices
a) An Indian neuroscientist
Partha Mitra in the US has
been awarded a prestigious
grant under President Barack
Obamas initiative to map the
human brain.
b) The grant will help him to
develop a virtual
neuroanatomist, an artificial-
intelligence system that can
identify cell types and neural
structures in microscopic
images of brain slices.
S.No NEWS ITEM SYLLUBUS BACKGROUND IMPORTANT POINTS
1. India has no
dispute with Sri
Lanka: Swamy
a) I.R a) India Srilanka disputes
b) Sri Lankas internal
issues
c) UNHRC
d) LTTE
a) Former Minister Swamy
said that India has no disputes
with Sri Lanka and is committed
to improving relations with the
neighbouring island nation.
b) He said Indias Foreign
Policy under the Modi-led
government would be
structured entirely on national
interest and not on regional
interest. Troubles are due to
the political disputes of Tamil
Nadu.
c) He further said India would
be more supportive of Sri
Lankas position at the United
Nations Human Rights Council
than before.
2. Centre urges
Assam-Nagaland
talks
a) National a) North-east states
boundary disputes
b) Tribes in North-east
states
c) CRPF
a) The Centre has sent over
1000 CRPF personnel to
restore peace along the
disputed boundary of Assam
and Nagaland in Golaghat.
b) Boundary dispute
between Assam and Nagaland
is long back to the creation of
Nagaland in 1963.
c) Land found to be owned
by Nagas transferred to the
plain districts of Assam for
administrative convenience.
d) Nagaland demands on
historical boundary and Assam
on Constitutional boundary.
e) Issue unsettled even with
Supreme Court setting up
commissions to mediate.
3. Cabinet plan to
make India digitally
empowered
a) National a) Digital India
b) DEIT
c) Wifi
d) Gram Panchayat
e) Pradhan Mantri Jan-
Dhan Yojana
a) The Programmed aims to
transform India into a digitally
empowered society and
knowledge economy.
b) The Programme has been
formed by the Department of
Electronics and Information
Technology. The programme
will be implemented in phases
from the current year till 2018. It
would ensure that government
services are available to
citizens electronically.
c) The Programme envisions
high-speed internet as a basic
utility which would be made
available in all gram
panchayats. Mobile phone and
bank accounts would enable
participation in digital and
financial space at individual
levels.
4 Cabinet clears
Nagpur Metro Rail
Project
a) National a) Census 2011
b) Metro project
a) The project will have two
corridors the North-South
Corridor covering 19.65km and
the East-West Corridor
c) North-South corridor
d) East-West corridor
e) MIHAN project
f) SEZ
covering 18.55km
b) The proposed North-South
& East-West alignments are
also expected to bring
connectivity to the upcoming
MIHAN project, the Special
Economic Zone (SEZ),
educational institutions and
logistic hubs in the city.
c) The two corridors are
aimed at transforming the citys
urban transportation scenario
by considerably reducing traffic
congestion and bringing in a
fast, comfortable, safe and
inexpensive mass
transportation system.
5. States want GST
levy turnover limit
lowered to Rs. 10
lakh
a) National
b) Economy
a) GST
b) Integrated GST
c) VAT
d) GDP
a) The Empowered
Committee of State Finance
Ministers on GST wants the
annual business turnover floor
limit for imposition of levy
reduced from 25 lakh to 10
lakhs. This would make tax
compliance easier as the entry
in most States for the Value
Added Tax (VAT) is also 10
lakh turnover.
b) The Committee also
demanded that the Centre
include the provision for GST
compensation to States in the
Constitutional Amendment Bill
itself for the introduction of the
new tax.
6. Drafts rules to
empower FMC
a) Economy a) FMC
b) SEBI
c) NSEL
a) The government draft
rules give more powers to the
commodity markets regulator
Forward Markets Commission
(FMC) to effectively regulate
the intermediaries of the
commodity derivatives markets.
b) Unlike capital markets
regulator SEBI, the FMC is not
an autonomous body. The
government is in the process of
strengthening the FMC,
especially after the scam
surfaced at the National Spot
Exchange Ltd (NSEL).
7. Tibet plateau
getting hotter,
polluted
a) International
b) Geography
a) Tibet Plateau
b) Environmental
assessment
a) A fresh environmental
assessment of the Tibetan
Plateau has found that the
region is getting hotter, wetter
and more polluted and
threatening its weak eco-
c) Ecosystem
d) Grasslands
e) Wetlands
f) Desertification
g) Deforestation
h) Global warming
systems.
b) Some areas such as the
headwater region of Asias
biggest rivers have become
warmer and drier and are being
severely affected by
desertification and grassland
and wetland degradation.
c) The Plateau feeds Asias
biggest rivers so these
problems are likely to affect
billions of people.
8. Chikungunya
vaccine shows
promise
a) S&T a) Chikungunya
b) Human cells
c) Proteins
d) Immune system
a) An experimental
Chikungunya vaccine has
shown positive results in a
small-scale trial carried out in
humans.
b) The vaccine is made by
using human cells grown in
culture to produce three
proteins found on the surface of
the chikungunya virus. These
proteins then self-assembled to
form virus-like particles which
are not infectious but can
generate a protective immune
response when given as an
injection.
9. Factors affecting
urban warming
a) S&T a) Urban warming
b) UHI
c) Atmospheric UHI
d) Surface UHI
e) Temperature
f) Pressure
g) Temperature difference
a) A recent study of some
cities across North America
reported that the role of local
background climate in creating
a difference in temperature
between urban and
surrounding rural area (Urban
Heat Island or UHI effect).
b) There are two kinds of
UHI atmospheric UHI and
surface UHI. Atmospheric UHI
peaks during the night because
of the lack of evaporative
cooling as in rural areas and
due to the long wave radiation
being jumped into each other
and down to the street by the
buildings as opposed to being
lost to the free atmosphere.
c) Surface Urban Heat Island
Effect is there during day and
night because of the heat
capacity of the materials used
for pavements, buildings, roofs
and so on.
d) This is why the midnight

ND
AUGUST 2014

temperature difference is
related to population and not
background climate but the
midday difference is strongly
correlated with background
climate but not population
1. India committed to
advancing ties with
Arab world
a) I.R a) Indias relations with
Arab world
b) Israel-Gaza conflict
c) ISIS
a) Clarifying Indias stand on
the Israel-Gaza conflict,
External Minister said the
countrys policy continued to be
extending strong support to the
Palestinian cause while
maintaining good relations with
Israel.
b) She said that apart from
strong political support to the
Palestinian cause at
international, regional and
bilateral levels, India has been
contributing budgetary,
economic and developmental
assistance to Palestine and its
people.
c) Basis of the need for
peace and stability in the Arab
world, she said the results of
instability and terrorism in the
region were being felt far and
wide, and cited the case of
Indian nationals in
imprisonment in Mosul as an
example.
d) India sees West Asia as
an important part of its
extended neighbourhood as it
accounts for over 60 percent of
Indias oil and gas
requirements.
2. Improve
connectivity in the
north-east
a) National a) North-east states
boundary disputes
b) Inland transport in north-
east
c) DoNER
d) Chittagong port
a) Chief Ministers of north-
eastern States called for
improving road, railway, air
connectivity and improvement
of inland water transport within
the region to bring about all-
round development.
b) The meet was organised
by the Ministry of Development
of the North Eastern Region
(DoNER).
c) They said that there is a
urgent need for transit and
transshipment facility including
road, rail and waterways
connection through Bangladesh
to north-east and eastern India
as well as access to the
Chittagong Port in Bangladesh.
3. SC lawyers
challenge National
Judicial
Appointments
Commission Bill
a) Polity
b) Judiciary
a) NJAC
b) Collegium system
c) 121
st
Constitutional
Amendment Bill
d) Article 124(2)
e) Article 217(1)
f) Supreme Court
g) High Court
h) CJI
a) The SC advocates
challenging the constitutional
amendment and NJAC Bills
which will replace the collegium
system of appointment of SC
and HC judges.
b) The petition said Article
124(2) along with Article 217(1)
of the Constitution made
provisions for the appointment
of judges of SC including the
CJI and for appointment of
judges of HCs including the
CJs of HCs.
c) They sought a declaration
that the Bills were
unconstitutional, null and void,
and a direction that the present
collegiums system evolved by a
nine-judge Bench of the SC
should continue with the
higher judiciary.
d) The petition said the
NJAC Bill was introduced even
prior to the Constitution 121
Amendment Bill to give
constitutional status to the
proposed NJAC.
4 Step up AIDS
control measures:
UN official
a) Health a) AIDS
b) HIV
c) Sustainable
Development Goals
d) NRHM
e) UN General Assembly
a) Highlighting the need for
stepping up the HIV/AIDS
control programme in certain
areas in India, UN official said
although there has been a
reduction of 56 percent in new
infections, its rate has
increased in some populations
like injecting drug users and
men having sex with men.
b) The main areas where this
increase has been seen are in
Punjab, Haryana and New
Delhi.
c) On the Sustainable
Development Goals to be
discussed at the United Nations
General Assembly, they said
there will be a number of

RD
AUGUST 2014

important goals including the
ending of AIDS in healthcare.
5. RBI quells fears of
drought
a) Economy a) RBI
b) Monsoon
c) Kharif crops
d) El-nino
e) Drought
f) NREGA
g) FDI
a) In its annual report
released, the RBI said the
rainfall deficit situation was way
better than the 2009 drought
and impact on farm sector
continues to be small still.
b) For moderating food price
inflation pressures, the Govt will
have to address the structural
changes indicated in the
Budget such as making
NREGA wages productivity-
linked, Food Corporation of
India changing and removal of
things from the scope of the
Agricultural produce marketing
committee Act.
6. Pakistan varsity
honours
Swaminathan
a) Personalities
b) Environment
a) Evergreen Revolution
b) Biodiversity
c) Ecology
d) Sustainable
development
a) The University of
Agriculture in Pakistan has
granted an honorary degree of
the Doctor of Science on
renowned agriculture scientist
M.S. Swaminathan for his
contribution to farm research
and allied areas of plant-
breeding, genetics, biodiversity
and ecological studies.
b) He said the Indian
subcontinent should go in for
an evergreen revolution
(increase in productivity in
quality without ecological harm)
on the one hand and a
nutrition-sensitive agriculture on
the other through programmes
rooted in the principles of
ecology, economics, gender
and social equity, employment
and energy.
1.

India firm on Tamil
rights in Sri Lanka
(Page 10)
a) I.R a) Indo Lanka relations
b) Srilankas internal issues
c) Tamil National Alliance
(TNA)
d) 13
th
Amendement
a) India was ready on
engaging with the Sri Lanka
government and all political
parties to help with the ongoing
reconciliation process in the
island nation.
b) External Affairs Minister
stressed the need for a political
solution that addresses the
aspirations of the Tamil
community in Sri Lanka for
equality, dignity, justice and self
respect within the framework of
a united Sri Lanka.
c) Swaraj confident on the
TNA Delegation that India
would continue to highlight the
need for transfer of powers as
per the 13
th
Amendment and
going beyond that for a
meaningful solution.
2. Sushma begins
Vietnam visit
tomorrow (Page
10)
a) I.R a) India Vietnam relations
b) Look East Policy
c) India ASEAN think-
tank
d) South China Sea
a) To give a boost to bilateral
ties and in keeping with Modis
Look East Policy, External
affairs Minister will visit Vietnam
on August 24.
b) She also convened a
meeting of Indian heads of
missions in Southeast and East
Asian countries and will begin
the 3
rd
Round Table of India
ASEAN think-tank.
c) She said India and
Vietnam which shared strong
economic ties were looking at
increasing bilateral trade in
textile, pharmaceuticals and
agriculture produce.
d) For techno-commercial
reasons, India has also decided
to extend for another year to
the work on exploration of oil
blocks allotted to it in the South
China Sea. The exploration
was initially scheduled for two
years from 2012.
3. SC sets deadline
on Lop issue
(Pages 1 and 10)
a) National
b) Polity
a) LoP
b) Lokpal
c) Speaker
d) Supreme Court
a) The SC asked the Centre
to decide the status of LoP in
the Loksabha by September
9 and made it clear that Lokpal
legislation could not be put into
hold. The Leader of the
Opposition should be on the
Lokpal selection committee.
b) On the basis of sound
principles and the existing
conventions, the Speaker has
concluded that no-one is
eligible to be designated as
Leader of the Opposition.
4. Gujarat raises red
flag on GST
(Pages 1 and 10)
a) Economy a) GST
b) IGST
a) Gujarat has raised the
issue for extra compensation
for revenue losses that
manufacturing States could
suffer by the introduction of the

Goods and Services Tax (GST)
b) Gujarat had identified this
issue during the UPA
government and is now seeking
as compensation at least 2
percent out of the Centres
share of the Inter-state GST
(IGST) collections.
c) IGST collections will arise
from the proposed tax on the
sale of goods and services
produced in one State but
consumed in another.
d) The Centre and States
where the sale takes place will
share the IGST collections.
Gujarat wants some part of
such collections to be shared
with the States which the
products are made.
5. Humanising the
law (Page 8)
a) National a) Armed Forces Special
Powers Act (AFSPA) 1958
b) Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act
c) Section 309 (attempt to
commit suicide)
d) Human Rights
Commission
a) The Iron Lady of Manipur
(Irom Sharmila Chanu) has
come to represent the
conscience of a country that
probably recongnises that
AFSPA gives unethical
protection to excesses
committed by the Army in parts
of India hit by political conflict.
b) The state has been
unable or unwilling to win over
the Army, which difficultly
favours the retention of the
indefensible law.
c) In 2005, the UPA regime
recognised the need to amend
or dilute AFSPA and appointed
a committee. It suggested
amendments to the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act that
could legally tackle insurgency
and conflict in areas currently
notified under AFSPA.
d) It is time for the
government to abolish AFSPA
and invalidate Section 309
(attempt to commit suicide) to
humanise the law further.
TH
AUGUST 2014

1.

Sri Lanka must
ensure justice for
Tamils: Modi
(Page 9)
b) Srilankas internal issues
c) Tamil National Alliance
(TNA)
d) 13
th
Amendment
a) Modi has favoured a
political solution in Sri Lanka
that builds on the
13
th
amendment to the island
nations Constitution.
b) In a meeting with a six-
member delegation of the TNA,
Modi stressed the need for a
political solution that addresses
the aspirations of the Tamils for
equality, dignity, justice and
self-respect within the
framework of a united Sri
Lanka.
c) He conveyed to the TNA
delegation that he had already
raised some concerns relating
to the treatment of the Tamil
community with Sri Lankan
President.
d) The TNA leaders pointed to
the continuing discrimination of
the Tamils and said that India
would have to come to the
defence of the minority
community.
2. New programme to
get dropouts back
in school (Page 9)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) Ishan Vikas programme
b) Shala Darpan
c) Right to Education
a) Union Human Resource
development Minister said the
government will soon announce
a programme to facilitate the
return of dropouts to school.
b) Under the programme, the
students would be encouraged
to study as much as they want.
c) The Minister said an Ishan
Vikas programme had been
launched to support students
who had the calibre to become
researchers and scientists.
d) To make public sector
schools competitive, the
government would introduce a
mobile app called Shala
Darpan by next year so that the
parents could track the
attendance, assignments,
mark-sheets and performance
of their wards.
3. INS Kamorta joins
Eastern Fleet
a) S&T a) INS Kamorta a) Indigenously built stealth
anti-submarine warship INS

(Page 8) b) ASW
c) Indigenous surveillance
radar Revathi
d) INS Vikramaditya
e) INS Kolkata
Kamorta was commissioned
into the Navys Eastern Fleet.
b) INS Kamorta is the first of
the four Anti-Submarine
Warfare (ASW) stealth
warships designed by the
Navys in-house organisation
Directorate of Naval Design.
c) The ship is fitted with anti-
submarine rockets, torpedoes
and other weapons systems
and an indigenous surveillance
radar Revathi.
4. Archaeologists
discover
8
th
Century
inscription in
Purulia village
(Page 16)
a) Ancient History a) Siddhamatrka scipt
b) Inscription
c) Calligraphic scripts
d) Damodar river
a) The inscription running
into four lines was found from
Dhuluri village on the corner of
a long stretch of rock surface
surrounded by dense
vegetation and beyond the
habited area of the village.
b) The rock is located in the
Saturi block of the district on
the banks of a local stream
emerging from the Damodar.
c) A study of the
Characteristic features of the
inscription suggests that the
short quotation is carved in an
unusual and extremely
calligraphic Siddhamatrka
script.
d) The only other example of
such an inscription is related to
the 6
th
century and found in the
Sushnia hills in adjoining
Bankura district.
5. Now, rice bucket
challenge goes
viral (Page 16)
a) Social issue
b) Health
a) ALS
b) Poverty
a) An Indian woman has
come up with the rice bucket
challenge on face book to show
a way to potential donors who
want to help the poor.
b) The ice-bucket challenge
is designated to raise
awareness about ALS, a
progressive neuro-degenerative
disease that affects the nerve
cells in the brain and the spinal
cord.
TH
AUGUST 2014

1.

Hasina for quick
signing of Teesta
treaty (Page 10)
a) I.R a) Indo Bangladesh
relations
b) Teesta water sharing
treaty
c) Land Boundary
Agreement
d) Ashuganj river
e) BSF
f) BGB
a) Bangladesh PM Sheikh
Hasina has urged India to sign
the Teesta water sharing treaty
and implement the Land
Boundary Agreement as soon
as possible.
b) As per her request on the
transit, Indian official said India
would act positively and said a
rail line should be built
connecting Bangladesh with
Nepal and Bhutan.
c) He appreciated Bangladesh
for allowing the use of the
Ashuganj river port for
transporting rice to Tripura.
d) He said the govt of India
would soon construct an 11km
road from Akhaura to Agartala
for goods transportation.
e) The Border Security Force
(BSF) and Board Guard
Bangladesh (BGB) agreed to
conduct vulnerability mapping
every six months while
effectively implementing a
coordinated border
management plan to control
drug and human trafficking and
other trans-border crimes.
2. Activists oppose
Pancheshwar dam
(Page 7)
b) Pancheshwar
multipurpose project
c) Hydropower agreements
d) 1996 India-Nepal
Mahakali Treaty
e) Tehri dam
a) The recent agreement
between India and Nepal to
restart work on the 5600 MW
Pancheshwar multipurpose
project has caused strong
opposition from
environmentalists and anti-dam
activists.
b) The Coordinator of the
South Asia Network on Dams,
Rivers and People (SANDRP)
had pointed out that the project
which would generate
hydropower for India and Nepal
was proposed in a weak zone
and could have major
ecological and social impact.
c) In India, the project lies
within the state of Uttarakhand
which shares international
border with Nepal. The state
has the 1000 MW Tehri dam,
which was also strongly
opposed.
d) The Pancheshwar project
which is proposed on the
Mahakali river was a part of the
1996 India-Nepal Mahakali
Treaty. The project was a
controversial one and other
than the opposition of
environmentalists and anti-dam
activists, the project was
strongly opposed by Maoists in
Nepal.
e) According to the 2010
research report, the Indo-Nepal
Mahakali Treaty was seen in
Nepal as a result of pressure
from India and the US.
3. Tibetan officials
allays Indias
concerns on rail
line (Page 10)
a) I.R a) Indo China disputes
b) Tibet issue
c) Chinas projects in Tibet
d) Arunachal border issue
e) Soil erosion

a) Rejecting concerns in
India over the newly-opened
250km rail-line from Lhasa to
Shigatse that runs close to the
Indian border in Sikkim, Tibetan
official said India, Nepal and
China should cooperate on
letting railways cross over
borders as in Europe.
b) India has two worries over
the new constructions in Tibet
which will run close to Sikkim
on the western line to Shigatse
and on the eastern line to
Nyngchi, close to the Arunachal
border which are due to be
completed by 2016.
c) The rail lines are part of
Chinas mission to build
infrastructure on a large-scale
in Tibet by 2020 starting railway
tracks, road ways and several
airports with an investment of
more than $13 billion in the last
two decades.
d) Environmentalists have
pointed out that the moving of
tunnels through mountains will
lead to soil erosion and have
other ecological impact as well.
4. India taps Serbia
on traditional
medicine, yoga
(Page 11)
a) I.R a) Indo Serbia relations
b) Bilateral agreements
between two countries
a) India has sought
increased bilateral cooperation
with Serbia in yoga and
traditional medicine.
b) Indian official suggested
that Serbia Ministers proposed
India visit could be used to
understand the health sector
and invite Indian companies for
establishing joint projects in
Serbia.
5. Does NJAC Bill
curb independence
of judiciary? (Page
11)
a) Polity
b) Judiciary
a) NJAC Bill
b) Constitution
Amendment Bill
c) Collegium System
d) Judicial review
e) Supreme Court
f) CJI
a) The SC will hear petitions
challenging the constitutionality
of the Constitution amendment
and National Judicial
(NJAC) Bills giving politicians
an equal role in the
highest judiciary.
b) The petition cited the
judicial review powers of the
SC to declare the Bills void.
c) The advocate panel
argues that independence of
the judiciary includes the
necessity to eliminate political
influence even at the stage of
appointment of a judge, the
executive element in the
appointment process being
minimal.
d) It argues that the veto
provision in the NJAC Bill gives
room to embarrass the highest
judiciary because a candidate
chosen by the other half of the
Commission.
e) The petitions say that the
Bills would give uncontrolled
power to the Parliament to
regulate judicial appointments.
6. Researchers take
the sting off
needles (Page 18)
a) S&T a) Blood plasma
b) Silicon
c) Titanium
d) Electroplating
a) A team of scientists and
engineers at the Indian Institute
of Science have created a
microneedle that is around third
the thickness of conventionally
used ones.
b) Unlike the conventional
stainless steel needles, these
microneedles are made of
silicon and arranged in a set of
several needles to deliver drugs
of a required quantity.
c) They said that Silicon
reacts with blood plasma and
can damage with time. So we
coated the needle with very thin

TH
AUGUST 2014

layers of titanium and gold
through electroplating.
1.

Britain offers help
to usher in good
times (Pages 1
and 10)
a) I.R a) Indo UK relations
b) Indo British trade
relations
c) G20
d) EU
e) M777 howitzer
f) WTO
g) Climate change
a) British Deputy PM said
that his country was ready and
able to help India achieve its
aspiring growth plans. The
discussions included
retrospective amendments
concerning Vodafone and Cairn
Energy.
b) Mr. Clegg is on a three-
day visit to India leading the
first high-level British trade
mission to New Delhi since the
formation of the new
government.
c) The delegation includes
businesses from retail and
education sectors and
aerospace giant BAE systems,
which is expected to push for
the sale of the M777 howitzer.
d) He said that India invests
more in the UK than in the rest
of the European Union
combined and no country in the
G20 invests more in India than
Britain.
e) Modi called for greater
collaboration between India
and the UK in the areas of
education, skills development,
clean energy, infrastructure
development and cleaning of
rivers.
f) International issues
relating to the WTO and climate
change were also discussed.
2. NJAC review only
after ratification as
law: SC (Page 11)
a) Polity
b) Judiciary
a) NJAC Bill
b) Constitutional
Amendment Bill
c) Collegium system
d) PIL
a) The Supreme Court has
said it is too early to interrupt
the ongoing legislative process
and examine the
constitutionality and National
Commission Bills before they
were made law.
b) SC refused to entertain a
bunch of PILs that termed the
e) Judicial review
f) Parliament
g) Supreme court
six-member NJAC a threat to
judicial independence and a
violation of the basic structure
of the Constitution.
c) The Bills now passed by
Parliament, if made into law
after ratification by State
legislatures and following
approval of the President, give
politicians an equal role in the
highest judiciary.
3. DRDO to develop
portable anti-tank
missile (Page 11)
a) S&T a) SRSAM
b) BVRAAM
c) ICBM
d) PTA
e) Agni-V
f) Astra
g) Nirbhay
h) SU-30
a) The DRDO has started
producing five different types of
missiles including a man-
portable anti-tank missile and a
short-range surface-to-air
missile (SRSAM) in the next
three to five years.
b) Scientific adviser said that
the SRSAM to be given to the
Army would have two vehicle
configurations one for
searching and tracking the
target and the other for firing
multiple missiles. It would be a
powerful missile and could be
given to the Air Force too.
c) The long-range cruise
missile Nirbhay would be test-
fired in a month while Astra, the
Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air
missile (BVRAAM) would be
launched from SU-30 against a
Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA)
in this year.
d) He said the canister-
based trial of Indias Inter-
continental Ballistic Missile
(ICBM) Agni-V would be
conducted later this year.
4. Centre to go full
throttle against
Rubella (Page 11)
a) Health
b) S&T
a) Rubella
b) Rotavirus
c) Japanese Encephalitis
d) Polio
e) Measles
f) UIP
a) After Polio India is now set
to remove out Rubella which
has been identified as one of
the major causes of inborn
defects in babies.
b) Recently Modi announced
the introduction of four new
vaccines in July as part of the
Countrys Universal
Immunisation Programme (UIP)
Rotavirus, Rubella, Polio and
Japanese Encephalitis for
adults.

TH
AUGUST 2014

c) The Union Health Minister
has decided to launch a
campaign against the Rubella
that is known to cause
blindness, deafness and heart
defects in babies.
d) An official said that even
as there are no accurate figures
on the estimated numbers that
are affected, the disease when
contracted by an expectant
mother has serious
consequences. Apart from
causing inborn defects, Rubella
can also lead to miscarriages.
e) Rubella virus symptoms
are like that of measles.
f) Official said that the
Rubella vaccination drive is
expected to cover children
between the age group of nine
months and 15 years.
5. SC puts on hold
140 projects
cleared by wildlife
board (Page 11)
a) National
b) Biodiversity
a) NBW
b) Wildlife Act 1972
c) National Parks
d) Wildlife sanctuaries
e) Tiger reserves
f) Project Tiger
g) Project Elephant
a) The fate of about 140
projects cleared by the newly-
constituted standing committee
of the National Board for
Wildlife (NBW) is pending with
the Supreme Court finding that
the panels constitution is not in
compatible with the Wildlife Act
1972.
b) The NBW of which the
chairperson is the Prime
Minister, is the top body under
the 1972 Act and its standing
committee headed by the
Environment Minister reviews
projects which fall in and
around national parks, wildlife
sanctuaries and tiger reserves.
1.

TESO against
Rajapaksa
addressing UN
meet
b) TESO
c) TNA
d) Sri Lankan Tamils issue
e) UN General Assembly
a) The Tamil Eelam
Supporters Organisation
(TESO) will hold a
demonstration in Chennai
urging the United Nations not to
allow Sri Lankan President to
address its General Assembly
on Sept 25.
b) The resolution said that he
had refused to allow a UN team
f) UNHRC that asked to investigate Sri
Lankas human rights record.
c) Recalling Indias vote
against allowing the team to
conduct investigation in Sri
Lanka and its subsequent
decision to deny visa to
conduct investigation in India,
the TESO meeting urged India
to allow the team.
d) Expressing satisfaction
over PM Modis support for a
political solution to the Sri
Lankan Tamils issue, the TESO
wanted India to take steps to
speed up the process to
achieve the goal.
2. For new ideas, a
clean break with
the past (Editorial
Page)
b) Five Year Plans
c) CSR
d) Companies Act 2013
e) Philanthropy
a) Instead restructuring the
Planning Commission, we need
to replace it with a think-tank
that supports high-quality
independent research to
support policy making in India.
b) Though the most visible
function of the Planning
Commission planning and
enforcement of the Five Year
Plans can be shifted to the
States and other Ministers,
policymaking will remain
fundamental to the functioning
of the government at the Centre
and State levels and must be
supported by a think tank.
c) An independent research
think tank comprising experts
can provide careful analysis as
well as give intellectual ideas to
innovative policy solutions.
Such a think tank can also
serve as an entity which
promotes a new culture of
critical thinking, openness and
debate.
d) Internationally, the most
common form of financial
support for research is
Philanthropy (Social concern)
and government funding.
e) Historically, India has had
a rich culture of Philanthropy.
Unfortunately it has largely
remained limited to religious
activities and institutions, where
donors rush for spiritual
dividends.
f) A natural source of support
for independent research in
India can be found in the
Companies Act 2013, which
mandates qualifying companies
to contribute at least 2 percent
of their average net profits from
the preceding three years to
(CSR).
3. NASAs New
Horizons crosses
Neptunes orbit
a) S&T a) New Horizon
b) Voyager 2
c) Neptune
d) Pluto
e) Triton
f) Dwarf planet
a) NASA probe New
Horizons passed Neptunes
orbit nearly 25 years after
Voyager 2 spacecraft executed
the first ever flyby of faraway
Neptune and its icy moon
Triton.
b) New Horizons is
scheduled to pass through the
Pluto system on July 14 2015.
c) It will map the dwarf planet
and its five known moons,
determine the composition of
Plutos surface and atmosphere,
search for undiscovered moons
and a ring system.
4. UN health agency
urges crackdown
on e-cigarettes
a) Health
b) S&T
a) e-cigarettes
b) WHO
c) Nicotine-vapour
products
a) UN health agency said that
the Governments should have
struct rules for electronic
cigarettes, banning their use
indoors and putting them off
limits for minors until more
evidence can be gathered
about their risks.
b) In an offer to set public
policy, the WHO said the
popular nicotine-vapour
products; particularly the fruit,
candy and alcohol-drink
flavours could serve as habits
for children and teenagers.
c) The report requested in
2012 by the 179-nation WHO
treaty for controlling tobacco is
to be discussed at a
conference in Moscow in
October. If the
recommendations are adopted,
the next step would be for
nations to strengthen their laws
and policies to meet the treaty
conditions.

TH
AUGUST 2014

d) Little is known about the
health effects of e-cigarettes,
which have been sold in the US
since 2007 and contain less
toxic substances than
traditional cigarettef
5. Centre to unveil
home loan scheme
for transgenders
a) National
b) Social issue
a) HOMES
b) RRY
c) HUPA
d) Transgenders
a) The Union Ministry of
Housing and Urban Poverty
Alleviation (HUPA) has
proposed a new loan
assistance scheme that will for
the first time help transgenders
and economically weaker
sections to secure home loans
in urban areas.
b) The Ministry has modified
the existing Rajiv Rinn Yojna
(RRY), which was launched as
an instrument to support the
Economically weaker sections
and Lower income group
segments in urban areas
through increased credit flow
and replaced it with a new
scheme that will make it easier
for the economically weaker
sections and minority groups to
own homes.
c) The new scheme Home
Owners Mortgage Equity
Subvention Scheme) will be
increased the loan amount and
the interest subsidy from 5 to
5.5 percent on loans granted to
construct houses or extend the
existing ones.
d) Under the HOMES, the
applicants need not ask for
certification from the
government officials.
1.

Charge sheeted
persons should not
be Ministers: SC
(Pages 1 and 10)
a) Polity
b) Judiciary
a) Article 75(1)
b) Article 164(1)
c) Moral turpitude
d) Supreme court
e) Parliament
f) Legislative Assembly
a) In a judgment that seeks
to decriminalise politics, the
Supreme Court advised the
Prime Minister and Chief
Ministers of States not to allow
persons against whom charges
have been framed or are facing
trial for offences involving moral
turpitude (immorality).
b) The court made it clear
that there was no limitation or
restriction in the Constitution
which debars any Member of
Parliament or Legislative
Assembly facing criminal
charges from being included in
the Cabinet.
c) The SC refused to add a
new disqualification in the
Constitution for appointment as
Ministers and saying it was the
right of the Prime Minister or
the Chief Ministers of his/her
choice.
2. 80 percent in
informal
employment have
no written contract
(Page 11)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) NSSO
b) Census 2011
c) Crop-based farming
d) Informal sector
e) Agricultural sector
a) The National Sample
Survey Office (NSSO)
68
th
round looked at the Informal
Sector and conditions of
Employment in India for 2011-
12 by conducting a nationally
representative household-level
sample survey.
b) It looked at both rural and
urban areas but excluded crop-
based farming, covering just
over half of Indias workforce as
a result.
c) The data shows nearly
three out of four people working
in the non-agricultural sector in
India are in informal jobs.
d) It found that 72 percent of
this workforce was in the
informal sector with the
proportion being higher in rural
than urban India.
e) NSSO found that
Manufacturing, construction,
wholesale and retail trade,
transportation and storage were
the main sectors employing
informal workers.
f) Among the States,
Punjab, UP and West Bengal
had the highest proportion of
informal workers and the north-
eastern States, Himachal
Pradesh and Goa the lowest.
3. Govt. to offer
health cover for
poor (Page 10)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) Health initiative
schemes
b) Census 2011
c) Poverty
a) Union Health and Family
Welfare Minister outlined the
governments plans for bringing
the countrys economically
weaker sections into the scope
of quality healthcare by
promising to provide 50 free
essential drugs and health
insurance cover for the poor.
b) The Minister said apart
from free drugs, there will be
government paid-up health
insurance cover for the poor
and health insurance with
competitive cover insurance for
all.
4. Ministry dumps
Gadgil report on
Western Ghats
(Page 11)
a) National
b) Environment
a) NGT
b) WGEEP
c) HLWG
d) Gadgils report
e) Environment Protection
Act
f) Western Ghats
a) Ministry of Environment
and Forests informed the
National Green Tribunal (NGT)
that it was not processing
MadhavGadgils Western Ghats
Ecology Expert Panel
(WGEEP) report for any further
action.
b) The Ministry said all future
activity would be based on the
report of the high-level working
group (HLWG) which was a
subsequent one to the WGEEP
report.
c) The HLWG submitted its
report on April 15 2013 and the
Ministry issued a direction
under Section 5 of the
environment Protection Act to
provide immediate protection to
the Western Ghats.
d) The HLWG has identified
about 37 percent of the
Western Ghats as ecologically
sensitive.
5. Ebolas re-
emergence, a
wake-up call (Page
8)
a) Health
b) S&T
a) Ebola
c) ZMapp
d) ELISA test
e) RTPCR analysis
f) Influenza
g) Malaria
h) Typhoid
i) Cholera
j) Viral haemorrhagic
fevers
a) The Ebola virus was
identified in 1976 in two
different outbreaks one in
Sudan and the other in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
(Zaire).
b) Five species of the Ebola
virus characterized so far have
been named after the locations
of their exposure are Zaire
(EBOV), Bundibugyo (BDBV),
Sudan (SUDV), Tai Forest
(TAFV) and Reston (RESTV).
c) After an incubation period
of 2 to 20 days, the Ebola
infection shows a sudden onset
of the disease resulting initially
in flu-like symptoms - fever,
chills and malaise.
d) As the disease
progresses, it results in multi-
system involvements indicated
by the person experiencing
inactivity, sickness, vomiting,
diarrhoea and headache.
e) The African fruit bat is
considered to be the natural
host for the Ebola viruses as
well as the major source of
human infection.
f) Ebola then spreads
through direct contact with body
fluids of an infected person
which includes blood, urine,
saliva, sperm and indirect
contact with environments
contaminated with such fluids.
Close contact with infected
dead persons can also cause
the infection.
g) Unlike flu viruses, Ebola
does not spread through air.
h) While Ebola virus
infections can be easily
identified in laboratories
through standard tests like
ELISA and RTPCR analysis,
obtaining samples from patients
is extremely risky and can only
be conducted under highly
advanced containment
facilities.
i) Another difficulty
experienced in its detection is
that initial symptoms are similar
to those of many other fever-
causing diseases like influenza,
malaria, typhoid, cholera and
other viral haemorrhagic fevers.
6. Solar neutrinos:
messengers from
within (Page 16)
a) S&T a) Solar neutrinos
b) Borexino experiment
c) Helium nuclei
d) Scintillator
e) Apennine Mountains
f) Solar energy
a) The Borexino experiment
has now come out with exciting
results about the processes
that keep the Sun going and
glowing.
b) It is well known that the
process that generates energy
in the Sun involves pairs of
protons combining to produce
helium nuclei. In the process,
neutrinos are also generated.
c) After great effort, by
controlling the background

signals, the Borexino
experiment has enabled direct
detection of the low-energy
neutrinos produced in these
nuclear reactions that initiate
solar energy generation.
d) Located deep below the
Apennine Mountains, the
Borexino instrument detects
neutrinos as they interact with
the electrons of an ultrapure
organic liquid scintillator at the
centre of a large sphere
surrounded by 1000 tons of
water.
e) This is the only detector
on Earth capable of observing
the entire spectrum of solar
neutrinos simultaneously.
7. Source of UV light
(Page 16)
a) S&T a) UV light
b) Quasars
a) A new method developed
by researchers shows we will
soon uncover the origin of
ultraviolet light helping
scientiststo understand how
galaxies were built.
b) The new method builds on
a technique already used by
astronomers in which quasars
act as signals to understand
space. Quasars are the
brightest objects in the universe
and their intense light is
generated by a gas.
c) The intense light from
quasars makes them easy to
spot even at extreme distances
up to 95 percent of the way
across the observable universe.
d) By studying how this light
interacts with hydrogen gas on
its journey to earth will reveal
the main sources of lighting in
the universe.
TH
AUGUST 2014

1.

PM banks on
mega plan to fight
debt (Pages 1 and
15)
a) National
b) Economy
a) Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana
c) RuPay debit card
a) PM opened a record 1.5
crore bank accounts across the
country to mark the launch of
the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojana (PMJDY) aimed at
financial inclusion of all Indians.
b) The scheme aims to
ensure that every household
has at least two bank accounts.
Each of the 1.5 crore bank
accounts opened comes with a
RuPay debit card, 1 lakh
accident insurance cover and
an additional 30,000 rupees life
insurance cover.
c) These benefits will apply
to all accounts opened
before Jan 26 2015.
2. Great expectations
from Modis Japan
trip (Page 1)
b) Bilateral ties
c) Military ties
d) Nuclear agreements
e) Smart cities
a) Modis engagement with
the Japanese leadership would
be not only about bilateral ties
but also increased military ties,
business-to-business ties,
Japanese assistance in
creating smart cities in India
and nuclear issues would all be
on the agenda.
b) He was interested in
rejuvenating Indian cities on the
lines of Kyoto.
3. Regulating Indias
nuclear estate
(page 10)
a) National
b) Polity
a) Nuclear Safety
Regulator Authority Bill 2011
b) Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board 1983
c) Department of Atomic
Energy
d) Atomic Energy Act 1962
e) Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG)
f) Nuclear Materials
Security Index 2014
g) Mayapuri radiation
accident (New Delhi) 2010
h) Fukushima disaster
a) The 2014 Nuclear
Materials Security Index
prepared by the Washington-
based Nuclear Threat Initiative
(NTI) has ranked India 23
rd
out
of 25 countries with weapons-
usable nuclear materials.
b) The Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB)
established in 1983 is not an
autonomous body as it
depends on the Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE) for all
practical purposes.
c) In 2011, the Nuclear
Safety Regulatory Authority
(NSRA) Bill was drafted by the
DAE and submitted to the
Union Cabinet for approval.
d) The Bill first introduced in
(Japan) 2011
i) RTI Act
the Lok Sabha in 2011, has
now lapsed and will have to be
reintroduced in the new Lok
Sabha.
e) The Bill states that the
Central Government may for
the purposes of national
defence and safety, exempt
any nuclear material,
radioactive material, facilities,
premises and activities; the
premises, assets and areas
associated with material and
activities from the jurisdiction of
the Authority.
f) The issue is the exclusion
of the NSRA from the purview
of RTI Act, thereby reducing the
requirement for the regulator to
be transparent.
g) The difference between
AERB and NSRA is that while
the AERB was set up by a
government order, the new
regulator (NSRA) will be
established by an Act of
Parliament, there by making it
more powerful. While the AERB
reported to the AEC, the NSRA
will not report to the AEC but
will submits its report to
Parliament.
4. Assams annual
sorrow (Page 10)
a) National
b) Environment
a) Floods
b) Flood and Erosion
Protection Authority
c) Brahmaputra Valley
River Authority
d) Brahmaputra river
e) Barak river
f) Disaster management
a) Following reduction of the
flow from ice-melt in the
upstream Himalayan belt,
seasonal floods have eased in
northern and northeastern India
from Uttarakhand, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar
and West Bengal to Arunachal
Pradesh and Meghalaya.
b) CM Tarun gogois
announcement of the States
decision to form a Flood and
Erosion Protection Authority at
a cost of 1000 crore to
strengthen dams and build
again those that have outlived
their utility, has come not a day
too soon.
c) The State has also
proposed the formation of a
Brahmaputra Valley River
Authority.
d) According to the States
Economic Survey for 2013-14,
it suffers an average loss of
200 crore a year.
e) The Brahmaputra and the
Barak along with their 48 major
tributaries and numerous sub-
tributaries have periodically
claimed roads, bridges,
buildings and communication
infrastructure, besides
livestock, crops and so on.
f) The experts suggested
some steps that the application
of space-based tools for
project-planning, the use of
geo-synthetic materials for
flood management structures
and optimal clearing activity in
the rivers.
5. Fifteen stations to
come up on high-
speed railway
corridor (Page 13)
a) National
b) Economy
a) Japan projects in India
b) Ahmedabad-Mumbai
high-speed train corridor
a) An Indo-Japanese team
has identified 15 possible
stations along the proposed
534 km Ahmedabad-Mumbai
high-speed train corridor.
b) The proposal is to link the
high-speed line with the
existing rail network at select
stations in order to ease
transfers.
c) The current speed of long
distance trains in India
averages around 70-80 kmph.
The train systems that are
under consideration can reach
a speed of 300-350 kmph
which would be a radical move.
d) At present, China has over
12,000 km of high-speed train
lines, which is the worlds
largest network.
6. MIT scientists
switch bad
memories for good
ones in mice (Page
9)
a) S&T a) Optogenetics
b) Neurons
c) Brain mapping
a) Using a technique called
optogenetics in which light is
used to switch neurons on and
off, neuroscientists revealed
some secrets about how the
brain attaches emotions to
memories and how those
emotions can be adjusted.
b) The scientists attached
neurons in the brains of mice
with a light-sensitive protein
and used pulses of light to

TH
AUGUST 2014

switch the cells on and off.
c) They identified patterns of
neurons activated when mice
created a negative memory or a
positive one.
d) A negative memory
formed when mice received a
mild electric shock to their feet;
a positive one was formed
when the mice, all male, were
allowed to spend time with
female mice.
1.

No review of
Nuclear doctrine,
says PM
b) Indo Pak disputes
c) Indo China issues
d) Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty (CTBT)
e) Simla Agreement
f) Lahore Declaration
a) PM Narendra Modi said
India will not review its nuclear
doctrine adopted during the first
National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) government.
b) He said Delhi would
continue to work for the
strengthening of non-
proliferation efforts.
c) As to the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in
advance of discussing civil
nuclear cooperation with
Japan, he said we are
committed to maintaining a
unilateral and voluntary ban on
nuclear explosive testing.
d) He said India had no
hesitation in discussing any
outstanding issue with Pakistan
within the framework of the
Simla Agreement and the
Lahore Declaration.
e) He stressed that India,
Japan and China should work
towards an Asian Century.
2. India, Pakistan
hold third flag
meeting
a) I.R a) Indo Pak border
disputes
b) LOC
c) BSF
d) Desert Rangers of
Pakistan
a) Officers of the Border
Security Force and the Desert
Rangers of Pakistan held their
third flag meeting along the
international border that has
noted continuous ceasefire
violations in the past month and
a half.
b) Sources said while the
BSF complained about regular
ceasefire violations, the
Pakistani Rangers opposed the
charge and drew attention to
the loss of life and property in
BSF attacking.
3. Arrested slide in
first 100 days:
Modi
a) I.R
b) National
a) Indo Japan ties
b) Civil nuclear
cooperation
c) Financial inclusion
d) FDI
e) Abenomics
a) Stressing that India had
passed the hour of crisis, the
PM said a number of initiatives
had been taken in the fields of
labour reforms, financial
inclusion and skill development;
49 per cent foreign direct
investment (FDI) allowed in the
defence sector; and a proposal
to raise the FDI cap in
insurance followed.
b) On Japan visit, he said
that I see a lot of
complementarity and synergy
in the economic field between
the goals of Abenomics and
what I am trying to achieve in
India.
c) He was hopeful of
concrete cooperation in civil
nuclear energy, defence and
high-speed rail.
4. Modi gives tips for
rejuvenating
Varanasi
a) National a) Smart cities
b) Heritage cities
c) Ganga cleaning plan
a) As India is eager to learn
from the Kyoto model, Modi is
ready to change Varanasi into
a smart city is likely to get more
inputs on the concept in Japan.
b) To fulfil his promise, not
only is there a Rs.100 crore
assistance package for heritage
cities announced by Finance
Minister, but the Urban
Development Ministry is also
carrying out the big task of
cleaning the Ganga and the
Ghats around it, creating
infrastructure, widening roads,
laying sewerage systems and
ensuring employment for its
people.
c) The other cities that will be
redeveloped under the
programme are Mathura, Gaya,
Amritsar, Ajmer, Kanchipuram
and Velankanni.
d) These redeveloped plans
will also focus on improvement
of physical, social and
economic infrastructure of the

heritage cities.
e) The improvement of
heritage cities will now be
mandated to the Union Urban
Development Ministry (earlier
by the Ministry of Culture).
5. GDP up 5.7% to
10-quarter high
a) Economy a) GDP
b) Inflation
c) Fiscal deficit
d) South west monsoon
a) Indias GDP grew at 5.7
per cent during April-June is the
highest in 10 quarters.
b) Whether a total recovery
will happen will depend on the
monsoon as the agriculture
sector output impacts farm
incomes and therefore
consumption spending in the
economy and the steps taken
to attract investments and
speed up projects.
c) The capital formation data
is also encouraging for it shows
India is no longer stuck in a
slow investment cycle.
6. Banking on Credit a) Economy a) Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana
c) RuPay credit
a) The Jan Dhan Yojana has
to improve access to loans
among households nationwide.
b) Both bank accounts and
access to credit are crucial for
financial inclusion.
c) Structural reorganisation
of banks and services needed
for ensuring credit worthiness
alone wont improve loan
expense.
7. Fiscal deficit
touches 61.2
percent of BE in
July end
a) Economy a) Fiscal Deficit
b) Budget Estimates
c) GDP
a) During the April-July
period of 2013-14 fiscal, the
deficit was 62.8 per cent of
Budget Estimates (BE) of that
year.
b) For entire 2014-15, the
fiscal deficit (gap between
government expenditure and
revenue) for the whole fiscal
has been fixed at 4.1 per cent
of GDP.
ST
AUGUST 2014

1.

Kashi, Kyoto in
heritage pact
(Pages 1 and 10)
b) Indo Japan trade
c) Trilateral ties of India,
Japan and US
d) Smart cities
a) The two Prime Ministers
witnessed the signing of a
partner city affiliation
agreement between Varanasi
(Kashi) and Kyoto, which will
see cooperation in the fields of
heritage conservation, city
modernisation and culture.
b) Modi said with the
Japanese media what his
government had achieved in its
first 100 days, pointing clearly
to the twin problems of slow
global growth and the absence
of a strong government in
Delhi.
c) He said we will explore
how Japan can associate itself
productively with my vision of
inclusive development in India,
including transformation of
Indias manufacturing,
infrastructure sectors, energy
and social sectors.
d) There will be possible
trilateral talks of India, Japan
and the US that have been
discussing issues of interests at
the level of Joint Secretaries.
2. Mahila Bank to
have 25 percent
presence in rural
areas (Page 11)
a) National
b) Economy
c) Social issue
a) Bharatiya Mahila Bank
b) Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana
c) RuPay credit
d) Financial inclusion
e) Non-Banking Financial
Companies
a) Mahila Bank lends money
to women who set up small
businesses, beauty parlours,
day care centers and home-
based initiatives and customers
get up to 1 crore without a
credit guarantee.
b) With the Jan Dhan Yojana
coming at a good moment, the
Bank which was launched in
November 2013 wants to have
a 25 percent presence in rural
areas.
c) The deposit portfolio is
open to both men and women
and while the bank prefers to
give loans to women and
educated home workers, 13
percent of its clients are men.
d) The Bank also lends to
Non-Banking Financial
Companies.
3. Water ATMs bring
smiles to faces of
Rajasthan villagers
(Page 9)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) Water ATMs
b) PPP
a) Using Water ATMs, many
arid villages in Rajasthan have
24/7 accessing to the drinking
water at the swipe of a card at
20 litres for 5 Rupees.
b) The project is a good
example of a PPP model,
where Cairn India has
partnered with the Rajasthan
governments Public Health
engineering Department, Tata
projects and the respective
village panchayats to provide
safe drinking water at the
doorsteps of the local
community.
4. First Natural World
Heritage Centre
coming up at WII
(Page 9)
a) National
b) Environment
a) Natural World Heritage
Centre
b) Wildlife Institute of India
c) UNESCO
d) World Heritage List
a) The foundation stone of
the worlds first Natural World
Heritage Centre was setup at
the Wildlife Institute of India
(WII) in Dehradun.
b) UNESCO Category 2
centre on Natural world
Heritage Management and
Training for Asia and the Pacific
Region would be established
with the objective of achieving a
more balanced representation
of properties from Asia and the
Pacific on the World Heritage
List.
c) UNESCO has established
World Heritage centers in
South Africa, Spain, Italy,
China, Bahrain, Brazil, Mexico
and Norway.
d) The centres in these eight
countries of the world are only
for the conservation of cultural
heritage. Now this is UNESCOs
first centre in the world for the
conservation of Natural World
Heritage.
e) The Centre would work
towards protection and
conservation of around 67
Natural World Heritage sites
across the 50 countries in Asia
and the Pacific region.
5. Western Ghats:
ESA maps to be
digitized (Page 7)
a) National
b) Environment
a) Western Ghats
b) Ecologically Sensitive
Areas (ESAs)
a) With the Central
government informing the
National Green Tribunal of its
objective to implement the
report on the Western Ghats,
c) National Green Tribunal
d) Geographic Information
System (GIS)
e) Cadastral maps
the Kerala government is
setting up for the final phase of
the exercise to mark
Ecologically Sensitive Areas
(ESAs) in the State.
b) The task of preparing
digitized maps showing the
extent of the redefined ESAs in
the 123 villages identified by
the High Level Working Group
(HLWG).
c) The Kerala State Remote
Sensing and Environment
Centre had prepared cadastral
maps redefining the boundaries
of the ESAs.
d) The colour-coded maps
locating forests, residential
areas, water bodies, and rocks
were scanned, electronically
stitched and uploaded onto the
website of the Kerala State
Biodiversity Board.
e) The cadastral maps are
only scanned sheets with field-
level data copied onto survey
maps. They need to be
digitized and converted to the
Geographic Information System
(GIS) format to enable
calculation of the area based
on survey number.
6. Water shortage
hits Bharatpur
sanctuary (Page 9)
a) Environment
b) Geography
a) Keoladeo National
sanctuary
b) Gambhir River
c) Chambal River
d) Goverdhan river
e) Panchana Dam
f) Southwest monsoon
a) The Bharatpur bird
sanctuary is facing a shortage
of flowing water which is
important to sustain the 29
sqkm aquatic habitat where
herons breed during the current
season.
b) The Keoladeo National
sanctuary at Bharatpur must
receive 550 million cubic feet of
water annually during the
monsoon season for its nearly
10 sqkm area to remain water-
logged and support resident
and migratory species
throughout winter.
c) The sanctuary used to
receive flowing water through
the Gambhir River. But the river
stopped flowing over a decade
ago due to construction of the
Panchana Dam in Karauli

ST
SEPTEMBER 2014

district.
7. Pursuing the Shiva
crater theory of
dinosaur extinction
(Page 18)
a) Geography
b) S&T
a) Shiva crater
b) Chicxulub crater
c) Continental Shelf
d) Mumbai Offshore Basin
a) In search of an answer to
how dinosaurs went extinct 65
million years ago, Indian-
American scientist will visit
India in the spring of 2015 to
continue research on the Shiva
crater hypothesis.
b) Along with the Shiva
crater, the Chicxulub crater of
Mexico has been linked to the
extinction of dinosaurs.
c) The Shiva crater is about
500 km in diameter and
discovered it from geophysical
evidence and drill core samples
in the Mumbai Offshore Basin
on the western continental shelf
of India.
1.

India, Japan
should jointly work
on heritage cities:
Modi (Page 10)
b) Heritage cities
c) Smart cities
d) Sickle cell anaemia
a) Modi said India and Japan
faced a common challenge in
protecting and building smart
heritage cities.
b) He visited the heritage Toji
temple in Kyoto.
c) He met Nobel Laureate in
Medicine Shimna Yamanaka
and enquired about any
possibility of treatment for
sickle cell anaemia that affects
sections of the Indian tribal
population including Gujarat.
2. At Lhasa, Tibetans
still pray for Dalai
Lamas return
(Pages 1 and 10)
a) International a) Tibet issue
b) Norbulingka
c) Buddhism
a) Thousands of Tibetan
Buddhists visited Lhasas
Norbulingka to offer prayers for
the return of 14th Dalai Lama.
b) Norbulingka was the
summer palace home of the
Dalai Lama from 1956 to 1959
before he came to India.
c) Chinese officials said the
Dalai Lama is welcome to
return, as long as he accepts
Tibet as a part of China.
3. Tamil Nadu had
elected judiciary
1,200 years ago
(Page 7)
a) National
b) Polity
a) Inscription
b) Manur inscription
a) Tamil Nadu had an
elected judiciary more than
1200 years ago with rules
provisioning that the judges
should have good character,
c) History c) Vedas
d) NJAC Bill 2014
e) Collegium system
f) Supreme Court
g) High Court
should have passed
examinations in legal treaties,
should depend only on written
evidence and so on.
b) This is carried out by two
inscriptions in Tamil found at
the Sri Ambalavana Swamy
temple at Manur near
Tirunelveli and the Sri
Bakthavatsala Perumal temple
at Tiruninravur.
c) While the Manur
inscription belongs to the
Pandya king Maranjadayan of
eighth century CE, the
inscription at Tiruninravur is
dated to the period of
Parantaka Chola I (930 CE).
d) The inscriptions provide
historical context to the
LokSabha and the RajyaSabha
passing the NJAC Bill 2014,
regulating the procedure for the
Supreme Court and the High
Courts and the removing of the
collegium system of selection of
judges.
e) In the Manur lithic record,
the judges should also have
studied one Veda in addition to
passing an examination and
having good character,
because they belonged to the
Brahmin village assembly.
4. Commendable
initiative ( Page 8)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) Social Rights
b) Clean India Campaign
c) Corporate Social
Responsibility
d) RTE Act
e) Hepatitis A
f) Dysenter
a) The social movement is
slowly gaining action with
Modis request to corporate
sector to prioritise the provision
of toilets in schools under
corporate social responsibility
programmes.
b) Two companies (Tata
Consultancy Services and
Bharti Enterprises) have
committed themselves to
playing their part in achieving
the great task of ensuring that
all schools in the country have
toilets for boys and girls in a
years time.
c) India has the most number
of people in the world
continuing with the practice of

open defecation.
d) Many of the water-borne
diseases - Cholera, diarrhoea,
dysentery, Hepatitis A, typhoid
and polio - are linked to open
defecation.
e) The absence of toilets in
schools is one of the reasons
for why the girls drop out of the
system at an early age.
f) According to a document
of the World Banks Water and
Sanitation Programme, the
economic impact of poor
sanitation is about Rs.2.4
trillion, which represented 6.4
percent of Indias GDP in 2006.
5. Sulabh begins
toilet for every
house drive from
Badaun (Page 11)
a) National
b) Social issue
a) Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
(Clean India Campaign)
b) Census 2011
c) Sanitation in India
d) CSR
a) Sulabh International
started its nationwide Toilet for
Every House campaign from
Katra Sadatganj village in
Badaun, U.P.
b) According to UN reports,
only 665 million of 1.2 billion
population had access to toilets
in India.
c) Responding to the
governments recent Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India
Campaign), Larsen & Toubro
Ltd announced plans to build
5000 toilets as part of its
(CSR) initiative.

17 Jul 2014 To 1ST Sep 2014

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

17 Jul 2014 To 1ST Sep 2014

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

DATE: 17-07-14

S.NO. NEWS ITEM SYLLUBUS BACKGROUND IMPORTANT POINTS

You might also like