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CURRENT AFFAIRS:

1) India’s Gurpreet Singh wins silver medal at 2015 Asian Air Gun Championship

2) Taliban captures northern Afghan city of Kunduz

3) Union Government unveils Green Highways Policy 2015

4) M.R. Poovamma and Babita Kumari conferred Arjuna Award 2015

5) RBI lowers repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.75 per cent

6) INS Kochi commissioned into Indian Navy

7) India-Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise MITRA SHAKTI 2015 begins in Pune

8) Google to provide Wi-Fi in 400 Indian railway stations

9) Former England fast bowler Frank Tyson passes away

10) Governor of Meghalaya V. Shanmuganathan gets additional
charge of Manipur

Current Affairs:
Q 1) Which of the following teams on 24 September 2015 won the Sub-junior (under-14) title of the 56th Subroto Cup International football Tournament?
A. Kiyang Kasiya Memorial Tribal School of Assam
B. Government Chawngfiamg Middle school of Mizoram
C. Esteqalal school of Afghanistan
D. Charity school of Nagaland
Answer : (A)
Q.2) Forbes on 23 September released list of India's 100 Richest people. Who of the following is the Youngest Entrant in the list?
A. Binny Bansal
B. Sachin Bansal
C. Sameer Gehlaut
D. Ranjan Pai
Answer : (A)

Current affairs 18 September 2015 - National - Daily GK Updates

Union Government has banned Naga rebel group National Socialist Council of Nagaland- Khaplang (NSCN-K) for five years.

The Union Cabinet has approved Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban mission (SPMRM) for its ambitious bid to spur social, economic and infrastructure development in rural areas.

Union Cabinet has approved 150 days employment per household under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the drought hit areas of the country.

The Kochi based South Indian Fertilisers, an organic fertiliser manufacturing company, has plans to set up Kissan Kendra’s and agri super markets across Kerala.

Union cabinet has approved the creation of four posts of directors for four new National Institutes of Design (NIDs) located at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Kurukshetra (Haryana), Jorhat (Assam) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).

The AAP government told Delhi High Court that the Lokayukta is expected to be appointed by October 28.

Assam Government has withdrawn the prohibition notification on two variants of Wai-Wai noodles declaring the products as safe for human consumption.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi turns 65 on Thursday, 17 September, 2015, well-wishers and dignitaries across the country have extended greetings to him. And Twitter is one amongst them.

Indian Medical Association released dengue guidelines and said not to panic about the new dengue serotype. It said that the present serotype is less fatal than the one in 2013.

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Current affairs 17 September 2015 - International - Daily GK Updates

Ashok-Alexander Sridharan became the first Person of Indian Origin (PIO) to be elected as the mayor of Bonn in Germany.

North Korea’s main nuclear facility at the Yongbyon complex has resumed normal operations after it was shut down in 2007.

Hungarian Government has declared a state of emergency in its two regions of Csongrad and Bacs-Kiskun to cope with the influx of refugees.

Google launches donation-matching campaign to raise $11 million for refugees.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS 4th SEPTEMBER 2015
The Australian Minister for Defense Kevin Andrews is on a 3-day visit to India.

Today he held talks at the level of delegation with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar.
The two ministers agreed to deepen their bilateral defense partnership by taking a series of new initiatives, including the establishment of a joint working group on research and defense material cooperation and focusing on the links maritime security in the Indian Ocean region.
It was also decided that India will participate in the first year ever with air Australia.
Sumitra Mahajan Lok Sabha President is in New York to attend the 10th annual meeting of the Presidents of Parliament and of the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament.

The Foreign Minister of the UAE, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan is on a visit to India.

He came to India to attend the 11th meeting of the India-UAE Joint Commission for Economic and Technical Cooperation, which is co-chaired by EAM.
During the visit, the two sides agreed to elevate their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership by identifying new areas of cooperation.
Signed India and the UAE today five MoUs in different fields.
Two of them are in the field of telecommunications.
MoU are remaining in the area of tourism, higher education and scientific research, specifications and measurements.
Important Note: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently visited the UAE after nearly 34 years, which was the first visit by an Indian prime minister after 1981.
National Affairs

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the celebrations of Diamond Jubilee

Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC de) Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi today.

About EEPC:

EEPC is the leading trade organization and the promotion of investment in India.
It is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and responds to the Indian engineering sector.
As an advisory body, it actively contributes to the Government of India policy and acts as an interface between the engineering industry and the Government.

Founded in 1955, EEPC India now has a member base of more than 12,000 of which 60% are SMEs.
The area of West Central Railway became the first zone of the Indian Railways to eliminate all railway unguarded level of his system.

Of a total of 118 unmanned level crossings falling on west central railway until 1 April 2014, 80 were eliminated during the year 2014-15 and the target of 66 and the remaining 38 were made in the current financial year by 31 August 2015.
Technology Science

India will launch a second satellite remote sensing multispectral Indonesia to help the country to monitor land use, natural resources and disaster mitigation.

The locally manufactured satellite LAPAN A2 / Orari is a successor to LAPAN A1 / TUBSAT, which was also launched in India in 2007.
The satellite will be delivered to India tomorrow to be launched in the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
LAPAN A2 / Orari function as a tool to monitor land use, ship movements, the resources of the sea and fishing explorations.
The satellite will be in orbit around the Earth along the equator at an altitude of 650 km and traveling at 7.5 kilometers per second – allowing it to circle the Earth 14 times a day.
Business & Economy

The government has extended the deadline to file the tax return from one week to September 7.

The earlier date was August 31
Sharpening focus on infrastructure development to stimulate growth, the government will invest Rs 8.5 lakh crore in Indian Railways to change the face of the sector, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said today .
Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced that the Liberation Army 2.3 million people strong, will be reduced from three lakh troops.

The Office of the Union authorized the repayment of Rs 113 crore losses pulses imported between 2006-11 by four government agencies – NAFED, MMTC, STC and PEC.
Cabinet also approved the import of 5,000 tons each Tur and Urad Dal by MMTC for retail distribution to consumers of September 5.
The government announced today that it has notified the merger of commodity futures market regulator Commission (FMC) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

As of September 28, Sebi would also regulate the derivatives market for commodities.
Note: The Minister of Finance had Arun Jaitley Budget 2015 announced the merger of FMC with Sebi.
New appointments

In Sri Lanka, the Tamil National Alliance leader R. The Sampanthan was unanimously elected as the leader of the opposition in Parliament.

Sport

The logo of 2020 Tokyo Olympics was scrapped after allegations that he has been plagiarized.

Asian boxing championship:

Satish Kumar Indian Boxer between semis over 91 kg weight category held in Bangkok.

In the process Satish assured a medal and also became the fourth Indian boxer to book a place in the World Championship.

30 trees planted in a straight line at intervals of 5 m. To water them the gardener needs to bring water for each tree, separately from a well, which is 10 m from the first three in line with the trees. How far will he have to walk in order to water all the trees beginning with the first tree? Assume that he starts from the well.

(a) 4785m (b) 4795m (c) 4800m (d) None of these

CURRENT AFFAIRS 3rd SEPTEMBER 2015

Business & Economy :

Union Government notifies merger of FMC with SEBI
Union Government has notified the merger of commodities market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with an effect from 28 September 2015.

In this regard, Union Finance Ministry has issued a notification mentioning that

Regulation of Commodity Derivatives Market will shift to SEBI under Securities Contracts Regulation Act (SCRA) 1956.

Forward Contracts Regulation Act (FCRA), 1952 gets repealed so does the FMC cease to exist.

With this merger, all three national and six regional commodity exchanges will come under the ambit of national capital market regulator SEBI.

Implication: This merger will create a unified regulator for commodities and capital markets which in turn will help streamline monitoring of commodity futures trading and curb wild speculations in the market.

Union Cabinet approves MFP for Development of Hydrocarbon discoveries
Union Cabinet has approved Marginal Fields Policy (MFP) for the development of unexploited hydrocarbon discoveries by state owned oil companies.



Decision in this regard was taken by Union Cabinet Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Key facts about Marginal Fields Policy (MFP)

69 unexploited oil fields owned by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL) will be opened for competitive bidding based on revenue sharing model.

These discoveries for many years were not able to monetize due to isolated locations, small size of reserves, technological constraints, high development costs and fiscal regime.

These discovered oil fields were considered as marginal fields as they were not developed and thus were of lower priority.

Private exploration companies will be able to submit bids for exploiting these oil fields.

The policy allows the successful bidder to sell these oil fields at the prevailing market price of gas, rather than at an administered price.

It should be noted that this is first time revenue sharing model introduced in oil sector.

Implication: This decision is expected to stimulate investment in oil exploration sector as well as increase domestic oil and gas production. It will also help in monetizing 70,000 crore rupees worth of resources form these unexploited oil fields.

National :

West-Central Railway becomes first zone to eliminate Unmanned Level Crossings
The West-Central Railway (WCR) zone headquartered in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh has become the first Railway Zone in Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings.
The target was achieved after all 118 unmanned level crossings of WCR zone were eliminated in phase manner by August 31, 2015. 80 crossings were eliminated in the financial year 2014-15 and the remaining 38 crossings were eliminated in August 2015.

This target was achieved by constructing 33 Limited Height Sub Ways (LHs) and manning of 30 level crossings.

It is a being considered as a big success in the safety initiative of Indian Railways as unmanned railway crossings continue to remain a deathtrap in India as alone it had killed 126 people in 2014-15.

Elimination all unmanned level crossings

Union Railway Ministry has taken a series of safety steps to prevent accidents at these unmanned railway crossings.
Indian Railways have around 30,348 level crossings, out of which 11,563 i.e. nearly 40 per cent, are unmanned.
Some of the safety initiatives include closing of many crossings, construction of rail overbridge and rail underbridge. At certain places Gate Mitra and Gate Counsellors are also deployed
Indian Railways is also planning to tie up with India Space Research Organistion (ISRO) to safety crossing system using Geo-spatial technologies.
These technologies will include combination of Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing in order to send mobile message alerts to people in vicinity of an unmanned level crossing
Union Cabinet approves reimbursement to 4 government agencies for import of pulses
The Union Cabinet has approved reimbursement of 113 crore rupees for incurring losses on pulses imported by four government agencies between 2006- 2011 period.

These four government agencies are National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC), State Trading Corporation of India (STC) and PEC.

This decision will enable these 4 PSUs to be financially sound in order to intensify trading activities to cool down prices of essential commodities.

This decision was taken at Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposal of Union Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs.

Person :

South African city Durban to host 2022 Commonwealth Games

South African city of Durban has been selected as the host for the 22nd edition of Commonwealth Games to be held in 2022.

For the first time in the history of Commonwealth Games, African nation has been chosen as host of the Games.

The city was chosen by the Federation’s general assembly in New Zealand as it was the only bidder for the multi-sports event. It was lone bidder after Canadian city Edmonton withdrew from contention race in February 2015 over the economic slowdown in Canada.



22nd Commonwealth Games would be held from 18 to 30 July 2022. The opening ceremony will be held on the birth date of the late South African President and Anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.

Note: Australian City of Gold Coast is hosting 21st edition of Commonwealth Games to be held in 2018.

International :

Canada’s economy falls into a recession

Canada’s economy has fallen into a recession for first time after global financial crisis of 2009.

Statistics Canada, nodal national statistical agency of Canada has reported that its economy i.e. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has retreated at an annual pace of 0.5 per cent from April through June 2015.

In earlier quarter first three months of the year 2015, the economic slowdown had appeared which had felled to 0.8 per cent. Technically, two consecutive negative quarters leads to recession.

In recent situation, Canada was dragged into the economic to slow down due to external pressure of falling oil prices and economic troubles in China. In an effort to revive the economy, Bank of Canada had cut interest rates twice in year 2015.

Canada is the world’s 11th-biggest economy and the United States’ (US) biggest trading partner. The last time in 2008-09, Canada was in recession after the US housing market meltdown had triggered a global credit crisis. But, Canadian economy suffered far less damage from the financial crisis and great Recession compared to its southern neighbour.

Current Affairs - Excel Speed Maths - 16.08.2015 to 31.08.2015.
1. The Selection Committee for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Awards for the Year 2015 was headed by Shri. V.K.Bali. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award carrying a cash prize of Rs.7.5 Lakhs was conferred on Sania Mirza, the Tennis player. Arjuna Award carrying a cash prize of Rs.5 Lakhs was awarded to 17 sports personalities.
2. Gujar Mal Modi Award for Science and Technology was conferred to Mustansir Barma, the former Director of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
3. The first Indian shuttle badminton player to win a Silver Medal in World Championship is Saina Nehwal. Previously Prakash Padukone has won a bronze medal in 1983.
4. Adani Group signed MOU with Kerala Government for development of Vizhinjam Port near Trivandrum, the state capital.
5. Dhyan Chand Award, 2015, India’s highest award for life time achievement in sports was conferred on T.P.P.Nair, Romeo James and S.P.Misra.
6. The mobile wallet application launched by State Bank of India facilitating bill payments, ticket booking, shopping etc - SBI Buddy.
7. Suvra Muherjee, Wife of the President of India passed away at the age of 74.
8. The first Indian Woman to play in English League Football - Aditi Chauhan.
9. The first Indian to win Ladies Golf British Amateur Stroke play Championship – Aditi Ashok.
10. Author of the book – Mrs Funny Bones – Twinkle Khanna.
11. Author of the book – Making India Awesome – Chetan Bhagat.
12. Which Bollywood movie was banned in Pakistan – Phantom.
13. Cochin International Airport becomes the first airport to run on Solar Power.
14. Sebastian Coe, the former British athlete has been selected as the President of International Association of Athletics Federation ( IAAF).
15. The state which has proposed Sanskrit as a compulsory language in all government schools – Himachal Pradesh.
16. Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
17. The temple destroyed by the militant group ISIS – Palmyra’s Temple of Baalshamin is in Syria.
18. Ashes Test played between England and Australia was won by England.
19. Usain Bolt of Jamaica bagged a triple Gold in 100 metres , 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay at the World Athletic Championship held at Bejing.
20. FIH Hockey World League Final is scheduled to be conducted at Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh.
21. Veteran actor-director Amol Palekar was appointed as the chairman of India’s Oscar Jury which will select the official entry of India to the Oscar Academy Awards.
22. Sehat – a tele-medicine project was launched by the Union Government in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals.
23. Jaisalmer War Museum and Laungewala War Memorial of Indian Army commenced operations.
24. Census Data , 2011 on religious communities by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India was released. Hindus 96.63 Crores constitute 79.80 % of the total population followed by Muslims – 17.22 crores (14.20%) , Christians – 2.78 Crores (2.30%) , Sikhs – 2.08 crores (1.70%).
25. The first Public Distribution Scheme with Private Partnership was launched in the state of Rajasthan.
26. Girish Sahni has taken charge as the Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India’s Apex Research and Development Organisation on Science and Technology.
27. Kolkata Port was selected as the best major port of 2014-2015 based on traffic growth and customer satisfaction . India has 12 major ports in the country.
28. Dilip Vengsarkar was elected as the President of Association of Indian Statisticians and Scorers of India.
29. Rajendra Singh, the environmental activist from Rajasthan also known as the ‘Water man of India’ was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize. The prize carries a cash award of 1.5 Lakh US Dollars.
30. Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) –D6 was launched from Sathish Dhawan Space Centre – Sriharikota.
31. Tennis player Novak Djokovic has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF.
32. Face Book CEO Mark Zuckerberg tops the list of the wealthiest people under 35 years of age. The Youngest individual in the list is Evan Thomas Speigel, the American internet entrepreneur and CEO of Snapchat.
33. Saurav Ganguly’s record of the fastest 8000 ODI was broken by AB De Villers of South Africa.
34. Union Government announced 98 cities under Smart Cities Project.
35. The first North Eastern state to implement National Food Security Act, 2013 is Tripura.
36. Vassiliki Thanou was appointed as the first female Prime Minister of which country – Greece.
37. The Sunhak Peace Prize awarded to individuals and organizations that contributed to peace of our future generation under 3 key banners – ‘ respect for human rights’ , ‘conflict reconciliation’ and ‘ecological conservation’ was awarded to M.Vijay Gupta of India who has pioneered Blue revolution(Fish) and acqua culture. The award carries one million US Dollars. He also received World Food Prize in 2005.
38. SAHAJ – The new scheme lauanched for online release of LPG Connections to give more convenience to LPG customers . The scheme was launched by the Minster for Petroleum and Natural Gas – Dharmendra Pradhan.
39. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award and Dhronacharya Award were presented on the National Sports Day – 29th August – the birth day of Dhyan Chand – the hockey wizard of India.
40.Indian Women’s hockey team qualified for Olympics after a gap of 36 years.
41. Dr.M.M.Kalburgi, the famous kannada writer was shot dead in Dharwad.
42. The professional kabbdi league 2015 was won by U Mumba . The title carries a cash prize of Rs.one crore.
43. Rajiv Mehrishi is appointed as the new Union Home Secretary.
EXCEL SPEED MATHS – CURRENT AFFAIRS- 01.08.2015 to 15.08.2015.
1. India and Bangladesh exchanged 162 enclaves.
2. India’s first integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System was commissioned at Cochin with the technical support of Israel Aerospace Industries.
3. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award was recommended to Sania Mirza , the tennis player.
4. R.Aswin, the Indian Cricketer was awarded with Arjuna Award by the Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Arjuna Award instituted in 1961 carries a cash award of Rs.5 Lakhs.
5. Which sport was officially recognized by the International Olympics Committee recently – Frisbee.
6. Dr.Amalendu Krishna from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was awarded the Ramanujan Prize for 2015.
7. As per Forbes List the World’s highest paid actor is Robert Dooney Jr. followed by Jackie Chan.
8. Airtel is the first company in India to offer 4G services across the country.
9. Hiroshima Day observed on 6th August.
10. India Origin Atul Keshap is the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka.
11. ‘GlobalSat for DRR’ a UN initiative for sharing space technology in connection with disaster risk reduction has proposed to name a satellite after APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India.
12. ‘CARINGS’ is an IT application in connection with - Child Adoption (Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System)
13. Microsoft application – Microsoft Translator can translate 50 different languages.
14. World Indigenous People’s day observed on 9th August. Theme – Ensuring indigenous people’s health and well-being.
15. Amitab Bachan is named the ‘Tiger Ambassador’ of the state of Maharastra.
16. The only university in India offering education programmes to the prisoners is IGNOU.
17. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has launched a new mobile application named ‘DISHA’ to promote digital literacy in the state of Bihar.
18. The highest Civilian Honour of Germany – Cross of Order of the Merit was conferred upon Raghavendra Gadagkar, an ecologist and a professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
19. Ram Nath Kovind has been appointed as the Governor of Bihar. Acharya Dev Vrat has been appointed as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh.
20. World Bio-Fuel Day observed on 10th August to create awareness about non-fossil fuels.
21. Sundar Pichai of Indian Origin is the new CEO of Google.
22. The theme of International Youth Day observed on 12th August 2015 is Youth Civic Engagement.
23. ‘Alphabet Inc’ is a new company launched by the search engine giant Google.
24. The first Indian city to join the World Tourism Cities Federation Council – Cochin.
25. Saraswati Samman for the year 2014 was awarded to Dr.M.Veerappa Moily for his Kannada work – Sri Ramayana Mahanveshanam. The award instituted by K.K.Birla Foundation carries a cash award of Rs.10 Lakhs.
26. Begum Akthar Award for singers carrying a cash award of Rs.5 Lakhs is being proposed by the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
27. The Indians who have figured in the Forbes List of the 100 Richest People in Technology are Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro (13th Rank) and Shiv Nadar, Founder of HCL (14th Rank)
28. A memorial comprising of a museum, library and a meditation centre in honour of former President APJ Abdul Kalam is proposed to be constructed at Rameswaram.
29. “Start Up India ; Stand Up India” campaign was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of 69th Independence Day Celebrations at Red Fort.
30. Abhishek Verma has won Gold Medal in the Archery World Cup held in Poland.
31. Om Prakash Rawat was appointed as the Election Commissioner of India.
32. Which State Assembly passed the Witch Hunting ( Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2015 – Assam.
33. Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged PAHAL Scheme (for LPG Subsidy) as the world’s largest cash transfer program.
34. South Sudan became the 206th member of International Olympic Committee thereby entitling them to participate in 2016 Olympics.
35. The Chinese port city which was rocked by explosions in a chemical warehouse – Tianjin.
36. Taj Mahal is the first historic monument to have a twitter account.
37. Ministry of Agriculture has been renamed as the Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Ministry.
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