Current Affairs - 02 January 2018

Tuesday, January 02, 2018 Current Affairs - 02 January 2018, Current Awareness, General Knowledge

General Affairs

Talgo high-speed trains stop in their tracks after government waves red flag

The railway ministry, after the successful trial of Talgo trains had shown interest in deploying these in short-distance routes on a profit-sharing basis
It may be the end of the government's plan to roll out foreign made high-speed trains on Indian tracks, as top officials of railway ministry have confirmed that the government will not consider the introduction of Spanish Talgo trains in the country without going through the tender process.
As of now no foreign company has offered Indian Railway the same technology and so railway ministry officials were reluctant to go for direct agreement with the Talgo.

The railway ministry, after the successful trial of Talgo train in India in 2016, had shown interest in deploying these trains in short-distance routes like Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Delhi-Lucknow, Bengaluru-Chennai or Delhi-Amritsar on a profitsharing basis.committee was also formed to look into the matters but the plan could not be materialised.

"The Talgo trains cannot come through direct agreement. It has to come via open tender. But there is no other bidder offering the same technology. This makes the procurement of Talgo trains nearly impossible," said a senior railway board official.

Notably, after the railway ministry had shown interest, Talgo offered to send four trains to India to operate on different routes. Talgo had also agreed to customise the trains as per Indian conditions and infrastructure.
As per the plans, the Talgo was also ready to set up its manufacturing plant in India. Railway officials said the Talgo trains can be operated on existing tracks.

The light-weight design and advanced suspension technology allows Talgo trains to travel faster and minimises risks of accidents and puts less force on existing tracks during highspeed manoeuvre.

Due to their light weight, these trains can even negotiate sharp curves at high speed. While the average speed of Rajdhani and Shatabdi coaches are at a dismal 70 kmph, Talgo trains can race at an average speed of 105 kmph on the same tracks.

Similarly, the Talgo trains can attain the maximum speed of 180 kmph as against the top speed of 140 km by Rajdhani Express. Trial run for Talgo train was conducted in September 2016 after a nine-coach Talgo train successfully completed the final run between Delhi and Mumbai, conducted by the Indian Railways.

The 1,400-km journey between Delhi and Mumbai takes at least 16 hours for the Rajdhani Express. The Talgo train, on the other hand, completed the journey in less than 12 hours. The Indian Railways is desperately looking for companies to manufacture semi-high speed trains in India.

This assumes greater significance as the ministry is all set to convert two major rail routes - Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah - into semi high speed corridors by next year.

The 1384-km Delhi-Mumbai corridor and 1450-km Delhi-Howrah corridor are being upgraded at the cost of 18,000 crore to allow the movement of trains at 160 kmph. Once operational, the railways would require more trains to run at the high speed.

At the same time, study is underway on Delhi-Chandigarh (244 km), Nagpur-Secunderabad (575 km), Chennai- Kazipet (650 km) corridors to upgrade them for semi-high speed trains.

Feasibility study for high speed rail on Mysuru-Bengaluru-Chennai corridor is also underway with the help of German railway.

Triple test: Kejriwal's AAP brainstorms to find three faces for Rajya Sabha

Hectic parleys and deliberations are on in AAP as the top leadership is trying to zero in on three faces for its Rajya Sabha nominations this week.

While top party sources confirmed that national spokesperson and former Punjab in-charge Sanjay Singh has made the cut, former CEO and chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, Meera Sanyal and prominent UP-based poet Imran Pratapgarhi have emerged as top contenders for the other two tickets.

Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who are on a holiday, will convene a meeting of the political affairs committee by Wednesday and make a formal announcement thereafter.

While the party is strategising for the three seats, its leadership continues to remain divided over fielding 'rank outsiders'.

As AAP reached out to prominent personalities like Raghuram Rajan and Arun Shourie, among others, over the past few weeks, party members have raised questions on sidelining their own leaders.

"Will this not demoralise party leaders and workers who have been tirelessly working for the party?" wondered a party source. Sanyal, member of the AAP national executive, has not been actively involved in the party's core decision-making and campaigns.

Large sections of the party have instead pitched for senior leader Ashutosh, who has been a far more prominent and visible face of the party.

Sources said Pratapgarhi, who often takes on PM Modi, is being brought in to offset poet-turned-politician Kumar Vishwas, who has staked claim on a Rajya Sabha seat.

The party needs a minority face, but roping in Pratapgarhi, who is a 'rank outsider', would mean he will stymie AAP's prominent minority leader and Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan.

However, having Pratapgarhi on board would give the party a new voice that will mount attack on Modi at a time when Kejriwal has refrained from doing so.

Meanwhile, all eyes remain on Vishwas, who claimed to have support from a section of the MLAs.

India, Pakistan exchange list of nuclear installations

India and Pakistan today exchanged, through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, the list of nuclear installations and facilities under a three-decade old bilateral pact.

According to an external affairs ministry release, the two sides exchanged the list under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations between India and Pakistan.

The agreement, which was signed on December 31, 1988, and entered into force on January 27, 1991, provides that the two countries inform each other of nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under the pact on the first of January of every calendar year.

This is the twenty seventh consecutive exchange of such a list between the two countries, the first one having taken place on January 1, 1992.

Cricket series unlikely till Pakistan stops terrorism, says Sushma Swaraj

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has hinted that any bilateral cricket series between India and Pakistan is unlikely unless Pakistan stops cross- border terrorism and firing.

Swaraj said this to Parliament's consultative committee on external affairs during a meeting which was also attended by Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.

During the meeting, Swaraj also said that she had met Pakistan's envoy to India and proposed to him that both countries release the prisoners who are above 70 years of age or women or of unsound mind as part of humanitarian aspect of the relationship, a member who was present in the meeting said.

The agenda of the meeting was Relationship with the Neighbourhood.

Responding to a query on India-Pakistan cricket series on a neutral venue, the external affairs minister hinted that it seemed unlikely until Pakistan stopped cross-border terrorism and firing, the member said.

She clarified that terrorism and cricket cant go hand in hand, the member said.

Members also sought to know from the ministry various aspects of the recent Maldives-China Free Trade Agreement and increasing proximity between the two nations and its impact on India.

The ministry in its reply said that the relationship between India and Maldives remained close and cordial. It also mentioned about the increasing defence cooperation between the two nations.

Kamala Mills fire: Mumbai Police arrests managers of 1 Above, where 14 people died in massive blaze

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, Mumbai Police registered a case under charges of culpable Homicide not amounting to murder against the owners as well as the manager(s) of 1 Above, one of the restaurants gutted in the massive fire.

Police say the two managers arrested today - Kevin Bawa and Lisbon Lopez - had the responsibility of rescuing patrons in case of emergencies at the restaurant. The cops say the two managers did not discharge their duty and so have been arrested.

This is the first arrest in the Mumbai Kamala Mills fire case and comes even as controversy rages over which restaurant was responsible for last week's fire.

Just yesterday, the owners of 1 Above, which has been named by Mumbai Police in its FIR, wrote to PM Narendra Modi alleging that Mojo's Bistro - another restaurant in Kamla Mills - was responsible for the fire.

"We are innocent and we have done nothing and want you to investigate the matter thoroughly and arrest the real wrongdoers i.e. Mojo's Bistro," the owners - Kripesh Sanghavi, Jigar Sanghavi and Abhijeet Mankar - wrote.

The trio requested the the case be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation "for independent and unbiased investigation" and alleged that the owners of Mojo's Bistro were "controlling the press, the media etc. and [were] trying to portray that the fire has started at 1 Above which is factually incorrect."

At least 14 people died , most of them women, and around a dozen more were injured after a massive fire broke out in Mumbai's Lower Parel suburb on December 29, 2017.

The fire, sparked just after midnight Thursday, was brought under control only by 6:30 Friday and after 12 Mumbai Fire Brigade tenders were rushed to the spot.

The fire broke out in a restaurant in Kamala Mills, a commercial complex in Lower Parel that houses offices and restaurants, during a birthday party celebration. All of the deaths were due to suffocation and not because of fire-related injuries.

Business Affairs

SBI cuts base rate by 30 basis points to 8.65%; extends home loan processing fee waiver to March 31

Bringing much-needed relief for home buyers in the new year, the State Bank of India has cut down the base rate by 30 basis points to 8.65 per cent for existing customers from 8.95 per cent. SBI also reduced the BPLR (benchmark prime lending rate) from 13.70 per cent to 13.40 per cent. The base rate reduction, effective January 1, will benefit nearly 80 lakh of existing customers of the bank whose loans are still linked to the base rate and not the marginal cost of funds-based lending rates (MCLR).

SBI, which is country's largest lender, has also extended home loan processing fee waiver till March 31 for new customers and for customers switching their loans from other banks to SBI. SBI has reduced the base rate to 8.65 per cent for existing customers from 8.95 per cent, while the BPLR is down from 13.70 per cent to 13.40 per cent with effect from January 1.

Managing director for retail and digital banking P K Gupta said that with stability returning to the realty space after the implementation of the Real Estate Act (Rera), he sees lots of demand for home loans going ahead.

"With most states having the realty regulator Rera now, stability has returned to the market in terms of project approvals. The teething troubles of the initial Rera months are behind the market. So, we foresee lots of demand for home loans. So, we think this is the right time to continue with that waiver to enable people for buy homes," Gupta said.

On November 1, the bank lowered its one-year MCLR by 5 basis points to 7.95 per cent against 8 per cent earlier. Home loans lending rates are pegged over and above one-year MCLR rate. While for the salaried men the spread stands at 40 basis points, women borrowers have to pay 35 basis points over and above MCLR for home loan.

"We had done the rate review in the last week of December, and based on whatever deposits rates we had, our base rate was brought down by 30 basis points to 8.65 per cent now," Gupta added.

Flushed with excess liquidity, SBI had announced processing fee waiver for auto and home loans late August. In fact, since last fiscal, and especially after the November 2016 note-ban, all the banks have been saddled with excess liquidity amidst continuing de-growth in industrial credit.

For the first time in over two years, credit uptake by corporates entered the positive terrain but with a paltry 1 per cent growth in November this year.

The bank, however, did not change the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR). The one-year MCLR of the bank stands at 7.95 per cent. Banks review MCLR on a monthly basis, while the base rate revision happens once a quarter.

Due to weak transmission of policy rate by banks under the base rate system, the Reserve Bank had introduced the MCLR from April 1, 2016.

With the banks not fully passing on the rate cuts that the central bank has done in the past two years, the regulator is not happy even with the base rate regime and has mooted an external benchmark to better reflect market realities and speedier transmission.

The telecom wars will intensify in 2018

The fag end of 2017 saw two big announcements in the telecom sector. The first was the 2G verdict by the CBI court, which acquitted all the accused and slammed the prosecution for not fighting the case properly or even presenting enough evidence. This has led to a number of players who had their 2G licenses cancelled asking for compensation.

The other big announcement was the deal between Reliance Jio and Reliance Communications, which was announced just three days before the year ended. It envisages the Mukesh Ambani-led Jio buying out 122.4 MHz of RComm's spectrum, 1.78 lakh route kms of optic fibre with a pan India footprint, 43,000 odd telecom towers and some 248 media convergence nodes for an undisclosed amount. Anil Ambani had earlier announced that the proceeds of this deal would go to repay much of RComm's debt.

At the time of going to press, it was not clear as to how much Jio was paying for the RComm assets, though speculation was that it would be in the range of Rs 24,000-25,000 crore.

While the deal seems win-win for both Jio and RComm, what does it mean for the telecom sector as a whole? I suspect it just means that the telecom war will enter its bitterest phase in 2018 between the three big players and the other two players will be completely marginalized.

In 2017, we saw the consolidation of the telecom sector gathering pace with Vodafone and Idea announcing a merger (this will make them the biggest player in terms of customers and spectrum, if the current numbers of both players are taken). Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has been adding to its own spectrum (and customers) by picking up Telenor and Tata Telecom spectrum. With the Jio-RComm deal, we have three clear players with enough spectrum, enough customers, the correct technology and enough resources to duke it out for dominance of the telecom sector.

The other two players - Aircel and BSNL - are bound to get further marginalized in this battle, because the game has now shifted exclusively to the 4G arena, and neither of these two are significant players in that game.

Will we see some sort of a truce between the big three and an end to the price wars? I suspect not. Jio is showing no signs of slowing down its charge and Bharti Airtel is equally clear that it will not cede its hard earned position in the telecom field. Vodafone and Idea by combining their forces have also become so big that they can slug it out toe to toe.

So brace up for more fireworks in the telecom sector in 2018. In the short run, it will also be good for consumers as data offers will get more attractive. In the long run, it will probably not be all that good because just two or three dominant players is never good for the consumer.

Reliance Naval stock hits fresh 52-week high, logs maximum turnover on BSE

The Reliance Naval and Engineering stock rose to its fresh 52 week high in early trade, extending gains from Monday's trade. The stock hit 72.60 level within minutes of the market opening, its yearly high on the second trading day of the new year.

At 10:50 am, the stock was trading 0.38 percent or 0.25 points higher at 65.40 level. The stock which belongs to the ADAG pack of shares logged the maximum volume on the BSE.

The stock saw the maximum number of trades (33,290) and logged a turnover of Rs 6,320 lakh in morning trade.

On Tuesday, the stock closed 38 percent or 19 points higher to 68.30 on the BSE. Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited, formerly Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited, rose 38.68% or 19 points to 68.30 on the BSE.

Also read: Reliance Naval stock closes 38% higher, BSE seeks clarification on price rise

Noticing the abnormal rise in price, the BSE sought a clarification from Reliance Naval and Engineering yesterday.

Meanwhile, other Reliance Group stocks also saw a spike in volumes and number of trades.

Reliance Power, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure and Reliance Capital were among the top five gainers on BSE.

ADAG pack firm Reliance Power recorded 27,859 trades and Rs 6,521 lakh in total turnover.

Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, another firm from the ADAG Group logged Rs 5,974 lakh in total turnover with number of trades rising to 20,021.

Reliance Capital also saw a rise in number of trades to 890,817 with total turnover climbing to Rs 5345 lakh.

Core sector growth surges to 13-month high during November

The New Year ushered in some good news on the economic front with the growth rate of the eight core sectors accelerating to a 13-month high of 6.8 per cent in November 2017, on the back of a strong performance in the refinery, steel and cement segments, official data released on Monday showed. The eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity -- had recorded a growth of 3.2 per cent in November 2016.

The output of refinery products, steel and cement rose by 8.2 per cent, 16.6 per cent and 17.3 per cent, respectively on an annual basis, according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry. A robust growth in the key infrastructure sectors has positive implications for the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) as these eight segments account for about 41 per cent of the total factory output.

Crude oil and natural gas output, too, showed a positive growth during November. The crude oil and gas production figures also came along with the positive news that ONGC has made a significant oil and gas discovery to the west of its prime Mumbai High fields in the Arabian Sea. Details of the strike were stated in a written reply by Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to a question in the Lok Sabha. He said the discovery was made in the well WO-24-3 (WO-24-C) drilled west of Mumbai High fields.

The discovery has indicated potential in-place reserves of about 29.74 million tonnes of oil and oil equivalent gas, he said. However, coal output during November recorded a negative growth.Cumulatively, the growth in the eight core sectors during April-November this fiscal slowed to 3.9 per cent as against 5.3 per cent in the same period last fiscal.

ICRA economist Aditi Nayar said the early indicators for industrial production in the organised sectors in November 2017 provide favourable signals, such as the uptick in growth of the core sector and sharp improvement in the expansion of automobile production and non-oil merchandise exports.

"We expect the growth of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) to rebound to a healthy 5-6% in November 2017,'' she said. The favourable base effect related to the temporary slowdown in activity after demonetisation, is likely to boost volume growth in a variety of sectors in the remainder of 2017-18, she pointed out.

2018 may see M&As worth USD 50 billion on back of stressed assets: Report

India is likely to see mergers and acquisitions (M&A) worth USD 50 billion in 2018 on the back of plenty of stressed corporate assets on offer at tempting valuations, according to a report. The Assocham Year Ahead Outlook observed that India's M&A transactions witnessed a quantum jump of 170 per cent in valuations and over 70 per cent in the number of transactions in the year gone by on the basis of various estimates.

According to different data compilations, there were a total of 944 transactions (664 domestic and 280 cross-border) in 2017 worth USD 46.5 billion (USD 13.1 billion domestic and USD 33.4 billion cross-border), said the chamber.

This was against a total of 553 transactions (358 domestic and 195 cross-border) worth USD 17.5 billion (USD 7.2 billion domestic and USD 10.3 billion cross border) in 2016.

The chamber pointed out that there has been a quantum leap in M&A transactions in India with more focus on sectors such as healthcare, telecom, energy, real estate, media & entertainment, banking, insurance, oil, cement and consumer products.

"The M&A opportunities in 2018 would remain robust given the fact that lot more assets continue to remain under stress. Several big ticket projects referred to the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code would see change in promoters in areas like real estate, steel etc," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

The chamber suggested easing of guidelines and legislative support in the Income Tax Act and the Competition Act to boost mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in India. "Amendments in the Stamp Act, 1899 to bring uniformity of Stamp Duty in all Indian states particularly to M&A transactions can prove to be a catapult for the future M&A's in India," Assocham said.

General Awareness

Latest Current Affairs - December 2017

Appointments

A Surya Prakash has been re-appointed as chairman of Prasar Bharati board for second consecutive term till February 2020.

Actor Ranveer Singh is appointed as Ambassador for EPL (English Premier League) in India.

Amardeep Singh Bhatia is appointed as new director of Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

Andrej Babis has been appointed as new prime minister of Czech Republic (Europe).

Anshu Prakash has been appointed as chief secretary of Delhi.

Apple appointed Michel Coulomb as head of its sales operations in India.

B S Sahrawat is appointed as Director General of National Cadet Corps.

Barney Harford has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Cab Aggregator Major Uber.

Britain's Prince Harry is appointed as president of African Parks, a conservation group which manages wildlife areas in Africa.

British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding is appointed as Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Environment, joining fight to save lives and habitats of people and animals by cleaning up air and seas.

Buddhist monk Dhammapiya from Tripura has been elected as the secretary general of the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), durinh 2nd general assembly of IBC held in New Delhi.

Constantino Chiwenga has been appointed as new vice president of Zimbabwe.

Emmerson Mnangagwa was recently appointed new president of zimbabwe after Robert mugabe was forced to leave the post.

D R Soni appointed as chief of Indian Army's Southern Command.

Dhirendra Pal Singh is appointed as chairperson of University Grants Commission (UGC).

Former cricketer Saba Karim is appointed as new General Manager (GM) of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

George Weah (Former footballer) has been elected as new president of Liberia (West Africa).

Government appointed U D Salvi as officiating chairperson of National Green Tribunal (NGT), after Swatenter Kumar Retired Recently.

Henrietta Fore (USA) is appointed as new Executive Director of United Nations Childrens’ Fund (UNICEF).

IPS Officer Abhay has been appointed as Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

IT Firm Infosys appointed Salil S. Parekh as its new CEO and Managing Director.

Indian National Congress appointed Rahul Gandhi as Party's new President, replacing Sonia Gandhi.

Indo-British Person Deepak Parekh is named as First International Ambassador for London city and will work towards championing London City across the globe.

Jai Ram Thakur has been named as new (14th) Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, after BJP won recent state assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.

N C Goel is appointed as new Chief Secretary of Rajasthan.

Nakul Chopra is elected as new Chairman of BARC India (Broadcast Audience Research Council).

Narinder Batra (chief of International Hockey Federation) is elected as President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) at its Annual General Meeting in New Delhi.

New Indian Amdassadors Apointed -

Azar A.H.Khan - Turkmenistan.

K. Jeeva Sagar - Kuwait.

New Indian Envoys Appointed -

Ravindra Jaiswal - Sudan

Pradeep Kumar Gupta - Mali

Subbarayudu - Peru

ONGC CMD Dinesh K Sarraf is appointed as new Chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).

Ola Cabs appointed Viraj Chouhan as its chief communications officer (CCO).

Om Prakash Singh is appointed as Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, M Malakondaiah is appointed as Director General of Police (DGP) of Andhra Pradesh.

Paul Antony is appointed as next Chief Secretary of Kerala.

Prabhat Kumar Sinha is appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Northern Coalfields Limited.

R Hemalatha is appointed as Director of National Institute of Nutrition (Hyderabad).

Rahul Singh (founder and CEO of The Beer Café) has been appointed as president of National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI).

Samiran Panda is appointed as director of National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune.

Sebastian Pinera has been elected as next president of south american Nation Chile.

Smita Nagaraj has been appointed as Member in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

South African human rights activist Kumi Naidoo has been appointed as new Secretary General of Amnesty International (A non-governmental organization working for human rights).

Sumita Misra is appointed as joint secretary in Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC). PMEAC is currently chaired by Bibek Debroy.

Additionally, Gurbachan Singh is appointed as Director General (Investigation) in National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Sunil Kumar Chourasia is appointed as Director General of Ordnance Factories (DGOF) and Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).

Telangana government formed State Finance Commission and appointed G Rajesham Goud as its chairman.

Uma Shankar has been appointed as Executive Director (ED) of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), replacing Meena Hemchandra who retired recently.

Upendra Prasad Singh appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and CEO OF National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).

Vijay Rupani re-appointed as Chief Minister of Gujarat for second term in a row, after BJP's Victory in recent state assembly polls. Nitin Patel has been reappointed as Deputy CM.

Vinay Sahasrabuddhe is appointed as President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR).

Vineet Chowdhary is appointed as chief secretary to new Himachal government under CM Jairam Thakur.

Vodafone India appointed Manish Dawar as its Chief Financial Officer.

Yamaha Motors India appointed Motofumi Shitara as group chairman.

Awards

2017 BBC Sports Awards -

Sports Personality of the Year - British Distance Runner Mo Farah.

Overseas Sports Personality of the Year - Swiss Tennis Player Roger Federe (winner for fourth time)

Sports Personality Team of the Year - England Women's Cricket Team

Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement - Jessica Ennis-Hill (British track and field athlete)

Sports Personality of the Year Coach - Benke Blomkvist, Stephen Maguire and Christian Malcolm

BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year: Phil Foden (English Footballer)

27 journalists honored in 12th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards. Award includes a trophy and a reward of Rs 1 lakh.

Yeraringan Award has been conferred upon Noted Agricultural Scientist M.S. Swaminathan.

Aamir Khan Film Dangal chosen as Best Asian Film at 7th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards, in Sydney.

Actor Sonu Sood received Punjab Ratan award from State Govt. for his contribution to welfare of people of Punjab.

Cannes International Festival of Creativity (France) will honour Indians Piyush & Prasoon Pandey with Cannes Lions’ Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming 1st Asians to win this award.

FE Best Banks Awards 2015-16 held in Mumbai. Winners -

Category Winner

Best Nationalised Bank State Bank of India (SBI)

Best Old Private Sector Bank City Union Bank

Best New Private Sector Bank HDFC Bank

Lifetime Achievement Award Uday Kotak

Banker of the Year Arundhati Bhattacharya

Best Non- Banking Financial Institution Ujjivan Financial Services

Best Mobile Banking Application ICICI Bank

Best Savings Bank Product Kotak Mahindra Bank

First ever Smita Patil memorial award given to Rekha for her contribution in film industry.

Former Director-General of Police of Punjab and Mumbai Police Commissioner Julio Ribeiro will be honoured with ‘Police Jeevan Gaurav Award’ by the Arvind Inamdar Foundation.

Indian Film Lipstick Under My Burkha (directed by Alankrita Shrivastava) won a top prize (Founder's Award for Sustainability on the Big Screen) at time Global Sustainability Film Awards 2017 in London.

Indian actor Priyanka Chopra has been honored with 2017 Mother Teresa Memorial Award for her support to social causes such as her recent visit to Syria where she met and interacted with refugee children. She is also UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador.

Industrial Awards -

Tata Steel’s Joda East Iron Mine (JEIM) honoured with Golden Peacock Innovation Management Award 2017 for innovation in mines, during Institute of Directors (IOD) India’s 2nd Global Convention held at Singapore.

2017 NASSCOM-DSCI excellence award has been awarded to the cyber section of Kolkata Police.

Two initiatives of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) have been awarded SKOCH Awards for 2017. Initiatives are - Vajra Services (intercity travel facility between Hyderabad and four other cities) and TSRTC’s initiative for providing employment to children of medically unfit employees.

Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company received Golden Peacock Award for Risk Management for 2017, given by Institute of Directors (IOD).

Jitesh Singh Deo from Lucknow (UP) is declared winner of 2017 Mr India pageant.

Footballer Prathamesh Maulingkar won Mr India Supranational title and will compete at Mr Supranational 2018.

Mayanka Patel from Mumbai and Poonam Gaur from Gurugram were crowned Mrs India-Pride of Nation in two different categories.

Mayanka won in Group A category (21 - 34) years while Poonam won in Group B (34-45 years).

Miss South Korea Jenny Kim won title of Miss Supranational 2017 at an event in Poland.

Mohamad Al Jounde from Syria has been awarded International Children’s Peace Prize for his efforts to ensure rights of Syrian refugee children.

He has set up a school together with his family in a Lebanese refugee camp that currently provides 200 children with education.

Noted Bengali poet Joy Goswami will be honored with 31st Moortidevi Award for 2017, for his poetry collection Du Dondo Phowara Matro. He is first Bengali poet to get this title.

Noted Hindi writer Mamta Kalia is chosen for Vyas Samman 2017 for her novel “Dukkham Sukkham”. She was selected by selection committee headed by Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.

Noted Marathi filmmaker Sumitra Bhave will be honoured with Kalamaharshi Baburao Painter Sanman, instituted by Kolhapur International Film Festival.

Noted Scientist G. Satheesh Reddy has been conferred with National Design Award, for his significant contribution towards indigenous design and development of diversified missile systems, guided weapons and avionics technologies.

Odia poet Rabi Singh is named as winner of Atibadi Jagannath Das Samman 2017 instituted by Odisha Sahitya Akademi.

Portugese Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo won Ballon d'Or (title of best footballer of year) for a fifth time, to level Aregetina's Lionel Messi haul.

President Ram Nath Kovind Presented Pt. Ramnarayan Sharma National Ayurved Award 2008-2014 to to Jodhpur University’s former Vice Chancellor Prof. Banwari Lal Gaur.

Sahitya Akademi announced its annual awards 2017, recognising literary works of 24 writers in 24 different languages. Prize includes a cheque of Rs 1 lakh.

Awards will be conferred during a ceremony on 12 February 2018.

Awardees -

English - Mamang Dai for The Black Hill.

Hindi - Ramesh Kuntal Megh won for Vishw Mithak Sarit Sagar

Sanskrit - Niranjan Mishra for Gangaputravadanam.

Malayalam - KP Ramanunni for Daivathinte Pusthakam.

Punjabi - Nachhattar for Slow Down.

Poets -

Udaya Narayana Singh (Maithili)

Shrikant Deshmukh (Marathi)

Bhujanga Tudu (Santali)

Inqulab (Tamil)

Devipriya (Telugu).

Inqulab (Tamil). Though His poet ’s family refused to accept the award he received for his collections of poems Kaandhal Naatka

Short Stories -

Shiv Mehta (Dogri)

Autar Krishen Rahbar (Kashmiri)

Gajanan Jog (Konkani)

Gayatri Saraf (Odia)

Baig Ehsas (Urdu).

Literary Criticism -

Ramesh Kuntal Megh (Hindi)

TP Ashoka (Kannada)

Urmi Ghanshyam Desai (Gujarati)

Bina Hangkhim (Nepali)

Neeraj Daiya (Rajasthani).

Essay - Jagdish Lachhani (Sindhi)

Play - Rajen Toijamba (Manipuri).

Academy also announced theme for Sahitya Akademi's next edition of 'Festival of Letters' – '70 years of Indian Independence'.

Shree Saini has been crowned ‘Miss India USA 2017’ at pageant held in New Jersey (USA).

Singer K S Chitra is selected for 2017 ‘Harivarasanam’ award, awarded by Kerala government for spreading spirit of secularism, equanimity and universal brotherhood.

Six diplomats including an Indian were felicitated with inaugural Diwali ‘Power of One’ award by UN, on occasion of first anniversary of issuance of a ‘forever Diwali stamp’ by USA Postal Services.

Awardees Include India's Lakshmi Puri (Indian head of the UN Women)

Others- Matthew Rycroft, Nawaf Salam, Maged Abdelaziz, Ion Botnaru, Yuriy Sergeyev.

Star Screen Awards 2017 Winners -

Best Director: Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal)

Best Actress: Konkona Sen Sharma (Lipstick Under My Burkha)

Best Actor: Irrfan Khan (Hindi Medium)

Best Supporting Actor: Rajkummar Rao (Bareilly Ki Barfi)

Best Supporting Actor (Female): Neha Dhupia (Tumhari Sulu)

Best Music Director: Pritam (Dangal)

Best Playback Singer: Arijit Singh (Raees - Zaalima and Jagga Jasoos)

Best Playback Singer Female: Shashaa Tirupati (Kanha - Shubh Mangal Savdhaan)

UK Govt. presented J.K. Rowling with a Companion of Honor award, as recognition of her services to literature and philanthropy. Rowling is creator of Fictional character Harry Potter.

Zee Cine Awards 2018 -

Actor : Male - Varun Dhawan (Badrinath Ki Dulhania), Female - Sridevi (Mom).

Director- Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari (Bareilly Ki Barfi).

Film - Golmaal Again.

Extraordinary franchisee - Baahubali.

Global icon - Priyanka Chopra.

Music director- Amit Trivedi for Secret Superstar.

Playback Singer- Akhil Sachdeva for Humsafar.

Books

Actor Amitabh Bachchan launched a book based on Indian cinema in - Bollywood: The Films! The Songs! The Stars!, co-authored by S.M.M. Ausaja, Karan Bali, Rajesh Devraj and Tanul Thakur.

Book The Way I See It, containing selected writings by late journalist Gauri Lankesh is launched, 3 months after she was gunned down. It has been edited by writer and sociologist Chandan Gowda.

Indian Writer Ramendra Kumar has been felicitated (Honored ) in Sri Lanka for his contribution to children’s literature. His book Dilemma and other stories was also released on this occasion.

Noted lyricist Gulzar's debut novel in English named 'TWO' has been released. It examines status of refugees after Partition of India.

Poetry Collection Book Poeatry written by Vikas Khanna has been launched.

Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat launched his biography Trivendra Ek Zindaginama – Khairasain ka Sooraj.

Committees

Delhi Government has set up a panel to look into the functioning of private hospitals and nursing homes, under Kirti Bhushan.

Delhi Government also constituted 'Fee Anomaly Committees' in each district to look into complaints of fee hike by private schools in state, on recommendations of Justice Duggal Committee.

Government has set up a committee headed by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant to address problem of stressed assets in India's power sector, which are around 5.9% of banking sector’s total outstanding advances of 4.73 trillion.

National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has set up three member committee to study the matter to give minority status to Hindus in 8 states where their population is less than 50%. Committee will be led by George Kurien.

Govt also formed a committee for consultation on matters pertaining to implementation of drug price control order (DPCO) including technicalities involved in pricing and new launches.

National Green Tribunal set up a committee to inspect over 1700 hotels, lodges and home stay accommodations in Kullu and Manali towns of Himachal Pradesh.

Rajya Sabha Committee headed by Vinay P Sahasrabuddhe has recommended body wearable cameras for traffic policemen and Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) officials enforcing Motor Vehicles Act, to reduce arbitrariness and corruption by enforcement officials.

Days

Dec 04, 2017 - 46th Indian Navy Day. On this day in 1971, Indian Navy carried out Operation Trident, which was a devastating attack on Pakistan’s Naval Headquarters of Karachi.

Dec 1 - Formation day of Nagaland (Formed in 1963). It also marks beginning of 10 days Hornbill Premier festival of Nagaland. Dec 1 is also raising day of Paramilitary Force BSF (Border Security Force).

Dec 1 - World AIDS Day. 2017 Theme is Right to health.

To increase Reach of Free ART (Antiretroviral Therapy) services provided by Government to People affected by HIV Virus, Government launched National Strategic Plan 2017-24 and Mission SAMPARK. It aims at eradicating HIV / AIDS completely by 2030.

Dec 10 - Human Rights Day. 2017 Theme is Let’s stand up for equality, justice and human dignity.

Dec 11 - International Mountain Day. 2017 theme is Mountains under pressure: climate, hunger and migration.

Dec 12 - UN International Day of Neutrality. It was declared in Feb 2017 by UN after being recommended by Turkmenistan.

Dec 12 - Universal Health Coverage Day.

On this Occasion, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched LaQshya Initiative and mHealth: Safe Delivery Application. Operational Guidelines for Obstetric High Dependency Units and Intensive Care Units were also released.

Laqshya - A Labour Room Quality Improvement InitiativeIt is safe delivery mobile application for health workers who manage normal and complicated deliveries in the peripheral area.

mHealth - Its a Safe Delivery Application for health workers who manage normal and complicated deliveries in peripheral areas.

Dec 14 - National Energy Conservation Day.

On this Occasion, President Ram Nath Kovind unveiled interactive online portal, ECO-NIWAS (Energy COnservation – New Indian Way for Affordable & Sustainable homes) for increasing awareness to build sustainable and energy efficient homes in country.

Dec 16 is observed as Vijay Diwas, marking India's military victory over Pakistan in 1971 during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Dec 18 - International Migrants Day. 2017 theme is Safe Migration in a World on the Move. Dec 18 is also observed as National Minority Rights Day in India. On This Occasion, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) released International Migration Report 2017 -

Approx 25 crore people are living in a country other than their country of birth, Increase of 49 % in number of migrants since 2000.

India has largest Diaspora in with over 1.7 crore Indias living overseas. Russia, China, Bangladesh, Syria, Pakistan and Ukraine have large migrant populations living abroad, ranging from 6 to 11 million each.

Largest number of international migrants reside in USA with over 2 crore international migrants in USA. Saudi Arabia, Germany and Russia are at next 4 places respectively.

Dec 19 is observed as Liberation Day of Goa. It was liberated on 19th December in 1961 from Portuguese control after almost 450 years of colonial rule.

Dec 2 - International Day for Abolition of Slavery. December 2 is also observed as computer literacy day.

Dec 20 - International Human Solidarity Day.

Dec 22 - National Mathematics Day in India. It marks birth anniversary of Noted Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. In 1918, he became a Fellow of Royal Society, becoming youngest person to achieve this feat.

Dec 23 - Kisan Diwas (Farmer’s Day) in India, observed to mark birth anniversary of 5th prime minister of India - Chaudhary Charan Singh.

He worked distincively for welfare of farmers, also he never visited Lok Sabha during his term as PM of India (28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980).

Dec 25 - Good Governance Day in India. It marks Birth Anniversary of Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It was announced by Central Govt. in 2014.

On this occasion, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions launched electronic-Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS), as a step towards the ease of governance and is in lines with Government’s goal of minimum government, maximum governance.

On this occasion, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) launched ‘Atal Jan Aahar Yojana’ for poor people to provide them meal at Rs 10.

Dec 3 - Birth Annivwersary of first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

Dec 3 - International Day of Persons With Disabilities. 2017 Theme is Transformation towards sustainable and resilient society for all.

On this occasion, Telangana Government signed agreement with Vindhya E-Infomedia, to set up world’s first Information and Technology (IT) Campus for differently-abled persons (divyangs), in capital Hyderabad.

On this occasion, Noted communication expert Sarvesh Kumar Tiwari is appointed as President of Para-Sports Foundation (PSF).

On this occasion,Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched Deen Dayal Divyangajan Sahajya Scheme in Guwahati, Assam. Under which, every differently abled person in Assam would be entitled to a one-time grant of Rs 5000 for their treatment.

On this occasion, Disability Empowerement Awards was presented by President Ram Nath Kovind on this occasion in 14 categories to 52 individuals and institutions. Some important awards -

Best State in Promoting Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities - Chhattisgarh

Best District in Providing Rehabilitation Service - Madurai

Best Braille Press Award - Mumbai-based National Association for the Blind.

Dec 5 - International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development.

Dec 5 - World Soil Day. 2017 theme is Caring for the Planet starts from the Ground.

Dec 6 is Known as Mahiparinirvan Diwas in India, marking Passing away of Dr B R Ambedkar On Dec 6, 1956.

Dec 7 - Indian Armed Forces Flag Day.

Dec 7 - International Civil Aviation Day. 2017 theme is Working Together to Ensure No Country is Left Behind.

Dec 9 - International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD). 2017 Theme is United against corruption for development, peace and security.

National Institute of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission named Dec 14 as Atal Tinkering Lab’s Community Day.

It marks Community Drive Initiative in which 25 young Mentors engaged with over 200 students who are not enrolled in formal educatio.

Defence

14-day long Combined India-UK Military exercise Ajeya Warrior- 2017 began in Rajasthan.

8th India - Maldives bilateral military exercise EKUVERIN 2017 held in Belagavi (Karnataka).

Border Security Force (BSF) engaged doctors to conduct a psychological analysis (Wellness Quotient Assessment Test) of its approx 2.5 lakh employees amid concerns over rising cases of suicide by BSF personnel.

DRDO successfully test fired Made-In-India Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM), capable of deceiving enemy radars making it difficult to be detected. It can strike within 30 KMs and will supplement medium-range surface-to-air missile Akash.

Godrej Aerospace received order from BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. (BAPL) for supply of additional 100 units airframe fuel management systems for BrahMos Air-Launched Cruise Missiles.

INS Kalvari, first of 6 Scorpene-class submarines has been commissioned into Indian Navy, as a significant success for the Make in India initiative. Submarines are being indigenously built by Mazagaon Dockyard in Mumbai under Project 75 in collaboration with French industrial group DCNS.

India and Oman Navies completed 11th Joint exercise Naseem Al Bahr OR Sea Breeze.

Indian Air Force (IAF) decommissioned MiG-27 ML (Bahadur) fleet after over 20 years of service.

Indian Coast Guard Ship Sujay (6th (last) in series of 105m Offshore Patrol Vessels) has been commissioned.

Indian and Sri Lankan Navies completed 2nd phase of joint oceanographic survey, off the South Western Coast of Sri Lanka.

Indigenously developed Prithvi Advanced Air Defence (AAD) supersonic interceptor missile has been successfully test-fired.

MI-8 Helicopters retired from Indian Air Force Service (also known as PRATAP), after serving for 45 years.

Navy, the Air Force, Coast Guard Initiated Operation Synergy as a joint rescue mission to save fishermen stranded in seas after cyclone Ockhi, in Kerala.

President Ram Nath Kovind awarded President’s Colour to Submarine Arm of Indian Navy.

President’s Colour is highest honour which can be bestowed upon any military unit.

Southern Command of Indian Army conducted major army exercise called ‘Hamesha Vijayee’ in Rajasthan.

Surface to Air Missile AKASH has been tested successfully with indigenous radio frequency seeker.

AKASH missile is being inducted into Army as Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SRSAM) with range under 25 KM. This is first Surface to Air Missile with indigenous seeker that has been test fired.

Economy

AU Small Finance Bank signed MoU with Sahaj e-Village for providing its banking service in remote areas of India.

Sahaj e-Village Limited is an entity of SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited (SIFL) and works for bridging digital divide between urban and rural India under flagship of National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Central Government.

According to data by Income Tax department, 2 crore Indians (1.7 % of population) paid Rs 1.88 Lakh Crore income tax in 2015-16, with number of income-tax return filers being 4.07 crore.

In previous year (2014-15), 3.65 ITRs were filed, out of which 1.91 crore tax payers paid Rs 1.91 lakh crore income tax.

Agri service solutions provider Sohan Lal Commodity Management (SLCM) tied up with HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank to provide collateral management services, to improve farmers' access to post-harvest credits at affordable interest rates and provide access to scientific storage facilities.

Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched Livestock Disease Forewarning –Mobile Application (LDF-Mobile App) developed by ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (Bengaluru).

NIVEDI will use this app and Monthly Bulletin system to send out early warnings related to pertaining livestock diseases.

Allahabad Bank signed agreement with National e-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) for utilizing NESL’s Information Utility Services envisaged under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.

Government owned NeSL is first Information Utility entity registered by Insolvency and bankruptcy Board of India under IBBI (IU) Regulations 2017.

As per RBI Data, Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of Indian public sector banks stood at Rs 7.34 lakh crore by end of September 2017. Also, Indian Banks lost Approx 16900 Crores in Frauds last year (FY 2016-17).

Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved loan of USD 346 million to fund highway upgradation project in Karnataka, to improve 419 km of state highways by upgrading it to two and four-lane highways.

Asian Development Bank approved $583 million for developing Reliance Bangladesh Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Power Project, including loans and partial risk guarantees for power project being set up for $1 billion.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved USD 335 million loan for an Bangalore Metro Rail Project – Reach 6 (R6).

India Became 1st Nation where AIIB has approved 1 Billion USD of Financing.

Axis Bank subsidiary Axis Securities became first broking arm of a bank to take membership of a commodity exchange by registering itself with NCDEX.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company started adoption of digital branch services through its offering Mosambee, to add depth to its service offerings.

Bank of Baroda accquired Italian bank UniCredit SpA's 51 % stake in Baroda Pioneer Asset Management Company. Now, BoB Owns 100% of Baroda Pioneer Asset Management Company.

Bank of Baroda signed MoU with POORTI (Platform for Online Ordering and Rural Transformation of India) Agri Services to help farmers buy agricultural inputs like seed, fertilizers and pesticides. POORTI is a platform for buyers and sellers of agricultural inputs.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s subsidiary, India International Exchange (India INX) received approval from Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on framework for listing of debt securities. Indian and foreign issuers will now be able to issue Eurobonds, masala bonds and foreign currency bonds from India INX located at International Financial Service Centre (IFSC), Gujarat International Finance Tech (GIFT) city in Gujarat.

Cab Aggregator Ola acquired food delivery firm Foodpanda's India business from its German parent Delivery Hero AG in an all-stock deal. Ols will further Infuse $200 million in Foodpanda’s India operations.

Cab aggregator Ola signed agreement with Bajaj Allianz to offer a insurance programme for its driver partners, named Chalo Befikar. Under this, Ola’s driver partners can avail an insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh.

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co Ltd has launched a video service that seeks to improve customer engagement, enabling customers to directly engage with the company for various service requests.

Carmaker Maruti Suzuki became India’s sixth most valued firm, crossing SBI with market capitalisation of INR 2.74 trillion, marginally ahead of SBI’s 2.71 trillion.

Reliance Industries is most valued company with market value of 5.8 trillion, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, ITC and Hindustan Unilever.

Central Government approved Rs. 4066 crore for providing internet connectivity to people in all gram panchayats (GPs) under BharatNet project, launched by Central Government in October 2011 with an aim to deploy high-speed optical fibre cables across rural areas of India.

BharatNet's ultimate goal is to provide broadband connectivity to all 2.5 Lakh Gram Panchayats in India.

Chhattisgarh Government signed MoU with Central Government for 2nd phase of Bharat Net project, under which 32466 km of optical fiber cable will be laid in 5987 Gram Panchayats of Chhattisgarh.

Central Government has removed income limit for incentive under ‘Dr Ambedkar scheme for social Integration through inter caste marriage’.

Scheme was launched in 2013 to provide monetary incentive to at least 500 inter-caste couples (where either the bride or the bridegroom is a Dalit) per year.

Previously, couples whose total annual income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh were eligible to get a one-time incentive of Rs 2.5 lakh from Government, to help them settle down in initial phase of their married life.

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has now removed max Income limit and now all Dalit couples are eligible for incentive under this scheme.

Central Government recognised Odisha as a ‘Champion State’ for exports recording highest growth in exports during 2016-17. Exports from Odisha during 2016-17 stood at Rs 40872 crores, marking growth of 114% from Rs 19082 crore in 2015-16.

Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved merger of IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion. It now awaits approval from RBI, Stock exchanges, SEBI, and National Company Law Tribunal.

Cryptocurrency dealer 'Pluto Exchange' launched India’s first mobile application for transacting in virtual currencies.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted scheduled commuter operator (SCO) permit to Air Deccan, enabling it to operate flights under regional air connectivity scheme UDAN.

Edelweiss Group acquired Religare Enterprises' securities business, including commodities broking and depository participant services.

Federal Bank partnered with Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Exchange to leverage blockchain technology for cross-border remittances.

Finance Ministry approved post of 4th Whole time member in Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI’s), whose need was being felt due to increased workload post merger of Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with SEBI in 2015.

SEBI board comprises a chairman (Ajay Tyagi Currenly), 1 member each from RBI, Finance Ministry and corporate affairs Ministry.

SEBI's Current 3 whole time members - Madhabi Puri Buch, G Mahalingam and Sanjeev Kaushik.

Finance Ministry extended deadline for linking Aadhaar number with PAN card till 31-03-2018.

Finance Ministry reduced interest rates on Small Saving Schemes for January -March 2018 quarter by 20 basis points (0.2%)as compared to October- December 2017 quarter. New interest rates for January -March 2018 quarter are -

Small Savings Scheme Annual Interest Rate

Public Provident Fund (PPF) 7.6%

National Savings Certificate (NSC) 7.6%

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) 7.3% (11 months maturity)

Sukanya Samriddhi Account 8.1%

5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme 8.3% (Unchanged from previous quarter)

Savings Deposit 4.0% (Unchanged from previous quarter)

Term Deposits (1-5 year maturity) 6.6% to 7.4%

5-year Recurring Deposit 6.9%

Finance Ministry will issue first tranche of recapitalization bonds to public sector banks (PSB) in January 2018.

Recapitalization bonds will not be sold in open market, rather it will be issued to all banks.

These bonds are part of government’s plan to infuse Rs 2.11 lakh crore capital into the public sector banks over 2 years.

Fino Payments Bank signed agreement with Rajasthan government’s RajCOMP as its corporate business correspondent and will offer banking services to people across state. Now, 55000 e-Mitra points of RajCOMP across Rajasthan will act as banking points of Fino Payments Bank.

From January 1 2018, farmers in Telangana will get 24-hour free power supply, making Telangana first state to do so. Power utilities in Telangana have spent Rs 12610 crore in setting up new power lines, transformers and sub-stations for this purpose.

GST Council in its 24th Meeting decided to implement e-way bill mechanism throughout country by June 1st , 2018 after reviewing readiness of IT network. It aims at mitigating problems caused by waybill compliance.

Government has so far infused capital of Rs. 51858 crore in public sector banks (PSBs) under Indradhanush Plan, amid liquidity issues being faced by Banks due to rise in Bad Loans. Government has also sanctioned 42 Mega Food Parks (MFPs) to be set up across India under Mega Food Park Scheme.

Government infused over Rs. 7500 crore equity capital in six stressed public sector banks (PSBs)-

Bank Infused Amount

IDBI Bank Rs. 2729 crore

Bank of India Rs. 2257 crore

UCO Bank Rs. 1375 crore

Bank of Maharashtra Rs. 650 crore

Central Bank of India Rs. 323 crore

Dena Bank Rs. 243 crore

Government tasked ICICI Bank with enabling online payments at 470 mandis integrated with national portal of electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).

e-NAM was launched in April 2016 to revolutionise agri markets by bringing in better price discovery and transparency to enable farmers to get better remuneration for their produce.

ICICI Bank will enable Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) on the e-NAM portal for making cashless payments.

Govt Owned Corporation Bank launched its RuPay Select and RuPay Platinum credit cards, offering Personal accident insurance of INR 10 lakh and 2 lakh on RuPay Select Credit Card and RuPay Platinum Credit Card respectively.

HDFC has sold its realty brokerage business ‘HDFC Realty’ and its digital real estate business ‘HDFC Red’ to online advertisements platform Quikr, for approx 350 crores.

ICICI Bank became first bank to enable customers to open a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account online, eliminating the need for furnishing paper documents.

ICRA Management Consulting Services (IMaCS) launched four fixed income indices, to create more depth in Indian debt market.

Four indices - ICRA Gilt Indices, ICRA Liquid Indices, ICRA Corporate Bond Indices and ICRA Composite Debt Indices. It would help asset managers and financial services companies make objective analysis and provide benchmarking of debt portfolios.

IDBI Bank has disengaged Moody’s Investors Services (Moody’s) to rate its bond programmes, terminating all contracts with Moody’s pertaining to various issues made under its MTN (medium term note) Bond Programme.

India Government Mint (A Unit of Security Printing and Minting Corp of India) launched India’s first home-grown high purity gold reference standard –Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BND-4201).

BND-4201 is reference material for gold of ‘9999’ fineness (gold that is 99.99% pure with impurities of only 100 parts-per-million). It will be beneficial to the consumers and public at large to ensure purity of gold.

BND-4201 is developed through collaboration between IGM, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), National Physical Laboratory (New Delhi) and National Centre for Compositional Characterisation of Materials (Hyderabad).

India Index Services and Products Ltd (IISL) launched the Nifty LargeMidcap 250 Index. It will track the performance of 100 large-cap and 150 mid-cap companies listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE). Base date for index is April 1, 2005 and base value is 1000.

India Signed World Bank loan agreement of USD 250 million for Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) Project.

India signed $318 million Loan agreement with World Bank for Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization Project to promote climate resilient agriculture technologies, improve water management practices, and increase market opportunities for small and marginal farmers.

India signed Financing Agreement with world bank for USD 125 million for Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement Operation (STRIVE) Project.

World Bank also approved USD 825 million loan for Pakistan, for upgrading its energy and public finance sectors.

India signed USD 40 Million Loan agreement with world bank for Uttar Pradesh Pro-Poor Tourism Development Project.

India signed an agreement with Switzerland that would allow automatic sharing of tax-related information from January 1, 2018. It is aimed at combating black money stashed abroad.

India's YES Bank and European Investment Bank (EIB) released announced co-finance programme of $400-million for renewable power generation in India (50 - 50 %).

Indian GDP Growth Projections -

International Rating Agency Fitch lowererd 2017-18 growth projection to 6.7%, from 6.9%.

Morgan Stanley predicts Indian economy to witness cyclical growth recovery, with real GDP growth likely to accelerate from 6.4% to 7.5% in 2018 & to 7.7% in 2019.

Global investment bank Nomura predicted India’s economy to register a 7.5 % growth rate in 2018.

As per World Economic Situation and Prospects 2018 report by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)UN, Indian economy will grow by 7.2 % in 2017-18 and will go up to 7.4 %in 2019.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) lowered India’s GDP forecast for the current fiscal by 0.3% to 6.7 %. It also revised GDP outlook for next fiscal beginning from March 2018 to 7.3% from 7.4%.

Indian IT Firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been awarded a USD 2.25-billion outsourcing contract from UK-based Nielsen Holdings PLC.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry approved Merger of Direct-to-home (DTH) operators Dish TV India (owned by Zee Group) and Videocon d2h. Merged entity will be Dish TV Videocon Limited and will serve combined subscriber base of 29 million users.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) released Financial System Stability Assessment (FSSA) and Financial Sector Assessment (FSA) respectively. Second comprehensive Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) for India too has been conducted during 2017.

FSAP is a joint program undertaken by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) to comprehensively assess and conduct in-depth analysis of a country’s financial sector. FSAP has been conducted since September 2010 in 29 countries (including India) at interval of every five years.

International investment firm KKR & Co became first foreign investor to fully own an asset reconstruction company (ARC) in India, as it received an approval from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start an ARC.

Isurance regulator IRDAI issued regulations for insurance firms to carry out offshore business from Gujarat-based GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), allowing foreign insurers to open IFSC Insurance Office (IIO) at GIFT IFSC for the first time.

Jammu and Kashmir Bank launched Sahafat Finance Scheme as a special financial scheme for journalists of state, to avail financing between 50000 - 3 Lakh for buying cameras, laptops, tablets and books.

Maharashtra is top contributor in first 5 months since rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in July 1, 2017. Uttar Pradesh is ranked 2nd in terms of total GST Collection (CGST+IGST+SGST+CESS). Govt has so far received approx 3.7 Lakh Crores as GST Collections till Nov 30, 2017.

Also, Central Government has released INR 24500 crore compensation to states to make up for revenue loss on account of Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation. Karnataka got maximum compensation (Rs 3271 crore) followed by Gujarat (Rs 2282 crore) and Punjab (Rs 2098 crore). This compensation comes from cess (on top of the highest tax rate of 28 %) on luxury, demerit and sin goods.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) will roll out Condonation of Delay Scheme to provide a three-month window for defaulting companies and their director to submit their annual filings. It will be operational from January 1 to March 31, 2018.

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed all NGOs, individuals and business entities receiving foreign funds to open accounts in any of 32 designated banks (including one foreign) within a month, as per MHA powers under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) 2010.

These accounts will be integrated with central government’s Public Financial Management System (PFMS), to provide higher level of transparency and hassle-free reporting compliance.

NPA report by by CARE Ratings -

With NPA Ratio of 9.85 %, India is ranked 5th on list of countries with highest non-performing assets (NPA) levels. Only countries with More NPAs than India are Greece (36.67%), Italy (16.35%), Portugal (15.52%), and Ireland (11.85%).

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) created National Highways Investment Promotion Cell (NHIPC) for attracting domestic and foreign investment for highways projects. It will focus on engaging with global institution investors, developers, construction companies and fund managers for building investor participation in road infrastructure projects.

Paytm Payments Bank rolled out Paytm FASTag to enable electronic toll fee collection on highways across the country, in line with the government's move to make FASTag mandatory on every new vehicle sold from December 1. The Paytm FASTag - which is a simple and reusable tag based on radio-frequency identification technology (RFID) that can be placed on a vehicle's windscreen.

Paytm Payments Bank unveiled 3000 'Paytm Ka ATM' outlets that allows customers to open Saving Accounts and deposit/withdraw money from their bank accounts.

Paytm became India’s first payments app to cross 10 crore downloads on Google Play Store.

Private Bank Yes Bank established a Medium Term Note (MTN) programme to raise USD 1 billion by issuing debt securities in international capital markets to eligible investors.

Public Procurement Portal ‘MSME Sambandh’ has been launched by Giriraj Singh (Minister of State (IC) for MSMEs), aimed at monitoring implementation of Public Procurement from MSEs by Central Public Sector Entesrprises.

RBI enabled Promptive Corrective Action (PCA) on Corporation Bank, Bank of India and United Bank of India; amid huge rise in Bad Loans. It would put certain restrictions on their functioning.

RBI's 5th Bi-Monthly Policy Review for FY 2017-18 -

RBI Kept Key policy rates Unchanged. However, It increased SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) by 50 Basis points, to 20 % (From 19.50).

Current Monetray Policy Rates -

Repo Rate - 6.00 %

Reverse Repo - 5.75 %

Bank Rate - 6.25 %

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 6.25 %

CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 4 %

SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 20 % (Increased from 19.5 %)

Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of Reserve Bank of India -

It has 6 Members - RBI Governor Urijit Patel (Chairperson), Viral A Acharya, Michael Patra, Chetan Ghate, Pami Dua, Ravindra H. Dholakia.

RBI also allowed overseas branches of Indian banks to refinance external commercial borrowings (ECB) of AAA-rated private and public sector companies.

Currently, Indian banks are allowed to fund dollar loans but are not allowed to refinance these borrowings abroad.

Due to this, companies sought refinance only through foreign lenders. Now, Indian banks can also participate in refinancing and can earn a higher return on their funds abroad.

This will also benefit the borrowers as improved liquidity in refinance market will reduce cost of borrowing, .

Rajasthan State Government has set up Automatic Service ATMs, ‘E-Mitra Plus’ at 9900 Atal Seva Kendras and 2500 urban location across state, to enable people to access 380 various government services and over 100 services of private sector.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) classified Indian Banking sector under ‘Group 5’ of its Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA), along with Spain, Italy, Ireland, Panama, Poland, Bermuda, Peru, South Africa, Qatar and UAE.

As per S&P, risk of rising economic imbalances for banks in India is ‘low’ on account of good franchise, extensive branch networks and large domestic savings base.

However, issue of massive non-performing assets (NPAs) in Indian banking system needs to be addressed.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed INR 3 crore penalty on IndusInd Bank for violation of Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed penalty of INR 5 crore on Syndicate Bank for non-compliance with its directions on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, Cheque Purchase or Discounting and Bill Discounting.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rationalised merchant discount rate (MDR) to increase the number of non-cash transactions.

Fee charged to a merchant by a bank for providing debit and credit card payment services is referred to as merchant discount rate (MDR).

MDR has been rationalised on basis of merchant turnover rather than existing slab rates based on the transaction value.

Reserve Bank of India increased limits for investment by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) for the January-March 2018 quarter by Rs 6,400 crore in Central Government Securities (G-Secs) and Rs 5,800 crore in State development loans (SDLs).

From January 1, 2018, revised investment limit for FPIs in G-Secs will be Rs 2,56,400 crore against existing limit of Rs 2,50,000 crore.

RBI also granted license for operating a Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) to Global mobile payments company OBOPAY.

SBI Cards and Bharat Petroleum Corporation launched co-branded credit card, offering up to 5 % savings on fuel purchases.

SBI will raise INR 8000 crores through various sources, to meet Basel III capital norms.

Indian Banks have to comply with global capital norms under Basel III by March 2019, 3 months later than internationally agreed time frame by January 2019.

SEBI capped cross-holding in credit rating agencies (CRAs) at 10 % and also raised minimum worth requirement to INR 25 crore from current 5 crores.

Samsung launched its 'Bill Payments' on its flagship payments service, Samsung Pay in partnership with Axis Bank.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) raised investment limit for foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in central government securities to over 1.91 lakh crore from January 2018.

Current investment limit for FPIs is 1.89 lakh crore rupees. It aims to push inflow from overseas investors in Indian capital markets.

Uttar Pradesh Government launched ‘Prakash hai to vikas hai’ Scheme, a free household power connection scheme for the poor in the state.

World Bank approved a loan worth USD 40 million for a tourism project in Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Yes Bank collaborated with advisory services firm Pantomath Advisory to develop a Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) ecosystem focused on Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Yes Bank also partnered with Online investment platform FundsIndia.com to enable Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based mutual fund payments.

International

2018 World Economic League Table report released by Centre for Economics and Business Research (UK) -

India will overtake UK and France to become fifth largest economy in 2018, and will further move to 3rd spot by 2032.

China is likely to overtake USA as world’s largest economy by 2032.

Russia will fall to 17th place among world’s largest economies by 2032, from 11th place in 2017, mainly because of low commodity (oil) prices in international market and its excessive reliance on energy sector.

2nd India-Afghanistan air cargo route linking Kabul to Mumbai inaugurated at Hamid Karzai international airport in Kabul, to boost export of fresh fruits and medicinal plants from Afghanistan. First air corridor between both countries linking Kabul-New Delhi was inaugurated in June 2017.

Feminism’ is named as Merriam-Webster’s Word of the year 2017.

Feminism word has its roots in the Latin language, where it was used for “woman” and “female” in 14th century English.

Other Words of The year 2017

Populism - Cambridge Dictionary.

Kwaussie - Australian National Dictionary.

The Legatum Prosperity Index 2017 (149 countries) -

India ranks 100th in this list of prosperity.

Top 5 - Norway, New Zealand, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden.

A consortium of chinese firms is Constructing Bangladesh’s first eco-friendly thermal power plant with ultra-modern clean coal technology, near sea port in Payra town in Patuakhali district of Bangladesh. Estimated cost of the project is USD 1.56 billion.

According to World Energy Access report by International Energy Agency (IEA) -

Half a billion people have gained access to electricity in India since 2000, almost doubling country’s electrification rate. It paves way for India to achieve access to electricity for all in early 2020s.

American electric Carmaker TESLA has builds world’s biggest lithium-ion battery to be plugged into an Australian state grid, capable of powering 30,000 homes for up to an hour in the event of a severe blackout.

As per data by Bank of Thailand, India has highest unemployment rate in Asia (8%). Thailand's 1.3% employment rate is ranked best in Asia.

As per new discovery, Mount Hope is new tallest mountain in British Antarctic Territory (BAT) with height measured at 3,239 meters above, more than 3,184 meters tall Mount Jackson.

Australia became 25th country to recognize same-sex marriage as it passed a bill that changed a 2004 law that stiplated a legal marriage as the one between a man and a woman.

Belgium became first country to send a female ambassador (Dominique Mineur) to Saudi Arabia.

Bengaluru city signed MoU with C40 cities network to work together to tackle air pollution.

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) isgrouping of cities aims at tackling climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas.

Bharti Airtel signed agreement with Millicom International, under which Airtel Rwanda Ltd will acquire 100% equity in Tigo Rwanda Ltd.

Bhutan has become the first country to pledge rapid deployment troops to the UN peacekeeping operations, keeping them at the ready for participation in missions within 60 days.

Central American Nation Guatemala announced to move its Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem, after USA recently recognized Jerusalem as capital of Israel and annouced to move USA's Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.

China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) launched Algeria’s first telecommunications satellite, Alcomsat-1, aboard a Long March 3B rocket.

China has shut down its legal government-sanctioned ivory (elephant teeth) trade.

China launched 2nd Land Surveying Satellite LKW-2 (also known as Yaogan Weixing-32), to be used for remote sensing exploration of land resources. It was launched on board of Long March-2D rocket.

China started trial operations of world’s biggest automated container terminal at Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai. Terminal covers 2.23 million square metres and has a 2,350-metre shoreline.

China will develop national carbon market as world’s biggest trading system for climate-warming emissions, initially involving only power sector. China is biggest emitter with 3 billion metric tons of emissions annually.

China will launch 10 satellites into space over next three years to maintain non-stop surveillance on disputed waterway of South China Sea. It would provide scientific support for China's One Belt One Road initiative and emergency response efforts at sea.

Disney acquired certain assets of 21st Century Fox (FOXA), for approximately USD 52.4 billion in stocks, with transaction valued at USD 66.1 billion including 21st Century Fox’s debt.

E-commerce Major Amazon acquired a startup named Blink that builds wireless home security systems.

Export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement included India as its 42nd member, during its plenary meeting in Vienna (Austria).

Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, is a multilateral export control regime established to ensure regional and international security by promoting transparency in transfer of arms and dual-use goods and technologies.

This will enhance India's credentials in field of non-proliferation, although, India is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Financial Services Commission of Mauritius opened its representative office in Mumbai, to strengthen its partnership with its Indian counterparts in capacity building, financial literacy and exchange of expertise.

For the first time, WHO will add gaming disorder to its International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

ICD is a diagnostic manual published by WHO that was last updated 27 years ago. 11th edition of the manual is due in 2018.

Forbes Magazine has named former Tesco supermarket worker Dan Middleton (UK) as world’s richest YouTuber after he made a fortune of $16.5 million this year. He shares videos of himself playing video games and describes gameplay and strategies on his YouTube channel, DanTDM.

Forbes annual list of the highest-paid musicians -

Top 3 -

Diddy ($130m) (USA)

Beyonce ($105m) (USA)

Drake ($94m) (Canada)

Forbes' Highest-Paid Athletes of All Time-

Retired American Basketball Legend Michael Jordan is named as highest-paid athlete of all time with $1.7 billion income, followed by golfer Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion) and Late American golfer Arnold Palmer at 3rd place ($1.4 billion).

Forbes' Top Grossing actors 2017 -

American Actor Vin Diesel is at top with $1.6 billion in global ticketing receipts from his film 'The Fate of the Furious'.

Second spot was occupied by Dwayne Johnson with $1.5 billion receipts.

Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot's films earned $1.4 billion worldwide, ranking her third.

Forbes’ best countries in world for business in 2018 (153 Nations) -

UK stayed at top of List, followed by New Zealand and Netherlands.

India is ranked 62nd on list. China ranks 66th.

Foreign Policy magazine’s 2017 list of ’50 Leading Global Thinkers’ List -

Indian-American California senator Kamala Harris topped the List. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is ranked second in list and Indian-origin stand-up comedian Hasan Minhaj ranked 3rd.

Fortune’s ‘Businessperson of the Year’ list -

It is annual ranking of world’s top 20 heads of companies.

Aditya Puri, Managing Director of HDFC Bank, is the only Indian on (ranked 18th).

Top 3 - Jensen Huang (Nvidia), Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Marc Benioff (Salesforce)

Indian Origin Person on list -Ajay Bagga (Mastercard, 6th), Shantanu Narayan (Adobe)

French Govt. approved banning all exploration and production of oil and natural gas by 2040 within country and its overseas territories.

German Development Bank KFW signed agreement with India's North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) for Providing $20 Million of Additional Funding for India's Pare Hydroelectric Plant project under Indo-German Bilateral Development Cooperation.

Google launched Datally App that will help users understand, control and save on their mobile data. It will enable users to track their data usage in real time, and get personalized recommendations on saving data along with notifications of public Wi-Fi spots available nearby.

Google also launched Files Go app that takes a mobile-first approach to freeing up space, finding files faster and easily sharing them with others, even when offline.

Google will open a research lab focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Beijing (China), its first such centre in Asia.

Google will shut down its high-end smartphone Augmented Reality (AR) platform named Tango and will focus on its mass market product ARCore. Tango, support will stop on March 1, 2018.

Tango was introduced in 2014 and relied on advanced camera hardware to build 3D meshes of spaces.

It was difficult for Google to get phone manufacturers to build this expensive functionality into their products.

Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry signed an agreement with Germany’s GIZ for technical cooperation in implementation of transport projects in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) and Kochi (Kerala).

India and Germany signed Govt-to-Govt Umbrella Agreement to formalize an amount up to Euro 200 million for Financial Cooperation in form of loan for project ‘Climate Friendly Urban Mobility III’ and Euro 11 million Accompanying measures in form of grant for four projects.

India and Israel Jointly Launched a centre for excellence in floriculture, Thally in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu.

A similar centre specialising in vegetables such as capsicum, cucumber and tomatoes will be established in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu in January 2018, as part of a 3-year Indo-Israel agricultural partnership.

These centres will develop agricultural practices suitable for that particular geographical region and will share the best practices with local farmers.

India and Spain signed Techno-commercial agreement to provide institutional mechanism for mutual cooperation in field of urban transport and for construction of the three Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).

3 RRTS corridors Delhi-Meerut, Delhi – Panipat and Delhi – Alwar will be implemented in 1st phase.

RRTS is first of its kind project in India, with design speed of 180 kmph. It will use state-of-the-art technologies for track structure, rolling stock and signalling system. RRTS corridors will significantly reduce travel time between important NCR towns.

India became biggest importer of U.S. oil refinery by-product ‘petcoke’, by Importing 8 Million Tonnes of USA's total export of 20 Million Tonnes of Petcoke in 2016.

Petroleum coke called as ‘petcoke’, a U.S. oil refinery by-product, is cheaper and burns hotter than coal. But it also contains more planet-warming carbon and heart and lung-damaging sulfur.

India has been awarded with Certificate of Commendation for its efforts in combating illegal wildlife trade. Award is conferred to Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at its meeting in Geneva (Switzerland).

India initiated dumping probe on imports of ‘Sodium Nitrite’ from Russia, used in industries such as pharma and food processing.

If it is proved that dumping has caused material injury to domestic industry, DGAD would impose anti-dumping duty on Sodium Nitrite.

India is selected as Chair of Ad Hoc Committee on Review & Reforms to look into various issues pertaining to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPSC) at KP Plenary Session in Brisbane (Australia), with Angola chosen as Vice Chair.

India was chosen KP Vice Chair for 2018 & Chair for 2019 in last plenary of KP in Dubai in November 2016.

Kimberley Process is joint initiative of governments, industry and civil societies to stem flow of ‘conflict diamonds’, rough diamonds used by rebel groups to finance wars against legitimate governments.

India provided medical assistance worth approx $1 million to Yemen, in response to a request from Yemeni government amid current turbulence there.

India re-elected to Council of the International Maritime Organization [IMO] under Category “B” at 30th session of IMO Assembly in London.

IMO is headquartered in London (UK) with Kitack Lim as Current Chief.

India will link its major highway corridors to international trade points to facilitate trade with Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. About 2000 kms of highways will be constructed under this project, as part of Government’s Bharatmala Project. Cost for construction of these highways is approx INR 25000 crores.

India will set up a Centre of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) at Al Azhar University (Egypt), to high-tech education and skills to youngsters of Egypt.

Indian Pharma Firm Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories introduced anti cancer injection drug Melphalan Hydrochloride in USA. Melphalan hydrochloride for injection is indicated for the palliative treatment of patients with multiple myeloma for whom oral therapy is not appropriate.

Indian engineers launched a major project in South Sudan that would improve connectivity between two major cities of South Sudan - Malakal-Melut. It will facilitate UN humanitarian operations in area.

International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts Coal Power Production to rise in India @ 4% annually by 2022, due to growing fleet of coal power plants and strong power demand. IEA earlier also Predicted India's Renewable energy capacity to get doubled by 2022.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) released World Social Protection Report 2017-2019, depicting that only 45 % of global population is effectively covered by at least one social benefit, while remaining 55 per cent that is 4 billion people are left unprotected.

International Monetary Fund approved USD 88 billion credit line for Mexico, replacing existing line of credit.

International Solar Alliance (ISA) became treaty-based international intergovernmental organization, nearly a Month after Guinea became 15th country to ratify it.

ISA is first treaty-based international government organisation to be based in India, with its secretariat in campus of National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in Gurgaon (Haryana).

So far, 46 countries have signed and 19 ratified Framework Agreement of ISA International Solar Alliance (ISA).

ISA was launched by India and France in November 2015 during COP-21 of UN Climate Conference in Paris (France).

ISA aims at addressing obstacles to deployment at scale of solar energy through better harmonization and aggregation of demand from solar rich countries by bringing standardization in solar technologies and fostering research and development.

Ministry of External Affairs has set aside US$2 billion for solar projects in Africa out of India's US$10 billion concessional Line of Credit (LOC) for Africa. France also pledged Euro 300 million soft loan for solar related projects in ISA member countries.

Australia also announced Joining ISA.

Iran inaugurated first phase of Chabahar port located in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province. Port will bypass pakistan and will open new strategic transit route between Iran, India and Afghanistan. First phase is expected to increase its cargo handling capacity to 8.5 million tons annually, by over 3 hree times from previous 2.5 million tons.

Iran opened its first museum dedicated to Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, a solo female artist who has garnered widespread international attention during decades of exile. The museum displays 51 works of her, including her signature mirror mosaics.

Iraq PM Haider al-Abadi declared victory in a 3year war by Iraqi forces against Islamic State jihadist group. He claimed that Iraqi forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border.

Israel Parliament passed a controversial law that limits police's ability to recommend charges following their investigations, after criticism that lawmakers were seeking to protect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu The move was undertaken after widespread criticism and large protests against corruption.

Israel eased up visa application procedures for Indian tourists, to encourage more visitors from India.

JLL Report on Expensive Office Locations -

Delhi is Ranked as 7th most expensive in world, with Mumbai at 16th position.

Top 5 - Hong Kong, London (West), New York, Beijing, Tokyo.

Japan approved Aid of Approx 73 Crores INR for Implementation of Advanced Traffic Information and Management System in Bengaluru (Karnataka).

Japan will offer grant of 8.4 million Yen (Approx 48 Lakh INR) for construction of a vocational training centre for poor women and youth in Rajasthan’s Baran district.

NASA’s flying observatory Sofia will be observing celestial magnetic fields, star-forming regions, comets and Saturn’s giant moon Titan, as part of observing campaign 2018. Sofia is a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner which carries a 100-inch diameter telescope.

National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and China's Dalian Municipal People’s Government signed agreement to create a platform called Sino-Indian Digital Collaboration Plaza (SIDCOP) in Dalian.

Nepal rejected India’s offer to jointly re-measure the height of Mount Everest (world’s highest peak), following massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the measurement exercise on its own.

Norway became world's first country to shut down national broadcasts of its FM network by completing its transition to digital radio, to allow for better sound quality, a greater number of channels and more functions, at a cost eight times lower than FM radio.

Oxford Dictionaries declared Youthquake as 2017’s Word of the Year, reflecting what it calls a political awakening among millennial voters. Other Words of The year 2017 -

Populism - Cambridge Dictionary.

Kwaussie - Australian National Dictionary.

Feminism’ - Merriam-Webster’s.

Pakistan allowed depreciation of its Currency (pakistani rupee), after talks with International Monetary Fund. It is believed to help shift foreign currency holdings from commercial banks back to official reserves.

Pakistan will up a new hydropower project on Jhelum River, of over 700 megawatts in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), named Azad Pattan Hydropower Project (APHP). Project cost of USD 1.51 billion will be procured from foreign entities.

Philippines suspended use of a landmark vaccine for potentially deadly dengue virus after its French manufacturer Sanofi warned it could worsen the disease for people who had not previously been infected.

Property consultant Cushman & Wakefield’s ‘Office Space Across World 2017’ report -

Delhi-NCR is 84th most expensive office location in world. Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), which ranked 163rd in list is second most expensive location in India.

List is topped by Hong Kong, followed by London and Tokyo.

Russia and Egypt signed an agreement under which Russia's Rosatom will construct Egypt’s first nuclear plant as Dabaa nuclear plant. It will be completed by 2029 with cost of $21bn.

Russia launched Angosat-1, first national telecoms satellite for Angola, onboard Zenit-2SB rocket.

Russia signed agreement with Northern African Nation Sudan to build its first nuclear power plant, to help Sudan solve its energy security problems.

Saudi Arabia hosted world chess tournament for the first time, named named as the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, nearly two years after It’s top cleric issued a religious edict against Chess.

India's Viswanathan Anand won bronze in this Championship in Riyadh. Magnus Carlsen (Norway) won the tournament and Russia’s Sergey Karjakin secured second spot.

Saudi Arabia lifted 35 year old ban on providing licenses to commercial movie theatres, aimed at economic growth and diversification.

Singapore launched its first large-scale electric car-sharing programme to provide commuters with more transport options and steer them away from need to buy their own cars, to be run for a decade by BlueSG.

Somalia Government and United Nations (UN) signed UN Strategic Framework for Somalia (UNSF), under which United Nations will support Somalia’s development in priority areas over the next four years.

South Korea banned its financial institutions from dealing in virtual currencies including Bitcoin, in wake of recent surge in Bitcoin price.

Sri Lanka became 163rd nation to accede to anti-personnel mine ban convention, as it agreed for Prohibition of use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction.

Convention on Prohibition of Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, commonly referred to as theMine Ban Treaty or Ottawa Treaty, was adopted on September 18, 1997.

Sri Lanka formally handed over its southern strategic port of Hambantota to Chinese firm China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CM Port) on a 99-year lease. Hambantota port is strategically located right in the middle of vital energy supply lines in the Indian Ocean, connecting the Middle East and East Asia.

Switzerland unveiled world’s steepest funicular railway link to alpine resort of Stoos. It rises 743 metres along gradients as steep as 110% and has a track length of 1720 metres. It has been built at cost of INR 333 crores.

Tech Firm Apple acquired music recognition app Shazam, for approx $400 million.

Typhoon Tembin struck Philippines, causing huge human and financial losses.

UAE, UK, US and French armies participated in joint exercises in Abu Dhabi (UAE), named as Flag4.

UK government extended a pilot student visa scheme to 23 more universities under which Indian and other non-EU students will get six months time to find a job after finishing their course (upto 13 months duation). Scheme was introduced last year on a pilot basis in four British universities - Oxford, Bath, Cambridge and Imperial College London.

UN will mark 100th Birth anniversary of South African Social Reformer Nelson Mandela (July 18, 2018) with a high-level meeting on world peace, named as Nelson Mandela Peace summit.

UNESCO recognized artisans of Panama Hats for their distinctive woven hats. Panam hats are a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin.

UNICEF released its report The State of the World’s Children, with theme Children in a digital world. Report states that India’s girls and women are at risk of becoming further marginalised in society and at home if they remain digitally illiterate.

US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced USD 1 million support for Ending Tuberculosis (TB) Epidemic in India and to raise TB awareness to help India in its fight against TB.

USAID also announced its first impact bond across globe by launching ‘Rajasthan Development Impact Bond (Utkrisht Impact Bond) aiming to reduce number of mother and baby deaths by improving quality of maternal care in Rajasthan’s health infrastructure.

USA President Donald Trump announced to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital despite intense Arab, Muslim and European opposition. USA became 1st country to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, since foundation of Israel in 1948. USA will also move its Israel Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israel has always regarded Jerusalem as its capital, while Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as capital of a future Palestinian state.

Later, United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that stated this US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital as ‘null and void’. The resolution was moved by Turkey and Yemen.

USA President Donald Trump signed into law a sweeping 1.5 trillion dollars overhaul of US tax code, set to impact USA economy through dramatic tax cuts for corporations and temporary reductions for individuals.

USA Supreme Court ruled that travel ban imposed on six Muslim countries (Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen) by Prez Donald Trump can now go fully into effect. New ban also bars travellers from North Korea and Venezuela.

USA resumed normal visa services for Turkish citizens, saying Turkish authorities fulfilled assurances no local staff would be detained or arrested for performing their duties.

USA will issue a 4 level travel advisory to its citizens from January 2018, based on a four- level classification system with clearly recommended actions. Four levels will be -

Level one – exercise normal precautions

Level two – exercise increased caution

Level three – reconsider travel

Level four – do not travel

USA withdrawn itself from a United Nations pact to improve handling of migrant and refugee situations deeming it ‘inconsistent’ with policies.

USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will launch Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) in Mid-2020, as a next-generation space telescope to provide largest picture of universe ever seen, with same depth and clarity as Hubble Space Telescope.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia formed new economic and partnership group named Joint Cooperation Committee, separate from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

JCC will coordinate between UAE and Saudi Arabia in all military, political, economic, trade, cultural and other interest of 2 countries.

It will be headed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) launchedits first space programme aimed at sending four Emirati astronauts to International Space Station within 5 years.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released Global Education Monitoring Report 2017-18, expressesing concern over school textbooks in many countries glorifying war and military heroes rather than teaching peace and non-violence. As per the report, just 10% of the textbooks across the world explicitly teach the need for conflict prevention and resolution.

United Nations General Assembly approved regular budget of $5.397 billion for 2018-2019, marking 5% cut (286 million dollar) as compared to budget for 2016- 2017.

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) released report State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World. UNICEF pointed out that despite massive online presence of children, very little is done to protect them from digital threats.

Venezuela will launch a new virtual currency to ease country’s economic crisis, triggered by falling oil revenue and plummeting value of bolivar, its existing currency. New crypto-currency Petro will allow country to advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade.

Word ‘populism’ is announced as Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2017. It is defined as political ideas and activities that are intended to get the support of ordinary people by giving them what they want.

World Bank announced $1.15 billion development policy loan for Egypt to support its economic reform programme, with $500 million from World Bank Group, $150 million from Britain and $500 million from African Development Bank.

Additionally, International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved $ 44.5 million credit for Madagascar, to support the country’s economic recovery.

World Bank will end its financial support for oil and gas exploration after 2019, in response to growing threat posed to climate change.

World Health Organisation Central African Nation Gabon as Polio-free.

World Inequality Report 2018 by World Inequality Lab based at the Paris School of Economics (France) -

Deregulation and related economic reforms in India since 1980s have led to significant increase in inequality. Inequality is increased to such an extent that In 2014, India’s top 1% of earners grabbed 22% share of national income, while bottom 50% managed to get only 15% share.

Globally, since 1980, richest 1% earners have captured twice as much as the poorest 50% of world population.

World Migration Report 2018 by UN International Organisation for Migration -

Indian diaspora is the largest in world, with 1.5 crore Indias living abroad India also receives highest amount in remittances ($68.91 billion last year).

Largest migration corridor is from India to UAE, where 3.5 million Indians were residing in 2015.

USA is top destination for migrants, with 46.6 million migrants moving to USA in 2015.

World's first camel hospital opened in Dubai (UAE).

World’s longest glass bridge opened in Shijiazhuang (China). It lies 218 meters above hanging between the two cliffs in Hongyagu Scenic Area in Pingshan county, with 488 Meters length and capacity to hold 2000 people.

Meetings

105th Indian Science Congress will be held at Manipur University in Imphal (Manipur) in March 2018. The venue has been changed from Osmania University (Hyderabad) earlier.

25th National Children Science Congress (NCSC-2017) held at Gandhinagar (Gujarat) with theme Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development with special focus on persons with disabilities.

ASEAN–India (Association of Southeast Asian Nations-India) Connectivity Summit (AICS) held in New Delhi with theme Powering Digital and Physical Linkages for Asia in the 21st Century.

An international conference to draw attention towards adverse effects of global warming in Hindu Kush mountain range - Resilient Hindu Kush Himalaya: Developing Solutions towards a Sustainable Future for Asia organized in Nepal in collaboration with International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Bilateral Meetings -

India and Australia held their first ‘2+2 dialogue’ in New Delhi and highlighted need to maintain Asia-Pacific region as a “free” and “open” zone.

First India-U.S. Counter-Terrorism Designations Dialogue held in New Delhi.

First International Conference on AYUSH and Wellness ‘Arogya 2017’ Organized in New Delhi, with theme Enhancing the global potential of AYUSH.

India will host 3rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB at Mumbai in June 2018, with Theme Mobilizing Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) also approved its first Loan to China as USD 250 million loan aimed at reducing its dependence on coal by building a natural gas distribution network for villages.

AIIB is headquartered in Beijing (China) with Jin Liqun and President.

India will host meeting of World Trade Organisation (WTO) member countries in February 2018 to muster support for food security and other issues.

International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) organized ICOMOS General Assembly and Scientific Symposium 2017 Held in New Delhi with Theme Heritage and Democracy.

PM Narendra Modi will be first Indian Prime Minister in past 20 years to attend annual meeting of World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos (Switzerland), to be held in January 2018.

National

10 Days long Traditional festival of Losar celebrated in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir to mark beginning of New Year in this Himalayan region.

2nd Iranshah Udvada Utsav, a Parsi cultural festival organized in Gujarat.

5 day annual Konark dance festival started in Odisha, near famous Sun Temple of Konark.

6th Global Kokan Festival will be held at Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) in January 2018.

Modi Kaka Ka Gaon, Hindi film inspired by PM Narendra Modi has been released, directed by Tushar A. Goel.

Aadivasi Mahotsav 2017 held in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) to display diverse tribal traditions of state.

An MoU signed between Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Rotary India, to accelerate Polio Eradication Programme, Routine Immunization including Mission Indradhanush, Intensified Mission Indradhanush.

Andhra Pradesh Government along with the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) is planning to set up a gaming and e-learning hub, as first of its kind in Asia-Pacific region.

Andhra Pradesh Govt. banned festivities and special darshans at temples at occasion of New Year 2018.

Andhra Pradesh Govt. providing pension of INR 1500 to transgenders (above 18 years age) in state. Among other states, Kerala and Odisha have already introduced pension schemes for transgenders.

Andhra Pradesh assembly passed Kapu reservation bill that will provide Kapu community with 5 % quota in education and employment in state. Kapu community has 27 % population in state. Now total Reservation in AP has passed 50%, triggering need for central govt nod.

Andhra Pradesh government signed MoU with Alphabet InC’s X (Google X) to bring Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) technology to India, to provide high quality & affordable digital services through internet under state government’s Fiber grid project.

This association with X labs to implement FSOC in Andhra Pradesh is first in world to provide wireless internet connection at higher speed of up to 20 Gbps and to a distance of up to 20kms.

Arunachal Pradesh became 2nd Northeast state (after sikkim) to be officially declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). Overall, it is 5th to be declared ODF State, after Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Haryana.

As part of the Ekatm Yatra, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chauhan flagged off Adi Shakara Sandesh Vahini mobile museum in Kochi (Kerala), showcasing various aspects of the life of Adi Shankaracharya, an early 8th century Indian philosopher and theologian who consolidated doctrine of Advaita Vedanta.

As per Rise of the Millennials: India’s Most Valuable Celebrity Brands report by Duff & Phelps -

Cricketer Virat Kohli named as India’s top-ranking celebrity brand in 2017, with brand balue of $144 million. He replaced actor Shah Rukh Khan.

As per Central Government’s draft on Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules 2017, only BS-VI compliant vehicles will be registered After 30th June, 2020. It is in line with earlier order by Central Government for implementation of Bharat Standard-VI compliant cleaner transport fuels across India by April 2020 and in Delhi by April 2018.

As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Uttar Pradesh is at top in number of cyber crimes in India, followed by Maharashtra. 12,317 cases of cybercrimes were reported in India in 2016, annual increase of over 6 %.

As per National Family Health Survey, percentage of women married before legal age has reduced from 47.4% in 2005-06 to 26.8% in 2014-15. Further, as per analysis of Census 2011 data by NCPCR, ‘nil’ marriages were reported in the age group of 0-9 years for both boys and girls.

Assam Govt. launched skill development training centres across state, to carry forward central Govt.’s vision for skilling the youth of nation through 'Skill India' programme.

Assam State Government and Isha Foundation signed MOU for rejuvenation and conservation of rivers. Isha Foundation is led by spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar laid foundation stones for over 100 projects worth INR 700 crores in Nalanda district as part of his state-wide Vikas Samiksha Yatra.

Bihar Government approved Safe City Surveillance scheme for curbing eve-teasing, harassment and other crimes against women at public places.

Brand Trust Report India Study 2017 ranked Patanjali as India’s most trusted Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brand and most attractive brand.

Cabinet Approvals -

MoU with Cuba and Italy for cooperation in field of Health and Medicine.

Establishing India's First National Rail and Transportation University at Vadodara , to skill its human resources and build capability.

New skill development scheme named Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS), covering entire value chain of the textile sector excluding Spinning & Weaving in organized Sector. It has outlay of INR 1300 crores from 2017-18 to 2019-20. It aims to provide demand driven, placement oriented skilling programme to incentivize the efforts of industry in creating jobs in organized textile and related sectors.

MoU with Myanmar for developing Myanmar’s Rakhine state. India will take up building prefabricated housing in Rakhine State, to meet immediate needs of returning people. India has pledged $25 Million for this purpose.

Railways Ministry planned to make all stations 100% LED lit by March 2018.

Extension of term of Commission to examine issue of sub-categorization of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) by 12 weeks (upto 2 April, 2018). Commission is headed by G. Rohini.

Auction of 683 private FM radio frequencies in 236 cities across country under Phase III of FM radio privatization. It aims at expanding FM reach in remote cities and generate over 10,000 jobs.

Cabinet Approvals -

National -

Creation of one circle office of Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) for carrying out functions of Commission of Metro Railway Safety.

Economy -

Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) applicable on all debit card/BHIM UPI/ Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) transactions upto and including a value of 2000 will be borne by Government for 2 years starting 1st January 2018, by reimbursing it to banks.

Continuation of Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme with funding pattern of 90:10 till March 2020 with outlay of 5300 crores. It would enable completion of ongoing projects.

New Central Scheme North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) also approved from 2017-18 with 100% funding from Central Government to fill up gaps in creation of infrastructure in specified sectors till March 2020. NESIDS will strengthen health care, education facilities, tourism and employment opportunities in region.

Approved special package for employment generation in leather and footwear sector, involving implementation of Central Scheme Indian Footwear, Leather & Accessories Development Programme with expenditure of INR 2600 Crores from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

Continuation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National Ayush Mission (NAM) from 01.-04-2017 to 31-03-2020 with outlay of 2400 crores over 3 year period.

Second Financial Restructuring of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) - Conversion of Non-Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares (RPS) amounting INR 4079 crores held by President of India, into Compulsorily Convertible Non-Cumulative Preference Shares (CCPS). It will raise net worth of KRCL.

Capital Investment Subsidy of Rs.264.67 crore to four industrial units located in North Eastern Region (NER) including Sikkim, under Central Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme (CCISS) 2007 of North East Industrial Investment and Promotion Policy (NEIIPP).

Foreign -

MOU with Colombia in field of agriculture and fisheries.

Agreement with UNESCO on establishment of International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography in Hyderabad.

Central Government sanctioned INR 75 crore for setting up Meghalaya's First Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) bottling plant, with annual capacity of 13000 metric tonnes.

Central Government will set up 12 special courts to deal exclusively with criminal cases against 1581 Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

Central PSU NHPC will set up 100-200 Mw capacity solar project in Odisha, expressing interest in Odisha Government’s upcoming 1000 Mw solar park programme.

Chandigarh Administration launched smart city cards, in collaboration with Bank of India. It can be used to make payments for various government utilities and at retail merchants, fuel stations. It will also be a valid ID Proof.

Committee set up for technical and safety standards of India’s first pod taxi project or Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) invited fresh bids for strictest safety standards on lines of those prescribed in USA. It is meant for a 12.3-km stretch from Delhi-Haryana border on NH 8.

PRT or pod taxi is an advanced public transport using automated electric pod cars to provide taxi-like demand responsive feeder and shuttle services for small groups of travellers.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a start-up incubation center called Centre for Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Learning (CEOL) in Mangaluru (Karnataka).

Delhi Government launched a mobile application through which Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes, minorities, and handicapped persons can apply for employment loans. Action wil be taken against officers who fail to take action on loan requests in stipulated time.

Delhi government launched mobile app to connect over 16, 000 members of School Management Committees (SMCs), to make process more transparent.

Delhi government will launch accident victim policy which will cover all hospital expenses of victims of road accidents, acid attacks or burns. There is no upper limit on the cost of treatment and all victims irrespective of residence, and even foreigners will get free treatment in any Delhi hospital, if accident heppens in Delhi.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) allowed Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) manufactured Dornier 228 for civilian flights, the 19-seater aircraft that was till now used only by defence forces. It became first ‘Made in India’ plane to be used for commercial flights.

Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed a MoU for facilitating supply of sand for highways construction work, to fill sand supply gap by facilitating the availability of sand for concessionaires working on highways projects.

Election Commission has set up a panel to suggest amendments to Section 126 of Representation of People Act and Model Code of Conduct (MCC) barring campaigning, 48 hours ahead of polling. It is done after several violations of this code of conduct ahead Gujarat elections.

Environment Ministry accorded environmental clearance for Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project in Telangana.

Project is estimated to cost Approx INR 80499 crores and is proposed to be completed in three years.

Project aims to provide drinking water facility for Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Submergence area is estimated to be about 13706 hectares.

Environment Ministry allowed NGT Chairperson to constitute a single-member bench in “exceptional circumstances, amended National Green Tribunal (Practices and Procedure) Rules 2011.

Environment Ministry approved regional project on Climate Resilience Building among Farmers through Crop Residue Managementunder National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC), to mitigate climate change impacts and counter adverse environmental impacts arising from stubble burning.

Environment ministry launched pilot project 'Blue Flag, to enhance standards of cleanliness on beaches.

FY 2017 - 18 Winter Session passed Bills -

Lok Sabha Passed Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill 2017, that seeks to amend Central Road Fund Act 2000.

Under CRF Act 2000, cess levied and collected on high speed petrol and diesel is distributed for development of rural roads, national highways, railways, state roads and border area roads.

CRF (Amendment) Bill 2017 seeks to allocate 2.5 % of funds collected to accelerate development and maintenance of national waterways by reducing equal percentage from share of national highways. It aims at generating INR 2300 crore revenue for national waterways.

Parliament passed Companies (Amendment) Bill 2017 to strengthen corporate governance standards, initiate strict action against defaulting companies and help improve ease of doing business. Bill provides for over 40 amendments to Companies Act 2013.

Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bill 2017, to declare IIMs as institutions of national importance and extend greater autonomy to them, by restricting government’s role in their functioning.

Lok Sabha passed Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Bill 2017, to make it easier for government to acquire immovable property for “national security and defence purpose”. It amends Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act 1952 and changes rules for payment of compensation.

Rajya Sabha passed Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) Bill 2017, to establish IIPE Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) as an institution of national importance. It aims to provide high quality education and research focussing on all aspects and themes of petroleum, hydrocarbons and energy. The bill was passed by Lok sabha Earlier.

Lok Sabha passed Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill 2017, amending GST (Compensation to States) Act 2017 and replaces an Ordinance promulgated in Sep 2017. The amendment increases maximum rate at which Compensation Cess can be levied from 15 to 25% on motor vehicle for transport of not more than 13 persons (mostly luxury vehicles).

Parliament passed National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Amendment Bill 2017, to amend National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act 2011. It extends deadline for relocating slum dwellers and Jhuggi-Jhopri clusters, regulating street vendors, unauthorised colonies in Delhi and calls for creating policy for farm houses constructed beyond permissible limits.

Lok Sabha passed Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriages) Bill 2017 dclaring instant triple talaq illegal and criminalises it with up to three years in jail for husband. Bill will now will be sent to Rajya Sabha for passage.

Lok Sabha passed Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill 2017 to pave way for tightening loopholes in existing code and to make resolution process more effective. It Bill amends Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016. Main Features Include -

It Bill prohibits certain persons from submitting a resolution plan in case of defaults.

A penalty of minimum Rs 1 lakh and maximum Rs 2 crore has been proposed for contravening any of the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

It allows asset reconstruction companies, banks and alternative investment funds registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India to bid for insolvent companies.

Forbes India Celebrity 100 list 2017 -

Actor Salman Khan topped the list, With earnings of INR 233 crores.

Shah Rukh Khan 2nd with earnings of 170 crores, cricketer Virat Kohli 3rd with 100.72 crore earnings.

GAIL India placed orders for 2,100 km of Jagdishpur-Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project.

Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project (also known as JHBDPL project) originates at Jagdishpur (Uttar Pradesh). The main trunk of pipeline ends to Haldia (West Bengal) and Dhamra (Odisha).

Pipeline passes through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. Cost of project is Rs. 12,940 crore and is to be completed by 2019.

GE Aviation (USA) and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) partnered to manufacture, assemble, integrate and test aircraft components in India, Including CFM International LEAP engine (considered world’s leading jet engine).

General Conferences (Dec 1 - 10, 2017) -

11th Annual MedTech Summit of Biodesign Programme (Department of Biotechnogy) today in New Delhi.

6th International Tourism Mart held in Guwahati (Assam).

22nd conference of Asian Harmonization Working Party (AHWP) held at New Delhi.

First International Conference on Sports Medicine and Sports Sciences SAICON 2017 held in Delhi. Minister of State (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore stated that -

Under Khelo India, national school games would be organised from January 31 to February 8 in 2018 for under 17 age group. Top 1,000 athletes from this event will be entitled to Rs 5 lakh scholarships for eight years. 1,000 more athletes will be added each year for creating a pool of young talent.

School Games will be followed by College Games for under the age group of 21 years.

Khelo India programme will be launched at cost of INR 1756 crore for 2017-18 to 2019-20.

National Conference on PDS (Public Distributon System) Reforms held in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).

Shared Value Summit 2017 held in New Delhi with theme Equity and Empowerment.

7th International Groundwater Conference held in Delhi, with theme Groundwater Vision 2030- Water Security, Challenges, and Climate Change Adaptation.

First Meet of 15th Finance Commission held in New Delhi, under Chairmanship of N.K. Singh.

India and Japan held first meeting under the newly established ‘India-Japan Act East Forum’ in New Delhi, aimed at identifing specific projects for economic development of the North-Eastern region of India.

New Delhi Hosted Bodhi Parva: BIMSTEC Festival of Buddhist Heritage, as part of celebrations of 20th anniversary of BIMSTEC.

UN Women and Facebook held an event in Mumbai named We The Women to empower and recognise magnificent contribution of women in our society

General Conferences (Dec 11 - 20, 2017)

19th International Workshop on Physics of Semiconductor Devices (IWPSD-2017) held in New Delhi.

14th Inclusive Finance India Summit held in New Delhi, aimed at building consensus on strategies and a unified vision for achieving universal financial inclusion in India.

Three day media workshop on Climate Change Reporting in Himalayas organised in Kohima (Nagaland).

54th meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) programming committee held at SAARC secretariat in Kathmandu (Nepal).

CSR Summit for Pioneering Cochlear Implant Surgery held in New Delhi.

90th Annual General Meeting of FICCI held in New Delhi.

49th Annual Conference of the Society of Nuclear Medicine – India (SNMICON) held in New Delhi.

World Conference on Vedas (Vishwa Ved Sammelan) held in New Delhi.

2nd edition of Serendipity Arts festival is held in Goa, bringing together 7 art forms.

National Workshop on Role of Sakhi One Stop Centres (OSCs) in Strengthening Multi Sectoral Response to Violence held in New Delhi.

3rd World Telugu Conference held in Hyderabad (Telangana).

International Herbal Fair held in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh).

Global Partnership Summit (GPS) 2017 held in New Delhi, organised by India Center Foundation (ICF).

1st national-level training of trainers programme to sensitise Central Ministries and Departments on utilisation of Sendai Framework for developing action plans for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) held in New Delhi, organised by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction-Global Education and Training Institute (UNISDR-GETI).

General Conferences (Dec 21 - 31, 2017)

NDMA conducted state level mock exercise on earthquake in Haryana.

NE Regional Conference on ‘Good Governance and Replication of Best Practices’ held in Guwahati (Assam).

Centenary (100th) conference of Indian Economic Association held in Guntur (Andhra Pradesh).

78th session of Indian History Congress held at theJadavpur University in Kolkata.

18th Meeting of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) held in New Delhi, under Chairmanship of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

32nd Indian Engineering Congress organised by Institution of Engineers (India) in Chennai.

Ganga Gram Swachata Sammelan held in New Delhi, during it Ganga Gram project has been Launched under clean Ganga mission, aimed at holistic sanitation development in villages on banks of River Ganga.

7th India International Coffee Festival (IICF) will be hosted by Bengaluru in January 2018.

Centenary celebrations of Yoga Institute in held in Mumbai. Institute was founded by Shree Yogendraji Mani Haribhai Desai in 1918.

Goa Government approved Solar Power Policy, under which State Government will look to generate 150 MW of solar power by 2021.

Government announced that installation of bio-toilets in all passenger trains will be completed by March 2019.

Government approved National Medical Commission Bill 2017, to replace Medical Council Act 1956 and bringing reforms in medical education sector. It will replace existing apex medical education regulator Medical Council of India (MCI) with 25-member National Medical Council (NMC).

Government approved setting up National Nutrition Mission (NNM) with 3 year budget of INR 9046 crores -

It will monitor, supervise, fix targets and guide nutrition related interventions across Ministries.

All districts will be covered in a phased manner - 315 districts in 2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and remaining districts in 2019-20.

Outlay of INR 9046 crores will be funded by Government Budgetary Support (50%) and 50% by IBRD or other MDB. Government support would be 60:40 between Centre and States/UTs, 90:10 for NER and Himalayan States and 100% for UTs.

NNM targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anemia and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.

NNM would strive to achieve reduction in Stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (Mission 25 by 2022).

Govt. also launched a contest inviting people to design a logo and suggest a tagline for National Nutrition Mission, with a prize money of INR 1 lakh to winner of contest.

Government drawn up action plans for backward district programme to improve socio-economic profiles of 115 identified “most-backward” districts including 35 affected by left-wing extremism.

Government launched a 15 days door-to-door campaign for for early diagnosis, detection and treatment of tuberculosis. Through this, health department workers, ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) and TB supervisors will make door-to-door visits to find TB patients and give them free medical treatment till they are cured.

Government made it mandatory for Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to seek approval from Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) before accepting any proposal to supply electric buses for availing incentives under FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India) scheme.

Government will club phase I and phase II of Ken-Betwa inter linking river (ILR) project, upon demands raised by Madhya Pradesh Govt.

Cost will now be revised, which was initially 18,000 crore (Phase 1), and 8000 crore (Phase 2).

Ken-Betwa Inter Linking project aims to transfer surplus water from Ken River to the Betwa basin through concrete canal to irrigate India’s worst drought-prone Bundelkhand region.

It will benefit Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in terms of meeting irrigation, drinking water and electricity needs of people across 6 districts in the MP & UP.

Gujarat Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections 2017 -

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won Majority by winning 99 of Gujarat's 182 seats. Rival party Congress got 77 seats. BJP got 49.1 % Votes while Congress got 41.4%.

BJP will form Goverment in Gujarat for 6th Straight Term.

Haryana Govt. launched Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana from Karnal district. Under this, farmers will be compensated by state government, whenever market prices of the stipulated produce go below mentioned prices (applicable for tomato, onion, potato and cauliflower).

Haryana government will establish an organ and tissue transplant organisation (SOTTO) at Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak.

Haryana government would distribute sanitary napkins free of cost to all women belonging to BPL (Below Poverty Line) category in State.

Haryana topped preliminary rankings of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) for this year with score of 69 %, followed by Telangana (68.46 %). Commerce and Industry Ministry will release final rankings in January-February 2018.

Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections 2017 -

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won Majority by winning 44 of Himachal Pradesh's 68 seats. Rival party Congress got 21 seats. BJP got 48.8 % Votes while Congress got 41.7%.

Home Ministry released Rs 167 crores to 9 states – Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Sikkim, under Border Area Development Programme (BADP).

IndiGo became first Indian Airline to operate over 1000 flights in a day across India.

India will get its first runway on a ‘sea bridge’, as Airports Authority of India (AAI) will extend Lakshadweep’s Agatti Airport by building an RCC platform on the beach and shallow area which will allow bigger ATRs to operate on island.

India's Taj Mahal is ranked 2nd best UNESCO world heritage site in world, by travel portal TripAdvisor, after Cambodia's Angkor Wat.

India's First Madame Tussauds Wax Museum opened in Delhi with 50 wax models of Indian and international celebrities. Delhi centre is 23rd museum for Madame Tussauds which has centres in major cities across globe.

India's largest floating solar power plant inaugurated at Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad (Kerala), with capacity of 500 kilowatts (KW).

It consists of 1,938 solar panels with a capacity of 260 watts, a 500 kilo volt ampere (KVA) transformer and 17 inverters.

Unique feature of this plant is anchoring mechanism to maintain plant with alteration of water level.

India’s first Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) will be built in Andhra Pradesh, aimed at for providing facilities and amenities for manufacturing mobiles and allied products.

India’s first and only design university - World University of Design opened at Sonipat (Haryana). WUD is India’s first university dedicated to education in creative domain.

India’s first-ever broad gauge air-conditioned AC EMU suburban train flagged off by western railway (from Mumbai's Borivali station).

India’s ‘first’ mobile food testing laboratory enabling on-the-spot food safety tests is launched in Goa, as first ever ‘Food Safety on Wheel’ mobile laboratory in India. The vehicle is equipped to conduct on-the-spot tests to check food quality and curb adulteration.

International Sweet Festival will be hosted by Hyderabad (Telangana) in January 2018, coinciding with International Kite festival at Hyderabad.

International poetry festival Mystic Kalinga organized in Bhubaneswar Odisha.

Jammu and Kashmir government launched central govt's SAUBHAGYA (Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna) with an aim to provide free electricity connections to poor people in state. SAUBHAGYA initiative was launched by Central Govt in Sep 2017 to provide electricity to 4 crore families across India by December 2018.

Jokapatha village, a tribal village in Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh got electricity connection for first time since Indian independence.

Kacheguda Railway Station in Hyderabad (Telangana) is named first Energy Efficient ‘A1 Category’ Railway Station of Indian Railways, as it achieved 100% energy efficiency by replacing conventional lights with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting and other measures.

Karnataka High Court struck down rules laid out by central govt in 2014 that mandated pictorial health warnings to cover 85% of tobacco product packaging space, holding that they violated Constitutional norms.

However, 40% pictorial health warning rule, which existed prior to amendment rules, will remain in force.

Karnataka government and USA Aviation Firm Boeing signed agreement to set up Aircrafts' Parts manufacturing and assembly facility near Bengaluru, at cost of 1152 crores.

Karnataka's capital Bengaluru has become first Indian city to have its own logo. The with red and black logo is part English and part Kannada.

Kerala government raised minimum age for liquor consumption from 21 to 23 years.

Kolkata Police imposed ban on public display of weapons in Kolkata, till 1 January 2019.

Konkan Railway and IIT Bombay signed MoU to transform George Fernandes Institute of Tunnel Technology in Goa to a world-class centre of knowledge in tunnel and underground structure technologies.

Leaders of 10 ASEAN Nations will be chief guests for Republic Day 2018 of India.

AESAN Nations (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) - Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos, Brunei.

Madhya Pradesh Assembly passed Dand Vidhi (Madhya Pradesh Sanshodhan) Vidheyak 2017 that will enable death sentence for rapists of girls 12 years or below. Madhya Pradesh became first state to legalise death sentence for rapists.

Madhya Pradesh State Government approved INR 7546-crore project for linking Narmada River with Parvati River, aimed at create irrigation facilities on 2 lakh hectares of agriculture land in Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh.

Maharashtra Government approved Industrial Policy for Women Entrepreneurs, considering a woman or a group of women who have financed 100% for project and hired minimum 50% women employees as women entrepreneurs.

Under this, a woman entrepreneur would get financial assistance from state government in the range of Rs 15 lakh up to Rs 1 crore for capital investment in project at subsidized rate of interest up to 5%.

For projects headed by women entrepreneurs, electricity will be supplied at a subsidized rate of Rs 1-2 per unit instead of Rs 7-8 per unit charges for industries.

Maharashtra is first state to have such policy exclusively for women entrepreneurs.

Maharashtra Government will adopt Clinical establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act, to ensure minimum standards of facilities and services provided by them.

Maharashtra government will offer cash rewards to gram panchayats and urban local bodies for making their respective areas plastic-free, with First prize being INR 5 lakh.

Maruti Suzuki partnered with Delhi government to set up 12 automated driving test centres across city, investing approximately 15 crores.

Meghalaya became first state to operationalize a Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act 2017, a law that makes social audit of government programmes and schemes a part of government practice.

Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha launched DARPAN Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India Project to improve quality of service, add value to services and achieve “financial inclusion” of un-banked rural population. It aims of financial inclusion for rural population and it is targeted to complete the project by March 2018.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) launched SAMEEP (Students and MEA Engagement Program), as an outreach mission that aims to take Indian foreign policy and its global engagements to students across country and also to look at diplomacy as a career option. SAMEEP aims to familiarise school and college students in India about functioning of MEA.

Ministry of Railways introduced online bill tracking system, Indian Railways E-Procurement System (IREPS) for vendors and contractors, developed in house by CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Systems), New Delhi.

Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Maruti Suzuki India signed MoU to support Skill India Mission in automobile industry, to provide high employment potential trades related to automobile and manufacturing industry to youth under Skill India Mission.

Mumbai Metro launched a new security app ‘Secucare’, for raising an alarm to ensure passengers’ safety. Through it, commuters can raise an alarm in case of any problem.

NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (government’s flagship program to promote innovation and entrepreneurship nationwide in schools, universities and industry), has selected additional 1500 Schools for establishment of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs), taking number of schools under mission to 2441 across India.

ATLs aims to be innovative play workspaces for students between Grade VI to Grade XII, which stimulate innovations combining science & technology.

Nagaland Assembly passed a resolution revoking provisions of 33 % reservation for women in urban local bodies.

National Green Tribunal (NGT) declared Amarnath Shrine as silence zone and prohibited religious offerings like chanting of hymns, and ringing bells beyond the entry point. It is aimed at protecting eco-sensitive Amarnath cave shrine.

NGT also imposed complete ban on plastic items like carry bags, plates and cutlery in towns located on banks of the River Ganga in Haridwar and Rishikesh.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) notified maximum prices of 65 essential formulations, including those used for treatment of diabetes, pain, infections and high blood pressure.

Niti Aayog announced to set up a special women cell, to extend support to women start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Niti Aayog will set up a Methanol Economy Fund worth Rs 4,000-5,000 crore to promote production and use of clean fuel, by converting high ash content coal into methanol and such a plant is expected to be set up by Coal India. Methanol can be used as an energy producing fuel, transportation fuel and cooking fuel.

Odisha Government inaugurated Purvasha Folk and Tribal Art Museum at Barkul near Chilika, to promote the cultural heritage of Odisha.

Odisha police will go digital from January 1 2018, as routine work in police stations will be computerised under Criminal Tracking and Networking System (CCTNS), under national e-governance initiative.

Odisha state Govt. splitted tourism and culture departments, renaming cultural wing as Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department. It was also decided to set up a ‘Heritage Cabinet’ to protect the monuments and ancient temples.

Official Logo and tagline for Allahabad Kumbh Mela 2019 with tagline Chalo Chalo Chalo, Kumbh Chalo. Additionally, Ttagline Agar UP Nahi Dekha Toh India Nahi Dekha for UP Tourism was also unveiled.

Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated eastern India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in Bhubaneswar (Odisha).

Mr Pradhan Also Stated that for Period of April - Oct of FY 2017-18, Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become India’s top crude oil supplier. Iraq Suplied 25.8 million tonnes (MT) of oil to India in concerned Period, compared to Saudi Arabia's 21.9 MT.

Orange Festival of Music and Adventure held in Dambuk village of Arunachal Pradesh.

PM Narendra Modi Launched 60MW Tuirial Hydroelectric Power Project in Mizoram. It has been constructed by North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (Neepco).

PM Narendra Modi announced investing 90000 crore for building a network of highways and roads in North Eastern region over 2 - 3 years. Out of this, 60000 crore would be spent under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme and 30000 crore will be spent under Bharatmala project.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Botanical Garden-Kalkaji section (of Magenta Line) of Delhi Metro. This 12.64-km route of Magenta Line will be Delhi Metro’s first line to get driverless trains, using Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling technology.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Dr.BR Ambedkar International Centre (DAIC) in New Delhi, constructed at cost of INR 195 crores.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated a unique world-class hospital at Swaminarayan Gurukul Vidyapeeth Pratisthanam in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is an integration of Yoga, Ayurveda, and Allopathy with world-class facilities in all the 3 streams.

President Ram Nath Kovind dedicated 4 Launched projects in Andhra Pradesh - Andhra Pradesh Fibregrid, Andhra Pradesh Surveillance Project, Drone Project and Free Space Optical Communication or FSOC system.

Fibergrid - It aims at providing affordable high-speed internet service to every household in state at nominal rates, also termed as Triple Play2.

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated Naval Maritime Aircraft Museum in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), featuring maritime patrol aircraft Tupolev-142M.

President Ram Nath Kovind laid foundation stone of Nyaya Gram, a residential and training complex of Allahabad High Court (UP).

Punjab & Haryana High Court banned bursting of crackers on New Year’s Eve & on Jan 1, as well as during weddings or other celebratory functions in Punjab, Haryana & Chandigarh.

Punjab Govt launched PUDA-UCIC app to check unauthorised construction and a new web portal of the housing department for online issue of change of land use. It will facilitate swift action to stop illegal construction.

Punjab government banned manufacturing, sale, production, supply and use of kite string made of nylon, plastic or any other synthetic material.

Rajasthan become first state to launch free email addresses in Hindi (in Devanagari script) for its residents, to ensure maximum participation of people towards e-governance and that maximum facilities are available in vernacular language.

Rajasthan government announced 1 % reservation for Gujjars (retaining their Other Backward Classes status) and 4 other communities (Banjara, Gadia-Lohar, Rebari and Gadaria).

Rajasthan government will introduce ‘Guru-Shishya’ (student-teacher dialogue) programme to address problems faced by students in various colleges in all districts. It will college students to an discuss their issues and problems related to their institutes, with their teachers.

Rajasthan government will recognise political prisoners held in jails during emergency period (1975 - 1977) as ‘Loktantra Sainani’,by changing name of Rajasthan MISA and DIR Bandi Pension Rules 2008 to Rajasthan Loktantra Sainani samman Nidhi 2008.

Rajasthan govt. increased age limit for applying for government jobs from 35 to 40 years.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law & Justice AND Electronics & Information Technology inaugurated NIC-CERT of National Informatics Centre, aimed at checking enhancing threats and vulnerabilities that are inherent part of increasing cyberspace. It was needed as in recent years, exponential growth in cyber attacks leading to concerns of data theft has been observed by Government.

Rural Development Ministry and State Governments have completed ranking of 50000 Gram Panchayats (selected under ‘Mission Antyodaya’) on three broad parameters of physical infrastructure, human development and economic activities.

Mission Antyodaya aims to create 50000 poverty-free gram panchayats.

Gram Panchayats have been selected by State Governments on the basis of social capital and have been grouped under 5000 clusters.

Samsung India partnered with UNESCO MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development) to launch 360-degree video and Virtual Reality (VR) content of Sun Temple in Konark (Odisha) and Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh).

Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari flagged off cargo movement on Pandu-Dhubri route (on National Waterway 2) along Brahmaputra River in Assam, reducing logistics cost and save 300 km road travel. Central Government has sanctioned Rs 1250 crore for overall development of inland water transport of Assam.

Social Media Firm Facebook started testing the use of Aadhaar by asking new Indian users to enter their names as per Aadhaar Card while signing up. India is second largest market for Facebook after USA, with over 2.4 crore users at present.

Supreme Court will look into Section 497 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which is related to provision of adultery and treats only man as an offender and married woman as a victim.

Teesta Rangit Tourism Festival 2017 held in Darjeeling and Kalimpong (West Bengal).

Telangana Government has set up ‘We-Hub’ on the lines of T-Hub for promoting women entrepreneurs in state, funded under Atal Innovation Mission. T-Hub is partnership between Telangana govt with 3 premier academic institutes and private sector leaders.

Telangana government developed a mobile application named ‘Urban Genie‘ that will help urban citizens in finding certified technicians and workers to provide household services.

Tendu Leaf Bonus Festival organized in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh. During it, approx 247 crores of bonus has been distributed to tendu leaf collectors of Bastar and Bijapur.

Tribal Sports Meet 2017 held in Odisha as a first-of-its kind event in country to promote sports among tribals in Odisha, with Olly as official mascot.

Tripura Government has introduced Child Care Leave (CCL) for women employees with minor children for 730 days in their entire service life.

UNESCO inscribed India's Kumbh Mela on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as 14th intangible cultural heritage from India to be listed in UNESCO’s list.

Uttar Pradesh Government approved draft of Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act (UPCOCA) to fight land mafia, mining mafia and organised crime in state, on lines of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Uttar Pradesh Govt. will Set up a Research Institute on Shrimad Bhagvat Gita in Mathura.

Uttar Pradesh State Government scrapped Shravan Yatra scheme under which elderly citizens could undertake pilgrimage free of cost, started in 2015 by Samajwadi Party government.

State government also announced setting up of Cow Protection Committees (Gau Sanrakshan Samitis) in all districts of Uttar Pradesh, to make sure that cow sheds (gaushalas) are operated efficiently.

Uttar Pradesh assembly passed UP Excise (Amendment) Bill 2017, to award death penalty and life imprisonment for spurious liquor dealers.

Uttar Pradesh became first State to endorse Central government’s draft bill that makes instant triple talaq a cognisable and non-bailable offence. The draft law provides for 3 year imprisonment and a fine to a man trying to divorce his wife by uttering “talaq” three times.

Uttar Pradesh government signed an MoU with South Korea to enhance cooperation in the field of tourism, skill development, culture and farming.

Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district has been included in National Capital Region (NCR), taking total number of districts in the NCR to 23.

NCR Cities get funds at attractive interest rates from National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) for infrastructure development.

Uttarakhand Government signed MoU with HP (Hewlett Packard) to provide tele-medicine facilities in remote areas of state.

Usage of telecommunication and information technology to provide clinical health care from a distance is referred to as tele-medicine.

Uttarakhand government made it compulsory for all government offices to install LED bulbs, to reduce consumption of electricity.

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu launchesd New Delhi Edition of Marathi daily ‘Lokmat’.

Waste management system in Kerala's Alappuzha has been recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of best 5 models across the world for fighting pollution menace, as per UNEP report Solid approach to waste: how five cities are beating pollution.

West Bengal Assembly passed Green University Bill 2017, to set up an environmental studies university at Hooghly district, making West Bengal the first state to have a university dedicated to environmental studies.

West Bengal State Government announced life insurance cover amounting to Rs 5 lakh for each of pilgrims coming to upcoming Gangasagar fair, which is held annually on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at confluence of Ganges at Sagra Islands in South 24 Parganas district.

Persons

Agriculture Ministry has roped in Actor Akshay Kumar to promote government’s flagship agriculture schemes like soil health card, crop insurance, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana etc.

Airtel Payments Bank CEO Shashi Arora resigned, after recent controversy over company's alleged violation of rules on using Aadhaar for its electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) verification process.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) recently barred Bharti Airtel and Airtel Payments Bank from conducting Aadhaar-based SIM verification of mobile customers using eKYC process, after allegations of Bharti Airtel using Aadhaar-eKYC based SIM verification process to open payments bank accounts of its subscribers without their informed consent.

Cricketer Yuvraj Singh launched Power of Sports to Shape the Future of Adolescents campaign in South Asia. It is a UNICEF sports initiative for youngsters.

Facebook Co-founder Eduardo Saverin has become Singapore’s richest person with a net worth of $10.4 billion. Saverin gave up his US citizenship in 2012.

Frenchman Francois Gabart created new world record for fastest non-stop solo navigation of globe, after completing it in 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds. He crossed a virtual finish line drawn between the island of Ushant off France’s northwest tip and Lizard Point in southwest England at 0145 GMT.

Indian Actress Anushka Sharma is named PETA's Person of the Year by animal rights organisation People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), for helping to protect dogs from fireworks to advocating for horses who are forced to pull carriages in Mumbai.

Justice Swatanter Kumar retired as Chairperson of National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Kavitha Bharanidaran (Chennai) broke Guinness World Record for longest yoga marathon, by continuing yoga marathon for 5 days. She broke record set by Pradnya Patil (Nashik) of 103 hours.

Malayalam actor and mimicry artist Abi passes away. His full name was Habeeb Ahmed.

Miss World 2017, Manushi Chhillar is named as Indian of the year by Minister of Finance and corporate affairs.

Noted international sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created world’s biggest sand Santa-face with message “world peace” at Puri beach (Odisha). The Santa face is 25 feet tall and 50 feet wide. It is to be placed in Limca Book of World Records.

Obituaries -

Neeraj Vora - Noted actor and Director.

AS Anand - Former Chief Justice of India.

Johnny Hallyday - France’s Noted rock star, known as French Elvis.

Abi (Habeeb Ahmed) - Malayalam actor and mimicry artist

Ja Ra Sundaresan - Noted Tamil journalist.

Shashi Kapoor - Noted Bollywood actor

Purabi Mukhopadhyay - Noted Rabindra sangeet singer

Laloo Chiba - Noted South African Freedom Fighter of Indian Origin

Adithyan - Noted South Indian music director .

Sukharanjan Sengupta - Noted journalist

Batuk Gathani - Noted Journalist

Lalji Singh - Noted Scientist (pioneer of DNA fingerprinting technology in India.

Keely Smith - Noted American Jazz and Pop Singer.

Bruce McCandless - Noted NASA astronaut (first person to fly in space without tethers)

Banwari Lal Joshi - former UP and Uttarakhand Governor.

Robbie Malinga - Noted South African musician.

Bob Givens - Noted American Animator (creator of Bugs Bunny)

Ashok Kumar Mattoo - Noted sports administrator, served as President of IABF (Indian Amateur Boxing Federation) and was first President of Hockey India.

Partha Mukhopadhyay - Noted Bengali actor.

Jatileswar Mukhopadhyay - Noted Bengali singer.

Hoshang Dadiba Amroliwala - First Class cricketer (Mumbai).

Sue Grafton -Noted mystery author (USA).

Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been voted the Time magazine readers’ Person of the Year.

Time magazine named the silence breakers as its Person of the Year for 2017. It refers to those individuals, mostly women, who came forward this year with #MeToo movement to publicly expose patterns of sexual harassment and assault by powerful public figures in United States.

Shah Rukh Khan is named top Indian actor of 2017 by Internet Movie Data Base (IMDb), followed by Aamir Khan and Salman Khan.

Sikh American Gurbir Grewal became first Sikh public prosecutor to be nominated for post of Attorney General of New Jersey, nominated by Governor-elect Phil Murphy.

Visits from India (Dec 1 - 10, 2017) -

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Visited Sochi (Russia) to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. India and Pakistan became full-fledged members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in June 2017.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar Visited China to attend 3rd Dialogue between India's NITI Aayog and Development Research Council of China (DRC).

Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu Visited Buenos Aires (Argentina) to attend 11th Ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Visits from India (Dec 11 - 20, 2017)

Minister of State for Culture (IC) and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Mahesh Sharma visited Muscat (Oman) for 2nd UN World Tourism Organization/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture.

Visits to India (Dec 1 - 10, 2017)

Roberto Tomas Morales Ojeda, Public Health Minister of Cuba Visited India. During this Visit, India and Cuba signed MoU for enhanced cooperation in health sector.

Maurizio Martina, Italian Minister for Agriculture Food and Forestry Policies Visited India. During this visit, India and Italy signed MoU for cooperation in Agriculture and Phytosanitary issues.

Afghanistan’s second vice president Mohammad Sarwar Danish visited India and attended an international conference on ‘Harmony and Memorial of Mother Teresa’, in Mumbai.

Visits to India (Dec 11 - 20, 2017)

Russia, India, and China Foreign Ministers' 15th meet held in New Delhi. Visiting Foreign Ministers - Sergei Lavrov (Russia), Wang Yi (China).

Mr. Goh Chok Tong, Emeritus Senior Minister of Singapore Visited India.

Argentine Football legend Diego Maradona visited India adnd unveiled his huge statue in Kolkata.

Morocco Minister of Health Abdelkader Amara visited India. MOUs -

Health Care.

Water Resources.

Cooperation in Indian Maritime University (IMU) and Higher Institute of Maritime Studies (ISEM) of Morocco AND National Ports Agency (NPA) of Morocco.

Cooperation between Institute of Training in Engines and Road Maintenance of Morocco (IFEER) and Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE).

Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland Visited India.

2018 Commonwealth Games will be held in April 2018 in Gold Coast (Australia).

4th India-Australia-Japan Trilateral Dialogue held in New Delhi. Visiting Delegates - Frances Adamson (Australia’s Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), Shinsuke J. Sugiyama (Japan’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs)

Visits to India (Dec 21 - 31, 2017)

Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Rogozin visited India. He attended Meeting of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) held in New Delhi.

Jordan's External Affairs Minister Ayman Al Safadi visited India.

Science

2 new ant species Tetramorium krishnani and Tetramorium jarawa discovered in islands of Andaman, named after late scientist K.S. Krishnan of NCBS, and Jarawas – indigenous people of Andaman.

Government launched Noxeno, a nasal foreign body removal device developed by start-up InnAccel Technologies, under Biodesign program. Noxeno is first dedicated tool for anterior nasal foreign body (NFB) removal that allows doctors in any setting to quickly and safely remove objects that people (mostly children aged 2 to 10 years) put into their noses.

A new LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) gravitational wave detector will be built in India by 2025 (world's 3rd after 2 in USA).

In 2016, LIGO detectors discovered gravitational waves produced by two giant merging blackholes. LIGO detector in India will help to pinpoint origin of gravitational waves that are detected in future.

According to new NASA study, our solar system's Planet Pluto may have liquid water oceans beneath their surface, as heat generated by gravitational pull of moons formed from massive collisions could extend the lifetimes of liquid water oceans beneath its surface.

Australian Researchers discovered a new water-adapted species of spiders named ‘Desis bobmarleyi’ in Queensland, named after noted singer and songwriter Bob Marley.

Australian scientists of University of New South Wales (UNSW) discovered a new species of marsupial lion which has been extinct for at least 19 million years. Named Wakaleo schouteni, it was a predator about the size of a border collie dog.

Botanical Survey of India (BSI) scientists discovered two new species of Ginger - Hedychium chingmeianum (Nagaland) and Caulokaempferia dinabandhuensis (Manipur).

California Institute of Technology, USA (CALTECH) scientists made world’s smallest recreation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, through a technique dubbed as DNA origami. Scientists folded DNA into desired self-assembling structures using 64 tiles, which were 100 nanometers wide.

China launched world’s largest human genome research project to document genetic makeup of 1 lakh people, to detect genetic links between health and sickness and use that information to generate precision medicines for future.

China tested its first photovoltaic (solar) highway in Shandong province, becoming 2nd country (after France) to construct a photovoltaic highway.

China’s photovoltaic highway is constructed using solar panels with thin sheet of transparent concrete on top of them.

The photovoltaic panels of the highway are built to transfer energy to electric vehicles passing on top of them.

Tested 1 KM segment of solar highway can generate 817.2 KW of electricity and can generate 1 million KW hours of electricity yearly.

China will build a Martian village (simulating environmental conditions on Mars) in Qinghai Province, in red rock area of the Qaidam basin in western Qinghai.

China's Three Gorges Corp. started building world’s biggest floating solar power plant in Anhui Province, expected to be launched by May 2018.

China’s AG600n (also known as Kunlong), world’s largest amphibious aircraft took off its first flight from Zhuhai City. It has huge wingspan of 38.8 metres and can land and take off from water.

H-BOTS, Hyderabad-based artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning start-up unveiled a prototype of a smart policing robot, which weighs 43 kg and is made of nylon plastic. H-BOTS is planning to produce 700 such units a year by 2020.

India has been declared free from infective Trachoma which is a contagious bacterial infection of the eye, that causes inflamed granulation on inner surface of lids. It was stated in National Trachoma Survey Report 2014-17 released by Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda.

Mainstream space agencies in world proposed creation of a climate observatory to combine acquired data and share it with scientists around globe, during One Planet Summit in Paris (France).

NASA will launch SuperTIGER Balloon in Antarctica, to study heavy cosmic particles, collect information on cosmic rays that enter Earth’s atmosphere every day.

SuperTIGER stands for Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (SuperTIGER) and is balloon-borne instrument to study rare heavy nuclei, which hold clues about where and how cosmic rays attain speeds up to nearly the speed of light.

New species of blind fish “Schistura larketensis” has been discovered in East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya. The fish had lost its pigments and eye sight after living in darkness of the cave.

Paleontologists from Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered approx 300 fossilised eggs of Pterosaurs, a group of extinct winged dinosaur. It is world’s first such mass dinasaur egg discovery.

Researchers from University of California and University of Illinois confirmed existence of new form of matter called excitonium, made up of excitons and exhibits macroscopic quantum phenomena just like a superconductor.

Technique called momentum-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (M-EELS) was used by researchers to prove existence of excitonium.

Samsung developed world’s smallest 8-gigabit DRAM chip, with improved energy efficiency and data processing performance. In these chips, only 1 transistor and a capacitor are required per bit, compared to 4 to 6 in SRAM.

Scientists discovered new scorpion species named Schaller’s wood scorpion (Liocheles schalleri) from at Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Tripura. It has been named in honour of celebrated wildlife biologist George Schaller who has studied wildlife across world.

Scientists discovered new species of frog named Mewa Singh’s night frog (Nyctibatrachus mewasinghi) in Kozhikode’s Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala in Western Ghats.

Scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) found a novel way to induce plants to give off dim light by embedding specialised nanoparticles into their leaves.

It has great significance as it will make plants function as a desk lamp, powered by energy metabolism of the plant itself and not by electricity connection.

To create glowing plants, scientists has used to luciferase, an enzyme that gives fireflies their glow. Luciferase acts on molecule called luciferin, causing it to emit light.

Scientists from University of Michigan (USA) developed a new type of neural network chip using reservoir computing system to improve efficiency of teaching machines to think like humans.

Network developed using this system can predict words before they are said during conversation and help predict future outcomes based on present.

Scientists from Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) discovered new frog species in the fast flowing streams in Talle Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. It is named Odorrana arunachalensis.

USA based National High Magnetic Field Laboratory tested world’s strongest superconducting magnet 32 T, producing 32 teslas (a unit of magnetic field strength), 33% stronger than previous record.

32 T will allow physicists studying materials to explore how electrons interact with each other and their atomic environment.

USA based SpaceX for first time ever has successfully launched used Dragon spacecraft with a used Falcon 9 rocket, as part of resupply mission to International Space Station (ISS). It was SpaceX’s 13th of 20 Missions under a $1.6 billion contract with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

USA's NASA discovered 8th planet in Our Solar System, circling Kepler-90, a Sun-like star which is 2545 light-years far from Earth.

Newly-discovered planet Kepler-90i was discovered in data from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, using Machine Learning from Google.

World’s heaviest bony fish ever caught weighing 2,300 kilograms has been identified in Japan, confirmed by researchers from Hiroshima University. Bony fish have skeletons made of bone rather than cartilage.

Sports

10th Asian Airgun Championships Held in Wako, Japan -

India won 21 medals at the event Including 6 Gold, 8 Silver and 7 Bronze. Gold Medals are -

Samiksha Dhingra - 10m Air Rifle Women Junior

Mehuli Ghosh - 10m Air Rifle Women Youth

Saurabh Chaudhary - 10m Air Pistol Men Youth

Team Events - 10m Air Rifle Men Youth, 10m Air Pistol Men Youth AND 10m Air Pistol Men

India Secured 4 places for 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games (3rd) to be held in Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Mehuli Ghosh, Tushar Mane, Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker.

13th Commonwealth Wrestling Championships 2017 Orgznied in Johannesburg (South Africa). India won 60 Medals Including 29 Gold Medals at this event.

2016–17 Men's FIH Hockey World League Final in Bhubaneswar (Odisha) -

Australia won their FIH Hockey World League title after defeating Argentina in Final. Third place was grabbed by India.

2017 BWF Badminton Super Series Finals held in Dubai (it was final competition of 2017 BWF Super Series) -

Men's Singles - Viktor Axelsen (Denmark)

Women's Singles - Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) (She defeated India's P V Sindhu)

Men's Doubles - Indonesia's Markus Fernaldi Gideon AND Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo

Women's Doubles - Japan's Shiho Tanaka AND Koharu Yonemoto

2017 World Weightlifting Championships held in Anaheim (USA) -

Medal table -

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total

1 Colombia 2 1 2 5

Iran 2 1 2 5

3 Georgia 2 0 1 3

4 Thailand 1 3 1 5

5 Chile 1 1 0 2

Vietnam 1 1 0 2

India Ranked 9th Jointly with Chinese Taipei, Romania, South Korea and Spain with 1 Gold Medal Each. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (Manipur) won Gold for India in 48 kg category.

During These Championships, India's Gurdeep Singh created three new senior national records in +105 kg weight category in snatch, clean and jerk, and the total lift. He couldn't win a medal in the Championships Though.

22nd Commonwealth Games 2022 will be hosted in Birmingham (England).

Shooting has been excluded from Commonwealth Games 2022 edition.

42nd Junior (U-17 and U-19 ) National Badminton Championship concludes in Guwahati (Assam) -

U-19 - Aryaman Tandon and Akarshi Kashyap won in boys’ & girls’ singles respectively.

U-17 - Maisnam Meiraba and Akarshi Kashyap won in boys’ & girls’ singles respectively.

46th Congress of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) will be held in New Delhi from October - November, 2018. This biennial event will run for four days.

61st National Shooting Championships held in Trivandrum (Kerala) -

Anisa Sayyed created new national record in women 25m pistol.

Jitu Rai created new national record in men’s 50m pistol event.

Afghan Off Spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Zadran became youngest ever from Afghanistan to play International cricket and overall 9th youngest to debut in ODI cricket.

Afghanistan won ICC Intercontinental Cup defeating United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi, with Ireland ranked 2nd.

Argentine Footballer Lionel Messi received Pichichi trophy for 2016-2017 football season, given to Spanish Football league La Liga’s top scorer and best player.

Asian Luge Championships held at Altenberg (Germany) -

Germany is a european Nation, still it hosted Asian Luge Championships for security reasons.

Sole Indian participant Shiva Keshavan retained his title with a time of 55.60 seconds.

Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC) launched at Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai, to create a platform for the development of football coaches and their welfare.

Bangladesh won First ever SAFF U-15 Women's football Championship 2017, defeating India. It was hosted by Bangladesh.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) lifted ban on Rajasthan Cricket Association, provided former IPL chief Lalit Modi stays away from its functioning. BCCI also announced that India will host Afghanistan's first-ever Test match in 2018-19.

Chandika Hathurusingha is appointed as new Head coach of Sri Lanka Cricket Team.

Emblems of the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games have been named Winter Dream and Flight, to be held in Beijing (China).

FIFA has lifted 2 year suspension against Kuwait’s football association that prevented It country from participating in international tournaments.

FIFA suspended head of Brazilian football federation Marco Polo Nero for 90 days, for being accused of accepting 6.5mn euro commission.

First ever International Wheelchair Cricket Tournament organised in Nepal’s Kathmandu, with participation of teams from Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

Globe Soccer’s awards 2017 -

Best Player - Cristiano Ronaldo (Potugal).

Best Club - Real Madrid.

Best Coach - Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)

India at Miscellaneous Sports Events -

India's Aryan Goveas and Arjun Kadhe won doubles title in $15,000 ITF (International Tennis Federation) Futures tennis tournament, in Cairo (Egypt).

Indian Diving Team won 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze Medals in Indonesia Open Aquatic Championships 2017 in Jakarta.

India finished seventh overall in the WSF-world men's team squash championship in Marseille, France.

Indian Junior Girls won 4 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze at Valeria Demyanova Memorial International Boxing Tournament in Ukraine.

India won 10 medals in the first Wushu Sanda Asian Cup in Guangzhou, China.

Indian junior boxers won 11 Medals (Inc. 6 gold) and finished as overall champions at 5th International Sven Lange Memorial Tournament in Germany.

Indian boxers won 3 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze at Galym Zharylgapov Boxing Tournament in Karaganda (Kazakhstan).

India beat Nepal to win first ever South Asian Regional Badminton Tournament (team championship) held at Guwahati, Assam.

India will host 2023 Cricket World Cup (13th) and 2021 Champions Trophy.

ICC World Cup 2019 will be held in England and Wales.

India's Shubhankar Sharma won Joburg Open golf tournament to qualify for 2018 British Open.

Indian Boxer Sachin Siwach is named Asian Boxing Confederation’s best youth boxer of the year 2017. India also fetched the Best Asian International Technical Official (ITO) award with Lenny D’Gama winning the online poll.

Indian Umpires, Raghu Prasad and Javed Shaikh will officiate in 2018’s Hockey World Cup to be held in Bhubaneswar (Odisha).

Indian archer Deepika Kumari won bronze at Indoor Archery World Cup Stage 2 in Bangkok (Thailand).

Indian batsman Rohit Sharma became first to score 3 double centuries in ODI cricket, after he scored 208 Not out against Sri Lanka in Mohali.

India also become first team to register 300+ totals 100 times in ODIs, after posting 392 against Sri Lanka in same game at Mohali.

Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand won World Rapid Chess tournament title in Saudi Arabia, beating Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced life ban for Russia’s Alexey Voevoda from Olympics for anti-doping violations in 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

International Olympic Committee banned Russia from 2018 Winter Olympic Games to be held in Pyeongchang (South Korea), over its state-orchestrated doping programme. Note that clean Russian athletes will be allowed to compete under an Olympic flag.

Italy's Raffaele Bergamasco has been appointed as Performance Director for India’s senior women Boxers.

Kerala Kings won first T10 Cricket League champion at Sharjah Cricket Stadium (UAE), defeating Punjabi Legends.

Mumbai batsman Prithvi Shaw will be captain of Indian Side in upcoming ICC U-19 World Cup 2018 in New Zealand.

NECC-ITF women’s tennis championship in Pune -

Singles - Spain’s Georgina Garcia-Perez.

Nagpur’s Kanchanmala Pande became the first Indian to secure pole position at World Para-Swimming Championships 2017 in Mexico as she won gold in 200 meter medley event in S-11 category.

New Delhi will host India Open International Boxing Tournament in January - February 2018. For first time, India will field a team in upcoming edition of World Series Boxing, AIBA’s professional league. Team will be sponsored by Boxing Federation of India (BFI).

Noted Brazilian Footballer Kaka Retired from Professional Football.

Noted Indian Professional Boxer Vijender Singh defended his WBO Oriental and Asia Pacific super middleweight titles, after beating Ghana’s Ernest Amuzu in Jaipur.

Pune International Marathon 2017 -

It was held Despite being denied permission by Athletics Federation of India.

Winners - Tisasua Basazin

Men - Ethiopia’s Getachew Besha.

Women's Half Marathon - Ethiopia's Tisasua Basazin.

Real Madrid won FIFA Club World Cup 2017 in UAE, defeating Gremio in Final.

Real Madrid is first side in the history of FIFA Club World Cup to retain the trophy.

Real Madrid has now won five trophies in 2017 – Champions League, La Liga, Uefa Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and Club World Cup.

South Africa won the first ever four-day test cricket match, against Zimbabwe.

Spain's Rafael Nadal and Garbine Muguruza are named as International Tennis Federation (ITF) world champions for male and female categories respectively. This is first time in 19 years that both awards have gone to players from the same country.

Sushil Kumar became Pro Wrestling League (PWL)'s most expensive buy ever as Delhi Sultans accquired him for INR 55 lakhs. PWL 3 will be held in January 2018.

Virat Kohli overtook West Indies' Brian Lara as record holder for Most double tons in Tests as Captain, with five 200s.

Wrestler Sushil Kumar and Boxer Mary C. Kom resigned as National Sports Observers.

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