1. ‚ New MOUs Signed -
- With Greece for Co-operation in Air Services.
- With Australia for co-operation in civil aviation security.
- With Poland for Co-operation in Agriculture and Allied Sciences.
- With ___________ for enhancing railway safety in Indian Railways with focus on railway track and rolling stock safety.
- Amending tax treaty with Israel for easy exchange of information on tax matters to check flow of black money.
- Italy - technical cooperation in rail sector, especially in area of safety in train operations.
- With Senegal in field of Health and Medicine.
- With France in field of Science and Technology and innovation.
- With Vietnam in exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes
2. 2016 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report by Lauder Institute of the University of Pennsylvania (TTCSP) -
- India's Centre for Civil Society (CCS) ranked among top 100 think tanks globally (Rank - _________________). Besides, nine other Indian institutes also have figured among the top 175.
- UK’s Chatham House is top think tank In Non US Category and USA’s Brookings Institution retained as top think tank worldwide in US Category.
3. According to report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India remained world’s largest importer of Arms during 2012 to 2016, accounting for ______________ of global total sales ?
4. Airport Authority of India (AAI) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched‚ _______________‚ e-billing solution for airport operators across world. It will help airport operators and air navigation services providers to overcome revenue leakages and disputes ?
5. ________________ startup Planet Labs, that launches small satellites into orbit and sells the imagery, has acquired Google's 'Terra Bella' satellite business ?
6. Annual Multinational Army Exercise Cobra Gold held in Chonburi Province of Thailand, jointly hosted by ____________ and Thailand. This year over 8300 army personnel from 29 countries participated in it.‚ ?
7. Australia and _____________ have restored full military ties, training exchanges and activities after they were suspended in January 2017 ?
8._________________'s President Ilham Aliyev appointed his wife Mehriban Aliyev as First Vice President of country.‚ This position was created after referendum in September 2016 ?
9. C-SPAN’s latest survey of Presidential Leadership in USA has ranked _________________
as USA's most esteemed leader. Current President Barack Obama is ranked 12th in list ?
10. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved investment for generation component of Arun-3 Hydro Electric Project in ___________, to be implemented by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN). It will generate 900 Megawatt of hydro power at an estimated cost of 5723 crore rupees ?
11. _______________ announced to give asylum to 1200 Yazidis, most vulnerable refugees in world currently ?
12. _____________ announced to cut 5 lakh jobs from steel, coal and other heavy industries, amid economy slowdown. ?
13. __________ became world’s largest solar energy producer by augmenting its photovoltaic capacity to 77.42 GW in 2016, surpassing Germany's 40.78GW solar energy capacity. India’s PV capacity reached 9 GW in 2016 ?
14. ______________ successfully tested a new version of Dongfeng-5C ICBM missile‚ that can carry up to‚ 10 nuclear warheads ?
15. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed Technology Partnership MoU with 2 _________ agencies - International Enterprise (IE) and Business Federation (SBF) to promote expertise in expanding businesses ?
16. Curators from National Archives in Trencin (____________) found world’s oldest emoji, in a 382-year-old account book. Discovery contains a small circle with 2 dots and a line in a legal document dating back to 1635 ?
17. Desert gulf Nation _________ recorded its lowest temperature ever of‚ Minus 1.5‚ degree Celsius, beating previous record of lowest reading of 3.8 degrees taken in January 1964 ?
18. European Parliament approved a landmark Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) deal with _____________, to eliminate almost all trade tariffs between the two ?
19. European Union member nations approved visa-free travel for _____________, enabling its citizens to travel visa-free for 90 days in EU during any 180-day period ?
20. Folk singer from Punjab _____________ selected for awareness project against human trafficking'Blue Heart Campaign‚ by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) ?
21. Fortune Magazine's World's Most admired Companies List 2017 -
- Top 5 Companies - _________________ (1), Amazon.com (2), Starbucks (3), Berkshire Hathaway (4), Disney (6)
22. ___________ opened an Honorary Consulate Office at Madhapur in Hyderabad (Telangana). ?
23. Global Gene Corp and Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) launched first beacon for Indian genomics data in ______________. It will enable scientists in developing more effective drug delivery systems.
- A Genomic beacon is an web service allowing researchers to determine whether an institution has particular genomic data in its data set.
- Aim is to address gap in shared Indian genomics data, which helps scientists better understand disease and develop more effective drug delivery systems.
24.Hindustan Motors sold Its‚ Ambassador‚ Indian car brand to _________ carmaker Peugeot for INR 80 crores ?
25. IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) banned ___________ from 2017 World Athletics Championships to be held in London (UK), on doping charges ?
26. In latest Global 500 rankings of most powerful brands, __________ surpassed Apple to achieve top position. Apple is second and Amazon ranked Third ?
27. India and Bangladesh signed MoU for sustainable development of‚ ___________ city in northeastern Bangladesh with financial aid from India. ?
28. India and __________ signed Protocol amending Convention for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income ?
29. India and ___________ ratified a Social Security Agreement to improve investment flows between two countries. It agreement signed in October 2011 and will come into force from May 1, 2017. SSA establishes rights and obligations of nationals of both countries ?
30. India and ____________ celebrated 25 years of establishment of their diplomatic relations ?
31. India and __________ founded Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to accelerate life-saving research and development for epidemics ?
32. India and ___________ signed MoU to construct new multi-ethnic tri-lingual secondary school in Polonnaruwa District ?
33. India and __________ agreed to strengthen cooperation through medium of Cinema, during visit of Iurii Artemenko (Chairman of National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of ___________). ?
34. India and ________ signed MoU to ease restrictions on the number of scheduled flights between the two countries ?
35. India sanctioned soft loan of ____________ million to Nepal for various infrastructure development programmes.‚ It will include Mahalaki bridge and 15 roads will be constructed in various parts of Nepal ?
36. India will be Guest Country at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to be held in ____________ in June 2017 ?
37. ____________ will host conference on counter-radicalisation with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in October 2017 ?
38. India will present Trade Facilitation in Services (TFS) Agreement to ______________, aimed at boosting services trade at Global Level to ease norms including those relating to movement of foreign skilled workers and professionals across borders for short-term work ?
39. India's National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) banned British Broadcasting Corporation from filming in all Indian tiger reserves for 5 years. Ban was imposed after BBC via a documentary,‚ One World: Killing for Conservation, questioned India’s aggressive policy to protect endangered rhinos at Kaziranga national park in ____________ ?
40. Indian renewable energy producer‚ ReNew Power Ventures‚ sold 10 % stake in to ___________ firm JERA for USD 200 million ?
41. International Intellectual Property Index (IIPI) 2017 (The Roots of Innovation) by US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Centre (GIPC) -
- India ranked ____________ among 45 nations, ahead only to Pakistan (44th) and Venezuela (45th). India scored a meagre 8.75 out of a total of 35 points, falling significantly behind the median score of 15.39.
- Top 5 - United States (1st), United Kingdom (2nd), Germany (3rd), Japan (4th), Sweden (5th).
- BRICS - China (27th), South Africa (33rd), Brazil (32nd) and Russia (23rd)
42. International Monetary Fund (IMF) opened first-of-its-kind South Asia Training and Technical Assistance Centre (SARTTAC) in ___________ for economic capacity building in South Asia ?
43. International rating agency Moody’s report‚ Modest Acceleration in the Global Economy‚ predicted that India will be fastest growing economy among G-20 countries in year 2017 with __________ growth ?
44. Iran Removed ban on _____________ wrestlers, allowing them to take part in Freestyle World Cup In Iran in Feb 2017. Ban was Put by Iran after USA _________ suspended travel from seven Muslim majority countries, including Iran ?
45. Iran and Russia signed agreement to jointly produce nuclear fuel. It will also buy 950 tonnes of uranium from ____________________, as part of Iran’s international nuclear deal known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and P5+1 nations ?
46. ______________ became first country to completely cease Investing in fossil fuels. Irish Parliament passed legislation to drop coal, oil, and gas (fossil fuel) investments from its $8.56 billion Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, forcing Ireland to sell its investment in fossil fuel industries over five years ?
47. _____________ approved building 3000 new settlements in West Bank territory, despite December 2016 UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling to immediately cease all settlement activities in West Bank and east Jerusalem ?
48. ___________'s SoftBank Group Corp and Taiwan's Foxconn have formed joint venture to expand investments. Foxconn accquired 54.5% stake in SoftBank Group Capital Apac Pte Ltd, a wholly owned SoftBank unit, for $600 million ?
49._______________’s SoftBank Group Corp acquired Fortress Investment Group LLC for $3.3 billion, aiming to add investment expertise to launch world’s largest private equity fund ?
50. ____________ suspended issuing visas for travellers belonging to 5 major Muslim countries including Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Afghanistan in order to prevent entry of Islamic terrorists ?
51. Legislation introduced in US House of Representatives to mandate minimum salary of H-1B visa holders to be doubled to ___________ (from $60,000 currently). Bill is titled‚ High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017‚ and has been introduced amid reports that US Prez Donald Trump might order to clamp down H-1B and L1 Visas ?
52.__________ - based low-cost airline AirAsia signed MoU with Odisha government to start 2 way direct international flights from Bhubaneswar to Kuala Lumpur ?
53. Meeting of SAARC Programming Committee held in Kathmandu (_____________). This was first senior level meeting of SAARC since postponement of 19th SAARC Summit in November 2016 after Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh and India avoided it, following tension between India and Pakistan ?
54. Mumbai based Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and _________ Diamond Investment Exchange signed MoU to explore areas of cooperation ?
55. Nokia acquired _________ Based Comptel Corporation for 347 Million Euros to advance its software strategy ?
56. ___________ Navy started its biannual multinational AMAN 2017 naval exercise in Karachi. 37 countries are participating in This event ?
57. Pakistan and ___________ signed 10 agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields ?
58. __________ army launched nationwide military operation‚ Radd - ul - Fasaad‚ to eliminate terrorism across Country ?
59._____________’s Senate passed landmark The Hindu Marriage Bill 2017 to regulate marriages of minority Hindus in country ?
60. Right to Information (RTI) Act came into force in ______________, to ensure transparency in governance and easy availability of information ?
61. Samsung will launch its mobile payment wallet‚ _______________ in India, in partnership with American Express to bring its mobile payment solution to India ?
62. Scientists confirmed existence of a‚ lost continent‚ under Indian Ocean's island of ____________, left over by break-up of super-continent Gondwana that started 200 million years ago.
63. ______________’s decision to withdraw from International Criminal Court (ICC) has been ruled invalid and unconstitutional by Country's High Court. South Africa notified its intention to leave ICC In October 2016, accusing it for undermining its sovereignty ?
64. South Korean and __________ held joint military exercise‚ Foal Eagle ?
65. Tech Firm __________ acquired Israeli startup‚ RealFace, a cybersecurity and machine learning firm specializing in facial recognition technology. Amount of deal was not disclosed ?
66. Top 10 beaches of the World by TripAdvisor (American travel company) -
- India's Radhanagar beach in Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ featured at ____________ Position.
- Baia do Sancho Fernando de Noronha in Brazil topped list, followed by Grace Bay Providenciales in Turks and Caicos.
67. ____________ unveiled 100 Year plans to build first city on Mars by 2117. For this, it will collaborate with specialised international organisations and scientific institutes and will also launch its first-ever mission to Mars in 2020. It will be an unmanned orbiter called ‘Hope’ from Japan’s space centre. It will be first-ever Mars Mission from an Arab country ?
68. US and ______________ militaries successfully tested Standard Missile 3 Block IIA missile defence system by intercepting a medium-range ballistic missile target in space for the first time ?
69. ___________ made changes in its export control laws that will benefit India by facilitating smoother transfer of technologies and arms, inline with recognisation of India as a ‘Major Defence Partner ?
70. _________'s Spatial Technology Firm SpaceX became first private company to launch rocket from NASA’s launch facility after It launched Dragon cargo ship aboard Falcon 9 Rocket to International Space Station (ISS) from NASA’s Launch Complex at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida ?
71. _______'s payments solutions provider OMA Emirates entered Indian Market, by acquiring mobile point of sale (mPOS) firm MobiSwipe ?
72. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed for ___________ billion to help 4.8 crore children in crises worldwide amid fears of a funding cut from top donor USA ?
73. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched $110 million appeal to help 20 lakh undernourished children across ______________ ?
74. Venezuela and __________________ are suspended from voting in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2016-17 session for not paying their dues. Venezuela needed to pay $24 million and ____________'s dues were $6.5 million ?
75. World Trade Organisation's TFA (______________) in Goods came into effect with its ratification by two - third members including India.
- TFA in Goods was adopted by the WTO Members in 2014 and aims to simplify procedures and cut trade costs around world. It was outcome of WTO’s 9th Bali (Indonesia) ministerial package of 2013.
- The agreement includes provisions for Lowering import tariffs and agricultural subsidies, Abolish hard import quotas and Reduction in red tape at international borders.
76. World’s largest annual food event, Gulfood 2017 held at Dubai World Trade Centre (UAE). Among 90000 Exhibitors, __________ Indians are participating in range of Agriculture and Processed Food products. ?
77. World’s longest commercial flight (By Time) landed in ________________'s Auckland (From Doha (Qatar)). It was made by Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777-200LR flight QR920 with length 14,535 km.
- Note that In terms of length, Air India’s Delhi-San Francisco covers larger distance than Doha - Auckland Flight.
78. World’s longest elevated cycle path opened in Xiamen (____________), which can handle over 2000 cyclists with speed limit of 15 miles per hour ?