1. American electric Carmaker TESLA has builds world’s biggest lithium-ion battery to be plugged into an ____________ state grid, capable of powering 30,000 homes for up to an hour in the event of a severe blackout.
2. As per data by Bank of Thailand, ___________ has highest unemployment rate in Asia (8%). Thailand's 1.3% employment rate is ranked best in Asia ?
3. _________ 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 ?
4. _________ 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.
5. __________ 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 ?
6. Export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement included India as its 42nd member, during its plenary meeting in Vienna (____________).
- 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.
7. Financial Services Commission of Mauritius opened its representative office in _______________, to strengthen its partnership with its Indian counterparts in capacity building, financial literacy and exchange of expertise?
8. Forbes Magazine has named former Tesco supermarket worker Dan Middleton (_________________) 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 ?
9. Forbes annual list of the highest-paid musicians -
- Top 3 -
- Diddy ($130m) (_____________)
- Beyonce ($105m) (USA)
- Drake ($94m) (Canada) ?
10. Foreign Policy magazine’s 2017 list of ’50 Leading Global Thinkers’ List -
- Indian-American California senator Kamala Harris topped the List. _____________ President Moon Jae-in is ranked second in list and Indian-origin stand-up comedian Hasan Minhaj ranked 3rd.
11. Fortune’s ‘Businessperson of the Year’ list -
- It is annual ranking of world’s top 20 heads of companies.
- Aditya Puri, Managing Director of ___________________, is the only Indian on list (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)
12. ____________ 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.
- It also launched Files Goapp that takes a mobile-first approach to freeing up space, finding files faster and easily sharing them with others, even when offline.
13. 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 (___________________) ?
14. India and Germany signed Govt-to-Govt Umbrella Agreement to formalize an amount up to Euro ______________ 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 ?
15. India and Israel Jointly Launched a centre for excellence in floriculture, Thally in Krishnagiri district of ______________.
- 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.
16. India and _____________ 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.
17. _____________ 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.
18. 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 (___________) ?
19. 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 (_________________) with Kitack Lim as Current Chief.
20. Indian engineers launched a major project in _____________ that would improve connectivity between two major cities - Malakal-Melut. It will facilitate UN humanitarian operations in area ?
21. International Labour Organisation (ILO) released World Social Protection Report 2017-2019, depicting that only ____________ of global population is effectively covered by at least one social benefit, while remaining 4 billion people are left unprotected ?
22. International Monetary Fund approved USD 88 billion credit line for ______________, replacing existing line of credit ?
23. 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 (____________).
- 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.
24. Iran inaugurated first phase of Chabahar port located in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province. Port will bypass ____________ 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 ?
25. ___________ PM Haider al-Abadi declared victory in a 3 year war by Its forces against Islamic State jihadist group ?
26. _________ allowed depreciation of its Currency, after talks with International Monetary Fund. It is believed to help shift foreign currency holdings from commercial banks back to official reserves ?
27. __________ 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 ?
28. _____________ Government and United Nations (UN) signed UN Strategic Framework for Somalia (UNSF), under which United Nations will support Nation’s development in priority areas over the next four years ?
29. UAE, UK, US and French armies participated in joint exercises in Abu Dhabi (UAE), named as ____________?
30. US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced USD __________ 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.
31. _____________ President Donald Trump announced to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital despite intense Arab, Muslim and European opposition. It became 1st country to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, since foundation of Israel in 1948.
- Israel has always regarded Jerusalem as its capital, while Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as capital of a future Palestinian state.
32. 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 ___________?
33. __________ 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
34. ___________ withdrawn itself from a United Nations pact to improve handling of migrant and refugee situations deeming it ‘inconsistent’ with policies ?
35. United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ________________ formed new economic and partnership group named Joint Cooperation Committee, separate from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
- JCC will coordinate between 2 nations 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.
36. _________ launched its first space programme aimed at sending four Emirati astronauts to International Space Station within 5 years ?
37. ______________ 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 ?
38. _______________ 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 ?
39. Word ‘populism’ is announced as ____________’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 ?
40. World Bank announced $1.15 billion development policy loan for ____________ 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.
41. As per new discovery, Mount Hope is new tallest mountain in BAT (____________) with height measured at 3,239 meters above, more than 3,184 meters tall Mount Jackson.
42. China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) launched ____________’s first telecommunications satellite, Alcomsat-1, aboard a Long March 3B rocket. ?
43. __________ 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. ?
44. 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 ______________, followed by London and Tokyo ?
45.___________ lifted 35 year old ban on providing licenses to commercial movie theatres, aimed at economic growth and diversification ?
46. Tech Firm ____________ acquired music recognition app Shazam, for approx $400 million.
47. ___________ released report State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World, pointing out that despite massive online presence of children, very little is done to protect them from digital threats. ?
48. Feminism’ is named as ______________’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.
49. The Legatum Prosperity Index 2017 (149 countries) -
- India ranks ____________ in this list of prosperity.
- Top 5 - Norway, New Zealand, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden.
50. Forbes' Highest-Paid Athletes of All Time-
- Retired ____________ 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).
51. Google will open a research lab focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Beijing (______________), its first such centre in Asia ?
52. 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 _____________’s Baran district. ?
53. __________ 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. ?
54. ____________ and Egypt signed an agreement under which Rosatom will construct Egypt’s first nuclear plant as Dabaa nuclear plant. It will be completed by 2029 with cost of $21bn. ?
55. ______________ 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.
56. ___________ banned its financial institutions from dealing in virtual currencies including Bitcoin, in wake of recent surge in Bitcoin price ?
57. 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, ______________.
58. ______________ 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. ?
59. World Bank will end its financial support for oil and gas exploration after __________, in response to growing threat posed to climate change. ?
60. ___________ 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.
61. ____________ eased up visa application procedures for Indian tourists, to encourage more visitors from India.
62. Oxford Dictionaries declared _________________ as 2017’s Word of the Year, reflecting what it calls a political awakening among millennial voters ?
63. World Inequality Report 2018 by World Inequality Lab based at the Paris School of Economics (___________) -
- 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.
64. World Migration Report 2018 by UN International Organisation for Migration -
- Indian diaspora is the largest in world, with __________ 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.
65. ____________ 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 One Belt One Road initiative and emergency response efforts at sea.
66. ______________ 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 to get phone manufacturers to build this expensive functionality into their products.
67. ______________ 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.
68. _____________ 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.
69. World Health Organisation Central African Nations __________ as Polio-free.
70. World's first camel hospital opened in Dubai (____________).
71. ___________ will develop national carbon market as world’s biggest trading system for climate-warming emissions, initially involving only power sector. It is biggest emitter with 3 billion metric tons of emissions annually.
72. Forbes’ best countries in world for business in 2018 (153 Nations) -
- _____________ stayed at top of List, followed by New Zealand and Netherlands.
- India is ranked 62nd on list. China ranks 66th.
73______________ Govt. approved banning all exploration and production of oil and natural gas by 2040 within country and its overseas territories.
74. ______________ 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 Bilateral Development Cooperation.
75. 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 (_____________), 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.
76. JLL Report on Expensive Office Locations -
- ________ is Ranked as 7th most expensive in world, with Mumbai at 16th position.
- Top 5 - Hong Kong, London (West), New York, Beijing, Tokyo.
77. __________ approved Aid of Approx 73 Crores INR for Implementation of Advanced Traffic Information and Management System in Bengaluru (Karnataka).
78. National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and _____________'s Dalian Municipal People’s Government signed agreement to create a platform called Sino-Indian Digital Collaboration Plaza (SIDCOP) in Dalian.
79. _____________ 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 universities - Oxford, Bath, Cambridge and Imperial College London.
80. India will set up a Centre of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) at Al Azhar University (_______________) .
81. _________ became first country to send a female ambassador (Dominique Mineur) to Saudi Arabia.
82. Central American Nation _______________ 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.
83. _________ 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.
84. E-commerce Major ______________ acquired a startup named Blink that builds wireless home security systems.
85. India initiated dumping probe on imports of ‘Sodium Nitrite’ from _____________, 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.
86. 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 ________________ crores.
87. ______________ signed agreement with Northern African Nation Sudan to build its first nuclear power plant, to help Sudan solve its energy security problems.
88. UN will mark 100th Birth anniversary of ___________________ Social Reformer Nelson Mandela (July 18, 2018) with a high-level meeting on world peace, named as Nelson Mandela Peace summit.
89. USA President Donald Trump signed into law a sweeping _______________ dollars overhaul of US tax code, set to impact USA economy through dramatic tax cuts for corporations and temporary reductions for individuals.
90. World’s longest glass bridge opened in Shijiazhuang (_____________). 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.
91. 2018 World Economic League Table report released by Centre for Economics and Business Research (UK) -
- India will overtake UK and _______________ 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.
92. A consortium of chinese firms is Constructing _________________’s first eco-friendly thermal power plant with ultra-modern clean coal technology, near sea port in Payra town in Patuakhali district. Estimated cost of the project is USD 1.56 billion.
93. For the first time, WHO will add gaming disorder to its _____________ (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.
94. Typhoon Tembin struck ____________, causing huge human and financial losses.
95. United Nations General Assembly approved regular budget of ______________ billion for 2018-2019, marking 5% cut (286 million dollar) as compared to budget for 2016- 2017.
96. UNESCO recognized artisans of Panama Hats for their distinctive woven hats. Panam hats are a traditional brimmed straw hat of ________ origin.
97. _________ launched Angosat-1, first national telecoms satellite for Angola, onboard Zenit-2SB rocket.
98. Forbes' Top Grossing actors 2017 -
- ___________ 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.
99. 2nd India-____________ 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 __________. First air corridor between both countries linking Kabul-New Delhi was inaugurated in June 2017.
100. India provided medical assistance worth approx $1 million to ______________, in response to a request from its government amid current turbulence there.
101. Indian Pharma Firm Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories introduced anti cancer injection drug Melphalan Hydrochloride in ______________. Melphalan hydrochloride for injection is indicated for the palliative treatment of patients with multiple myeloma for whom oral therapy is not appropriate.
102. ______________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.
103. USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will launch 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.
104. ________________ has shut down its legal government-sanctioned ivory (elephant teeth) trade.
105. NASA’s flying observatory Sofia will be observing celestial magnetic fields, star-forming regions, comets and _______________’s giant moon Titan, as part of observing campaign 2018. Sofia is a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner which carries a 100-inch diameter telescope.
106. ____________ 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.
107. Pakistan will up a new hydropower project on _______________ 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.
108. __________________ 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.
