1. 11th Earth Hour observed across world on ____________ 2017, to take a global call on climate change. Cities worldwide turned their lights off from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm local time ?
2. 2017 Bloomberg Global Health Index of 163 countries -
- Top 3 - _________ (1st), Iceland (2), Switzerland (3).
3. __________ India -UAE conference on globalization held at Dubai, organized by All India Management Association (AIMA) ?
4. According to Financial Times, _____________’s banking system has overtaken eurozone to become world’s largest by assets; valued at $33 trillion. It is larger as compared to $31 trillion of Eurozone, $16 trillion of US and $7 trillion of Japan ?
5. According to Transparency International (TI) -
- ____________ has highest bribery rate among 16 Asia-Pacific countries - 69 %, followed by Vietnam (65%), Thailand 41% and Pakistan 40%. China reported a much lower 26%.
- Japan had lowest bribery rate at 0.2%.
6. According to _______________ report‚ Inheriting a sustainable world: Atlas on children’s health and the environment, polluted environment kills around 1.7 million children a year ?
7. According to recently released GSM Association report, ___________ will lead the world in smart phone adoption with a net addition of 3.5 Crore connections in 2016 - 20 ?
8. ____________ Government permitted medicinal use of marijuana (Cannabis), most commonly used illegal drug in the world. Cannabis and its cannabinoids can be used to treat disease or improve symptoms ?
9. As per Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), ____________ is most expensive city in world while Almaty (Kazakhstan) is cheapest city to live in. 4 Indian cities - Bangalore (3rd), Chennai (6th), Mumbai (7th) and New Delhi (10th) are among 10 cheapest cities in world ?
10. As per Sydney - based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), India is now ____________ largest aviation market globally in terms of domestic passenger traffic, with 10 Crore domestic air passenger traffic in 2016.
11. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved total 9 projects costing $2.42 billion as part of Operational Plan (OP) 2016-2025 of SASEC (____________________) program, with ADB financing of $1.43 billion. Out of these, 2 Economic Corridors and 1 Road Bridge worth $1.2 billion are to be in India ?
12. ____________ declared March 25 as Genocide Day, remembering day of atrocities carried out by Pakistani Army in night of March 25, 1971 (Operation Searchlight) ?
13. Best CEOs list by American financial magazine Barron’s -
- India's ___________________ Managing Director Aditya Puri ranked 23rd. Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella got the fifth spot in the list.
- Top three - Mary Barra of General Motors, Gary Dickerson of Applied Materials and Stephen Hemsley.
14. Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular SA signed agreement to combine operations in African Nation __________ ?
15. Britain __________ process for leaving European Union (EU) by 2019, becoming first country to depart from 60 years old European Union ?
16. _____________ Parliament passed motion hailing that Gilgit-Baltistan region is a constitutional part of India's Jammu & Kashmir. It condemned Pakistan’s announcement declaring Gilgit-Baltistan as its frontier ?
17. China and ____________ signed MoU worth about $65 billion, to enhance co-operation in several fields ?
18. _______________ hiked its military spending by 7 % to approx $152 billion, approx thrice of India's Defence Budget (53 Billion USD). ?
19. _______________ will build its first national underwater observatory in disputed South China Sea (SCS), to keep check on underwater physical, chemical, and geological dynamics ?
20. Conference on India - ___________ Bilateral Cooperation in Agriculture & Allied Sectors held in New Delhi ?
21. Cultural festival ‘India by the Nile’ held in Cairo (_____________) ?
22. Cyclone Debbie has hit _____________’s Northeast Coast and New Zealand ?
23. Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) signed agreement with Monash University's Institute of Railway Technology (________________), To support future research and technology development in railway infrastructure in India. SRESTHA (Special Railway Establishment for Strategic Technology & Holistic Advancement) will be guided by them ?
24. Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and GIFT City (_________________) signed MoU to increase cooperation and collaboration between the two financial centres ?
25. _____________ (Central America) became first country to ban metals mining ?
26. Engineering and scientific society SAEINDIA will organize 37th edition of FISITA World Automotive Congress in October 2018 in ____________ ?
27. ___________ launched Sentinel-2B satellite, fifth of Sentinel Earth observation satellites part of Copernicus observation program.
- Sentinel-2B satellite is part of satellites system that monitors Earth. It will join its twin Sentinel-2A, which has been in orbit since 2015.
- Two satellites will orbit 786 km above Earth, on opposite sides of planet. They will take high-resolution, colour and infrared images for a wide array of environmental initiatives, including crop forecasting and monitoring natural disasters.
28.Large European bank ______________ appointed Mark Tucker as its chairman. ?
29. Finance Ministry approved 3rd Protocol amending India-________ Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), to check tax and fiscal evasion ?
30. First ___________ India Conference hosted by Asia Society Texas Centre in Houston (USA), with theme‚ Make in India -The Inside Story ?
31. Forbes World's Billionaires List 2017 (2043 Billionaires, total welath increased to USD 7.67 trillion) -
- Top three in the list are Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and ______________.
- US has most billionaires (565), followed by China (319), Germany (114) and India (101). India crossed 100 billionaires for first time.
- Mukesh Ambani is still richest Indian with $23 Billion USD Net worth (Globally 33rd).
32. Fortune World’s 50 Greatest Leaders‚ 2017 -
- ______________’s Chairman‚ Arundhati Bhattacharya‚ has been‚ ranked 26 and while Indian-origin physician‚ Raj Panjabi (founder of Last Mile Health) is placed 28th.
- Top 5 - Theo Epstein (President of Baseball Operations at Chicago Cubs), Jack Ma (Alibaba Group Chairman), Pope Francis (First Latin American pope), Melinda Gates (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Co-chair), Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO).
33. France based Aircraft maker Airbus will set up its Asia’s first training facility for pilots and maintenance engineers in _______________ ?
34. Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) signed time-swap deal with ___________ trader Gunvor to sell some of its US‚ Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Aim is to ease burden of GAIL's costly foreign LNG supplies ?
35. German Development Bank (KfW) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) signed loan agreement for ___________ million to enhance energy efficiency in India. KfW also signed a funding deal of š500,000 with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) ?
36. Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) report by World Economic Forum (WEF) -
- India ranked ____________ among 127 countries.
- Top 5 - Switzerland (1), Norway (2), Sweden (3), Denmark (4) and France (5).
- Bottom 5 - Bahrain (127), Yemen (126), Labanon (125), Benin (124), Eritrea (123)
- Neighbours - Pakistan (101), Bangladesh (104), Nepal (113), Sri Lanka (59)
- BRICS - Brazil (30), Russia (48), China (95), South Africa (76)
37. Government approved Agreement on Oil Storage and Management between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd (ISPRL) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of UAE. ADNOC will fill up 5,860,000 million barrels of crude oil at ISPRL storage facility at Mangalore (________________) ?
38. Government approved MoU between Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-ln) and ________ Homeland Security Department, for cooperation in field of Cyber Security ?
39. Government approved a new Air Services Agreement with Serbia and revised Air services agreement with __________ ?
40. Government approved ratification of 2 conventions of ___________________ concerned with Child Labour - Minimum Age Convention (No 138) and Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No 182) ?
41. Government approved renewal of MoU between India's Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and College of Banking and Financial Studies (______________) ?
42. India and ____________ signed Protocol amending existing Agreement and Protocol between two countries for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income ?
43. India and ______________ finalised Social Security Agreement (SSA) and will come in force by 2018. It will be the first such agreement between BRICS countries. It will exempt detached workers of two countries from making social security contribution in either country, as long as they were making such contributions in their own respective nations ?
44. India and __________ signed agreement to renew supply of petroleum from India for 5 years (till 2022) ?
45. India and ___________ decided to work on redesigning Miyar Hydroelectric project, during Indus Water Treaty talks held in Islamabad ?
46. India and Russia signed 2 long-term support agreements for Sukhoi Su-30MKI combat aircraft fleet, during 1st India-Russia Military Industrial Conference in _________ ?
47. India and several South East Asian nations signed World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Call To end Tuberculosis (TB) by _________ ?
48. India will supply 60 MW power from its ONGC-Tripura power (OTPC’s) Palatana plant to ____________, in addition to 500 MW power being supplied to Bangladesh from december 2013 onwards.
49. Indian Navy will set up meteorological facilities and impart training to __________ Navy ?
50. Indian Software services firm __________ acquired US-based healthcare information technology consulting company CJS Solutions Group for $110 million ?
51. India’s tallest national flag measuring 360 feet hoisted at Attari-Wagah joint checkpost in _____________. It broke earlier record of national flag hoisted in Ranchi which is 293 feet high ?
52. Intense Tropical Cyclone _________ hits east african nation‚ Madagascar ?
53. Iran’s advanced S-300 air defence system became operational, which was delivered by __________ after Iran’s July 2015 nuclear deal with P5+1 nations. Iran also recently tested Hormuz 2 Ballistic Missile with 300 KMs Range ?
54. Japan launched new satellite to track land and maritime movements in ____________, after its alleged ballistic missile tests ?
55. _____________ and US navies conducted joint exercises in East China Sea, aimed at issuing a warning against nuclear-armed North Korea ?
56. __________ (State of USA) recognised 16 March as Indian-American Appreciation Day. ?
57. Korean Firm‚ Hyundai‚ signed deal to invest upto 3 billion euros in a major _____________ oil project.‚ ?
58. _______________ canceled Visa-free travel permit to North Koreans. It has been done after murder of Kim Jong Nam, brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Kuala Lumpur Airport ?
59. Mercer’s Quality of Living index rankings 2017 -
- Overall Living Quality -
- Hyderabad (Telangana) named best Indian city in terms of quality of living, for 3rd consecutive time.
- Top 5 Cities - Vienna (1), Zurich (2), Auckland (3), Munich (4), Vancouver (5).
- Highest ranking cities in Asia and Latin America are Singapore (25) and Montevideo (79).
- City infrastructure rankings -
- ___________________ topped the list followed by Frankfurt and Munich both in 2nd place.
- Baghdad (230) and Port au Prince (231) ranked at the bottom for city infrastructure.
- Indian cities - Mumbai ranked highest at 141, followed by Kolkata (149) and Pune (151).
60. Nepal Investment Summit concluded in Kathmandu, attended by ___________ Arun Jaitley of India's Behalf ?
61. New MOUs Approved -
- With Indonesia and the Kyrgyzstan for cooperation in Youth and Sports Matters.
- With Bangladesh on Aids to Navigation (AtoNs) and Establishing Border Haats.
- India's Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (Mussoorie) and ________________________'s Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) for capacity building.
- Indian Railways and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for cooperation in environmental conservation.
- With United Arab Emirates in field of providing Energy Efficiency Services.
- With Portugal on Renewable Energy and IT & E.
- With United Nations Entity of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), to provide technical support to Ministry of Panchayati Raj in strengthening capacities of governance institutions.
62. _______________ recognised Whanganui River revered by Maori Tribe as a "legal person” status, making river have its own legal identity with all rights, duties and liabilities of a legal person. River is known as Te Awa Tupua by Maori tribe. It is first ever such move in world ?
63. Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Act of 2017 introduced in ______________ House of Representatives by Congressman Ted Poe, aimed at declaring Pakistan as a terrorist sponsor nations ?
64. ____________ government approved merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with its northwestern province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ?
65. ______________ is building fence at high stress points across its 2400 KM long Border with Afghanistan, known as Durand Line. ?
66. ____________ will conduct its first national census in 19 years and overall 6th population census, to be completed by May 25, 2017 ?
67. __________ will collaborate with networking firm Cisco to build world’s largest All-IP Digital Services Platform. ?
68. Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution, aiming to impose sanctions on _____________ over chemical weapons use ?
69. __________’s Constitutional court ousted country’s President Park-Geun-hye (removed from office) ?
70. __________ government instituted a military draft for men and women, to tackle deteriorating security environment ?
71. ____________ troops backed by Russian jets recaptured historic city of Palmyra from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). On the other hand, Taliban captured crucial city of Sangin in Afghanistan ?
72. __________'s Jiratchaya Sirimongkol Nawin won Miss International Queen 2016 (12th edition of beauty pageant for Transgender women) ?
73. Times Higher Education’s (THE) Best Small Universities-2017 (Under 5000 Students) global rankings -
- Indian Institute of Science (IISc) ________________ ranked 8th, becoming only Indian university to feature in top 10. It is also the second-highest ranked Asian University.
- list was topped by California Institute of Technology (USA).
74. To eliminate payment through cheques or drafts, American Express launched‚ BIP (___________________) electronic payment platform linked to corporate card. BIP card will help organizations and their vendors by reducing processing cost and offering extended payment terms compared to traditional invoice payments ?
75. To encourage women participation in workforce, ____________ for the first time launched a Girl’s Council ?
76. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres proposed to shut down 13 year old UN peacekeeping mission in _____________ (MINUSTAH) by October 2017, as the United States is planning major funding cuts to the United Nations. MINUSTAH ?
77. US Federal Reserve (Chaired by Janet Yellen) raised its benchmark interest rate by _____________ for 3rd third time in a decade (now raised to range of 0.75% to 1%).?
78. US President _____________ signed NASA Transition Authorization Act, authorising $19.5 billion funding for NASA programmes in 2018 and Mars Exploration Programmes. He also signed new executive order to reinstate a ban on immigration from six nations - Libya, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia. Iraq, which was included in previous ban, is now excluded from list ?
79. US State of ___________ became first state to file a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s revised travel ban on 6 Muslim majority countries ?
80. US based e commerce Firm Amazon entered __________ by acquiring Souq.com for approx 700 Million USD ?
81. _____________ launched classified satellite NROL - 79 of National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), as a national security payload satellite ?
82. USA Based Firm _______________ accquired Israeli driverless technology firm Mobileye for $15.3 billion, largest ever acquisition of an Israel tech company and also biggest purchase of a company focused on autonomous driving sector ?
83. _____________ based SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched EchoStar 23 communications satellite ?
84. USA's Senate approveed Montenegro as ______________ member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). So far, 25 other NATO members have ratified Montenegro’s accession as NATO Member. Spain and Netherlands are yet to do so ?
85. United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) granted ___________ 2 year extension it sought to probe into alleged war crimes committed during the three-decade long civil war that ended in 2009 ?
86. Women in Politics Map 2017 by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women -
- Top 5 - _____________ (61.3 %), Bolivia (53.1 %), Cuba (48.9 %), Icepand (47.6 %), Nicargua (45.7 %)
- Bottom 3 - Yemen & Vanuatu & Qatar (All 190th with 0 women in parliament), Oman (189th), Solomon Islands (188th)
- India's Rank is 148 in List, with 11 % Particpation of women in Parliament.
- BRICS - Brazil (154th), Russia (129th), China (74th), South Africa (10th)
- Neighbours - Pakistan (89th), Sri Lanka (179th), Bangladesh (91th), Nepal (48th)
87. World Bank announced ______ billion USD financing for sub-Saharan Africa over next three years (2017-2019) ?
88. World’s Most Ethical Companies 2017 by American think tank Ethisphere Institute‚ -
- US based _________________ top the list for 8th straight year. ‚ ‚
- Indian companies Tata Steel and Wipro are been named in the list.
