AUGUST :
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) generated its highest single-day electricity generation of over 733 million units through its 18 coal-based, 8 solar and hydro and 7 gas-based power Plants.
Kochi (Kerala) became first Indian city to be a member of Beijing headquartered World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council and join its league of leading tourism cities across the world. Kochi became member of the council due to its partnerships in culture, sports and tourism.
**Cochin International Airport (Kerala) will become first airport in India to run completely on solar power. A 12MWp solar power project set up in the airport will generate 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity per day.
DRDO has tied up with PatanjaliAyurved for marketing of highly nutritional Seabuckthorn based products created by Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR).
Delhi Jal Board commissioned Delhi's first Hydro-power plant at Chilla area of east Delhi. It can generate upto20000 KWH of electricity per year.
**Government launched a SAHAJ scheme for online release of new LPG connections.
Gujarat Government declared ban on use of plastic in the State on the occasion of unfurling National Flag at 69th Independence Day ceremony.
Gujarat became first Indian state to launch Agro-solar policy. Under this, farmers will tap energy from the sun by installing solar power equipments in their fields
**Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh announced to make Sanskrit as a mandatory subject in all Government schools of the state.
*India's TajMahal became first historical monuments in world to have a Twitter account of its own.
**Kerala Government declared Kerala as first totally digital state in India.
Maharashtra government announced construction of 800 kilometers of Nagpur-Mumbai six-lane expressway, also called Communication Super-expressway. Cost of the project will be 30000 crore rupees.
**PM NarendraModi released digital version of Ramcharitmanas as a set of digital CDs produced by All India Radio
**Tamil Nadu government started a youth award in name of former President APJ Abdul Kalam. The award will have 8 gram gold, 5 laks rupees and a citation.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao launched GramaJyothi prgramme aimed at development of rural areas with investment of 25000 crore rupees.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched Disha mobile app to promote digital literacy in Bihar. The app will help people learn about computers and Internet through self learning modules.
**Union Minister Mahesh Sharma released film ShesherKobita as part of 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Rabindranath Tagore.
***Uttar Pradesh government renamed Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (APJAKTU).
Awards:
**24th SaraswatiSammaan 2014 has been presented to M. VeerappaMoily for his Kannada work'Sri Ramayana Mahanveshanam.
*AmolPalekar has been appointed as chairman of India’s Oscar jury, which will select India's official entry in best foreign film category of 88th Academy Awards (Oscars).
Indias High Commissioner to Singapore- Vijay Singh Thakur received Asian of the Year 2014 award by leading Singapore daily The Straits Times.
*Make In India Awards for Excellence – 2015 .Total 46 Companies have been awarded in 46 Categories.
**Mathematician Amalendu Krishna has won Ramanujan Prize 2015 for research in algebraic cycles, algebraic K-theory and theory of motives.
Economy:
*Bombay Stock Exchange installed a Suspicious Transaction Reports system (STR) for reporting suspicious trades to check money laundering through stock markets.
**Facebook awarded Indian App developer firms Samosa and Cardback with 21 million USD under its FbStart initiative. Hyderabad-based Samosa developed an app that offers curated collection of clips from popular movies that users can share while Delhi- based Cardback developed an app that helps cardholders and wallet users maximise their rewards and savings for transaction they make.
**Finance Minister ArunJaitley launched two funds India Aspiration Fund and Make in India Loan
Government approved six 6 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) proposals including HCL IT City Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Loma IT Park in Mumbai (Maharashtra) and North Mumbai International Commodity Township in Thane (Maharashtra). SEZs do about 25 % of the Indias total exports.
***National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) generated its highest single-day electricity generation of over 733 million units through its 18 coal-based, 8 solar and hydro and 7 gas-based power Plants.
INTERNATIONAL:
*Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM - Pune) (under Earth System Science Organization) and World Climate Research Program (Geneva) signed an agreement for setting up an International Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) Monsoon Project Office (ICMPO).
Video sharing portal YouTube will set up YouTube Space in Mumbai with Asias renowned film schools Whistling Woods International (WWI).
JULY:
National:
**Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved creating an intra state power transmission system in seven states (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan) at a cost of 8548 crore rupees.
Fast food chain KFC tied up with IRCTC to start delivery system for passengers.
*Former President A.P.J Abdul Kalam launched RashtriyaAvishkarAbhiyan focused on developing spirit of innovation and experimentation among students.
Government announced that 14 States / Union Territories have achieved literacy rate of 80 %
Government sanctioned Rs.1,000crore for a 15-km India-Bangladesh railway project.
Hyderabad based ICRISAT launched Green Phablet with price at $300 (~ Rs. 18,000) for farmers in Telangana to send timely messages to the farmers. ICRISAT will maintain servers and keep the information updated.
Maharashtra approved Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Jan Van Vikas Scheme aimed at development of villages in buffer zones of tiger reserves and around them.
*Ministry of Home Affairs extended ‘disturbed area status of Nagaland for one more year (Till June 30, 2016).
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) launched mobile application PashuPoshan to boost dairy farmers' income by raising milk yield and cutting feed cost.
*President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated ‘NakshatraVatika at his official RashtrapatiNilayam Gardens in Secunderabad (Telangana).
*Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated Integrated Security System (ISS) at 6 railway stations in Mumbai (Maharashtra) - ChhatrapatiShivaji Terminus, Dadar, Kurla, LokmanyaTilak Terminus, Kalyan and Thane.
**Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) become first State transport corporation to have a vehicle tracking system for inter-city buses to reduce accidents.
**Uttarakhand became first Indian state to install earthquakes detection system (in capital Dehradun) that can issue warnings 1-40 seconds before earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more occur.
*Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) has been included in UNESCO'ds Cities of Music under Creative Cities Network. It has been chosen in the music category under UNESCO's field of excellence plan.
SPORTS:
**Mumbai Ranji cricketer Hiken Shah has been suspended by the BCCI for being found guilty of breaching Anti-Corruption Code.
World Police & Fire Games 2015 (USA)
USA first with 1,777 Medals, Canada second with 430 medals while India performed well with over 150 Medals (89 golds and 50 silvers)
ECONOMY:
**Corporation Bank launched country’s first MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) card under Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) on RuPayplatform .
*IT companies CSC and HCL signed an agreement to form a banking software services company to provide technology solutions to the banking industry.
Kotak Mahindra Bank launched mobile banking app ‘Kotak Bharat aiming to provide mobile banking services to customers in the rural and unbanked regions of India.
*Microsoft announced plans to introduce its White-Fi technology or TV White Space Technology in India to provide better Internet connectivity and boost to India's Digital India initiative.
**Software Firm Microsoft will in develop Smart MIDC (industrial colony) and support Digital Village in Maharashtra.
**Reserve Bank of India will put into circulation 10 rupees coins to commemorate International Day of Yoga (June 21).
State Bank of Travancore launched ‘SBT NRI Family Card,’as a prepaid card for Non resident Indians and their families.
INTERNATIONAL:
*Bangladesh, Kenya, Myanmar and Tajikistan moved from low income group to the lower-middle income group.
*World Trade Organisation approved membership of Kazakhstan as 162nd member.
**Cuba become first country to successfully eliminatemother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis
MEETINGS:
**India will be hosting the 8th BRICS summit in 2016.
Theme for BRICS 7th Summit - BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development
JUNE:
INTERNATIONAL:
North America with 51 trillion USD remained worlds wealthiest region in 2014 with USA having 28 % of the global total. China and Japan were second and third respectively.
Highest density of millionaires was in Switzerland (135 out of 1000 households were millionaires).
As per a survey by Beijing Times, around 30 % of the Great Wall of China has disappeared overtime with about 1185 km of the fortification in poor condition.
**China launched a freight train service between its northeastern city of Harbin and Europe of Length 10000 KMs.
**France announced ban on wearing earphones while driving a vehicle and riding a cycle to reduce accidents.
India will attend Russia's major Industrial Fair INNOPROM 2016 in Yekaterinburg as a Partner Country.
*International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) 's 9th Council meeting held in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defined speed of 5G (Fifth Generation) standard for mobile networking as 20 Gigabits per second (Gbps) at ITU conference in California (USA).
**Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh inaugurated first India-China Yoga College at Yunnan Minzu University in Kunming, China.
**United Arab Emiratesincluding four Indian languages (Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali) to offer knowledge tests for appearing in driving test in UAE.
*USA removed Cuba from terror blacklist to strengthen ties with Cuba.
*United States (US) Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the nation.
NATIONAL:
**Ministry of Civil Aviation approved to set up second international airport of National Capital Region at Jewar (Uttar Pradesh).
Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) launched its consumer complaint mobile application named ASCIonline to provide consumer complaint services along with existing Website Facility for reporting misleading advertisements.
**Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched free SMS service Nowcast to provide alerts on extreme weather conditions such as hailstorm every three hours to registered farmers on their mobile phones.
***Andhra Pradesh government launched MeeBhoomi, a digital depository of land records.
*Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched campaign Badh Chala Bihar to collect ideas from the public to produce Bihar@2025 as a vision document for states development between 2015 - 2025.
**Bombay High Court banned horse driven carriages in Mumbai.
**china has opened 2nd land border crossing in Tibet via Nathu La, Sikkim to allow Indian pilgrims for Kailash-Mansarovaryatra.
*External Affairs Minister SushmaSwarajVisitedThailand
First phase (10-km stretch) of Chennai Metro inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
*Government approved setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) at Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sambalpur(Odisha) and Amritsar (Punjab). These six new IIMs will commence academic sessions from 2015-16 with each having intake of 140 students in the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) courses.
*Gujarat's Ahmadabad Municipal Corporation announced USE and GET PAID scheme, under which people will be paid one rupees for using public toilets.
**Indian Railways has named Haridwar Mail (Train No 19031/19032 Ahmedabad-Haridwar-Ahmedabad ) as Yoga Express.
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) has been awarded the Miniratna.(Cateogry -1).
***India’s first diesel electric multiple unit (DEMU) train service with an air-conditioned coach launched in Kochi (Kerala).
Kerala Government declared June 22 as ‘Snake Bird Day to protect the endangered species which is also known as Indian darter.
**Maharashtra declared Blue Mormon as State butterfly as a state symbol.
Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra launched a digital Employment Exchange for Industries
inister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga RejunivetionUma Bharti launched nationwide JalKrantiAbhiyan from Jaipur (Rajasthan) to consolidate water conservation and management.
**Nadia district (West Bengal) has won United Nations Public Service Award 2015 in the category of improving delivery of public services for or eliminating open defecation.
Prime Minister NarendraModi started foundation for Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), Jharkhand at Barhi in Hazaribagh District.
**Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti launched Bhuvan Ganga Mobile Application and Web Portal to help mission to Clean Ganga.
**Uttar Pradesh government renamed Zoological Garden (Lucknow) after NawabWajid Ali ShahZoological Gardenand Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary (Unnao) asChandrashekhar Azad bird santury.
BANKING:
State Bank of India (SBI) appointed Anshula Kant as chief financial officer (CFO) and Deputy managing director.
SCIENCE:
China unveiled world's first facial recognition ATM. It will allow withdrawal of cash only after matching face. The ATM machine is created by Tsinghua University and Tzekwan Company.
ISRO announced to provide navigational support to Indian Railways through its GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system.
SPORTS:
China won 2015 Nongfu Spring Snookers World Cup defeating Scotland in Shanghai (China).
Former cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, SouravGanguly and VVS Laxman are inducted into BCCIs newly-constituted cricket advisory committee.
India's Anantjeet Singh Naruka won gold in 7th International junior shotgun cup in Orimattila (Finland) by beating LariPesonen of Finland.
Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has been voted as Best Test Player of 21st century in an online poll conducted by Cricket Australia.
Serbia won Fifa Under-20 Football World Cup by beating Brazil in Auckland (New Zealand).
Tennis and volleyball teams of Indian Railways won Gold Medals in 20th Union Sportive Internationale des Cheminots (USIC) World Railways Championships. Indian Railway tennis team defeated France 3-1 in Nuremberg (Germany) while volleyball team beat Russia in Gomel(Belarus).
VeselinTopalov (Bulgaria) wonNorway Chess tournament 2015 by leaving behind India's ViswanathanAnand into a quick draw.
MAY:
INTERNATIONAL
*14-year-old Indian-American student Karan Menon won 2015 National Geographic Bee championship.
*Forbes list of Worlds100 Most Powerful Women of 2015 -1)Angela Merkel (Germany)
2) Hillary Clinton (USA)
*2000 year old ancient Water supply system discovered in Jerusalem city of Israel.
**AbrajKudai will be worlds biggest hotel being built in Mecca (Saudi Arabia).
*India has reached sixth position in terms of scientific publications, up from tenth position previously.
Nebraska became 19th USA state to abolish death penalty.
**India is ranked at 140th position in the Mother’s Index on the basis of Risk of maternal death, Under-five mortality rate,
**Singapore PM Lee HsienLoong opened first museum Indian Heritage Centre in Little India dedicated to Indian history.
*Hong Kong (China) and China were the second and the third largestinvestors in the world, after the United States which is largest source of outward foreign direct investment (FDI).
Economy:
*Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has been implementing MahilaUdyamNidhi andMahilaVikasNidhi to offer equity and developmental assistance to women for income generating activities.
**E-commerce firm Snapdeal acquired Hyderabad-based mobile technology startup MartMobi to strengthen its mobility platform.
**HDFC Bank tied up with Apollo Hospitals to launch Medical Benefits Card. It will allow Apollo corporates to disburse medical allowances to their employees and has insurance cover for accidents.
*Nepal Rastra Bank announced to provide interest-free loans for rebuilding houses up to 25 lakhnepali rupees in the Kathmandu Valley and 15 lakhnepali rupees for those outside the capital.
**PM NarendraModi inaugurated first branch of ICICI Bank in China at Shanghai during his official visit to china.
*State Bank of India launched Federal Bank-SBI co-branded credit cards with an aim to issue 1.5 lakh credit cards to its customers in first year.
MEETINGS:
*68th session of Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of International Maritime Organization (IMO) held in London.
**External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj launched website of 10th World Hindi Conference (vishwahindisammelan.gov.in) to be held from Sep 10 - 12, 2015 in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh).
**Hyderabad will host four-day Indo-Global Pharma Expo and Summit 2015 on July 24, 2015
NATIONAL:
*Andaman and Nicobar Police announced to reserve 33 % of seats of constable and sub-inspectors for women. Earlier in June 2014, Gujarat Government announced 33 % quota for women in police force.
**Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched India Post's E-Commerce Centre in Delhi.
**Finance minister ArunJaitleylaunched DD News mobile app as an agenda of PrasarBharati, Doordarshan (DD) and All India .
****Government approved name change of Bangalore city railway station as ‘KrantiveeraSangolliRayanna’ railway station.
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) teamed up with ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) for e-ticket facility for entry to TajMahal and Humayun’s Tomb.
*Maharashtra Government banned digging of borewells over 200 feet to control decline of groundwater-level.
**Ministry of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping launched Road Asset Management System (RAMS) for National Highways.
Nadia district of West Bengal declared as first open defecation-free (ODF) district in India.
*PM NarendraModi inaugurated upgraded IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) in Burnpur (West Bengal). Cost for upgradation is 16000 crore rupees and plant's production capacity has increased from 0.85 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 2.9 mtpa.
**Picturesque Nelong Valley inUttarakhand has been opened for the first time since its closure in 1962.The valley, 45 km ahead of the border, falls under the Gangotri National Park in Uttarkashi district.
**Siddhivinayak temple of Mumbai received International Organization for Standardization (ISO)9001-2008 certification for best quality practices.
BANKING:
**SBI launched contact-less credit and debit cards called sbiINTOUCH. These cards are based on near-field technology (NFC) that enables transaction by just waving the card against the reader.
SCIENCE:
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced to launch ASTROSAT in October 2015 by the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) C-34 from SatishDhawan Space Centre .
ASTROSAT is first Indian space observatory mission aimed at studying distant celestial objects. ASTROSAT carries four X-ray payloads, one UV telescope and a charge particle monitor.
