to meet the demand and supply for the bank notes. It has two presses: one at Mysuru, Karnataka and the other at Salboni, West Bengal. • India Signs Financing Agreement with World Bank for US$ 48 Million for “Nagaland Health Project” • BHEL Commissions 500 MW Thermal Unit In West Bengal • Petroleum Conservation Campaign ‘Saksham 2017’ Inaugurated in Nagaland • ‘Establishment of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (lARI)- Jharkhand’. • Anandam Scheme Launched in Madhya Pradesh to Help Poor – It will help the poor people to get the daily needs like like jackets, sarees, blankets, utensils, school bags from the wealthy people. For this particular place is alloacted in each district to collect this items. • Asia’s cleanest village Mawlynnong in Meghalaya becomes role model for cleanliness • Kangra first ever district to geo-tag all assets under MGNREGA- Kangra village in Himachal Pradesh achieved the geo-tag 100 per cent of the assets generated under the MGNREGA. Kangra was the first district in India to achieved this target. It would help people in integrated development of all sectors like agriculture, irrigation, education, health etc. • Karang Island in Manipur Becomes India’s First Cashless Island • Karnataka allows sale of white kerosene in open market • Entrepreneurship Development Scheme inaugurated in Mizoram • World Bank Sanctions Rs 1,376 Cr For Tripura Power Upgradation • Centre Sanctions Rs. 2207 Cr Special Assistance to J&K • Himachal Pradesh Declares Dharamsala as the Second Capital of the State • Bihar Government Launches ‘Nasha Mukt’ (Addidction-Free) State Campaign with the formation of world’s largest human chain across the state with 11,292 km Human Chain to Eliminate Alcohol • Himachal Pradesh Found Best State in Learning Outcomes by ASER • Goa First State to Send Postal Ballots Electronically to Service Voters • Assam Launches ‘Chief Minister’s Award’ For Performing Districts in Cashless Transaction • Boeing India Engineering & Technology Centre Launched in Bengaluru 2 | Page PH: 24339436, 42867555, 9840226187 • Madhya Pradesh Announces Total Ban on Polythene Bags from May 1, 2017 • India’s first Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK) at Metagalli post office in Mysuru on January 25, 2017. The second POPSK simultaneously opened in Gujarat. • Jeevan Rakha –New e-Health Scheme Launched in Kerala • Arunachal launches ‘Dulari Kanya’ scheme to check infant mortality • Telangana Ranks Second in Walnut’s Cashless Score Card • Indian Navy’s Theatre Level Exercise, TROPEX 17 Begins. The Theatre Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX), an annual Indian Navy exercise kicked started on January 24, 2017 off the Western Seaboard • Andhra Pradesh Launches Rs 100 cr fund of funds for Fintech Startups. Fintech is being seen as a promising space to generate job, thus the state has initiated an industry-academia-government partnership to tap and refine skilled talent available at cheaper costs to develop Visakhapatnam into a global fintech hub. • The Telangana government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with French Aero campus Aquitaine to set up a world-class aero skills academy in the city in collaboration with academia and industry of the state. • India’s largest startup incubator to be built at Hubballi, Karnataka • India’s First Multi-Sports Museum Inaugurated in Kolkata • Meghalaya - Textile Ministry Inaugurates Meghalaya’s First Ever Apparel and Garment Centre at Ampati • Ministry of Defence to Set up Rs 1500 cr Defence Unit in Madhya Pradesh • Kurnool – will become the fifth member of Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing (IIITDM) • Bihar Introduces Third Gender Category in Board Exams. It is for the first time that the Board will conduct the exams for the transgender category in 2017 after it was recognized by Supreme Court in 2014. • Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence & Surveillance System Launched in Mumbai • Goa - Distributed Pink Teddy Bears to First-Time Female Voters and first time men voters received pen • India’s first Center of Excellence for Para Sports to help para athletes in showcasing their skills and talent further both at the national and international level in Gujarat 3 | Page PH: 24339436, 42867555, 9840226187 • Andhra Pradesh Gets its First Smart Police Station TAMILNADU • Ordinance for Jallikattu - Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, O. Paneerselvamm has send a draft ordinance to the centre seeking an amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and removal of “bull” from the list of “performing” animals. This will ensure that provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act will not apply to the bull. • Tamil Nadu assembly under the chairmanship of Chief Minister O Panneerselvam unanimously passed the Jallikattu Bill on January 23, 2017 to replace the ordinance issued on January 21, 2017 to allow the states traditional sport. • The bill amends the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, making Jallikattu a permanent sport in rural Tamil Nadu. COMMITTEE • Amitabh Chaudhry Committee - to review life insurance product norms • Timothy Gonsalves Committee - Reservation for Girl Students in IITs (Suggests 20 Percent) • Uma Bharathi Committee - to determine the availability and utilization of waters of the river Mahanadi and its tributaries. • N.K. Singh Committee – on Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) • Vinod Rai Committee - Supreme Court Appointed Vinod Rai as BCCI Committee’s Head. The bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra, A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud also appointed historian Ramachandra Guha, Vikram Limaye, Managing Director of IDFC and Diana Edulji, former women test cricket captain as the member of the 4-membered committee. • Afzal Amanullah - to Look into Haj Subsidy Issue • Dr. H.R. Nagendra Committee - to prepare a Yoga Protocol for Diabetes Control AWARDS • The Hindu Prize 2016 - Kiran Doshi for Jinnah Often Came to Our House • TS Eliot Prize 2016 - Jacob Polley • Kolkata’s Sitalpati Gets place in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage • People’s choice award – Priyanka Chopra (for her TV Series Quantico) • UNWTO Award for Innovation - ISKCON’s Govardhan eco village • Golden Peacock Award - Delhi Airport for CSR in Aviation Sector 4 | Page PH: 24339436, 42867555, 9840226187 • First Hugo Chavez Peace Prize - Vladimir Putin • Nita Ambani’s Philanthropic Work Honored by Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nita Ambani has become the first South Asian to receive the honour • Damodar Valley Corporation receives NTPC award 2015-16 • Australia’s highest civilian award – 3 Indian-origin wize Purushottam Sawrikar, Makhan Singh Khangure, Vijay Kumar • National Geoscience Award 2016 – 1. Dr. A Keshav Krishna, 2. Dr. N. Purnachandra Rao • Dr G N Rao inducted to Ophthalmology Hall of Fame • Madras Engineer Group Adjudged Best Marching Contingent in Services Category during Republic Day Parade – 2017 • Rajasthan and Telangana are bagged the eGovernance awards for Excellence • 2017 Genesis Prize - Anish Kapoor (Indian origin British Sculptor) PADMA AWARDS • This year the President of India has approved Padma Awards to 89 persons. Out of these 19 are women, 5 awardees are from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs while 6 are posthumous awardees. The Award includes 7 Padma Vibhushan, 7 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. PADMA VIBHUSHAN: No. Name Awarded For State 1 Shri K J Yesudas Art-Music Kerala 2 Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Others-Spiritualism Tamil Nadu 3 Shri Sharad Pawar Public Affairs Maharashtra 4 Shri Murli Manohar Joshi Public Affairs Uttar Pradesh 5 Prof. Udipi Ramachandra Rao Science & Engineering Karnataka 6 Late ShriJ Sunder Lal Patwa (Posthumous) Public Affairs Madhya Pradesh 7 Late Shri PA Sangma (Posthumous) Public Affairs Meghalaya PADMA BHUSHAN: No Name Awarded for State 1 Shri Vishwa Mohan Bhatt Art-Music Rajasthan 2 Prof. (Dr.) Devi Prasad Dwivedi Literature & Education Uttar Pradesh 3 Shri Tehemton Udwadia Medicine Maharashtra 4 Shri Ratna Sundar Maharaj Spiritualism Gujarat 5 | Page PH: 24339436, 42867555, 9840226187 5 Swami Niranjana Nanda Saraswati Yoga Bihar H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn 6 Literature & Education Thailand (Foreigner) 7 Late Shri Cho Ramaswamy (Posthumous) Journalism Tamil Nadu PADMA SHRI: 1 Shri T K Murthy Art-Music Tamil Nadu 2 Shri Michel Danino Literature & Education Tamil Nadu 3 Smt. Nivedita Raghunath Bhide Social Work Tamil Nadu 4 Shri Mariyappan Thangavelu Sports-Athletics Tamil Nadu 5 Late (Smt.) Suniti Solomon (Posthumous) Medicine Tamil Nadu APPOINTMENTS • CEO of Prasar Bharati - Rajeev Singh • CBI Director - Alok Kumar Verma • AIFF president Praful Patel becomes a member of FIFA finance committee • Antonio Tajani (Italy) - President of European Parliament • President of Gambia - Adama Barrow • Ajit Pai - FCC chairman appointed by Donald Trump • Uttam Dhillon - Trump appointed Indian-American attorney to key White House post • Vijay Pandurang Bhatkar (Father of Indian Supercomputer) – VC of Nalanda University, Bihar • Dushyant Chautala is elected as youngest president of Table Tennis Federation of India • Ashok Amritraj Appointed UN in India Goodwill Ambassador for the Sustainable Development Goals. Amritraj is the first Ambassador for the UN in India • Moussa Faki Mahamat – African Union head • Anushka - ambassador of Swachh Bharat campaign • Sanjeev Sanyal - Principal Economic Adviser SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 6 | Page PH: 24339436, 42867555, 9840226187 • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Tokyo, Japan for cooperation in the field of outer space. • Ukraine Gets its First Baby Girl Born Using New ‘Three-Person’ IVF Technique. New technique of three-person IVF called ‘pronuclear transfer’. Three-person IVF was legalised in the UK in 2015. The objective of three-person IVF is to create a child free of mitochondrial disease in cases where parents had one such disease. • NASA Set to Explore Iron-Rich Asteroid “16 Psyche” i. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has given its approval to explore an iron-rich asteroid “16 Psyche” as a part of its mission to learn more about the history and composition of the celestial body. • Robot Journalist Xiao Nan Writes Its First News Article • Government Launches Web-Portal ‘ShaGun’ for Monitoring Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan • The US military launched a Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) GEO Flight 3 mission on January 20, 2017. Under the mission, Geo-3 satellite has been send into the space mounted on Atlas V rocket from Florida where it will detect any possible missile attack to meet national security threats. • INS Vikramaditya Becomes India’s First Warship to Have ATM Onboard • Scientists Explores Wolf 1061c To Be Next Habitable Planet After Earth • Scientists Develop Robotic Sleeve to Pump Blood in Weak Heart • TeamIndus proposes nameplate on the Moon for Rs.500. A Bengaluru start- up TeamIndus proposes nameplate on the Moon for Rs.500. Indians are being offered the opportunity to leave their name on the moon, for a price. Space start-up TeamIndus will get the names of public ‘donors’ micro-engraved on a small-sized aluminium object, which will be placed on the lunar surface when its lander descends on the moon. • Rubber Soil Information System (RubSIS) launched by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry for Rubber Growers • Japan Launches First Military Communications Satellite, Kirameki-2 • ISRO Successfully Tests Cryogenic Engine for Upper Stage of GSLV Mk III at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. • US Based Scientists Develops Human-Pig Hybrid – Chimra • INSAT-3DR Satellite to Enable Detecting Farm Fires • ASTROSAT Captures Rare Act of Vampire Star - Based on a study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, an unusual action of a small, six billion old, so called vampire star, has been 7 | Page PH: 24339436, 42867555, 9840226187 captured by ASTROSAT, India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory that was preying on bigger celestial body. • China tests missile DF-5C with 10 nuclear warheads - China has tested successfully a new version of a missile Dongfeng-5C missile which can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads from the Taiyuan Space Launch Centre in Shanxi province • World’s Smallest Pacemaker Unveiled in US - Oncologists in United States successfully implanted World’s smallest pacemaker, Micra Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS), in a patient in US. ENVIRONMENT • IMD Reports 2016 as the Hottest Year Since 1901 in India • Mission 41K - The mission aims to save the Indian Railways’ expenditure of Rs. 41,000 crore on energy consumption over the next 10 years. • India UK Join Hands to Launch Project to Tackle Delhi Air Pollution Risks • Bombay Natural History Society launches climate change programme in Central Himalayas • Qatar Suffers Lowest Ever Temperature of 1.5 Degree Celsius SPORTS • Khelo India National level Competition - the Khelo India National level Competitions on various sports for Under-14 and Under-17 children launched recently by sports ministry • Indian Women Boxing Team Placed Third Wins Six Medals At Nations Cup In Serbia • Kapil Dev inducted into Legends Club Hall of Fame • Indian Footballer Jayesh Raimalani Joins Spanish Football Team CE JUPITER • 2020 Euro Cup Football – Russia • 2017 Women World Cup Cricket - England • Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold 2017 – Saina Nehwal • U-19 Cooch Behar Cricket Trophy - Bengal • Virat Becomes Fastest Batsman to Score 1000 Runs as ODI Captain • ICC Inducts 4 Women Umpires in Panel for Women’s WC Qualifier. Kathleen Cross (NZ), Sue Redfern of England, Claire Polosak of Australia and Jacqueline Williams of the West Indies 8 | Page PH: 24339436, 42867555, 9840226187 • Indian Ace Cueist Pankaj Advani wins 7th National Billiards Championship • Usain Bolt Loses an Olympic Medal due to Positive Doping of Team-Mate Nesta Carter • Target Olympic Podium” scheme - to identify and support potential medal prospects for 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. Chairman – Abhinav Bindra • Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen of Uttarakhand has created history after he attained World No. 1 Rank in the latest Junior Badminton World Federation (BWF) • Pankaj Advani Wins 29th the National Snooker Championship title • Sharath Kamal wins his 7th national crown at the 11Even Sports Senior Table Tennis Nationals Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold Title • Women – P.V. Sindhu • Men - Sameer Verma • Mixed Doubles - Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy Australian Open tournament 2017 • Roger Federer won his 18th Grand slam title by the defeating Rafael Nadal • Serena Williams won her 23rd Grand slam title and her seventh Australian by defeating Venus Williams OBITUARY • Zhou Youguang - Famous Linguist known as Father of Pinyin • Dr. Oliver Smithies - He created the first animal model of cystic fibrosis • C.V. Vishveshwara - Known as the Black Hole Man of India. He contributed in the physics of black hole even before the word black hole was coined. • Nakamura - Father of Pac-Man. • Asim Basu – Theatre Personality • Pathani Patnaik - educationist and litterateur DAYS January 16 - Religious Freedom Day by Barack Obama January 24 - National Girl Child Day January 25 - National Voters Day 9 | Page PH: 24339436, 42867555, 9840226187 January 27 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day January 29 - National Immunization Day February 2 - World Wetlands Day February 4 - World Cancer Day February 6 - Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation EVENTS • Second edition of Raisina Dialogue - New Delhi. Theme - “The New Normal: Multilateralism in a multipolar world”. • Literature Festival – Jaipur. Theme - Freedom to Dream: India at 70 • First Strategic Dialogue Between India UAE held in New Delhi • 2017 World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting - Davos, Switzerland • The Indian postal department released a special stamp cover titled “Golden girls of India – Pride of Nation”. The special covers feature the 2016 Olympic medalist gymnast Dipa Karmakar, shuttler PV Sindu and wrestler Sakshi Malik. • 68th Republic Day - Theme of 2017 Republic Day is: Skill India and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. This year the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the Chief Guest at the ceremony. For the first time in the history of Republic Day, a foreign contingent of 179 UAE Soldiers led the annual parade on Rajpath. A contingent of National Security Guards, also known as the Black Cat commandos, took part in the parade for the first time • First Edition of the North East Investors Summit Held in Shillong SCHEMES • NITI Aayog’s Lucky Draw Scheme - NITI Aayog’s lucky draw schemes namely Lucky Grahak Yojana (LGY) for consumers and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana (DVY) for merchants. The top 5 states that had most of the winners under these schemes are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. • WCD Ministry releases National Action Plan for Children, 2016. The Plan focuses on four key areas including survival; health & nutrition; education & development; protection & participation. • E-Paathsala Launches Unique Technology-Backed Services for Educational Institutions in India • Income Tax Department (ITD) launched Operation Clean Money. To verify the cash deposited in the banks during November 9th to December 30th 2016. 10 | Page PH: 24339436, 42867555, 9840226187