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RBI/ BANKING/ BUSINESS NEWS THIS MONTH

July 5: The Reserve Bank of India relaxed norms for overseas investment by Indian corporates

by raising their borrowing limit.

July 6: Bank of Maharashtra was conferred ―Best Bank – Public Sector‖ award in BFSI Awards:

2014 by World HRD Congress in recognition of its performance in Banking category.

July 7: Exim Bank has extended USD 46 million line of credit to Mauritius for financing goods

and defence related vehicles purchases.

July 8: The World Bank Group (WBG) has granted GNRC, which was formerly known as

Guwahati Neurological Research Centre a grant of $150,000.

July 9: The Reserve Bank of India is in the process of deciding if banks can charge a fee for

using automated teller machines (ATMs) to withdraw money outside the home bank ATM

network.

July 10: Canara Bank opened its seventh overseas branch in New York, USA.

July 13: A major fire has raged the State Bank of India building at Parrys Corner in Chennai.

July 14: To support farmers who organise themselves under producer organisations, the

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is considering setting up a

wholly-owned non-banking finance company (NBFC).

July 15: Fitch Ratings has assigned Bank of Baroda's $250 million senior unsecured notes due

July 2019 a final rating of 'BBB-'. 'BBB' ratings indicate that expectations of default risk are

currently low.


July 17: Software giant Microsoft could be announcing the biggest round of job cuts in five

years.

July 18: The Reserve Bank will shortly issue new Rs. 20 denomination banknotes in the

Mahatma Gandhi series-2005 with inset letter E. These banknotes would bear the year of

printing '2014' on the reverse side of the currency.

July 18: Account holders of State Bank of India will soon be able to get mobile-based,

personalised information on the farm sector developments at a nominal cost.

July 19: India will hold the Presidency of the USD 100 billion BRICS development bank for the

first six years.

July 20: Kolkata-headquartered UCO Bank has set up an e-lobby with four self-operated

machines for cash deposit, withdrawal, cheque deposit and pass book printing in the Supreme

Court complex.

July 20: Corporation Bank will open 200 ‗Corp Excel‘ branches by the end of December 2015.

July 21: As a debate continues on alleged black money of Indians in Swiss banks, the

authorities in Switzerland have come across a significant quantum of fake Indian rupee notes in

their country — the third highest for any foreign currency after Euro and the US dollar.

July 21: Canara Bank signed an agreement with the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd on 20th July for a

loan of Rs.1,170 crore to the Rs. 5,200-crore Kochi Metro project.

July 23: The RBI has set out a framework for identifying and dealing with large banks, termed

domestic systemically important banks or D-SIBs.

July 24: Canara Bank will open over 1,250 branches and over 3,700 ATMs in the next two

years.

July 24: State Bank of India leads public sector banks in number customer complaints received

by the Banking Ombudsman during the year 2013-14.

July 25: India plans to propose the setting up of a South Asian Development Bank for financing


infrastructure development in the region at a meeting of trade ministers from SAARC countries

in Bhutan in the week of July.

July 26: ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, has launched ‗ProCircle‘, a special -

privilege programme for the US-based users of its online money transfer tracking service

Money2India (M2I).

July 27: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has imposed Rs. 5 lakh

penalty on Sahara India Life Insurance Company Ltd for not fulfilling social sector obligations.

July 27: Even though Wipro has lagged behind Infosys, which posted 2 per cent revenue

growth, the company has done a better job in retaining its employees.

July 28: Canara Bank launched a new set of technology-enabled products such as mobile

wallet, easyCash and P-serve.

July 28: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has slapped a monetary penalty, ranging from Rs. 5

to Rs. 40 lakhs, on 12 banks including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank and

IDBI Bank, in the case relating to the loan and current accounts of the troubled Deccan

Chronicle Holdings Ltd for violations of its instructions/directions/guidelines. The central bank

has imposed the maximum penalty of Rs. 40 lakh on ICICI Bank; followed by Rs. 15 lakh each

on Axis Bank and IDBI Bank.

July 28: Authorised dealers/ full-fledged money changers selling pre-paid foreign currency

cards for travel purposes have to comply with the same rigorous standards of due diligence

and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) norms.

July 29: Federal Bank has launched a woman-only car loan scheme called ‗she car.‘

July 29: Reliance Power Ltd, an Anil Ambani Group firm, has acquired the entire hydro power

portfolio of Jaiprakash Power Ventures for an estimated Rs. 15,000 crore.

July 30: LifeCell, India‘s largest umbilical cord blood stem cell bank, is setting up a public stem

cell bank at a cost of Rs. 30 crore.

July 30: Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, will address the Reserve Bank of India board here on


August 9 amid expectations that the central bank will complement government actions by

reducing the rates to boost growth.

July 31: In a controversial move, HSBC Bank has closed a number of ―risky‖ accounts

belonging to Muslim groups and individuals in the UK.

July 31: Prime Minister will launch the government's campaign for financial inclusion to ensure

banking service to 7.5 crore households in the country.

July 31: HDFC Bank has launched its ‗secure banking‘ in Kerala aimed at creating customer

awareness about safe banking practices.

NATION THIS MONTH

July 4: The Government has decided to introduce four new vaccines as part of India‘s

Universal Immunization Programme (UIP). Vaccines against rotavirus, rubella and polio

(injectable) will collectively expedite India‘s progress on meeting the Millennium Development

Goal 4 targets to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by the year 2015 and meet global polio

eradication targets.

July 4: Union Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary

Affairs Minister Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu suggested a 25-point charter for urban planning and

management to ensure planned urbanisation, assured amenities and decent urban life.

July 5: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, dedicated to the nation, the Shri Mata Vaishno

Devi Katra Udhampur railway line. The Prime Minister flagged off the first train to Udhampur,

from Katra Railway Station,

July 6: Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the 240 MW Uri-II hydropower

project built by NHPC at a cost of Rs. 2290 crore in Jammu and Kashmir.

July 6: Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by National Bank of Agriculture and

Rural Development (NABARD) and Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC). The MoU

was signed by Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Chairman, NABARD and Shri Pravesh Sharma,

MD, SFAC.


July 8: Senior officials from India and Nepal met to discuss bilateral security concerns and

defence cooperation, including the supply of military equipment to Nepalese army.

Note: The two-day ‗Nepal-India Bilateral Consultative Group Meeting on Security Issues‘

started during which the two sides discussed matters relating to security concerns of both

sides and future security cooperation between them.

July 9: India test-fired an advanced version of the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise

missile from the Odisha coast.

July 9: Union Railway Minister D. V. Sadananda Gowda presented his maiden Railway Budget

in Parliament. Alongwith no new increase in passenger fares and freight charges the budget

has proposed Bullet train in Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector, Diamond quadrilateral for high speed

trains and plan to hike speed of trains to 160-200 km/hr in 9 sectors among other

announcements.

July 9:The government pushed through the ‗National Institute of Design Bill, 2013‘ in the Rajya

Sabha on the first day of the budget session of Parliament. The BJP-led NDA government,

which is a minority in the Upper House, managed to pass the Bill with help from the Congress.

July 10: The much-awaited verdict on the dispute regarding the delimitation of the maritime

boundary between India and Bangladesh was delivered, with a United Nations tribunal

awarding Bangladesh 19,467 sq. km of the 25,602 sq. km sea area of the Bay of Bengal.

July 11: Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission will be launched to deliver integrated project

based infrastructure in the rural areas.

July 11: A Financial Inclusion Mission will be launched from Independence Day this year as a

time bound programme to provide all households in the country with banking services. This

was announced by the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley while presenting the General Budget

2014-15 in Lok Sabha.

July 11: Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) is being re-introduced to encourage people, who may have

banked and unbanked savings to invest in this instrument.

July 11: The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced the launch of a national Multi-Skill


programme called Skill India in his maiden Budget speech. The facility of Electronic Travel

Authorisation (e-Visa) shall be introduced in a phased manner at nine airports in India and an

amount of Rs. 200 crores has been allocated for the erection of Statue of Unity, as announced

by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his maiden Budget speech.

July 12: A controversial Bill that paves the way for the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh by

merging some villages and mandals of Telangana with Seemandhra was approved in the Lok

Sabha , amid stiff opposition from the TRS, BJD and some other parties.

July 12: Amul has inked an agreement with the Indian Olympic Association to sponsor the

Indian contingent for the upcoming Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Asian

Games to be held later this year in South Korea.

July 13: The Finance Ministry has clarified that no final decision has been taken on

implementation of General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR). This clarification came in the wake of

reply given by the Government in Lok Sabha saying that GAAR will be introduced from April 1,

2015. It may be noted that the previous government deferred introduction of GAAR for two

years, that is, till March 31, 2015.

July 15: China invited India for the first time to attend the APEC summit that it will be hosting

this year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping.

July 16: The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation was earlier implementing 51 schemes

for development of agriculture and welfare of farmers in the country.

July 17: The BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first multilateral engagement,

agreed to an understanding that the five member nations will have equal shareholding in the

proposed USD 50 billion BRICS Development Bank presidency of which is likely to go to India

first.

July 18: Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd (ECGC) has signed a Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) on Co-operation with the Export Credit Insurance Agencies (ECA) of

BRICS countries in Fortaleza, Brazil.

July 18: India will host the next summit of IBSA (India, Brazil South Africa) in New Delhi next


year.

July 19: India has been the worst performer among BRICS nation in an annual index which

measures innovation in various countries.

July 20: Rio Tinto, the world‘s largest merchant miner with more than two-third share of the

globe‘s iron ore business, and having a significant presence in other minerals and

commodities, is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s business-friendly approach to help

revive its stalled projects in India.

July 21: The Justice M. B. Shah Commission on illegal mining has recommended that iron and

manganese ore miners of Jharkhand be asked to disgorge Rs.14,403 crore and Rs. 138 crore,

respectively, for environmental violations.

July 21: India has been the worst performer in the 2014 Global Innovation Index (GII) which

has slipped 10 places compared to last year to reach at 76th place.

July 22: India‘s demand that food procurement subsidies at the World Trade Organization be

considered permissible is now being backed by the entire G-33 group of developing countries

that has expressed the same view in a fresh proposal.

July 23: India has the sixth highest prevalence of child marriage in the world with one in every

three child bride living in India, a United Nations report said.

July 26: India‘s ranking in the Human Development Index (HDI) remained unchanged at 135 in

2013, reflecting little improvement in the living standard of its people.

July 27: Kudankulam nuclear power project‘s second 1,000 MW unit is expected to be

commissioned shortly. The power project, located in Tamil Nadu, has two units of 1,000 MW

generation capacity each.

July 28: Mobile connections in India will grow to 815 million in 2014, an 8 per cent increase

from 755 million connections in 2013, according to a study by Gartner. The mobile services

market in India will remain almost at the same level as 2013 at $19.2 billion in 2014.

July 28: India‘s own version of Madame Tussauds museum was inaugurated by President


Pranab Mukherjee.

July 28: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched MyGov, a platform that empowers the

citizens of India to contribute towards Surajya.

July 29: Shipping Ministry has proposed to incorporate a new company to undertake rail

projects at all Government ports.

July 30: A top American think-tank has launched a programme, ‗India- 2020‘, which will

examine short and long:term policy priorities for every aspect of the India-US strategic

partnership with a focus on concrete recommendations that can be achieved by the year 2020.

INDIAN ECONOMY THIS MONTH

July 4: Telangana may present its maiden budget in August 2014, and the new State may start

off with a small revenue surplus. The size of the maiden budget of new Telangana State is

likely to be pegged at Rs. 70,000 crore. The Plan size would be in the neighbourhood of Rs.

20,000 crore, while the Non-Plan component could be Rs. 50,000 crore.

July 4: The encouraging response for 5kg LPG cylinders has prompted Bharat Petroleum

Corporation Ltd to look at introducing 3kg and 2kg cylinders in the market.

Note: George Paul, Executive Director (LPG), BPCL, said that a move in this regard was taken

following the good customer feedback received by the company after launching the 5 kg

cylinder in various cities including the metros.

July 4: The Government will initiate measures to turnaround the highways sector in two years

time by garnering funds to the tune of Rs. 1 lakh crore in a year, Road Transport and

Highways.

July 5: Official government statistics indicate that there has been a turnaround in India‘s Public

Distribution System (PDS). The share of households consuming PDS rice has nearly doubled

over seven years and those consuming PDS wheat has more than tripled over the same

period.


July 5: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved 300 million US dollars loan to Assam.

The loan will help Assam in its drive to eliminate power sector inefficiencies that are hurting its

consumers, its world-famous tea industry, and its environment.

July 8: Widening its probe into the money laundering probe in the Rs.3,600 crore VVIP

chopper deal, the Enforcement Directorate will send judicial requests to about six countries

seeking information on bank accounts and transactions to detect the trail of alleged kickbacks

money.

July 8: The benchmark BSE Sensex crossed the 26,000:mark for the first time and the NSE

Nifty soared to hit yet another high of 7,787.95 in opening trade on the back of strong inflow of

foreign funds ahead of the Budget.

July 8: India is set to become the third largest economy in the world by 2030, according to

latest estimates by a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report.

July 9: Uma Bharti, the Union Water Resources Minister launched a nationwide tree plantation

drive and public awareness programme to save rivers.

July 9: Indian Railways will borrow less at Rs. 11,790 crore from market through its two

companies IRFC and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd for capital expenditure during 2014-15. The

estimated market borrowing by these two companies during current fiscal were pegged at Rs.

13,800 crore from markets, as per the interim Railway Budget for 2014-15 tabled in February.

July 10: The Government has announced setting up of 16 National Investment and

Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) to boost economic growth. Under the National Manufacturing

Policy, the Government has proposed setting up of NIMZs. The policy aims at enhancing the

share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent within a decade and creating 100 million jobs.

July 10: According to the Economic Survey, driven by a seven per cent rise in consumption

and high utilisation ratio, steel production in India grew at a compound annual growth rate of

7.9 per cent in the past five years.

July 10: GDP is expected to grow in the range of 5.4-5.9 per cent in 2014-15. There are

downward risks to the economy arising from poor monsoon, external environment and poor


investment climate, states the Economic Survey 2014 tabled in the Lok Sabha.

July 10: The government‘s pre-budget Economic Survey has suggested payment of subsidy in

cash for those below poverty line through technologies like biometric identification, observing

that such support lead to distorted resource allocation which hamper changes in prices.

July 12: The value of India targeted mergers and acquisitions (M&A) rose 46.8 per cent to

$17.1 billion in the first half of 2014 from $11.6 billion posted during the same period a year

ago.

July 12: Sugar production for the 2014-15 season starting October is projected to be 4 per cent

higher at 25.3 million tonnes, according to preliminary estimates by the Indian Sugar Mills

Association (ISMA), the apex industry body. For the current 2013-14 season ending

September, the production was pegged at around 24.3 million tonnes.

July 12: After growing at an average annual rate of just over 6 per cent from 1980 to 2010,

India‘s economy is now the 10th biggest in the world in terms of gross domestic product,

according to the World Bank.

However, its growth has slowed in recent years, with an expansion of 4.7 per cent in 2013-

2014, up from 4.5 per cent the previous year, the slowest pace in the previous decade.

July 13: West Bengal Government has obtained firm investment commitment worth Rs. 3,200

crore.

July 14: The Centre is considering expanding its India Inclusive Innovation Fund corpus and

mandate, aimed at promoting grassroot level innovations to deliver social and economic

returns.

July 14: Lutyens' Delhi is set to get a facelift with the demolition and reconstruction of 516

Government bungalows. The project would cost Rs 3,000 crore and would be implemented in

phases over the next 20-30 years.

July 15: During 12th Plan, outlay for Rs. 2200 crore has been provisioned for National Ganga

River Basin Authority (NGRBA), which has been entrusted with the work of controlling pollution

in the river Ganga.


July 15: OCL India Ltd, the flagship associate company of Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd,

announced the commissioning of its 2 million tonne per annum and Rs. 615 crore cement unit

in West Midnapore of West Bengal.

July 16: The Government has slapped an additional penalty of $579 million on Reliance

Industries for producing less than targeted natural gas from its KG-D6 block.

July 17: One third of the extreme poor global population reside in India which has also

recorded the highest number of under:five deaths in the world, the latest UN Millennium

Development Goals report revealed.

July 17: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled against the US in a case filed by India

over imposition of high import duties on Indian steel products.

July 18: Exports of merchandise continued to rise steadily for the third straight month with

shipments in June 2014 posting a 10.22 per cent rise at $26.47 billion compared to last June.

July 20: Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has upgraded India‘s economic growth

forecast to 6.3 per cent in 2015-16 on hopes of speedy reform process.

July 21: Realty player Logix Group launched its Rs. 1000 crore new project – Logix City Centre

— in Noida.

July 22: Reliance Industries posted a 13.7 per cent jump in its first quarter net profit to almost

USD 1 billion, the highest quarterly profit by a private firm.

July 22: German automaker Volkswagen has rolled out the 400,000th car from the

manufacturing facility in Pune.

July 23: Pension fund regulator PFRDA has framed regulation for two key operative arms :

NPS Trust and Pension Fund managers-for expansion and deepening of the sector.

July 24: The Directorate of Enforcement has attached properties worth Rs. 186.11 crore

belonging to two promoters and directors of Nava Bharat Power Projects in the coal scam

related case and has alleged they had a windfall gain of Rs. 200 crore.


July 24: In a crackdown on an unauthorised money pooling scheme promising high returns,

Sebi has barred Sai Prasad Corporation and its directors from raising funds from public and

from launching any new investment plans.

July 26: Tata Consultancy Services has become the first Indian company to command a

market capitalisation of Rs. 5 lakh crore after its share price hit an all-time high.

July26: The Union Cabinet has okayed introduction of the Bill for raising FDI in insurance and

empowering SEBI to act against illegal deposit and ponzi schemes. The Government will

introduce both these Bills during the ongoing session of Parliament.

July 27: Visakhapatnam is one of the three strategic reserve caverns being created by Indian

Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd. The other two – at Mangalore (1.5 million tonnes) and Padur

(2.5 million tones).

July 28: A study of loan performance in the three-year period (2010 to 2013) of rising interest

rates, suggests the loans that faced over 2 per cent hike in rates were 50 per cent more

delinquent than the average during the same period.

July 29: India‘s sovereign credit rating is expected to remain stable over the next 12—month

period, brokerage firm Morgan Stanley said.

July 29: A recent study report prepared by Assocham‘s Economic Research Bureau has

showed that Gujarat topped in new investments attracted by the power sector during the period

2004-05 and 2012-13.

July 29: Raising the investment limit for foreign institutional investors (FIIs) from $20 billion to

$25 billion is credit positive for the Government of India (GoI).

July 30: GVK Power & Infrastructure Limited expects to commence coal production from its

captive GVK Coal (Tokisud) Company to facilitate supply to the 540 MW Goindwal Sahib

thermal power plant in Punjab.

July 30: India‘s outward investments had increased from $1 billion in 2001-02 to $30.9 billion in

2011-12.


July 31: According to Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI), India will be an importer of

iron ore in the 2014-15 fiscal.

July 31: A day after Flipkart announced fresh funding of a billion dollars, Amazon has said that

it will invest an additional $2 billion in India.

GLOBE-TROT THIS MONTH

July 5: Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, a onetime aide to British Prime

Minister David Cameron, has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for participating in a

conspiracy to hack the phones of celebrities, politicians and crime victims.

July 5: Four-party meet held in Berlin agreed on a series of step to resume the ceasefire in

eastern Ukraine. The four party meet was held between Foreign Ministers of Russia, Ukraine,

Germany and France.

July 6: China – South Korea bilateral summit was held in Seoul. The summit was held between

South Korean President Park Geun:hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was held during

the Chinese President Xi‘s first visit to South Korea since he became the President in 2013.

July 6: Japan ended the 60 years of pacifism giving Army the option to exercise force. The

resolution towards this was adopted by Japanese Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Shizo

Abe.

The Cabinet resolution laid down certain scopes or minimum degree under which Japan can

exercise force.

July 6: China‘s President Xi Jinping will this year become the first Chinese head of state to visit

Sri Lanka in three decades, underlining Beijing‘s renewed push to deepen its strategic and

economic presence in the neighbourhood and in the Indian Ocean.

July 13: Bangladesh has banned official marriages between its nationals and Myanmar‘s

Muslim Rohingya refugees as they wed and use the marriage certificate for getting citizenship

and Bangladeshi passports.

July 13: The US is calling for Asian nations to freeze new construction and establishment of


outposts in the disputed South China Sea to lower the risk of a conflict.

July 16: Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said that the US central bank will continue

to keep interest rates at historic lows. The Fed will keep rates at between 0 to 0.25 per cent.

July 19: Shocked by the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane over war-torn eastern Ukraine

near the Russian border, the White House called for ―a full, credible and unimpeded

international investigation‖ into the tragic incident that killed nearly 300 people on board.

July 20: Bolivia has become the first nation to legalise child labour from age 10.

July 20: Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), the apex body of miners in that country, is ready

to offer Indian companies help in the area of sustainable mining.

July 21: The shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17 by pro-Russian separatists in

Ukraine threatened to derail the meeting of trade ministers of the G-20 Group of advanced and

emerging economies.

July 21: The Philippines has removed restrictions on foreign ownership of banks in the country

under a new law that allows 100-per-cent foreign control.

July 22: President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines presided over the opening ceremony of

the world's largest indoor stadium, Philippine Arena.

July 23: The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for an

international investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight (MH17) in eastern Ukraine

and demanded that armed groups allow investigators ―full and unrestricted‖ access to the crash

site.

July 26: Algerian civil aviation lost contact with a plane carrying 110 passengers after its take-

off from Burkina Faso.

July 26: The Bahrain Economic Development Board has come out with a new visa policy that

enables Indian residents to apply for electronic visas from October this year.

July 29: The Australian Government has given environmental approval to Adani Mining‘s


$16.5-billion Carmichael coal mine and rail infrastructure project in Queensland.

July 30: More than 200 flights were cancelled in China owing to busy airspace on the first day

of the Chinese military‘s live fire exercises in the East China Sea, prompting aviation authorities

to declare a red alert.

July 31: The European Union has for the first time slapped comprehensive economic sanctions

against Russia and banned the export of military goods and sensitive technologies in the

energy sector for its ―failure‖ to de-escalate the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

INDIAN LEADERS VISITING ABROAD/ FOREIGN COUNTRY NATIONALS VISITING INDIA

July 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Brazil for attending the five-nation summit of

BRICS nations on July 14 and 15 which is expected to finalise the setting up of a development

bank and seek reforms of the United Nations and international financial organisations.

July 21: A four-member delegation from Pakistan will visit India to study the Sabarmati

Riverfront Development Project (SRDP), one of the major developmental initiatives of India‘s

Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat.

July 31: US Secretary of State John Kerry heading a high-powered delegation, is visiting India

to co-chair the fifth annual India-US Strategic Dialogue with External Affairs Minister Sushma

Swaraj in New Delhi during his three-day official visit.

APPOINTMENTS/ RESIGNATIONS THIS MONTH

July 5: Swamy Goud of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti party was elected as Chairman of the 40-

member Telangana Legislative Council.

July 5: Ram Naresh Yadav was sworn-in as Governor of Chhattisgarh at Raj Bhawan. He

succeeded Shekhar Dutt.

July 5: Michelle Howard has been appointed as the first female four-star admiral in US Navy.

July 6: Bharat Vir Wanchoo, the Governor of Goa resigned.

July 6: R. Chandrasekhar appointed as President of Nasscom. He will succeed Som Mittal.


July 8: Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk sworn in as the Pakistan‘s new chief justice. He succeeded

Tassaduq Hussain Jillani

July 9: President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Margaret Alva, Governor of Rajasthan, to

discharge the functions of the Governor of Goa,until the new appointment of governor of Goa is

made.

July 9: Emma Watson, the British Actress was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for UN

Women and for empowerment of young women and also as an advocate for UN Women‘s

campaign in promoting gender equality.

July 9: Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Rohington F Nariman

were appointed as Supreme Court judges. The three judges were administered the oath of

office by Chief Justice of India, R M Lodha.

July 10: Amit Shah has been appointed as the new president of BJP in Lok Sabha elections.

July 14: Rashtrapati Bhawan has announced that President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed

new Governors for five States. BJP veteran leader Ram Naik has been chosen as the

Governor of Uttar Pradesh. O.P Kohli, Balramji Das Tandon and Keshari Nath Tripathi have

been designated as new Governors of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal respectively.

Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya has been appointed as Nagaland Governor.

July 15 : The Government has appointed 1980 batch IAS officer Shankar Aggarwal as

Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Development. The Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, Aggarwal

was previously the Secretary, Union Ministry of Women & Child Development.

July 16: UK defence secretary Philip Hammond has been appointed as the new foreign

secretary of UK.

July 23: Ace tennis player Sania Mirza has been appointed as the brand ambassador of

Telangana Government.

July 23: Graft-tainted Madhya Pradesh IAS couple Arvind Joshi and Tinu Joshi have been

terminated from service. The couple were already under suspension since February 2010, after

an income-tax raid on their house, which led to detection of wealth in excess of Rs 350 crore

and recovery of Rs. three crore in cash.

July 26: The Supreme Court appointed senior advocate R. S. Cheema as Special Public

Prosecutor for the coal blocks allocation trial.

July 27: AS Durga Prasad, Cost and Management Accountant (CMA), has been elected as

President for the Institute of Cost Accountants of India for the year 2014-15.


July 27: Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul sworn as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court by Tamil

Nadu Governor K Rosaiah at the Raj Bhavan.

July 27: Ukraine‘s Prime Minister has resigned after his governing coalition collapsed,

plunging the former Soviet state into political limbo as it struggles to quell a deadly rebellion in

the east.

July 28: Senior IRS officer K V Chowdary is tipped to be the new Chairman of the Central

Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex authority of the Income Tax department from August

1. He will succeed Chairman RK Tewari.

July 30: India Infoline Finance Ltd (IIFL), an NBFC subsidiary of India Infoline has appointed

Rajashree Nambiar as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Prior to joining IIFL, Nambiar was

General Manager Retail Banking Products, India and South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank.

July 31: IAF chief, Arup Raha, has taken over as the Chairman, Chiefs of Staffs Committee,

from incumbent Gen Bikram Singh who is retiring on 31st July. The Chairman, Chiefs of Staffs

Committee is the senior-most military officer in the country.

AWARDS/ HONOURS/ WORLD TITLES/ NEW DISCOVERIES THIS MONTH

July 1: President Pranab Mukherjee presented Sant Kabir Awards to L Subadani Devi of

Manipur and Gour C Basak of West Bengal and Shilp Guru Awards to Ghulam Mehdi Joo of

Jammu and Kashmir, Shabbir Hasan of Rajasthan, MM Mahapatra of Odisha, Babu Ram

Yadav of Uttar Pradesh.

July 1: Shah Rukh Khan was conferred with top French civilian award Knight of the Legion of

Honor.

July 1: Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani education advocate won Liberty medal for the

year 2014 for her continued demonstration of courage and resilience in the face of adversity

and for serving as a powerful voice for those who have been denied their basic human rights

and liberties.

July 13: Aniket Bajpai and Chitraang Murdia won gold medals in 45th International Physics

Olympiad (IPHO2014) held in Astana, Kazakhstan from 13 July to 21 July 2014 at the

Nazarbayev University whereas Bure Vidya Sagar Nadin, Srikakulam Gurukirat Singh Bajwa,

Hoshiarpur and Rupanshu Ganvir secured silver medals.

July 15 : The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the Gandhi Peace Prize for


the year 2013 to Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Gandhi

Peace Prize was instituted by the Government of India in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th

birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

July 18 : Kerala based magician Samraz has been selected for the Merlin Award of the

International Magicians Society New York.

July 19 : Nalco has been awarded the gold award in Premier Trading House category in the

first Eastern Region Export Excellence Award 2012:13 by the Federation of Indian Export

Organizations. Its exports stood at Rs. 3,380.93 crore. Tata Steel got the silver award in the

category with its Rs. 1,997.90:crore exports earnings.

SPORTS NEWS THIS MONTH

July 6: Parvez Rasool first from J&K team to be selected in Indian cricket team.

July 7: Novak Djokovic has won his second men's singles title at Wimbledon after an epic five-

set final against Roger Federer.

July 8: Australia leads the latest ICC test rankings followed by South Africa, England with India

in the fourth place.

July 8: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza has achieved a career-best rank of number five in the

world as the new WTA Doubles.

July 8: Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj on Monday announced the launch of Champions

Tennis League (CTL) in India with an aim of taking the sport to new levels of awareness and

popularity in the country.

July 9: Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj has launched The Champions Tennis League (CTL)

with a pan India tennis tournament featuring IPL style playoffs between six franchisees.

July 9: Djokovic‘s Wimbledon victory returned him to the top of the latest world rankings

followed by Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer.


July 10: Sim Bhullar has become the first player of Indian origin to be a part of the National

Basketball Association (NBA) after he signed a summer contract with the Sacramento Kings, a

professional basketball team in the US.

July 10: Indian students with a passion for sports have now access to scholarships that will

fund their study in New Zealand for sports-related programmes as declared by Steven Joyce,

New Zealand Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment.

July 13: Germany wrote a new chapter in the history of international football as they became

the first European team to lift the World Cup in South America, clinching a hard-fought 1-0 win

over Argentina in the final, their triumph coming on the back of steely resolve and blood on the

pitch.

July 13: In FIFA World Cup, the winning country Germany was awarded with $35 million and

Argentina the first runner up was awarded with $25 million.

July 13: Former Sri Lanka Skipper Mahela Jayawardene has announced his retirement from

Test Cricket.

July 16: The third oldest football tournament in the world, Durand Cup, will be held in Goa

between October 28 and November 9 this year. A host of top clubs and military football teams

will participate in the tournament. Durand Cup was first held in the year 1888.

July 18: Real Madrid and Barcelona are champions at making money and are named as the

world's two richest sports franchises.

July 18: The ambitious High Performance Program of Hockey India (HI) is all set to go live

from next month with the launch of its website, a one of a kind interactive platform for coaches

and players of the country.

July 22: Bhubaneswar Kumar of India on the fourth day of the second Test against England

here knock to 52 runs while playing a test series became the first batsman in the world, who

scored three half-centuries batting at number nine.

July 24 : Hero MotoCorp, a two wheeler manufacturer, has signed a three year deal to be the

title sponsor of the Indian Super League, the initial franchise based football league in the


country. With this sponsorship, the new football league, promoted by IMG-Reliance and Star

India, would be called the `Hero Indian Super League'.

July 25: Sikh players from India were asked to remove their turbans at an international

basketball match, top U.S. lawmakers have launched a campaign asking International

Basketball Federation (FIBA) to review the discriminatory policy.

July 26: Sukhen Dey and K Sanjita Chanu stole the limelight by clinching a gold medal each in

weightlifting, as India launched its campaign in the 20th Commonwealth Games with a flourish,

winning seven medals in all on the opening day of the competitions here.

July 26: European 400-metre hurdles champion Rhys Williams is out of the Commonwealth

Games after becoming the second Welsh athlete suspended for a doping offense this month.

July 30: Pistol King‘ Jitu Rai kept his reputation intact by clinching the gold medal before

Gagan Narang and Gurpal Singh claimed a silver each to continue the shooters‘ heroics while

young Vikas Thakur overcame pain to bag silver in weightlifting on the fifth day of competitions

in the 20th Commonwealth Games.

July 31: Bhuvneshwar Kumar turned out to be the world cricket‘s bowler for the month of July.

EULOGIES THIS MONTH

July 1: Former Haitian president Leslie François Manigat died at the age of 83.

July 6: Louis Zamperini, a 1936 US Olympic distance runner and World War II veteran, died at

the age of 97 due to pneumonia.

July 8: Alfredo Di Stefano, the legend of Real Madrid Football Club died at the age of 88 at the

General Universatario Gregorio Maranon Hospital in Madrid.

July 8: Eduard Shevardnadze, the ex-President of Georgia died at 86.

July 9: Granville Austin of Washington died at the age of 87. He was a renowned scholar of the

Indian constitution and constitutional assembly debates.

July 11: Veteran Actress Zohra Sehgal died at the age of 102. She was called as the grand


old lady of Bollywood due to her association with it for several decades.

July 16: Lorin Maazel, the American conductor of classical music, violinist and composer died

on 13 July 2014 at his home in Castleton, Virginia. He was 84.

July 17: South African Nobel Prize-winning author, Nadine Gordimer died.

July 20: Veteran Journalist Sundaram Sankaran died.

July 21: Retired US astronaut Henry ―Hank‖ Hartsfield Jr, who flew on three shuttle missions

including as commander of the Discovery‘s maiden flight, died after an illness at age 80

July 22: Madhukar Singh, an eminent Hindi litterateur died at his residence in village

Dharahara of Bhojpur district.

July 22: Classical singer Sushilarani Patel died due to heart attack. She was 96. She was a

recipient Sangeet Natak Academy award in 2002.

July 22 : American actor James Garner died at the age of 86 in Los Angeles.

July 30: Bangladeshi freedom fighter UK Ching died at the age of 86. The Bir Bikram awardee

died due to a brain stroke.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS THIS MONTH

July 6 : NASA and Boeing have inked a $2.8 billion deal to develop a giant rocket which is set

to be the largest and most powerful ever built, paving the way for manned missions to Mars.

Boeing has finalised a contract with NASA to develop the core stage of the Space Launch

System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built.

July 6: The Supreme Court (SC) of India on 4 July 2014 directed Haryana Government to stop

all illegal mining and stone crushing activities in Aravali Hills region. In its direction, SC gave

two weeks time to stop the process otherwise it will face Contempt of Court proceedings.

July 8: Typhoon Neoguri in the Northwest Pacific is expected to reach super typhoon (super

cyclone) status and it negotiates the east China coast and races towards southern Japan.

July 8 : NASA has fitted a 17-tonne telescope with an effective diameter of eight feet on a


modified Boeing 747 jetliner that the US space agency is using as a flying observatory to study

stars.

July 9: CBI will soon record the statement of former Director, Intelligence Bureau and Governor

of Andhra Pradesh E. S. L. Narasimhan as witness in connection with allegations of bribery in

purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Ango-Italian firm AgustaWestland.

July 9: A statue of Mahatma Gandhi will be placed in London‘s Parliament Square alongside

other famous statesmen, including his political adversary Winston Churchill.

July 11: Government is committed to endeavour to have housing for all by 2022 by extending

additional tax incentive on home loans to encourage people, especially the young, to own

houses. It has proposed to set up a Mission on Low Cost Affordable Housing to be anchored in

the National Housing Bank.

July 12: A controversial Bill that paves the way for the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh by

merging some villages and mandals of Telangana with Seemandhra had been approved.

July 12: Andhra Pradesh will have an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Indian

Institute of Technology (IIT) soon. This was announced by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

in his Union Budget Proposals for 2014-15.

July 12: Delhi has become the world‘s second most populous city in 2014 after Tokyo.

July 13: India‘s Mars spacecraft is scheduled for a rendezvous with the red planet as it is

rapidly coasting towards its target. Mars Orbiter Spacecraft has travelled 525 million km on its

heliocentric arc.

July 13: With an aim towards making unemployed women self-reliant, the New Delhi Municipal

Council has launched a unit where they will be given training to prepare quality food products

and then sell it through a tiffin service. The project was implemented with the setting up of a

canteen, ‗Urja‘.

July 14: Etihad Airways, UAE‘s flagship carrier, has announced expansion of its first flight

operations to northeast India with the launch of a daily service between Abu Dhabi and Kolkata.

July 15: As part of efforts to ensure a cleaner and greener environment, the Gujarat

Government will soon introduce a pilot project to run ‗electric buses‘ for public transport

between the state capital Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.

July 15: The private spacecraft Cygnus was launched from a space pad in the US state of

Virginia, carrying provisions for the orbiting space station crew and other freight. Cygnus, which

launched from NASA‘s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, made its second trip to the space


station.

July 16: Babak Parviz the developer behind Google Glass and other technologies has left

Google to work for the online retailer Amazon

July 17: Heavy metal! NASA‘s Mars rover Curiosity has discovered its first meteorite on the

Red Planet — a huge shiny, lumpy rock made mostly of iron. The rock is an iron meteorite

called ―Lebanon‖, similar in shape and lustre to iron meteorites found on Mars by the previous

generation of rovers.

July 18: Rendering world-class facilities with the coming age amusement parks, five theme

parks from India featured in the top 25 list in Asia. The theme parks that have featured in the

list are Wonderla Amusement Park, Bangalore, which was at number seven on the list, Ramoji

Film City Hyderabad at number 10, Wonderla Amusement Park Kochi, at number 13, Science

City Kolkata at number 14 and Essel World Mumbai at number 20.

July 18: A Gujarat-based organisation will organise an international trade show here in a bid to

attract investors to the Saurashtra-Kutch region. "Saurashtra Vyapar Udyog Mahamandal

(SVUM) will organise the show from November 5 to November 10 and it will be attended by

delegates from nearly 65 countries. The president of SVUM is Parag Tejura.

July 19: Finland-based smartphone company, Jolla, has signed an agreement with

Snapdeal.com, India's largest e-commerce marketplace, to launch its handsets in the country.

Jolla runs on independent operating system Sailfish.

July 22: Air Asia India, the domestic arm of Malaysian airline AirAsia, added Kochi to its

network with the launch of a daily flight service from Bangalore.

July 22: German automaker Volkswagen has rolled out the 400,000th car from the

manufacturing facility in Pune. The car is a Polo Highline for the domestic market equipped with

the new 1.5-litre TDI engine.

July 23: Bihar government, has terminated services of 1137 fixed pay teachers in schools as

they had acquired the job on the basis of fake and invalid documents and initiated action

against those responsible for their appointment.

July 23: As per United Natios Report, India has the sixth highest prevalence of child marriage

in the world with one in every three child bride living in India.

July 24: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, released a biography of Sardar Vallabhbhai

Patel in Braille. This has been prepared by Dr. A. Saibaba Goud, for the benefit of the visually

challenged. Dr. Goud also runs the Devnar School for the Blind, in Hyderabad.


July 26: India‘s own version of Madame Tussauds museum was inaugurated by President

Pranab Mukherjee, with fibre—glass statues of former Presidents and eye—catching gifts

received by them from abroad on display.

July 29: IIT Kharagpur will soon introduce a new ―credit-based system‖ which would allow

students the flexibility to complete a four-year B Tech course in three-and-a-half years.

RECURRING TERMS IN NEWSPAPER THIS MONTH

Universal Immunization Programme: Universal Immunization Programme is a vaccination

program launched by the Government of India in 1985. It became a part of Child Survival and

Safe Motherhood Programme in 1992 and is currently one of the key areas under National

Rural Health Mission (NRHM) since 2005.

Trade Facilitation (TF) Protocol: Trade facilitation looks at how procedures and controls

governing the movement of goods across national borders can be improved to reduce

associated cost burdens and maximise efficiency while safeguarding legitimate regulatory

objectives.

Public Distribution System (PDS): Public distribution system (PDS) is an Indian food security

system. Established by the Government of India under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and

Public Distribution and managed jointly with state governments in India, it distributes subsidized

food and non-food items to India's poor. Major commodities distributed include staple food

grains, such as wheat, rice, sugar, and kerosene, through a network of public distribution shops

(also known as ration shops) established in several states across the country. Food

Corporation of India, a Government-owned corporation, procures and maintains the PDS.

Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC): Small Farmers' Agri-Business Consortium

(SFAC) was established in 1994. This consortium supports the new ventures in agro-based

industries. Support means capital support as Venture Capital Assistance and Project

Development Facility.

Public Private Partnership: A public–private partnership (PPP) is a government service or

private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government

and one or more private sector companies. These schemes are sometimes referred to as PPP,


P3 or P3. PPP involves a contract between a public sector authority and a private party, in

which the private party provides a public service or project and assumes substantial financial,

technical and operational risk in the project.

Protein revolution: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley carried forward the plan of a 4% growth in

agriculture which was set by UPA, but was not realised during the past two regimes. To meet

this ambitious plan, the FM has planned for a technology:driven second Green Revolution that

would focus on higher productivity, including a ―Protein revolution‖.

General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) : GAAR limits avoidance of taxes. It was proposed by

the then finance minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee ( now president), introduced to chapter X-A to

the income tax Act 1961. It directly targets the tax evaders. In Indian law, GAAR is an acronym

for General Anti-Avoidance Rules which are framed to minimize tax avoidance, for example by

siphoning off profits to tax havens.

ABBREVIATIONS THIS MONTH

COSC: Chief of Staff Committee

CCEA: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

CSF: Commonwealth Shooting Federation

NCDEX: National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd

DFC: Dedicated Freight Corridor

JE: Japanese Encephalitis

CMSA: Chief Minister's Social Assistance

OECD: Organisation for Economic Co:operation and Development

IPHO: International Physics Olympiad

DAE: Department of Atomic Energy

UNSC: United Nations Security Council

ICHR: Indian Council of Historical Research

PMNRF: Prime Minister's National Relief Fund

IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency


IWGSC: International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium

DERC: Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission

NCRDBD: National Centre for Research & Development in Bulk Drugs

NBA: National Basketball Association

GAGAN: GPS Aided Augmented Navigation system

OCO 2: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2

STCRC: Short Term Cooperative Rural Credit

NGRBA: National Ganga River Basin Authority

IMPORTANT DAYS THIS MONTH

July 1: Doctor‘s Day

July 4: Independence Day of U.S.

July 5: (first Saturday of July): International Day of Cooperatives

July 6: World Zoonoses Day

July 11: World Population Day

July 12: Malala Day

July 18: Nelson Mandela International Day

July 26: Kargil Vijay Diwas

July 26: International Gaucher Day

July 28: World Hepatitis Day

July 29: International Tiger Day

July 30: World Day against Trafficking in Persons

July 30: International Day of Friendship


SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE MONTH

5th Godrej Expert Sahyadri Cine Awards 2014

CEO, Prasar Bharati, Jawahar Sircar was the Chief Guest at the 5th edition of the Cine Awards

ceremony, organized by DD Sahyadri TV channel of Doordarshan Kendra, Mumbai. It was

sponsored by Godrej expert.

Commonwealth Games 2014

The Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014, 20th in the series, got off at the Celtic Park in

Glasgow in Scotland from 23 July 2014 to 3 August 2014.

It is the largest multi-sport event ever held in Scotland with around 4,950 athletes from 71

different nations and territories competing in 18 different sports, although the country previously

hosted the 1970 and 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.

6th BRICS Summit

The 6th BRICS summit is the sixth annual diplomatic meeting of the BRICS, a grouping of

major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It is

hosted by Brazil, as the first host country of the current five-year summit cycle, the host city is

Fortaleza. Argentine President Cristina Kirchner was a special guest of the summit. 7th BRICS

Summit will be held in Russian city of Ufa in 2015. Most importantly, the New Development

Bank was officially inaugurated.

Member Represented by Title

Brazil Dilma Rousseff President

Russia Vladimir Putin President

India Narendra Modi Prime Minister

China Xi Jinping President

South Africa Jacob Zuma President


2014 FIFA World Cup

The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup. Germany won the tournament,

defeating runners-up Argentina 1–0 in the final. Brazil was officially elected as host nation

unopposed on 30 October 2007.

Top scorer(s) (Colombia) James Rodríguez (6 goals)

Best player (Argentina) Lionel Messi

Best young player (France) Paul Pogba

Best goalkeeper (Germany) Manuel Neuer

During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Fan Fest in the host cities received 5 million people,

and the country received 1 million guests from 202 countries.

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